Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like a man who looks at his face in a mirror and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. But the man who looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues to do this, not forgetting what he has heard, but doing it—he will be blessed in what he does. James 1:22-25

Except for perhaps Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie, looking in the mirror can be a bit unpleasant. Too many gray hairs or not enough hair, too many pounds or not enough muscles…a mirror is unbiased and unyielding.

Over the past couple of weeks, I have had the…well…privilege of having my simple church be an excellent mirror for the condition of my soul. I cannot say it has been entirely pleasant, as it revealed to me some beliefs and behaviors. However, knowing is…as they say…half the battle. I already feel God’s hand at work within me to heal and redeem these rogue areas of my life.

I do not believe these particular areas would have been so precisely revealed in what 21st century Americans consider “church.” I would venture to say that you are in good standing in most American churches if you are able to hold it together for an hour every Sunday morning and the occasional youth car wash or nursing home visit. This is a far cry from the controversial life alteration Jesus called each of His followers to.

In the past two weeks, our church network has been spending time together in our glorious mountains. People from our different house churches have met up for a picnic, hiking, camping, and just plain being together. It is this extended time together when the defenses come down and we are revealed for who we truly are.

I am blessed to have a community, an ekklesia, a church who helps serve as an incarnation of God’s word. They are God’s mirror to my soul.

I started reading Family Driven Faith by Voddie Baucham Jr. a few nights ago. It’s not a house church book, but I read something that really touched and challenged me. It totally fits with house churches. Here’s the quote:

“Our homes must be rife with the aroma of love. Those who visit us should notice immediately that they have left the world of self-serving, egocentric narcissism and have entered a safe harbor where people value and esteem others above themselves. Outsiders should enter our homes and never want to leave. Our neighbors should find excuses to visit us just to get another whiff of the fragrant aroma of love. The brokenhearted should long to be near us. The downtrodden and the abused should seek us out. Families on the brink of disaster should point to us and say, “Why can’t our home be like that?”

Wow. That is my desire and yet, we fall so short of that! Lord, please forgive our selfishness and help us live out 2 Corinthians 5…

11 Since, then, we know what it is to fear the Lord, we try to persuade men. What we are is plain to God, and I hope it is also plain to your conscience. 12 We are not trying to commend ourselves to you again, but are giving you an opportunity to take pride in us, so that you can answer those who take pride in what is seen rather than in what is in the heart. 13 If we are out of our mind, it is for the sake of God; if we are in our right mind, it is for you.

14 For Christ’s love compels us, because we are convinced that one died for all, and therefore all died. 15 And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again.

16 So from now on we regard no one from a worldly point of view. Though we once regarded Christ in this way, we do so no longer. 17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!

18 All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: 19 that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation.

20 We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God. 21 God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

May we be more aware of our broken state, His redeeming love and those who are lost and blind.
~Rose

This article is by a guest contributor, Greg. I met Greg at a gathering of house church leaders in Loveland who were getting together to discuss forming a network. I heard Greg’s story and wanted to share this story with you all.

Two years ago, had you met me, I was busy. Busy doing what good Christians do. My wife & I had our two wonderful sons in an organized church, and we were working to “further the Kingdom.” You could tell how much we loved God, because we never said “No.” Andrea was the Vacation Bible School director, a Sunday school teacher, and was helping run a program for teenage girls based on the Proverbs 31 woman. I was co-leading the Men’s Ministry, serving as an usher/greeter, teaching Sunday school, and mentoring.

Just prior to that time, we had finally gotten to a place financially that we could build our dream home. That included getting out of the city and moving to the country. Over three years at that home we plodded along, and life seemed right, but we were detached. Fortunately the Holy Spirit isn’t lazy.

In January 2006, I went on my first mission trip to Juarez, Mexico. While there, I saw how little those people have, but how happy they are. If you’ve not been to a place where people struggle for their daily bread, you may not realize your own blessings. I was cut to the core as I realized that my family was not living beyond its means, but beyond its needs. We could be doing so much more with our time and resources. During that mission trip, the Holy Spirit spoke to me. I was changed. I couldn’t contain my enthusiasm to follow Him anywhere.

If you could meet my wife, you’d see the compassion of Christ. She loves everyone, and seeks to make a physical impact for those in need with love, resources, or money. She has shown this time and time again. She had been telling me that the Holy Spirit was pressing on her heart to change our lives, even to sell our home. I had not heard His whispers, and therefore was not convinced. I was too wrapped up on living in silence, living with antelope and deer wandering our property, and with the separation from society.

We both had friends recommend we read the book “Organic Church” by Neil Cole. As we read, these ideas seemed to jive with what we were hearing from the Lord. “Instead of bringing people to church so that we can bring them to Christ, let’s bring Christ to people where they live.” “We are as foolish as the farmer who builds a barn and then stands in the doorway calling all the crops to come in and make themselves at home.”

We had been longing for true closeness with other believers, longing for relationships with non-believers. Can’t you love a non-believer without an agenda to get them to church? Are there really people out there just as excited about Jesus as we are? How can so many people keep Him & His salvation to themselves? We also started to have thoughts that to be honest were not easy to swallow. Was it right to leave the organized church? Didn’t that make us backsliders who were open to Satan’s advances? What would people say? We had both been in the church since our childhood. Could we really leave everything we’d known (& loved) about church and follow God wherever He led? What would this new “church” look like?

We prayed like we have never prayed before. We felt the Holy Spirit tell us to move. Move from our dream home back into society. Move from our church home to follow Him wherever He would lead. But…but, it would be such a burden. We just got here. Financially it would be foolishness. And what about the peace we’d found there? What about our friends at church? Would anyone even understand? But prayer and submittal leads to a clearer view. And that’s what we found. We both heard it. It was time to sell the house, and find the community with God’s children that we left behind. It was not an easy decision. It’s hard to pray for His will when you know it might not be your will.

Following our decisions, we received much criticism. Then the waiting……..didn’t He put us on this path? We set the price on our home way below appraisal, but just enough to break even. But it wouldn’t sell. Two realtors and 11 months passed, and we prayed….a lot. Even though I knew God sometimes asks for our patience while He develops us for what is to come, I was impatient. What I didn’t realize was how invaluable that time truly was. Andrea & I grew closer spiritually. One of our sons decided to give his life to Jesus. Our home became a more loving place where God’s instruction was a way of life instead of an hour-long ritual once a week.

When an offer did come in on the house that we could accept, we were excited & all of sudden worried. Now was the test, are we following God, will we even hear Him? Will we choose His path even if it doesn’t fit our comfort zone? We had three weeks to find a place to live. For some this may sound pressed for time, but do-able. But remember, we were driven by where God wants to build His church not just a home. All of our prayers for the past year would be for nothing if we didn’t wait to hear His voice in this one big decision. Over the next two weeks, we feverishly looked for a home. We did not want to limit God, but we did have a couple things we could not negotiate on. My job requires that my home be within 15 miles of central Fort Collins, so we opened up to all surrounding areas. We did not limit our search beyond some specific rooms & price and we looked everyday. Nothing seemed right. Even what my wife and I felt led to were different. God, how can we be sure it’s Your voice if we’re hearing it differently? We went on prayer walks through the most likely neighborhoods, but the whisper wasn’t there.

We found ourselves sitting on a Sunday evening, just one week before our closing without a home to move to. Andrea had loosely looked into rental properties but now stated she would find one for us to move into. Again, I asked God if that was what He wanted. I felt the urge to drive around one more time. I loaded my tired family into the car and we set out praying for the Holy Spirit’s direction…..no destination, just praying.

There was nowhere new. We had seen all the neighborhoods and all the houses. As the sun dipped below the mountains, we turned down a street we had been on before. We actually looked at a house there when our realtor told us to open ourselves up to a higher priced house. I had refused to compromise then, believing God put us on a path to save money for His work. Then we saw a “For Sale” sign, six houses down. How had we missed it? “That is what I want,” I told my wife. She explained that it would definitely be out of our price range. So we sat in front of the house, longing just to know where we’d be going, exhausted, just ready to do God’s work wherever that would be…..now we would settle for just knowing, God, even if it’s not where we want. The flyer said the home was way above our top price, but everything else was perfect. We went home and prayed. “Lord, You lead. We’ll follow wherever You lead. Our lives are Yours; do with them as You will.”

The next morning, I told my wife to call the realtor and tell her that we wanted that house in our price range. The realtor laughed at us & said “It’s not possible. They’ve already lowered their price almost $100K.” We told her just to call and ask. A few minutes later, we got a frantic call from our realtor saying “They’re taking your offer if you can put it in writing by noon. So we better go look at the house & see if you even like it.” (Seems funny making an offer on a home we’ve never walked through, but we knew it was from God.) And as we walked through the house, we both sensed approval, a peace that this was where He designed for us to be all along. And strange, it felt right to both of us even though through this whole process we’d been looking for different things.

There are so many circumstances, events, and details that we could share to express how we KNOW without a doubt that only God could orchestrate such an elaborate plan with every single detail pointing to Him. But that is not the point of this posting.

Where are we now? We are closer to the Lord than ever. We love, worship, and serve as a family. Our home church is simply my family and my single brother. God has led people into our lives and we have invited them to be a part of our worship. We have also invited them to just be a part of our lives. No more seclusion. No one has taken us up on our invitation to come to our church, but I am now patient. This is not our group to build; it is His. As we think back over this journey, the hardest part was stepping out of the boat, trusting that we wouldn’t fall as long as we had our eyes on Him. It hasn’t been easy. But not everything in His plan is easy. We have been tested. Our resolve hasn’t always been so strong. There have been times we long for the organized church. There have been times when my wife and I hear His voice saying different things. How do you continue your journey when times aren’t so easy and the excitement is wavering…..you just pray and know that He is God.

I recently posted this on my personal blog and thought it would be good to share here. ~Rose Starr

Some of you may know that we are a part of a house church network. Desi, my husband is a pastor/house church coach/mentor here in Denver. We have had a very interesting journey these past 4+ years in this lovely city. We came out as inner city missionaries to start a traditional church. After meeting in our home weekly for awhile (doing house church but not calling it that!) we ended up being given a large donation from an anonymous donor and began renting a small chapel. Although we had a sizable core group, we didn’t grow. We moved to another location and again did not grow. I struggled with not enjoying Sundays at all. It was so much work to haul tub after tub of stuff only to go through these church motions and then have to clean up again. We moved to another location and started meeting on Sunday nights. Again, no growth…people left instead! It was discouraging. We felt like we were wasting God’s resources and after much prayer and about 6 months at that location we went back to Sunday mornings at a house.

We decided to pray and seek God and His will for our group which had grown and shrunk and grown again with people leaving and God bringing us together with another small group. Turns out we had the same vision and heart for the city as this other group who joined up with us before we moved to Sunday nights renting space at a local church. Desi and Bruce (his ministry partner) along with Carrie (another inner city missionary) began to meet/pray regularly and in earnest. I’m not sure how, but we heard of a large house church conference that would be in Denver that summer that was put on by House 2 House. We felt led to go and wouldn’t you know it, that was our start into house church gatherings. We had a lot of ‘traditional mindset’ to re-think as we searched the Scriptures to see what ‘church’ was really about. We discovered some simple and profound things: That were two or more are gathered in His name, He’s there and really that is church…the believers…we are His bride…the church is people and when we are together, we are doing church! Now this may be too liberal a definition for some folks, and that’s ok, but we love it!

Our group met on Sunday mornings at one house for about a year, getting used to being a part of something so different than most of us had been a part of. We began to minister to one another in beautiful ways. We used resources to give to the needy in our own group as well as in the city. We grew in friendship, love and life. We saw some leave and many more come. We joined up with large traditional churches for outreaches and VBS’ in the summer. We prayed that God would send laborers for the harvest and He did! Story after story of how He grew us and brought new people. I love it! Near the end of last year, we realized our core group was getting too large for the house we met in. We all began to pray and ask God to lead us, to move in our hearts and give us a desire to multiply in order to grow and continue to make disciples.

Since then, we have grown into a network of five house churches. One meets Sunday morning, two on Sunday nights (alternating between two houses), one Tuesday night and one Thursday night. Each church looks and feels a bit different, but each is active, alive, nurturing and growing. Desi and I are hosting every 2nd & 4th Sunday evening partnering with another couple who live about a mile from us who host the 1st and 3rd Sundays at their house. It’s nice to start off just every other week and share the hosting and cooking. At our Sunday evening gatherings we share a meal at 5:30 and have our gathering after the meal. Our first gathering was last Sunday. I felt led to have us do an activity I found in a book about Lent for kids. It was a family tree where we all drew/cut out a symbol with our name to represent our branch. We then wrote on leaves qualities that we saw in others that were a blessing and glued the leaves to their branches. It was a wonderful way to start off our gathering and include our 4 kids. We then moved into a time of sharing while we sipped tea and after a little while the kids retired to the basement for a movie. We adults continued to share and fellowship till almost 11pm!

Here’s our Family Tree

Our gatherings will be a bit ‘loose’ as we seek to listen to the Spirit’s leading. Our desire is to encourage spiritual gifts and give place and time for those gifts to be shared. We want to come together with something learned from the week that we can offer to each other. We desire transparency, honesty, respect, to honor one another and to grow in relationship with our father God. We will invite neighbors, friends and whomever God leads us to with no expectations other than to see what God has for us.

Our network will plan regular large gatherings, outings, trips, parties, outreaches, celebrations, ect…in order to stay connected with one another. Desi and I will host a game night once a month with the invite open to all the house churches and our neighbors. We are praying about various VBS’ put on the the various house church homes/neighborhoods for this summer to reach kids and neighbors with God’s love.

I wanted to share what we were doing and how blessed I am to be a part of something that has helped me grow in my spiritual walk more than ever before. I have been challenged to be an active participant in every meeting. To be open to different views, different people, different ways of interacting with God. We still have much to learn, will probably make mistakes, will start something- realize it doesn’t work- and change our plans, and that’s ok! I have so much to learn as a daughter, wife, mother, friend and neighbor. I am learning to be ok with the process, to enjoy the journey, to see events in my life as a small piece of a much larger picture, to see God’s hand of grace in every aspect of my daily life. It’s mind boggling really.

~Rose

Friends,

All of us have been drawn into simple/house churches believing that Jesus had more in mind for church than what we had been experiencing in the institutional church. At this present moment, we have the opportunity to explore more deeply Jesus’ idea of church by partnering with simple churches in Kenya in this time of their desperate need.

Let me give you some background.

In the Fall of 2006, three of my friends Greg Strand (Indianapolis) and Jan and Tina Cowles (Denver) were asked to come to Kenya by church leaders there to teach on simple church. What they found during their 16 day stay was a situation prepared by God. They ministered in several different cities but here is a comment from Greg following their 4 days of training in one of those cities called Kitale:

“Incredible conference! God has been moving powerfully. These men and women have been prepared by the Spirit with the same message we have been learning… The major training in listening to the voice of Jesus, Luke 10 teaching, community and doing life together has been readily accepted. They have a renewed vision to reach this area as the Spirit guides each one.”

Since that trip, scores of simple churches have been planted by the Kenyans in their own country and in surrounding countries. Greg and Jan and Tina have continued to stay in regular contact with the Kenyan leaders through email and phone (Skype).

In November of 2007, my friends, Roger and Brooks Thoman (Central California) traveled to Kenya to further encourage the leaders of the growing simple church movement there. Here’s what Brooks reported:

“But what I saw in Kenya, I also see in America and other parts of the world…The Reformation of the 21st Century, led by the Holy Spirit, is taking Christianity out of containers into the open spaces of the neighborhoods and nations of the world.”

Then, this last December, shortly after Roger and Brooks returned to the US, widespread violence broke out in Kenya as the result of a disputed presidential election. Thousands have been killed, hundreds of thousands have lost their homes. Many of our new simple church friends have been deeply affected. Here’s an email from Isaac Cheduke to Roger just a couple of days ago on 1/31/08:

“So far since you left us I and my wife Colleta had managed to teach and multiply our Nakuru house church membership to thirty houses which has total number of 100 people. From these houses being the meeting points, people were being mentored to go and begin more house churches and continue multiplying in other surrounding areas.”

Roger – Obviously, the situation has now greatly changed and the following report is hard to even imagine:

“It’s unfortunate for us that in our process of the Good News spreading to broaden our Nakuru House church network in Kenya calamity has befallen us. All of us are displaced and our houses looted from, our businesses closed down, our women and girls raped, our members killed. Right now as I speak we need to bury ten of our members killed in this violence. Some of us have received death threats, but in the camp where we are, we have learned to stick together as a family. We pray together, read and discuss the word, sing praise and worship songs. We share our experiences and put all our trust in God. Surprising, for when we begin our services many people are joining us and we are telling them we are Nakuru House church and teaching them the gospel of multiplication. So far we have ten families which have joined us right in this camp.”

Isaac goes on the describe some of their imminent needs:

“I personally need to move my family to safety. My wife is being threatened to be raped and I have also received death threats. My two boys are not going to school anymore.” (Note from Roger: money we are sending this week has been partially earmarked specifically to get Isaac and his family to safety).

We need to bury our members who have been killed as a result of this violence. Currently there are ten bodies: 4 women, 3 men, and 3 children.

We have had three girls and five of our Nakuru house church women raped before their husbands and children. Three of them were raped with more than ten people and two of them with more than seven people. These women have not been thoroughly examined by a doctor and treated for lack of finances.

I need to move our members who are not the tribe of this place (Nakuru) to western Kenya. Otherwise they will be killed. There are ten families. What they need is only transport and Police escort. Here we pay police escort. These ten families are all numbering 30 people. Transport which includes police escort fee is KSH 3000($50) per person. Without police escort here traveling is like committing suicide…

Even though we are weak now but we are strong. Some of us have never been in such a situation, sincerely we don’t even know what to say or how to act. The more days go by the more it sinks in for us that it’s happening.”

This is where simple churches in North America and the rest of the world come in.

A number of us have felt that we are to present this situation to the simple churches here so that they can ask Papa how we are to partner with the simple churches in Kenya.

Here’s what we have done…

1. A Kenya Listening Team has been assembled. This is comprised of Greg Strand, Jan and Tina Cowles, Roger and Brooks Thoman and Dawson Mudenyo (a house church leader in Kenya). Their mission is to listen to what is going on in Kenya and to listen to what God is saying about what to do about it. Specifically, they will direct whatever funds are contributed to help in Kenya.

2. A website has been set up. Roger has set up a website to keep us informed on what is going on and what the Listening Team is hearing. http://www.simplechurchescare.com

Make sure you look at the short video at http://www.simplechurchescare.com/learn.html

Information on contributing finances is at http://www.simplechurchescare.com/donations.html

Here’s what we are asking you to do…

1. Look at the website. Take a look at the website to see what is happening. Share the info with your simple church.

2. Ask Papa. As a church, ask Papa what He want you to do.

3. Pass this on. Send this email on to other simple churches that you are in contact with.

So, here’s the bottom line.

This is an opportunity for us to step up and partner with brothers and sisters who are on the same journey we are on. We are not working through huge organizations or ministries here. We are working through relationships. I know the people on the Kenya Listening Team and I trust them. They know the house church leaders on the ground in Kenya and trust them.

Isn’t this the way we pictured simple church working?

Your brother,

John White

“The disciples, each according to his ability, decided to provide help for the brothers living in Judea. This they did, sending their gifts to the elders by Barnabas and Saul.” Acts. 11:29,30.

A Miracle is something only God could do, and I can confidently say I have been blessed to be a part of a very unique one.

    Over a year ago, my family left our traditional church, feeling the call of God to start gathering from house to house in Aurora and east Denver – just as the believers did in the New Testament. When we first started, we did not know that there were so many others doing the same thing all over the place! A few months later, through a series of God-ordained events, we made our first contact with another “Simple church” in the five points area near downtown Denver. I remember emailing Desi Starr (I had found him by chance through house2house.org) and going over to their home a couple nights later to meet and share what God had been doing with us. This began a close friendship between us and our house churches, which shortly thereafter included a meeting with John White, local DAWN associate and house church friend.

    Well 4 or 5 months ago Desi, myself, and another brother started talking about the need for holding a larger gathering of simple churches every few months for support, fellowship, and a larger vision. We proceeded in presenting the idea to a few other simple churches we knew around here, and it seemed that nearly everyone was feeling the same desire to be connected to other simple churches around the front range. So back in October, on a Saturday evening we gathered for the first time in Golden, CO for an evening of sharing food, testimonies, and fellowship. We weren’t sure how many would show (at least 50 would’ve been nice!) but when the event arrived there were an estimated 150 or more people (not counting the kids) packed into this fellowship hall from house/simple churches all over the front range (from down in Pueblo all the way up to up in Fort Collins!). People from different denominations, different backgrounds, different beliefs – but all gathering with one purpose - to love Jesus and love and build up one another.

    What’s the miracle? The Christian church here in America has been segregated by denominations for so long, it is hard to see how it will ever regain its original unity (remember the wonderful diversity and unity of the “love feast” gatherings of the early church?)… Personally, in all my life I’ve never been a part of a church gathering with such incredible diversity and such incredible unity at the same time - but God is doing it, right here and now!  In our planning sessions alone between gatherings (of 8-12 people), we have at least 8 different denominational backgrounds represented (Lutheran, evangelical free, southern baptist, foursquare, presbyterian, campus crusade, grace brethren and united pentecostal). Imagine how many denominational backgrounds are represented when we come together in our larger gathering of 150+ people! What could people from such different backgrounds and belief systems possibly have in common? Well, at least 2 things: A sincere love for Jesus Christ, and a burden to see simple churches of all kinds in every neighborhood along the front range.

    You can experience this miracle as well.

Our next Colorado house church gathering is Saturday, January 12th at 5pm! (see below)

Much love to all the brethren :) 

-Sean Hyatt, Aurora CO, 303.523.2315

________________________________________________________        As always, we seek to keep the Head of the Church (Jesus) at the head of our gatherings, but here are the general details:

This is a brief note that Michael Tummillo sent to all the folks on his mailing list and it is very simple yet very powerful, so I thought I would share it:

Last Saturday, I drove 3 hours to a small Texas town where a man had asked me to come and explain the Simple Church/House Church concept to him and some others at his home. We had a wonderful 2 hour meeting and I left by laying hands upon them and releasing them into this new ministry.

Yesterday, that same man wrote with the questions: “How do we begin the meeting? What atmosphere do we try to create?”

As I responded I wondered how many others might have similar concerns. So, I am sending the response I sent him to you, too!

Here it is:

1 Cor 14:26 says, “What then shall we say, brothers? When you come together, everyone has a hymn, or a word of instruction, a revelation, a tongue or an interpretation. All of these must be done for the strengthening of the church.”

I’ve stopped inviting people to “church” or even “Home Church,” “House Church” or “Simple Church.” This whole thing is to happen organically. Since everyone we know EATS, I simply invite people to dinner! During the course of the evening, we may wind up counseling, praying for people the way I prayed for you guys on Saturday. We have even piled in the van and gone places to minister to others. At times, we’ve wound up playing games. The #1 goal: become a family! Think “family reunion.” We share our lives, not merely an hour. Someone with a guitar may lead us in a few songs but it’s not something we do every time. Worship, after all, is a lifestyle. Even our work is actually a form of worship. Before anybody leaves, we ALWAYS ask if we can pray for them. Most times, that winds up with laying on hands, anointing with oil, tears and even deliverance!

At the proper time, you will be given the opportunity to share that this IS as much church as anything we Christians do on Sundays in a building. The BEST part of House Church is the meetings AFTER the meetings…the lunches, the movies, the phone calls and emails, the walks in the park with people who feel loved enough to open up and seek counsel and prayer.

Resist the urge to get “churchy” and just be brothers in Christ. Don’t argue doctrine. Don’t preach. If teaching is done, try and teach the Doctrine of Christ (just ask and Ill give you my “Jesus Said It” study). Focus on the many “One another” verses in Scripture. People are lonely, hurting, feel unaccepted, judged…people listened to Jesus because He sounded different among the religious voices of the day. So, love them, accept them, make them feel special and remind them of their worthiness before God.

Does that help?

In time, you’ll get to know more people who are into meeting this way and you’ll fellowship with them. On occasion, a traveling minister will pass through town and you will all gather your church families and eat and love and laugh and listen as The Church did when Paul was in Troas. I’ll keep you abreast of regional things you can tap into.

Some of your people may still wish to attend traditional church. Fine! They’re family, too! Let your people know that it’s Ok. The most important thing is to be led by the Spirit and do as He says.

I originally wrote this for my personal blog back on July 2, 2007.  I thought it would be nice to share here.  ~Rose

As I sat at our house church gathering yesterday I looked around the room to see who had arrived. Close to 10 of our “regulars” were gone on vacation or for some other reason. People were chatting and enjoying fellowship. We sat in an oval in the Duell’s living room. Bruce & Karen were still on vacation, but their daughter Amy had offered to host since our kitchen was all torn up. I looked around and saw people varying in age from a few months to 88 years old, various skin colors, varying economic backgrounds and in different stages of their walks with God. To my left sat a young single mom and her baby girl, a single 40yr old woman who’s impact on our youth is such a blessing, another single mom of two teenagers who are away at their dad’s house all summer, her niece visiting from Arizona and next to her a junior in high school who’s home life leaves MUCH to be desired (to say the least). Next to her sat my husband and next to him a lady in her 60’s who used to be homeless- God has done amazing things in her life and she’s such a joy to talk to. Next was a single 24 year old who blesses all with his wonderful attitude and encouraging words, next to him another young adult just graduated from college and is mentoring a few of our high school girls. Next to her was another young single adult who shared a few beautiful songs with us, next to her an 88 year old originally from Scotland who has walked with God a long time and has wonderful words of wisdom and encouragement. To hear her talk about God and pray is simply beautiful. Her son sat next to her. He is recovering from heart surgery and lives with his mom who is such a help to him. He has an amazing story of how God redeemed him from a life of drugs and self-destruction. Next to him was a man in his 50’s who is single and one of the sweetest guys you’ll ever meet. He has an amazing ability to remember scriptures, addresses and phone numbers. He recalls scriptures that are blessings to us all.

We had a beautiful time of prayer, looked into a few chapters in Revelation, discussed what God was teaching us, asked questions, tried to answer them, encouraged one another, shared a few songs and had lunch together.

Last night Micah was over to watch a movie with Desi and I. Half way through the movie we paused it to answer a phone call. We started talking about our gathering earlier that morning and how much we loved it. Micah mentioned that as he looked around at all of us gathered there, he realized that if we all went to institutional churches we’d probably all go to different churches. It’s amazing to see how God has brought us together and over the past 9 months or so how close we have gotten. I am thankful for our differences in our lives and see the handiwork of our Creator in those differences. We are learning from and encouraging one another regularly. Just wanted to give you, my blog readers (and friends), a view into one of my favorite days of the week.
~Rose

Years of sitting in traditional church has not prepared us to do church in the manner described in the New Testament. We have been taught to come. To sit. To watch and listen to what others have prepared. (Someone described it as “sit, soak and sour”.) This is Spectator Church. And it is no way to train believers to be priests!

By contrast, the churches described in the Bible engaged in Participatory Church. This kind of church requires preparation on the part of all of it’s members. This is new. We haven’t been training in this.

Some retraining is in order. One of the best passages to help us do this is Heb. 10:24-25:

“And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds. Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another– and all the more as you see the Day approaching.”(NIV)

Here are a few notes to help understand the passage:

1. “Consider”: from katanoeo. noeo = to think + kata = an intensifier. To think deeply about, consider, contemplate, observe. Jesus uses the same word when he says, “Consider the ravens…consider the lillies.” (Lk. 12:24-27) This is work that we must do ahead of time. This is preparation done in prayer before we meet.

2. NIV says “Let us consider how …”. The Greek really says “Let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works.” We are to be observing and thinking deeply about the others in our Simple Church in order to be able to effectively “stir them up to love and good works”. Each one is unique. What works for one may not work for another. I must “think deeply” about each one.

3. “Let us consider how we may spur one another on“. “Spur on” comes from a root word that means “to make sharp” as with a sword. (Prov. 27:17 “As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another.”) Means “to stir up, incite, provoke, motivate”. Again, what motivates one will not motivate another. Every parent and every coach know this.

4. “Let us consider how we may spur one another on to love and good deeds” How do we know if our meeting has accomplished what God wanted? We know if people leave being highly motivated and spurred on to love (God and others) and to express that love in good works throughout the week. If this doesn’t happen then we have fallen short. This helps us understand 1 Cor. 14:26 – “Let everything be done for the strengthening (edification) of the church.”

Church prepares us for the rest of the week (24/7). And the rest of the week (24/7) is where we prepare for church.

I can describe my version of Simple Church in two words: eating and blessing. Both activities are designed to “spur one another to love and good deeds”. Both are designed to “strengthen/edify/encourage” the church.

1. Eating. The Lord’s Supper. Dinner with Jesus. “They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad (implies “exuberant joy”) and sincere (implies an “uncluttered simplicity”) hearts.” (Acts 2:46). Church takes place around the dinner table. The meal is the time to talk about what God is doing in your life. It’s the time to remember Jesus. (1 Cor. 11:24)

*Tell how He blessed you in the last week.
*Tell what you are learning from His word.
*Tell how He used a brother or sister to encourage you.
*Tell about God sightings.
*Tell Holy Ghost stories.

*”Forget none of his benefits” Ps. 103:1-2

This is participatory church. This requires preparation. Thought and prayer ahead of time. This kind of sharing is what “spurs the church on to love and good deeds”. “And they overcame him (the accuser of the brethern) by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony…” Rev. 12:11

2. Blessing. After dinner (or during dinner) spend time blessing one another. Speak to one another about their God given identity (who they are) and their destiny (what God has made them to do). Share how you see Jesus in their life. Strengthen one another.

*Husbands to wives. (In front of God and everyone!)
*Wives to husbands.
*Parents to children.
*Every believer to every other believer.

*Use passages of Scripture. (Col. 3:16)
*Use prayer.
*Use song. (Eph. 5:19)
*Use prophecy. (1 Cor. 14:3)
*Use the laying on of hands.

*All at the direction of the Spirit.

The goal? To spur/motivate one another to love and good deeds.

This requires preparation. katanoeo. Thinking deeply about each other. Listening to God on their behalf in order to bless/edify/encourage them. This is the stated New Testament purpose of church!

Very different from Spectator Church. We haven’t done it this way before! Retraining is in order. Leaders/parents: take the lead. Model how this is done week after week. Be patient with those who are learning a new way to do church. And when someone gets it right. When they actually prepare for church and come with a blessing from God or a blessing for another, then CELEBRATE! Make sure they know what it means to you and to your church.

And know that the Lord is delighted that you are doing church the way He intended it to be done. A family that blesses Him and each other.

John White
House Church Coach
Denver, CO

Every Christian a church planter.
Every home/family a church.
Every church building a training center.