Post by Danny on Jul 29, 2006 22:23:26 GMT -5
About NTRF
NTRF is part of a growing body of believers who have come to see the importance of following New Testament patterns in church practice. We have taken to heart the evangelical belief that the Bible is our final authority, not only in matters of faith, but also in matters of practice. We see theological significance in the distinctive practices of the apostolic church.
Our desire is to provide resources and training in how the early church met together in community. We seek to aid others in recapturing the intimacy, simplicity, accountability and dynamic of first century church life. Thus far we have been blessed to be able to travel and present these concepts to believers in Peru, China, Russia, England and throughout the United States. While we are firmly convinced that God’s best is for all His people to organize their churches according to New Testament patterns, we are not “against” everyone else. What we are against is divisiveness or the blanket condemnation of our brothers who see things differently than we do. Our desire is not to come across as judgmental or overly critical. Matters of church practice are much in the same category as the issue of believer’s baptism versus infant baptism. People of faith can be found in each camp. Assuming that the Lord prefers one approach over the other, then the other method is “wrong.” Is the wrong group therefore in sin? Are they thus not a true church? Will God refuse to work in and through them? Heaven forbid! While they may be in violation of God’s best, it is an honest, sincere blunder in a completely different category than moral failings such as lying, theft, murder, rebellion, etc. We understand that sincere, Godly saints sometimes understand the same Scripture passages differently. We hear Paul when he asked, “Who are you to judge someone else’s servant? To his own master he stands or falls. And he will stand, for the Lord is able to make him stand” (Ro 14:4).
We advocate orthodox, historic, classic Christianity poured into the wineskin of New Testament church practice as established by the twelve apostles. Thus, what we promote herein concerns orthopraxy (right behavior), rather than orthodoxy (right theology). We argue strongly from Scripture for such things as living room sized churches, the Lord’s Supper as a full meal, church leaders as servants (rather than lords), government by consensus, the right and responsibility of the brothers to make decisions corporately, no clergy-laity distinction, and interactive (participatory) church meetings. An emphasis on simple, home-based, relational, family integrated church does not mean that careful attention to order and organization are unimportant. Our goal is to be Christ honoring and thoroughly biblical in every area concerning our church life.
About Our Workshop Leaders
Steve Atkerson
Steve Atkerson resides in Atlanta, Georgia (USA), with his wife and three teenaged kids. Steve graduated from Georgia Tech and worked several years in industrial electronics distribution before heading off to seminary. After receiving a Master of Divinity degree from Mid-America Baptist Theological Seminary in Memphis, he joined the pastoral staff of a Southern Baptist Church. After seven years in the traditional pastorate, Steve resigned to begin working with churches that seek to follow New Testament patterns for church practice. Steve is now an elder at the house church he helped start in 1990, is president of NTRF, is editor of two books, Toward A House Church Theology and Ekklesia: To The Roots of Biblical House Church Life, has written two works (The Practice of the Early Church: A Theological Workbook, and The Equipping Manual), and contributed to the tape series Searching For The New Testament Church.
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Dan Trotter
Dan lives in South Carolina, USA, with his wife Linda, and his son Tyler and daughter Brittany. His oldest daughter Tara is a student at Coker College, Hartsville, SC, where Dan has an appointment as Assistant Professor of Business Administration. Previously, Dan has kept body and soul together by practicing law, practicing real estate, working in a home for neglected and abused girls, serving as principal of a Christian school, and programming computers.
Dan is a trustee of the New Testament Restoration Foundation, the editor of The New Reformation Review, contributor to Towards a House Church Theology, cosponsor of the Annual Southern House Church Conference, and team teaches with Steve Akerson at NTRF workshops. He has degrees from the University of South Carolina in History, Economics, Business Administration, and Law, and a Master of Arts in Church History from Trinity Evangelical Divinity School. Dan has helped plant two house churches; the first, in 1993 in Sumter, SC, and one in 1999 in the rural community in which he lives. Dan has a burden for the church in China, having lived there as a college professor, and still travels there regularly.
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Tim Melvin
After college and a military career, Tim Melvin went on to earn a Masters of Divinity from Mid-America Baptist Theological Seminary (MABTS) while serving on two church staffs in Memphis, TN. He then did three years of doctoral work in Hebrew and Old Testament while teaching Research, Writing and English at MABTS. While in the Memphis area, he planted two house churches. He and his wife Sarah and their youngest daughter Lianna now reside in Columbus, Georgia where he works for the army at Fort Benning. He also plants churches, teaches for NTRF and is a contribution author to Ekklesia: To The Roots of Biblical House Church Life. In addition, he teaches a child training seminar, "Raising Wise Children in a Foolish World" (www.wisechildren.org). He and Sarah home educated their three daughters, and have five grand children. .
NTRF is part of a growing body of believers who have come to see the importance of following New Testament patterns in church practice. We have taken to heart the evangelical belief that the Bible is our final authority, not only in matters of faith, but also in matters of practice. We see theological significance in the distinctive practices of the apostolic church.
Our desire is to provide resources and training in how the early church met together in community. We seek to aid others in recapturing the intimacy, simplicity, accountability and dynamic of first century church life. Thus far we have been blessed to be able to travel and present these concepts to believers in Peru, China, Russia, England and throughout the United States. While we are firmly convinced that God’s best is for all His people to organize their churches according to New Testament patterns, we are not “against” everyone else. What we are against is divisiveness or the blanket condemnation of our brothers who see things differently than we do. Our desire is not to come across as judgmental or overly critical. Matters of church practice are much in the same category as the issue of believer’s baptism versus infant baptism. People of faith can be found in each camp. Assuming that the Lord prefers one approach over the other, then the other method is “wrong.” Is the wrong group therefore in sin? Are they thus not a true church? Will God refuse to work in and through them? Heaven forbid! While they may be in violation of God’s best, it is an honest, sincere blunder in a completely different category than moral failings such as lying, theft, murder, rebellion, etc. We understand that sincere, Godly saints sometimes understand the same Scripture passages differently. We hear Paul when he asked, “Who are you to judge someone else’s servant? To his own master he stands or falls. And he will stand, for the Lord is able to make him stand” (Ro 14:4).
We advocate orthodox, historic, classic Christianity poured into the wineskin of New Testament church practice as established by the twelve apostles. Thus, what we promote herein concerns orthopraxy (right behavior), rather than orthodoxy (right theology). We argue strongly from Scripture for such things as living room sized churches, the Lord’s Supper as a full meal, church leaders as servants (rather than lords), government by consensus, the right and responsibility of the brothers to make decisions corporately, no clergy-laity distinction, and interactive (participatory) church meetings. An emphasis on simple, home-based, relational, family integrated church does not mean that careful attention to order and organization are unimportant. Our goal is to be Christ honoring and thoroughly biblical in every area concerning our church life.
About Our Workshop Leaders
Steve Atkerson
Steve Atkerson resides in Atlanta, Georgia (USA), with his wife and three teenaged kids. Steve graduated from Georgia Tech and worked several years in industrial electronics distribution before heading off to seminary. After receiving a Master of Divinity degree from Mid-America Baptist Theological Seminary in Memphis, he joined the pastoral staff of a Southern Baptist Church. After seven years in the traditional pastorate, Steve resigned to begin working with churches that seek to follow New Testament patterns for church practice. Steve is now an elder at the house church he helped start in 1990, is president of NTRF, is editor of two books, Toward A House Church Theology and Ekklesia: To The Roots of Biblical House Church Life, has written two works (The Practice of the Early Church: A Theological Workbook, and The Equipping Manual), and contributed to the tape series Searching For The New Testament Church.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dan Trotter
Dan lives in South Carolina, USA, with his wife Linda, and his son Tyler and daughter Brittany. His oldest daughter Tara is a student at Coker College, Hartsville, SC, where Dan has an appointment as Assistant Professor of Business Administration. Previously, Dan has kept body and soul together by practicing law, practicing real estate, working in a home for neglected and abused girls, serving as principal of a Christian school, and programming computers.
Dan is a trustee of the New Testament Restoration Foundation, the editor of The New Reformation Review, contributor to Towards a House Church Theology, cosponsor of the Annual Southern House Church Conference, and team teaches with Steve Akerson at NTRF workshops. He has degrees from the University of South Carolina in History, Economics, Business Administration, and Law, and a Master of Arts in Church History from Trinity Evangelical Divinity School. Dan has helped plant two house churches; the first, in 1993 in Sumter, SC, and one in 1999 in the rural community in which he lives. Dan has a burden for the church in China, having lived there as a college professor, and still travels there regularly.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Tim Melvin
After college and a military career, Tim Melvin went on to earn a Masters of Divinity from Mid-America Baptist Theological Seminary (MABTS) while serving on two church staffs in Memphis, TN. He then did three years of doctoral work in Hebrew and Old Testament while teaching Research, Writing and English at MABTS. While in the Memphis area, he planted two house churches. He and his wife Sarah and their youngest daughter Lianna now reside in Columbus, Georgia where he works for the army at Fort Benning. He also plants churches, teaches for NTRF and is a contribution author to Ekklesia: To The Roots of Biblical House Church Life. In addition, he teaches a child training seminar, "Raising Wise Children in a Foolish World" (www.wisechildren.org). He and Sarah home educated their three daughters, and have five grand children. .