House Church News from Jeanette

Dear Friends,
 
I want to notify you about three things that relate to the exploding house church/organic church movement:
 
1. Frank Viola is now blogging at http://frankviola.wordpress.com/
You can read all of his previous blog posts by scrolling down. There's also a feed as well. Feel free to add his blog to your blogroll or webpage. This would be appreciated in fact :-)
 
2. There's a new house church/organic church resource website that's gaining enormous traffic. Visit www.HouseChurchResource.org.
You can trade links with the site if you have a website or blog.
 
3. Frank's new book REIMAGINING CHURCH -- the constructive follow up to PAGAN CHRISTIANITY -- is again available on Amazon.com (The first printing came out August 1st; but they ran out in less than a week. The second printing is finished and the book is now in stock again.) This book is not only a sequel, but it's a complete "stand-alone" book by itself.
 
"Pagan Christianity" deconstructed; "Reimagining Church" constructs. This new book breaks brand new ground in many areas pertaining to church.
 
Here's what others are saying about the book:

"Our house church has ordered a case. We think it's the perfect book to give any house church a solid foundation in the scriptures and in Christ. All the common objections and questions that people ask about church are answered in this book in a compelling way. The discussion questions after each chapter are great for encouraging discussion too. Our house church will be going through each chapter a week. This will really help bring all of us on the same page and give us solid grasp of what we're doing and why. We also have many copies to hand to visitors when they ask us "Why do you meet this way?" I recommend this book to all house churches and simple churches both new and old" - DR
 
"Over the past 12 years, we have had many visitors to our organic church gatherings. We often ask our visitors if they have questions or comments, but have found that most people don’t even know where or how to begin with their questions. With Reimagining Church, many of the "big" questions are asked and answered in a clear way that points to God's eternal purpose. I believe that being able to put this book in both brothers and sisters hands will help open up understanding and conversation, thus, pointing us into the fellowship of Christ."  - CP
 
"This book is a tremendous benefit to anyone meeting outside institutional Christianity as well as those who are interested in an alternative form of church. From my experience, the common ground that often holds Christians together who meet outside the traditional church is the understanding of what church IS NOT. I thought “Pagan Christianity” was a great book in explaining what church IS NOT. However, the sequel, “Reimagining Church,” lays out the biblical and spiritual principles that show us what church IS. It shows the wonderful reality of the ekklesia of God, the reason for the church, and how it is central to God’s eternal purpose. My hope is that every Christian who meets outside the traditional church structure would read this book, and every Christian who is interested in an alternative way of doing church would read it as well." - GW
 
"I've been involved in the missional church movement for sometime now. But the missional church doesn't seem to "get" organic. Len Sweet's podcast on this book is what prompted me to get it. I'm thankful I did. This is a must read for every church that's trying to be missional." - JD
 
Leonard Sweet, Professor at Drew Theological School and George Fox Evangelical Seminary, is making Reimagining Church required reading for his seminary students. (Sweet was voted one of the top 50 most influential Christian leaders last year at #8.)

Of the book Sweet says, "It's one of the best things out there about organic church. Frank really understands organic. I love this book. I'm requiring it of my doctoral students, everybody I see. I'm kind of an evangelist now for Reimagining Church."

**A sample chapter is available at www.ReimaginingChurch.org as well as bulk discounts for churches and intentional communities.
 
Here are endorsements by theologians and other authors:
 
"In Reimagining Church, Frank Viola is at the top of his game, showing a serene, soaring mastery of the theology of church as organism rather than organization.”
- Leonard Sweet, author of Soul Tsunami, Soul Salsa, and 11

“True to form, this book contains a thoroughly consistent critique of prevailing forms of church. However, in Reimagining Church, Frank Viola also presents a positive vision of what the church can become if we truly reembraced more organic, and less institutional, forms of church. This is a no holds barred prophetic vision for the church in the twenty-first Century.”
- Alan Hirsch, author of The Forgotten Ways and The Shaping of Things To Come

“Frank not only pulls fresh insights out of well-known concepts, but also keeps challenging us to go back to basics and focus on Christ himself. Thank you, Frank! This practical book will identify what church can look like when it is focused on Jesus.”
- Tony Dale, author and editor of House 2 House magazine, founder of The Karis Group

“Reimagining Church is a valuable addition to the resources being produced on the subject of organic churches. Written from the perspective of a long-time practitioner, Frank conveys these concepts with his usual clarity and insight and covers many of the practical aspects of starting a church. I recommend this book to anyone interested in organic church.”
- Felicity Dale, author of An Army of Ordinary People and Getting Started: A Practical Guide to Starting Simple Churches

“Reimagining Church will be certain to disturb the comfortable and comfort the disturbed at the same time. Frank Viola cuts through the fog by putting his finger on the problems of man-made churchianity, while providing a solidly biblical, practical, and strategic vision for a powerful New Testament expression of the body of Christ.”
- Rad Zdero, PhD, author of The Global House Church Movement and editor of Nexus: The World House Church Movement Reader

“The body of Christ has been stifled by human traditions for far too long. Reimagining Church charts a fresh course for the church that recovers the simplicity of Christ and listens seriously to what the voice of the Great Shepherd is saying to His people.”
Jon Zens, editor, Searching Together and author of A Church Building Every ½ Mile: What Makes American Christianity Tick?
“If Pagan Christianity? exposes the reality that much of our current church practice has little basis in the Bible, Reimagining Church takes the next step to establish what truly biblical church life looks like. With the inner life of the Trinity as the starting point, Viola paints an amazing picture of organic church life.”
- John White, community facilitator, LK10: A Community of Practice for Church Planters

“Dissent is a gift to the Church. It is the imagination of the prophets that continually call us back to our identity as the peculiar people of God. May Viola’s words challenge us to become the change that we want to see in the Church ... and not to settle for anything less than God’s dream for Her.”
- Shane Claiborne, author of The Irresistable Revolution, activist, and recovering sinner (thesimpleway.org)
 
“Reimagining Church is a readable (and livable!) description of organic, New Testament-rooted church life for the twenty-first century. Avoiding the weeds of both wooden fundamentalism and unreflective over-contextualization, Frank Viola paints a winsome and attractive portrait of a gospel people, inhabited by the Holy Spirit with God in Christ as their energetic center. Frank helps us learn from the peculiar genius of Jesus and his earliest followers, planting seeds for authentic, deeply rooted life together.”
- Mike Morrell, Graduate Fellow in Emergent Studies, MA in Strategic Foresight, Regent University; zoecarnate.com

“For those who are not threatened by the idea that church must change, Reimagining Church is an absolutely timely and much-needed perspective, delivering a solid biblical vision for the body of Christ. Using the entire scope of New Testament church life, Frank Viola lays out the core values and the essential principles that must form the foundation of life together as the body of Christ. The book delivers an exceptionally hopeful, visionary picture of all that church can and should be."
- Grace, blogging at kingdomgrace.wordpress.com

“If we are indeed at the cusp of the next major reformation of the church, as many suggest, then Frank Viola is one of the significant voices we all should lend our ears to. Frank’s humble heart and bold keyboard have once again delivered a book to be read by those who desire to take an honest
look at the state of the contemporary church. Reimagining Church calls us to first remember the church from the original blueprint of Scripture.”
- Lance Ford, cofounder and director of Shapevine.com

“What if the word church in ordinary conversation called to mind ‘uncontrived,’ ‘joy’ or ‘where God has His way’ instead of pews, parking lots, and preachers? What if church people had no idea what a ‘sinner’s prayer’ or ‘tithing’ meant, but were instead joyfully repentant, generous without hesitation, and innately compelled by love? What if Church were not a place to learn religion but the best tangible proof of God’s existence? Reimagining Church hazards a dream while pulling together the best rational arguments for Church as it could be.”
- Charles J. Wilhelm, author of Biblical Dyslexia: Overcoming the Barriers to Understanding Scripture