SimpleChurch Journal

Being Church 24/7

From an article by Molong Nacua of the Philippines:

If you really want to check on Jesus life and ministry in the gospels you will find out Jesus never did the same thing twice in the same way. In other words, He wasn't into techniques but was unpredictable. In our human strength (or perhaps more accurately weaknesses), we try to systematize everything Jesus did. For example, Peter who, after seeing heavenly glory, wanted to build Tabernacles in the mountain where Jesus was transfigured. And not only one, but three!

There's also the time when Jesus spat on the ground and made clay and put it on a blind man's eyes and commanded him to wash it in the pool. May I ask those who have a Healing of the Blind Ministry, did Jesus use a clockwise or a counterclockwise motion? Or maybe I will specialize with a Spitting Ministry. Do you want me to spit on you?

Jesus' life was never structured; He simply obeyed His Father. Singing for 30 minutes may not be worship at all. Worship is obedience to what He called us to be. That is the highest form of worship. It is the expression of our redeemed lives, our way of life. We cannot just put our Lord or His ways into a system.

Churches today are like spiritual machines. Programs are their survival kits. People love to pour their money into the machine to keep it running. But in reality, church life is like a wind: you don't know where it goes. It is a journey, a daily journey. It cannot be sewn up in the intellect; it must be uncovered during the journey.

I so appreciate Molong’s focus here.  Everywhere I go I see people seeking to get the form of church right (even house church) rather than really seeking to re-capture the lifestyle of being the church.  I trust that the latter will be the movement we are ultimately part of:

• Daily adventure of listening to and following Jesus
• Becoming the expression of Christ everyday, everywhere
• Filling the earth with His glory

You can download Molong's entire article here: Download being_church_24_7_molong_nacua.doc

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Couple of Unbeatable Quotes

“We depend on plans, programs, vision statements—but somewhere along the way we have succumbed to the temptation to displace the foolishness of the cross with the wisdom of strategic planning.”  D.A. Carson

"Much Christian leadership is exercised by people who do not know how to develop healthy, intimate relationships and have opted for power and control instead. Many Christian empire builders have been people unable to give and receive love."  Henri Nouwen

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Listening Into the Lives of Others

Someone wisely said that real community, Jesus-brand community, is not an ideal that can be achieved but a gift that is to be received.

That being said, we can often facilitate the gift of authentic community by learning to listen to one another more and talk at one another a little less.

Here is a one page article, available as a download, called “Listening Into the Lives of Others": Download listening_into_the_lives_of_others.doc

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Simple Thought on Leadership

In our needed quest to re-define leadership from hierarchy to true servanthood, we have created a leadership vacuum.  This is understandable.  We are so afraid of anything that looks like status-grabbing, or personal-kingdom-building, or one-upmanship that we can fail to walk in our God-given functions to lift, bless, encourage, and speak into the lives of others.

I want to suggest that we do, indeed, need to re-think leadership, and also, not be afraid to exercise the real, true, biblical, God-given authority that God has given to us.  To further this process, I want to offer the following simple thought on leadership…

“Leadership is the spiritual grace to be able to see another person’s divine destiny and impart something into their life that moves them forward toward that destiny.”

If you have the grace-gift to flow in just this way, then please, please do it.  We need people who call out our destiny in our lives, and we need to be people who can do this for others!  The Body of Christ needs nothing more than to become its fullest and most complete expression of every part.  Good leadership facilitates and serves that end.

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Randeep's Testimony: a Church Planting Movement

A story from India that was shared at the 2007 Asian House Church Conference.  Signs and wonders resulted in 3,500 house churches planted…

When he was 22, in 1994, Randeep, then a nominal Christian with no real desire to follow Jesus, was walking down the street of his home town in the state of Himachal Pradesh. He saw a woman who was rolling on the ground screaming. He recognised that she was demonized, and sensed God saying to him that he was to pray for her. However, he had no desire to do so and walked on, until again he fancied he heard God talking to him. This time God said "I can easily get someone else to pray for her - but where would that leave you and your salvation?" He then prayed for her, and she was instantly completely healed and restored to her right mind.

Later on that evening, when he was at home, he heard a commotion outside. There was a crowd of about 70. He was very nervous. "It must be a crowd of Hindus upset because I prayed for that girl," he thought. However, a voice sounded out, "Does Jesus live here?" He opened the door to speak to the crowd. "I am a Christian", he said. It turned out that the crowd had heard about the girl who was healed, and had brought many to be prayed for.

You can download the full story here and read about the movement that resulted from Randeep’s simple act of faith and obedience: Download randeeps_testimony.doc

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From Movement to Institution... and Back

We know that the early church was an unleashed, Spirit-led movement that was eventually tamed and organized into the type of institution that we see today.  I find that many people really begin to “get it” when they see the following timeline of when the different parts of the institution were added:

• special class of clergy separate from laity, 2nd century
• special clothing for clergy, 3rd century
• one-bishop-rule, which we know today as “the pastor”, 3rd century
• the sermon as the centerpiece of worship, 4th century
• special buildings for worship, 4th century
• choirs, 4th century
• the pulpit as a raised place to speak from, 5th century
• the basic order of worship as we know it today, 5th century
• pews, 13th century
• congregational song leader, 14th century
• dressing up for church, 18th century
• youth pastors, 20th century
• worship team, 20th century

“Wait a minute!  You mean there was not always a worship team with guitars, bass, and drums?”

Actually, it is quite challenging for most of us to really envision the church as Jesus defined it: followers, living radically for Him, gathering simply for prayer, worship, and mutual encouragement, going wherever the Spirit sent them to reach and minister to others.  None of the extras that we associate with church (buildings, pews, preachers, worship leaders) were needed.  Just people, lit up with the fire of God in their hearts, caring for and supporting each other (simply like families), living into a broken world with God’s light.

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What Simple Church Is

We like to say it this way.

Rather than:

1. A service or event I attend
2. A denomination or organization I become a member of
3. A program I fit into and help build

Simple church, real church, is:

1. A way of life (extravagant lovers of God engaging the world 24/7 with love, power, and word)
2. A simple community (a spiritual family that gathers with full participation
3. Natural, organic multiplication

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DVD Resource

One of the best DVD resources to-date, is the newly re-made “Tidal Wave” produced by House2House ministries.  It offers an excellent introduction on the increase of simple/house churches around the world, why the movement is growing in this country, and then describes several of the key components of simple churches:

1. Real community life
2. Everyone is involved
3. Churches are rapidly reproducible
4. Church forms remain liquid and flexible
5. Leadership serves and empowers others
6. and more…

This is a wonderful way to introduce individuals or a group of people to key concepts.  It is available here.

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Church Planting... a Story

The following story is from Floyd McClung’s book, “Starting a House Church.”  It illustrates all of the basic principles of starting and multiplying simple churches: going, praying, reaching a person of peace, empowering that person to disciple others and to start simple/house churches…

A U.S. businessman named William was making $350,000 a year but was bored.  To alleviate his boredom, Bill decided to go and serve the poor in the Indian sub-continent.  During a time of prayer, Bill felt the Lord saying that he should invest his time in discipling a young man who was a paraplegic.  After a couple of years spend in training him, Bill encouraged this young man to start a church for his friends, many of who were also in wheelchairs.  These were people who nobody wanted—the outcasts (one of the lowest castes in Hindu society), the lepers, the homeless, and the disabled.

Bill, meanwhile, started businesses to employ the “unemployable,” giving life skills and training to people who otherwise had nothing going for them.  I (Floyd) attended their church, called Beautiful Gate, recently and witnessed 200 people crammed into a small room for a celebration involving seven of their house churches around Kathmandu.  All the elders were sitting in front, and all were wheelchair-bound.  During the worship time, I saw people with missing fingers raising their hands.  Others had missing noses and ears—all due to leprosy.  Despite their affliction, the joy of the Lord was there and the people were worshiping Him with all their hearts.  It was an absolutely moving and gorgeous scene to witness.”

Bill provides coaching and spiritual oversight from behind the scenes.  He told me, “We pray everyday, go to the poor, I disciple people and pour my life into them, we encourage them to gather in small home groups, and as soon as we can, we multiply.”

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