Simply Church: A House Church Perspective

Potential missionaries, beware!

2012-02-10T10:55:00-08:00

Photo credit: EugeniusD80 (Creative Commons)

We were sitting in our hot tub with some dear friends who are long-term missionaries in Japan. Jim's wife is Japanese, so they have a unique understanging of that nation. They and their family are planting simple/organic churches there. As usual, our conversation ranged widely as we put the world to rights.

"A problem we see is people coming on the mission field with romantic ideas of saving the world, knowing God has called them into missions, full of enthusiasm, but totally unprepared for what they will face." said Jim. "A year later, they leave, disillusioned, having failed. They have never worked through the culture shock they experience. They miss the familiar, their families and friends. They go back home, tail between their legs and end up being good pillars of their local church. The problem has been in their preparation."

"What would you do that's different?" I asked.

"If I knew someone who was considering working for the Kingdom in Japan, I would have them come and live with our family for a month, first of all," replied Jim. "A month is long enough that it wouldn't be a vacation. We would give them insights into the culture; they would gain an understanding of some of the spiritual realities of a nation like ours. They would live with our family, eating our food, working at the things we work at on a daily basis. They would reach out to local people who are English speakers. They could get a taste of what life on this mission field is like to see if this is really the nation where they want to spend the next years of their life. Then if they still know God has called them here, maybe they would come for a year, learn some of the language, get more understanding of the culture before committing to full time missions."

I think that is a wise way to prepare someone for the mission field. Are there other families like Jim's who would be prepared to open up their lives to potential missionaries?

In my last post, I looked at some of the ways that preparation for simple/organic missions might be different.

I came across another idea I like a few weeks ago. A missions organization sent out a team to live in Europe with a dual purpose. The first was to reach out to the local people, to make disciples and start churches. The second was to provide a missions experience and training for others who were thinking of working in Europe. Although it hadn't been without challenges, a couple we met who had been through that year had been sufficiently inspired to make the decision to go back to Europe long term, but this time without their rose-tinted spectacles. They had been through God's school of hard knocks and practical experience and now felt prepared with an understanding of what they would face.

What we, as simple/organic churches do to prepare people for missions needs to fit within our simple/organic paradigm.

What ideas do you have? How can we best prepare people in a practical way?

So you want to be a missionary?

2012-02-08T10:52:00-08:00

Photo credit: breezy 421 (Creative Commons)

Nothing magical occurs when a person moves into a cross-cultural situation. Arriving on foreign shores, a new missionary doesn't suddenly morph into an evangelistic go-getter.

When we come across people who are about to go onto the mission field, while standing in awe of their commitment to Jesus, our usual question to them is this: "What have you been doing here in this country?"

Whatever a person is doing now, back at home, in terms of working for the Kingdom, is most likely what they'll do overseas. If they never spread the Good News here, it's not likely they'll find it any easier elsewhere. If they've never started a church here, it's not going to fall into their lap in a foreign context.

So what is the best basic training for you, as one whom God is calling overseas? Is it years of seminary? Bible school? [God uses such people --remember, the apostle Paul had done the equivalent in his day--but that wasn't what qualified him to reach out to the Gentiles.] There's nothing to compare with practical experience.

Many missions or missionary sending churches, no matter their denomination or affiliations, have recognized that old-style missionary methods do not generally have much impact on the Kingdom in terms of new followers of Jesus. Teaching in schools, bringing healthcare and so on may provide extremely valuable help to the local people, and that may be what God has called you to do, but it doesn't usually result in new churches.

The most effective pattern being used around the world today is the multiplication of networks of small, organic churches meeting in homes. We know several mega-churches who start house churches in other countries. No matter their background, this is what sending agencies are doing overseas. Many missionaries today train indigenous leaders in these patterns. Relief of needs--feeding the poor, caring for orphans, may play a part, and may provide inroads into the community, but it's not the primary means of gathering the harvest.

Therefore, the most effective preparation for overseas missions is to do here at home what you'll be doing, or what you'll be training others to do, abroad. Start a multiplying network of simple/organic/missional churches. This practical, on-the-job training, coupled with learning about cross-cultural challenges and opportunities, together with some experience in other cultures will provide a good basic training for what you will do overseas.

Guest post by Michael Tummillo: How are things at work?

2012-02-06T10:37:00-08:00

Photo credit: Let Ideas Compete (Creative Commons)

I was managing a mobile home park in Texas - 185 homes located about 45 minutes south of downtown Dallas - the only mobile home park owned by a big property management company in North Dallas. Single, divorced, I had long before made up my mind that I was going to allow the Father to use whatever I had available, even if all I had was time. Even if all I had was a job. Like Moses, who gave God the staff in his hand, all I had to offer Him was my job. I had no computer, no phone, none of the tools of ministry I am now utilizing.

I had resided in the park for 8 years with my wife and children. After she divorced me, I stayed there and, when working at WalMart, suffered an accident (a ton of dog food was dropped on my foot) which caused me to remain at home while I healed. One day, the park manager's groundskeeper was caught digging in her purse. She fired him and asked me if I would like the job. In time, she was promoted and I was offered the park manger's position. While I was there, that mobile home park experienced incredible revival. Not only spiritually, but physically, residents planting trees, building nice decks, cleaning up and beautifying their lots. Even the bank that owned the property commented on what a wonderful "spirit" they could feel in the park when they inspected it.

What made the difference? For starters, I was "prayer walking" at night before I'd ever heard of that. I anointed every post, mailbox and stop sign with oil and claimed that park for the Kingdom of God. I placed encouraging Gospel tracts on car windshields. As time went on, people either committed their lives to Christ, began attending church, with me or elsewhere, or they moved out. The profile of our resident population transformed as one resident was sentenced to prison and a practicing witch's house burned to the ground. In their place, retired ministers and devoted followers of Christ began moving in and our occupancy increased to nearly 100%. Bible studies popped-up. Neighbors started reaching out and getting to know each other. Flying kites, riding bikes, having cook-outs... the Spirit of Peace was downright tangible.

Some things I did on a "natural" level included a newsletter I created (remember, no computer) as well as a logo for the park to unify us all as a community. I developed the habit of praying for daily divine appointments back then. As park manager, ministry opportunities took place daily right there in my office/residence as visitors would sit across from my desk and pour out their hearts - often quite tearfully - including repairmen and sales people. I always had Gospel music playing softly in the background. One man, a Mormon, told me he could feel the presence of God in my office. When I inquired as to whether he felt that same presence in his church, he stopped to think and finally whispered, "No, not like this." Not only did he become a resident a few days later, but he eventually left the Mormon church and joined a non-denominational church nearby.

This revival wasn't limited to that park. It wasn't long before property managers from our company's apartment complexes throughout Dallas began calling me with Bible questions (no email back then). On occasion, several made the long drive from Dallas just to have a Bible talk.

Was there resistance? Absolutely, even from a few so-called "Christians." But God favored me greatly. One day, when I was at the headquarters in North Dallas, as I was speaking with the owner, an intimidating woman of great wealth, two detectives walked in and took her 22-year old daughter away in handcuffs for check forgery. After they left, my boss collapsed in her over-stuffed leather chair and tearfully asked , "Mike, what would YOU do?" Suddenly, she was morphed into a hurting, vulnerable mother in need of help. So, I did what was required of me - comforted and counseled her, and received great favor from that woman for the remainder of my 3 years managing that park.

Bear in mind, I had not yet attended Bible College (something that was later paid for, anonymously, on my behalf). I was not "officially" in ministry. I wasn't a church deacon, an elder... I was just a guy who loved Jesus and who understood that we ALL have a ministry. I didn't know it, but I was being trained for the ministry Father had planned for my future.

What is He requiring of YOU where YOU spend the majority of YOUR time? You're surrounded by hurting people every single day. Start there. Remember, YOU are the church - it's the people, NOT the buildings and NOT the denominations. Our mission is to love one another.

Michael Tummillo is a Workplace Chaplain in Texas and founder of the international ministry, The Church @ Work (TCAW). A one-finger typist, Michael has had an online presence since 1999 and has reached millions with his email devotionals, and other Internet activities. His goal is not to push religion but to push people, giving his ministry away and encouraging followers of Jesus to share the love of God in the place they spend up to 70% of their lives: the workplace. You can contact Michael at miketummillo@me.com.

When organic missions is effective

2012-02-03T10:19:00-08:00

This video is several years old, but it's really, really good.

A few years ago, reports coming in from the field to the International Mission Board of the Southern Baptists were showing something new. An rapid and seemingly almost spontaneous multiplication of new disciples and new churches was occurring in several unrelated parts of the world. As they examined these movements, which they called church planting movements, they found several features common to each.

This video documents some of what they are seeing. For a longer, 12 minute version of the video exploring the principles involved, check out their site and find the video, Like and Mighty Wave in their search engine.

Guest post by Ed Waken (part 2) The truth, adventure and mystery of evangelism

2012-02-01T10:55:00-08:00

I am privileged to have Ed Waken, an evangelist, write this outstanding post on evangelism. What could happen if we didn't view spreading the good news as a chore, a somewhat socially embarrassing spiritual duty to be performed, but instead an adventure with Jesus. You can read part 1 of this post here. Ed is a leader in a network of organic churches in Phoenix, AZ, and works closely with Neil Cole in CMA.

The Adventure

The church needs to rediscover what has been stolen from them. We need to give back the cold, distanced and dutiful methodologies^[1] of evangelism for the more adventurous, risky and romantic renditions that only Jesus can create and place in our souls. The church needs some fresh adventures in understanding how serious Jesus is at getting the message into the souls of people. When we think about engaging people with the truth we should capture the understanding that Jesus is a customizer of methods, not a cookie cutter.

Jesus will take a believer with all their experiences and fears and have them cross the paths of not-yet-believing people who are a perfect fit for the customized approach Jesus gives the believer, at the perfect time. This requires trust and obedience but it is exactly what Jesus promised. Jesus said He will give us the right words at the right time, every time (Luke 21:13-15). This takes the level of our faith and evangelism to a whole new meaning of adventure.

The Mystery

I can count fifteen people who shared Jesus with me in some form or fashion before Ralph shared the same truth with me and my life was transformed radically. Who was more important in my choosing to follow Jesus, the fifteen or Ralph? Was Ralph more gifted or skilled or persuasive than the others? Did Ralph ‘close the deal‘ because he has an anointing? I believe that all sixteen of those who told me about Jesus are equally vital to my process of turning to Jesus. All salvation experiences are mysterious. Some are dramatic, some are mundane, others cannot be marked by an event. Salvation is always a supernatural event where the God of the universe enters the life of a human being permanently. When the rich young ruler heard what was required by Jesus to gain eternal life, he became very sad. Jesus’ disciples asked him if a rich man can’t be saved “...then who can be saved?”. Jesus answered, “The things that are impossible with people are possible with God.” (Luke 18:18-27).

Enjoy the freedom of not knowing what God is doing in a soul - enjoy the mystery. Be assured, however, that God is doing something in the souls of those with whom you share His truth. Trust in His God perfect and powerful ability to draw people to repentance in the way they need. Obediently follow His lead, even when it doesn’t make sense because most mysteries do not make sense.

The bottom line regarding evangelism is to enjoy it (weird huh?). Jesus is an artist of the soul. He created you specifically to engage the people He brings in your life with His truth. Enjoy His adjusting the delivery of the message to fit the current need of the one listening to your words.

If we learn to enjoy sharing the life of Jesus with others as He leads us, we will most assuredly share that life more often and with more passion. The Scriptures teach that the more we sow, the more we will reap. The power behind people coming to Jesus is not in any delivery, method or medium. The power behind people coming to Jesus is always in message (Rom. 1:16) so give away the message often and with joy and enjoy watching God at work.

^[1] God can, has and will continue to use a more formal, methodological approach to giving out the Gospel. It is not wrong to do so; however, it has robbed the fun of spiritual reproduction from the ordinary believer. The giving out of the Word will never return without an effect on the one hearing the truth.

Guest post by Ed Waken (part 1): Discovering what's been stolen

2012-01-30T10:32:00-08:00

Are all of us called to evangelize? This series of blog posts has been on simple/organic mission and evangelism. It has provoked a slew of questions. I am blessed to know Ed, an evangelist who is involved in organic churches. Here is his unique take on some of the questions.

Ed is a leader in a network of organic churches in Phoenix Arizona. He also serves with Church Multiplication Associates on their leadership team as an Evangelist. Ed mentors and coaches a variety of leaders around the world in areas of leadership, discipleship, evangelism and organic church principles. Ed and Debbie have been married since 1978 and they have three grown children and two grandsons.

Web Links: edwaken.blogspot.com,

valleylifechurch.org

For too long the truth, adventure, mystery and joy that comes with giving away the life of Jesus has been stolen from the ordinary believer. We have been taught methods of sharing Jesus that feel more cold, distanced and dutiful than life giving. We have heard that just a few gifted ones will really be successful at evangelism. This is yet another blow designed to sideline the ordinary person from engaging in the supernatural act of sharing the life of Jesus with those who are so thirsty to taste the goodness of God.

The Truth

The great commission is often seen as Jesus’ marching orders to make disciples which must include the initial and ongoing sharing of Jesus’ good news with those who have not yet heard. The great commission and Jesus’ similar instructions to the twelve in Acts 1:8 were delivered directly to His twelve Apostles. This has caused some to believe that not every follower of Jesus is responsible to engage in giving away the life of Christ; it simply is not their gift. This is not the truth. There is an often overlooked statement in the great commission that instructs the Twelve to be teaching their disciples “...to obey everything I have commanded you”. The Twelve were to teach the ordinary believer to obey everything Jesus taught them which includes the making of disciples or the being a witness to all the world. Everyone is responsible to be intentionally sharing the life of Jesus with the world.

The truth is that the ordinary person is a competent minister of the good news (2 Cor. 3:6). The truth is that success in evangelism should be measured by conversations about Jesus not conversions to Jesus. Ordinary people are only responsible to tell about and demonstrate the love of Jesus. Only Supernatural beings are responsible for the results, “I planted, Apollos watered but God was causing the growth.” (1 Cor. 3:6-7). Everyone is an evangelizer and success is measured by obedience to share.

Twelve reasons why we saw extraordinary church multiplication

2012-01-27T10:36:00-08:00

Photo credit: James Jordan (Creative Commons)

What principles allow rapid multiplication on the mission field?

Traditionally, follow up from an evangelistic meeting is done by taking people's names and addresses and asking them to attend church or go through some materials. This is usually remarkably ineffective.

In the context I described in the last post this would have been impossible because of security issues as well as illiteracy. Instead, a Luke 10/simple church pattern enabled the harvest to be conserved and then multiplied.

Here are some of the reasons (apart from a sovereign move of God) that I believe this happened.

Prayer. The local church sponsoring the meetings has a 24 hour prayer room and much prayer was raised. Spiritual warfare was essential and very, very real.
A large, local church handled practical arrangements.
The local pastor was 100% involved and was willing to lose some of his best people (and their finance) to start churches in people's homes. Building the Kingdom of God was far more important to him than increasing the size of his church.
In a nation where there is much persecution of believers, disciples are often far more passionate about their faith than in countries where Christianity is acceptable. The harvest workers were "on fire" for Jesus.
The harvest workers responsible for follow up were trained in Luke 10 principles. They were taught how to pray for the sick and how to find people of peace.
Follow up was done at a local level by gathering new believers in the homes of people of peace. The new believers were not expected to attend a church or even to go to the homes of existing believers (extremely dangerous in their context). For similar reasons, the groups were kept very small--family gatherings.
People were trained in simple patterns that were easily duplicatable--for example, what to do when they gathered together. They were also geared towards oral learners.
The meetings were culturally relevant. They didn't appear Western.
The Gospel was sown widely--huge numbers attended. The new believers then gossipped the Gospel along relational lines. They have an uncle in the neighboring village? They go to him, tell him how Jesus touched them and offer to pray for his needs. When Jesus answers their prayer, they start something in his home.
Miracles, healings and testimonies were featured prominently.
Christian terminology wasn't used. People were invited to become "followers of Jesus" rather than to become Christians. (Actually, the name of Jesus in that language was used). There was no implication of changing culture.
The evangelist, a Westerner, has a deep, committed, ongoing relationship to that nation and to the pastor he worked with. He has faith to see the nation changed. He doesn't live in that nation, but visits as the Lord provides opportunity.

Can missional, simple/organic church multiply the harvest? A story

2012-01-25T10:41:00-08:00

Photo credit: williamcho (Creative Commons)

Simple/organic church is a great way to not only conserve the harvest, but also to multiply it.

We have a friend who is an evangelist in countries that are hostile to the Gospel. We originally contacted him because we were interested in the large healing/evangelistic meetings that, amazingly, he is able to hold in these countries. When he discovered we are involved in simple church, he asked to spend some time with Tony and me because the Lord had told him that he was to be involved in a different kind of church. So we spent a weekend with him, explained the principles of Luke 10 and answered his myriad questions.

A few weeks later he conducted a major meeting again, but this time, instead of his usual training for the church workers who were going to be involved in follow up of those who responded to the message, he trained them in Luke 10 principles, teaching them to look for people of peace, to pray for the sick and to start churches in homes.

The people came to the meeting in buses, often 150 to a bus. The harvest workers looked for people of peace in the buses on the way home after the meeting.

A few months after this meeting we traveled with him to this country to discover what had happened. The results were extraordinary.

A typical story went like this: "I started four churches following the meeting, but the people have told their friends and relatives in other villages about Jesus and now I have eight."

Two young men, aged 24 and 26, were so excited after one of the subsequent trainings that they didn't wait for the next harvest meeting. They started spreading the Good News right away, and six months later had 700 new believers in 25 churches.

The typical results of an evangelistic crusade in the West is that around 1% of those who respond are going on with the Lord a year later. In the nation we visited, thousands of churches have started.

What might happen if new believers were followed up using Luke 10 principles?

A simple/organic contribution to global mission

2012-01-23T10:29:00-08:00

Photo credit: Gravitywave (Creative Commons)

Over the past few months, we have had several people from a more traditional church background and who are in the process of leaving for the mission field visit the church that meets in our home.

The exchange has been valuable. Our "Jesus family" has rubbed shoulders with people sold out for the Kingdom who are literally giving up everything they know in order to take the good news into cultures that may be hostile to the Gospel. And those visiting us have tasted a simpler, relational style of church that seeks to follow the Holy Spirit when they come together and that is reaching out using Luke 10 principles into the different spheres of influence that people represent.

Many churches and mission agencies are using simple/organic church patterns on the mission field. These days, mega-churches and denominations do not ususally plan to replicate traditional Western styles of church when they get into a cross-cultural context. Mission sending agencies recognize that the most effective evangelism uses a simple/organic model of church that multiplies along relational lines.

Current experience shows that simple/organic patterns of church are less likely to provoke persecution in environments hostile to the Gospel.

The problem for many of the people going abroad as missionaries is that they have no experience of simple/organic church, even though that is what they plan to do on the field. So when they arrive on the mission field, they not only have to cope with a totally new cultural environment--language, customs, lifestyle; they also expect to work within an unfamiliar style of both evangelism and gathering.

This leads me to two conclusions:

People who have been involved in simple/organic expressions of church in their home countries are well-suited to involve in cross-cultural mission. If they have been involved in a healthy expression of organic/simple church, they are already accustomed to Luke 10 principles of mission and an informal, home-based style of gathering. But a single simple church or even network of simple churches, even though they may be able to provide financially, may not have the resources or experience to provide the cross-cultural training and support on the field necessary for someone going out as a missionary.
One of the contributions that the simple/organic movement can make towards global missions is to willingly work with mission-sending agencies, giving prospective missionaries a taste of what they are likely to experience on the field.

Are there ways we can partner together?

A simple story of darkness to light

2012-01-20T11:12:00-08:00

Photo Credit: Jon...in 3D (Creative Commons)

Yesterday evening church met at our home. Rosaura had brought along a young man, maybe 16 or 17 years old, a relative. He gave his heart to Jesus last night. This was his story.

"All my life I've felt as though I'm in a dark tunnel. I could see the light at the end, but it didn't matter what I did, I couldn't get any closer to the light, no matter how hard I tried. Tonight the light is right in front of me."

He walked into the light with Jesus and a smile from ear to ear.