James Rutz, a copywriter, WND columnist, teacher, pioneer thinker and spokesman for the worldwide House church community, died Dec. 10 at 76.
A memorial service was scheduled for Saturday, Dec. 20, in Colorado Springs, Colorado.
Born in Aruba on Sept. 21, 1938, he served as president of Megashift Ministries and was founder of Open Church Ministries. He also was an adjunct professor at Covenant Bible Institute, Regent University and Wagner Leadership Institute.
He studied at Cal State Fullerton and UCLA, then took a Masters Degree in Semantics from San Francisco State.
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Rutz was a guest on hundreds of radio and television programs and was a board member of the Christian Film & Television Commission.
Rutz' book "Megashift" documented a surge of spiritual power and activity among ordinary Christians, and he was fond of talking about it.
He declared a "megashift of spiritual power into the hands of ordinary people is about to overwhelm the world and put it into vastly better shape."
"Prepare yourself to take part in a total makeover of Planet Earth!"
He noted that in 1960 there were 24 nonbelievers for every believer around the globe. Now there are an estimated six.
He often explained, "When I was a kid in Sunday School, I was really impressed that 3,000 people were saved on the Day of Pentecost."
But now, in Christian communities around the world, that takes only minutes, he said.
He said that "by tomorrow, there will be 175,000 more Christians than there are today in 238 nations."
Family members say he died Dec. 10, and a memorial service is scheduled Dec. 20 at 11 a.m. at Cappadona Funeral Home, 2010 E. Fillmore Street, in Colorado Springs.
His book "The Open Church" was integral in driving forward development of the house church movement in the 1970s and 1980s.
He discussed the movement during a recent appearance with Pat Robertson on "The 700 Club."
Rutz described the growth of house churches not just as a shift in power, but as "a total transformation in how things happen."
He preached how God is working quietly, continually and spectacularly, and even, as recorded in the New Testament, bringing people back from the dead.
Among the cases recorded: "One Chinese church leader Wang Xin Cai, who'd been imprisoned for 13 years for his faith, was meeting with seven other leaders to unify the Chinese church. Just prior to leaving for the meeting, his three-year-old daughter fell three stories and cracked her skull. He picked up her remains and laid her on the couch. Brokenhearted and weary, he told God that if this unity meeting was of Him, He had to heal his daughter. It was too tough otherwise. He returned home the first day and her skull was back together; the second day she was breathing; the third day when church unity was reached, he arrived home to a healthy, bubbling baby girl."
Rutz warned observers not to judge by the state of the church in Europe and North America, where it is "going nowhere."
He wrote of Chinese Christians who have networks of 30,000 fellow Christians and millions on the ground fighting for their faith.
He explained how the contemporary "open church" is characterized by three freedoms: worship, sharing and ministry.
They are different from a traditional church in that they meet in homes, offices or other places, offer 24/7 support and are viral.
Rutz spent two decades writing for World Vision, Wycliffe, Youth for Christ, Jews for Jesus, Prison Fellowship, the Lausanne Committee and others.
A profile several years ago in the Colorado Springs Gazette explained that Rutz's idea of a house church, operating autonomously and teaching communion and baptism, drew from the early Christians.
"Early believers often worshiped in secret, small places – tiny clutches of theological rebels praying in alleyways, homes and catacombs. He'd guess Colorado Springs has about 30 house churches, each with 12 to 15 people," the report said.
"The house-church movement, thanks to Rutz and others, has some rudimentary organization behind it; Rutz's organization, Open Church Ministries, promotes house churches around the world."
The article quoted Ed Rowell of Tri-Lakes Chapel, who also believes larger community gatherings are important for church groups: "When the home-schooling movement was gathering steam, I used to joke that the next step toward Christian isolationism was to home church ourselves. I'm not joking anymore."
Rutz' "Megashift" not only documents a wide range of miracles but also spotlights hundreds of thousands of house-church teams around the globe that are producing a new culture of responsible freedom.
In a shift away from spectator religion, he said, people are allowed to speak and interact in house churches. They often form deep friendships, dump their heaviest problems, turn into free and powerful spearheads of worldwide change and get connected with God and man in ways that almost defy description.
See an interview with Jim Rutz on Sid Roth's "It's Supernatural":
The family requested instead of flowers, contributions could be made to www.arsenalbooks.com to pay for more of his books to be distributed.
Praise came in from a wide range of interests and individuals:
- Keith W. Smith: Jim personally impacted many with his book, the 'Open Church' and later through his ministry of the same name. ... You were a great guy, and a great friend Jim, and we will miss you."
- Sean Steckbeck: "He impacted me at the beginning to make the final decision to cut ties with the traditional church and dedicate myself to house churches in 2005. My wife met him on the set of Sid Roth also in 2005 and helped her make the decision together with me. Talked with him often and he was the first person I knew in house church."
- Brad R. Herman: "Jim was a brilliant thinker who had an amazing heart for God and His church."