I'm A Radical! What about You?

Radical changes are needed now.

Larry Nevenhoven

Copyright 2012 by Larry Nevenhoven

All rights reserved. This booklet is protected by the copyright laws of the United States of America. Written permission must be secured from the publisher to use or reproduce any part of this book, except for brief quotations in critical reviews or articles.

Unless otherwise specified Scripture quotations are from the New American Standard Bible, copyright 1960, 1062, 1968, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, by the Lockman Foundation.

Published by Larry Nevenhoven

Author's Note
I first wrote I'm a Radical! What about You? as a prophetic/teaching series on my blog: www.larrywho.wordpress.com. Except for a few grammar changes, it is the same series Larry Nevenhoven

Chapter 1
Pastor Ricks words hit me like a Yosemite lightning bolt, bursting out of a cloudless sky. Though he had one meaning in mind when he uttered the words, the exact opposite could not have been truer. As his words thundered through the corridors of my brain, I realized our whole church system was an absolute failure. Let me stop here for a moment. This is not a statement I reveled in: I realized our whole church system was an absolute failure. It makes me sound like a desperate pilgrim searching for hidden truths on that Easter morning, but that was not the case. I was just an average, forty-three year old business man sitting next to his wife on a padded pew, listening to Pastor Rick. At the time, everything about my life seemed picture-postcard perfect, or so I thought. Most people would have described me as a rock-solid, Bible-believing, tithe-giving, nonalcohol drinking, conservative-voting, evangelical-Christian. Yet in the days which followed, gossipers whispered new words about me, such as rebel, heretic, and back-slider. (Excerpt from Deceived Dead and Delivered by Larry Nevenhoven, soon to be released ebook)1 What is the #1 concern for American churches? Abortions? Gay marriages? Helping the poor? Elections? Euthanasia? Divorces? Sex trafficking? Racism? Missionary work? No, none of these. The #1 concern for American churches is paying their bills each month. Can I back up my statement? A few years ago, the Barna Group estimated that almost 70% of all church offerings went towards mortgages, rents, maintenance, and staff salaries.2 In today's economy, the percentage is probably much higher. Do I have a radical answer for this concern? Four or five years ago, I was involved in an online discussion with a progressive church pastor. He had definite ideas on various issues and so did I. He backed his ideas up
1

Deceived Dead and Delivered by Larry Nevenhoven is scheduled to be published as an eBook in September or October, 2012. 2 http://www.barna.org/

with Thoreau, Gandhi, Immanuel Kant, Dalai Lama, and a smattering of quotes by Jesus. I just used scriptures to back up my views. "You fundamentalists may know your scriptures, but you never care about the poor," he finally wrote. "I do care about the poor," I replied. "In fact, I'm probably much more radical about this issue than you are." He listed all the efforts done by his church to help the poor in his area. To which I replied: "That's not radical. It's what every Christian organization should do." "Okay, what would you do?" he wrote. "If I were you, I'd sell your church and its property, and give the money to the poor and needy. Then, I'd get a job so the church members would not have to pay me a pastor's salary. In this way, 95% of your church's offerings could go to help the poor and needy," I wrote back. He, of course, replied: "We could never do that. It's too radical!" So, how radical are you?

Chapter 2

(The following is an excerpt from my eBook, Jonah.3 Think of the scene happening on a day after terrorist attacks, much like September 11, 2001)

On the following morning, West Coast Christians flooded into churches. Evangelical churches, Pentecostal churches, Charismatic churches, Roman Catholic churches, liturgical churches and others held services. The people sought hope. They sought understanding. They sought prayer. They sought others of faith. They sought answers. What better place to be in a time of tragedy than a church, right?

Jonah by Larry Nevenhoven, eBook, 2012, may be checked out at: www.larrywho.com.

At the Frisco Bay Community Church on Fourteenth Avenue, across from Grand View Park, members and visitors sat in the floor and balcony pews, stood in the aisles and at the back of the sanctuary and in the lobby. Normally, the 1,500 seat sanctuary was two thirds full for the Sunday morning service and a quarter full for the Sunday evening one. But the church attracted people like a magnet when tragedies hit. It was jam packed. The silver haired pastor checked his watch. 11:05 AM. He stood up from the green wingback chair at the side of the platform and walked over to the clear acrylic podium, a microphone stood next to it. He adjusted the mike. Because of yesterdays fifteen horrible tragedies, were going to move the worship music to the end of the service and skip the sermon. We need to pray for our city and the other four cities, for the many suffering families, for our enemies and for forgiveness from our many rebellious sins. He raised his arms, indicating the congregation should rise. In the momentary upheaval caused by hundreds of moving bodies, a dark skinned man walked to the middle of the sanctuary. Allah Akbar! he screamed. BOOM! The blast from the C-4 plastic explosives thundered through the building. Windows imploded outward. Pews broke into pieces like match sticks. Bodies tossed about. Arms, legs, torsos and heads blended together with debris into a bloody, dusty concoction of death and agony. Fire spread through the building, trapping injured people inside the sanctuary. The more fortunate ones crawled outside and used their cell phones, dialing 911. Sirens could be heard within minutes. For many, it was too late. Once again, news flashes interrupted regular TV and radio programming. Ten West Coast churches, packed with people, were hit this morning at 11:15 AM by suicide bombers. Many injured, many dead. We will have more news on these tragedies when its available. People reacted by leaving work early and heading home. The expressways moved bumper to bumper as they edged forward on the pavements. Those retreating autos reflected the initial rolling pebbles in the panic avalanche waiting to happen.

At 1 PM, Al Jazeera showed a video from an al-Qaeda leader on its television network. The dark bearded man wore a Ghutura on his head and a dark robe. Allah Akbar, yesterday and today mark the beginning salvos on our second phase of attacks on America. Our jihad shall not end until the Great Satan has been defeated and serves the one true god, Allah. Right now, the decadent cities of San Diego, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Portland and Seattle are under siege by an army of martyrs. 10,000 strong. Each is willing to be used for the glory of Allah. Each is set in place to attack the cities. He pointed into the camera. For the people of these five cities, I give you this warning: leave while you can. You are not safe. Each week we shall send fifty or sixty martyrs against you. Your police department and your government can not protect you. Allah be praised.

If you believe the above scene could never happen in your church, then you live in a daydream world. This type of violence happens often in the Middle East and parts of Africa, especially Nigeria right now. Do you think the believers who are killed, while attending churches in Nigeria, love the Lord any less than we do? Probably not, right? It has been reported that there are 40,000 Jihaddist agents hidden in Latin America and parts of South America.4 These agents are specifically trained to be suicide bombers and mass killers. And who do you think these Jihaddists want to kill? Some poor farmer in Guatemala? Of course not! They want to kill you and me because we are American Christians. Admittedly, I'm a radical. You must determine how radical you are willing to be, because the above scene from the eBook, Jonah, may soon be happening in America. If you haven't changed before the bombs go off in our neighborhoods, what do you think the consequences will be for you and your family? If you have raced with men on foot, and they have wearied you, how will you compete with horses? And if in a safe land you are so trusting, what will you do in the thicket of the Jordan? (Jeremiah 12:5 ESV)

http://is.gd/xtzPa8

Chapter 3

If you dig into past articles on my blog, you'll discover that I prefer small churches 10 to 20 members without a designated leader, such as a pastor.5 This does not mean I'm against leaders, pastors, or other callings because I'm 100% for them. My reasons for small groups are:

1) Go therefore and make disciples... (Matthew 28:19) The Great Commission says, "Go." But the traditional church says, "Come. Sit down. Keep quiet. Listen up. Give money. Come back next week for more of the same-o, same-o." Yawn! Jesus discipled twelve men by allowing them to be involved in His ministry and life. Although He preached to thousands, He only assembled with twelve. The twelve men were even sent out on their own and also ministered along side of Jesus. Paul followed the same example, especially during his long stay in Ephesus. And how did this discipling model work? It turned the world upside down in just a few years.6 2) ...When you come together, each of you has a psalm, has a teaching, has a tongue, has a revelation, has an interpretation. Let all things be done for edification. (1 Corinthians 14:26) If the average American church size has 71 members and the median church size is 184 members, there is no way all the people can be involved during a normal Sunday service. Thus, only a few chosen people can speak what God has placed on their hearts. In a small group, each member can speak what is on his heart if he chooses to do so. By doing this, Christians grow faster because they are involved. They learn more from sharing, than by just sitting and listening to one person speak each Sunday.
5 6

www.larrywho.wordpress.com Acts 17:6

And few things are more exciting than watching believers minister to others, especially new converts. 3) For you can all prophesy one by one, that all may learn and all may be encouraged. (1 Corinthians 14:31) The Lord wants Christians to hear His voice and to speak words of edification, encouragement, and comfort to other believers, or to prophesy.7 But obviously, seventy-one or more believers can not prophesy in traditional services. It would be too time consuming, and to be honest, the average believer would probably feel too intimidated to prophesy in such a large group setting. Yet, in a small group of ten to twenty believers, each can prophesy and the others can judge the prophetic words. 4) And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ (Ephesians 4:11-12) New callings can be raised up and allowed to grow in small groups because they can minister there. 5) ...And breaking bread from house to house, they were taking their meals together with gladness and sincerity of heart (Acts 2:46) Fellowshipping in homes allows Christians to lay down their religious attitudes and build deeper relationships with other believers. And nothing builds relationships faster than enjoying meals together. 6) The unchurched believers or unbelievers alike will more likely attend a small group than walk into religious buildings. 7) All of the above will help prepare believers to be leaders and the helping hands of Christ during calamities.

I am a radical, but admittedly, I'm also a realist. Although the Barna Group estimates that in twenty years traditional churches will lose half of their market shares to alternatives, such as home churches and workplace ministries, I disagree and think their enthusiasm has clouded their predictions.8
7 8

1 Corinthians 14:3 http://is.gd/bCzgxL

So, what do I, a radical believer, propose?

Chapter 4
If I were planning to build a bridge from Key West, Florida, to Havana, Cuba, and discovered that no matter what anyone did, the bridge would end up five hundred feet short of the shoreline, I would quit and burn up my plans. Who cares if I could succeed in achieving 99.999% of my goal? It would still be a bridge which would not reach and help the people in Cuba.

And for me, this is the same problem I now have with being a part of the home church movement. In Chapter 3, I listed seven reasons why I like small groups, especially small home groups which meet in local neighborhoods. The reasons are still valid, and therefore, wouldn't you think I should be beating a drum for planting home churches? To be honest, this was my thinking until just recently. What changed my mind? I realized time was running out. Let me back up a little, okay? In a January of this year, I took part in a twenty-one day fast as a member of an online community. The purpose of the fast was to discover the Lord's plans for each of us in 2012. Half way through the fast, the Lord showed me I had lost focus on my divine purpose for living in California at this particular time in history. Somehow, in the busyness of trying to be a husband, father, son, employee, neighbor, friend, and countless other important things, I lost focus. Oh! I showed up for duty every morning, spent time in prayer, meditated, and studied the Bible, but I was just going through the motions. Like many, I physically punched into a supposed spiritual time clock, but my heart never did.

You see, I came to the West Coast to warn people of soon arriving terrorists' attacks and calamities.

..."Watchman, what of the night? Watchman, what of the night?" (Isaiah 21:11)

And if ever I felt an urgency to warn the West Coast, it is right now! Does this mean the catastrophes will happen tomorrow, next month, this year, next year, or five years from now? It doesn't matter when it happens because we need to prepare now... before it happens. Okay, here was my dilemma until recently? If I continued with the home church movement, I would at best warn 5% of the West Coast Christians. That seemed to be a lousy return on my efforts because the two groups do not intermingle well... as yet. So, I'm still a radical, but now I'm transferring all of my efforts toward the 95% or traditional church system. I don't care if the churches are Presbyterian, Methodist, Lutheran, Catholic, Quaker, Pentecostal, Charismatic, non-denominational, liberal, progressive, conservative, snake-handling, or whatever, I'm going to find a way to warn and prepare them.

...I have become all things to all people, so that I may by all means save some. (1 Corinthians 9:22)

About the Author

Larry Nevenhoven is a businessman, an author, and a former real estate agent, living with his wife, Carol, in Temecula, California. They are the parents of four children and the grandparents of six grandchildren. Two ferocious cats round out their immediate family. Connect with Larry at his author's website: www.larrywho.com

Or his blogs: www.larrywho.wordpress.com www.temeculavalleysurvival.wordpress.com Or Facebook: Larry Nevenhoven Or by email: mr.larrywho@gmail.com