Category: Viral Christianity


Is This God or the Devil?

Filed Under: Biblical Meditation, Church History, Evangelism, Supernaturalism, Viral Christianity by rossrohde — 4 Comments
April 9, 2012

Viral Jesus movments are where the battle is the most intense.

This post is the third in a series which seeks to ask the question, what kind of spirituality do we need if we are going to see a viral Jesus movement in organic churches in the West? In the first blog Running on One Leg I described three different forms of spirituality we see in those seeking to see a viral Jesus movement. In the second The Second Great Awakening  I show what one of many viral Jesus movements looked like. I also note that these movements are often accompanied by strange manifestations. In this post I want to outline how we can determine if what is happening is coming from God or from his enemy.

Viral Jesus movements are attacked by the devil. This happens in two ways. First, the devil, who knows what manifestations of a Jesus Movement look like, can counterfeit them. After all, he does like to present himself as an angel of light. It should come as no surprise then that non-Christian religions like Mormonism, Buddhism and Islam sometimes manifest similar manifestations to those that accompany viral Jesus movements. But, keep in mind the devil isn’t going to counterfeit something that is already false or evil, there is no point from his perspective. He is only going to counterfeit what is wholesome and true.

However, what is even more confusing, the devil likes to lurk around the edges of viral Jesus movements then join in so he can discredit what Jesus is doing. The devil lurking around the edges usually expresses itself when he tempts spiritually weak or gullible people to fall into serious sin while participating in a movement of the Spirit. This give him a chance to have others say, “See, this is sinful, it is obviously from the devil.” It should come as no great surprise that at Cane Ridge, the powerful revival meeting that was a key flash point for The Second Great Awakening, people were getting drunk and committing adultery and fornication in the woods nearby. That’s the devil lurking around the edges and joining in to discredit.

The Test

Jesus told us:

“Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves.  By their fruit you will recognize them. Do people pick grapes from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? Likewise every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Thus, by their fruit you will recognize them.” (Matt. 7:15-20).

What can be said about testing false prophets can also be said for testing movements of the Spirit from the devil’s behavior. The test is do they produce good fruit or bad. The 2nd Great Awakening saw millions come to Christ, it changed the society from violent and dangerous to peaceful and holy. It also sparked such important social reforms as abolition, women’s rights, education reform, penal reform and temperance. That’s good fruit. Would the devil do that? The mini Pentecost experienced by the Moravians on August 13, 1727 sparked a missions movement (good fruit). The Azuza Street revivals sparked the Pentecostal movement which has seen hundreds of millions come to Christ and has sparked a missions movement which has covered the globe (good fruit). When a movement sparks such good fruit it is clearly from God, even when seems to us to have strange manifestations that we may find uncomfortable.

Three Mistakes

It is easy to throw the baby out with the bathwater. This can express itself in at least three ways. The first is to see what we consider to be strange and distasteful manifestations and proclaim them works of the devil. Before we do so, check the fruit. The second is to point out that the same or similar behavior is being manifest in ungodly movements. This is guilt by association. The test is the same, check the fruit. The fruit of Mormonism or Islam is not the same fruit as a viral Jesus movement, but it can look similar. Finally, even in a viral Jesus movement the devil can enter in along the edges to discredit. Just because there are inappropriate things happening to a few who are participating doesn’t mean the whole thing is of the devil. It means that some people have been duped by the devil. For example, some overzealous people in the Pentecostal movement split churches and wounded people in their zeal. However, the answer is not to be duped as well, it is to check the fruit. Let me ask you, despite some bad things that have happened in the Pentecostal movement, do you think the devil was behind hundreds of millions coming to Christ and a worldwide missions movement? We need to check the fruit of the whole movement as well as check the fruit of individual behavior, and discern the difference between the two. The movement may be of God, while individual acts may be a satanic distraction.

In the next post I’m going to talk about common characteristics of revival. Finally, in the last post in the series I’m going to talk about how to kill a viral Jesus movement; it’s easier than you may think.

  • Why do you think so many Christians are quick to dismiss movements of the Spirit?
  • Is weird or unexpected behavior an automatic sign that something is from the devil?
  • Does ungodly things happening among an otherwise healthy movement a sign that the whole thing is rotten fruit? Does everyone in your church or denomination act appropriately?
  • Can you think of another way to test if something is of the Spirit of God or from the devil?
  • Why do you think some Christians are willing to attribute supernatural power to the devil but not to God?
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The 2nd Great Awakening

Filed Under: Christendom, Church History, Evangelism, Recommended Books, Spiritual Life, Supernaturalism, Viral Christianity by rossrohde — 5 Comments
April 6, 2012

A Small Part of the Meeting at Cane Ridge

In my last post Running on One Leg  I described the spirituality required for a viral Jesus Movement. In this post I’m going to describe what just one of these movements looked like; although there have been many in Christian history. In my book Viral Jesus I devote four chapters to this issue: The Early Church: The First Viral Jesus Movement, The Crumbling of a Viral Jesus Movement, The History of Partial Viral Jesus Movements, and China: A Current Viral Jesus Movement.

It started with a covenant with God

In the wilds of Kentucky in 1799 the members of three churches in Muddy River, Red River and Gaspar River signed a covenant with their circuit riding Presbyterian preacher named James McGready. They promised to pray every Saturday evening, Sunday morning and fast the second Saturday of every month. The covenant read in part:

When we consider the Word and promises of a compassionate God, to the poor lost family of Adam, we find the strongest encouragement for Christians to pray in faith—to ask in the name of Jesus for the conversion of their fellow men…With these promises before us, we feel encouraged to unite our supplications to a prayer-hearing God, for the outpouring of His Spirit, that His people may be quickened and comforted, and that our children, and sinners generally, may be converted.

The Movement Spread from Red River

In June of 1800 while McGready’s Methodist friend John McGee preached passionately at a communion service at Red River the Spirit came in power. Here’s a portion of McGee own account of what happened as he preached:

Several spoke to me: “You know these people. Presbyterians are much for order, they will not bear this confusion, go back and be quiet.” I turned to go back—and was near falling, the power of God was strong upon me. I turned again and losing sight of fear of man, I went through the house exhorting with all possible ecstasy and energy.”[1]

Here’s how Peter Marshall and David Manuel in their book From Sea to Shining Sea described what happened next.

With that, the dam broke, and the floods of salvation swept through the assembly. In a moment, the floor was “covered with the slain: their screams for mercy pierced the heavens,” and according to McGready, one could see “profane swearers and Sabbath-breakers pricked to the heart and crying out “What shall we do to be saved?”[2]

This powerful revival swept through the other congregations in the area to the point that in 1801  McGready, McGee and their other Presbyterian, Methodist and Baptist preacher friends decided to make a clearing in the deep woods at Cane Ridge to hold a large revival meeting. The preachers were stunned when twenty-five thousand people showed up in the middle of the wilderness. This was about one eighth of the entire state’s population.

Demonstrations of the Power of God

Powerful but strange manifestations of a Viral Movement

Here’s the weird thing. This revival in the middle of the woods was accompanied by some very bizarre manifestations of the Spirit. Here’s how James B. Finley, who came to observe as a skeptic, described just one of those strange manifestations, people all shouting at once.

The noise was like the roar of Niagara. The vast sea of human beings seemed to be agitated as if by a storm. I counted seven ministers, all preaching at one time, some on stumps, others in wagons…. Some of the people were singing, others praying, some crying for mercy in the most piteous accents, while others were shouting most vociferously. While witnessing these scenes, a peculiarly-strange sensation, such as I had never felt before, came over me. My heart beat tumultuously, my knees trembled, my lips quivered, and I felt as though I must fall to the ground. A strange supernatural power seemed to pervade the entire mass of mind there collected…. Soon after, I left and went into the woods, and there I strove to rally and man up my courage.

After some time, I returned to the scene of the excitement, the waves of which, if possible, had risen still higher. The same awfulness of feeling came over me… I saw at least five hundred swept down in a moment, as if a battery of a thousand guns had been opened upon them, and then immediately followed shrieks and shouts that rent the very heavens. My hair rose up on my head…. I fled into the woods a second time, and wished I had stayed at home.[3]

What Finley, who became a frontier preacher himself, describes is actually quite mild compared to some of the other powerful manifestations that happened at Cane Ridge. But what was the result? Did this really result in the Kingdom moving forward? Let’s hear from a contemporary skeptic.

Personal holiness was not the only result from the 2nd Great Awakening

How this affected society

Dr. George Baxter, a minister was sent to Kentucky by Presbyterian officials in Princeton to put an end to such shameful nonsense. Keep in mind that Kentucky before the revival was an evil place, nicknamed Rogue’s Harbor for all the outlaws that congregated there to avoid more organized society (i.e. the law). Here’s part of Baxter’s report to his superiors.

The power with which this revival has spread, and its influence in moralizing the people are difficult for you to conceive, and more so for me to describe…. I found Kentucky, to appearance, the most moral place I had ever seen. A profane expression was hardly ever heard. A religious awe seemed to pervade the country…. Never in my life have I seen more genuine marks of that humility which…looks to the Lord Jesus Christ as the only way of acceptance with God. I was indeed highly pleased to find that Christ was all and in all in their religion…and it was truly affecting to hear with what agonizing anxiety awakened sinners inquired for Christ, as the only physician who could give them any help.

Those who call these things “enthusiasm,” ought to tell us what they understand by the Spirit of Christianity…. Upon the whole, sir, I think the revival in Kentucky among the most extraordinary that have ever visited the Church of Christ, and all things considered, peculiarly adapted to the circumstances of that country…. Something of an extraordinary nature seemed necessary to arrest the attention of a giddy people, who were ready to conclude that Christianity was a fable, and futurity a dream. This revival has done it; it has confounded infidelity, awed vice to silence, and brought numbers beyond calculation under serious impressions.[4]

In the next three posts I’m going to ask the question, how can we determine if strange behavior is from God or the devil? In the subsequent post I’m going to talk about common characteristics of viral Jesus movements. Finally, in the last post in the series I’m going to talk about how to kill a viral Jesus movement.

  • Have you ever been a part of a viral Jesus movement like this?
  • Would you want to be a part of this or is it just too weird?
  • Do you think this kind of thing can be counterfeited by the devil? If so, how do we distinguish what comes from the devil and what comes from God?
  • What do you think the common characteristics of a viral Jesus movement are? How do these things get started?
  • Why isn’t Christianity like this all the time? How does this get suppressed?

[1] Charles A. Johnson, The Frontier Camp Meeting (Dallas: Southern Methodist University Press, 1955), 35.

[2] Peter Marshall, Manuel, David, From Sea to Shining Sea (Old Tappan, New Jersey, Fleming H. Revell Company, 1986), 62.

[3] Marshall and Manuel, p. 68 quoting Johnson p. 64-65.

[4] Ibid., 69.

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Running on One Leg

Filed Under: Christendom, Evangelism, Spiritual Life, Supernaturalism, Viral Christianity by rossrohde — Leave a comment
April 4, 2012

It's hard to move forward.

I recently spoke at the Momentum West Coast 2012: Organic Church Conference. The title for my talk was “Practical Spirituality.” I wanted to answer the question, what kind of spirituality do we need if we are going to see a viral Jesus movement in organic churches in the West? I think that’s a pretty good question. Have you ever asked yourself that? Here’s what I said.

Hopping

Many of us have been trying to do organic ministry as if we were trying to run on one leg, and it’s our weak leg at that. Imagine standing on only your left leg and then trying to run. It’s clumsy isn’t it? Our left leg represents the human side of ministry: models, methods, techniques, paradigms, objectives…you get the picture. These aren’t bad things. After all God will need to give us some sort of model, technique, method, etc. if we are to accomplish ministry. However, focusing only on these things leaves us hopping when we need to be sprinting.

Limping

At least we are going someplace.

Ever notice that Jesus never said, “If you get the best techniques down just right you will bear much fruit?” What did he say? “I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing” (Jn 15:5). Techniques and the rest, in and of themselves, are totally worthless. They are worthless because real fruit comes from Jesus, not us. He bears fruit through us; we don’t bear fruit for Him. That’s exactly what He means when He said, “apart from Me you can do nothing.” Now we have put the other leg, the leg of abiding spirituality on the ground. This is our strong leg. Now we can move forward, better said; now we can limp. Limp? Yes limp. Individuals working alone in an abiding relationship with God can move forward but it is not with the power that accompanies viral Jesus movements. It is good, but it is not all that God has for us. Don’t get mad yet, hear me out.

Now we are doing what God designed us for.

Running

Viral Jesus movements  look different than merely godly people ministering in the Spirit. There is much more power. And I think God wants us to work in that power. After His resurrection Jesus spent forty days with his disciples then he ascended. But, before He left He said to them, “It is not for you to know times or epochs which the Father has fixed by His own authority; but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth” (Acts 1:7-8). In response to this 120 of his disciples went to an upper room and prayed for ten days…then all heaven broke loose. I don’t need to tell you the rest of the story, you already know it.

What you may not know is that throughout Christian history there have been a number of mini Pentecosts. When they happen, there is tons of power, rather strange manifestations, and the Gospel moves out quickly and in tremendous power. The same people who before preached the Gospel with meager results now preach the gospel with incredible results.

In my next post I’m going to give just one example of what this looks like, the Second Great Awakening. I’m going to quote original sources and give a glimpse of what God’s power looks like, and the results that it gives. Then in the following three posts I’m going to ask the question, how can we determine if strange behavior is from God or the devil? In the subsequent post I’m going to talk about common characteristics of revival. Finally, in the last post in the series I’m going to talk about how to kill a viral Jesus movement.

  • Do you think we can move the Kingdom forward just focusing on techniques, methods, and the rest?
  • Have you found yourself thinking, if I can just learn how to “do it right” everything will begin to work?
  • Why do you think Jesus offers fruit, more fruit, much fruit and fruit that remains (Jn. 15:1-17) only to those who abide in Him?
  • Do you think I have it wrong, that we can actually develop powerful ministry just by studying and implementing the best techniques?
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Caught

Filed Under: Church Life, Discipleship, House Church, Meeting Together, Spiritual Life, Viral Christianity by rossrohde — 2 Comments
March 24, 2012
Caught not Taught

Did you ever have a class in integrity? Did it help?

We’ve all heard the saying Christianity is caught not taught. It’s true, but we hear it so often that it is easy to ignore. What does “Christianity caught” look like? How is that different than a taught version?

Here’s how I think Christianity is caught. How did you become a member of your family? After all, don’t you not only reflect your national culture, be it Australian, British, Spanish or American, but participate in your family’s culture? Some families argue and “get it all out.” Others would be horrified by such behavior and would rather be silent and let the tension blow over. We all reflect our family’s culture. Yet, I’d be willing to wager that none of us have had a class in Jones Family Culture 101. We have probably never had our parents sit us down at the kitchen table, ask us to take out our notebook and begin to lecture on how this family works, point by point.

How then do we catch our family culture? We observe it, mostly tacitly. We participate in it without even thinking about it. We discuss issues and end up being persuaded that this is the right way to do things. And, we observe others outside of our family subculture and feel uncomfortable when they end up violating our family norms. In short, it is absorbed through participation.

Here’s an example. I led a guy to the Lord a few years ago. We’ll call him David. My friends and I began to meet at David’s house with some of David’s family and friends to disciple them. One of the things my friends and I did, without really thinking about it, was to pray for people while putting our hands on their shoulders. We also asked before we did this and when the person agreed, we all got up as a group, gathered around and prayed.

One day David’s family asked my friends and me out to lunch in a nice restaurant. They wanted us to meet one of their friends, who I will call Jake, so we could have spiritual influence in Jake’s life. In the course of the conversation David, now about a month or two old in the Lord, asked Jake if we could pray for him. Keep in mind this is in a crowded restaurant. Jake liked that idea. Before we knew it David had jumped to his feet, put his hand on Jake’s shoulder and began to pray out loud (which of course, we also had modeled to him).

I never intentionally taught David this was “the” way to pray. But I did model it for him. Had he been a bit older in the Lord, it is likely his understanding of the practice of prayer would have been much more nuanced. I was intentionally discipling David. But that really didn’t amount to much more than bring up a subject with his family and friends and discussing it and investigating the subject in the Bible or ministering to them in some way. Yet, David, his wife and friends learned quite a bit beyond the “subject matter.” In fact, they probably learned much more through participant observation than through intentional teaching.

Let me make another observation about catching our faith. When someone doesn’t “catch” something from us, it is doubtful that it was specifically because we failed to have a formal class it the subject. If they didn’t catch it, it was because they didn’t want to catch it, or had not observed it enough to fully yet grasp it. But I personally doubt that it had anything to do with lack of formal class time.

Here’s yet a further observation about catching our faith (and giving it away). I can’t think of a single issue in our faith, including formal doctrine that can’t be caught instead of taught. In fact, in my opinion, teaching in a classroom format often ends up causing the subject matter to only be caught in the head and ends up missing the heart.

  • How much of your faith has really been caught?
  • The things you were taught, how deeply are they integrated into your heart, not merely your head?
  • Could it be that we teach formally because that’s what we’ve caught from others? Isn’t that ironic?
  • What would a discipleship ambiance look like that forsook “formal” teaching? Could it still develop excellent disciples of Christ, teaching them to observe all that He commanded?
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Mr. Smith Goes to Washington

Filed Under: Church Life, Discipleship, Meeting Together, Recommended Books, Simple Church, Spiritual Life, Viral Christianity by rossrohde — Leave a comment
March 14, 2012

To order This Is My Body: Ekklesia As God Intended click here.

So often when one reads about the Church nowadays we end up with a work that doesn’t really question the status quo. The assumption is that this is what we do, and therefore it is pretty much how it ought to be. Then we get a slightly new twist on some cool iteration of the status quo, perhaps a change in the standard order of service or a new trendy way of doing worship and we are done.

For anyone who is aware of how Jesus actually designed His Church, as described in the New Testament, what the Church was like in the first few centuries, how the church has changed through 2,000 years of history compared to how it is today, the typical analysis leaves a whole herd of elephants standing in the room. Keith Giles in This Is My Body: Ekklesia as God Intended graciously and passionately takes us on an elephant hunt.

Jesus designed His Church for a purpose, and the purpose was not looking in the mirror at itself and admiring its own beauty. Nor was it to be insecure about itself finding every flaw. It was to be His people on mission with Him to extend His Kingdom. All the while it was to be His loving bride, the receptor of his loving affection and the bride who loved him back. There was a design and there was a purpose.

The Church has strayed away from her God given design and she has become distracted from her purpose. When God’s people Israel strayed away from their design and their purpose God sent prophets to call them back to what they were really supposed to be and how they were really supposed to live. Keith is doing the same for the Church today. Keith told me recently that he almost titled this book something like Jesus Called and He Wants His Church Back. He decided that title might drive away the very people who needed to read it so he refrained. But I do think it’s about time someone told us Jesus wants His Church back.

Keith is not angry. He is not trying to merely poke holes and express pet peeves. Nor is he the prophet of doom shouting on a street corner in a tin foil hat. Instead his is that wise yet passionate voice; the voice of Jimmy Stewart speaking to the Senate in Mr. Smith Goes to Washington.  We may not necessarily want to hear it but know when we do we are listening to solid wisdom and truth. In the video below start at minute 1:51:40.

If you were an athlete in training for the Olympics what kind of coach would you want to have? Would you want a coach that constantly praises you and tells you whatever you do is just fine? Or, would you want a coach that while being encouraging, takes you back to the fundamentals, teaching you step by step how to excel? Honestly, some of us just want to be praised and don’t what their status quo questioned. If you are that person, this is not the book for you. Others of us, though, long to learn how to be the bride that Jesus deserves. They long to be with Him as he goes about His world setting things right. And they long to be the bride He lovingly describes, to be on mission with Him as He designed it. If that expresses your heart, you have found your book.

One last thing; Keith is an excellent writer. His book is a pleasure to read. I found myself wanting to post quote after quote on Twitter and Facebook. I quickly realized I was republishing Keith’s book a Twitter snippet at a time, so I tried to restrain myself, not completely successfully. You are going to find a lot of gems in this book; enjoy the search and recommend it to your friends.

This Is My Body: Ekklesia As God Intended is Keith’s work of love. He is so passionate about his message that he has made the book free to anyone who wants it. If you want a free e-book version you can download it here.

If you want a paper version you can hold in your hands you can order it here along with Keith’s other books.

  • Do you think it is right to question the status quo of the Church we’ve always known?
  • Do you want to hear what Jimmy Stewart has to say at the town hall meeting or are you content with the status quo?
  • Do you sense that Jesus wants His Church back?
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Sand In the Gears

Filed Under: Apostolic Ministry, Christendom, Church History, Jesus is Lord, Spiritual Life, Supernaturalism, Viral Christianity, Worldview by rossrohde — 2 Comments
March 12, 2012

Does our ministry practice throw sand in the gears of the Kingdom?

I’m often asked by people in non-organic churches, particularly pastors, why I don’t care for such things as hierarchical leadership, buildings, denominations, ministry as business methodology and other such non-biblical encrustations. While I try to be gracious when I speak of such issues, particularly in Viral Jesus, there is nevertheless, I believe, a need to talk about such strategic issues.

The assumption is often that these issues are my personal pet peeves and that such issues are a matter of personal preference, somewhat like choosing what shirt one was wearing that particular day. Nothing could be farther from the truth.

Another assumption is that I am such a stickler for biblical literalness that I can’t seem to distinguish between what is required biblically (such things as holiness and prayer) and what is optional, such as cultural expressions and technology. The main assumption is that issues like buildings, clergy and ministry as business are just cultural expressions based on our culture and time. The argument goes that having clergy or doing ministry as a business project is no less biblical that talking on a telephone or using a computer. For the record I use both telephones and computers. Again, this is a false assumption and in my opinion, a false analogy.

So why do I care so much about such issues? There are two interrelated issues that create concern on my part. The two issues are frictionlessness and the lordship of Jesus. I will address each separately, but they are deeply related and I am aware of the relationship.

I was watching a Ted Talk the other day and was struck by Jennifer Pahlka’s use of the word “frictionless.” I thought, that’s it, we need an ecclesiology that is frictionless; one that doesn’t get in the way of Jesus’ agenda, which is the spread of His Kingdom. The way the church functioned and the way they did ministry in the New Testament was frictionless; it did not interfere with Jesus’ agenda, it was built exactly for that purpose. The old saying form follows function holds true in ecclesiology as well as building automobiles.

When we do what seems to us as innocuous, like focusing ministry in a building, there are all sorts of unintended consequences. In effect we have taken a Kingdom expanding ministry and forced it to be stuck in place and time.  New Testament ministry was apostolically and prophetically centered (besides the main focus on Jesus the Lord). It was a ministry done “out there,” in society. It had no barriers of place or time. And it was always moving outward. If the best place to meet seekers is in a parking lot at 3 AM, then apostles do exactly that. They can plant a church right there among people who would never darken the door of a church. But the second we have “worship service” at 11:00 AM on Sunday, and do the majority of ministry in a designated building, biblically designed apostolic ministry grinds to a halt. It is like throwing sand in the gears of the Kingdom. Our ministry practice ceases to be frictionless. It starts to get in the way of Jesus’ well thought out and frictionless ministry practice. In other words, the rapid and effective flow of the Kingdom out into society is greatly compromised. Building are just one example of sand in the Kingdom’s gears, there are many others which I explore is Chapter 5: The Crumbling of a Viral Jesus Movement, in Viral Jesus.

The other issue I have with non-biblical ecclesiology is how such behavior compromises the lordship of Jesus Christ. Let’s take ministry as a business project as an example. Biblical ministry behavior was based on Jesus actually making the command decisions. One great place to see this in practice is Acts 16:6-10 another is Acts 13:1-3. Note in Acts 16, as Paul and friends move through Asia minor, how Jesus himself directs them in where to go and what to do. Note such powerful phrases as: kept by the Holy Spirit from preaching the word in the province of Asia and but the Spirit of Jesus would not allow them to, and concluding that God had called us to preach the gospel to them. This is ministry directed by Jesus himself and discerned through prophecy.

In place of such spiritually powerful and effective ministry, we decide that American business practice and its use of human planning, like time bound and quantifiable goals, will make us more effective. All it does is strip away control of the ministry from Jesus the Lord and place it firmly in our foolish human hands. Again I discuss this in Viral Jesus. We have replaced supernaturally powerful, Jesus directed ministry for humanly powerful, man directed ministry. Just remember whoever makes the decision is the lord. If we make decisions we are lords, if Jesus makes the decisions He is Lord.

So my concern for the foolish later historical encrustations in the Church (Christendom) are not merely issues of personal preference, they are strategic and they are spiritual. I believe it would do us well to discuss this openly and graciously so we all become more effective at following Jesus into the harvest. That was one of my goals for writing Viral Jesus.

  • What other ministry practices besides using buildings and ministry as a business do you think interferes with the frictionless spread of the Kingdom?
  • Why do you think the church began to adopt these non-biblical practices?
  • Do you believe, like I do, that God intentionally built such things as ecclesiology and ministry practice to be frictionless and led by Him, or are you not persuaded by my argument?
  • How can we have Jesus led ministry if we don’t practice prophecy? How can we determine which prophecies are from the Lord and which are fleshly if we don’t study and practice discernment of spirits?
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Scot McKnight Interview: “The King Jesus Gospel” & McKnight Responds to Critics

Filed Under: Discipleship, Evangelism, Jesus is Lord, Our Covenant With God, Recommended Books, Spiritual Life, The Viral Jesus Book, Viral Christianity by rossrohde — 6 Comments
February 29, 2012

Following is a link for a full interview between Frank Viola and Scot McKnight as they discuss McKnight’s Book The King Jesus Gospel. This interview was originally on Frank Viola’s Blog Beyond Evangelical. Click this link to read the unedited interview: http://frankviola.org/2012/02/08/scotmcknight.

I highly recommend reading this interview as McKnight is touching on some of the same issues I discuss in Viral Jesus about the lordship of Jesus Christ.

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Exact Provision

Filed Under: Viral Christianity by rossrohde — 1 Comment
February 23, 2012

Jesus said to ask and we will receive.

The response to my request for listening stories has branched out into stories of encountering God in prayer walking see Prayer Walking and divine provision. Below are three stories of divine provision. Please feel free to continue to send me stories about prayer waking encounters with God and now divine provision. For every story published I’ll send you a copy of my book Viral Jesus. For now I am suspending my listening stories series. However, I’ve enjoyed the stories that you have sent.

Thad’s Exact Provision Story

My business partners and I had not been paid for over 3 months because our biggest customer had refused to pay for the services that they had purchased from us.  We were all just squeaking it out with paying our bills.  One day we were leaving on a business trip from my home in San Antonio to Houston.  My partner, Richard, got in the vehicle with me and told me that earlier he had stopped by the ATM to get some travel cash.  As he stood there waiting for the machine to dispense the money the Lord spoke to him and told him to give $94 to my other partner, Wayne.  We thought, what an odd amount?  When Wayne arrived we took off for Houston while Richard told him what had happened at the ATM.  Wayne was perplexed, until we were passing through downtown San Antonio and his wife called him on his cell phone crying.  She had just arrived at her job, a bank, to find out that they were overdrawn in their account.  She was totally humiliated and embarrassed.  Wayne then asked her the amount of the overdraft, to which she sobbed — $94.  We took a short detour to pass by the bank where she worked to hand her the money to cover the overdraft.  We all learned a lesson that day about the Lord’s precise care for our situation.

Paul’s Provision Stories

When my wife and I were planting our ministry at Chico State in California our first year we were living on support as a campus missionaries and were nowhere near “full support.” God provided month by month. One time we were taking a group of students to a conference in Southern California and Christy checked our bank statement on the way down and we realized that we had nothing left! We didn’t have money for gas to get the students home!  Later during the conference the leader announced that they would be taking an offering for our ministry! Which is not normally something done at college conferences! He didn’t know anything of our situation (but God did!) but that offering provided enough for us to get home and get pizza for our evangelistic study the next week!

More recently we just had our first son Owen and have had an epic fall semester of many students accepting Jesus. Money got very tight during this season of blessing in our ministry and things were getting pretty discouraging financially. We got a letter from our OBGYN doctor and at first thought it was a bill we opened it up and it was a hand written note telling us he appreciates the kingdom work we do and all the money for the delivery of Owen was enclosed! (including what the insurance paid him.) God is faithful to provide! If it is God’s will it’s God’s bill!

  • Have you ever had an “exact provision” story?
  • Why do you think so many Christians don’t believe God acts like this?
  • Why do you think so many Christians don’t have stories like this?
  • Do you think it is possible to live by faith, without a salaried job and serve the Lord full time; kind of the modern day version of no purse, bag or sandals (Lk 10:4)?
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Prayer Walking

Filed Under: Evangelism, Recommended Books, Spiritual Life, The Viral Jesus Book, Viral Christianity by rossrohde — 2 Comments
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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