The UmBlog

While walking the dog I got to thinking about how to reproduce preachers for growing churches. I've written before about my alternative to video campuses . But I started to think about how to teach preaching. Lately, I've changed the three questions in my simple high school Bible discussion group from What do you like? don't like? learn about God? to the questions used by Cityteam in their successful organic church plants in Africa ; What do you learn about God? What do you learn about humanity? What is God telling you to do in this passage? I'm wondering if preaching is modeled on these questions, the focus of the congregation is kept on the text, and eloquence is not required. Read the passage. Observe the answers in the text to question 1. Then observe the answers in the text to question 2. Then list some of the options for question 3 as homework. This simple format not only empowers developing preachers, but also empowers congregants to apply a simple, but prof...

I've been greatly encouraged by this complementary Kindle review copy from Booksneeze of Miraculous Movements: How Hundreds of Thousands of Muslims are Falling in Love with Jesus by Jerry Trousdale. It was even more profound for me as I read it over this past Easter weekend. This book is a report on the success of a church planting movement (CPM) among African Muslims as simply strategized by Cityteam , originally an outreach to the down and out in San Jose, California. Their methods are simple , and familiar to anyone, like myself who has studied the simple/house/organic church movement. Here's the process. Love your neighbors. Find the "son of peace," (Luke 10:6) by depending desperately on prayer. Read the Bible together with those who are interested and let the Bible change them. As they read it, ask them what they learn about God, about humanity and what God wants them to do with what they've read. Next time you get together, ask how it went. Read some m...

I suggested this in a Bible study at work and saw it embolden co-workers who did not consider themselves Bible study leader material and I'm seeing it work with high school students I'm working with now. The secret is simplicity, the process to get there took me thirty years. As an eager Bible student myself, I started out in Emmaus Correspondence Bible courses, which were fill in the blank or prompted writing responses. Then in high school my youth pastor, a former Intervarsity staffer, introduced me to manuscript study in the epistle to the Philippians . I loved it. The bare text and many colors of pens and pencils. It was inductive Bible study on steroids. My youth group small group leader facilitated a great study format, which I liked but didn't appreciate. Our discussion meandered all over the place and did not have any pre-determined take home points. Then I started leading studies in college and after college. I loved studying the Bible and I started buying comm...

Since not every reader visits this blog and notices the shared feeds section at the top, I'd like to share some of my favorites of the past week. Sunday 1-At An Evangelical Dialogue on Evolution , Steve Martin attempts to define the nuances of the word "evolution" to his fellow Christians. He begins Much of the confusion in the evolution debate lies in the meaning of the word “evolution”. Since it can have several different meanings, and even the scientific definition of evolution can include several distinct components, it is not surprising that many confusing and confused arguments are articulated. Certainly the conversation is very difficult when conversation partners discussing evolution do not share the same definition, conflate several of the definitions, or elevate one component of evolution to be descriptive of the whole. Monday 2-At Evolution News and Views , Catholic evolution proponent and professor at Brown U. Ken Miller is challenged for claiming to much. Th...

How many degrees of separation make a prayer request invalid? As a Christian who struggles with consistent prayer , perhaps I'm only making excuses for neglecting certain prayer requests. I'm specifically thinking of those that come through the various e-mail prayer chains that I'm belong too. Prayer chains are good in that they remind us slackers to pray. But I have motivational issues with too many degrees of separation. Does the co-worker's uncle's friend even know or care that I'm praying for them? Ah, is it all about me even? But I had an epiphany at Bible study during work, AKA work-church , today as we read Mark 6. 54 As soon as they got out of the boat, people recognized Jesus. 55 They ran throughout that whole region and carried the sick on mats to wherever they heard he was. 56 And wherever he went--into villages, towns or countryside--they placed the sick in the marketplaces. They begged him to let them touch even the edge of his cloak, and all who...

Guy Muse of the M Blog shares an encouraging video regarding world missions. it's a well produced short movie from the IMB.

Guy Muse reports However, where churches and cells reproduce in great numbers — as is the case in many lands today — few are able to preach well by monologue. Most who try to preach monologues communicate poorly, set an example that others cannot easily follow, and fail to make disciples. Both the New Testament and church planting movements offer very effective alternatives to the monologue. As mentors of emerging leaders of new congregations, we should be able to train others in these alternatives.

Guy works in Bolivia, i mean Ecuador. He describes their work and process and concludes "So therefore, a church is a group of baptized believers who meet regularly together where God has planted them and function as a NT ekklesia ." but you would be well served to read his entire post

Bob Roberts Jr. writes Let’s just dream for a minute! Pretend we have an unlimited supply of money and 1,000 of the most gifted preachers, organizational guru’s, and team builder’s all built into one. Let’s start 1,000 churches over the next ten years where each one will grow to at least 2,000!!!!! Those churches would change America overnight! WRONG – WE JUST DID THAT!!!!! In the past ten years, that very thing has happened and yet there are numerically less people in church than ten years ago. I pastor a “mega-church” and I believe in “church-multiplication” so it may sound wrong to you that I would say that shouldn’t be our primary strategy – but it shouldn’t. We’re building a new 2,000 seat auditorium, have a large staff, and do a lot of the things that come with a mega-church. But, we must be clear, there has never been a church planting movement begun and sustained and replicated by mega-churches! I still believe in mega-churches – I believe in all churches and each one has a c...

cool article in Leadership Journal: Small churches don't start their meeting with a song, nor end with a benediction. These fellowships of 6-10 people may start out with conversation around the dinner table or a backyard barbecue. Laughter and stories are shared as they talk over life's challenges or daily bungles, something not as easily done in the rush of a Sunday church service, which Highlands calls "big church." As they bond and study the Bible together, the groups become a spiritual family, where members identify and cultivate their unique gifts, such as hospitality or wisdom. Beckman says that maturing process is more difficult in a big church format, where sometimes only the public gifts, such as leadership or teaching, are acknowledged and developed. In home church families, each person is expected to learn directly from Scripture and share their insights. "Robbie and I aren't Bible scholars," Dawn Walker says. "We were worried abo...

"I’m often asked what I think of the emergent church movement and in answering I’ve reminded people that I’ve had very little firsthand touch with it. Thus my conclusions have come from reading some of its authors and what others have said so that my conclusions can’t be construed as definitive. But I have said that I think the movement is asking better questions than many traditional congregations and in many cases has a better message that focuses on relationships with each other and a more relevant engagement with the world. On the downside, however, they seem to be compressing that into the same institutional structures that will eventually subvert their message. They are still caught up in building, leadership and services. Also, I’ve not found that the ever-present Christ is an important part of the conversation. It is more a movement driven by principles and ideology that find identity in the movement and its leaders, rather than finding a deeper intimacy with the Father,...

From the persecution blog Iranian house-church contacts have asked for prayer for the following: A satellite radio program is directed toward reaching those under 30, pray for fruit. Growing underground churches; ninety-five percent of the members are under age 30. Safety and support for pastors Underground churches strengthened in God's Word and safe places to meet Seminars and training for house-church leaders and servants An Iranian family currently facing persecution Pray God will be glorified in every person and situation.

Street church is house church outside a tiny house on a busy 4 land street. Guy Muse concludes with this, There is so much about last night that I could comment on. I think what impacted me the most was that what was done was so authentic. It was real. Genuine. Nobody putting on a show, but just being their real selves before a God that they love in the only envirmonment that have ever known. Several times during the evening I thought about Jesus words in John 4 where he says, "the true worshippers will worship the Father in spirit and truth." What I saw last night in this "street church" was this very thing.

i found this an interesting read on where the culture is going. he may be wrong, and he isn't putting all his eggs in his speculation, but his thoughts intrigue me. now i will talk myself out of this, perhaps you should read it first ... why won't big movies don't go away. the same reasons restaurants don't go away. we want to get out of our homes. we get bored. which is why house churches won't dominate as long as there are venues that provide a different feel. and i'm not sure that a longing for community is the real pull. as kimball writes , and i've blogged on before , multigenerational is not staring at the back of an old guy's head. there is some need for community. but we want to meet our friends on neutral ground that we don't have to clean, we can escape from without offense (as opposed to kicking people out of your house), etc. so i don't think Lucas is totally write, that movies are done with. we make a mistake that things have to be z...

simplechurch.co.uk : "CHANGING FROM TRADITIONAL CHURCH TO NEW TESTAMENT CHURCH FIFTEEN ESSENTIAL STEPS"

FAQ for house church planting in Guayaquil Guy Muse missionary in Ecuador keeps it real simple...

Wayne writes Isn’t it just as likely to characterize Paul’s travels and teaching not purposed to plant churches, but to spread the gospel and make disciples? I think that is stated far more clearly. The churches he identified and visited later could have been just the fruit of doing the former things that Jesus clearly asked his followers to do. In my view you can plant all the churches you want and never see true discipleship happen or true community. God knows I’ve visited hundreds of those. But you can’t teach people how to walk with the King and not see the reality of church life spring up all around you.... I’m not really a house church guy, so I’m not sure I’m in trouble there. I see Jesus’ church take on a number of living expressions when people learn to follow him first and love each other second. House church is one of those. And I think it can be done incredibly well. But I also think it can be done with incredible religion and pain.... When I taught ‘church planting’ team...

Welcome to China Aid Online : "CAA learned that a Chinese House church in Henan was raided and 28 Christians were arrested. At 11 am, May 28, during a Christian worship service at a home at Xiguan Ma Jia Chang, Fugou County, the PSB raided the gathering and took 28 church members to the police station. Twenty-three were released later that evening. One Christian lady, 59-year-old Ms. Liu Yuemei, was released June 1, after her family was forced to pay a fine of 1600 Yuan (US $200). Another lady, 35-year-old Ms.Lu Xinhong, was released June 8, after she promised to pay her fine in cash. Three Christians still remain at Ba-Yi Prison, Fugou County, Henan Province. They are 58-year-old Ms. Chen Xuelan, who hosted the gathering, 55-year-old Ms. Cao Yan, and 52-year-old Pastor. Li Shunmin. According to those familiar with this case, during the raid, the police produced no ID, summons, or detention papers. Bibles and notebooks belonging to the church members were confiscated by the police...

The Ministry Report: Special Commentary: Heretics @ Home? : "Although far from being a 'biblical form of government,' democracy reflects the biblical principle that a lot of power in the hands of a few sinners can lead nowhere good. This same egalitarian notion is at the heart of the house church movement. It's the conviction that doctrine (like political power) should not be preserved by an ecclesiastical elite. It must be articulated, taught, transmitted and understood by the laity."

A hybrid proposal worth consideration. instead of institutional churches planting the same, why not empower small groups to be simple churches? The man is humble and the whole article is worth your time yet this is good attention grabber... Though I would love to promote the initiation of as many house churches from scratch as possible, I know that most church leaders inherited existing churches with buildings to maintain and a traditional institutionalism of some sort in place. These may function with varying levels of effectiveness. Some of your churches, no doubt, are model examples of what church life should be in many respects. Should you even entertain the possibility of using the house church model to extend your work? I want to suggest that this should be considered for the following scenarios: * When the church is growing, the meeting space is limited, and you do not wish to invest more money in buildings. * When a pocket of members live in a town or neighborhood some d...