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Fast multiplication: principles behind an abundant harvest
No farmer would expect to reap a harvest of wheat in a field where he had not sown seed. Photo credit: CIMMYT (Creative Commons) Why do we believers expect to reap a harvest of souls where we haven't...
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How our standard poodle was witness to my failure
Winston H. Churchill is the full name of our standard poodle. (Winston Churchill obviously stems from our British heritage. The middle initial, "H," stands for Houdini which we added after he twice...
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Do you need some help on the simple/organic journey?
Every year, the Board of House2House (a ministry providing resources for simple/organic/house churches that Tony and I helped to found in 2000) spends a few days together seeking the Lord. We want to...
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To transition or not to transition: that is the question
As the simple/organic movement becomes more mainstream, and the financial trends force more and more traditional churches to cut back economically, then many churches are asking the question: should we...
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What is church?
The New Testament uses a number of different pictures of church: church is Christ’s body (Rom 12:5); it is a temple built with living stones (I Pet 2:5), it is a family (Eph 2:19). Photo credit: Cia de...
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What’s in a name? Simple church
Why the term, “simple church”? We love the story that gave the title to our book,The Rabbit and the Elephant, now republished in paperback as Small Is Big!: Unleashing the Big Impact of Intentionally...
View ArticleWhat’s in a name? Missional Community
The word, “missional” has become something of a buzz-word over recent years. Several friends such as Linda Bergquist and Alan Hirsch were involved in writing a Missional Manifesto which was published...
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The Untold Story of the New Testament Church
I’ve been studying the different characters that appear in the Book of Acts recently, starting with Paul. I’ve often puzzled over apparently contradictory passages from Acts and Galatians that talk...
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How to find a simple/organic/house church in your area
One of the most common communications I get is this: “I live in ——. Do you know of a house church in my area?” It can be difficult to find a simple/organic church. We don’t put a sign outside our house...
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A fashionable fad
Several years ago, in our book The Rabbit and the Elephant: Why Small Is the New Big for Today’s Church, I wrote a chapter on some of the potential pitfalls the house church movement might face as it...
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Guest post by John King: Keep It Reproducible (part one)
John King trains indigenous church planters to teach others to do simple inductive Bible studies. This approach has been used throughout sub-Saharan Africa and has contributed to the planting of...
View ArticleGuest post by John King: Keep It Reproducible (part two)
John King trains church planters in the use of inductive Bible studies called Discovery Bible Studies. This is proving to be an extremely effective church planting tool in many different cultures. I...
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How do you invite people to something that is Bible-based?
Photo credit: SMBCollege (Creative Commons) We love to start churches with people who do not yet know the Lord. I’m often asked, “How do you do that? How do you transition a normal conversation into...
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For such a time as this…
Photo credit: alles-schlumpf (Creative Commons) God has used house churches in many nations to avoid persecution–think China, the Middle East. Thankfully, here in the West, we are not in that same...
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House churches and persecution
Dan Hubbell is an apostolic father who works in many Third World countries where persecution of believers is common. Recently, he sent me a response he had given to a church leader from a Third World...
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The good and the bad of missions
Photo credit Stijn Vogels (Creative Commons) Tony and I have been privileged to travel to various countries in all five continents and to see missions at work first hand. First the good: I was...
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A simple story of darkness to light
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....
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A simple/organic contribution to global mission
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...
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The future of the church in the West
The church landscape in this country is changing. Ecclesiology lies along a continuum. At one end churches are traditional, structured and liturgical; at the other end they are simple, organic, and...
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What problems is the simple/organic movement facing?
Photo credit: Donna Grayson (Creative Commons) Simple/organic church has become mainstream here in the United States. According to the statistics, although the rate of growth is slowing down, 3-5% of...
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