Partner With Us

So you love Harmony Church? Want to partner with us, and call us home? Fill out the form below, an elder will contact you regarding a partnership interview, and we’ll take it from there!

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A Lesson From the Wilderness

I developed a different take not too long ago on Matthew 4:1-11, in which Jesus goes into the wilderness and is confronted by the devil.

In the Old Testament, God keeps His people in the wilderness, and out of the Promised Land, because of their sin (Numbers 13-14; for God’s judgment on their actions, specifically 14:20-38). But in his own wilderness experience, Jesus didn’t falter. Despite every temptation from the devil to use his power, whether for political gain or to ease his hunger, Jesus remains faithful.

And that’s what both strikes and encourages me: Jesus remained faithful in every way. He has overcome every evil that appears too powerful for me (sometimes I feel like David against Goliath, only I’ve forgotten my sling and stones). And God has promised that, someday, those struggles will be over (Romans 8:28-29 comes to mind).

Jesus is everything I’m not, but he is everything I hope to be.

Am I a Socialist?

I have a friend that I talk with about all sorts of different things. She is a socialist and I am definitely not. We were discussing politics relating to welfare and a universal health care plan. We are completely on opposite sides of the arguments, but we love Jesus and each other enough to discuss these things openly and without hurt feelings. (Everyone should have a friend like that.) During this conversation, she made a statement that has been with me ever since. I’ve been debating it in my own mind back and forth. She said, “Socialism is a Christian form of government.”

The part of me that agrees with her goes to the story in Acts, Chapter 2 about how the early followers of Christ came together and “had all things in common”. They didn’t have any personal property. They sold everything they had and divided it among the community. They worked and ate together. To me, this says socialism. Then later, in Chapter 6, we see the need for a welfare system. It seems it was too much work for twelve people to pray and study and spread God’s word plus divide the food and property evenly. So, they hired seven social workers to help. This system worked and their number “increased greatly”. To me, this says socialism was given a stamp of approval from God.

But then, like I said, I am definitely not a socialist. I don’t want the government in control of this and telling me what kind of house I can have, how much food I can have, what kind of toys I get to play with and what kind of car I can drive. I like my things. I like the feeling I get when I work hard and earn enough money to buy the things I want, even if I don’t need them. And then I look at how we in the U.S. have the richest poor people in the world. We do not have massive starvation. I heard a statistic a while back that one of the growing health problems among out poor people was obesity. We don’t have cities of people living in cardboard boxes and drinking sewer water. Don’t get me wrong, we do have people who are poor and hungry and homeless, but not like I hear it is in other parts of the world where whole societies are destitute. To me, this says a free market society has been given a stamp of approval from God.

So, I’ve come up with the argument against socialism. In the same stories in Acts, the Christians did not give their problems to the government to solve for them. They didn’t demand the government to come up with a system of food stamps to feed their widows. They found a way to continue to do it themselves. They kept the poor people in their community and took care of them. They kept the relationship with the needy and didn’t outcast them. They committed to living sacrificially and in community. I don’t see God commanding them to live this way. No one says “God told me we should do this.” In the Acts, Chapter six story of hiring social workers, God doesn’t give anyone a vision of a way to solve the problem. Instead, they have a town meeting and present their proposed solution. The solution seems acceptable to the community, so they go with it. So maybe, God’s stamp of approval in blessing them with increased numbers is approving of their desire to work together for a common solution and not just approving the particular solution they came up with. Maybe God is approving of their desire to keep the poor with them. Maybe God is approving of their accepting the responsibility themselves and not passing it along to someone else. Maybe God approves of all this, maybe not. The Bible just says their numbers increase. My desire is for God’s Church to increase. Their method of keeping the poor in their community worked to increase God’s Church. So, I want the church communities taking care of each other and not the government taking care of us. I want God’s Church to increase, not the government. So I guess my conclusion to my friends statement “Socialism is a Christian form of government” is that I want to be the socialist, not the government. How about that, I want to be a socialist! My friend won’t believe me.

Why Join a Church?

As we move forward as a church, we must start to partner together to bring the Gospel to our community. Many churches call this membership, but we can’t find that in Scripture. We do see, however, in Philippians 1:3-5, Paul calling the local church a “partnership in the Gospel”. This article is meant to address the reasons why we are calling people of Harmony Church to join with us in partnership over the next month.

Aside from the Gospel impacting you as the individual to belong to a community, why should you join a church? After all, attending Sunday morning service and small group during the week is enough, right? You volunteer your time, give financially, and invest in others’ lives, all without signing any documents, or submitting to any authority. So why should you join a church? Other than the above-mentioned reason, there are six other basic reasons for you:

1. Joining a church brings glory to God.
2. Joining a church is Biblical.
3. Joining a church stifles individualistic Christianity.
4. Joining a church more effectively brings people to Christ.
5. Joining a church reveals false Gospels.
6. Joining a church builds up the church.

Don’t believe me? Maybe you do, maybe you don’t. Here’s some food for thought on each point.

1.Joining a church brings glory to God.

1 Peter 2:12 says: “Live such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day He visits us.” Matthew 5:16 says: “Let your light so shine before men, that they see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.

It seems that these can be carried out individually, right? Well, no. God means for us to love one another in such a way that people who are not following Jesus can identify us as followers of Christ. Check out John 13:34-35: “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” Jesus is talking to a band of brothers: a small church, so to speak. A group of people covenanted together for the Gospel, intent on impacting their culture for Christ. It is in this setting that “loving one another” leads to “all men knowing we are His disciples”.

We are adopted into the Father’s family as Sons and Daughters of God (Ephesians 1:5). To be estranged from the family, to be individual, is to separate ourselves from that family….including the Father and Son. This is not only undesirable, but it is sinful.

2. Joining a church is Biblical.

If you haven’t seen that by now, you’ll definitely see it as we move forward through the other four reasons. The most quoted verse concerning church covenant is Hebrews 10:19-25.

Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way opened for us through the curtain, that is, His body, and since we have a great Priest over the house of God, let us draw near to God with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water. Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for He who promised is faithful. And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds. Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another-and all the more as you see the Day approaching.

Many people use this passage as an admonition for Sunday morning attendance. I want to go ahead and get rid of that notion. “Holding unswervingly”, “spurring one another on toward love and good deeds and “encouraging one another” do not efficiently happen in a single 90-minute meeting. It is only a continual covenanted community that effectively holds on to hope, spurs one another towards Love, and encourages one another through tough times and good times. This section of Scripture is about belonging to a local church, not about sitting and watching a show for an hour and a half. We can consider Acts 2:42-47 or Acts 4:32-37 to see effective local communities that fit this description of “meeting together”. They met continually, had things in common, devoted themselves to proper doctrine, and there was grace upon them all. Joining and committing to a single, local community is Biblical.

3.Joining a church stifles individualistic Christianity.

We realize that the Christian life is impossible by ourselves. We need the Trinitarian God to stay holy and in right relationship with Him. But just as important, we need one another as well. When we join a church community, we are holding hands in order to love one another, to know one another, and to be known by one another. We cannot live the Christian life on our own, and we as individual Christ-followers must band together with others to follow Christ. Mark Dever states in Nine Marks of a Healthy Church that “The Christian life is not just about you and those you are personally trying to reach with the Gospel. God also intends you to be a committed part of helping to make disciples out of the flock of sheep He has already saved.”

The Spirit of God in us as individuals not only allows us the grace needed to keep ourselves aligned with the Gospel, but it also empowers us to assist others in their walk with Christ. This assistance is done through a covenanted community that manifests as a local church family.

4.Joining a church more effectively brings people to Christ.

The local church is, by its very design, an organization dedicated to the mission of God in its local context. We, at Harmony Church, are dedicated to seeing Greenville know Christ more fully. We advance the Gospel by working together in order to present it those people in our city that have yet to hear its Good News, and also by manifesting the Gospel physically by the things we do and the lives we live from Monday to Sunday.

Those who are not yet Christ-followers may come to know Him by the way we live in community. We are sinners, but as God’s gracious Spirit works in us, our lives will slowly conform to the Savior and will bring others to a saving knowledge of Him.

5.Joining a church reveals false Gospels.

In a world surrounded by dependent truths and Gospel-opposing worldviews, it is necessary that we contend for the faith, as Jude exhorts us to do in Jude 1:3. Even among ‘Christians’, we see false and impostor Gospels. How can we prevent ourselves as individuals, as sinful beings, cling to the Good News that we heard first? In community. In community, correction more easily occurs, the Gospel is better shielded from negative influence, and we expose the lie that Christians are perfect people who put their faith in themselves. Instead, as a community following Christ, we lift up the revelation of the Living Word (Jesus) by the Written Word (Scripture).

6.Joining a church builds up the church.

Yes, joining a church will help you stay truer to the Gospel. Other people will come around you and assist you as you work through doubts and sins. But as you repent, and conform to Christ, you can give back: the Spirit has gifted you as well. You are not gifted for yourself, but instead are given the gifts you have been given in order to invest them in the local church community. We have the opportunity in corporate to hold firm to one another. By covenanting with a local body, we are committing to the leaders at that church, and indeed to Jesus as the Head of all churches, that we intend to be committed in attendance, financial giving, prayer, and service. We allow fellow believers to have greater expectations of us in these areas, and we make it known that we are responsible of, to, and for the local body. As we committ to the local body, we move from the consumers to the committed, and in the process, the Gospel is lifted and Jesus is glorified. Partnership is not an affiliation, as it is with the local gym or Boys and Girls Club. It is a regular responsibility that we will be held accountable for when we face our King.

5 Books for Summer Reading

Here’s a list of five books that I recommend for you readers out there. I also own every book listed here, so if you want to borrow it, let me know. Every book listed is given a link to Amazon.Com, so you can purchase it for your own library. Every book listed is $15 or cheaper, and so is easy on the wallet, but hard on the heart.

• The Reason for God by Tim Keller
  • This book is the new Mere Christianity. In my humble opinion, it’s light years better. It not only refutes the “defeater questions” of our post-modern, secular society, but it presents why Christianity is a viable, and indeed the only viable, option.
• The Radical Reformission by Mark Driscoll
  • Mark Driscoll, while controversial in the past, has revolutionary old things to say about mission in our culture. He addresses everything from redeeming culture to shunning sinfulness without shunning people. It’s a great book, easy to read, and brings us to the heart of what it means to redeem a city and it’s culture.
• Christian Beliefs by Wayne Grudem
  • Wayne Grudem, father of Elliot Grudem, pastor of Christ the King in the Raleigh area, has very plainly explained what it means to be a Christian. This is a great “refresher” course in areas of the Gospel such as the Atonement, the Resurrection, and sanctification. Never too basic for a believer, I promise.
• Don’t Waste Your Life by John Piper
  • This book speaks to what we at Harmony call “looking at the world through crimson-colored glasses”. Don’t let your life drift by, while you work towards things that are not only unachievable without Christ, but are often utterly trivial. This book is extremely challenging, but well worth reading.
• Resolutions and Advice to Young Converts by Jonathan Edwards
  • This book is $3 on Amazon. It’s 40 pages from cover to cover. But it’s the hardest book to apply and put into practice. These are the great American Puritan preacher’s life-guiding resolutions that he attempted to put into practice everyday. Digest it. Think on the resolutions. But ultimately, try to put them into practice. Start with the first one:
    • Resolved, that I will do whatsoever I think to be most to God’s glory and to my own good, profit, and pleasure, in the whole of my duration, without any consideration of the time, whether now or never so many myriads of ages hence. Resolved to do whatever I think to be my duty, and most for the good and advantage of mankind in general. Resolved to do this, whatever difficulties I meet with, how ever so many and how ever so great.

Good luck.

Grace On Us

It’s almost been a year that Harmony Church has been in existence in one form or another. We’ve been meeting publicly for 6 months now. We’ve been meeting weekly for about 3 months. It’s scary. We know not what we are doing. We have a clear vision and mission, but barely any clue about how to accomplish it step-by-step. But God’s hand has clearly been on us. Here’s some ways that He has graced us:

• We meet for free in Dr. Unk’s Oasis, a central business to the Uptown area. It is the number one music venue in the city. We use their video equipment (plasma, high-def TVs) and their lighting. No charge to us. Their staff come in an hour early for our setup. And a couple of their staff tithe. We stay and eat lunch with them, without having to decide on what to eat after our gathering. It gives us a chance to meet any newcomers, and to follow up on each other’s week.
• We have an awesome worship leader. Pablo is a 27 year old leader who also plays a mean guitar. Like myself, he’s learning how this all works each step of the way, but we’re doing it by the grace of God. He came on in a “weird” way last fall while we were meeting in Miranda’s living room. He’s now leading a band that’s four members strong, and possibly growing even more in the next couple of months. He has a deep yearning for the things of God, and loves Jesus deeply. His “sweet lady” is lovely as well, and is currently serving Jesus in Ireland as a missionary there.
• Our Echo Groups (small communities throughout the city that love one another through conversation, food, and study) swell and wane with the city. As college students immigrate in, the Echo Groups grow and rapidly expand. Right now we have one group that meets over the summer, but it is jam-packed every Sunday night (with 12-14 regulars). We are seeing new faces there as well. This past semester, only meeting once a month, we had three groups throughout the city: one downtown, one on campus, and one in Winterville.
• Sunday morning is a miracle. Our equipment, with the exception of the powered speakers we recently bought, was donated to us by a great man of God, Donald Manning, who is currently serving in Williamston as a youth minister. Again, Dr. Unk’s lets us use their video and lighting. We transform that bar to a church in an hour every Sunday, utilizing numerous volunteers. It’s awesome to see.
• We’re seeing older generations come and disciple younger generations, a la Titus 2. It’s a beautiful sight to see a mother talking with the younger women in our church about Jesus and shopping and child-raising. Meanwhile the older men are talking about Jesus and the outdoors and theology. Such a Gospel-centered community is by His grace alone.
• We have a city-serving church. We’ve fought for Dr. Unk’s at the city council. We are partnering with Uptown Greenville on multiple facets, including the Umbrella Market and with our finances. We have had a presence at the Pitt County Task to End Chronic Homelessness. We have served the Pregnancy Center, and are exploring opportunities with the homeless shelter here in the city. We are also putting away money to plant another church in the area.

All of these things and more are simply evidences of God’s hand on us as a community. But there is much, much more work to do in this city.