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MAY - AUG 2010 (N.8)
The Five GreAT TeMpTATioNsoF ChrisTiANiTYCross CANAdA CheCk–Up
kiCkiN’ iT old sChool
with Catherine Booth of the Salvation Army
CANAdA’shoUse ChUrChMAGAziNe
whY liNk hoUse ChUrChes iNToNeTworks?ANd MUCh More...
www.scribd.com/rzdero
The MissioN?
To see the kingdom o God established in our cities, regions, andnation, by linking arms as a relational, intentional, and missionalnetwork o house churches, that develop and deploy every believerin Christ as they impact others.
The sTArFish Files?
Starfsh line the shores o the world’s beaches. Chop o an arm, and a new one grows to take its place. Tear a starfsh in hal, and you’ll soonhave two starfsh on your hands. A torn-o limb can even becomea brand new starfsh. And what’s more, they populate by releasing hundreds o thousands, and sometimes millions, o eggs in just a ew hours. Just like the house church movement through the ages. An estimated 300,000 new house churches have started between1998 and 2006. And this doesn’t include what’s happening in China, which has about 80 to 100 million believers involved, or Latim America, which had about 1 million Basic Christian Communities in2007. It’s also taking root in Canada. Enter The Starfsh Files. Themagazine’s goal is to inspire, inorm, and interconnect the housechurch networks across Canada and beyond.
The TeAM?
Editor, Rad Zdero, rzdero@yahoo.ca Designer, Jason Stacey, yellowcanarydesign.comPrint Producer, Kyle Bultman, synkros.org
sUbMissioNs?
Send your writings, suggestions, and photos to Rad Zdero (editor),c/o The Starfsh Files, P.O. Box 39528, Lakeshore P.O., Mississauga,ON, Canada, L5G-4S6, or by email to rzdero@yahoo.ca
FiNANCiAl doNATioNs?
Although the magazine is usually ree or the asking, it does takemoney to produce it. Non-tax deductible cheques can be made outto “The Starfsh Network” with “Starfsh Files” in memo line andsent to the address above.
priNT rUN ANd eleCTroNiC Copies?
Intended publication is 3 times yearly—winter, spring/summer,and all. A limited but growing print run is available or each issue.Electronic versions are available ree online at
www.oikosministries.com
and
www.scribd.com/rzdero
or printcopies can be purchased online at
www.synkros.org (click on“Starfsh Files”)
The Five GreAT TeMpTATioNs oFChrisTiANiTY
B RAD ZDERO
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sTArFish sTATs
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Cross CANAdA CheCk-Up
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The sTorY oF The “eAsT edGe”NeTwork oF hoUse ChUrChes
B JON PRITCARD
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is There Good doCTriNe iN ThehoUse? (pArT 3)
B GORD COLSON
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kiCkiN’ iT old sChool
... with Catherine Booth of the Salvation Army
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whY liNk hoUse ChUrChes iNToNeTworks?
B RAD ZDERO
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Go ANd MAke disCiples oNliNe!
B ROB ROSS
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revolUTioN koMix
B RAD ZDERO
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bY FAiTh
B REBEKA PRINCE
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Three kiNds oF ChUrChes?
B BRCE WOODFORD
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The Starfish Files www.scribd.com/rzdero
The Five GreAT TeMpTATioNs oF
ChrisTiANiTY
Rad Zdero, Ph.D., received his doctorate in Mechanical Engineering, specializing in bio-mechanics and bio-materials. He is currently the director of a hospital-based research group in Toronto. Rad has beeninvolved in the house church and small group movement since 1985. He is the author of The Global House Church Movement (2004) and the allegorical novel Entopia: Revolution of the Ants (2008). Heis also the editor of Nexus: The World House Church Movement Reader (2007) and The Starsh Fileshouse church magazine. He lives in Toronto, Canada. His non-ction and ction writings can be found at www.scribd.com/rzdero and he can be reached at rzdero@yahoo.ca
B RAD ZDERO
The biG wheel oF ChrisTiANiTY
As a child, I had a bicycle that wasready or the trash. There was alwayssomething wrong with it— lat tire, rusty chain, wobbly seat.Now, I could ride my bike with a lattire or on bare rims. Even i I was missing some spokes, I could still get somewhere.But, without a hub holding it all together,I couldn’t get anywhere, period!Similarly, Christianity can be describedas a wheel. The rubber tire is the Christianlie, individually and corporately. Thisis you and me, separately and together, when we engage the reality o lie as “therubber meets the road”.The spokes are the basic activities thatcharacterize the Christian. These includeprayer, worship, Bible study, giving,caring, mentoring, mission, and living the common lie together. These spokesensure a right and active relationship between the rubber tire and the hub.
whAT is The hUb?
But, Christ is the hub that makes the wheel o Christianity go round. e holdsit all together. Without him, it’s all invain. The wheels just won’t turn. We won’t be able to get anywhere.Christ must be at the heart o theChurch or it to truly remain aithul.Christ’s lie, teachings, miracles,death, resurrection rom the dead, andreconciliation to God through Christ,must be at the core.The apostle Paul says it plainly inthe New Testament: “Now brothers andsisters, I want to remind you o the gospelI preached to you, which you receivedand on which you have taken your stand.By this gospel you are saved, i you holdirmly to the word I preached to you.Otherwise, you have believed in vain.For what I received I pass on to you aso irst importance: that Christ died orour sins according to the scriptures, thathe was buried, that he was raised on thethird day according to the scriptures.”(1 Cor 15:1-4).Theologian John Stott also puts it well: “Essentially Christianity is Christ.The person and work o Christ are therock upon which the Christian religionis built. I he is not who he said he was,and i he did not do what he said he hadcome to do, the oundation is underminedand the whole superstructure willcollapse. Take Christ rom Christianity,and you disembowel it; there is practically nothing let. Christ is the centre o Christianity; all else is circumerence.”(Basic Christianity, 1971, p.21).
soMeThiNG TeMpTiNGThis wAY CoMes
It is easier to spot overt evil and glaring sin than subtle deception. So, we mustnot allow “good” things to replace the“best” thing as the hub o our lives, thatis, Christ himsel. We must be awakeand on guard. Time and time again
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The Starfish Files www.scribd.com/rzdero
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