Vol 1, No 1 - "Manifesto"

Now is the time to stand athwart the tide of American church history and yell: "Stop! For too long, earnest Christians inflamed with the love of Christ have been doused with the cold waters of institutional, denominational American Christianity. For too long, ardent believers have been bored to death with Sunday morning sermons that have the depth of the Sunday morning comics, preached by the same old burnt-out volcano that was hired by the pulpit committee to boost attendance, increase the budget, build a new gym, and of course, get the church fired up for Jesus. For too long, devoted disciples of Jesus Christ have been relegated to the back pew, told to sit still, tithe more, and don't think.

WARNING!! The Surgeon General has determined that if you are pregnant, have a weak heart, or are compromised with the American Church system, you maybe hadn't oughtta be reading this thing.

The New Reformation Review believes that the present American church is in an intolerable state. But we also believe that something can be done about it. This journal has been founded with an unbreakable faith that Jesus did not mean for his people to live like American church Christians are living, and that the Lord had something a whole lot better in mind.

We realize, of course, that to state the problem is not to solve it. We also realize that the answer is not to engage in a holy crusade against the institutional church. Such a crusade would only create strife and bitterness, and it would be doomed to fail. The American institutional church will always be here, and the good men and women in it will continue doing enough that many will be satisfied. The New Reformation Review, however, is aimed at the hearts and minds of that small, hearty band of radical Christians who realize that the good has become the enemy of the best, and that there is something so much better than even the best institutional church can offer. This congregation of radical believers also knows that the good has become an apology for the intolerable. They are weary of sententious arguments that run like this: "You can't find a perfect church, and if you could, as soon as you joined it, it wouldn't be perfect anymore. What we've got now is the best that we can do." No. No. No. What we've got now is not the best that we can do.

Now is the time to stand athwart the tide of American church history and yell "Stop!"

The radical Christian knows that even those in the institutional church who want reform are hamstrung by the vested interests present: the tradition, the hide-bound rituals, the unscriptural church governments, the finances. What does a believer wanting reform do when confronted with all this? He might try to mount an assault from within the system to change it, which, of course, will fail completely. He might withdraw, compromise his beliefs, and become spiritually dead, miserable, and frustrated. These are not viable alternatives. The New Reformation Review will give alternatives that are workable and scriptural. That's the good news. The bad news is that those who want to experience real church reform are going to have to become radical. These believers will have to undergo alienation and rejection from family, friends, and misunderstanding Christians. But they'll do it anyway, because of the prize they will gain.

Exactly what is the radical solution? We call it, for the lack of a better term, "house church Christianity." We could call it "New Testament Christianity," but so many people have tried to reproduce New Testament Christianity, and failed, that the term is a turnoff. We could call it "church life," but there are dozens of movements (most all of them good) that are trying to reform the unreformable American church system from within. We do not strive for that. Our answer is to start all over again, from scratch. "House church" is not a great term, because "house church Christianity" refers more to a state of mind than to a particular kind of architecture. But the phrase does capture the flavor of the movement we are trying to promote. And, most of the radical Christians we are describing herein, as a matter of fact, do meet in houses.

One of the ultimate goals of The New Reformation Review is to convince dispirited Christians of our bent that it is quite possible to build house churches. Not only possible, but absolutely necessary. We aim to encourage the already convinced, but we also desire to convince those who disbelieve that radical house church Christianity is the answer.

Future issues of The New Reformation Review will attempt to give content to the expression "house church Christianity." We will discuss issues you won't find discussed anywhere else: the scriptural and practical necessity of plural elders government. If a pastor is a spiritual "gift," why do we pay for a gift? How do you deal with someone's unbridled flesh while meeting in a living room? What do you do for the children? How do you integrate teaching into the open meeting? How do you relate to the American church system? What about finances? Will a building destroy the nature of the "house church?" How do you handle doctrinal differences? What is the proper extra-local relationship between house churches? How do you handle growth and maintain intimacy? Does the church have "ministries" or is it a meeting place for ministers who have ministries? How do you develop the intimate relationships necessary for house church? Are constitutions scriptural or necessary? Should a scriptural church have a name? Is it true that house churches abdicate cultural and political responsibility by isolating themselves from our society? Are the traditional teachings concerning the "Holy Sabbath" scriptural, or are they rather fleshly props for an unscriptural church order? What is the difference organizational and organic relationships between Christian brothers and sisters? How important is Watchman's Nee's concept of locality? The questions are endless, complex, and challenging. Your local denominational pastor can't help you, but perhaps we can.

One Million Dollar Reward!!!

For Scriptural Evidence of:

One of the ultimate goals of the New Reformation Review is to convince dispirited Christians of our bent that it is quite possible to build house churches. Not only possible, but absolutely necessary. We aim to encourage the already convinced, but we also desire to convince those who disbelieve that radical house church Christianity is the answer. We intend to proceed without the rancor and humorlessness that afflict so many radical Christians. But we also intend to carry on without the kind of compromise that plagues the "new-wine-in-the-old-wineskins" brigade that naively thinks it is going to stop seventeen hundred years of foolishness by "going to the pastor" and convincing him that he's wrong.

In coming issues, The New Reformation Review will tackle philosophical church life and church government issues, as well as practical ones. Our articles will range from exegetical examinations of Scriptures, to personal testimonies of believers who have left the church system, to philosophical and cultural ruminations concerning such issues as "the intimacy of house church as an antidote to the alienation induced by deracinated, industrialized mass societies." We will critically analyze what those in the American church system say about us, and defend our movement with vigor. We will do book reviews of relevant publications. We will try to keep our readers informed of gatherings or events that might interest us. We will publish worthy articles submitted by readers.

We have no delusions that what we say will be received with open arms. We realize that most will shrug us off as irrelevant, or crazy. But, the Roman Catholic Church, for the most part, was entirely unconcerned about the Protestant reformers, until the Reformation swept Europe, and almost engulfed the holy mother church. Quite frankly, it is unlikely that such a reformation will sweep the dead, sectarian American church of today. But: you never know what might happen if believers start examining their practices in light of Scripture. From a human standpoint, reformations take extreme discontent with the status quo, articulate and reasoned criticism of the status quo, and leaders who are willing to risk all to see the status quo changed. Reformations require a shared vision of what might be. And they require large doses of humility on the part of the reformers, because without it, the reform will degenerate into self-cannabilizing sectarianism, doctrinal screwiness, bitterness, and frustration. All of this is a tall order, and we would be presumptious to think we are going to get it. We can only dream. But in the meantime, the few of us who have tasted the joys of radical Christianity can encourage each other, and hope for days ahead in which many more will join with us.

One Million Dollar Reward!!!

For Scriptural Evidence of:

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