Cells- The Basic Expression Of Church

From the Joel Comiskey Blog

By Steve Cordle, https://xr.church/

When you hear the word “church,” what comes to mind? Can you imagine a healthy church that does not have a large celebration service?

The early church did. For a first-century believer, “church” did not evoke the image of a building or a large worship gathering; it would be a small group meeting in a house.

Many churches in the United States consider small groups one of the larger church’s many ministries—an optional activity for those interested in that sort of thing. They see the church’s core as the public worship service (celebration).

In reality, the cell group is the primary expression of the church. Why do I say that? Because the cell group can fulfill all the functions of the church, the celebration service cannot.

The functions of the church have been identified as worship, fellowship, discipleship, ministry, and evangelism (some add prayer and leadership.) All of these functions can be best expressed in the cell group. Only a few can use their gifts in a worship gathering with hundreds of people. In a cell group, everyone can participate meaningfully (1 Corinthians 14:6.) True community (fellowship) is fostered better in a small group than in a large gathering. Biblical discipleship takes place in the context of relationship, which is the specialty of the cell. Evangelism and outreach can be intentional and relational when done by a cell group.

If we think that the “real” church happens primarily in celebration services, then we will grow disciples who are not fully formed. Celebration services fulfill an essential role, but they are just one piece of the overall picture of the church.

Hand Him Over To Satan

What does it mean to hand someone over to satan?

The New Testament

The phrase “hand a person over to satan” occurs in two places in the New Testament.

1Corinthians 5:5  hand this man over to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, so that his spirit may be saved on the day of the Lord. 

1Timothy1:19-20  holding on to faith and a good conscience, which some have rejected and so have suffered shipwreck with regard to the faith.  Among them are Hymenaeus and Alexander, whom I have handed over to Satan to be taught not to blaspheme.

In the first passage from 1 Corinthians 5, Paul is discussing a man who claims to be a christian but is sleeping with his step-mother. The language makes it clear that this was a long-term relationship and that the christians in Corinth were tolerating it, perhaps even celebrating their acceptance and forgiveness towards “sinners.” Although we often think of Gentiles in those times as being quite lax in their sexual morality, this would have been considered as incest and therefore forbidden in most of the Roman Empire.

In the passage from 1 Timothy, Paul is talking about two christian leaders, Alexander and Hymenaeus, who were teaching doctrines so opposed to genuine christian faith that Paul calls them blasphemy.

The Old Testament Connection

For some background on the phrase, we could look to Job 2:6. In our English translations we read something like this: The LORD said to Satan, “Very well, then, he is in your hands; but you must spare his life.” 

But the version Paul, and most Jewish believers of the time would have been familiar with is the Greek translation of the Hebrew scriptures which says this: And the Lord said to the devil, Behold, I deliver him up to you; only save his life. So Job was handed over to satan to be tested or tormented.

Interpretation

There are a few different interpretations of these passages, but here is my interpretation.

In handing over to satan these three men, Paul is making a statement that their behaviour of persistent sin or persistent heresy, that they cannot be considered as genuine followers of Jesus. They are to be put out of the church, handed back to the kingdom of darkness where they belong.

The connection with Job suggests that they can expect to be tormented in some way by satan. Job experienced grief, financial and family loss, physical sickness and taunting from his wife. These men should expect something similar as they follow the ways of satan and forego the protection of Christ.

The 1 Corinthians passage makes it clear that the aim is that they repent. Paul wants his flesh, that is his sinful nature, to be destroyed in order that his spirit can be saved.

Whenever christian discipline is invoked the desire of all involved should be to seek the restoration of the sinner, not vengeance.

Finally, it should be noted that Paul expected that this would be done in a meeting of the whole church. Too often, we can try to be overly nice and deal with these things privately. These individuals had sinned against the whole community, and the community must take responsibility for removing the person causing distress in the body.

Do Not Fear The Red Heifer

There has been a lot of speculation lately about the end times and the red heifer. Of course, there is always something to speculate about with the end times people.

The story is that a ranch in Texas has bred a number of red heifers that could fulfil the requirements of purity to be the sacrifices. While the Biblical significance of this is unclear, Jewish tradition requires that the grounds of the temple will be cleansed by the red heifer sacrifice before the temple can be rebuilt. Therefore, it is argued, we have the red heifers so now the temple can be rebuilt and bring on the rapture.

According to a recent article in “Charisma”, they have found a potential candidate to perform the ceremony. This is a young man who was born at home and has never set foot in a hospital or a cemetery where he could inadvertently touch a dead body and therefore be unclean.

I don’t like to be the wet blanket in the end times party, but this is total rubbish.

When I got my drivers’ licence I did not assume this meant that God must soon provide me with a car. The licence was a necessary condition, but many things had to happen before I was able to own my first car. Just because you have a red heifer does not mean the temple can be rebuilt.

As christians we don’t follow Jewish tradition. Yes, the Jewish traditions can inform our reading of scripture, but it is the Bible that is the source of our doctrine, not tradition. That was what the Reformation was all about. Yet we now have end times preachers building their doctrines on Jewish tradition.

So what does the Bible tell us about the red heifer? In Numbers 19:1-13, we read:

The Lord said to Moses and Aaron:‘This is a requirement of the law that the Lord has commanded: tell the Israelites to bring you a red heifer without defect or blemish and that has never been under a yoke. Give it to Eleazar the priest; it is to be taken outside the camp and slaughtered in his presence. Then Eleazar the priest is to take some of its blood on his finger and sprinkle it seven times towards the front of the tent of meeting. While he watches, the heifer is to be burned – its hide, flesh, blood and intestines The priest is to take some cedar wood, hyssop and scarlet wool and throw them onto the burning heifer. After that, the priest must wash his clothes and bathe himself with water. He may then come into the camp, but he will be ceremonially unclean till evening. The man who burns it must also wash his clothes and bathe with water, and he too will be unclean till evening.

 ‘A man who is clean shall gather up the ashes of the heifer and put them in a ceremonially clean place outside the camp. They are to be kept by the Israelite community for use in the water of cleansing; it is for purification from sin. The man who gathers up the ashes of the heifer must also wash his clothes, and he too will be unclean till evening. This will be a lasting ordinance both for the Israelites and for the foreigners residing among them.

 ‘Whoever touches a human corpse will be unclean for seven days. They must purify themselves with the water on the third day and on the seventh day; then they will be clean. But if they do not purify themselves on the third and seventh days, they will not be clean. If they fail to purify themselves after touching a human corpse, they defile the Lord’s tabernacle. They must be cut off from Israel. Because the water of cleansing has not been sprinkled on them, they are unclean; their uncleanness remains on them.

So, to summarise, a red heifer without defect or blemish was to be sacrificed outside the camp. The heifer was to be burned and the ashes stored in a special place outside the camp. Then the ashes were to be mixed with water to purify people from sin and to cleanse those who have touched a dead body.

There is nothing there about the end times or the new temple. Jewish rabbis can make their own pronouncements about the necessary rituals to rebuild the temple, but this has nothing to do with christians.

Like many of the requirements of the Old Testament Law, the red heifer sacrifice is an illustration of Christ’s sacrifice.

• He was sacrificed outside the city
• His blood was shed in sight of the Temple (equivalent to the tent of meeting)
• His body and blood cleanse us from sin and remove from us all impurity

The writer of Hebrews tells us that we have a better sacrifice, one that is suitable for all sins. Unlike the red heifer sacrifice which had to be repeated, Christ’s sacrifice is complete.

“But he has appeared once for all at the culmination of the ages to do away with sin by the sacrifice of himself.” Hebrews 9:26

“For by one sacrifice he has made perfect forever those who are being made holy.” Hebrews 10:14

“And where these have been forgiven, sacrifice for sin is no longer necessary.” Hebrews 10:18

The red heifer sacrifice may be necessary to inaugurate the Jewish Temple, but Christ’s sacrifice inaugurated the new Temple, the people of God.

Instead of getting excited about the production of perfect red heifers, let’s press in to Christ, the one whom the heifers point to. He alone is the author and finisher of our faith, the Beginning and the End, the Alpha and Omega.

Fear Uncertainty Doubt

The ability to create fear, uncertainty and doubt (FUD for short) has been shown over millennia to be an effective way to control people.

Tyrants rule by fear.

Politicians seek to score political points over their opponents or to undermine ideologies they disagree with, causing uncertainty.

Doubt arises when we believe that somebody cannot be trusted.

FUD is present everywhere in society and it takes many names.

People can be emotionally abusive to a spouse, using FUD to make the partner become more dependent on their abuser.

Gaslighting uses lies to cause a person to doubt their own senses, memories and sanity.

Technology businesses use FUD to make people lock into their products rather than a competitor.

I have been on the receiving end of a FUD attack and the emotions it generated in me were deep dread, fear and hopelessness. It was awful! Some people live with this every day.

All of this is opposed to God’s way of love. Paul tells us in 1 Corinthians 13:13. “And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.”

Faith is the opposite of fear, because by faith we believe that God is greater than anything that can destroy us.

Hope is opposed to uncertainty because hope looks forward to a better future, one that is held in God’s hands and not the manipulations of people.

Doubt is overcome by love because we can trust God to love us without fail.

Don’t let FUD overcome you. Instead let faith, hope and love flourish in your spirit.

Presence of God in the Heart of London

From Godreports.com

Presence of God felt in heart of London

Presence Praise in the streets of London (YouTube screengrab)

The presence of the Lord was powerfully felt in the heart of London this Easter in what is seen by some as a spiritual breakthrough.

The capital has been swamped by months of rebellious protests, particularly by the pro-Palestinian marchers in the wake of the October 7th massacre of Jewish people in Israel.

But a team of Dutch Christians under the banner of Presence, a movement aimed at bringing Christian worship onto the streets of Amsterdam and other European cities, came to London on Maundy Thursday night to lift the name of Jesus beside government buildings in Whitehall.

“Jesus is the Answer” and many other songs of praise to God resounded down the busy thoroughfare as musicians and singers raised their voices in worship.

Young man worshiping in London (YouTube)

It was in stark contrast to a protest earlier in the day that saw a pro-Palestinian group occupy the entrance to the Department of Business and Trade after staging a fake accident to divert security as they called for an arms embargo of Israel.

The singers were stationed on the pavement beside the Cabinet Office, opposite the Ministry of Defense and just round the corner from No 10 Downing Street, the residence of Prime Minister Rishi Sunak.

The joyful praise and worship continued for over two hours, interrupted now and then by prayers and proclamations, boldly declaring the Lordship of Christ over London after so much chaos and disruption in recent months.

Many of the songs had an Easter theme, with much focus on the cross and the blood Jesus shed in order to reconcile us to God and each other.

Exuberant worship (YouTube)

Prayers were particularly directed at the people of Israel and the Jews in the UK who have been feeling greatly intimidated by the exponential rise in antisemitism since the Gaza War broke out.

Presence leader Wim Hoddenbagh, on at least two occasions, turned towards Downing Street to tell the Prime Minister (a practicing Hindu) that Jesus loves him! He further made a point of thanking the Jewish people for giving Jesus to the Gentile world while prayers were also said for the city’s homeless.

So uncharacteristic of the many rallies held in London was the complete absence of hostility – just praise, prayers and, clearly, the presence of God in their midst.

Further such events are planned in other parts of the UK, and they hope to return to London.

With the BBC criticised for dropping a traditional Easter service from its prime channel¹, suggesting they were thus playing down the importance of Christianity to the nation, perhaps we should take that as a sign for the Church to take more responsibility for their own message in the way the Dutch believers have done.

It is surely time to challenge the darkness that has come over our land since we decided that we knew better than God how to run our affairs. We turned our backs on the Ten Commandments and, in the face of increasing immorality, made up laws to reflect our changing culture.

Explaining the motivation for the Presence movement at a recent event in Amsterdam, Wim referenced the way the prophets of old used the weapon of worship to bring down enemy strongholds. It was the answer to Paul and Silas in prison, to King David hiding from his persecutors; why Jericho fell and why the godly kings of Israel sent worshippers out to battle ahead of the soldiers!

It’s time to build an altar of worship to God, he said. For the battle is not ours, but his!

¹They have decided not to cover the service from King’s College, Cambridge, as has been the tradition for many years.

Horrible crash kills 11 YWAM missionaries

From God Reports

Leaders from Youth With A Mission (YWAM) are asking for prayer for the family and friends of the 11 missionary leaders and students who died in a car accident near Arusha, Tanzania on Saturday.

“Eleven of our friends are now with Jesus,” YWAM revealed in a statement. “As a movement, we gather around all those impacted by this tragedy, their families, and their communities. We are working to meet all the pressing practical, financial, and emotional needs that arise.”

According to reports, at least 25 people died when a large construction truck collided with several vehicles.

A YWAM mini-bus was among the vehicles that were hit, and initially, eight members were reported dead, but the death toll was later updated to 11.

“It is with great sadness that we confirm friends and coworkers have passed away. Below are the names of those who have gone to be with Jesus,” the organization released in a later update.

YWAM remembered the following individuals without full names or nationalities including Claire M., Zebulon T., Emmanuel D., Vicent K., John M., Blaise G., Ime E., Andrew D., Chimene D., Lova R., and Lordienne N.

The ministry shared that students and teachers were riding on a New Vision School of Arusha bus and a public bus after attending a University of the Nations Executive Masters course intensive.

The YWAM bus was involved in a four-vehicle collision attributed to suspected brake failure. Accident victims were taken to major hospitals in the area for treatment.

“There are five injured individuals still hospitalized and two more people in critical condition to be rallied around in prayer.  We thank the Lord that one of the hospitalized, Isaac B., has been released to return home,” the organization reports.

Prayers are especially needed for Mathurin B. and Joelle Z. who are hospitalized in critical condition.

The organization also released the names of those in stable condition and those currently in the hospital in critical condition.

YWAM is raising $350,000 to cover the costs of “repatriation, medical evacuation, family support, funeral arrangements, and many other logistics.”

“A team of leaders on the ground in Arusha, Tanzania, a crisis response team in Kona, Hawaii, and other key leaders have been working nonstop to respond in a loving, compassionate, and responsible way to this tragedy that impacts so many of us. Thank you for your ongoing prayers and sensitivity during this emotional time,” the organization added. — CBN

Virtual Tour of the Temple

This amazing video shows the scale and magnificence of Herod’s Temple. It also points to some of the key events in the ministry of Jesus that took place in the Temple precinct.

The ROAR of Heaven

I hear the ROAR of Heaven.
I hear the ROAR of Heaven.

A million times a million believers worshipping in unison at my throne.

I hear the ROAR of Earth.
I hear the ROAR of Earth.

To you it seems small and insiginificant. It is dispersed across thousands of congregations and seems so weak comapred to the roar of the world.
But I hear your ROAR. I see it all. Every worshipper alone or in a small gorup or a megachurch. It make sno difference to me whether you are rich or poor, untaught or university educated. I hear the ROAR of hearts and voices rising to me.

So let the ROAR continue even stronger in heaven and on earth.

Michelle Petersen: The Good News About Fasting

From “Crisis” Magazine

The Good News About Fasting

Michelle Petersen

“I dread fasting—it’s miserable.” “It’s too easy and not even a sacrifice for me.” “Does my condition exempt me or not?” “How much is OK for each meal or snack?” “Well, it’s really just about self-denial, so I’ll just give it my best shot.”

Among Catholics, this wave of consternation is about to hit on the eve of Ash Wednesday. Each year, these questions pepper Catholic social media; and each year these Catholics suffer more than necessary because repetition of the rules cannot address the experiential side of their struggles. We give it our best guess and tough it out for the two required days, then feast during Eastertide, and soon our busy lives delay the search for deeper answers until Lent rolls around again. This year, let us prepare in body, mind, and spirit and seek grudging acceptance of a holistically life-giving relationship with the virtue of fasting.

Fasting has been a stumbling block to me personally in each of the above ways at different times in my life, and it has been a journey to find peace with fasting and even a love of fasting. In the messy process of learning, two key discoveries have been absolutely pivotal. My first breakthrough came when I learned from Catholic doctrine that fasting is a virtue, a habit: it is built into our very nature to adapt to fasting, so that it becomes easier with a bit of practice.

Even as I practiced fasting and enjoyed the increasing ease, I found that there was still a grating resistance and dread inside me that was not due just to pangs of hunger. If this is you, I urge you to ask yourself: Do you truly believe that fasting is good for you as a whole person—good for your body, good for your emotions and imagination, for your whole psychological state, as well as for your intellect and will in grace? Do you truly see it as a gift from God, your loving Father, who wants you to find not just the initial mortification but actual refreshment of body, mind, and soul as the fruit of this medicinal practice?

The second breakthrough for me came from the secular fasting movement, which enabled me to see an underlying misconception I had been harboring. As the secular movement discussed the health benefits of fasting and the healing mechanisms in the human body that fasting unlocks, I realized that I had been thinking of fasting as causing damage to the body, as a way of benefiting the soul at the cost of the body in a zero-sum manner: all penalty born by the body and all fruit enjoyed by the soul. While it is true that extended fasting can be damaging if done recklessly and that there are conditions in which it is not healthy to fast (for which the Church makes exemptions), it is erroneous to think of fasting as harmful, especially the carefully defined, limited fasts the Church requires.

In fact, the Church has always taught that fasting integrates body and soul by teaching the body to follow the guidance of the soul and that it is beneficial to the whole person. The data on the benefits of fasting helped me to approach the Church’s teaching with better understanding—without the post-enlightenment lens through which I saw the goods of body and soul pitted against one another—and to truly embrace fasting from food as an irreplaceable part of the spiritual life. Seeing the integral good of the virtue of fasting is really the answer to the stumbling blocks that so many of us encounter with fasting.

It can be hard to see in what sense fasting is good when it seems to be a natural evil: the deprivation of appropriate amounts of food. Similarly, it can seem wrong to say that human nature was designed to fast, since from the beginning it was not so. Nevertheless, both are true specifically in the conditions of a fallen world.

The state of original justice in which our first parents were created meant that the body was perfectly subject to the soul, so that it enjoyed health, secure life, and peace. The soul itself was ordered, the lower powers being perfectly subjected to the will and reason, both of which were perfectly subject to God in grace. This integration of the person, wounded by sin and its effects, paradoxically finds a remedy in the practice of fasting. While the state of Eden will never be restored, and perfect integration must wait for the resurrection of the body, we can truly make progress in health of body, mind, and spirit by the regular practice of fasting.

In his question on fasting in the Summa Theologiae, St. Thomas Aquinas observes that fasting is good because it is aimed at a threefold good: the curbing of concupiscence, the atonement for sin, and the raising of the mind to spiritual things. He quotes Augustine’s sermon on prayer and fasting: “Fasting cleanses the soul, raises the mind, subjects one’s flesh to the spirit, renders the heart contrite and humble, scatters the clouds of concupiscence, quenches the fire of lust, kindles the true light of chastity.” Here we see a hint at the integrity of the person being restored: the soul is rendered receptive to God, the mind clear, the lower powers of the soul docile to the higher and the flesh to the soul. St. Thomas Aquinas observes that fasting is good because it is aimed at a threefold good: the curbing of concupiscence, the atonement for sin, and the raising of the mind to spiritual things.Tweet This

St. Thomas, in listing the ways in which fasting is natural to us, observes not only that we all naturally fast between meals but also that men willingly fast more “in order to avoid sickness, or in order to perform certain bodily works with greater ease,” implying that physical benefits were commonly acknowledged. Regarding the spiritual benefits, he goes so far as to say that the need for fasting in general is a precept of the natural law, a manifest remedy for all touched by sin, and that the laws of the Church merely add due times and manners to fasting.

St. Thomas Aquinas could not have known the mechanisms by which the body, in a fasting state, reverses the physical effects of decadent living, purifies itself from pollutants, and regulates neurotransmitters to ameliorate the psychological state, but he knew that this virtue works to reverse the effects of sin and of living in a sinful world, even providing benefit to the body.

My emphasis on the physical benefit is by no means to introduce a prosperity gospel that promises health. Rather, I wish to demonstrate that fasting is not about suffering as such or sacrificing the good of the body. It is about the proper ordering and union of both under God, submitting to God’s ordering instead of our own, which actually tends toward the flourishing of the whole person. Though we may be called at times to leave behind the temporal good of the body for the sake of the soul, God’s general design for fasting as a habit includes the good of mind, body, and spirit, which, post-enlightenment, is an important truth to rediscover.

The integral good of fasting from food also explains its primacy in the Church’s disciplines. Despite the great good of withdrawing from other comforts and pleasures, fasting from food is fundamental and irreplaceable because of its ability to order both body and soul. This is why even when fasting from food becomes easier, and giving up another created good would be more difficult for a particular individual, the fast from food still supports the proper ordering of body to soul and soul to God that brings clarity and strength to other forms of penance.

Bringing a positive, holistic understanding of fasting to others in a way that can transform it from stumbling block into stepping stone needs to happen primarily through culture—virtue is taught by experience. We need the steady example and reassurance of those around us to give us hope and confidence that fasting can be done, and done beautifully, as a regular part of life.

If you are struggling with fasting as a stumbling block, I encourage you to read what current fasting science has to offer on the subject, such as Fast Like a Girl by Mindy Pelz or The Complete Guide to Fasting by Jason Fung. You may find motivation, reconciliation to the idea, guidance on how it works with any health conditions you may have, and guidance to gently work up to Ash Wednesday. We can take what is true in secular fasting culture and use it to help us revive neglected traditions. I encourage you also to learn and practice with others in your family and parish, so that we can build a Catholic fasting culture and truly accompany one another on the path to Heaven.

Life Matters

It has been a bad summer, apparently, for people drowning, particularly at the beaches along our coastline. People have been taking risks such as swimming at unpatrolled beaches, entering water that was dangerously rough and so on. In a couple of cases, people have died in the process of rescuing somebody else who was in trouble.

We add to those people dying in the water to those who lost their lives on the roads, and it is clear that it has been a dangerous summer for many people.

When I was young, I used to love the water. Waves were fun, and the beach was a place that seemed almost magical in many ways. There were a few times when I could have been one of those who was swept out in a rip or suffered an injury from a dumper.

The phrase, “but for the grace of God” springs to mind when I think of those situations.

We are used to thinking about our lives stretching on for ever, with no thought that it might end one day. None of us knows when that time will come. For any of us it could be much sooner than we ever thought possible.

The Bible tells us that “each person is destined to die once and after that comes judgement,” (Hebrews 9:27). There is no replay or second chance. We all get one shot at life.

The Good News is that Jesus, in His death on the cross, paid the price for us. All who put their trust in Jesus can be sure that everything is forgiven and the slate is wiped clean.

Taking a risk in the surf or on the road can be fatal. Taking a risk with God has eternal consequences.