Simple Church Journal

The light of Jesus shines through us from the simple lifestyle of living with Him and loving others.

That said, I love hearing how others are living their faith into the world they live in.  Here is a short list which I hope you will add to.

• One friend started a golf league in his neighborhood that often involves over a dozen people meeting together regularly around… golf… and life.
• 50 years ago a couple began inviting friends to a neutral setting to share and discuss the Gospel.  This has led to a network of churches throughout that region.  Read more here. 
• Many people form missional communities that collectively own the well-being of a specific neighborhood or community.  Good article here.  
• Prayerwalking and engaging new neighborhoods by seeking persons of peace is a core biblical, lifestyle strategy.  I love this video, and I also enjoy what these guys at Newforms Resources are doing.
• Seeing Jesus at work in everyday life is at the heart of living as salt and light.  I have blogged before regarding Greg Finke’s book (and there are many other great resources).

The ‘church’ is meant to be a going, 24/7, unleashed expression of Jesus.  Therefore this small list is only scratching the surface of what the people of God are meant to look like as we live our faith into the world.

Please share your own experiences and resources.

_____________________________

Categories for this post include house church, simple church, organic church

Let me be blunt.

There is a lot of discussion these days about disciplemaking.  And I’m glad for that.

I believe the church comes closest to its intended shape when Jesus-followers are loving God, loving others, and learning how to disciple people who will disciple others.

Meaningful, organic, simple gatherings are meant to come OUT of the process of disciples making disciples and to support that process.

But there is one key that must not be missed or we will just be out trying to put together yet one more model and method of Christian living: We are called first and foremost to be a disciple ourselves… and there is a cost.  Jesus said it quite bluntly:

“Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me. For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will save it. What good is it for someone to gain the whole world, and yet lose or forfeit their very self?” (Luke 9:23-25)

At the very core of the church and at the very heart of disciplemaking, is the disciple who has eyes on Jesus and hands not grasping for the things of this world.  And it is the freedom, love, and joy that comes from being such a disciple that is at the heart of relating to others in a way that they, too, become disciples of Jesus Christ.

Yes, discipleship does cost us everything.  This cost is not about putting on a religious cloak of self-flattery, false-self-sacrifice, or pharisaical self-righteousness.  Rather, there is the confession that my soul wants to cling to things that keep it from the full embrace of the most amazing lover and the only true infuser-of-life.  When I daily seek to give up pig’s food for the Father’s grasp, I am a disciple who has found real life unlike any other.  And such disciples are at the heart of disciplemaking.

_____________________________

Categories for this post include house church, simple church, organic church

In our old way of doing church life, there were some markers, structure, and programs that gave definition to our life as Believers.  We could at least check off the following areas and know that we were ‘on the right track:’

• Go to church on Sundays.  Check.
• Read the Bible and pray daily.  Check.
• Attend a small group or Bible study.  Check.
• Serve in the church somewhere.  Check.
• Give a tithe.  Check.

But what about this living, organic church?  How do I know if I am moving in the right direction?  Sometimes we revert to an old way of thinking:

• Meet with a house church.  Check.
• Meet with a smaller discipleship group.  Check.
• Pray and reach out to others.  Check.
• Read the Bible and pray daily…

But maybe we are still missing the true nature of being organically connected to Jesus.

I do believe that we can see markers in living organically, but they are more like dance steps rather than program to-do lists.  They are more about lifestyle that integrates with all of life rather than simply a list of sacred activities divorced from the rest of life.  They happen internally which are then reflected externally rather than the other way around.

I have often used the diagram below to describe the organic lifestyle, but it’s easy to try to turn these (or any other organic methods) into program again so let’s be clear.  This is a lifestyle that begins and rests fully on a listening relationship with Jesus.  Only He can lead us in the life of spiritual power that we are meant to live in.  Further, each part of this process is not a step but a lifestyle that grows out of that intimacy with Him and which deepens as our life with Him deepens.  We reach out to others, with our own abilities and gifts, as He leads, inspires, guides, and empowers.  We ‘make disciples’ by assisting others to have a similar, personal walk with Jesus.  We gather in ways that come naturally out of the other steps (we don’t gather and then try to make the rest happen).  And we facilitate others to do the same because we want them to experience His full and fruitful life.

For the sake of providing some guidance on the organic lifestyle, I sometimes use a series of questions.  They are designed to encourage us to listen to Jesus and, as we move deeper into Him, walk with Him naturally into the Kingdom, organic lifestyle that He draws us into:

1. How is He calling me to root myself more deeply in His love?  (This is the core question for all of the rest so that our life and motivations are all about loving God and then others, not some dutiful, religious activity).
2. What field(s) has He assigned me to sow in right now? How?
3. Who am I called to personally disciple right now? How?
4. Who is already around me, that I am discipling or being discipled/encouraged by, that I am called to build one-another community? How?
5. How am I empowering my disciples & community to do the same (#1-#4)?

What does ‘Living Organically’ mean to you?

_____________________________

Categories for this post include house church, simple church, organic church

I was watching a movie last night about the impact a great coach made in the success of some athletes. The movie is ‘Backwards’ in case you were wondering.

It reminded me that we are not on this journey alone and that we need others, if not formally, than informally to support us in our spiritual journeys.

In some ways, in my former, traditional church days, it may have seemed easier to be surrounded by such people.  At least there were more people ‘around.’  But either way, I find that I have to work at finding and keeping in place the needed support. I need the Fellowship of the Ring, so-to-speak.  As Frodo said, “I cannot do this alone.”

I need coaches.  I need mentors.  I need spiritual directors.   I need missional community.  I need counselors.  I need people who speak prophetically into my life (with wisdom) as friends who know me.

Such people are available when I recognize the need and ask God to provide.  And they play an essential role in our journeys.

Let’s go for God’s best, by His grace, and seek out people who will join us and support us in our destinies.

_____________________________

Categories for this post include house church, simple church, organic church

When the church stops asking this question, we are in trouble.

When we settle for today’s status quo then we are no longer open to new leadings of the Holy Spirit, we accept yesterday’s movement as good enough, and we are no longer open to what the possibilities are for the future.  In short, comfort zones and stagnation sets in.  We become critics of new things because the ‘old thing’ is good enough.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m not just talking about institutional churches or traditional churches, I’m talking about all of us.

We want to settle in and we stop asking, “Is better possible?”

Seth Godin wrote a post with this same title and said:

“Is better possible?

The answer to this is so obvious to me that it took me a while to realize that many people are far more comfortable with 'no'.

The easiest and safest thing to do is accept what you've been 'given', to assume that you are unchangeable, and the cards you've been dealt are all that are available. When you assume this, all the responsibility for outcomes disappears, and you can relax.”

Seth goes on to say:

“If you accept the results you've gotten before, if you hold on to them tightly, then you never have to face the fear of the void, of losing what you've got, of trading in your success for your failure.”

He concludes his post with these words:

“We owe everyone around us not just the strongest foundation we can afford to offer, but also the optimism that they can reach a little higher…  ‘Better’ is a dream worth dreaming.”

Seth is some kind of ‘marketing guru’ whom I quote because his words apply prophetically to the church.  No matter where we are we want to hole up, build a monument, and take comfort that we have arrived somewhere.  The moment we do that, we are no longer leaning into the wind of the Holy Spirit and asking Him, “How can I be more available to you?  How can I press in to seeing more of your Kingdom on earth?  What’s next?  How are you moving today that might shake me out of my comfort zone if I were to join you?  Where have I become backward-looking instead of seeking your vision?  What is your dream for me and how can I grab hold of it today?  Where have I given up that you are just now getting started in?”

I’m excited to believe that, no matter where I am at today and no matter what challenges I have faced, there is more and better that God, by the wonder and power of His Spirit, wants to do in and through my life.  I just need to be willing… and seeking… and looking… and following.

And not settling…

_____________________________

Categories for this post include house church, simple church, organic church

This week a friend of mine officiated at his father-in-law’s funeral.  It was his first time in this role.

He did not speak, perhaps, quite like a ‘professional’ might have.  He was not polished nor ultra-smooth in his speaking delivery.  He was, however, personable, real, authentic and deeply moving.  People responded to his display of emotion that was appropriate to the event, and they were stirred by his clearly-held faith convictions.  This was no outsider speaking to a bereaved family.  This was one of them.  And God was present.

Unpolished though he may have been, other family members who have not been walking closely with God, asked him if he would do their funerals as well.  They had experienced something that doesn’t often happen: a relational connection with the one officiating that spoke something into their spirit that stirred a new measure of faith in them.

Too often, when someone dies or is married, it’s easy for people to default back into the mindset of looking for the ‘professional.’  And if we have the background of ‘professional minister,’ it’s easy for us to step into that role at those times.  Suddenly we participate again in the divide between priest and laity and put on our priestly clothes.

One of the best things I did, many years ago, was to stop officiating such events and encourage the family members to step up so that parents marry their children or children bury their parents.  Actually, a close look at ancient weddings from Old Testament through New reveals that such events were family affairs, not priestly-ordered events.

How wonderful it was to see my friend’s mother-in-law immediately turn to him, when the need arose, and ask him to officiate her husband’s service.  She was drawn to him, not as a professional minister, but has someone who had something that she wanted at her husband’s funeral: a personal, real, tangible, faith-filled spiritual person who is connected to the family.  By doing so, she invited the Spirit of God to move amongst that group of people beyond anything imaginable.

Re-ordering our view of weddings, funerals, and baptisms could greatly impact believers’ ability to reach into their own oikos (their extended, relational connections) that the Gospel most naturally flows through.  This I have seen, and it’s a beautiful thing to watch God-at-work in it.

_____________________________

Categories for this post include house church, simple church, organic church

I am enjoying Greg Finke’s book “Joining Jesus on His Mission: How to Be an Everyday Missionary.”  Here are a few highlights.  (Warning: this is not a book that you can read and not implement… it will challenge you to make some real-life changes.)

“Jesus is in charge of ripening people. Our job is to watch for people who are ripe.”

“So every morning, as we head out for a new day of mission-adventure with Jesus, we can ask ourselves these simple questions: What’s Jesus already up to? Who are these people around me? And what are they almost ready for? Jesus did not give you a mission to do for him. He invites you to come on his mission with him. This is our new missional mindset. We can do this.”

“In the end, joining Jesus’ mission doesn’t require us to know more than we already do but to do more with what we already know.”

“Jesus does the incredibly complex work that requires the Son of God; we do the incredibly simple work that requires a little child.”

“In order to join Jesus on his redemptive mission all we really have to do is: enjoy people; and seek, recognize and respond to what Jesus is already doing in the lives of the people we are enjoying.”

“From now on, heaven has come to earth. There is now overlap. Intersection. Invasion. The kingdom has arrived. The kingdom has come and is now on the loose in our very midst. It is at hand, within reach, very near to each of us. For what purpose? To begin what God had promised from the beginning: the reversal of what has become of the created world since its fall and ruin in Genesis 3.”

“The mission of God is to redeem and restore all things to the Kingdom of God, beginning with human beings.”

“Wherever you go, there you are, and wherever you are, Jesus is already up to something. Therefore, coincidences become God-incidences.”

“When people start to see their daily lives as a mission trip and then participate in a missional community for support, insight and accountability, I see them quickly gaining insight and confidence in how to join Jesus.”

Finke is practical and to-the-point with a “just do it” style of writing.

_____________________________

Categories for this post include house church, simple church, organic church

We tend to honor those ventures that are big and impressive by outward measurements.  We are impressed by Apple and Microsoft for starting in garages and becoming giants in their industry.  Those companies that do not succeed (anyone remember the Commodore 64?) are simply dismissed as ‘less than’ and their contributions virtually ignored.

In many ways, this ‘success’ mentality is still part of how we evaluate the church.  Outward growth in numbers has been a key marker.  Size and fame of a ministry is considered an indicator of its effectiveness.

But are these the true markers of the church of Jesus Christ?  And does this mentality keep us from appreciating the true, everyday heroics of those who daily seek to follow Jesus, bring Him glory, care about others, use what gifts he/she has without looking for recognition?

Doesn’t the truly ‘big’ impact come from the way that God orchestrates the daily obedience of every believer into a tapestry that glorifies Him rather than the superstars of faith?  Isn’t the true church really about the Head who leads and works through every single follower of Jesus having daily, simple impacts on His world?

This changes the focus from size and success of ministry to the, truly, important things that Jesus’ followers are called to do:

• Provide relief to someone in need
• Show love to a neighbor
• Share God’s love in word and deed
• Share someone else’s burden
• Visit the sick
• Care for the one ignored by others
• Pray for the lost
• Etc, etc, etc.

Perhaps the most important change still taking place in the church today is from this mentality of ‘big’ ministry to the everyday, every-person minister being unleashed right where he/she is using whatever spiritual gifts and compassion he/she has to work with… right now… today.

Side Note:

Sometimes I am asked: How is the house church movement going?  But what they really seem to be asking is this: “Is the house church movement going to explode into something really ‘big.’  Because if it is, then I might want to pay attention to it.”

Maybe, in time, it will explode into something measurably ‘big.’  Or maybe it already has.  I don’t know.  But what I do know is that the house church movement is celebrating the gifts and calling of every believer, known and unknown, who is seeking to quietly, daily serve the Kingdom, bring glory to God, love on a neighbor, reach out to someone in need.  And maybe, considering the big Orchestrator who is in control, it doesn't get any bigger than that!

_____________________________

Categories for this post include house church, simple church, organic church

Just completing two months in Africa has me reflecting, once again, on the nature of the living, organic church.  We see spiritual reproduction in a much more natural fashion there than we do here at home (speaking personally).  Yet, the dynamics of the living church are the same which gives me hope that, in our Western contexts, we can press into much more of that reproductive power.

Following is from the book Simple/House Church Revolution:

Reaching and discipling others can begin from day one. If a person is learning life lessons from his walk with God and his own process of being discipled, he can help others follow the same patterns and grow as well. New disciples can become disciplers by passing on their own experiences and pointing others to the same tools (Scripture, prayer) that are providing growth in their own life.

If gatherings are as simple as they are meant to be, then new believers can gather others. By simplifying gatherings back to basics, those who are new to Christ, and learning from others, can begin gathering other new believers or seekers together and follow the same patterns he is being taught.

When new believers can begin immediately to reach, disciple, and gather others, then the process of multiplication of God’s kingdom can be unleashed in an incredibly powerful fashion.

Empowering others becomes natural to new believers. Finally, we see that new believers can become leaders in the best sense of that word. They learn that everything God gives them can be given away to help, strengthen, and lift up others. Thus they discover, from the outset, to become leaders who know how to serve and empower other people.

If we can see the simple principles of God’s kingdom (reach, disciple, gather, empower, multiply) cultivated into the lives of new believers, then the natural power of God’s life will reproduce itself without the need for human-made systems to control or motivate. This is the wonder of true, organic multiplication.

From my book, The Simple House Church Revolution:

The church is meant to be the expression of Christ’s life and power on earth. This can only take place as:

• We move out of “comfy Christianity” into the daring adventure of following Jesus.
• We replace our “come-structures” with “go-structures”
• We recapture the “going” lifestyle

Comfy Christianity

Shane Claiborne writes: “Being a Christian is about choosing Jesus and deciding to do something incredibly daring with your life.”

In my former life as a pastor, I was a dispenser of comfortable Christianity. I took on the job of creating a “conducive environment” for worship. What this really meant was making a worship event cushy enough that people would want to come and then come back: comfortable seats, coffee, pleasing worship music, and a sermon that holds attention. Unfortunately, regularly attending a comfortable worship event has become the primary marker of what it means to be a Christian today.

In fact, we often replace the miraculous adventure of following Jesus with religious activity. Did I go to church this week? Check it off the list. Did I read my Bible? Check it. Did I pray? Check it. Done! I have completed my Christian activities and am, therefore, a “good Christian.” Religion itself becomes an easy replacement for a daring life lived in partnership with Jesus.

Ironically, Jesus drew a startling line in the sand in response to someone who wanted to follow him: "Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head (Matthew 18:20).” Jesus was not a dispenser of comfortable Christianity. Quite the opposite. He taught that followers would live a lifestyle of stepping outside of comfort zones in order to join him in the adventure of extending the life of the kingdom.

Replacing “Come-Structures” with “Go-Structures”

Part of our comfy Christianity has been to focus most of our Christian activities within the four-walls where our friends and other Christians hang out. The result is that we reach out to others by inviting them to come join us where we are.

My fellow-blogger, Hamo, comments on this:

If Jesus were alive today and his mission was still to seek out and save the lost what might he do?
Would he hire a building, set up a sound system, develop a music team, drama team, and then do local letterbox drops advising people that they could come and be part of his church on Sunday?
Was it ever Jesus’ intention that non Christians should seek us and desire to attend our worship events? Or didn’t he say quite clearly that it was his calling, and now ours to seek out and save the lost; to go to their world and enculturate the gospel there. Little Bo Peep evangelism (leave ‘em alone and they’ll come home) is fast running out of steam…