Simple Church Journal

I want to use this post to invite those who attended the conference to share some of the insight that was gleaned at our House Church Conference.

Please DO comment and let’s collect, and share with others, whatever encouraged, blessed, motivated, and helped you…

If possible, include your first name and city at the bottom of your post.

John mentioned to me an article about a book by James Rutz called "Mega Shift."  Here are some excerpts:

What is the fastest-growing religion on Earth?

Most news reports suggest it is Islam.

But a new book makes a compelling case it is a new, or, perhaps, old form of biblically inspired evangelical Christianity that is sweeping through places like China, Africa, India and Southeast Asia.

In "Megashift," author Jim Rutz coins a new phrase to define this fast-growing segment of the population. He calls them "core apostolics" – or "the new saints who are at the heart of the mushrooming kingdom of God."

Rutz makes the point that Christianity is overlooked as the fastest-growing faith in the world because most surveys look at the traditional Protestant denominations and the Roman Catholic Church while ignoring Christian believers who have no part of either.

He says there are 707 million "switched-on disciples" who fit into this new category and that this "church" is exploding in growth.

"The growing core of Christianity crosses theological lines and includes 707 million born-again people who are increasing by 8 percent a year," he says.

I’m hanging out with Wolfgang Simson this week in Long Beach.  Actually, he’s sharing and I’m listening.  In case you’re not familiar with him, he wrote Houses That Change the World.

He’s a very forthright speaking German.  He doesn’t mince words, and he has some very strong opinions about church structure.  These are not exact quotes, but probably close enough:

The root cause of everything going wrong is disobedience to the revealed will of God…

This is where the church has gone wrong (building disobedient structures) and this is why the church is now, in essence, in captivity in Babylon…

God has given a pattern for the church… a blueprint… not a model but principles and guidelines that are to be built with.  The church is built out of organic material: living stones, precious individuals, not mass produced bricks (man-made structures) that can be copied and easily reproduced. Because the church has broken these rules, God has placed it in captivity.

Most people, at some level, know that there’s something wrong with church.  But they live schizophrenic lives because they don’t do anything about it.

It’s necessary to break covenant with the false systems, and die to self, in order to enter the promised land of what church is meant to be.  The leaving process requires a spiritual de-toxification to get the old out of our system.  This will put you into a wilderness season… a desert, seemingly alone and without direction, until you begin to allow God to show you His pattern and blueprint for church and kingdom living…

God is restoring HIS pattern for HIS church so that the Holy Spirit can come and REMAIN (as when the temple and tabernacle were built according to HIS pattern).

That’s just a start… More to come.

"Significant increase in out-of-church Christianity."  Barna

This was sent to my by Andy Zoppelt, some of which was printed in Charisma:

A nationwide survey conducted by the USA based Barna Research Group indicates that the number of unchurched adults in America continues to grow by nearly a million people annually. Interestingly, many of these unchurched people are spiritually active. One out of every five reads the Bible in a typical week; six out of ten pray to God each week; and nearly one million unchurched adults tithe their income – that is, donate at least 10% of their annual household revenue to non-profit entities…

Having studied church attendance patterns for more than twenty years, researcher George Barna suggests that the consistent resistance to church life in recent years is indicative of a historic shift in the nation’s spiritual vision. "A large and growing number of Americans who avoid congregational contact are not rejecting Christianity as much as they are shifting how they interact with God and people in a strategic effort to have a more fulfilling spiritual life. This suggests that we are on the precipice of a new era of spiritual experience and expression."

Barna expects the percentage of adults who are unchurched to grow during the coming decade. "However, the emergence of a national body of spiritual leaders who are assisting unchurched people in their quest for spiritual depth through means and relationships that are outside the usual institutional vehicles is significant. We anticipate substantial growth in the number of people who are not connected to a congregational church but who are committed to God and to their faith."

One more confirmation of this… We received some unasked for help from a local Christian radio station on the upcoming House Church Conference.  This broadcaster, who personally attends a traditional church, told us why he wanted to help out. He said that the vision of their radio station is to connect people with God, AND to connect people into fellowship with other believers.  Through their ministry, they have become intensely aware that there is a growing segment of Christians who have been to church for years and yet are no longer finding satisfaction being connected to a typical congregation, AND there is a large segment of younger people who are spiritually seeking but have absolutely no interest in stepping through the doors of any type of organized church.  This broadcaster felt that the simple/house church movement was a significant alternative that could assist them (the radio station) in their vision of effectively connecting people into fellowship.

Andrew wrote this as a comment to an earlier post.  I love comments that shake us up and keep forcing us to THINK and RE-THINK.  It is our western mindset that keeps wanting to take what God is doing and form a box around it.  The result is never life in the Spirit.

Andrew’s comment:

We have an obsession for form. We find some new truth and we quickly create a form. In the past 41 years I have experienced every form possible, all of which is designed to replace the life and power of God. Today it is the house church form. Everyone is seeking some aspect of the New Testament to restore the church.

The Charismatic movement sought to restore the power. The discipleship movement sought to restore accountability to one another.  The restoration movement sought to restore the 5 fold ministry. The Jesus movement sought to restore community and people living together and having all things common. Though all of these have there place in the NT, they do not come from life. All of these are from the knowledge of right and wrong (good and evil), correct and incorrect theology. We are stuck in the higher information mode and losing the life mode.

If there is a method in the NT church, it would be one based on life: humility, brokenness, love and faith.

Paul didn’t build house churches; he built the church in the city. He built a Jesus movement. He built unity. He built leadership and fellowship.

All of what I see today is only the American form of religion using different forms and arrogantly believing they are on the NT cutting edge. Go to a house church convention, it is no different than the institutional conventions. They have their big names, their book sellers, their graduates, their icons. Do you think they would let you through in your 2 cents? Do they recognize other leaders besides their little click of convention speakers? Every movement I have participated in the past 41 years and 30 years of that as a pastor and 6 years as a house church elder, has only shown me the same pattern. Clergy on one side and laity on the other.

We need unity (church in the city), we need leadership coming together (not conventions), we need the recognition of one another and we need to drop our names so we can meet in His name. We have named our organizations, and that is all they are… our organizations. Then we ask God to bless our 501c3, corporation.

Wake up Laodicea, shake your grave clothes and meet in humility calling on God to make us one. Let’s stop looking at what we are doing and let’s come together and hear what the “Unknowns” are saying; those who are not writhing books and are not a part of the spiritual elite.

I print this despite the fact that we are working hard on a "house church conference."  Fortunately, not all "speakers", whether in institutional conferences or house church conferences, are looking to sell books or be in "the click."  In fact, the very, very first thing I noticed when attending the House 2 House conference in Dallas two years ago was how UNLIKE these people were compared to christianese conferences I have been to before– lack of pretense, no one trying to put themselves forward as "the spokesperson," etc.  Nevertheless, the danger is always there and Andrew’s challenges are worthwhile.  We are, and must always be, a Jesus movement.  Period.

From an article by Don Nori that can be found in its entirety here:

Church as we know it is over. He is about wrestle control of His own church from the carnal hands of insecure, angry, controlling and legalistic men and women, build His own church, just as He promised He would.

Church as we know it is passing away. The thing we have called church is but a dim shadow of the life-giving, empowering wholeness of that for which Jesus died, rather, rose from the dead to lavish upon mere mortal men.

We have asked for wealth when He wanted to give us nations. We focused on our healing when He wanted to make us healers. We have searched for mercy and compassion when He had called us to carry those same treasures to a dying world. We are self-examining when He wants us to be pouring ourselves out so others can find Him.

There is no doubt. The self-centered, need-oriented, program-driven, growth-addicted destiny-snatching, dream-killing counterfeit is about to be replaced by His church; a company of loosely connected people held together only by the bonds of love. This people is the Christ-centered, Kingdom-declaring, light-shining heart throb of God Himself. His people hear His voice and respond with joy and anticipation, not fear and uncertainty. They are a devil-ignoring, life-giving, God-honoring group of worshipers whose greatest fulfillment in life is to be called to His service by the gentle sound of His voice.

This is from Andrew Jones.  Since I haven’t been posting much lately, I’ll use some excellent quotes to give us some stuff to think about:

Some Gripes About House Church:
1. Name is Misleading.
The label needs to change from house church to something that better describes it. I saw a house church network in Central Europe where none of the churches met in homes. People there cannot afford a house. Clubs? Yes. Coffee Shops? Yes. Apartments? Sometimes. But not houses.
Neil Cole called them Simple Churches. So did Mike Steele. I like that. Organic Church?. Micro church? . . . more work needs to be done here…

2. Authentication is Delayed.
House churches are not yet recognised by the mainstream. Sometimes they are reactionary to the establishment and find identity in the chasm. Other times they are not respected.
"They are not real churches", a well-known ‘postmodern’ pastor told me. He was basing his judgment on the old way of valuation, the "Cold War" mindset Thomas Friedman called it, where people value things by "weight, size and longevity". House churches are generally low impact, small, and seasonal. In the information age, people value things by "Speed". Bill Gates said it was "Velocity". If this is correct, then house churches make a lot of sense. And if 9-11 moved us out of the Information Age and into the Security Age, then house churches make even more sense. Time for a little Rodney Dangerfield [that’s respect’ for those of you not in USA]…

3. Orientation is Backwards.
The focus needs to change from "our house" to "their house" Much of the present house church movement is still an attempt to contain and control the meetings in their own camp. The full gains that are available will not be realised until we can begin to let the movement flow into THEIR HOUSES.
-The church in Lydia’s house was just that – in Lydia’s house.
-Matthew’s party was in Matthew’s house. Not the more convenient house of Simon Peter’s mother-in-law. And dont tell me it was her stomach complaints that kept them away . . . It was strategy, not dysentery, that led them to Matthew’s house.
-Jesus told his short-term missionaries to put peace on THEIR (those other people, the ones they were sent to) house, enter THEIR house, live in THEIR house, eat in THEIR house, heal someone or something in THEIR house. Right there is the base of a new church and it is in THEIR house…

4. Support is Minimal
House churches are the cookie dough of the new ecclesiology. They are tasty and soft and very tempting. But they have not yet hardened into something permanent. We might be 5 years away from seeing a complete ecosystem of organic ministries that work together to enable a healthy, reproducing, movement of house churches. The movement in USA and Europe is not ready for franchising or exporting, It is not looking for entrepreneurs to multiply it but rather for pioneers to beta test it. It needs engineers who can tinker with it while it is moving. To make it workable and efficient. To get the bugs out of the system. To see what missing elements need to be included.
Perhaps God is not allowing recognition from the mainstream so that there can be a window of time to create the prototypes away from the spotlight. If this is correct, someone needs to get busy working on a decent support system. There is not a whole lot of support for the movement right now. Not enough, perhaps, for most pastors to seriously consider a leap of faith into a new and way-more-organic paradigm. A few good books have appeared. Some helpful conferences started up. But the house church movement in Western countries is still a few tuna casseroles short of the Pot-Luck. [ooops – wrong country – what about "a few naan short of the curry"?, "a few peas short of the pie’n’mash"? "a few wheat-bix short of the breakfast"?… I know – shut up Andrew and get on with it!]
The five-fold ministry teams needed for a healthy system are not yet in place. City-wide gatherings are still in the idea phase. The apostles and prophets are still learning how to put up with each other, let alone minister together. Traveling teams are more novelty than staple. The heroes of house church planting are somewhere in Asia.

Final thoughts? Lets all just get along. Lets be honest about where we are in this transition. Lets not spill any wine… Lets preserve the old wineskins and birth the new ones.
Lets work towards House Church 1.2. Or 2.0. Or 3.5
And then I can stop griping.

Griping is the seedbed that challenges all of us to keep growing, listening, hearing what God is saying, and moving with the new things God is doing.  I like these challenges because we cannot, must not, rest on any laurels if we are going to see the Kingdom-on-earth (his church) revitalized into a living, vital, Spirit-filled organism of transforming life and power.

Let’s thank God for where we are… but for God’s sake (literally) let’s keep moving on!

Tony Dale has written out his responses to someone asking about house church and the question of authority.  You can read the entire text here if you wish.  Here are some excerpts:

How do other house churches deal with the issue of being under authority?

[Tony] This varies widely between house churches. Most that we find ourselves associated with recognize who the people were who helped them come into being. As Paul stated to the Corinthians: "For even if you had ten thousand others to teach you about Christ, you have only one spiritual father. For I became your father in Christ Jesus when I preached the Good News to you. So I ask you to follow my example and do as I do" (1 Cor 4:15-16). Clearly Paul expected, like any parent, that his children would recognize him, not because of some office that he held, but because of the relationships that had been built.

Is authority that big of an issue (with denominations it certainly is)?

[Tony] Another great question. My answer would be a resounding, "No." It really is not a big issue. It is the natural outflow of relationship. If authority is not based on relationship, but on postition, then we have moved into that which Jesus forbid! See Matthew 20:24-27.

We believe in multiple leadership — having at least two leaders for each house church… and we are considering setting up an advisory/accountability board. This would be a group of godly men we would be accountable to.

[Tony] I think that you are probably still thinking in rather traditional ways. Leadership in churches is always a plurality, but this is probably expressed best within a network of churches, say in a region or town. Most house churches are more like family. You know who the parents are in a family. You don’t have to delegate this type of relationship. For example, in the network of home churches around here there is usually a couple or a couple of singles who will take responsibilty to help facilitate the group. But the authority here is not that of being the "leader" but rather of the parent who is helping by serving the group. Between the local network of house churches, the "leaders" or facilitators would together constitute a team leadership of the network. But even there we keep things very fluid, and encourage anyone that they are welcome to come to any of the "leadership" times that they want to come to. We also encourage input from outside from apostolic and prophetic folk (see Eph. 2:20) that we love and respect. But that does not give those people "authority over" us, but rather lets us draw on their wisdom and respond to their maturity.

(Just a wee side note: Tony will be one of the presenters at the California Regional House Church Conference in May–HouseChurchLife.com

The following is from Dr. Ralph Winters from the Center of World Missions (via John White again):

"…the trend to house churches is a phenomenon which runs counter to the long and slow drift of American churches away from extended families.  The American church today is strikingly more and more a place for family fragments, and even seeks to replace natural families!

The New Testament ‘church’ was a worshipping household like that of Cornelius, Lydia, or Crispus, and was called an eklesia, a word that does not mean what we understand ‘church’ to mean.

What happened to us (slowly)?  Modern age-stratified, highly specialized society has become Satan’s Weapon of Mass Destruction of the family – precisely where worship and accountability are supposed to be primary!  The church has mindlessly followed the world’s pattern:  a family driving up to a church door is instantly chopped into pieces. 

…Three- and four-generation households, which once joined churches together, and had family-level worship, are now almost universally reduced to ‘nuclear’ families (e.g., family fragments).  The grand-parent generation is no longer a stabilizing factor, divorce has skyrocketed, wives are abused, children go wrong, etc.  This happened slowly, over 300 years. Thus, today we are blind to what has happened – but must deal with the consequences.

Those of us who have lived overseas, where most societies have not yet been ‘Westernized’ and stacked against normal marriage, may be among the only ones who can even perceive – much less unravel – the reality of this tragedy.

…Unfortunately, many congregations today have the idea that getting people into small groups is all that is necessary.  However, extended families can be small groups, but small groups cannot readily become extended families.

Pastors, frantic to do more than preach generalities to crowds on Sunday, may hope to get most of their congregations into small groups.  Sure, those family fragments out there in the pews desperately need to rise above their individualism and isolation.  Thus, a non-family, artificial small group is better than nothing. 

In such churches you may never hear a word about what could and should go on at the family level.  I myself, in Evangelical churches all my life, have never heard a sermon on how or why families ought to have family devotions.

But it is clearly better – as well as more important – to make every real family a small group than to try to make small groups into artificial families. 

…All over the world it is gradually becoming clear that you can build a big church out of small groups, but big churches without families remaining intact aren’t worth much. 

…The house church phenomenon could be revolutionary.  It just may be that the most valuable gift missions can give back to the American church is a renewed sense of the family as God intended it to be."