by Kerry M. Denten

I was getting ready yesterday to go out to my Grandmother's 95th
birthday celebrations. While I was in that "autopilot" mode you get
into while showering and dressing, I found my mind wandering to
considering some of the larger organised churches around
Australia and other parts of the world and was surprised by what
the Lord showed me.

I was considering Lakewood Church in Houston, Texas when my
mind then meandered from the huge Minster (or Cathedral) in York,
England to St Andrews Cathedral in Sydney. Then my thinking
wandered to the Crystal Cathedral, then to Paradise Community
Church in Adelaide, South Australia, to Christian City Church and
Hillsong Church in Sydney .. and here is what the Lord said .

by Thomas Hohstadt

We can no longer ignore the hidden facts. Our whole value system is shifting to suit the needs of individuals. Our entire social structure is reshaping to serve the passions of its participants. On a massive magnitude, the global world is reapportioning power from the "somebodies" to the "nobodies."

These facts forecast a transfigured "laity," and Christendom will not escape their transformations.

The Christian "movement" now encompasses more than the "church." Christ's mission now embraces more than "religion." For spiritual leaders are showing up outside the established church, and "unbelievers" are becoming "believers" outside our sacred "systems."

 
A Commentary on 1 Corinthians 9:1-14

by John White

A critical element in the development of the house church movement in the United States will be a change in our financial paradigm. In traditional church, money is given by church members to pay for such things as the building, salaries for the church staff, various programs, missions, etc. The house church movement offers an opportunity to reexamine Biblical values regarding the use of money for ministry.

Probably the most important single passage dealing with this topic is 1 Cor. 9:1-18. The following is a commentary on these verses with a view to discerning principles for financing ministry. This article would be best read with your Bible open to the passage under examination. (Note: Gordon Fee's commentary, The First Epistle to the Corinthians, has been particularly helpful in this study.)