Simple Church – putting a number on it…

Ever feel like you are the only one?

Simple Church, Organic Church or House Church is no longer thought of as some fringe, obscure or illegitimate expression of the Church made up of hippies and those too strange to belong to traditional christian churches.  Let me take that back… some of us are strange.  However, there is a longing amongst many believers today for something more than the status quo, more than church attendance.  There is a growing desire to not change the structure of church but rather be changed people.  This is leading to a shift in how believers meet and gather.  It’s less about the building and more about the relationships and Christ being the center of communal life. 

So is this a passing fad?  It doesn’t seem so.  By the growing numbers it’s becoming a movement – a Jesus movement and is gaining acceptance even among mainstream traditional and denominational churches who are not only embracing it as legitimate but who themselves are now planting Simple Churches.

Give it to me. What’s the number?

One of Christianity’s most influential leaders, George Barna, who has both been a part of the movement for many years and has done extensive research share some interesting facts.  This is a recent article written by the Barna Group entitled “How many people really attend a House Church?”.  CLICK HERE

Simple Church video…

This is a great video about the Simple Church movement by House2House featuring a number of leaders and Simple Church practitioners.

 

Forgive them for they know not…

“Obey them that have the rule over you, and submit yourselves: for they watch for your souls, as they that must give account, that they may do it with joy, and not with grief: for that is unprofitable for you.”  Hebrews 13:17

Having lunch today with my wife at TGI Friday’s, (great salad by the way) I was deeply saddened and angered as I sat by two older women.  One of them was speaking with great authority and let me say venom, spite, disrespect and self-righteous pride, about her church and specifically her Pastor.  I don’t think she could have found many more ways to verbally tear him down.  I’m glad I was almost done with my great salad when she said “I think we are just going to fire him.”

I wanted to walk over and ask, “What church do you attend, so I can know where not to go.”  I had many other thoughts, but had I said them, someone might be writing a blog about me right now.

No one knows the burden of a Pastor but a Pastor and/or his wife.  How can people become so arrogant and unloving?  According to Barna Research, in 2008 there were over 1700 Pastors that left formal ministry every month.

Let me encourage you to take heed to the passage in Hebrews and Paul’s encouragement.  Repent if you have been guilty.  If justifying yourself is at all running through your mind right now  or this blog personally offends you – you need to repent.  Make it your aim to make your Pastor’s labor on your behalf a joy.  Go out of the way to serve him as he serves you.  Love him with the kind of love Jesus died to give you.

The Vision and The Journey…

Not all journeys begin with a vision, but every vision is the beginning of a journey. 

As I mentioned in my last post, I am talking about something that originated from the heart of God, not the desires of man.  We have all felt strong desires and placing them in beautifully crafted words and called them a vision.  Church leaders are notorious for this , the proof being captured in many churches’ three part vision statements.  I’m not slamming on the desires of Godly men who want to do good things, but there is a big difference between the visions of men to do Godly things and the visions from God that only He can give and fulfill. 

“That which is born of flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.”  John 3:6

God fulfills His visions through us and by the resources He supplies.  We cannot see or understand the full scope of this kind of vision.  If we did, we would run away from it like Jonah or run right out thinking we can fulfill God’s vision.  A true vision from God frightens you and captures you at the same time.  You don’t go looking for it, it finds you.

It was a typical Sunday service.  We were going through the same routine we go through every Sunday.  As we came to our time of worship, I was engaged as I usually am somewhere between sorting out the last thoughts of the sermon I am about to deliver and half listening for any last minute promptings from the Holy Spirit and trying to worship.  All of a sudden I am arrested by God with a vision.  I am engulfed by what I see in the Spirit as everything in the natural fades into the backdrop till I am only aware of God and what He’s showing me.  And, this is all I see…

I was taken outside of our Church building as I watched a storm appear.  It was sudden with no time to prepare.  You could not see the storm, only it’s effects.  It was like seeing one of those storm stories about a hurricane or tornado on the Discovery Channel.  The power of the wind began to tear the building apart starting with the shingles.  Piece by piece the building tore apart, shingles, plywood, timbers and bricks, til all that was left was the concrete slab foundation.  Then as quickly as the church was torn apart and stripped away, God began to build it back.  Suddenly, I found myself back standing in our sanctuary singing our last song if worship.

I tried quickly to compose myself.  What now?  I sensed in my spirit that God was about to do what I saw, but I had no idea what that meant.  As I said before, it frightened me and captured me.  I heard the Lord say, “surrender.”

I made my way up front and stood before the people God had been so gracious to bring together as our church.  I felt compelled to share what I saw and what God said to me.  When I was done sharing the vision, I said to the church that I sensed God telling us to surrender, that if He needed to strip anything away, we needed to surrender and let Him.  If I needed to go, the building needed to go, any programs, any people, finances, ideologies about ministry or personal issues, then we needed to surrender and let Him.   I asked everyone to pray with me a prayer of consecration.

What came next, I would not have expected.  And, so the journey began…

Come along with me.

The measure of success…

I just love the awkwardness of conversation.  You know it when you encounter it.  The proverbial “How’s the weather” conversation; the superficial stuff.  We do this when we don’t know someone, don’t know what to talk about or what questions we should really ask.

These kind of conversations are interesting among christians, especially leaders.  This is why pastors, church planters, leaders and those observing them ask superficial questions about success.  How many people do you have coming?  How many groups do you have? 

People want measurable and decisive answers.  I’m always tempted to give such answers, but the truth is these days such answers are not impressive if that is how we perceive success.

Let me leave you with two thoughts:

1. It is much easier to describe to you what I’m doing rather than tell you what I’m becoming.

2. Faith will always lead you down paths where you can’t use your eyes.

Unfortunately these two thing are not impressive to those looking to measure success by superficial things.

He who has an ear, let him hear…

Oh the beauty of diversity.  How different we are in every way, including our ability to communicate.  If you haven’t learned by now then you either don’t realize that people misunderstand what you’ve tried to say or you don’t care if you are misunderstood.   But, if we value relationship with the ones we are trying to communicate with then we will take the time to learn.  To assume you are heard simply because you think you are a clear and precise communicator is a self-delusion and maybe in some cases arrogant.  Either way it does not take into account the beautiful diversity of our hearers.  Communication is an ongoing process that may need to be revisited over and over til what we find is not that we have simply been heard and understood but rather we progressively and more intimately know our hearers as well as we are known.  To truly desire to be heard is to truly desire relationship with our hearer and that is a heart issue not just something wrong with the ears.

I want something Relevant…

 

 I saw this cartoon at mentalreflection, thanks Philippa.

“All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be competent, equipped for every good work.”   2 Timothy 3:16-17 (ESV)

Going Deep Pt. 1

Last week I started a new teaching series at The Dwelling Place entitled “Going Deep.”  It was prompted by something I posted a few days back where I said “Going Deep is our part, going Big is God’s part.”  As I was reflecting on Acts 2 I noticed something that jerked me back like a dog on a leash.

We have a tendency as church pastors and church planter to give in to the pressure to produce.  Much of our insecurities can be manipulated by the pressure of perceived expectation, that we must make it grow.  Since we are the experts, we must do something to make that thing get bigger.  After all it is the consumers measure for success.  If it’s not succeeding then we are not succeeding.  Let me say to all of you in ministry, “What a load of CRAP!”  Success?  I remember what my Father said to His firstborn, “This is my Son in whom I am well pleased.”  This is it.  I am my Daddy’s son and He loves me.

Moving on.  After finishing a previous series where we looked at what our mission was, I was tempted to work up a mission statement, package it well, capture it in a clever statement and then….jerrrrrk.  I saw it.  

“And they devoted themselves to the Apostles’ teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers……praising God and having favor with all the people.  And the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved.”   Acts 2:42,47

The new believers devoted themselves……it produced favor and the Lord added to their number.

Devoted in the Greek means “to be earnest towards.”  It is a compound word for “forward” indicating a direction and movement towards; and to be strong, steadfast or endure.   In the context of verse 42 it means these new believers were moving forward in a stronger and more earnest relationship with Jesus, their leaders (Apostles) and each other.  In other word they were GOING DEEPER in Scripture and teaching of the Apostles, deeper in fellowship, deeper in the practice of faith and deeper in prayer together.

When we enter into this deeper devotion and a missional, incarnational focus on those around us, it will produce favor.  Going deeper in relationship and love with God and people is an attractive thing.  When you find something you really love, don’t you want to tell someone or share it with someone.  “Taste and see that the Lord is good.”  If you don’t want to share the experience of what you have, you might want to check and see if you had it in the first place. 

“Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love.”      1 John 4:8

God cannot be contained.  When we try to put God in a box and contain Him, it becomes something other than God.  It just becomes religion and not good religion at that.  Life has to have room to grow or you kill it.    “Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God.”  1 John 4:7

Missional, Incarnational Community…

In the movie Superman Returns, Superman comes to see Lois and explains why he left and came back.  He takes Lois for a flight through the night sky high above the earth.  As they hover, Superman says:

S: What do you hear?

L: Nothing.

S: I hear everything….

S: You wrote “The world does not need a Savior, but every day I hear people crying out for one.”

Isn’t that so true.  If you have the ears and eyes to discern the cry of humanity all around us;  they cry out for a Savior.  From atheist to agnostic to right out vile pagan - While even in the midst of outright denying the existence of God, their lives, their pain, their dreams and life longings cry out for a Savior. 

Instead of self-righteous disdain for the behavior and religious beliefs of others, we should be moved to compassion for a crying humanity in need of a Savior. 

“He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the LORD require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?”   Micah 6:8

Who is going to show them the way?

ReThink Church: Pt 4 – What is our mission?

This has been an incredible journey for me to this point.  We have finished our last week in this series at The Dwelling Place, but have only begun to scratch the surface of how this all applies to us practically as the church.  Our goal was to lay a firm foundation for our ecclesiology.  I believe the first layer has been laid well.  It’s now up to all of us to act as wise builders on a good foundation. 

“So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, (20) built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, (21) in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord. (22) In him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit.” Ephesians 2:19-22

The premise for reconstructing our thoughts on our mission is the fact that throughout history God has been the “Missio Dei” – the sending God.  From the beginning God sent His Word and His Spirit and created all things.  He sent man in the garden.  He sent men throughout OT history.  He sent Jesus into the world.  He sent the Holy Spirit.  And, as we will see, He sends us.

So what is our mission?

First, our mission is to be new people.  Romans 6 is clear that God redeemed us and has in Christ brought us from death to life. 

“We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.” Romans 6:4

We are to live our lives consistently with the new identity we have in Jesus, walking in newness of life.  We should live different lives that reflect the life of Jesus in us.  There should be a marked difference in us as compared to the world we live in.  We are now light in darkness.

Second, our mission is to be God’s message.  If a picture is worth a thousand words, then what is our life speaking.  As Christ followers, we worry so much about sharing or not sharing Christ.  You might not think so, but I believe every person who has genuinely chosen to belong to Jesus has had to deal with the fear of sharing Christ, or not.  Some may think it’s not their job.  Though our word are important, we shouldn’t worry about our words as much as our life.  Paul says we are a letter that is being read by all that see us.

“And you show that you are a letter from Christ delivered by us, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts.” 2 Corinthians 3:3

Paul continues this thought here in chapter 5 saying we are new creations in Christ, all things are new.  What things?  All things pertaining to who we are versus who we were. 

“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. (18) All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; (19) that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation. (20) Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.” 2 Corinthians 5:17-20

He also makes it clear that by reconciling us to Christ he also gave us a ministry and message of reconciliation.  We are God’s message of reconciliation lived out every day.  We are to live in such a way that God’s appeal is evident to all we come in contact with.

“For the love of Christ controls us..” 2 Corinthians 5:14

Paul reveals the evidence of this new creation and the motivation of our shared life message.  It is love.  There is such an incredible love deposited in us that it cannot be contained.  It constrains or controls us.

Third, our mission is to be sent ones.  We are to be missional people just like our Father.  In John 20:21 Jesus tell us that just as the Father sent Him, He sends us.  Jesus is our model for sent life.  In the Gospel we see a Jesus who did not come to build a religion or religious building or systems.  We see a Jesus who showed us how to live as the church. 

Jesus commissioned His disciples in Matthew 28 to go and reproduce this life in others.

“And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. (19) Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, (20) teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”    Matthew 28:18-20

The words “Go therefore” actually mean “as you go.”  The church is so diverse, made up of unique and gifted members with different functions.  God’s plan to redeem all things is evident in the diversity of the body of Christ.  God plans to infiltrate all aspects of life to redeem all.  We have been sent by Him.  Where ever we go and whatever He calls us to do in life, we are to be His message of reconciliation lived out in love.  We must be intentional in relationship with those in the world.  We are His message.

Are you living consistently with your new life?

How are you being missional?

Going Deep…

If you remember learning about icebergs in Elementary or Middle School you know that what you see sticking out of the water is only a small fraction of the whole thing.

Over the last 2 years I have walked through a major change in ministry.  God began some things in the church I serve that have caused me to take a fresh and new look at my faith, my theology, my walk, and my views of what the church is and does.  This has been an incredible journey of discovery.  However, not everyone around you is ready to take the journey or handle what you discover.  Like Jesus in John 6:66, many of His disciples turned away because they could not handle what He was saying to them, and they quit following Him.

For most, if you asked about or mentioned church, their first thought would picture a building located at some specific address.  You know the question, “where do you go to church?”  If this represents the iceberg above the water, what is below the surface.  If all we experience is what we see on the surface, we miss the beauty of all that is below.  Sadly, many believers will spend their whole life just on the surface and want nothing else or reject the notion that anything under the surface should be explored.

Let me prophecy (throw stones if you want), there is a shift happening – a global shift.  As I have cried, prayed and searched, I am finding there are more people walking the way of Jesus than you will find warming a pew on Sunday.  They are living in intentional communion and community with Jesus and other believers.  They are committed to be the church, not just attend church.

The church as we have known it is in crisis.  Our culture is changing and this current and next generation of spiritual seekers are looking for something more than church attendance.  They are looking for more than religion.  They want more than a life of lip service.  For them, what is on the surface has no meaning without all that’s underneath.

What’s on the surface just doesn’t cut for me anymore.  I’ve got to have what’s underneath.  The truth is, the surface no longer satisfies and looses meaning without the beauty of the depths of Jesus and all that the church should really be.

Time is short, ‘ve got to leave off here.  I will probably revisit this in my next post.  I hope I have stirred something in you.  If so please leave a comment.  I cannot be the only one feeling this.  I know I’m not.

I Heard Behind Me A Loud Voice Like A Trumpet…

“When we take our gaze off the celebrity pastors (practical dramatists) and the ministry pundits (theoretical dramatists) and we fix our eyes once again on Jesus, we’ll discover a spiritual leader with the wisdom to focus on the only drama that really matters. Jesus lived and served from a soul at one with the Father and an identity secure in his love. From this inner place he drew the strength to do might works (drama of the practical) and teach profound truths (drama of the theoretical), but more importantly he found the courage to endure outward failure, ridicule, and abandonment. The drama of the eternal, his inner communion with his Father, defined and determined the outward drama of his life. Unfortunately, too many of us in ministry have it the other way around.” – Skye Jethani, Out of Ur: Three Dramas that Drive Us, 1-30-2009 

In the current growing spiritual debate over form and theory of the church in a post-christian culture, the above quote from an article by Skye Jethani, managing editor of Leadership Journal and Teaching Pastor of Blanchard Alliance Church in Wheaton, Iliinois,  sound a trumpets call from eternity for us to pause and evaluate the source of all our doing and thinking.  If you are involved in ministry or thinking about it, this is a must read.  You can find the entire article <HERE.>

Jesus was so secure in the Father that He only did what He saw the Father doing.  Ask yourself, “Is the Father doing what you are doing?”  We have been entrusted with the work of the Kingdom.  Our primary job is to see the Father and what He’s doing, then do what He’s doing.  We are in such a frenzy doing good and great things for God.  But, I would ask “Do you know you are doing what the Father is doing?”  Many would say, “I’m not sure.”

While many theorist debate over the changing and new forms of how to do church, God is calling all of us back to Him.  He is the only one who can bring peace to the drama that swirls around the challenges we face to be the church.  “In Him we live and move and have our being.”

Do you hear and see  Him or are you too busy doing?  Pause!

Going Missional…

I read an article this morning that made me think about the many trips I’ve taken with my family.  When we pack the car to go to Grandmom and Pop’s house for Christmas with a family of five, packing becomes an art form if not an engineering miracle.  If you ask my wife, I am the worst at taking less.

If you have flown lately you understand the value of less is more.  Less baggage means more $$$$ in your wallet since they charge extra for each bag now.  Not to mention less baggage to lug through the airport.  We are having to learn how to travel light.

In the Fall 2008 issue of Leadership magazine, Skye Jethani, managing editor shares these thoughts:

Nothing to Declare (but the Gospel)

“To declare the gospel in a culture where fewer people are likely to step foot in a church means valuing swiftness over bigness, agility over security.  This means smaller, missional communities with less baggage may be better equipped to advance the gospel than some larger churches burdened by their programming and overhead.

Does this mean we should abandon all our institutional baggage?  Of course not.  But like a smart traveler, conditions today require us to be more discerning about what to take on our journey, and what to leave behind.”   (pg 5.)

What do you think?

I need your feed back.  So please leave your comments and questions.  Help create some dialogue here.

Medium v/s Message…

“in the end the medium always becomes the message.”  Alan Hirsch – The Forgotten Ways

How tough it is in pastoring a church to keep the focus on the message we are called to bring.  You may say that doesn’t make sense.  The church is all about Jesus and the message is about Him.  This is true, but if you are a Pastor you know what I’m talking about.

While we share the message about Jesus and His redemptive love over time people become more focused on the vehicle or medium that the message comes through than the message itself.  Thus, the focus becomes the church itself.

Pastoral leaders spend a great deal of time focused on the building of churches, finding better ways to do church, addressing the problems of the church.  Our focus is more on the organization of church rather than the person of Jesus. 

Without Jesus there is no church.  The reason for church is Jesus.  Our focus should be on Him.  In the book of Acts, those who believed on Jesus intuitively began to share their new life and message with those around them and they began to naturally gather wherever and whenever they could.  The church flowed out of the focus on Jesus. 

When we focus too heavily on the building of our church we can be pulled away from Jesus.  We can depend more on our ability to cleverly do church and focus more on the building the organization than on Jesus and His redemptive power.

As leaders, if we cause those we Shepherd to become more dependent on the church as an organization and her ability to provide programing for their every need, then they will become co-dependent on the church rather than Jesus.  We will raise anemic disciple who cannot stand on their own faith and to believe in the total ability of Jesus to personally enable them to face all challenges of life.

We must be careful to not focus more on our medium than our message.  It is a fine line between the two.  So fine that we can think it’s all about Jesus when we’ve made it more about the church we serve.

Keep the focus on Jesus.  If we are in Him, we are the church.  Jesus said He would build the church (us) as we laid hold of the revelation that He is the Christ.  He is everything you need.

• Are you letting Jesus build you?
• Does your life reveal a total dependence on Jesus?
• When was the last time you blamed the church for something that you should have been dependent on Jesus for?
• If you are a Pastor, do you spend more time on the medium or the message (Jesus)?

The Future of the Church?

What is the future of the Church in America?   How are we reaching the men of our culture?   Where are the good soldiers?

There is a shifting going on in our churches and culture causing people to long and looking for something more. Some have a growing discontent and a division is happening between those who want to attend church and those who are looking to be the church. There is a battle to strip away the dependency on an institutional church to find the all sufficient living Lord Jesus and thus revealing a glorious church made in His image. These are incredible times we live in and we have an awesome opportunity to raise up men of God, good soldiers, to lead the way.

Mark Driscoll of Mars Hill shares this great message about the church and church planting.