Author: Herb Drake
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Cell Vision: A Book Review
I was eager to read this book because it champions small, home churches. His use of the word “cell” is unfortunate, however, since that word has usually referred to small groups attached to a large, institutional church, which is certainly not what Belk had in mind. While there is good reason to be suspicious of…
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One Plants, Another Waters, and Then…?
by James Rohrer Dr. Rohrer is Editor in Chief, Sage JPC and HME, University Research Reviewer, Walden University. This essay is motivated by the observation that Christian small assemblies are formed, sometimes grow into networks, then seemingly evaporate in just a few years. Some plant, others water, and then what? Is God bringing an increase? Or…
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A House Church vs. Modern Church Parable
by John Lepera The Parable of the Mower Turned Go Cart A man once purchased a lawn mower which he used for many successful years. Eventually he removed the engine and wheels and converted them into a go cart for his son, who used the go cart many more years before selling it. Over the…
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About the Children
Introduction How many times have you had a friend or colleague tell you that they once were church goers but gave it up years ago? If you are like me, the number is beyond counting. I suggest these folks never really had an adult conversion where they experieniced the living Jesus in an powerful and…
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Spiritual Gifts
Spiritual gifts are among the least understood subjects among believers, yet are one of the most important parts of church life. Paul’s writings are the main source of instruction regarding the gifts, and areprobably the best place to start is in 1 Corinthians Chapters 12 through 14. That these chapters be considered as a whole…
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Ordination
Does It Have Any Place in the Houses Church? The purpose of ordinations is to ensure that candidates for leadership positions in the church meet the expectations of the church calling them. Those include experience and theological training, and if the role includes preaching, the presentation of a sample sermon. Usually there is also an…
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The Chiasm
One of the hidden beauties withiin the Bible is the chiasm, which is a poetic structure that can be found in both the New and Old Testaments. The word comes from the shape of he Greeek letter chi, which resembles the western “X.” The left half of the chi, which resembles the mathematical symbol >,…
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Authority in the Church
When persecution against the House Churches eased early early in the 4th century under Constantine, Christians found ways to form larger assemblies, encouraged, no doubt, by Constantine’s aggressive church-building programs. It is not surprising that these larger assemblies formed hierarchies. This very human tendency is so common that one has to wonder why Moses needed…
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The Romans 8:28 Puzzle
Romans 8:28 has been translated many ways. This article invites you, the reader, to participate in putting the puzzle together. The puzzle pieces are those in the figure that have boxes above. (We need not look at the last half of the verse as it does not vary substantially from bible to bible.) So how…
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Hijacking the Church
The first to hijack Christianity was the Emperor Constantine, who used Christianity to unite the Roman Empire under his control. Carrying the Chi Rho symbol, the first two letters of “Christ” in Greek, his soldiers prevailed against Maxentiius at the Battle of the Milvian Bridge of 312 AD. Constantine invited the “bishops” of the day…