Today’s blog is a response to a great deal of email I’ve received from people who have read one or more of my books. The common question in those emails is: “What’s your next book going to be about, and will it be on the subject of the church?”

Let me give you some background to that question, as it will put my answer in context.

This is a “back story” that’s not been made public until now.

I can’t remember the year, but I’m going to guess that it was 1998. I had a vision (not the mystical kind) for a 5-book series laying out a comprehensive model for a new kind of church. One that just didn’t “tweak” the traditional church experience or rearrange the ecclesiological vocabulary.

It’s been observed that the way to begin a new movement is to invent a new vocabulary. I believe we’ve seen this done over the past 40 years. Even up until the recent time. Continue Reading…

Today is Part II of what authentic organic church life looks like. You can read Part I here.

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I never planned on leaving the old way of doing church. I wasn’t looking for a new church and couldn’t even conceive of what an organic church would look like when I was first invited to visit one. But I visited and what I found was unlike anything I had ever seen. This church wasn’t a Bible study, a prayer group, a healing/soaking prayer session, or a  worship service.

Instead, this church focused on Jesus Christ. And everyone sang about Him, shared about Him, and worshipped Him. These Christians had been captivated by the beauty of the Lord Jesus Christ and, quite honestly, they didn’t desire to spend time doing anything else when they met, but sing to/with/about Him, share Him, and love one another through
Him. It was their intimacy I noticed first. I had never met people with such an intimate life with the Lord. These people needed Him and were sustained by His life. Continue Reading…

I’m using the phrase “authentic organic church life” simply because the term “organic church” is in vogue right now, and it’s being pasted on all sorts of church forms, some of which are not organic at all.

On the heels of the recent blog post entitled Are You in the Wilderness?, what follows is a real-life testimony of someone describing his experience in an organic expression of the church. More will follow.

Note that an authentic organic church is truly missional. That is, it’s been captured by a groundbreaking vision of the Grand Mission of God, which is His Eternal Purpose. And that purpose goes way beyond the reaches of salvation and redemption. Continue Reading…

So many Christians I meet today, whether in person, on social networks, or through emails, tell me that they are living in a spiritual wilderness. They feel alone, spiritually isolated, and they don’t have too many Christian friends that they are experiencing a rich and full fellowship in Christ with.

Some of them attend a church on Sunday morning, yet still, they are living in the desert and they know it.

Some have given up on the traditional form of church altogether. And they are in serious pursuit of an expression of church that provides authentic community centered on Jesus Christ. But they cannot find such an expression in their city.

All of these people love the Lord and they love the Body of Christ, but they feel quite alone. And spiritually, they are dry and empty. Continue Reading…

Mental Filters. They are frustrating. We all have them. Yet we’re unconscious of them. It makes communication between Christians (regarding spiritual things) almost impossible.

Images Conjured

You’re talking to a Catholic and you mention “church.” Immediately, your Catholic friend thinks of Mass, priests who wear black, a hierarchy of bishops, etc. You may be talking about something completely different by the word “church.” But your friend has “filtered” your words through his experience.

You’re speaking to a Baptist and you mention “church.” Your Baptist friends thinks of a steeple, a building, pews filled with people who are well-dressed and have leather Bibles sitting in their laps, a preacher wearing a dark suit giving a salvation message, etc. Continue Reading…

Yesterday I interviewed a dear friend of mine, Earl Bennett. Earl is a Christian musician who has been part of worship teams in various churches for the last 30 years. His experience provides surprising insights into the underbelly of the world of contemporary Christian worship.

Click here to hear the 30-minute interview

The following is an interview I did with Alan Knox. Alan is a Phd student at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary. He’s a very bright thinker and his blog, The Assembling of the Church, is one of the best out there. The interview was originally posted on Alan’s blog.

Hope you find it helpful.

Frank

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1. Why did you decide to start writing, and why the topic of the church?

From the human point of view, it was purely accidental. But God has chosen to breathe on it.

When I was in my 20s, I met with a group of Christians in a home without a pastor. It was largely an unintentional experiment for us. I describe it a spontaneous burst of organic church life. We wanted to know if it was possible for Jesus Christ to lead His church in our day just as he did in Century One – without a human head (pastor, minister, priest, etc.). We wanted to know if it was possible for every member to function under Christ’s Leadership in a meeting without someone leading, directing, or even facilitating. We wanted to know if a church could make decisions together without someone telling us what to do. Continue Reading…

The following quote was authored by Billy Graham in the year 1965. Is his prediction coming to pass in our time?

Multitudes of Christians within the church are moving toward the point where they may reject the institution that we call the church. They are beginning to turn to more simplified forms of worship. They are hungry for a personal and vital experience with Jesus Christ. They want a heartwarming personal faith. Unless the church quickly recovers its authoritative Biblical message, we may witness the spectacle of millions of Christians going outside the institutional church to find spiritual food.

Quoted in “World Aflame,” pp. 79-80.

Here is another priceless quote by Graham. It’s his answer to the question, What would you be doing if you didn’t have the large evangelistic ministry that you have now, but were rather a local minister? Continue Reading…

I just returned from speaking at a conference with Milt Rodriguez in Ohio. It was a great experience. Because I’m back-logged from being away, I don’t have time to write the post that I had wanted to for this week. So I’ll save that one for next Monday, God willing.

But I do want to make a few observations about our conference.

1. A number of Christians who are involved in the present missional movement confessed “I thought I had known the Lord, and now I realize I really don’t know Him very well. I want and need to know Him deeply.”

2. Quite a few believers said, “I’ve been a Christian all my life and have been to many different types of churches and have heard thousands of sermons, how come no one is preaching this? I’ve never heard this before. Why? Continue Reading…

For some, Christianity is a theology. For many, it’s a weekly production or a religious duty. To few, it’s a Person who is known individually and corporately.

Someone asked me to respond to some objections to my book Reimagining Church. So I shall. I’m doing so for the benefit of those who haven’t yet read the book as I trust it will help.

1) One reviewer asked me in a private email if I thought a person who professes Jesus Christ and follows Him with his or her life, but denies the Trinity, should be excommunicated. My answer was very simple. Namely, that many people who follow the Lord today have been mistaught on the Trinity. This is quite common in fact. My response was that such a person should be taught and instructed about it instead of cut off from the body of Christ. I explained that I’ve seen many such people come to embrace a correct understanding of the Truine God after they were patiently instructed about it. Note: we weren’t speaking of the person who comes into a church to *promote* a contrary teaching and draw disciples after himself. We were speaking of the person who loves the Lord, but who was taught inaccurately. The two case are very different. Continue Reading…