Category: Viral Christianity


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 Listening Stories

Filed Under: Church Life, House Church, Meeting Together, Spiritual Life, Viral Christianity by rossrohde — Leave a comment
February 18, 2012

Lois’ Story

When Lois asked how much the answer was specific.

We were on our way to a house church conference in Dallas from El Paso. After it was over we would be spending the night with a college roommate. She had been unemployed for quite some time and is a single mom. It was a desperate situation. I asked the Lord if we should give her an offering while we were there. He said yes, so I asked how much. “$700″ He said. Interesting enough was that I hadn’t given an offering in a couple months so most of it was already set aside. I took the rest out of savings and put it in an envelope. Before we left her home we handed her the money. Amidst bubbly hugs and exclamations she says asked if she could count it and disappears into her bedroom. She came back out crying. She needed $600 in just 2 days before she would have been kicked out of her apartment. What is comical is that after we left she was trying to track us down to give us back the $100. “I miscounted!” she says. “You can have $100 back”. Laughing, I said, “No, I was planning to buy you groceries! Go get some food!” I love how the Lord meets the needs of those in the body. I know God would not have left her homeless, but I was privileged to be a part of His plan. I was blessed by being in on His blessing!

Tim’s Story

Tim's time didn't work out quite like he planned.

My 10 year old son and I grabbed a basketball and went across the street to shoot some hoops. As we approached the court we saw a black man in a wheel chair in the court with a basketball in his lap. As we drew closer I observed this man had cerebral palsy and could barely move his hands. He greeted us with a giant smile and a drooling invitation to play ball with him.

I’m a little frustrated internally since I am here to play real ball with my son. As we interacted a few statements I noticed on his key chain around his neck was written WWJD. I asked him if he knew what that meant. In his difficult to understand speech he said What Would Jesus Do. I asked him, Do you know Jesus? He beamed and answered “I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength.” I was stunned. I am now over my frustration. I realize I am experiencing a messenger so unusual, he must be sent by God.

I learn his name is Malcolm. I ask him where he goes to church. He winces and says he goes to a place in San Jose but they don’t like him. When he asks questions they seem annoyed. To myself, I know exactly what he’s talking about. I am now struggling whether to tell him about the fellowship that meets in my home across the street. I have thoughts of reaching our upscale neighborhood but think that would not work well if he were there. This is obviously a thought from my flesh. I hear God say, “Invite him to your home you fool. There may be blessings you have no idea about.” The Spirit wins the battle and I invite him to this new fellowship where questions and participation from anyone are welcome because that is what the Bible instructs God’s people to do. He says he’ll come. I tell him I’ll need to make a ramp to get him inside.

Over the next four years Malcolm joins in with our fellowship and we connect like no other relationship I have ever experienced where he teaches me and I teach him. If I were to recount all the things we did and learned together it would take a book. The biggest thing I learned was what it means to “wash one another’s feet”. It’s a lesson that cannot be taught AND learned in a sanctuary, a seminary, or Sunday school room. It can only be learned in that live situation where Jesus presents us with an unexpected action that requires great humility and long suffering, and we respond in obedience and joy. Yes, there were thousands of blessings for me and many others, including my young boys watching their father teach them by example about washing feet.

  • What did you learn from Lois’ story or from Tim’s story?
  • The voice of God is not always audible, what other forms can it take?
  • God spoke very specifically to Lois, including the amount of money she was to offer? Does God communicate with you this specifically? What would it take to increase the accuracy of our listening?
  • God asked Tim to do something that went against his first inclination. How do we know when to respond logically and when to go against our inclinations?
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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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Chris from England’s Listening Story

Filed Under: Viral Christianity by rossrohde — 1 Comment
February 12, 2012

Chris' story took place near here, Bedford, England.

A few years ago we had been planning to help with a youth camp being run by people from Bedford. I was sharing some of this with my friend Paul who has serious and chronic leg and back problems and is always in considerable pain and constantly on strong, prescribed pain treatment.

As I was talking with him he offered to help put up the tents – this was the day before the camp. I really thought that would be a bad idea and was about to say so, but I sensed strongly that I should accept his offer.

We drove out together to the campsite and Paul worked hard with remarkably little difficulty. The guy who runs these camps said to him, ‘Any chance you could stay over the weekend and help with the kids?’

Paul stayed and several extraordinary things happened. He was able to run around all weekend with the kids, not even needing his crutches; the pain was much reduced. He became (and remains) a close friend of the camp leader and has helped every year since that first time. This has led to further friendships and involvements. Several of the youngsters decided to follow Jesus, all of them enjoyed having Paul there, and many of them have stayed in touch with him and returned year by year.

None of this would have happened if the Spirit hadn’t whispered to me, ‘Take Paul with you’. Sometimes the smallest word from the Lord can result in so much! He knows what’s best, we don’t.

And now for some links on listening. No particular order here, but they’re all about aspects of listening and hearing.

Response, are you listening.  Speak to bones.  Little Paxton Hearing and Doing.  Thought Dream Yet Not Dream.    Hearing From Spirit in Coventry.

And there are more links here, scroll down to the section on ‘Hearing, revelation’.

  • Have you ever been asked by God to be a part of a divine appointment like this? Are divine appointments part of your life?
  • Have you ever had a “strong sense” you should do something? Did you recognize this as divine communication?
  • Chris noted, “hearing is only the first step, obedience is really what Father wants.”Agree or disagree?
  • How can we be obedient to God if we don’t listen?
  • Is doing what the Bible says the only part of listening? When does that stop being a relationship with God and become legalism?
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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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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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Technique Disorder

Filed Under: Apostolic Ministry, Discipleship, Jesus is Lord, Organic Church, Simple Church, Spiritual Life, The Viral Jesus Book, Viral Christianity by rossrohde — 2 Comments
January 24, 2012

Sadly doctors and nurses can't help you with technique disorder.

I read a great blog post today that made me recognize, once again, that I have a serious ministry disease. As I thought about Felicity Dale’s blog, A simple/organic contribution to global mission, it brought to remembrance an issue I faced as a missionary moving from a more traditional ministry setting into organic/simple church ministry; technique disorder. I personally had a serious case of technique disorder. I ministered in a context that was such a disease “hot zone” that everyone I knew suffered from technique disorder. I suspect this is a Western Church malady but we US Americans have a particularly virulent form of the disease. Further, I know from experience that once we have the disease we Westerners inflict this disease on previously healthy non-Westerners.

Let me list some of the more common symptoms of technique disorder.

  • Perceptual spiritual blindness: The afflicted delusionally believe the right technique can fix any ministry problem. The patient fails to turn to Christ for answers.
  • Workshop syndrome: The afflicted search desperately for a workshop to train them in the magic pill techniques to do ministry the “right way.”
  •  Detail myopia: The afflicted focus in on finer and finer details of the technique when the technique doesn’t work for them.
  • Initiation avoidance: The victim fears starting ministry for fear they won’t do it correctly or may not have enough training.
  • Training hysteria: The patient expresses strong emotions about the need for more training or excessive loyalty to a particular technique.
  • Expert Confusion: The afflicted feel that some designated expert has the answers they are searching for.
  • Failure frustration: If and when a particular technique fails to bring the desired results, the afflicted become agitated and confused.
  • Ministry fatigue: Failure frustration can lead to prolonged lack of desire to continue in ministry since “it just isn’t working.”
  • Hostility response: Failure frustration and ministry fatigue can eventually lead to a rejection of all ministry associated with the technique. A typical expression of hostility response is “I’ve tried simple church and it doesn’t work.”

It may seem to the reader at this point that I am anti-technique, anti-workshop and anti-training; that’s not true. I train people. I both participate in and teach in workshops in organic church planting, for example Greenhouse, which I strongly recommend. I’m not anti-technique, I just feel we need to understand the limits of technique and where true power and effectiveness comes from. Techniques are helpful. They just can’t fix anything. They have no power in themselves. They can even be exactly what is needed for a given situation but still not work. Why? The answer is simple. Spiritual power and fruitfulness come from an abiding relationship with Jesus. Further, we ourselves can’t make any ministry “work” or “be effective,” or “bear fruit.” That’s Jesus’ job. He is Lord. And, since he is Lord, we need to actually follow Him into ministry.

So, where does that lead us? I suggest getting good training and learn many helpful techniques. If you are just getting started, in my opinion, there is no better place than Greenhouse. But every useful technique, concept and insight you get at someplace like Greenhouse still has to be activated by an abiding relationship with Jesus, through following Him. He will guide you how to use the techniques you have learned. He will show you when to implement them. He might give you something totally new to fit your unique situation. In other words, the Spirit of Jesus will breathe life into the great training you have received.  Mere training itself can’t do that. For further development of this issue go to pages 134-135 of my book Viral Jesus.

  • Does technique disorder sound familiar to you?
  • Have you ever suffered from technique disorder? How you found remedies that could be helpful to fellow sufferers? What are they?
  • Do you think this is particularly a Western or American thing? Why or why not?
  • Do you think technique disorder is contagious? How is it passed from one person to the next?
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Vocabulary Confusion

Filed Under: Biblical Meditation, Christendom, Jesus is Lord, Viral Christianity, Worldview by rossrohde — Leave a comment
January 20, 2012

Influence flows from what is inside of us.

When we use one word, but give it the meaning of another, confusion can ensue. I think there is a lot of confusion nowadays in the Church by the way we confuse and abuse three words: authority, influence and power. So, I’d like to give what I believe are good definitions of these word and show how the misuse of these words leads not only to confusion but often, harm.

Authority

Parker J. Palmer in his book The Courage to Teach talks about the authority of a teacher.

External tools of power have occasional utility in teaching, but they are no substitute for authority, the authority that comes from the teacher’s inner life. The clue is in the word itself, which has author at its core. Authority is granted to people who are perceived as authoring their own words, their own actions, their own lives, rather than playing a scripted role at great remove from their own hearts. When teachers depend on the coercive powers of law or technique, they have no authority at all. [1]

For more on this read Authority: How Jesus Leads a Church.

I think this is an excellent understanding of authority. Authority is what flows out of one’s character, one’s experience, one’s life, which gives us the ability to impact others. It reflects who we are. It has nothing to do with position, title or power. Nor can it be invoked. We either have authority or we don’t, and that depends on who we are.

Influence

Influence is a gift. It is a gift from the person being influenced and it is a gift from God. We cannot force someone to be influenced by us. Either they trust and respect us enough to influence them or they don’t. It is their call. And, it is a gift from God. God gives us the ability and the favor to influence others. Still, it is not anything we have control over; it must be given. Influence, then, is the trust, respect and honor others give us which allows us to impact their lives. Influence is when what is inside of us flows out to impact others. Influence and authority are deeply related.

Power

Power comes from the ability to reward or punish others, thereby impacting what they do. Power comes from force, position or title. It may be accompanied by authority and influence but needs neither. It can be wielded gently or harshly, but it is based on reward and punishment, not necessarily the desire or will of others. Human power has no place in Christianity but is exceedingly common in Christendom. Power is the ability to control others behavior through reward and punishment. At its core, human power is fear based and coercive. Power is not related to authority and influence. It is a separate entity. One cannot have influence without authority. Power can stand on its own, but when it does so, it is destructive.

I’m willing to bet each and every person reading this blog has had an experience, at one time or another, with the following scenario. Someone, perhaps the “leader” states, “You must submit to the authority of ______________.” As in, “I’m the pastor, you must submit to my authority.” That isn’t authority, its power. We don’t submit to authority, we respond to it. Power needs and demands submission. Authority and influence neither need submission nor demand it. There is no place for that in biblical Christianity, yet we see it all the time in Christendom.

Jesus said to them, “The kings of the Gentiles lord it over them; and those who exercise authority over them call themselves Benefactors. But you are not to be like that. Instead, the greatest among you should be like the youngest, and the one who rules like the one who serves. (Luke 22:25-26).

I suspect that Jesus was being ironic here. I believe he is using the word “authority” but describing power; in other words mocking and denigrating the power I have describe above. What do kings and lords have? They have titles, positions and power. They can reward and they can punish. They demand submission. We aren’t even supposed to say we are doing so for the good of others. After all, Jesus noted they “call themselves Benefactors.” We are not to be like that. Instead we influence others based on the authority, love and service that comes from our lives. To do so requires no title, position or power. We can do it coming from the position of a little child or a slave. Yet even a slave can have the influence and authority of character and experience.

We have no control over the authority and influence we have, other than being godly people who serve others with a whole heart. Still, we can have great authority and influence. Human power, a common element of Christendom’s behavior, should have no place among us. It is destructive. It is not our job to reward or punish, that belongs to God.

  • Why do you think the wielding of human power is so common in Christendom?
  • What happens when we see a brother/sister in sin, when we know what he/she should be doing? Isn’t that a time to use power?
  • How can we gain more authority and influence? Is it something we should seek?
  • If we have real influence and authority, do we have to be careful how we use it?

[1] Parker J. Palmer, The Courage to Teach (San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass, 1998) p. 33.

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Humanistic Discipleship

Filed Under: Viral Christianity by rossrohde — 4 Comments
January 18, 2012

Jon Grubbs gives the first preview of the Viral Jesus Cover

In my upcoming book Viral Jesus in Chaper Eight: Viral Discipleship I note:

Today much of Christian activity seems to originate with human plans, and it is then carried out in human strength, with human results. It has nothing to do with the kingdom of God. The world does not need any more religion! It needs Jesus Christ. Religion is people’s attempts to do God’s work in their own strength. Jesus wants us to live and walk in God’s strength. God is only interested in His work, not our work. He oversees and empowers those things that originate in His heart. On judgment day, only that which was birthed and sustained by the Holy Spirit will survive.[1]

Merriam-Webster online dictionary defines humanism as “a doctrine, attitude, or way of life centered on human interests or values; especially: a philosophy that usually rejects supernaturalism and stresses an individual’s dignity and worth and capacity for self-realization through reason.”[2]

Most Western Bible-believing Christians are behaving as humanists. Yet most, if they are aware of humanism as a philosophy, would be offended by the idea that they are humanists. However, if we disdain the words, yet still behave like a humanist, we are a humanist.

The basic issue of humanism is that humans make the decisions and cause things to happen by their own will and ability, using their own rational intellect. We may do this for the best of intentions, but since we started from the wrong place and are functioning with the wrong operating system, we end up in a very desperate situation. We are lost in the woods thinking we know where we are going. All the time we are moving farther and farther away from home, away from God.

We have brought this same humanism into discipleship. Hence we focus on such things as witnessing techniques, small group dynamics, and biblical doctrine. None of these things are wrong, in and of themselves. The problem is the source of our accomplishment. We aren’t asking some prior questions. Rather than asking what is a good technique of sharing the gospel, perhaps we should ask: Did God set up this witnessing situation? How is He leading us to share the gospel? Instead of asking how can I utilize good small group dynamics to lead this group, perhaps we should ask how is God leading in the small group? Through whom does He want to minister? Instead of asking what doctrine is this Bible passage teaching, perhaps we should ask how is God ministering to us through the Bible? How is the Holy Spirit activating the truth of the Bible into our lives though His power?

 

For more on this subject read Chapter 8 of Viral Jesus. To order the book, click the red link to the right.

  • Is it possible to do good things with the best of intentions and still end up “lost in the woods thinking we know where we are going?”
  • Do you believe God can actually lead the discipleship process, or is that our job?
  • Can we do God a favor?
  • If God leads discipleship, does that mean we have any involvement beyond being automatons? Is there any room for our creativity and thoughts?

[1] Brother Yun, Living Water, (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2008), 54.

[2] Merriam-Webster Online, s.v. “humanism,” http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/humanism (accessed July 20, 2009).

 
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Coming Soon

Filed Under: Viral Christianity by rossrohde — 2 Comments
January 16, 2012

The book that God put on my heart has been a five year project. On February 7, 2012 the book will finally be released. Below is a brief  1 minute 20 second video which encapsulates the key idea of Viral Jesus.

 

However, what is the book about? Viral Jesus seeks to answer a very important question: What will it take to once again see a viral movement of the Spirit in the West? I believe there are answers to that question. And, I am optimistic that we can once again see a viral movement of the Spirit in the West. Why am I so optimistic? Because there have been two key periods in the history of Christianity where the Gospel became viral in societies, just like a viral video on the internet. And we are living in one of those key periods now…it’s just not happening in the West.

In Viral Jesus I investigate what happened in those two key pivotal periods in Christian history. One lasted over 280 years, the other is now in its 63rd year. What did these key periods have in common? What did the church do in those key periods that allowed Jesus to become viral in society? What are the barriers to such powerful growth? What key issues are we missing biblically and spiritually that limits our spiritual power? Are we in the Western Church participating unintentionally in these barriers? Where did they come from historically, theologically and spiritually? Why do these barriers create such problems? And, what will it take to knock these barriers down so the Gospel of Jesus can once again, to use Jesus’ metaphor, flow out of us like rivers of living water.

What I really long for is to highlight what I believe and the barriers that inhibit the Gospel in Western Church today. I’ve tried to do that in a readable way, telling stories from here in the US and overseas, highlighting amazing points in our long and fascinating history and giving clear answers to what I believe is holding us back. Most of all, I want to point us back to Jesus who is both the author and finisher of our faith. He holds the answers to these questions. It is my hope that Viral Jesus will help us connect with Him and open our eyes to the unintentional barriers to the viral flow of the Gospel in the context in which we live.

Viral Jesus is available for pre-order now from Amazon.com for a discounted price of $9.97 instead of the normal $14.99. To pre-order just click the advertisement in the right hand column.

  • Why do you think the good news of Jesus has spread like a viral video in societies but isn’t happening now in the West?
  • Are you optimistic like me and believe that Jesus can become viral in our society? Or do you believe our day has passed and Western society will never again want to hear about Jesus?
  • Could it be possible that some of the things we hold dear are the very things that are creating problems for us? If so, what things would you put on the top of your list of potential barriers to the Gospel?
  • If you became convinced that some of the things you hold dear are holding back Jesus’ Kingdom, would you be willing to set them aside for the sake of the Great Commission?
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