~We have been so blessed , in every sense of the word, to have the Job family here in our home ,and in our home fellowship for a brief stay before they head up to Burlington, Washington and then back to their home in England. For any who have a teeny bit of curiosity about home church, Beresford Job's book
BIBLICAL CHURCH is the book to read. Above is a photograph of Beresford,(left) and a brother in Christ, Joe Emmi, from Oregon.
~Joe came up from Oregon with a friend, and after a meal, we had a wonderful time of music and singing in the home of the Wingmaster and his family. Joe Emmi contributed some absolutely beautiful songs he wrote and sang accompanied by his guitar. IF he ever concedes to record his music I want to order the first recording.~
~Others meeting together this evening.(Jobs , left, Coulters, right) We meet in homes and come together with songs, praises, scripture, prayer...." no one leads from the front. We are in the home of whichever family is on the rota for that week, and there is precisely no front to lead from. We all sit around the sides of the room- some on chairs and others on the floor depending upon available space- and everyone can clearly see everyone else's face. All are free to interject into the silence, whether with sung praise and worship, a prayer, a tongue, an interpretation, a prophecy, a testimony, a request for prayer, a word of encouragement. a word of instruction from the scriptures, or a reading from them; anything , in fact, which would have the effect of encouraging and building up in the Lord those present. This is the foundational underlying principle and rule laid down in scripture for the I Corinthians 14 time; " When you come together, everyone has a hymn, or a word of instruction, a revelation, a tongue or an interpretation. All of these must be done for the strengthening of the church." Beresford Job
Biblical Church
~My Hubby ( above) with our youngest grandson, Little J. Our children ,now grown, grew up being involved in our home church and worship. They were not handed over to teachers or babysitters while we sat without them, and soaked up preaching, teaching, and singing in church. As you can see from the pictures, our grandchildren participate in home church with us and their parents. Our sons home church in another town with our other granddaughters and brothers and sisters in Christ....(below, our daughter, A.Joy, mother of Little J.) "
In the New Testament, and therefore in a biblical church, the children are seen to be as much a part of the proceedings as everyone else, and that includes the ' I Corinthians 14'worship and sharing time as well. Or to put it another way, the children are, quite simply, as much a part of the church as everyone else, and not in a million years are they supposed to just be 'got out of the way'. And neither should they be ever be viewed as anyone's responsibility, spiritual or otherwise, except their parents. Indeed, it should be the utter delight of parents to have their children with them as much as humanly possible..." Biblical Church, Beresford Job
~We are so thankful God has allowed us to home school and home church our children and see that our grown children value what they were taught, enough to do so themselves. We are so thankful to home church with our daughter and her family, to snuggle grandchildren while we enjoy the fellowship of our brothers and sisters in Christ, enjoy meals and songs and praises together, and lots and lots of wonderful music, and knowing that we are there for each other in spite of our human flaws and problems...and that God has graciously extended to us His grace...sufficient for all."
I leave you with this thought: If scripture says something, then whatever that thing is, it is right. Conversely, if something goes against scripture, then whatever that thing is, it is wrong. Therefore, when it comes to church life and practice, who are you going to go with; the Lord Jesus Christ and His written Word, or the traditions of the early Church Fathers? Beresford Job BIBLICAL CHURCH
"If anyone wills to do His will, he shall know concerning the doctrine..." John 7:17