About 6 weeks ago Katie and I started meeting with 2 other couples in a home church setting about 18 minutes from our house. Its a small group, but I think it has a lot of potential. Certainly I am encouraged to pray for our group and hope and expect to see great things done.
I have commented on this before, but I should mention it again; the smallness of our group forces(in a good way) each of us to take a spiritual responsibility for each other when we meet. There is the thought "if I don't have something to share, there may be a lot of silence!" Silence is good in its place... but encouraging and exhorting and teaching one another is what should be taking place in a Christian meeting.
I want to take the opportunity to give a book recommendation. Its been over 6 months since I read "Pagan Christianity" by Frank Viola and George Barna but the memory of it is still fresh and I would recommend it to just about anyone, Christian or not. The authors examine various Christian church practices and customs and discuss the origins of these customs, which often turns out to be the surrounding "pagan" culture in the 2nd and 3rd centuries AD. Very relevant and controversial topics are brought up such as using church buildings, the order of worship, the pastor, and the sermon. I felt like the authors were humble in their approach, not claiming to have all the answers about what should be done about some of the problems they expose. Another positive about this book is that it is written with a low fog index level; just about anyone off the street could pick it up and follow along with the flow of thought. However, the authors cited a tremendous amount of source material so that anyone who wants to go deeper and do more background research can easily do so.
If you get a chance, read it and tell me what you think about it.
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