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Logos SDA A Logos Bible Software Blog All House Churches: Congregations of Earth’s Final Generation? February 24, 2016 by martinweber Share on Facebook. Share on Twitter. Share on Google+ A guest post from Dr. Milton Adams, director of Simple Church Global Network. 1911 – Ellen White – Prediction “Before the final visitation of God’s judgments upon the earth, there will be, among the people of the Lord, such a revival of primitive godliness as has not been witnessed since apostolic times. The Spirit and power of God will be poured out upon His children. At that time many will separate themselves from those churches in which the love of this world has supplanted love for God and His Word. ” ( Great Controversy , p. 464, italics supplied.) 1965 – Billy Graham – Warning “Multitudes of Christians within the church are moving toward the point where they may reject the institution that we call the church. They are beginning to turn to more simplified forms of worship. They are hungry for a personal and vital experience with Jesus Christ. They want a heartwarming personal faith. Unless the church quickly recovers its authoritative Biblical message, we may witness the spectacle of millions of Christians going outside the institutional church to find spiritual food.” ( http://www.ccel.us/worldaflame.ch8.html , p. 86. Accessed Sept. 17, 2015.) 2005 – George Barna – 20 Million “I want to show you what our research has uncovered regarding a growing sub-nation of people, already well over 20 million strong, who are what we call Revolutionaries.” They are people who are walking away form the local church—to go find God. ( Revolution , p. 14, 39, 64-65, 103.) 2015 – Josh Packard – 104 Million The dechurched represents 33 percent (104 million) of the American population who have walked away from conventional churches—to go find God. Furthermore, these people, characterized as decurched, the “Nones and Dones,” are the fastest growing segment of the population (p. 20). “As our society approaches a post-institutional area, it’s entirely possible that the near monopoly that the church has enjoyed over faithful expressions of religious connections may be coming to an end. The activities of the dechurched may be ushering in a new understanding of what religious activity means. If this trend continues, it will fundamentally reshape the way Americans experience organized religion.” ( Church Refugees: Sociologists reveal why people are DONE with church but not their faith , p. 69.) Summarizing Let’s not assume that ​those who respond to new truth from the Bible will continue worshiping in traditional church buildings–just on a different day of the week. Statistics already show a growing group of people who are leaving their churches to gather informally, often in house churches, as they search for God.​ Simple Church Bible Study Guides (6 vols.) are included in every Logos SDA base package. Click here for information. The study guide set is also available here as a standalone purchase. Both options make immediate downloading possible. Visit www.SimpleChurchAtHome.com for more information about a global network of house churches that provides online training, coaching, resources, and networking among house churches. Director Milton Adams (DMin, Church Growth, Andrews University) won an award for his dissertation. He and his family live in Linden, Tennessee. Share on Facebook. Share on Twitter. Share on Google+ Filed Under: Seventh-day Adventist Tagged With: Charles Barna , house churches , Logos SDA base packages , Milton Adams , SDA house churches , Simple Church Global Network Died on this date: the man who gave us the first English Bible January 20, 2016 by martinweber Share on Facebook. Share on Twitter. Share on Google+ Miles Coverdale (b.1488 – d. January 20, 1569) Coverdale, a 16th century reformer, became an ordained priest in 1514, in the house of the Augustinian friars at Cambridge where, under the influence of the prior, Robert Barnes, he belonged to a circle that met privately to study the Bible and Luther’s works and became an enthusiast for ecclesiastical reform. After preaching against confession and images, he was forced [ click here to continue reading]. Share on Facebook. Share on Twitter. Share on Google+ Filed Under: Seventh-day Adventist Tagged With: Bible translation , Bible translator , Coverdale , English Bible Shalom Is the Spirit of Christmas December 4, 2015 by martinweber Share on Facebook. Share on Twitter. Share on Google+ As we scramble in and out of stores for holiday shopping, Salvation Army volunteers stand beside their red donation kettles, patiently ringing their bells. They invite us to remember those who shiver outside the circle of sharing. Many pastors answer that invitation by partnering with the Salvation Army, conducting funerals for homeless men and women without church or family. During my last pastorate, I conducted one such funeral for a man named Scottie. With his drinking buddies scattered throughout the sanctuary, I eulogized Scottie’s life as of infinite value to God and to us all—no matter what his struggles and setbacks. Suddenly like a shout from hell, drunken hollering interrupted my tribute. Click here for the rest of the story on the Logos Talk blog Share on Facebook. Share on Twitter. Share on Google+ Filed Under: Seventh-day Adventist Tagged With: Christmas , Christmas spirit , recovery ministry , Salvation Army , shalom Mother rescues babies from drowning May 9, 2015 by martinweber Share on Facebook. Share on Twitter. Share on Google+ On a lunch break walk beside a river near Faithlife headquarters, I wasn’t expecting life-and-death drama. A mother duck floated downstream with her dozen babies when they approached rapids. The swollen yet calm river suddenly became so dangerous that even a human could drown in its raging current. Mother duck managed to herd her brood onto a rock. Chirping feathered puffballs—so tiny that all 12 could have fit inside a supermarket egg container—huddled around their mother. She desperately circled atop their drenched perch, looking for a path of escape. There’s no way they’ll all survive this situation, I thought. Certainly some ducklings would be swept away to drown. I dared not risk my own death attempting to save them, and there was no time to phone animal control. I could only watch as the courageous mother plunged into a foaming nook between logs and summoned her chicks to follow. One by one they jumped off the rock, and she guided them to another rock closer to shore. Step by step they migrated from one mossy rock to the next, defying the treacherous current. I watched in fascinated admiration. Maybe they all will make it! Suddenly a new crisis arose. A large black bird swooped low to menace the helpless brood. Mother duck rose to the challenge by quacking furiously at the predator, scaring it away. One last rock remained before she finally shepherded her little ones to shore. Drenched but safe, all survived! I counted 12 little ducklings scrambling up the sloping riverbank beside their courageous savior. I found myself clapping and cheering as mother duck marched victoriously forward with her brood. She had not abandoned them in their crisis to save herself. She could have stretched her strong wings and flown herself to safety, above the deadly current. But mother’s love is not like that. Just like God’s love. “Fear not,” He says, “for I have redeemed you. I have called you by your name. You are Mine. When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; And through the rivers, they shall not overflow you” (Isaiah 43:1 – 2/NKJV). Maternal love is a gift of God that we celebrate on Mother’s Day. Grateful humans of all ages say thank you to mothers who bring us into the world and nurture us sacrificially through life’s dangerous rapids. The mother duck who became my hero had nobody and no resources to help her, but human mothers shouldn’t have to struggle alone. There is no duty ...