"95 Theses for Church Revolution"

"95 Theses for Church Revolution" is dedicated to assisting Christians restore the purity, purpose and power that the New Testament Apostolic Church possessed. As such, you will find 95 power points of restoration. Each of the Theses (plural for Thesis - "a proposition that a person advances and offers to maintain by argument") are given with the same goal in mind as the Protestant reformer Martin Luther had when he posted 95 Theses on the door of the church in Wittenberg, Germany on October 31, 1517. http://www.luther.de/e/95thesen.html
He desperately wanted the Roman Catholic Church to consider one particular means that the Church used to raise money for building cathedrals (called indulgences). Eventually, his protest, along with many others, led to entire new streams of denominational Christianity. These reformers principally gained back three vital things: The authority of the Bible, salvation by grace through faith, and the priesthood of all believers in Jesus Christ. While this was a huge step in the right direction in steering the Church back to its New Testament roots, it was still woefully lacking. Since then, many books have been written, and many people have given their lives in order to help recover the original vibrancy of the early church. You might think of this site as a "virtual" Wittenberg Door. It is hoped that these 95 Theses will inspire you to do your part in the restoration of the Church to its New Testament Apostolic foundations. And so doing, perhaps ours or our children's generation will be the ones to complete our Lord's heart cry: to take the Good News of Jesus Christ to the ends of the earth in order to set the captives free and see nations of disciples for Him!
Our Mission is to encourage the renewal, restoration, reformation and even revolution of the Church of Jesus Christ. The proposals listed herein represent the views of many people, albeit still a minority. But the goal of seeing the Great News of the forgiveness of sins through the death and resurrection of Jesus proclaimed in every nation is the goal! It is our intent to provide all levels of resources in order to see world discipleship accomplished. We do not represent any denomination, and believe that Christianity was intended to be simple, life changing, and for EVERYONE! Since no man has a corner on the truth, it is possible that some of the 95 Theses could be altered or even eliminated in the future. For this reason, we wish to humbly augment the work that God is doing throughout the earth in fostering Apostolic reformation to the Church of Jesus Christ. If you believe that you have a "piece of the puzzle" to contribute, please let us know. Soon, there will be a page for selective contributions, so that the entire Body of Christ may benefit. Please give us your honest, heartfelt comments by communicating on the feedback form or email at mail@95theses2000.org.   ~ Bob Lund
The 95 Theses:
Six Proposals For Renewing Our Passion For Jesus And One Another!
1. Experiencing the love of God and obeying him by loving one another must be the focus of all our activities in the Church of Jesus Christ.
2. All of our activity in the church must have, as its goal, Christ being formed in every person.
3. Hearing God’s voice via listening prayer and cultivating an obedient response reflex must be at the center of our individual and corporate prayer activity.
4. Our lord never meant for our walk with him to be as complicated as medieval and subsequently, modern Christianity has made it; we must work to simplify the Christian church as exemplified in the New Testament.
5. Our walk with the lord was never meant to be mediated by an organization or an individual.
6. Our walk with the lord has more to do with "community" than most western Christians would admit or understand.
What Christians do when they get together is important to God!
7. The modern day "Sunday service" is far from fulfilling the scriptural exhortation to "not forsake our own assembling together."
8. Christian meetings were meant to engage every believer in action.
9. The lord’s supper was never meant to be a "polite ceremony with an itty bitty breadcrumb and a thimbleful of Welch's grape juice.."
10. While home fellowship groups are a great step towards the New Testament ideal of meetings, they are not necessarily the answer.
Since the "business" of Christian ministry is transforming peoples lives so that they are conformed to the image of Christ...
11. Ministry in the church today is often no more than the latest trick or technique from a new book or conference.
12. Much of the ministry in American churches revolves around planning programs and assumes that relationships will naturally follow those programs, rather than the biblical model of putting relationships first.
13. Equipping the saints in order to perform the work of the ministry is often talked about but rarely performed according to biblical pattern.
14. Many churches have not envisioned each person as being the key to attracting, transforming and keeping the lost.
15. The concept of ministry in the church is often no more than a conglomerate of impersonal programs.
16. Equipping the saints is much more than just herding people into a room and talking at them.
17. The "pulpit" is one device that has helped to perpetuate the anti-biblical doctrine of a clergy and laity distinction.
18. The practice of equating book learning with equipping and training has greatly contributed to the lack of real power in the Church of Jesus.
19. The average church-going Christian in America unconsciously thinks that the very act of faithfully attending church services is their ministry; it is not.
20. Our lord never meant for preaching to be the primary way that the saints are equipped for service; in fact, preaching as we know it in a Christian assembly may not have even existed in the very early church.
21. Deliverance ministry in the church is one of the most controversial, yet vital issues facing the church today. We cannot bring the body of Christ to maturity without dislodging demonic strongholds out of each new Christian.
Helping people grow and become all they are supposed to be in the Lord Jesus Christ requires leadership... not too much and not too little... but just as the New Testament prescribes!
22. A New Testament apostolic reformation is vital to the success of the church in the 21st century.
23. Our lord did not intend for church leaders to wield the kind of control over other people that we often see today.
24. Leadership "covering" in most traditional churches often resembles more of a political, military, or corporate business model than a new testament one.
25. The clergy-laity distinction is not biblical and has caused God’s people incalculable damage throughout history.
26. The gift of apostle is probably one of the most misunderstood ministry gifts. Yet it must be received if the church is going to be truly effective in worldwide church planting.
27. The New Testament function of elder is often misunderstood and rarely practiced.
28. Biblical elders are more than older men who are good businessmen.
29. The protestant reformation re-instated the truth of the priesthood of all believers, but not the practice.
30. The role of "pastor," in today’s modern usage, is far different from the New Testament definition and is without biblical support.
31. With little or no scriptural warrant, the reformers of the sixteenth century simply renamed priests, giving them the name of "pastor," and retained many of the functions of such priests.
32. The position of "senior pastor" may be more likened to that of a corporate CEO or president and is an entirely inappropriate model for the Church of Jesus.
33. For most churches in America, the position commonly referred to as pastor has turned into a vocation and probably should not be one at all.
34. Often, the senior pastor is not necessarily the most capable teacher of an assembly, yet is usually the one who does most of the teaching.
35. In many cases, the senior pastor is really a church planter, evangelist, teacher or biblical pastor who has settled into a biblically inappropriate role.
36. The Pastor/CEO position as we know it today is virtually an impossible position to fulfill, and can lead to incredible discouragement and burnout.
37. One of the principle reasons we have kingly, authoritarian leaders in the church today is for the same reason as Israel of old: people have rejected God as their king and usually cry, with one voice, for a single leader they can point to as monarch over their church assembly.
38. One of the best things that could ever happen to a senior pastor and the church would be for him to get a job and share many of his duties with others.
39. Churches ought to raise up leadership from within an assembly rather than hire someone from outside.
The Church of Jesus Christ is a family, not a corporation. We must embrace the community nature of the Church and shy away from institutionalism as much as possible.
40. One of our primary problems in the church occurs when we think God is in His house when He is not.
41. The church today has largely forgotten its Hebrew roots and has embraced a Greek philosophy which has led to an increase in worldly wisdom in its midst.
42. The Christendom model of the church is a failed experiment; we should begin to embrace the New Testament ideals with respect to the kingdom of God.
43. The corporation model of the church is a failed experiment; we should stop embracing it and press on towards God’s simple plan for His church.
44. The church was never meant to be a highly organized institution based on programs.
45. The Church of Jesus is, at its core, a family; any resemblance to a modern corporation, or any other institution, is a result of cultural influence and may not be biblical.
46. Naming a group of Christians is, in itself, an act of dividing the body of Christ.
47. The existence of denominational organizations within the church is further attestation to the fact that a full reformation has never taken place.
48. Headquarters or denominational control over local churches has no scriptural basis and is a practice that should not be embraced.
49. Church membership should be based on nothing less or more than a commitment to Christ.
The church is not made up of physical bricks. Rather, it is made of living stones... Believers. We must major on the spiritual house, and minor on the physical ones...
50. Unlike the Old Testament temple system, the New Testament lends slim-to-no support for physical buildings for the body of Christ to meet in.
51. Our church growth should not be limited to the size of our building, or the speed at which we are able to add on to it.
52. Money spent on buildings (both purchased and rent) tends to reflect an old covenant program. In many cases, such funds should be re-directed to efforts that better reflect New Testament values and patterns.
53. Many unsaved people are offended by the amount of money that church buildings cost. Rather, if they are going to take offense at the church, it should be at the cross of Christ expressed in the lives of believers.
54. Buildings often detract from the family aspect of the Church of Jesus.
55. Smaller church meetings in homes are a better way to build and transform lives in the body of Christ.
56. A growing segment of both the Christian and non-Christian populace will not enter into a church building.
57. We must not make a sacred cow of only meeting in homes.
58. While the "cell church" concept is working for some churches, and is a big step in the right direction, it is still not as optimal as the New Testament pattern.
Reproducing the life of Christ in others via disciple making lies in the center of God's heart. Therefore, we must be as serious about it as He is, and be diligent in doing it His way...
59. The "gospel blimp" mentality of program evangelism is a relatively recent mutation of an ancient, yet anti-biblical invention.
60. We should minimize program evangelism and encourage the New Testament pattern of equipping each Christian to be witnesses in their sphere of influence on a day-to-day basis.
61. We must be cautious in utilizing the "convert them and herd them into a Sunday morning service" approach to evangelism and discipleship.
62. An anti-biblical view of separation has cut many off from influencing others for Christ.
63. A call to radical discipleship is largely missing from many evangelistic pleas, calls, and outreaches
64. God’s manifest power will be available to us in our outreach efforts as we obey His call to go to the afflicted; we must resist the ingrown passivity that pervades church today.
Extending the kingdom of God via Church planting is our Lord's way of growing the Church. We need to focus on His work and do it in His way...
65. The Americanization of other cultures during the course of our world missionary efforts has been a tragic mistake; by doing so we plant a mutated form of the New Testament church.
66. World evangelization via mission organizations has been partially successful, and has been "plan b" at best..
67. Our lord never meant for people who felt called to missions to go around begging for money for support.
68. Missionary efforts that create umbilical cords to ourselves foster an unbiblical dependence among the churches that we have planted.
69. Something is most likely very wrong with this picture: the newly planted church in which the church planter stays too long.
70. We should be aggressively encouraging business people to be "stealth bomber" evangelists in countries that are typically closed to traditional missionaries.
71. We must remember how vital signs and wonders are in evangelism and church planting.
72. Church planting does not have to take place via apostles; regular believers may bring the gospel to outer regions and plant legitimate churches.
True worship is our heart of love responding in expressions of obedience...
73. The church has been overrun by a spirit of program and entertainment; we must restore intimacy with, and obedience to, God as our worship of God.
74. The "hymnal" of the church was never meant to be a bound book, but rather, a loose-leaf notebook.
75. Worship music was never meant to become a professional subsidiary of the church.
76. Singing in the spirit is either missing from, or abused by, many churches.
Money matters. We need to restore extravagant, New Covenant giving to the Church...
77. The tithe is an old covenant practice that principally served the priestly sacrificial system overhead. With the new covenant, money is allocated to perform tasks, such as assistance to the oppressed and church planting and related itinerant ministries.
78. Often, giving money to churches becomes "tithing to ourselves."
79. Except for itinerants and rare exceptions, paying church leaders, robs the people of being able to be released in their giftings and ministries.
80. By mixing money with ministry (in a tax-free way), we place ourselves in an unholy and unnecessary alliance with the state.
We must flee traditions which do not square with Scripture and run toward patterns which do...
81. Many churches have embraced traditions, which have developed after the close of the first century, while almost entirely neglecting New Testament, apostolic ones.
82. We must be careful of mimicking the activities of past brethren as well as not expecting that future generations will do so with ours.
83. We need to eliminate the offense of traditions, strange mannerisms, and sin in the church which often block the unsaved from facing the offense of the cross of Christ.
84. Often, the root of our misguided traditions come from an improper interpretation or application of scripture.
85. When the ways of the culture around us (secular or religious) are embraced in the body of Christ, especially if they preempt the patterns and principles that the lord has given us, we run the risk of being ineffective at best, and offending God, at worst.
86. The tradition of some Christian groups of "dressing up" for church is often a barrier to some believers and unbelievers alike that keeps them from fellowship.
The job of transforming lives cannot be done without the proper tools. We must fully restore the operation of all the spiritual gifts for all the Body of Christ today...
87. All of the gifts of the Holy Spirit were meant to be in operation until the day that Jesus returns.
88. Both charismatic and non-charismatic brethren ought to be careful in establishing their practices from experience or the lack thereof.
89. Prophesying as noted in the New Testament often is different than the prophetic expressed in the Old Testament and is certainly more than just good preaching.
90. Prophesying was never meant to be a vague word spoken by people who need attention.
91. He never meant for spiritual gifts and anointing to be more important than character and love.
Entertainment, false unity, and head knowledge without "heart" all have injected their venom into the church. We must root these things out...
92. The world of entertainment has had more influence on the ministry of the church than most would care to admit.
93. Higher education, principally utilizing the lecture method of training, has affected the body of Christ in a negative way; in order to make "whole" disciples, we must see training as more than simply preaching and lecturing.
94. It is dangerous to make doctrinal statements or church constitutions our points of unification; lest they possibly preempt the unity in the spirit we are to possess having been joined together by the blood of the Son of God.
95. Leaders have unwittingly widened the breach between the truth of the priesthood of all believers and the actual practice of it by misapplying scholasticism.