by David Servant

Whoever then annuls one of the least of these commandments, and so teaches others, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever keeps and teaches them, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven (Matt. 5:19, emphasis added).

Jesus obviously believed that there were lesser commandments, as revealed in the quote above. He therefore must have also believed that there were greater commandments.

To their credit, the scribes and Pharisees kept the lesser commandments, yet Jesus condemned them for ignoring the greater ones:

Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you tithe mint and dill and cummin, and have neglected the weightier provisions of the law: justice and mercy and faithfulness; but these are the things you should have done without neglecting the others. You blind guides, who strain out a gnat and swallow a camel! (Matt. 23:23-24).

by George H. Warnock

by David Orton

Rev 18:2

Part 2 of 6

This series sounds a warning to the contemporary church. It will show that spiritual Jerusalem, the church of Jesus Christ – the city of God, has been invaded by Babylon, the city of man. We will show how this conflict plays out in the contemporary scene and how Babylon will ultimately fall in this glorious climax of the ages.

Babylon – the Church, seduced by a spirit of pride

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 .

 
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.)

by John White

(Note: this was written to introduce two men who are leading house churches in different parts of the country.)

It has been on my mind for a while now to introduce the two of you to each other. The reason is that each of you are in similar situations (one in NJ and the other in Florida). Both of you have thriving house churches that need to multiply. Both of you have families and are working in the world full time and so are probably stretched to (beyond?) the limit. As God is raising up house churches in this country, I suspect that your situation will be played out in hundreds of places in the months/years to come. What is needed is a multitude of prototypes that each reflect Biblical values.

-Worldly Money Principles in God's House

by Brett Jacobsen

Money has and probably always will be a hot topic in and out of the Church. It is no wonder that this is the case when the world is so caught up in the money game and the world seems to leek, and sometimes pour into God’s House. Jesus said “where your treasure is, there will your heart be also” Matt 6:21, which takes the money topic to a high level of priority.

As money is a part of every day life we do need to spend time regularly examining our financial dealings and mindsets in the light of God’s Word and His holy presence. Although there has been considerable dishonour and distractions with money in the church we should not avoid the subject but rather come back to a place of honour and biblical obedience.

by John White

Dear Church,

A good friend who is in the construction industry mentioned to me the other day about a church construction project that he is working on. This particular one was going to cost $10,000,000. This made me think more about the "paradigm shift" that we will need to undergo as God restores New Testament church values.

From the beginning, churches met in homes. Graydon Snyder in his book ANTE PACEM: Archaeological Evidence of Church Life Before Constantine says, "The New Testament Church began as a small group house church (Col. 4:15) and it remained so until the middle or end of the third century." (p. 166) The idea of "the church building" really didn't get going until the early 300's with Constantine. (This is when government began to get involved with church.)