SimpleChurch Journal

Virtual House Church

I want to do three things:

1. Share some of my own experiences with house church via group video chat.
2. Invite you to share, if you have experience with virtual house church gatherings, by commenting at the end of the post.
3. Offer a form here where you can sign up if you want to find others who are interested in doing house church via group video chat. I make no promises that I will be able to connect you with others, but I will try. You can also use the same form if you already have your own group members but want some additional technical or practical help in doing a virtual house church

I have been meeting now with two different virtual groups and we are all learning.

Here are my thoughts so far.

I recommend 5 or 6 people as the maximum size. Moving conversation from one to the next takes some time and larger groups may become tedious. If you already have a larger group, you may want to divide it into two groups.

It is more important than ever to know the purpose of the group so that everyone has the same expectations and are on the same page. Is the group primarily to share in fellowship and be a place of prayer, care, and support for one another? Or is it primarily to provide an opportunity for discovery of the word of God together? Or is it primarily to be a base for planning and carrying out missions, works of compassion, and discipleship with an outward focus? Or a balance of all three?

Assuming that the modus operandi of the group is that all participate, it is important that there is a good facilitator who keeps the conversation moving, does not let one person dominate, and invites conversation from those who would, otherwise, remain quiet. The facilitator (who can rotate among the group, by the way), should be responsible to carry out the purpose of the group as mentioned in the previous paragraph.

In regards to technology, I have experience with Zoom, GoToMeeting, Google Hangouts, and Skype. There are pros and cons to each and there are others, but they all serve the basic purpose of getting you face-to-face virtually with others.

If you have been doing or just starting a virtual house church group yourself, please do use the comments section to share:

• What technology are you using?
• Are you incorporating worship? If so, how?
• What are some of the challenges you have seen?
• Benefits?
• Anything else that might be helpful to the rest of us?

Finally, as I mentioned already, I will try to assist you if you want to connect virtually with others and do not have a group. OR, if you have a group of people but could use a little encouragement on how to get started. Either way, you can communicate with me here and I will do my best.

Ask God for a Likeminded Friend

Recently I heard someone talk about the catalytic influence of a likeminded friend.

As I thought about this, I realized how common this really is. I think of people who have started disciple-multiplying movements that have reached thousands in overseas settings to people who have done the same thing, on a much smaller scale, here in the west. In most cases, there was often the partnering of two or three people whose friendship and like-minded camaraderie seemed to catalyze what was to come. It almost seems that this key friendship preceded the unfolding of God’s work.

It does not take much effort to immediately think of Jesus sending out disciples ‘two by two.’ Or, we naturally think of Paul and Barnabus and then Paul and Timothy. Is this more than just a good idea? Perhaps it is truly a key part of forging into new waters of reaching, discipling, and starting organic gatherings.

Most people I meet who are in the place of trying out new paradigms of church and ministry report that they feel very much alone. Could this ‘aloneness’ be God’s way of preparing us to pray for, look for, and expect God to bring us a likeminded person to journey with us? Perhaps this might be the starting point of prayer in our current quest to move forward?

I am sharing this with the realization that it probably provokes more questions than answers, but I thought I should post it nonetheless.

Thoughts or experiences with this?

House Church Directory

Here is the latest and only current site that I know of where they are working toward keeping a current directory of house churches.

This is how they describe their directory:

This new national house church directory site offers:

1) Easy, self-serve listing functionality,

2) The ability to search using Google mapping, and

3) Private, secure communication between those listing a house church and people searching for one.

This site is completely free - no cost to use and no advertising clutter. We are just trying to help the house church community get connected.

I encourage you to make use of this and, also, let me know your experiences with it.

Simple Church Online Course: Register Now

You can now register for the upcoming “Simple/House Church Revolution Online Course.”

Beginning date is February 9.

NOTE, you can register immediately as there are only 15 spaces remaining on a first come, first served basis!

The goal of this course is for participants to discover more fully God's story and the nature of His church in a way that fully celebrates the freedom of the Gospel and the simplicity, reproducibility, and joy of simple, participatory, 24/7 church life.

• It’s interactive with lots of opportunity to share and hear from others who are on a similar journey.
• It provides a lot of great material that challenges our perspectives and paradigms in order to help us shape our own non-traditional journey.
• It can be life-changing as it sets our course as pursuers of Jesus in the context of simple church life.

Who is this course for?  It’s ideal for those who are newly exploring simple/house churches or who are in the process of starting simple/house churches or networks of simple/house churches.

This course helps move us from head knowledge to the practice of principles that can release the DNA of living, reproductive, Jesus-led, simple-house churches that are making disciples who make disciples.  

We continue to offer this course when possible because of the feedback we have received from people who have participated in the past:

"A unique and extremely insightful collection of resources, experiences, and other people who will finally let you know that you are not crazy for hoping that there is more of Jesus to be known and shared in a way that is actually simple."

Read more of the description and register here.  Look forward to this journey together!

New Directions for a New Year: Am I Open?

“The wind blows wherever it pleases; you hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going.” John 3:8

You are likely reading this because you have demonstrated an openness to new paradigms and new leadings of God’s Spirit. Think of how God has changed your thinking in recent times about your church and ministry life:

• It’s about being God’s people 24/7 not attending a meeting
• It’s about a Jesus-lifestyle not an organization to belong to
• It’s about incarnating God into the world not attracting people to a clubhouse
• It’s about gathering in a participatory manner rather than being priest-led
• It’s about discipling by relationship rather than by program
• It’s about leadership that empowers and releases rather than controls

And with these new paradigms, you have likely stepped out of former places of ministry and church-going and explored new ways to walk life out as a follower of Jesus. You have learned to live the adventure of following God rather than living out of pre-determined programs.

But, it is a new year and God is ever on the move. What He led us into last year is only a stepping stone for where He wants to take us in the coming year. God calls us continually to fresh revelations and new directions because we are designed to be led by the Spirit of God. This means as soon as we find a new place to rest in, God is likely to move us on if we are listening.

My personal tendency is to take the direction and understanding from yesterday and camp out! Wherever I have been with God, that is where I want to stay. But God is far more dynamic and adventurous than that. He has more for me. He has more than I can ask for or imagine. But I must be willing to move with Him to enter into this year’s promised land.

“In all the travels of the Israelites, whenever the cloud lifted from above the tabernacle, they would set out; but if the cloud did not lift, they did not set out—until the day it lifted.” Exodus 40:36-37

“See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it?” Isaiah 43:19

“Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.” 2 Corinthians 3:17

God has blessed the work we have been involved in on African soil. Teams of disciple-making, house-church planters and leaders are deployed in several different countries. But, I am so aware that I simply want to continue doing the same-same I have been doing. Why change? Why not replicate next year what God showed us last year? Because God continues to move on... and my heart is deeply challenged: am I open and willing to move with Him this coming year?

Waiting on God

Sometimes we wait. We don’t know what the next step is. We wait on God.

• We have left a church situation not knowing what is next, and now we wait.
• We want to connect organically with ‘house church’ people, but for today it has not happened, so we wait.
• We have promises God has given to us. Awesome promises. But, for now, we wait.
• We need a provision, or a healing, or a breakthrough. But up to now… we wait.

Though I personally do not like these times of waiting, I am in such a season now and this is not unusual. These are prime times in God’s economy in which He shapes us, re-shapes us, and most importantly, draws us close to Him.

God, let me use this season well. The purpose of waiting is not to deprive me, but to fill me with a greater abundance of You which is, in the end, the greatest gift of all. May I walk with you through to this fullness of Your life and presence that You desire for me and that truly meets each and every need of my heart and life.

Sure, the other end of the waiting will come. It always does. God is always faithful to lift us, bless us, and move us into the next and better season. His promises and purposes are always for our good. But, I also know that there is something deep happening during the waiting time itself when I allow my heart to open its receptors more fully to the presence, beauty, and life of God. Therefore, often this season delivers more into my heart and life then the promise fulfilled that I have been seeking.

“You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.” Jeremiah 29:13

This is what God is speaking to me today during the waiting period. While I wait, I can do more than wait. I can seek Him. And that is more than enough when He is found by me. Let it be so. He never fails to meet us when He is the single, deep cry of our hearts. And that is enough.

The Call of God

(Re-posted from 10/16/12)

Some may still believe that the “call of God” is for those select few who have a ‘higher’ purpose than others: to be ‘in ministry,’ or to be ‘a pastor,’ or to serve in ‘fulltime Christian service’ as though there is any other way to live for Jesus.

Fortunately, one of the primary messages of God’s movement in simple/organic churches is the truth, and practical outworking, that all are equally called and gifted for the purposes God shaped each for.

However, just because we leave traditional church structures, it does not automatically follow that people will discover and move more deliberately in their calling or destiny.

First of all, calling and destiny in Christ are for the sake of the kingdom.  It’s not enough just to seek personal fulfillment and ‘doing what I’m made to do’ as though that is the end goal.  Yes, God has shaped us uniquely, but those special abilities, personalities, and gifts that we have been given are designed to be used in allegiance to Jesus and his kingdom purposes.  I don’t mean that we use them separate from the world.  No, we are meant to use them in the world and in all places where we live and interact.  But ultimately, as we submit our total self to God, we expect to see our uniqueness used in a way that reveals the Kingdom of God in word and/or deed and ultimately leads to disciples being made—people growing in their ability listen to and follow the voice of Jesus.

Secondly, our calling and destiny is often shaped most clearly by pain and difficulties.  This is something that is often resisted.  While we may follow the vision of another for a season, as we grow into our own uniqueness, a deeper, more personal calling always comes out of the brokenness that we walk through.  Oswald Chambers put it this way:

We take our own spiritual consecration and try to make it into a call of God, but when we get right with Him He brushes all this aside.  Then He gives us a tremendous, riveting pain to fasten our attention on something that we never even dreamed could be His call for us.  And for one radiant, flashing moment we see His purpose, and we say, “Here am I! Send me” (Isaiah 6:8).

Finally, our calling and destiny do not simply appear as we plow helter-skelter through life.  Rather, it becomes clearest as we find ourselves present to God Himself.  This is one of the benefits of getting our eyes off of ‘the church organization,’ or ‘the church leadership’ and onto Jesus.  As Leanne Payne says:

Saints of all ages have made it their business to be present to God, and out of this has sprung their truest vocation.  They become, therefore, the ones who blaze spiritual trails for others.

Perhaps my deepest cry is that the church, as fragmented and unfocused as it sometimes is, will somehow come forth and give birth to an entire generation of trailblazers who are so present to God and to their true calling/destiny in Him, that their imprint on the world is the unmistakable imprint of Jesus himself.

Walking Butterflies

(Re-posted from 11/25/13)

I believe we have seen a profound movement, over the past decade or two, of people metamorphosing out of religious mindsets and structured church settings into a greater freedom in Christ.

However, I sense that many who have become butterflies do not fully know how to use their wings. There could be a host of people who are no longer caterpillars, whose wings are full of life, yet continue to walk because, for a variety of reasons, they are not ready to embrace the purposes God has called them to in their freedom. They are the walking butterflies.

Just a thought.

Here are some possible reasons why people may not yet be flying.

1. Some are still looking for another butterfly to hand them the external model for ‘how to do church.’ We are so accustomed to others showing us ‘the way’ that we continue looking for the ‘simple church manual’ or the ‘organic church step-chart’ that will give us the exact system to follow. In other words, some are not ready to trust that Jesus can speak to and lead them personally without someone else’s blueprint.

2. Some do not trust that God can help them connect with their unique destiny and Kingdom purpose. Or, perhaps more to the point, some are not willing to take the risk to step out into their own special Kingdom purpose and destiny. It’s just easier to lose themselves in lesser focuses.

3. Some still devalue themselves and/or their calling as being less significant than that of others.

4. Some avoid the silence and have not taken the time to seek God deeply in those quiet places where He can speak profoundly to them and give them the confidence as well as direction needed to move out and fly.

By the way, butterflies that never fly, never reproduce. Maybe as we all find ourselves and our courage, we will see a whole new generation of butterflies begin to emerge!

Pray for a Person of Peace

The exceptionally fruitful leaders in Africa that we work with often remind us of the significance of praying for and obediently seeking out the person of peace. The person of peace (Luke 10, Matthew 10) is one who opens the door of the Gospel to others. This person may be a believer or non-believer, but his/her response to the transformation from Christ causes them to influence many others.

These Africans often word it this way: “God prepares persons of peace. You don’t! You must pray and ask God to lead you to these people. When God leads you to a person of peace that He has prepared, then movements happen! If you are not finding those whom God has prepared, there will be no movement.”

Their point is that we are entering into a supernatural arrangement with God when we pray for persons of peace and look for them in our goings and comings. When God connects us with such a person, our influence is magnified through them because they are receptive to the things of God.

Now, granted this looks very different in different contexts. No question! At the same time, there is a principle here that is timeless: pray for and seek out the persons of peace God has prepared. This will open doors for our influence to extend beyond the groups or gatherings that we have become comfortable with. This will challenge us, at times, to go beyond our normal circle of relationships to seek out where God may be working. And, this will give us the opportunity to see God work rather than try to carry the work on our own shoulders.

(As a side note, your prayers are much appreciated as we are currently asking God for several new apostolic persons of peace who are ready to move in new areas of Africa with the capacity for regional or national movements.)

Simple Steps of Obedience

“It’s not hard to obey when we love the one we obey.” Ignatius of Loyola

“We learn more in one year of obedience to Jesus than in one hundred years of studying theology.”

In my last post, It’s Not About BIG Anymore, I suggested that walking in partnership with Jesus from a position of humility was the true mark of the upside-down Jesus-follower. But humility, though a vital foundation, is just a beginning.

The next step, perhaps, is to recognize that Jesus is the one who builds his church and he does it his way. Our part is to learn the lifestyle of loving him, listening to him, and surrendering our self to the simple steps of obedience he calls us to. It is the collective obedience of his disciples that results in the “big” kingdom outcomes that transform people, nations, and even the world.

It is the collective obedience of his disciples that results in the “big” kingdom outcomes that transform people, nations, and even the world.

Now, this certainly sounds simple… but it is not easy. In my own soul is an abundance of self-seeking, self-will, and an automatic careening after self-interests many of which mascarade as good things. The process of weeding out the weeds on a daily basis (taking up the cross) is an ongoing one that starts and stalls and starts again. But I desire to keep moving ahead because the call of the surrendered, obedient life is the call to a life of purpose, freedom, and joy. And it is the only pathway I know of for Jesus to build his kingdom-people into the kind of expression of himself that truly impacts others.

So...

He speaks.

I love him.

I listen and surrender to his leading and direction.

God accomplishes God-purposes.

Daily.

Maybe we need not wait for the next big thing to come along in the world of church and churchdom. Rather, maybe God is waiting for his church, his ekklesia, his people, to learn the simple steps of growing up into a lifestyle of simple love-motivated obedience thus expressing him more fully in the world.

“The church is Christ’s body, in which he speaks and acts, by which he fills everything with his presence.” Eph 1:23 The Message