EXAMINING THE HOUSE CHURCH MOVEMENT Biblical or Betrayal?

  Bookmark Page
Print this page  

Since the "introduction" of House Churches a few short years ago, they are becoming increasingly prevalent as time goes on!

Actually, this statement is not a true statement at all! House Churches have existed as a legitimate aspect of the Body of Christ since He established the Church over 2,000 years ago! House Churches were not introduced a few short years ago but in the first days of The Church! House Churches are not becoming more prevalent as time goes on ... the role of the "House Church" has been prevalent since the beginning!

It is in America that the opening statement might be somewhat correct ... but only somewhat! Granted, when the first Europeans arrived on these shores, they brought with them the established pattern of having a centralized place of worship in which their families gathered throughout the week ... but the using the homes has always been an integral part of the local congregation's places of meetings.

What has become an issue today is what I can only identify as a confrontation between "Correct Spiritual Authority" and "Spiritual Abandonment"! The latter has made use of House Churches to draw in those prone to rebellion and challenging, dare I say even attacking, the Centralized Church House in order to bring about chaos within the Body of Christ!

The following articles are a study through which we shall examine the concept and use of House Churches with the aim of distinguishing between what has been ordained of God and what has not; what is legitimate and what is not; what is genuine and what is counterfeit.

The purpose of these articles is to aid you in ascertaining the truth about House Churches in general and the means to discern the spiritual authenticity of any particular group that claim to be a "House Church". In other words, the purpose of these studies is to help protect you and your loved ones - family and friends - from being deceived and damaged by some satanic counterfeit and encourage and embolden you and your loved ones to participate in, even to plant and establish, a House Church if this is the direction in which The Lord is leading you!

As the days worsen against the Body of Christ, especially in the U.S.A. we will be increasingly faced with the need for using our Houses for purposes and centers of Christ's Ministry! We must prepare ourselves in this present time to learn and establish within our minds and hearts what are the Biblically correct patterns for a House Church. 

• The House Church Movement - Genuine or Counterfeit?
  
  Examining what some call the "House Church Movement " in comparison to Biblical Standards and in contrast to a Biblical House Church that works in unity with the Traditional or Temple Church. 
• Is A House Church Legitimate?
  
  What does the Bible say about what we call a "House Church"? 
• Understanding The Controversy
  
  To understand the growing popularity of the House Church one must understand the overgrown flaws and faults of the traditional "Temple Church" concept of Christian gatherings and the underlying reasons for the controversy between the Traditional, Temple centered Church and the House Church. 
• Let's Work Together!
  
  Rather than making a choice between the Temple or the House Church, Christians must avoid being drawn into a demonically conceived controversy and seek God's will and way to become a COMPLETE Ministry of Christ! We must learn to engage and make use of the strengths of both and learn to compensate for the short comings of each! Where one's strengths can be applied for the short coming of the other and the mutual strength of both be combined to become the greatest spiritual force that Christ has ever deployed upon the earth!  

You may copy these articles for your own personal studies, for small group studies or any other purpose that is in keeping with the purpose for which these are written.  Please include the following in the copies you use and publish ...

Article by: 
Rev. Dr. Timothy Hoflund, D.D.
True Hope Churches & Ministries