TEACHING:
JESUS LOVES HIS CHURCH!
VineLife Network, Inc.
Larry Kreider in his book, House Church Networks, discusses three types of churches: Community churches (like a community store); Mega-churches (like a Wal-Mart superstore); and House church networks (like a shopping mall). Let me state emphatically at this point, Jesus loves His Church! All of His Church..., Community, Mega, or House!
I have discovered over the years (My middle name should be Methusela!) that America’s most used method of selling one’s own ideas is to build “straw men” of the other guys products, ideas or visions, and then destroy them publicly! This method has been used repeatedly over the past four decades by ambitious people, bent on proving their position that independent house churches are “so much better than” the traditional church. I don’t believe that this approach expresses the heart of Jesus. As a matter of fact, He is grieved by the attacks on His Bride, the Church! Remember, the Church is the “body” of Jesus! He is the head and we as His disciples are its members. Just in case you haven’t discovered it yet, no part of your body operates independently from the rest of your body. There is the requirement of interdependence on the part of the members of your body for it to function according to design! The same holds true for the Church, the “body” of Christ. We need one another and must discover how to operate together in functional unity to truly glorify God.
So,
bottom line! We at VineLife must refrain from trashing other expressions
of that which belongs to Jesus…, His Church! Let’s really focus on building
one another up in the most holy faith.
David L. Shirkey
