Category: Recommended Books


Prayer Walking

Filed Under: Evangelism, Recommended Books, Spiritual Life, The Viral Jesus Book, Viral Christianity by rossrohde — Leave a comment
February 21, 2012

Thank you for all the interaction about listening to God. Now I have a new challenge. Please send me your stories for meeting God through the practice commonly called prayer walking. If you don’t know what prayer walking is, here is a good primer.

So, to encourage people to experiment with prayer walking, or continue prayer walking, I’d like to offer to send a copy of my book Viral Jesus to those who send me a good story of an encounter with God while prayer walking. As always, I get to be the final arbiter of which stories get posted and to whom I send books, but I’m pretty generous, so feel free to send me your stories.

Joel Zehring sent me this story about both listening and prayer walking. I believe in prayer walking. I find that God speaks to me best when I prayer walk and I know many people who have the same experience.

Joel’s Story

Here’s a story I posted on my blog a couple years ago:

I’ve been taking my son on prayer walks around our neighborhood for a few months, and a funny thing has happened. To my eyes, the neighborhood hasn’t changed much, but my prayer walking is changing.

On our most recent walk, I passed a guy working on his lawn. I said hello, threw out a quip about being productive, and kept on walking. As soon as he was out of my periphery, I got the idea that I should ask him if I could pray for him.

“Next person,” I told myself as I continued on, speaking out loud my prayers as I pushed Nathan in the stroller.

A few streets later, Nathan pointed to a little girl standing in her driveway. Her mother was taking out the trash.

“That’s a little girl, huh?” I commented, followed by a friendly “hello” to the mother. We were past the house before I remembered that I was going to ask if I could pray for her. I wondered if I was being forgetful or willfully negligent in passing up these opportunities.

Heading up our street to go back home, we saw one more person, a woman raking weeds in her front yard. I said hello and commented on her yard and her diligence. Before the conversation ended, I crossed to her side of the street and mentioned our mission for this walk.

“Our neighborhood needs it,” she said.

Then I made my pitch: “I don’t mean to push anything on you, but is there anything we could pray about for you?”

Without hesitation, our neighbor explained what was happening lately in her life, and how we might pray for her. We learned that she follows Jesus and she shared a good deal about her family. Before walking on, I prayed a quick prayer aloud for her requests, then wished her a good day.

Over all these months of praying over our streets, it’s never once struck me to stop and pray with our neighbors. I’ve prayed for husbands, wives, parents, children, and I’ve prayed that God would reveal himself to our neighbors. I just didn’t think that he wanted to reveal himself right there on the street during our prayer walk. I’ll be walking a lot more carefully on our next walk.

  • Is prayer walking a new idea to you?
  • Where is your best place or way to encounter Jesus and communicate with Him?
  • What do you think are the advantages and disadvantages of prayer walking?
  • Have you ever prayer walked a place with a group of people? How was that experience?
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Two Stories of Miraculous Provision

Filed Under: Recommended Books, Spiritual Life, Supernaturalism, The Viral Jesus Book, Viral Christianity by rossrohde — 3 Comments
February 16, 2012

Can a simple bag of groceries be part of a miracle?

Our Story

In 1985 my wife, three little daughters and I were preparing to go to the mission field. Like many missionaries, we had to raise support. We felt that God was asking us to live off of the little support we already had, which really wasn’t much beyond our rent.

One day we finally ran out of food; I mean really ran out. No oatmeal, no flour, no milk, nothing. All we had was a few things like spices and baking powder. Garlic powder and baking soda don’t make a meal. Yet we had three hungry little girls, one a baby. Nevertheless, we felt that God wanted us to trust him. So, we set the table, gathered our little girls and prayed. Just then the doorbell rang. When I opened the door, there stood a woman from our church with a bag of vegetables from her garden. As we invited her in she said, “God told me to bring these to you.” After a brief chat she said, “I’ve got to go, but before I forget, God told me to also give you this.” With that she handed us twenty dollars.

At the time we were living in College Place, WA which is a small town that has a lot of Adventists. The owner of the local store was Adventist and closed his store just before sundown on Friday, and it was Friday. I had just enough time to run to the store and buy staples for the next few days; which was just enough to see us through to our next pay check. We’ve never forgotten that experience. And, whenever we are in a tough situation financially God brings that story to mind to let us know He will always take care of us.

Was this just an amazing coincidence? Well, I’ve heard many stories like this. In fact I’ve been involved one way or the other in a few of them. But here is a similar story from Steve.

Steve’s Story

Some time ago late on a Saturday morning, I felt a strong urge to take help to a family so began to load the car with frozen meat, vegetables from the freezer, staples from the pantry and to do a shop for fresh fruit. My wife actually questioned the boxes of stuff but I felt we had to be over the top generous so filled the back of the station wagon and set off to their home.

We arrived about 5:30 as they and their five teen aged children had just finished their prayer over the evening meal. The only problem was that they had NO food and my friend, the father, had prayed a blessing in faith that God would provide. He did this, over the objection of their middle son, a boy of 15, who had mocked him with, “God does not see us and if He does, He does not care.” They had just finished the blessing when I knocked on the door and began to carry in the boxes of frozen food and groceries. You can imagine the feeling!

Well, what about you. Do you have stories of God speaking to you and Him using it to do His work? If so, sent me the story and if I post it on my blog I’ll send you a copy of my new book Viral Jesus: Recovering the Contagious Power of the Gospel.

  • Have you ever experienced a supernatural provision story like this?
  • Would you respond with faith like Steve if you felt God were asking you to be over the top generous and fill your station wagon with groceries and deliver them? What about if God asked you to place $200 on a windshield (another of my experiences)?
  • What do you think happens if we don’t respond to these promptings?
  • Do you think the timing of these stories were just wild coincidences?
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Dave’s Listening Story

Filed Under: Meeting Together, Recommended Books, Spiritual Life, Supernaturalism, The Viral Jesus Book by rossrohde — 3 Comments
February 10, 2012

Would you pay $20 to have an experience like this?

Dave from the San Diego area shared this story on listening to the voice of God in response to my offer to send a copy of my book Viral Jesus to those who were willing to share good listening stories in Listening 202. Feel free to continue to share stories. I’ll send a copy of Viral Jesus to every story I use in my blog posts.

Dave writes:

God certainly does speak directly to us.  When he does, it is so we can minister to others……

Ten or so of us were gathering for Bible study one Sunday morning. My youngest sister in-law came in, handed me a cup of coffee, and sat down next to me. My sister in-law and husband have historically struggled financially for a variety of reasons. My wife and I periodically help them to fix a car, or similar, but have never “just given them money”.

I have learned to not question when “out of the blue” God prompts to do something. If is something in line with what God would wish for me to do scripturally and the prompting is unrelated to what I had been already thinking about, I pretty much have learned it is God and to just “go with it”.

The group of us prayed and were starting Bible study, when I was prompted to give my sister in-law $20. I put $20 on the table where my sister in-law is sitting. She does not notice at first, but then begins to cry uncontrollably and shaking visibly.  Other people in the Bible study thought she was having a “medical event”. I held her hand, knowing that she was being moved for a good reason. She could not speak for what seemed forever (maybe a minute). When she finally spoke a few words, she said “I am OK”; “It is something good!” After calming down, she shared that 5 or 10 minutes earlier as she was sitting alone in her car in the parking lot she was saying “I do not want to ask mom and dad for money, I am tired of asking for money, I just want $20 to go to Wal-Mart to buy some milk and some toiletries”.   God had heard the cry of her heart, and showed us how much he cares for us.

When God uses me, I am simultaneously overwhelmed with awe, thankfulness, and a deep sense of being blessed to have experienced His working. Hearing God’s promptings has only been part of my life for the past few years. About four years ago, I began to spend time in the Word and prayer daily.  God used our time together to not only reveal his truths, but also to show me areas of my life that I needed to change. When I finally let Him take control, He was able to clean me up. I prayed for the Holy Spirit to become a part of my life. I changed my prayers to be for others and to ask God to use me. It has been quite an adventure since then :)  have been blessed to have been prompted a number of times in different situations where it is obvious God’s hand was at work. The key is to seek the Giver, not the gifts. Worship God, honor Him with your life, ask to be used and hold on!

  • Have you ever had a supernatural experience like this?
  • Does God speak this directly to you? If he doesn’t why do you think that is?
  • Why do you think God speaks to us? Why do you think he sometimes asks us to do something?
  • What do you think would happen if Dave had chosen “not to go with it?”
  • Did you note how Dave, discerned if this was the voice of God? What did he do?
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Letters to the House Church Movement

Filed Under: Apostolic Ministry, Church Life, Church Planting, Discipleship, Evangelism, House Church, Meeting Together, Organic Church, Recommended Books, Simple Church, Spiritual Life by rossrohde — Leave a comment
February 7, 2012

Click here to order Letters to the House Church Movement.

Some books are practical, some are theoretical; both have their place. Rad Zdero’s book Letters to the House Church Movement is strongly practical; while reflecting a deep understanding of the paradigms under which house churches and house church networks really work (theoretical).

Rad is a house church planter and network organizer in Canada; what we in the house church movement would call an apostle. He is also an astute theologian, though he might not call himself that. As such, he has had plenty of correspondence over the years, which touches on the real nuts and bolts issues that house churches face. By sharing his real letters with us he doesn’t paint house churches in some romantic glow. This is a warts and all look at what house church practice is really like.

Here is a sampling of the kinds of issues and questions Rad deals with.

  • What are actual house church meetings really like?
  • How do house churches deal practically with problem people?
  • How do you deal with the house church radicals who have a chip on their shoulder about traditional churches?
  • How do house churches multiply and how do they deal with missions?
  • What are the real problems (not the imagined problems of those who have never experienced house church) that house churches face? How should they be dealt with?
  • What does leadership look like in house churches? What is the role of elders and apostles? What does that word “apostle” actually mean in a house church setting?
  • What is the role of women in house church?
  • How do house churches answer the common criticisms that they face? What is their biblical backing for these answers?
  • How do house churches group themselves into networks and how does that all work?
  • What is their relationship with more traditional churches?
  • What is house church spirituality like?

I could go on because Rad covers a lot of important ground just by answering real letters and emails he has received over the years. He does this graciously, openly, humbly, yet with a frankness and clarity I find refreshing. He doesn’t beat around the bush, but he is kind. I like that.

Who would profit from a book like this? First of all, any house church practitioner. Because Rad has long experience and the churches and networks he is dealing with are well organized and mature (or maturing), he has lots to say to us. Reading this book might show us some things we are missing.

However, I think this book would be good for people who are curious about house churches but have never experienced them or haven’t experienced them broadly enough to really know how they work. I would also include those who are critics of house church. My own experience with critics is that they are usually unaware of the reality and are often responding to their own imagined fears or some bad experience with an unhealthy house church practitioner (see bullet point three). It’s OK to criticize but that should come from an extensive enough knowledge that the critic isn’t just setting up a straw man and knocking it down. Rad gives the answers to the key criticisms that an experienced house church apostle of a large network would give. It’s best to get these answers from someone who actually knows what they are talking about from real experience.

Would I recommend this book? Absolutely, in fact I’m going to recommend it to one of the house churches I’m involved with. I think reading this book will give the Holy Spirit a chance to speak to us about what He wants us to do next.

  • Have you even experienced house church? What was that like, good or bad?
  • What questions do you have about how house churches work?
  • If you are a house church practitioner, what problems do you fact? Where do you need to grow? I’d suspect this book would be a good resource for you.
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Listening 202

Filed Under: Biblical Meditation, Jesus is Lord, Recommended Books, Spiritual Life, Supernaturalism, The Viral Jesus Book by rossrohde — 8 Comments
February 4, 2012

Listening is an active process.

I’ve been having an ongoing conversation with Richard about listening to God. Here is my second installment I’m calling Listening 202. I’ve abbreviated both Richard’s comments and questions and my answer. For the whole conversation see Listening 101. Also note question #1 below where I am asking for your stories. I will send the author of any story I publish in this blog with a copy of my book Viral Jesus. I grant to myself the final decision on which stories I post. Ah, the joys of having your own blog.

Richard wrote:

…I suppose the big debate is the general (“don’t kill…”) to the specific (“go and speak to that stranger over there about Me”…). Different Christians debate how specific God is likely to get. Does he just tell us to “make disciples of all people” and expect us to figure out that we are able to enter a discipling relationship with, say, our mate Bob; or will he specifically and prophetically say “make a disciple of that guy over there”? How often does he tell us to go down Straight Street? (Acts 9:11)…

Richard

Hi Richard,

God can and does speak very directly to us. He will give us as much information as we need to obey Him. But, in my experience, listening is progressive. The more I am willing to listen and obey, and the more I actively listen, the more communication I get. I don’t think hearing the voice of God is any different today than it was at the time of the New Testament (I’m not a big fan of the doctrine of cessation, that the supernatural ceased; although I used to be steeped in it).

In my book Viral Jesus I give an example of God speaking to me very specifically when I was reaching a guy I called Amado. While I was beginning to share the gospel with Amado, God told me, “Don’t disparage other religions or you are going to lose this guy. Lead him like you are catching a horse.” You can read the rest of the story on pages 51-54. But, suffice it to say God spoke very specifically to me using a metaphor I could understand, (I grew up on a cattle ranch in Oregon). Was this audible? Not exactly, but it was very specific and I knew exactly what God was saying. And His communication ended up being spot on and very helpful in my ongoing relationship with Amado.

I think one of the key passages on listening is Acts 16:6-10 where Paul and friends are directed, step by step to Macedonia.

Paul and his companions traveled throughout the region of Phrygia and Galatia, having been kept by the Holy Spirit from preaching the word in the province of Asia. When they came to the border of Mysia, they tried to enter Bithynia, but the Spirit of Jesus would not allow them to. So they passed by Mysia and went down to Troas. During the night Paul had a vision of a man of Macedonia standing and begging him, “Come over to Macedonia and help us.” After Paul had seen the vision, we got ready at once to leave for Macedonia, concluding that God had called us to preach the gospel to them. (Acts 16:6-10)

When we speak of “listening” we are actually using a language metaphor for all types of communication. Very little of “God’s voice” and our “listening” is actually audible, but it is communication. I’ve highlighted in bold the words Luke uses to indicate God’s communication with Paul and friends. Note how specific it was. God moved them from traveling north by foot to traveling west by boat. Also note it was a bit of information at a time. He told them just enough to see if they would respond in obedience. They did, and then God gave them a little more. At the end of the process, there was great fruit…and hardship.

Listening is an ongoing process. One of the quickest ways to stop communication with God is to take over the process, in essence say, “I know what you want, and I’ve got it from here.” Another problem is when we decide how we want God to communicate with us, we want a vision, we don’t want Him to only speak to us through desires or inclinations; we want it to be very direct and unmistakable, etc. We need to understand that God’s communication with us is extremely multifaceted and often subtle. He speaks to our heart and mind (Heb 8:10). He can do that in so many ways, from ideas that pop into our head, to dreams, to feelings, to godly advice…the list goes on. The main issues are that we are intentionally looking for this communication, i.e. “listening,” and when He “speaks,” i.e. communicates in some way, we hear, make sure it is God’s voice (called discernment) and then obey. Remember this is a process, not an event; note again Paul and friends in Acts 16. The main issue is actively joining in the process with Jesus the Lord: ongoing seeking, listening, hearing, discerning and obeying.

  • Have you ever had an experience of hearing God that led to fruitful ministry? Send me your story. I’ll send a copy of my book Viral Jesus to every story I share on my blog.
  • God still speaks to us as specifically as he did to people we read about in the New Testament. Agree or Disagree? Why?
  • How would you answer Richard as to the specificity of God’s communication to us? Does He just give general principles, precepts and instructions, “make disciples of all people,” or does he tell us “make a disciple of that guy over there”?
  • What other questions do you have about God’s communication and our listening?
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Charisma Magazine Review of Viral Jesus

Filed Under: Recommended Books, The Viral Jesus Book, Viral Christianity by rossrohde — 4 Comments
February 2, 2012

Charisma Magazine's review of Viral Jesus

My recently released book Viral Jesus: Recovering the Contagious Power of the Gospel was reviewed by Eilene Ishler, in of the February 2012 edition of Charisma Magazine. I think Eilene captures some of what I’m trying to say in Viral Jesus. So to get a glimpse of how another reader perceives the book, here’s the review.

Viral Jesus

Christianity was once an explosive and viral movement that spread by word of mouth. Not even persecution could stop it; rather it helped to spread the fame of Christ. But today, the gospel is no longer spreading like wildfire throughout the Western world. Slowly, Christianity has morphed into something much different—a stable institutionalized religion that no longer grips us with the excitement and spirituality of the early years.

Ross Rohde takes a look at the excitement and passion that we’ve lost and gives direction on how we can recapture it. In Viral Jesus, he compares examples from the Bible and today’s world to explore how we can return to our roots and once again enjoy the thrill and explosive growth of early Christianity.

  • If you’ve read the book, what would you summarize as the heart of the message?
  • Does anything the reviewer says make you curious? What questions does this review bring to mind?
  • Would you agree or disagree that, “Slowly, Christianity has morphed into something much different—a stable institutionalized religion that no longer grips us with the excitement and spirituality of the early years?”
  • Do you think Western Christianity can be more “thrilling and explosive” than it is now? What would that require?
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Why I Hate Religion but Love Jesus, Is it Possible?

Filed Under: Christendom, Church History, Recommended Books, The Viral Jesus Book, Worldview by rossrohde — 4 Comments
January 21, 2012

The video, Why I Hate Religion but Love Jesus, has touched a deep chord or a raw nerve in many people. In the last eleven days it had been watched on YouTube 15,839,759 times (as of Jan. 21, 9:10 AM, Pacific Time). That’s over a million times a day! Not surprisingly it has made some people angry, but to the vast majority, particularly the young, it is speaking what has been on their hearts but they could not, would not, or feared to say. Here is the video for the three of you out there who have not already seen it ;) .

Why I Hate Religion but Love Jesus:

What has surprised me is the frustrated, angry or negative response. Here is one of the most creative and eloquent.

Why I Love Religion and Love Jesus:

So what is going on here? Is religion good or bad? It’s not that simple. Part of the problem is a confusion of terms and worldviews, which Mike Morrell does a good job of clarifying in Jesus and Religion’s Relationship Status: It’s Complicated.

So let’s define terms roughly as Jeff Bethke (the author of Why I Hate Religion but Love Jesus) is defining it.

Jesus = A loving intimate God who we can know and experience personally. This Jesus is revealed in the Bible.

Religion = All the extra bits that have encrusted themselves around Jesus over the years; the extra-biblical traditions of men.

Is this even important? I believe it is extremely important. The fact that this video is getting a million hits a day ought to tell us something. This has touched a deep chord in our society. I believe it is religion, as defined above, which is keeping the Gospel of Jesus from going viral. That is why I wrote my book, Viral Jesus.

  • If we define religion, as it is defined above, why would anybody want to defend it?
  • Do you believe religion can get in the way of the Gospel?
  • After watching Bethke’s video, are you more into Jesus or religion? Be honest with yourself. Even if you are closer to the “Jesus” side of the equation, did he poke some of your sacred cows?
  • Do you think it is possible that American Evangelicals could be as religious as Catholics, just having a different set of “extra bits?”
  • Do you believe Fr. Pontifex in Why I Love Religion and Love Jesus was wrong (or right) 100% of the time? Is it possible to have a real relationship with Jesus in the midst of a lot of religion? Did you find that you agreed with some of what Fr. Pontifex said? Did that surprise you?
  • Does criticizing religion play into atheism’s hand, as Fr. Pontifex states?
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Early Christian Behavior

Filed Under: Christendom, Church History, Evangelism, Recommended Books, Spiritual Life, The Viral Jesus Book by rossrohde — 7 Comments
November 17, 2011

Fresco from 2 centuries after Mathetes.

How did the early Christians interact with the world around them? We have the book of Acts, which gives us a brief history from Luke’s perspective but beyond that do we have any record of how they viewed their world and how they interacted with it? Actually we do. There is a brief letter called The Epistle of Mathetes to Diognetus which many scholars believe was written about 130 AD.[1] This is actually a rather brief letter, the entirety of which you can read here. In it a Christian named Mathetes tries to describe who Christians are and how they live to a non-Christian friend named Diognetus. Of particular interest to me is a sentence in Chapter V which I believe shows the Early Churches aversion to Greek philosophy.

The course of conduct which they follow has not been devised by any speculation or deliberation of inquisitive men; nor do they, like some, proclaim themselves the advocates of any merely human doctrines. I’d like to make a number of observations about this quote which I believe can help us understand how our early brothers thought and how therefore they can be of service to us to get us back on track to what the Church was originally designed to be.

Observation 1: Mathetes is focused on conduct, not speculative thinking. To the early Christians how we lived was much more important that doctrinal speculation. How we lived showed who we were. This was not done by merely reciting doctrinal statements.

Observation 2: Mathetes is responding to the Greek world around him and contrasting Christianity from it. The Greek world around him, at that time, was fascinated with philosophical speculation. Of particular interest was Platonic thought which placed much emphasis on concepts and ideas (called ideals) and placed little or no importance on how we live.

Observation 3: Mathetes is concerned more specifically with following “speculation or deliberation of inquisitive men” and “mere human doctrines.” He is taking a swipe at the humanism of the day, the idea that men can figure things out and determine what truth is. Mathetes’ world was humanistic and so is ours. In fact, the humanism of our day is based philosophically on the humanistic philosophy of Mathetes’ day.

In Diognetus’ world people were obsessed with their own ideas and interpretations. They lived in a world of ideas and doctrine, not the world of life defined by concrete action. Christians of Mathetes’ world were different. They, in essence, said, look at how we live then you will know who we are.

Modern day Christianity has more in common with Diognetus’ world than it does with Mathetes’ world. We argue about doctrine, which, let’s face it, is the speculation or deliberation of inquisitive men.” Many have become “advocates” of “merely human doctrines.” Some are followers of Luther, others are followers of John Calvin, some are Pentecostals while others hold to the doctrine of cessationism. Some hold firmly to Postmillenialism while others are willing to stake their lives on a pre-tribulation rapture. We are behaving exactly like the realities that the early Christians such as Mathetes spoke against. I will discuss these issues more in my upcoming book Viral Jesus: Recovering the Contagious Power of the Gospel, which will be available for purchase on this blog Feb. 7, 2012.

Am I against doctrine? No. Am I against getting wrapped up in arguments about doctrinal ideas rather than living a Spirit controlled life? Absolutely. Our faith should be most easily be defined not by details of our doctrine but by the unique beauty of our lives…which will show what we believe, which, if necessary, could be written down as doctrines. There is a significant difference between those two views; one is deep experiential spirituality, the other is mere Christian humanism. Many people nowadays long for deep experiential spirituality. Almost nobody is searching for Christian humanism. Mathetes understood this, so he chose the first option in Chapter V of his letter, which he called displaying a “wonderful and confessedly striking method of life.” You can read Chapter V in its entirety following the questions.

  • Do you think the average Christian today lives a wonderful and confessedly striking method of life? Why or why not?
  • Is Christian behavior today so markedly different that it shows up statistically such as in divorce rates?
  • In some ways Mathetes said the Christians were just like those around them, in other ways they were markedly different. How would you characterize the ways they were the same and the ways they were different (see below)?
  • How do Christians today try to distinguish themselves from non-Christians?

CHAPTER V — THE MANNERS OF THE CHRISTIANS.

For the Christians are distinguished from other men neither by country, nor language, nor the customs which they observe. For they neither inhabit cities of their own, nor employ a peculiar form of speech, nor lead a life which is marked out by any singularity. The course of conduct which they follow has not been devised by any speculation or deliberation of inquisitive men; nor do they, like some, proclaim themselves the advocates of any merely human doctrines. But, inhabiting Greek as well as barbarian cities, according as the lot of each of them has determined, and following the customs of the natives in respect to clothing, food, and the rest of their ordinary conduct, they display to us their wonderful and confessedly striking method of life. They dwell in their own countries, but simply as sojourners. As citizens, they share in all things with others, and yet endure all things as if foreigners. Every foreign land is to them as their native country, and every land of their birth as a land of strangers. They marry, as do all [others]; they beget children; but they do not destroy their offspring. They have a common table, but not a common bed. They are in the flesh, but they do not live after the flesh. They pass their days on earth, but they are citizens of heaven. They obey the prescribed laws, and at the same time surpass the laws by their lives. They love all men, and are persecuted by all. They are unknown and condemned; they are put to death, and restored to life. They are poor, yet make many rich; they are in lack of all things, and yet abound in all; they are dishonoured, and yet in their very dishonour are glorified. They are evil spoken of, and yet are justified; they are reviled, and bless; they are insulted, and repay the insult with honour; they do good, yet are punished as evil-doers. When punished, they rejoice as if quickened into life; they are assailed by the Jews as foreigners, and are persecuted by the Greeks; yet those who hate them are unable to assign any reason for their hatred.

[1] This is probably an accurate dating. Another theory is that it was written in the early 3rd century. But that seems to be based on evidence from the last two chapters who most believe was a later addition from Hippolytus of Rome.

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Tough Situations

Filed Under: Biblical Meditation, Church History, Recommended Books, Spiritual Life by rossrohde — Leave a comment
October 21, 2011

This is an actual FARC guerrilla. My friend saw something like this.

A friend of mine was a missionary in Colombia about 25 years ago during some of the worst violence there. One day his bus was stopped by FARC guerrillas. Everyone was forced off the bus at gunpoint. Since he was a gringo, they immediately wanted to know what he was doing in Colombia and why he was in this rural area. He told them he was a missionary trying to help the people. They immediately stuck a gun in his face and proclaimed their hatred of American missionaries. In the past, FARC had kidnapped and martyred American missionaries, so this was no joke. “Are you really a Christian? Because if you are, we are going to blow the back of your head off.” He was being asked to stick up for his faith by his actions, in a life or death situation.

What would you do in that situation? We all have fantasies of heroically sticking up for our faith. But every day we are given the same test. How are we doing? What test am I talking about? I’m talking about the test that Jesus told us about in Matt. 25:31-46. In this famous parable of the sheep and the goats the difference between sheep, who went to heaven, and goats, who went to hell, was what they did; specifically for “the least of these.” Jesus said we would be judged by our works.

“Wait, you are talking about works salvation.” I can hear your thinking from here. “Haven’t you ever read Eph. 2: 8-9?” [1] Yes, I have. I love that passage. And I have read it in the context of Eph. 2:10 as well. Here’s Eph 2: 1-10 for further context, if you would like. I am talking about salvation by grace, which can be verified by the life we live; the way we act.

That is exactly what Jesus was talking about in the parable of the sheep and the goats. True faith, true belief, will play itself out in the way we live. It will particularly play itself out in the way we treat those who are at the bottom of the pile, what sociologists call the disenfranchised. Agreeing with or even proclaiming correct doctrine won’t get you to heaven. It will just show you know some facts about biblical doctrine. Real faith can be spoken about, but it is lived day by day; not merely talked about. Here is a similar situation that the early Christians experienced in the 2nd Century.[2]

Would you get the card?

So let’s replay my friend’s scenario in Colombia and the same type of scenario that Jesus gave us in the parable of the sheep and the goats. America is taken over by an anti-Christian government. You are pulled before a judge. He says that he has heard rumors that you previously talked about being a Christian. Are you a Christian or not? He will send out the FBI to check not only on what you have said but how you have actually lived out your beliefs. If it is just talk and church attendance you will receive a “get out of jail free card.” On the other hand, if the FBI can track down instances of you actually living your faith by helping others, particularly the weak, in the name of Jesus, and if this is consistent behavior; he is going to throw you in jail and throw away the key. Would you get the get out of jail free card or not?

Don’t complain to me if these parameters seem unfair. You are going to need to talk to Jesus about it. Perhaps you should.

  • Why do you think Jesus set the parameters by what we do instead of what doctrine we agree with?
  • If you ever had a fantasy about being brave under persecution did you ever think you are in the same situation every day?
  • Do you really think these kinds of things can’t ever happen in the West?
  • If you were in the situation the early Christians faced before Pliny the Younger, would you offer a prayer with incense and wine to Trajan’s image and curse Christ? Does your day to day behavior reflect your answer?
[1] Believe me, I’ve had this conversation before and the response is almost always the same from American Evangelicals.

[2] I develop this story of Pliny the Younger and the Emperor Trajan further in my upcoming book Viral Jesus which comes out Feb. 2, 2012. You will be able to buy it here from the blog.

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This is Discipling

Filed Under: Discipleship, Evangelism, Recommended Books, The Viral Jesus Book, Viral Christianity by rossrohde — 9 Comments
June 30, 2011

I wrote my upcoming book, Viral Jesus: Recapturing the Contagious Power of the Gospel[1], to answer a basic question; what will it take to once again see a viral movement of the Gospel in the West? Most Christians don’t realize the following facts:

  1. We have not had a viral movement of the Gospel in the West since the early 4th century.
  2. Christianity was designed by God to be a sustained viral movement and its first three centuries were exactly that.
  3. Christianity as a whole did not have a sustained viral movement of the Gospel between the Edict of Milan in 313 AD. and the Chinese House Church movement which started in 1949 (that’s 1,636 years).

So, if Christianity was designed to be viral movement, it was originally a sustained viral movement and it has become a viral movement again in other places (like China and India) outside the West, what will it take to once again see that happening here in the West?

What happened in the late 3rd Century and particularly at the Edict of Milan that stopped the Gospel from being what it was designed to be, viral in its spread? What are we unintentionally doing now that keeps it from being viral? What have our brothers in places like China and India learned that allows the Gospel to again spread rapidly and organically like seeds in a field or leaven in a lump of dough (Jesus’ original metaphors) or like a viral video?

Most of us are unaware of our own Christian history. Most are unaware of how different we are from the Early Church and their practices. In our minds this is the way it has always been. But, that is not true, our current practice is far different (in some ways almost the exact opposite) from what the Early Church did. And there are significant strategic consequences to those changes.

In Viral Jesus, I’m going to tell the story of our history, where the changes came from and why. I’m going to explain the changes in our theology focus and why they have damaged the ability of the Church to fulfill her commission from God. I’m going to explain what happened in China with real accounts from their exciting story. I’m going to tell real life stories of how this is just beginning to impact places like Western Europe and the United States. And, I’m going to explain how we too can once again recapture the strategic genius of the Early Church of our brothers in China, India and other non-Western Great Commission hot spots.

But, as a teaser I’m going to share this video that I became aware of recently. It captures some of what I am expressing in Viral Jesus. It doesn’t have the history, it doesn’t have the theology, it doesn’t the real life stories of how this is starting to happen here in the West or how it is succeeding in other areas of the globe; but it does begin to capture the essence of the strategic implications.

  • Are you aware that our current church practice is often almost the exact opposite of what the Early Church did? Do you know where these changes in practice came from and why?
  • Are you aware of how powerfully and virally the Gospel is spreading in places like China and India?
  • Are you aware that we are just beginning to see this kind of movement in West?
  • Do you know what those who are reaping this viral harvest are doing differently that the traditional practices we all know?
[1] The Viral Jesus release date in Feb. 2, 2012. You will be able to buy a copy from this blog.

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