John White, a member of the CHC community, recently had the privilege to speak with Felicity Dale of www.SimplyChurch.com on women in leadership of the church.  Below are the three videos that John published for their use.

Video 1 - Understanding the nature of church, who leaders were, and how to interpret scripture to see the leadership role of women in the church.

Video 2 - Using the “one-end-of-the-telephone” approach to understanding scriptural commands for the behavior of women in the church.

Video 3 - Women leaders of the early church, women as apostolic church leaders, and the excitement seeing women and men joined together in ministry.

For more information on the SimplyChurch ”Kingdom Women” series, visit http://www.simplychurch.com/kingdom-women/

It is time to update our Colorado map of house/simple/organic churches! Our map of simple churches on this site has been a widely used tool for many looking for a church family to join up with in their area of town, and has proved a blessing to many. Here are a few items to consider:

-Have a new church family listing to add?

-Have an old church family listing to remove?

-Does your listing have outdated or incorrect information on it? (contact #, meeting time, location, etc)

PLEASE take a moment to check the map, then email us (hit the contact tab here on CHC.com) to add, remove, or change a listing. Let’s all work together to keep this tool an effective and accurate one for the Lord to use as He works and leads His people in Colorado.

Detoxing From Church 

By Jason Zahariades

Beginning the Process 

Back in February, as Mark and I were praying and talking about beginning a 

missional community, I emailed a guy on the other side of the US who had already 

begun one of these communities. Here are a couple of things he said in our 

correspondences.

“Here’s a strong statement: most evangelicals, including Vineyard people, are 

addicted to church culture. Take away their Sunday service, their bible studies, 

prayer meetings, and five-song worship teams and they start having withdrawals 

quickly. I think that it is a necessary part of this process to have a detox time… I 

would suggest a time of at least a year of not doing the ‘normal’ church stuff. For us, 

during that time of detachment we only did a few things together – ask hard 

questions and eat. Those were our corporate disciplines.” 

In another email he reinforced the point: 

“Let me reiterate from my last email that one of the most beneficial things you 

might do is take a break from all things church for a while. This may seem really 

counterproductive, especially when you start having people wanting to be a part of 

your community immediately. But if your aim is to get people to begin thinking outside 

the bounds of cultural Christianity, some significantly radical action is required.” 

When I first read these comments, I knew he was stating something profound. 

What I didn’t anticipate was the extent of my own addiction to the contemporary 

church and the painful detox process I would experience. What I’m coming face to 

face with through the process is the non-authenticity and impotence of my own faith. 

Let me explain…

Click the image for a printable PDF flyer…

Are our brothers in sisters in legacy churches beginning to see the wisdom in integrated, multi-generational churches?

Cornerstone has been structured around reaching out to people based on their age, life-stage, and interests. While we are excited about all that God has accomplished at Cornerstone through various life-stage ministries over the years, after much assessment, prayer, and studying of the Scriptures, we have come to strongly believe that the body of Christ is NOT supposed to be divided unnecessarily along age, gender, or life-stage lines.

I would also add that the book of James makes it clear they shouldn’t be divided among socioeconomic lines either. Despite the geographical economic segregation of many cities, in a 1-2 mile radius of any church you would likely have quite an economic range.

By including the poor you will naturally see age diversity in churches. In my experience the poor are more multi-generational in how they live and relate to family and friends, a beautiful blessing for those of us raised in the middle or upper socioeconomic classes.

Read more about Cornerstone’s shift in thinking.

A group of guys from among the many in the relational Colorado House Church Network discussing the idea that mission is a byproduct of listening. The discussion focused in on the idea that everyone has a mission or calling, but that it must be discovered by listening to God and then acting on what He says. Additionally, the myth that foreign missions are superior to those callings lived out on home soil is discussed and the idea that all mission that flows from listening is equal and powerful.

Here’s the info on School on the Way’s newest class taught by our own Alex Malaska who is involved in a couple of the Ancient Paths urban house churches where he helps lead a house church in the Globeville neighborhood of Denver’s inner city.

Photo by John-Morgan

To learn more about School on the Way you can click on the link above to go to their blog or check out this video interview we did with Jan Cowles about School on the Way here.

ENGAGING BEAUTY

In today’s world, the average person (including the average American Christian) can easily slip through their life without ever opening their heart to Beauty–and to the life, joy, transcendence, sorrow, intimacy, romance, and pain that Beauty brings. All of us hunger for Beauty, yet few will answer its haunting call. The purpose of this class is to learn to hear that call, to recognize it–wherever it is to be found–and then learn to open vulnerably to that which we desire and fear more than anything, to allow it to transform us forever.

TIME AND PLACE
We will meet for two hours once per week for twelve weeks at Desi and Rose Starr’s house on the northeastern edge of downtown Denver. If you are interested in taking Engaging Beauty, please email me a list of all the times during the week that you would be available to meet (my contact information is below). I will try to find a time that can accommodate everyone’s schedules, if possible. My earnest hope is to begin this class the last week of January or the first week of February.

COST
The cost will be $25 per class (which is $300 for twelve classes). If you are interested in taking this class but would not be able to because of financial reasons, or if you are someone who would like to help subsidize this class for a needy brother or sister, please let me know.

REQUIREMENTS
You will only be required to buy one book for this class, The Healing Path by Dan Allender. It costs about ten dollars plus shipping on Amazon.com. I’ll copy the rest of the readings and place them on Google Documents as PDF files, and you will be able to read them for free or print them off if you want to. The reading for this course should be manageable and engaging, and I will do my best to require only what is necessary, while making additional resources available to those who would find them life giving. Along with the readings, you will be asked to commit to spending at least one hour a week alone with the Romancer, that is, in solitude and contemplative prayer. If this is intimidating to you, don’t worry, we will discuss it in depth during our first class and grow in our understanding of it throughout the course. I promise that by the end of the course you will look forward to spending your hour in silence!

MY END OF THE DEAL
In my adult life, I have probably thought about Beauty and intimacy with God more than I have consciously thought about anything else, and I have suffered much in pursuing Romance and the Romancer. I promise to bring all of my passion and desire to teaching this class on the subject I love most. If you are interested in taking this journey with me, please contact me (Alex Malaska) by phone at 330.402.2216 (yeah that’s 330 not 303) or by email at alexmalaska@gmail.com. And I look forward to seeing God transform our hearts as we engage Beauty together!

Hey all, Happy Thanksgiving and Merry Christmas!
Below is an excerpt from a letter answering why we we are doing what we do here locally, and this portion talks mostly about where we came from and some of the challenges (the “…” as where things are left out). Hopefully it is encouraging to you to know that many of us share a common experience as we’ve made the transition from Traditional Church to Simple Church. Happy Holidays!!!!
Scott LinklaterLas Vegas, NV
 
….Simply put: it is what God is
doing and we are participating in it. The
shift towards this type of ministry lifestyle is undeniably happening globally,
as evident by research and testimony. ……
 
The negative implications of
living out this life have been many, ranging from financial loss to relational
destruction to professional embarrassment to spiritual desert lands, and on. A person who shifts from a traditional
life to a life should expect that same difficulties and trials to varying
degrees. The positive
implications are many as well, ranging from a release from religiosity to
authentic faith to more time with family to significant more time and resource
for outreach, etc…
 
A major difficulty of this new
lifestyle is that there are very few quantifiable milestones of success. In our former traditional church
lifestyles, there were many regular measuring sticks for whether we were
achieving our goals and we were able to “define a victory” so to speak (i.e.
weekly attendance, financial stability, raised hands, etc…). There is much security in these
measuring sticks, but to a degree they became our “decision stones” and we
would consult these measuring sticks as to what we should and should not do. The local pastor, after consulting
these “decision stones”, would then pass on the decision to the congregates who
would then fall into line with the corporate vision. The fruit from this process is
undeniable and to discount the positive outcomes of this is ignorant. But, God very rarely leaves
well-enough alone, especially when we begin misusing and misinterpreting those
structures (remember, He is not afraid of destroying even that which He
created).
 
To the pastor that goes through
this shift, it ranges from very difficult to impossible to function normally
and/or make sense of what is happening. In
fact, because of the removal of these constant measuring sticks and personal
praise, the most insecure of us will go down rabbit trails, start businesses,
write books, and seriously question their faith and calling altogether, all in
attempt to regain a sense of purpose. But,
this time in the desert is necessary and God-designed to break the prior
paradigms and destroy thought patterns, so that new things may grow up in their
places.
 
For the “attendees” that goes
through this shift, it is very confusing at best, and offensive at worst. Formally, the pastor was the figure
head of their faith and gave direction as to vision and helped them relate to
God, both personally and by creating a weekly meeting in which the attendee
engaged and encountered God. In
this new shift, the pastor appears to shirk his former responsibility and
appears to give little to no direction or leadership, and does not provide the
Pope-like example to follow. This
is difficult to process for the attendee because their paradigm of faith and
church was centralized on this meeting and this definition of a pastor – with
out the meeting or this Pastor as they know it, where does that leave their
faith?
 
This presents a quandary. Does the attendee go back to their
former traditional church life? But,
whenever that person re-engages a traditional church, it just doesn’t seem
right or authentic. There remains
a gap in how this new lifestyle could actually be church, leaving them
wondering if they are disobeying God or even if they are Christians anymore. In fact, they wonder if they are
failing God and the people around them. The
irony is that at this point of humility and doubt they are probably as close to
God as they have ever been, seeking God from a humble place, without the pride
and hindrance of knowing all the answers.
 
The other major hurdle is the
shift of responsibility for a one’s own faith. The responsibility for a persons faith
shifts to them and them alone – not the former pastor, not the church, not the
dynamic worship. They are
responsible for reading their Bible, and worship, and outreach, and church
multiplication – if they don’t take responsibility for it then it won’t happen. Ironically, for a person who did not
grow up in church, this seems completely natural, and the thought of some
outside person telling what to think, what to do, and how to do it seems very
odd and controlling. To those coming from inside the established church, this control is exactly what we want and what we are used to…in fact, it is what we paid for…because lets face
it: it is easier to pay someone else to be Jesus than to
actually live out the tenants of our faith with passion, purpose, and
responsibility.
 
After a time of shifting, we
are left feeling like we are in a desert place and very little makes sense –
it’s all very confusing. “Great,
now what do we do? You brought us out here to die.” Read the account of Moses and the
Israelites at the Red Sea and I think you’ll see similar feelings.
 
Your dreams are either gone, or
very, very difficult to define, sort of like looking through a fog. In fact, because we’ve been so
accustomed to explaining our vision and life to others with an underlying
pride, its frustrating and embarrassing because now it’s vague at best and
really doesn’t make sense (and peoples eyes glaze over because they don’t understand). Quiet persecution and critical
whispers from outside don’t make this transition any easier. You could see “clearly” in your old
life, but now what do we tell other people? How do you answer there criticisms?
What do we tell ourselves about our own lives? What is my life about?
 
In our prior lives, we had
vision, direction, and we could measure our success. In this new lifestyle, the only
measuring stick of success comes in the quiet times with God. This quiet time was previously created
by someone else, through worship experiences and devotional plans. We no longer have the luxury of these
walls and direction,… we must hear God for ourselves and then follow through on
what we hear.
 
So, now we’re left looking at a
giant blank canvas, one that previously had a beautiful picture of what we were
to do, what to say, how to act, what success looked like (and we’d ask God to
bless our picture)….and now the picture is now gone, it’s been erased. We’re left with a Bible and no vision
– and that’s it. This is where God would want to lead
us – back to the beginning, stripping away all our pre-conceived ideas of what
God wants, and leaving us with no vision, no direction, nothing really, except
quietly waiting for God – it’s our only option, we have no where else to go.
 
Now, it is up to us to sit
quietly enough to hear Him speak, and let God be the initiator of any vision
and let Him paint the new picture. It’s
not the responsibility of anybody, including yourself, to build a vision for
your life – it is up to God to build that vision. This may be the single most difficult
thing that we who are shifting from the traditional church could ever endeavor
to do because we no longer have safety nets, no one to blame, no one to claim
as our king other than Jesus. There is nothing between our ears and the voice of the Holy Spirit and no one to dictate our response.
 
For us to be able to hear, our
lives have been deconstructed. I can attest that once there is an acceptance of
the “stripping away” by God that there is a tremendous freedom and weight
lifted. Embrace the white space –
embrace the lack of vision and allow it to be an opportunity that is divinely
created. As for outside criticisms, …. I encourage you to be secure enough to
answer those questions with a humble “I don’t know the answer to that
question,” and deny the internal pressure to say anything more. Sometimes knowing all the answers doesn’t allow God any space to move and create in our lives…..and sometimes not
knowing opens up the door for God to bring the answer.
(…the letter then continues on talking about some specifics of Las Vegas, hearing God, and then acting on what we here locally…the whole thing is posted at: http://cells-twelves.blogspot.com/)

This article is used with permission from Scott and was originally posted at the link above.

 Mile-high Denver, Colorado, is home to the Broncos, the Nuggets, and a stunning Rocky Mountain view. But there’s another part of Denver. The one colored by the 20% poverty rate. Just north of downtown Denver, sits a pocket of poor, urban neighborhoods outfitted with some homes barely suitable for habitation. This is where Desi Starr, a native Californian, lives, plays and works. 

Starr and his wife moved to this area of Denver in 2003 to plant a large, missional church with friends. They quickly discovered God had a slightly different plan. What soon developed was a network of simple, organic house churches. They found that adapting their own model to fit the needs of their neighbors actually spread the hope of Jesus much more quickly and more effectively.

“I was pretty skeptical as I had preconceived ideas of house churches as small groups of disgruntled people who were angry at the church and were hiding away from the big, bad world,” he says. “But as I started reading some material on what house churches can be, I became intrigued about the possibilities of seeing multiplication really take place in ways that I’ve never seen in the traditional church.” In these settings, all people are active participants, bringing something to share. Starr is one of several who are leading the way for the organic movement in Colorado. He was recently featured in a short documentary, “Simple Church”, along with other organic-church planters among the southwestern states.

Last year the Starr’s, along with their community, befriended a particular family through a park outreach. This family was resistant to the gospel, but were drawn to this intentional community of people. Not long after, the father of the family faced criminal charges from his past and was jailed. While there, someone gave him a book on prayer. It encouraged him and he surrendered his life to Christ. Later, when his charges were dropped, he returned to his family and led them in a new direction—straight to God. Today they are hosting an simple church in their home with a focus on reaching others facing addictions and hopelessness. Starr sees this example paralleling the beginnings of the church in Acts. “I am anticipating God using ordinary people more and more all the time to reach their own spheres of influence,” he says. “I want to help empower people to hear the voice of God and simply obey, knowing that they have all that they need to live out the calling God has placed on them.”

Starr regularly meets with other planters in the city hoping to share ideas and collaborate, he facilitates urban outreaches for traveling mission teams, and coaches others on starting their own organic gatherings. In a time where more and more people are craving deep community, Starr believes this expression allows for that family-like authenticity and participation. And most importantly, he says, it creates more room for God to lead because everything is flexible. Nothing is fixed. “I believe that God is raising up an army of lovers to lead a revolution of love,” he says. “A revolution where ordinary people do extraordinary things through the leading of the Holy Spirit as we recognize that no man is the head of the Church only Christ.”

(this article which was featured in the latest issue of RELEVANT magazine was written by Kate Cremisino, who helps lead a house church network in the Cheeseman park neighborhood of Denver, and was about Desi who helps lead the Ancient Paths network of house churches in the five points area near downtown Denver also. Desi can be reached at desistarr@gmail.com)

A word of encouragement and exhortation to my brothers and sisters in the Lord – - delivered at our Denver network monthly gathering - 11/2009

I would like to encourage and exhort my wonderful brothers and sisters in the Lord to continue to listen and obey our Lord Jesus. Listen and obey and make listening and obeying our primary calling, primary purpose, and primary activity in our spiritual walks and in our ministerial efforts in Him.

            I would like to remind us that this Denver Network Group is here today because a handful of brothers were sensitive to the drawing of the Holy Spirit. Since the beginning we have made “only doing what we hear the Father telling us to do” the underlying priority and way of operating in this group. Our monthly meetings, our larger gatherings, and our interactions with one another throughout the month, especially in the last year, have been outgrowths of simply staying in tune with Him and obeying. Our website, our prayers for 100 new house churches, and our most recent discussions around multiplying into more intimate Denver network meetings, have all been because we’re working at allowing Him to guide us, step by step.

            Let us never forget the picture of healthy churches and church leaders preserved for us so beautifully in the writings of the first century church. Rightly has it been said that the book of the Acts of the Apostles should have more accurately been titled, “The Acts of the Holy Spirit”, for the history of the first generation Christian body is a poignant drama of followers of Jesus listening to and obeying the Spirit of Christ. In Acts 2 and 3, Peter, freshly filled with the Holy Spirit, preached the first gospel message to those at Jerusalem and healed the lame man at the gate of the temple. In chapter 8, the Lord told Philip to travel down a certain road so that Philip would run into an Etheopian ruler on his way back to his homeland and preach Jesus to him. In chapter 9, Jesus revealed himself to Saul of Tarsus, and then spoke to Ananias elsewhere as he was praying and listening, to visit this man and lay hands on him and baptize him. In chapter 10, Peter is listening to Jesus when he heard the lord tell him to go and preach to the first gentile believers. Later in the book, when many teachers and prophets had come together to fast and pray and wait on the Lord, the Holy Spirit said to them, “Release Barnabas and Saul to me for the work I have called them to.” The Spirit was always moving, and the churches and the elders were constantly praying and waiting on the Lord. Let us not forget that Jesus said of those who would follow Him, “My sheep hear my voice and follow me, and I lead them in and out.” Time does not permit me to tell of Noah who listened to God and heard about the flood… of Abraham who listened to the Lord and was told to leave his fathers home and travel to a land the Lord would show him. Of Israel and Moses and Joshua, who all heard God’s voice and obeyed it to the letter. Of Samuel and David – of Daniel and Nehemiah. Let us not forget that the book of Revelation was written when John was in tune to the Spirit one morning, simply listening to Jesus.

             Let us not forget why it is of utmost importance that we, in turn, make listening to the Lord and simply obeying, our highest priority and purpose: because Christ is the head of the church – the King, the President, the Alpha Male. He is the head, the brain – and we are simply the hands and feet. He promised that He would build His church, not us. He has so much needing doing and knows exactly where, when, and how He is going to accomplish it… but He often lacks those willing, trusting, and patient enough to listen to what the Spirit is saying to do, and then do it, without question or reserve.

            Listen and obey. My sheep hear my voice. As we go, let us remember that God does not just speak when we are listening quietly with a journal in front of us (although I highly recommend learning the 4 keys to listening prayer and practicing it daily – this practice has been fundamental for me in learning how to hear God’s voice) – but let us remember that God speaks in many ways and at different times. He speaks through books, through dreams and visions, speaks to us through one another… but at least one key is consistent when it comes to God speaking: He speaks to the inner man – to the deepest part of us – to the intuition, where we’re not sure how, but we just somehow know it was Him. We understand God’s will with the mind, and execute God’s will with our effort, but we hear(discern) His will in that still, small place in our spirits. Are we listening closely enough to hear Him?

            Let us listen to him daily and personally. Let us listen to Him in pairs. Let us listen to Him as church families. Let us listen to Him as fellow elders in a certain area of town. Let us listen and obey, because it is to this simple task that we are called. We can save ourselves months of heartache, years of frustration, and decades of misdirection if we will only stop and wait to discern His will and gain His marching orders before we set out on the next steps of the journey. He will make His will known if we will only seek and wait on Him. Oh, and one more thing: it is our divine duty and highest calling to not only listen, but obey – wholeheartedly, with all our might, with all our understanding, and with all our efforts and resources, being doers of the word and not hearers only. When He asks us to do a certain thing, let us not do it halfheartedly, or drag our feet on it, but let us employ every gift and resource at our disposal to get it done, and do it well, as good and trustworthy stewards.

            Has God spoken to you something? Has He given you some direction, or some vision? Has he asked you to do something? If He has, then I charge you to act on it. This is not an option, for He will not speak to us something new if we have not yet acted on what He told us to do last. Not sure if it was Him who spoke? Then spend time praying about it to discern if indeed it was Him or not. Once His will is known, we must execute it with all we have.

-by Sean h