Biblical Pattern for Genuine Fellowship

The Bible calls us to exhort, encourage and stir up one another. In fact, there are several verses in the New Testament that instructs the believers to “one-another”. For instance, “Love one another”, “Forgive one another”, “Pray for one another” and so on. And the fact of the matter is that it's simply not possible for us to practice all these “one-anothering” by meeting once a week inside a building with all the people in the pews facing towards the pulpit an hour or two. The solution for us is to emulate the healthy practice of the church in the book of Acts – to meet informally and daily from house to house.

Yes, in verse 46 it does say that they met in the temple too. And that was because these believers initially still observed the hours of Jewish worship. For instance, in Acts 3:1 we read of Peter and John going up to the temple at the “ninth hour” – the hour of prayer (3 pm) for the Jews. Another possible or additional reason for them to meet at the temple (courtyard) was so they could listen to the apostles’ teachings corporately. Whatever the reason, we should note that their activities in the temple were different from that in their homes where they broke bread and ate food with joy and gladness of heart as they prayed and exhort and edified one another. So genuine fellowship and building up of each other among the believers happened as a lifestyle wherever they existed.

Churches meeting in big numbers in large halls or buildings should realize the need for a genuine fellowship among believers to foster love, unity and building of each other up – something which isn’t possible in a crowd. The power of the early church should be recovered today by simply emulating them. Hence, if it’s not possible for big-sized churches to dismantle completely and meet in smaller groups at homes then they should, at least, invest their efforts by restructuring the church into smaller groups and give impetus to their meetings from house to house during week days. Having said so, it cannot be denied that such churches tend to treat the larger meetings as THE church and the smaller meetings that take place throughout the week simply as activities categorized under some label, usually groups that are geared to make efforts to make the larger meetings grand and successful. For instance, if one is qualified enough to take up a task in the smaller meetings then he or she would be gradually promoted to function in the larger meetings; everything geared up for the larger meetings on Sunday morning. Essentially, in the New Testament, especially in the Book of Acts, the exact opposite was actually true.

The church that met at homes in smaller numbers was a full-fledged genuine church complete and cohesive in every sense.

It's no doubt that large gatherings could enhance worship celebrations and preaching ministries, etc., but when it comes to koinonia fellowship and other activities where body life takes place, meeting in homes in smaller numbers is the most effective pattern of the New Testament for us to follow. Watchman Nee taught that, “Every church after God’s own heart bears the stamp of ‘one another’ on all its life and activity” (The Normal Christian Church Life, Indian Edition pg 47).

Therefore, church leadership ought to motivate believers to meet with one another regularly in order to encourage and pray for one another for mutual edification. Such intentional meetings could also give birth or enhance other ministries like neighborhood evangelism, visiting, reaching out to the poor and needy and many other similar projects and ventures all aimed at advancing the Kingdom of God outside the four walls of our church buildings.  

Heb 10:24 And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, v25 not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.

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The Power of the Word of God

When we think about the power of God we immediately think of the Holy Spirit and rightly so because the power of God is directly related to the Holy Spirit, “You’ll receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you,”  “But stay in the city until you are clothed with power from on high.” (Acts 1:8; Luke 24:49).

In the book of Acts we find several instances where this power of the Holy Spirit was manifested when the believers met together for prayers. Today, some churches will at times organize “revival meetings” with the expectation that they’d experience the manifestation and power of the Holy Spirit in the lives of the believers that there’d be repentance and renewal taking place. But we’d lose on many counts what the Holy Spirit can do in and through our lives when we limit Him and His power to only certain types of meetings. What we don’t realize is that we can experience the same power of the Holy Spirit daily through one important medium God has ordained for us. And that medium is the immutable Word of God. The same power of God which works through the Holy Spirit also works through His Word - the Holy Scriptures which we call the Bible. In fact, it’s the power of the Holy Spirit that also works through the Word of God. 

The apostle Paul realized this power hidden in the Word of God and boldly declares, “For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.” Rom 1:16. The gospel is the power of God unto salvation. Paul doesn’t say that the gospel contains the power of God but the gospel itself is the power of God that works salvation in the lives of those who accept it. No wonder when Peter preached under the unction of the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost three thousand people became desperate to get saved. The Word he preached was so powerful that the hearers felt it like an arrow piercing their hearts which caused them to run to Peter and cried out in utter desperation, “What must we do?” Such is the power of the Word. We ought to pray to God to revive such ministry in our pulpits again in our days. 

Consider again the powerful impact the preaching and teaching of the Word had on the Israelites that had just returned back to Jerusalem from exile.  

Neh 8:8, 9 They read from the book, from the Law of God, clearly, and they gave the sense, so that the people understood the reading. 9 And Nehemiah, who was the governor, and Ezra the priest and scribe, and the Levites who taught the people said to all the people, “This day is holy to the LORD your God; do not mourn or weep.” For all the people wept as they heard the words of the Law.

When the people heard the words of the Law which was read and explained by Ezra and his companion they began to mourn and to weep out of conviction. We could say that there was some sort of revival that took place that day and it was because of the ministry of the Word of God. Such was the weeping and the mourning that the leaders had to calm them down. And that’s the power of the Word of God in action. We, therefore, ought to be conscious of the fact that everytime we read and meditate upon the Word the power of God would work in us and everytime we preach and teach the Word we should expect the power of God to touch and transform peoples’ lives. For the Gospel is the power of God. The revival stories that we read about and which took place under the ministries of God’s servants like Jonathan Edwards, R. A. Torrey and others were basically because of the ministry of the Word of God. Such revivals bring about a genuine and long-lasting transformation in the lives of those being ministered to.  

If there’s one thing lacking in the pulpit today then it is this - the dearth of anointed and systematic preaching and teaching of the Word of God. Not just some emotionally charged up rhetorics and cliches of words but solidly grounded and sound teaching from the Scripture breathed by the Holy Spirit that brings about a genuine transformation in the lives of our people. 

As we seek the power of the Holy Spirit may we not underestimate the power of the Word of God. Remember: The Gospel is the power of God. 

Blessings,

Reuben Pradhan

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Privileged to Teach

During my time in Nepal, I used to teach in a Bible school regularly. I basically taught on Spiritual Growth and the New Testament Church. However, one day the director of the institution asked me to do the survey of the Bible (the Old Testament) with the students. While preparing notes for the subject I was exposed to the historical and cultural background and other relevant facts about the various books of the Bible. This was my first time teaching on the survey of the Bible and I taught on seven different books of the Old Testament, which was quite fair for the starting, I thought. Going through the detailed introductions and accounts of each one of those seven books and making an overall assessment was quite a laborious and mentally tiring task. However, the payoff was fabulous. In my 20 years of studying the Bible, there were things I was discovering for the first time. Thus, I could safely say that I was teaching myself more than the students.

David Pawson in his extensive work entitled, “Unlocking the Bible – A unique overview of the whole Bible”, speaks about the three different approaches to reading the Bible. The first one is the verse-centered approach (self) in which we look for a word for ourselves. In this approach “we read through until a verse fits our situation”. He humorously calls it ‘the horoscope method of Bible reading’. The second approach is the passage-centered approach (others) where we “read the Bible mainly for the sake of other people”. Of course, this is popular today with preachers and teachers. The last one is the “best approach” in which we read the whole book rather than just parts of it. The author reinforces that, “only by doing this can we really understand what God is saying to us through it” (page 612 – 614). May the Lord increase our spiritual appetite to read the Bible and the things therein in its totality. 

Nowadays, an average English Bible contains an introduction and outlines and other information at the beginning of each book of the Bible. Sadly, most of us avoid reading them. I believe a lot of effort has been put into it to make it available for us. Though at times it might appear dull and unnecessary to read it, it actually helps us to know what we are reading with a clearer understanding and perspective. For example, there could be those who are totally oblivious to the fact that some of what we call the “minor” prophets actually lived and ministered before some of the “major” prophets. Similar is the case in the New Testament. In other words, several books in the Bible are not in their chronological order. And as long as we are unaware of this fact it’ll give us the obvious wrong impression that the events in the Bible occurred historically and chronologically according to the present arrangement of the books in the Bible. Of course, such issues aren’t going to shake our faith but as both a Bible student and a teacher it would help a lot to gather some knowledge about the historical background and other related facts about the books in the Bible. Therefore, adding some Bible commentaries, dictionaries or Bible encyclopedias to our library would certainly enhance our Bible study and research. In fact, with a computer and an internet connection, one can have a whole Bible library without paying a dime. I was shocked one day when I saw the price of some of the Bible commentaries and encyclopedias, which came in volumes in a Bible store. In India, the price of such volumes of books would actually add up to a monthly salary for some. I was so excited at that time knowing that I had those Bible resources and many others more in my computer which came along with some Bible software I was using. Of course, we may all be aware of e-sword. Another one that I enjoy using is The Word. Then of course there are many others, not to mention the availability of countless online Bible study tools. Of course, the natural roaming of your fingers across the pages of those books, highlighting some phrases and sentences here and there with colorful pencils and scribbling a little note in the corner of the pages of the hard copy has its own different feel altogether. Whatever the case, it’ll help a lot to have a mini Bible library of your own whether hard copies or soft. Mybible is another excellent app for both android and ios devices. 

Today we spend countless hours of time on our mobile phones and other devices when in fact we could have spent at least even half of it in studying our Bibles and discover truths that would bolster our faith and others’ too. At times, after logging out of some of those sites I look at the clock and relent how much time I had just wasted and wish if I had only spent the same amount of time in reading the Word of God or talking to Him in prayer or yet reading other Christian books for my spiritual edification. 

The world is infiltrating the church today in a much deeper and insidious manner than we could have ever thought. Most Christians today have only religion and less or sadly even nothing of Christ and His truth. And though many factors account for such a pathetic state of the church, much of it is also because of the lack of proper teaching in the church. Pastors today look upon themselves more as preachers and evangelists than teachers and thus miss out much on the ministry of teaching. In listing out the qualification of an elder or a pastor in 1st Tim 3, Paul clearly mentions the ability to teach as one of the prerequisites. Teaching requires a lot of effort in studying, researching, meditation and of course prayer. I wonder if laziness could therefore be the reason why some pastors shirk away from the ministry of teaching. I was in a city pastors’ meeting in a certain town and discussion was making the round as to who would do the teaching sessions during the morning and afternoon sessions at the upcoming annual conference. Most of the pastors decline from taking responsibility with the excuse that they were preachers and not teachers. I wonder if they had forgotten that a pastor should be “able to teach.” Such conferences also tend to portray the evening meetings as the main highlight of the day where they have a preacher to stimulate the emotion and tickle the ears of the people. “More crowd, more noise and more coverage and therefore the allurement to prefer to rather be a preacher than a teacher”, is what one of my pastor-friend critiqued. And I think that he was right. 

Over and over again, the apostle Paul in his epistles, especially that of Timothy and Titus urges the leaders to be diligent to teach the church the whole counsel and the sound doctrine of the Word of God. Would the apostle have something different to say to us today? We need to get back to the school of discipleship, the school of meditating in the Word of God at the feet of Christ. We need to revive the ministry of teaching in our churches today. The Great Commission is all about making disciples (Mt 28:19,20) and this task involves a thorough, systematic teaching of the Word of God. Without the ministry of teaching it’s impossible to make disciples of people. And as pastors if we fail here then we have failed in our pastoral ministry. Therefore, it’s time we jump to our feet and get back to our Bibles, to those Bible resources and literature, and with all the getting we need to get the Holy Spirit’s anointing and revelation to study and to teach. 

Ezra 7:10 For Ezra had set his heart to study the Law of the LORD, and to do it and to teach his statutes and rules in Israel. 

Let us be like Ezra! Amen! 

Blessings, 

Reuben Pradhan 

Please feel free to leave your comments. Thanks.

I Love You But I Don't Like You

“I love you but I don’t like you.” Has anyone ever said this seemingly rhetoric line to you? The first time someone threw that on me I was a little puzzled and felt funny about it. The second time was during an ice-breaking question in a Bible-study group where I was asked if I’d choose to be loved or liked by people. The third was when I had some friends over to our house for dinner and someone brought up this line for a casual discussion. I questioned the group if it was ever possible to love someone without actually liking him or her. “Well, also the opposite of like is dislike, right?” I added to my question. Now, is it therefore possible for a person to love and dislike a person at the same time?

In the context of Christian fellowship someone might argue that the person concern is not worthy of being liked because of some negative issues or attitudes or some flaw in his/her character. But because the Lord has called us to love one another we could therefore love that person without actually liking him/her. I personally find this saying, this statement rather contradictory. Here’s why. You see when you dislike someone there has to be at least one reason why. And whatever the reason, the Bible says that love covers a multitude of sins. And if you truly love that person then you’d be willing to cover his sins or his shortcomings – the reasons for which you disliked him. And when you cover his sins or weaknesses then you can’t continue to dislike him. For if you do then you’re still holding it against him. Of course, we may dislike the sins in his life, his uncomely behavior, his weaknesses and such other negative traits in his character. And that’s also exactly why when we say we like a particular person we’re actually referring to some aspects of his character, behavior or attitude which are appealing and beautiful in nature. So in that sense, love has to do with a person as a whole while like has to do with certain aspects of that person. Love is more subjective while like more objective. 

The Bible doesn’t say, “For God so liked the world that He gave His only begotten Son…” It’s because He loved the world. He loved us. He didn’t like the sins and darkness in which we were wallowing and dying and yet out of love for us, He rescued us. That’s what love does and it should be no different with us, His children. Now you know God loves you. And it’s on the basis of His amazing love towards us that He not only bears with our sins and weaknesses but also ardently deals with them so that the things He dislikes in us is transformed and replaced with the things He likes and enjoys in us. 

Have you ever clicked on the “Like” button for a post in Facebook only to realize, after contemplation, that it actually doesn’t deserve a like and then you change your mind and click the “Like” button again in order to undo it? Some will even jest, “Where’s the “dislike” button?” Similarly, because people can change, our likes and dislikes are therefore subject to change not for the person as a whole but for certain traits in his life. Love shouldn’t change. 

God may like or dislike certain things in our lives but His loves for us endures forever. “I have loved you with an everlasting love” He says.

Love endures. Likes and dislikes don’t.


   

TESTIMONY: Fruit of my radio ministry, Biswasko Jag (Foundation of Faith)

An unknown man called me up this morning (18th June '14). He had listened to my radio program last week and wanted to meet me. I invited him over to my house. At first guess I thought he'd be just about a year or two older to me sussing (figuring out) from his voice over the phone. But it turned out that he was an elderly gentleman with white beard and 65 years of age. 

He looked at me and said, "Ah! You're just a young man. I thought you'd be an elderly person". We chatted for almost 2 hours. He had read the Bible for the last 50 years and being from a Hindu background had read the major Hindu scriptures. In search for truth, he had also spent one year learning about Islam in India. So in his conversation he'd quote from all these religious books including the Bible. At present, he said some Jehovah Witness visits him to teach him their doctrine. But he had finally concluded that there's no other book like the Bible and that Jesus is the Truth. However, he didn't want to be baptized since he was disillusioned because of the lifestyle of some of the so called pastors and Christians. He felt that people were unnecessarily trying to force him to be baptized.

Cutting the long story short, I narrated to him my testimony of how even after almost all my family members accepted Jesus as their Lord and Savior I was unwilling to simply because I had the same problem - finding faults in other Christians. And this would be my answer every time, especially when my parents would try to persuade me to commit my life to the Lord. Then I told him what my mother told me one day. When I came up with the same reply, she simply said, "Son, don't look up to people and their shortcomings for in doing so you'll always have one or the other complain about them and that'll actually prevent you from progressing in life. Just look unto Jesus and see if you find any fault in Him. If you don't then believe and follow Him." Then I told the gentleman, "Sir, today I want to repeat to you the same word my mother said that day." His countenance changed and declared, "That's it! No more finding faults at people from today and I'm going to look up to Him from now on." "Amen", said I and tried to shook hands with him but he got up and hugged me tightly and sitting down wiped his tears away. The Lord touched him at that moment. After that we continued chatting for the next hour or so and handed him the book, "Questions of Life."

Please pray for his complete salvation, and of course though I didn't want to be another guy to press him for baptism he desires to meet with me again. My message last Friday night was about the benefits/fruits of meeting in small groups which included church planting in every neighborhood. He had been so encouraged through the message that he desires to start a church right in his locality.

Please also continue to pray for my radio ministry. Thanks and God bless!

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Udaypur, Rupatar - 2 Days Training in a remote village. <= Click on the link/title to read and to check some lovely photos.

Meghalaya Ministry Trip Report April 2012

He who finds a wife finds a good thing and obtains favor from the LORD (Pro 18:22).

Well, I know it sounds rather unusual to start a report with the verse above. But I have a good reason to do so :-).

God's word can, without doubt, be taken at face value. Undertaking this two-week ministry trip for the first time with my wife, I could see the favor of the Lord everywhere we visited. No doubt, my wife at time past had accompanied me for ministry but that was simply for church meetings on Sundays. However, this visit was really a different experience for me. Her presence made me feel so complete in ministry. I would wish that it was possible for her to join me every time I make such long and outstation ministry trip. But that would also mean someone willing to take care of our kids like John (my younger brother) and his wife Esther did with such loving care. But just as I have witnessed that many couples serving the Lord together are usually older folks (and my perception could be wrong), I wonder if that would be the case with us too. Grow up fast kids!

The Church in Shillong

On the 1st of April we headed to Pokhara where we were going to drop our kids to John's house and where my mother was also living. Taking a six hour bus drive we finally reached Pokhara in the late afternoon. We were much relieved taking into consideration the moment when halfway through the journey our bus came to a halt behind a long trail of several other vehicles. We were told that there was a "bandh" (road blockade) called by some organization in protest of the death of a prisoner that took place in police custody several weeks ago. It was just past midday and to our utter frustration we were told that the road would only be open after 6 pm. This meant that we would reach Pokhara only late at night. I'm sure we whispered a prayer. The road, however, looked lively when people, both locals and tourists of different shade began to come out of their vehicles and mingle in groups chit-chatting and frolicking around. Despair gave birth to hope as we saw some vehicles coming from the opposite side after almost an hour. There were some movements of the cars on our side too as it began to inch forward and surely enough after a little while the traffic resumed its flow once again. What a relief it was!

A railway station in NJP area

Since it was our first time, it wasn't easy for us the next day, to bid farewell to the children and head to India for the next two weeks of ministry. The bus we boarded from Pokhara for the Indian border was an old one and very early in the morning as it began to rain heavily, water began to drip right inside the window seat which I had actually graciously granted to my wife. She was getting wet and I offered to swap our seats. Now it was my turn to get wet. By the time we reached Kakkarvitta (Nepal's boundary with India), early in the morning my jeans had dried up. That day in the evening we were going to catch our train from NJP, India and since we had the whole day to ourselves we went to Siliguri and lodged in a hotel until evening. We had passed by this city several times but had never ventured out to the town area. In fact, this city serves as a  gateway to different places both nationally and internationally and thus a very strategic place for mission base. Lying in the eastern part of India, it connects Nepal, Bhutan and Bangladesh besides being the only land route to all the northeastern states of India including Sikkim and the district of Darjeeling. After scouting through the market we returned back to our hotel to head toward the railway station. Trains rarely arrive or depart on time in India and so ours was late by more than an hour. The next morning, after the train ride we took a jeep to Shillong from Guwahati. The normally three hour’s national highway from Guwahati to Shillong is undergoing expansion and traffic snarl therefore becomes a regular occurrence. At times there have been cases where people got stuck for the whole day and whole night. Worst still there have been a couple of death too where patients with emergency medical cases sent to Guwahati from Shillong couldn't make it in time. We were spared the pain although it took five hours to finally reach our birthplace.

Some Shillong believers coming to see us off at a bus station

We stayed mostly in my in-laws place while in Shillong since Anu wanted to be with her parents. The next day, 5th April, we had the Good Friday meeting with the church and I preached on the seven sayings of Christ on the cross in regard to carrying our cross and following Him. The message was well received by the church and some testified how it blessed them. Post lunch we divided into groups and discussed about the message heard which was lively and effective. Saturdays are usually prayer meeting day and therefore I taught on pursuing intimacy through fasting and prayer. Several testified that the Lord had actually been already speaking to them to set aside time for fasting and prayer and my message served as a confirmation and also provided them with foundational guidelines into fasting on both its spiritual and physical aspects. After that we had a meeting with the key leaders along with our wives over the lunch discussing at length about what the Lord's been doing in our lives and ministry and sharing plans for the future. One common setback with most of the churches in Shillong is the slow pace of church growth. So the emphasis was on evangelism with a firm grip on follow-ups. I also stressed on the importance of not giving up the weekly gathering of the men. The next day we had the regular Sunday meeting and it was a joy meeting almost everyone from the church. I preached on walking in the resurrected power of Christ as we grow in intimacy with Him. Our time in Shillong, besides the meeting, was packed with invitations either for lunch or dinner including breakfast - one reason for bringing your wife along :-). It was fulfilling to see a couple of other brothers gradually growing up to carry responsibilities in the church.

Mikseng & Rosemary

Evening Meeting

On the 11th we traveled to Tura by an overnight bus. We were joined by one of our church leaders, Dilip and my elder brother's son, Abhishek who was also coming to Nepal with us since he had recently finished his high school leaving exams and was having holidays for more than two months. We reached Tura very early in the morning and what a joy it was for us to meet Mikseng and his family once again. Since it was still dark we went to sleep. That morning after breakfast we had a leadership meeting at Mikseng’s house. We spent the whole day discussing about church, future plans, evangelism, mission, etc. It was a healthy time of discussion. The first meeting with the church was going to start from that very evening and I was eagerly looking forward to it. That night I preached from the gospel of John chapter 9 on how God uses our adverse situations for His glory and for our good but not without faith and obedience on our part. Every evening, after the message we spent time praying for the various needs of the people. At times there were a couple of testimonies about people getting healed too.

Tura Times editor, Pangseng & Dilip.
Pangseng is also in Mikseng's leadership team.

The next two days (Friday & Saturday) we had seminars on the New Testament Church during the day and in the evening I did a series on pursuing intimacy with God.

Garo delicacies

One evening I was sharing on Psalms 37:4 that as we learn to delight ourselves in the Lord He shall fulfill our heart's desire. If taste is the desire when we eat food (of course besides satisfying our hunger) then we would find taste even in a simple plain food because of our delight in the Lord and we wouldn't be nagging so much at our wives. At this point an elderly couple began to look at each other and as the wife began to chuckle the husband suddenly burst in uncontrollable laughter and we also began to laugh with them. And yet in the midst of the laughter the Lord was speaking to the people. Tura is a place where I enjoy the fellowship of the believers the most. They seem to have an insatiable hunger for the word and fellowship. At times the meeting would end at around 9 at night and yet they would continue to sit down and not move from their seats. After the meeting we would then proceed to someone's house for dinner- a late night dinner that is. Also believers coming from other villages were hosted by different church members thus giving them opportunity for fellowship with each other. What a joy it always is to be with the saints in Tura! In November this year I'll be visiting them again, but it'll be primarily to train the leaders.

Anu & Abhishek

On Monday, i.e. the 16th Anu, Abhishek and I left Tura in the afternoon by a jeep for Guwahati, a five hours ride and from where we were going to board the train back to NJP. We reached the railway station two hours before schedule and the train was on time too. The next day we crossed the Indian border and soon enough we were flying to Kathmandu. At the same time our kids were also heading to Kathmandu from Pokhara by bus along with their grandmother (my Mom) and another Christian family from here who had also visited John's family.

At the crowded railway station in Guwahati

What a joy it was to see them finally! We were rather amazed that all the while Daniel never troubled anyone for the absence of his parents (he’s turning 4 on May 9th). We could see the hands of God guiding both us and the kids, ever proving His loving care for His children. But at the same time we cannot forget the prayers you made for us in this mission. Thank you so much. God bless you, indeed!

Back home, I’m teaching the Alpha course to about 40 young people most of who are non-Christians and I’ve another week to go in order to complete the course. The Lord is using this time to bring these young people to know Him better and to commit their lives to Him. Your prayers would be invaluable for this ministry.

...and yes that's our little Daniel.
He'll never pose for a photo without the  V sign

Thanks again.

With gratitude of love,
Reuben Pradhan

......More  photos.....

Praying for various needs

Worshiping

Word of prophecy for an elder's son

Please feel free to leave your comments. Thanks.

Divine Ability in Biblical Simplicity

In a certain prayer meeting a church leader shared his prayer needs this way, “Please pray for us as we don’t have a full-time pastor and a church as yet”. His congregations were almost 200 in numbers and yet he said that they did not have a church. What was he referring to then? Of course, he was asking the believers to pray that they would have a building to do church. Now he also had several capable men in his leadership team. Nevertheless, he felt inadequate as a church because they didn’t have a full-time pastor.

The question is do we have any Scriptural references to support the plight of this dear brother? None. In fact, we do have ample Scriptural evidences that tell us just the opposite – that we actually require neither a building nor is it mandatory to have a full-time pastor in order for a group of believers to qualify to be called a church.

In the New Testament the church never constructed buildings. They simply met in different houses. In Acts chapter 2 we read of 3000 people getting saved on the day of Pentecost as Peter put to work the power of the Holy Spirit he had just received. Was the church prepared with a large auditorium to accommodate 3000 people for their gatherings? If not, what would happen to their meetings now? Well, in verse 46 we read they simply met from house to house. And the believers' meeting in houses was called a church. In Romans 16:5 while conveying his greetings to Prisca and Aquila, Paul adds, “Greet also the church in their house”. In Col 4:15, a group of believers meeting at Nympha's house was called a church. “Give my greetings to the brothers at Laodicea, and to Nympha and the church in her house”, says the apostle Paul. Again, while greeting Philemon and others, the apostle also greets, “the church in your house” (vs. 2).

This is what the Scripture clearly teaches. And yet, Jesus said, that human tradition could easily nullify the teachings and commandments of the Scripture. And what human tradition has taught us is that a building made of bricks and mortar is the church. This blatantly false understanding of the church has led believers into a trap of thinking that a church is what happens once a week for two or three hours inside the four walls of a building. But that is not the church we read about especially in the Book of Acts. The Scripture says that they met “day by day” and “every day” from house to house (see Acts 2:46, 5:42).

Many years later the writer of Hebrews would reflect upon this “every day” gatherings of the church and exhort thus, “Take care, brothers, lest there be in any of you an evil, unbelieving heart, leading you to fall away from the living God. But exhort one another every day, as long as it is called “today,” that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin” (Heb 3:12, 13). But like many of us today, not all were excited to practice this. Some were in the habit of not meeting with the believers. And therefore, he goes on to say, “And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near” (Heb 10:24, 25). The early church was different. They met every day or at least regularly to exhort and stir one another to lead life that glorified God and to labor for the work of the Kingdom.

Now what about the story of the brother in the beginning of this chapter? Let's try to solve his problem according to the pattern in the New Testament. You see the 200 people he had with him lived in at least 10 different locations in the city. So rather than trying to accommodate 200 people in a building in one location he could have planted at least 10 churches with 20 believers each in all those 10 different locations in the city. These churches could have started in the believers' houses and those capable brothers with him could have helped provide the leadership required in these different churches. Well, it's true that it’s easier said than done but that's how it was done in the New Testament by the power of the Holy Spirit.

Why not today?