Heretical movement decries any perceived tradition  Regular day of meeting  Order of services  Blind to own rituals ­“I [Frank Viola] have participated in such meetings for the last nineteen years.”

Our actions are biblically based  Command: Meet on first day, 1 Cor. 16:1, 2  Judgment: time of day  By the Lord’s authority, Mt. 7:21-23

Use of Elizabethan English “ Many contemporary pastors still pray in this outdated language —even though it has been a dead dialect for four hundred years!”

Use of Elizabethan English  Influence of King James Version  Strive about words, 2 Tim. 2:23

Invitation at End of Services “ The ‘anxious bench’ was located in the front where preachers stood on an elevated platform. It was there that both sinners and needy saints were called forward to receive the minister’s prayers….”

Invitation at End of Services “ Finney’s method was to ask those who wished to be saved to stand up and come forward. Finney made this method so popular that ‘after 1835, it was an indispensable fixture of modern revivals.’”

Invitation at End of Services  Peter used it, Acts 2:37, 38; 3:19, 20  Stephen could not, Acts 7:51-54  No better time for call to obedience, Mt. 25:14-30

Invitation at End of Services “ As far as modern pragmatism goes, Christians should decide for themselves whether a particular practice is of the Holy Spirit or if it is mere human ingenuity at work. We leave such judgments to the individual reader.”

Invitation at End of Services  My judgment: “organic” church is heretical  John endorsed invitation, Rev. 22:17  Jesus too, Mt. 11:28-30

Evangelism “ Pretribulation dispensationalism gave rise to the idea that Christians must act quickly to save as many souls as possible before the world ends. With the founding of the Student Volunteer Movement by John Mott in 1888, a related idea sprang forth: ‘The evangelization of the world in one generation.’”

Evangelism “ The ‘in one generation’ watchword still lives and breathes in the church today. Yet it does not map well with the mind-set of the first- century Christians who did not appear to be pressured into trying to get the entire world saved in one generation.”

Evangelism  They did, Col. 1:23  Not pressured, compelled, Phil. 3:12  Each generation responsible  Lord’s view, Mk. 16:15

Evangelism  Disciples’ action, Acts 8, 9, 10, 16; 1 Thes. 1  HCM dislikes labor & confrontation Of evangelism  Promotes vomiting, Rev. 3:15, 16

Evangelism “ The apostles stayed in Jerusalem for many years before they went…They were in no hurry to evangelize the world. Equally, the church in Jerusalem did not evangelize anyone for the first four years of its life. They, too, were in no hurry to evangelize the world…”

Evangelism  Disciples forced out of Jerusalem… …BECAUSE of their evangelism Acts 3:1-26; 4:1-21; 5:17-42 Acts 6:7-14; 7:54-60; 8:1-5

Evangelism  Emotionalism of Premillennialism wrong  Still labor because of pending Judgment Mk. 13:32-37  Bible exhortations Rom. 13:11-14; Mt. 9:35-38; Lk. 10:1-12

Order of Worship “ …all Protestant traditions share the same unbiblical features in their order of worship.”

Order of Worship  We are not Protestant, Acts 11:26  Prove we are  Do what Bible says, Acts 2:42; 1 Cor. 14:15

HCM sees our worship as dull “…absolutely no room for anyone to give a word of exhortation, share an insight, start or introduce a song, or spontaneously lead a prayer. You are forced to be a muted, staid pewholder!” and “…it encourages passivity.”

HCM sees our worship as dull “…for many Christians, the Sunday morning service is shamefully boring.”

HCM sees our worship as dull  Says who?  Same true of Jewish worship (Jesus)  Is assembly for our amusement?  Introduce X-treme worship?

HCM sees our worship as dull “The New Testament never links sitting through an ossified ritual that we mislabel ‘church’ as having anything to do with spiritual transformation. We grow by functioning, not by passively watching and listening.”

HCM sees our worship as dull  Fraction of Christian life in assemblies  Gifts exercised elsewhere, Rom. 12:4-8  Taking notes, thinking not passive, Psa. 119:15, 27, 48, 148; 1 Tim. 4:15  Thinking is hard work, Rom. 12:1, 2

HCM sees our worship as dull “Let’s suppose the authors of this book attend your church service. And let’s suppose that the Lord Jesus Christ puts something on our hearts to share with the rest of His body. Would we have the freedom to do so spontaneously?”

HCM sees our worship as dull  The Lord put something on my heart… …and on paper, 2 Jn. 10, 11  “Laid” on the elders’ hearts, Titus 1:9-11

HCM sees our worship as dull “Let’s suppose the authors of this book attend your church service. And let’s suppose that the Lord Jesus Christ puts something on our hearts to share with the rest of His body. Would we have the freedom to do so spontaneously?”

Heretical movement decries any perceived tradition  Regular day of meeting  Order of services  Blind to own rituals ­“I [Frank Viola] have participated in such meetings for the last nineteen years.”

Our actions are biblically based  Command: Meet on first day, 1 Cor. 16:1, 2  Judgment: time of day  By the Lord’s authority, Mt. 7:21-23