Day: April 15, 2016

God’s Commands in the New Testament

Myron Horst

Jesus commanded us in the second half of the Great Commission to teach others to observe ALL that He has commanded us. We first need to know the commands ourselves well enough so that we can teach others to observe them. View an Uncategorized List of Commands Alcohol Luke 21:34 And take heed to yourselves, lest at any time your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting, and drunkenness, and cares of this life, and so that day come upon you unawares. Rom 13:13 Let us walk honestly, as in the day;…

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Building a Theology of Peace in the Old Testament

Myron Horst

Would you go to the Old Testament to develop a theology of peace and your position on a Christian’s involvement in war? Or do you tend to ignore or gloss over the Old Testament on the issue of peace and participation in war because it does not fit your peace theology? The Old Testament has been a problem and a stumbling block to the question of whether a Christian should go to war. How do we, who hold a peace position, reconcile the teachings of Jesus and the New Testament…

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The Effects of the Headcovering on Divorce

Myron Horst

Is there a correlation between Christian women wearing a headcovering as is instructed in 1 Corinthians 11 and the divorce rate among Christians? Most churches today teach that the woman does not need to cover her head and that the teaching in 1 Corinthians 11 does not apply to today. Is it true that the headcovering teaching is not important, has no value for today, and is to be “spiritualized” and reinterpreted? Or is the Church reaping the consequence of ignoring the headcovering command in the high rate of divorce…

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Contrary to Popular Opinion, College or Seminary Education is not Beneficial for Pastors

Myron Horst

God is quite clear in many passages of Scripture, and through the example of Jesus, that higher education is not beneficial for pastors. Ignoring all that God has written about the subject, most churches require at least a college degree if not a seminary degree for their pastor. Subconsciously, the church has bought into the belief that the educated few hold the key to understanding the deeper things of Scripture and that Christians need to look to the educated, who are mere men, for answers to the difficult questions and…

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Home “Sunday Schooling”

Myron Horst

The answer for the spiritual education of our children in the home church Training children and young people in the ways of the Lord is very important for passing on the faith to the next generation and to their children who follow. Building-based churches have used Sunday school and youth groups for years in an attempt to train children and young people. However, in the last 50 years or so, each succeeding generation trained in the church Sunday school has become more Biblically illiterate than the previous generation to the…

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How to Turn the Hearts of Fathers to Their Children

Myron Horst

The Importance of Turning the Hearts of Fathers to Their Children God sent John the Baptist to prepare people for lasting revival so that the church would endure after Jesus returned to Heaven. Jesus’ ministry lasted only three years. At the end of those three years, the revival that began has continued for two thousand years. What God said that John the Baptist would do to prepare the people for Jesus, was to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children and the hearts of children to their fathers.…

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Preparing for the Future of the Church

Myron Horst

A proposed change in the Spiritual education of children and young people It is vitally important that we prepare now for the future of the church. How we train our children and young people has great bearing on the spiritual commitment of the next generation. God has high expectations and standards of conduct for our youth and young adults. Our intentions and motives have been right, but has the spiritual education in Sunday Schools, vacation Bible schools, Christian schools and church youth groups been consistently producing young people who are…

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The Key for Lasting Revival

Myron Horst

One of the Godliest kings in the Bible was King Hezekiah. Hezekiah brought about a great spiritual revival and reformation in Judah. God tells us this about him: “And he did that which was right in the sight of the LORD, according to all that David his father did. He removed the high places, and broke the images, and cut down the groves, and broke in pieces the brazen serpent that Moses had made: for unto those days the children of Israel did burn incense to it: and he called…

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Totally Rethinking Church, Part 1: Stepping “Out of the Box”

Myron Horst

(Note: The purpose of these articles on Totally Rethinking Church is not to incite a rebellious attitude against the established church or encourage an elitist attitude; but to stimulate your thinking to look at the Scriptures and evaluate the church, so that you can help make the church more like Christ would have us to be.) Millions of Christians in the last several years have been totally rethinking what “church” is and are looking for a deeper relationship with Christ. A spiritual revolution and revival is quietly sweeping across America…

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Totally Rethinking Church, Part 2: Sheep – A Key to Understanding God’s Design for the Church

Myron Horst

For many years, I felt like I was not being fed spiritually at church as much as I wanted to be. Many Sundays I felt like I was given skim milk instead of real meat that I could sink my teeth into. The meetings, activities, and teaching responsibilities in the church always kept me busy, but they did not really satisfy my spiritual longings. Little did I realize that I would have to become a farmer to understand God’s answer. Many of the truths in the Bible are given using…

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Totally Rethinking Church, Part 3: A Refreshing Change for Church Leadership

Myron Horst

The caring “pasture” shepherd pastor that is God’s plan for Church leadership is the type of pastor that we all have a deep longing for. God’s design for church leadership is much different than what we find in most conventional “feedlot” style, building based churches today. It requires a total reprogramming of our minds of what Spiritual leadership is and how it is carried out. In the process of changing the format of worship from a church building to a house church, we have the opportunity to totally rethink what…

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“Bodily Exercise Profiteth Little”

Joel Horst

“Bodily exercise profiteth little”. We’ve probably all heard this quote from 1 Timothy 4:8 at one time or another. Some quote it to give them license to sit around. Others retranslate it to say “bodily exercise profits for a little time”. Both take the fragment of verse out of context. As you read the following quote, notice the entire context. “But refuse profane and old wives’ fables, and exercise thyself rather unto godliness. For bodily exercise profiteth little: but godliness is profitable unto all things, having promise of the life…

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The Guaranteed Christian Success Formula

Joel Horst

If you’re like me, you’ve heard of, or read of, various plans for success in the Christian life. Some are embodied in how-to books. Others come from biographies of great Christian men. Still others come from pastors, professors, and men with Ph.D’s. Many challenge you to hours of prayer. Or reading through the Bible and/or memorizing large portions of it. Or winning souls for Christ. Or living a life of service to others. And of course, there’s the advice given to new Christians: “Read your Bible, pray, witness to others…

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Why You Should Sing in Your House Church

Myron Horst

Singing is a very essential part of our worship of God and needs to be a part of every house church. Our desire is to help you as best we can to make a beautiful, joyful sound in singing praises to our God. God loves singing, and loves to hear us sing praises to Him. The purpose of this article is to help you see how important your singing is to God, and to encourage you to perfect the singing ability of those in your house church. Singing, whether a…

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