By Rad Zdero

© Kheng Guan Toh | Fotolia.com

God has often shaped the last 2000 years of history through church planting movements (CPMs), mainly through simple, grassroots, small groups and house churches. A CPM  is a rapid multiplication of churches planting churches over a sustained period of time.

A CPM is not just another man-made tactic or trend. It is, in fact, God’s work. And its purpose is to see people come to a saving encounter with Jesus Christ, grow in spiritual maturity, and then become change agents for God.

The past is filled with stories of CPMs as people let go (to one degree or another) of the trappings of religious institutions to grab hold of a living breathing Christianity. Some of these movements include the Monastics, Lollards, Waldenses, Franciscans, Anabaptists, Quakers, Methodists, and Brethren. They saw many thousands of people changed and reconciled back to God in their generation.

Today, CPMs are everywhere. In China, the church has grown from 1 to 2 million believers in 1949 to almost 100 million believers today in underground house churches. In India, over 100,000 house churches have been started between 2001 and 2006. In the USA, Church Multiplication Associates recently planted 1000 simple churches in 7 short years at home and abroad. In Latin America, the Basic Christian Communities started in the 1960s among the marginalized and have grown to 1 million groups by 2007.

Past and present CPMs have been analyzed with modern research tools to discover key elements for high-quality rapid church growth. CPMs have been well documented in E.H. Broadbent’s The Pilgrim Church (1931), John Driver’s Radical Faith: An Alternative history of the Christian Church (1999), Peter Bunton’s Cell Groups and house Churches: What history Teaches us (2001), David Garrison’s Church Planting Movements (2004), and my own book Nexus: The World house Church Movement Reader (2007).

I want to briefly remind us about some vital elements often mentioned by students of CPMs. But, I also wish to point out other factors that are almost never discussed in this regard.

Everything in the world has a shape, a geometry, an anatomy—and so do CPMs. I believe we must seriously consider and prayerfully implement the following 10 factors to see God’s grand purposes accomplished in our generation through our simple, organic, house churches.

1. THE bIg PICTuRE

Some house churches wander about aimlessly. They have no direction and make no real impact. Some realize this is a problem, while others wrongly take pride in this and even mistake it for being “Spirit-led.” But, there is a better way! House churches that wish to thrive, grow, multiply, and make a difference must be captivated by a bigger vision beyond themselves.

The Bible tells us that “where there is no vision, the people perish” (Prov 29:18 KJV) and “except the Lord build the house, they labor in vain that build it” (Ps 127:1 KJV). Certainly, the early church was often directed supernaturally in the moment before taking action (Acts 8:26-40, 10:1-48, 13:1-4). But, it was the

Great Commission “mission statement” of Jesus that gave the apostles a clear mandate for all they did in those early years (Mt 28:18-20; Mk 16:15-16; Lk 24:46-49; Jn 20:21-23; Acts 1:8).

As house churches today, therefore, we must get hold of what God is saying to us before we launch out. We must get the “big picture” of God’s main purpose for us locally, regionally, and globally. Let us pray, fast, receive God’s supernatural power, watch the circumstances, discern our contexts, talk together, set measurable goals, and even craft mission statements.

2. THE RIgHT d.N.A.

Some house churches are unbalanced. They are strong in some things and weak in others. Instead of seeking to grow in their areas of weakness, they continue to operate only in their strengths. But, there is a better way! House churches that wish to be vibrant must have the right D.N.A., as noted by Neil Cole of Church Multiplication Associates.

“D” refers to Divine Truth and should include Bible study and allow for prophetic words, dreams, visions, miracles, and godly counsel. “N” stands for Nurturing Relationships and should involve honesty, affection, and practically doing life together. “A” means Apostolic Mission and should include reaching out in word and deed to family, friends, neighbors, workmates, and strangers. The early church had a good measure of the “D”, the “N”, and the “A”

(Acts 2:41-47).

As house churches today, therefore, we must be brutally honest with ourselves and take stock of whether we have the right D.N.A. for God to work through us. The D.N.A. should not be unraveled, but should be fully present within each individual believer, each house church, and each network of house churches.

3. AN ARmy oF LEAdERS

Some house churches reject the whole issue of leadership because they feel that Christ alone is the ultimate leader of their group or because they have been hurt by institutional leaders in the past. But, there is a better way! House churches must look to the Scriptures and the Spirit to allow for the emergence of God-given leaders in their midst.

The early apostles certainly encouraged all believers to use their abilities (1 Pet 2:5-9; 1 Cor 12:1-31 and 14:1-40). But, they also implemented two main types of leaders, namely, local “elders” (Acts 14:23, 1 Tim 3:1-7; Tit 1:5-9; 1 Pet 5:1-5) and trans-local “apostles” (Act 13:1-4, 15:6; Eph 4:11) to equip the church and reach the world. As house churches today, therefore, we must encourage the emergence of healthy leaders. Micro leaders (or “elders”) are unpaid spiritual moms and dads who nurture, train, and empower believers in their house church. Macro leaders (or “apostles”) are pioneers and strategists who start new house churches, adopt existing ones, link them together into networks, and then move on to repeat the process.

4. NETWoRKS

Some house churches are utterly isolated due to circumstances. They soon become ingrown and irrelevant and eventually implode. Isolated groups simply do not work. Others create formal organizations that “brand” their house churches just like denominations with their various branch churches. And they will not work closely with others because they are of a different “brand”. Even worse, some house churches refuse to work with other house churches in the same town because of competition, limited vision, or petty differences. But, there is a better way! House churches that want to be fruitful must link arms with others nearby, relationally but cohesively.

The early house churches partnered together as citywide networks in Jerusalem (Acts 2:41-47), Rome (Rom 16:3-15), and Ephesus (Acts 20:17,20), and as a regional network in Asia Minor (2 and 3 Jn; Rev 2 and 3). They were linked through leaders meetings (Acts 15:6, 20:17), large group events (Acts 2:44, 5:12, 20:20), apostolic visits (Acts 14:23, 15:36; 3 Jn 1:5-8), and apostolic letters (Acts 15:22-23).

As house churches today, therefore, we must form relational, but cohesive, networks with others close-by in our cities and regions. Face-to-face cross- pollination allows us to pool resources, share experiences, permit accountability, engage in training, meet our own social needs, and impact an entire city or region. We can accomplish far more together than we can apart.

Rad Zdero’s web site is www.housechurch.ca

by Donald Stanley Meador

In Theology, the discipline of the study of the church is called ecclesiology. Theologians speak of the church in two forms; they express two concepts of the church: the universal church and the local church. The first concept of the church, the universal church, means that, at times, the New Testament refers to the church consisting of all those who believe in Jesus for salvation (in all places and in all times). The second concept of the church, the local church, means that, at times, the New Testament refers to the church consisting of all those who believe in Jesus for salvation meeting in only one place and in one time.

It is true that the Bible refers to the church in these two concepts. However, I am becoming more and more convinced that the New Testament presents us with a slightly different concept of the church.

There is no doubt that the New Testament refers to the universal church. Many biblical texts refer to all those who believe in Jesus as the church. After all, it is the universal church against which the gates of hell will not prevail (Matthew 16:18). No one can doubt that the concept of the universal church is sound doctrine.

I have been thinking about the concept of the local church. Often, we think that all those who believe in Jesus meeting in a building (which has no other purpose), a few times a week, is what the New Testament refers to as the local church. I do not think it is right to diminish the teaching of the New Testament to just this idea.

In the Book of Acts, we find, for the first time, the “church” in Jerusalem. Many people immediately think of this church in the sense of the traditional church, as the church exists today in many parts of the world. Often they think of all the believers in Jerusalem meeting together to praise God and hear the Word of God preached. However, this is not how the Book of Acts describes the church in Jerusalem.

The church in Jerusalem existed in two forms. First, the believers met daily in their homes. In my opinion, “daily” describes which days of the week the believers met and not the frequency with which the individual believers met. For example, there were thousands of believers in Jerusalem and every day some of them were meeting in houses (probably at night). I don’t want to say that all the believers were meeting in houses every single night of the week. I don’t think the Book of Acts wants to convey this either. In the houses they dedicated themselves to the apostle’s teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer (Acts 2:42). Second, the believers met daily in the Temple courts. I believe the Book of Acts wants to express that the daily meetings meant that some of the believers met in the Temple courts each day of the week and not that all the believers met there every day of the week.

They met together in the larger group to worship God in a manner that was culturally appropriate for the Jewish people. It is strange, or perhaps funny, to imagine the Apostles gathering all the believers into the Temple court to have a worship service of hymns and choruses followed by 45 minutes of preaching as the “Sunday service” exists in many traditional churches throughout the world today. All indications demonstrate that the apostle’s teaching was shared in the homes and not in the Temple.

In the second chapter of Acts, we found the fact that the church in Jerusalem met in the Temple and also in the houses of the believers in smaller groups. So, the church in the city, all the believers, met as the church in the Temple. But, all the believers in the city also met as the church in smaller groups in their houses. The believers that met in one house were considered a church. They were not a cell church and did not have a mother church. The idea that a group of believers meeting in a house must have a mother church cannot be found in the Bible. The small group in the house is a complete and true church, independent of other churches; her existence as a true church did not depend on the other house churches, nor on the entire group meeting in the Temple, but, all the house churches participated in the meetings in the Temple.

We must accept the two realities of the local church in the New Testament. First, the local church existed as the church of the city (or region). In Jerusalem, this fact is obvious.

John, in the Book of Revelation, wrote brief letters to the seven churches in Asia, each located in its own city. As well, Paul wrote letters to the church in the city of Corinth and in the city of Thessalonica. He sent a letter to the church in the city of Colossae with instructions that it would be read by the church in the city of Laodicea (Colossians 4:16). The New Testament refers to all the believers in a city as the church – the church of the city. But, in Colossians 4:15 we read, Greet the brethren who are in Laodicea and also Nympha and the church that meets in her house (NASB).

The second reality of the local church in the New Testament is the house church. In

Jerusalem this fact is also obvious. The believers met daily in their houses as the church.

Rather than accept that the church meeting in homes was the practice of the early church, many people today think that the early church was like traditional churches as they have been since the Reformation in the 16thCentury or like traditional churches since Constantine in the 4thCentury. They presume that their own churches are like the early church. How sad that they ignore the clear teaching of the New Testament. The church met in homes in Jerusalem (Acts 2:42; 12:12), in Ephesus (1 Corinthians 16:19), in Laodicea (Colossians 4:16), in Philippi (Acts 16:40), in Colossae (Philemon 2), and in Rome (Romans 16:15, 23).

F.F. Bruce wrote, “The presence of other house churches is probably implied in the greetings of Rom. 16:3-16.”[1]

The norm of the early church was to meet in small groups in the homes of believers.

House church is the second reality of the local church in the New Testament.

In fact, the church existed in these two realities for about three centuries before changing. Wolfgang Simson explains the change in this way:

During the first three centuries after Christ, church historians tell us, the house church remained the normal, natural way of Christians sharing their new lives together. Only after Emperor Constantine in the fourth century was there a radical shift in church structure. The congregation-type church was introduced, the church became an audience, house churches were marginalized and ultimately forbidden. No one could function as Christians privately, without the sanction of the state and its acknowledged and ordained “orthodox” church.[2]

Before this, the early church met principally in the homes of the believers. Let’s look at the complete picture of the local church in the New Testament. We have already seen that the church in Jerusalem met in the houses and in the Temple courts. Jerusalem had a church of the city and churches in homes. Paul wrote a letter to the church of the city of Laodicea, but also sent his greetings to the church in the house of Nympha in Laodicea. The two realities of the local church existed in Laodicea as well. I believe that the early church existed in these two realities in all the cities where people believed.

Richard Longenecker wrote, “Paul seems to have viewed every congregation at whatever time and in whatever locality as an embodiment of the church universal – that is, to have viewed each particular congregation as the church of God.”[3] For example, in Acts 14, Paul and his co-laborers returned to Antioch and called together the church. Why did they not just wait until the Sunday worship service of the church in the city of Antioch? It was probably because the believers in Antioch normally met in smaller groups in their homes. The meeting of all of the believers, the church of the city, probably did not occur every Sunday. Rather than wait for the next meeting of all the house churches (the church of the city), they called the whole group together immediately upon returning in order to joyfully explain all that God had done during their missionary journey among the Gentiles.

The church in Jerusalem met daily in the Temple courts because this building was available to them, especially to the believers who converted from Judaism. The Temple did not belong to the church in Jerusalem, but was available to the church. The church in

Jerusalem did not own its own building. It is humorous to think that the church in Jerusalem collected offerings to buy the Temple where they met. The believers in Jerusalem did not buy the Temple, but they met in the Temple courts to worship Jesus.

Let’s return to the subject of the church in Antioch and think about buildings. Nothing in the New Testament indicates that the church in Antioch had its own building. As well, they did not have a Temple in which to meet. They did not have a place for all the believers to meet together regularly. For this reason, the meetings of the church of the city were not daily (as was the case of the church of the city of Jerusalem), and, probably, they did not even meet together on a weekly basis. This is the situation in the areas of the world where house churches have a celebration as the church of the city or region once a month, or less frequently. It appears that this was the situation in Antioch as well.

It is dangerous to ignore the two realities of the local church. In Acts 5:12-14, we read that nobody else joined with the disciples in the Temple courts, but that the church grew daily. At the hands of the apostles many signs and wonders were taking place among the people; and they were all with one accord in Solomon’s portico. But none of the rest dared to associate with them; however the people held them in high esteem. And all the more believers in the Lord, multitudes of men and women, were constantly added to their number (NASB).

Some liberal theologians have said that the Bible contradicts itself in this passage. They did not consider the two realities of the local church. The meaning of this text is simple: no one else joined the church in the Temple courts (the church of the city), but the house churches grew daily. The two realities of the local church must be understood so that we do not give anyone the opportunity to mislead us about the church today.

Before concluding this subject, let’s consider two advantages of house churches today. First, land and construction are expensive today. Dr. Wade Akins wrote, “By using homes, the church can grow without the burden of renting or purchasing a building.”[4]

Simply stated, house churches cost less. Also, rather than tie ourselves up in a construction project and losing so much time with construction, we could focus our time, money and energy in sharing the gospel. Second, house church is more natural, more comfortable, and has more of a family atmosphere for those who participate, especially for those who do not yet believe in Jesus.

Dr. Wade Akins wrote, “Experience tells us that conversions are multiplied when a church is located in a natural environment where the guests can participate without feeling threatened. It is also important to note that in using this method it is easier to penetrate into neighborhoods and cities.”[5]The home is the most natural environment in which the church can develop. This fact is being proven throughout the whole world in our generation.

It is through the use of churches meeting in the homes of believers that we can expand the Kingdom of Jesus most efficiently. This should not surprise us, because it was in this form that the early church spread throughout the Roman Empire. And, it is the form with which the church is rapidly spreading in many countries, and among many peoples, today.

© Donald Stanley Meador, 2010

[1]F.F. Bruce, The Epistle to the Colossians, to Philemon, and to the Ephesians ,Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 183.

[2]Wolfgang Simson, Houses that Change the World, Reading, Berkshire, UK: Cox & Wyman, Ltd., 24.

[3]Richard N. Longenecker, Community Formation in the Early Church and in the Church Today, Peabody, MA: Hendrickson Publishers, Inc., 2002, p. 74.

[4]Dr. Thomas Wade Akins, Pioneer Evangelism, Rio de Janeiro, RJ: Junta de Missões Nacionais da

Convenção Batista Brasileira, 31.

[5]Dr. Thomas Wade Akins, Pioneer Evangelism, Rio de Janeiro, RJ: Junta de Missões Nacionais da

Convenção Batista Brasileira, 32.

By Erik Fish

After returning last week from a month-long trip in Central America, I noticed the above ad at the top of the mountain of mail awaiting our attention.  It was advertising a “new church” was starting in town. (I covered up the church’s name at the top).

The print quality was high. The layout had a good marketing appeal. The words on the back advertised that the pastor would tell jokes in his sermon. The wording appealed to disenfranchised former church goers.

This ad struck me as a great example of the contrast between consumer-oriented church planting in the States (Great services…Great advertising…Come be with us on Sunday morning!) and some basic principles we see laid out in scripture for going to non-Christians, preaching the gospel, looking for persons of peace, and making disciples among the lost (with new churches the result of making new disciples).

To be clear, I believe God uses everything, and he will use almost any well-meaning act of faith to bring the gospel to a city. However, there’s got to be a simpler way for everyday people to bring the gospel and grow Christian communities in the areas where non-Christians do life together.

As a reminder, I’m posting a simple 5 Step Church Planting Strategy given by my good friend, Dr. Pam, from All Nations Family.

Dr. Pam has planted multiple reproducing churches in, let’s just say, “some not so safe environments” over the last 15 years. She has become a mentor and coach to several students who are now growing simple churches on university campuses in the States and overseas. May this encourage you to reach your campus, neighborhood, or marketplace with the gospel!

A successful strategy for those starting simple churches should be biblical and simple.

We have formulated it in five easy to follow steps:

Pray – Meet – Make – Gather – Multiply

Pray. Pray fervently with God’s heart for the people you are reaching out to. Pray to meet people by “divine appointments.” Pray until you can weep over people. Pray fervently. Fast and pray. Walk and pray. Ask God to let you see what he sees and feel what he feels. It is in the place of prayer that God will reveal the unfulfilled purposes and broken covenants for the people you are reaching. Pray for a man or woman of peace to open the door the hearts and minds of people you are reaching. Pray for understanding and love of the culture. Pray for the word of the Lord to guide you and give you specific strategies to make disciples, train leaders and plant a church planting movement.

Meet. Meet people where they are. Hang out with those who don’t know Jesus. Get outside the Christian bubble. Resist the temptation and emotional need to focus on teams issues that absorb your time and energy. As you pray, trust God to give you strategies for meeting people. Begin to build a network of relationships, what the Bible calls an oikos (literally a household). This network is the beginning of your future church plant. This network of relationships will become the future support system for those who accept Christ if they are disenfranchised by their family and friends. Build this network in faith that it will become a church for God in that place.

Make. Make Disciples. Invest in people’s lives. Don’t wait for them to pray a prayer to accept Jesus or say they want to follow Jesus to invest in them as people. Disciple making is another way of describing evangelism, and of building meaningful relationships. As you build those relationships, seek to discern what God has in his heart for each person.

Jesus commanded us to make disciples. Disciple making is about introducing people to Jesus in such a way that they get to know him personally, and then learn to love and obey him. When it’s the right time, teach people the seven commands of Jesus:

repent and believe
be baptized
forgive
give
pray
gather with others
make disciples of all nations
Do not hesitate to tell new believers the cost of following Jesus. Emphasize the privilege of going to other nations so God’s mission is part of their spiritual DNA.

Gather. Gather those you meet who are spiritually open with other seekers for fun, hanging out, enjoying common interests, prayer, and study of God’s word. Focus on the words and stories of Jesus. Don’t wait for them to say they want to become a follower of Jesus to gather people into a community of friends. Gathering around a meal with others is one of the best ways to build community. Jesus said that where two or three gather in his name, he is with them. This is “church” in it’s simplest, most essential form. Nothing more is needed to “be church.” There is more that can be done to contribute to growing a healthy, vibrant church (see Acts 2:42-47), but gathering people together is the beginning of planting that church.

Multiply. Plan for growth. From the beginning, train new believers to take responsibility for your meetings and outreaches. Stay in the background as much as possible to encourage others to grow and exercise their spiritual gifts. As soon as you reach 15-20 people, multiply. Start a new gathering. Give those you have been investing in assignments that will help you discern their giftings, strengths, and weaknesses. Build the community from the beginning, just like Paul did, by facilitating the development of indigenous leadership.

Let’s practice these five simple steps  (pray-meet-make-gather-multiply) to see the gospel transform the lives of students and spread from campuses to the nations!

P.S. check out the new student church online community at www.studentchurch.org

By: Sean Steckbeck and Marco Gmur

My wife and I have served in Israel in ministry to the Jewish people for seven years now. My wife is a native sabra Israeli who came to the Lord through supernatural circumstances while attending an Orthodox Jewish yeshiva in Jerusalem. For the last three years we have embraced multiplying and simple forms of house congregations.

We truly believe that the house congregation concept started in Israel and it is time to return to Israel. The idea of multiplying families is not only a New Testament Christian concept, but an ancient Old Covenant and Hebraic concept. The economy of the Torah was based around the home and around agricultural communities. The context of the oikos and agricultural community was the basis for everyday discipleship (Deut. 6:4-10), with a temple-centric pilgrimage only being adhered to three times a year (Deut 16:16-17, Ex. 23:17). In other words, the temple was only the center of worship three times a year, the majority of the time the home was the center of both worship and discipleship. The oikos of the New Testament is much more than just the physical home; it also consists of the family units of fathers, mothers, brothers, and sisters. God’s own Trinitarian oikos is expressed with Him as Father and Yeshua as Son. With this in mind, we need to realize what God is doing in the Global House Church movement around the world with rapidly multiplying house congregations is a fulfillment of an Old Covenant pattern and prophecy and part of the very nature of God. This was part of his plan from the beginning. Now let us take a journey with Abraham on what my spiritual father (Marco Gmur) and I call the “Way of the Fathers.”

“And I will bless those who bless you, And the ones who curse you I will curse. And in you all the families on the earth will be blessed (Genesis 12:3 NASB).”

Here God is promising that every family (oikos) on the earth will be blessed through the offspring of Abraham.  There are some versions in English which say “nations”, but in the Hebrew the actual word is “mishpachot” which literally means families. Also the families of Israel will weep when they look upon the return of Yeshua (Zechariah 12:11-14). This is why we must go beyond the vocabulary of multiplying house congregations and start using the word “multiplying spiritual families”, and goes beyond the vocabulary of “apostolic church planting teams” and start using the word “apostolic families.”  Families naturally multiply; it’s in the very nature of every family to multiply.  Part of the move away from the institution and towards family can be described in Paul’s day that “you have many teachers, but not many fathers” (1 Corinthians 4:15). So the first part of restoring the way of the fathers is through reviving family language and patterns.

The second step is that we must honor our older brothers, Isaac and Ishmael, and our spiritual father Abraham. Through Isaac and Ishmael all the families of the earth will be blessed. Of course, Isaac, as the son of promise, brought forth the Jewish Messiah- Yeshua. As is written, “Salvation is of the Jews.” However, Ishmael also received promises to become a mighty nation and that he would live in the presence of his brothers (Genesis 16:11-12, Genesis 17:18-21).

Isaiah 19 is the fulfillment of a highway that God wants to build between Isaac and Ishmael together to be a blessing to all the families of the earth:

“In that day there will be a highway from Egypt to Assyria. The Assyrians will go to Egypt and the Egyptians to Assyria. The Egyptians and the Assyrians will worship together. In that day Israel will be the third, along with Egypt and Assyria, a blessing on the earth. The LORD almighty will bless them, saying, ‘Blessed be Egypt my people, Assyria my handiwork, and Israel my inheritance.” (Isaiah 19:23-25).

It’s amazing that God in His infinite wisdom decides to bless the entire earth through both the sons of Isaac and the sons of Ishmael together joined by a special highway. With all the fighting today between the Jewish people and Muslims, the last thing one would expect is that through their companionship the nations of the earth will be blessed.

As I said earlier, my wife and I have been in ministry to the Jewish people for nearly seven years, and only this last year have we grasped the importance of this key. Marco Gmur, my spiritual father, has been in ministry to the Jewish people and to Muslim people for many years. He kept both ministries separate until the Holy Spirit spoke to him that this is done together for maximum effectiveness as a spiritual law. We have seen many testimonies of God’s faithfulness now as we embrace both the Isaiah 19 highway between Jews and Muslims and the One New Man (Ephesians 2) between the Jews and the nations.

One day I was invited to pray for a Muslim Jordanian immigrant to Israel in Beer Sheva. He had a disease in both of his legs that kept him bedridden for a month. Upon arrival at his house, he refused prayer because he was a Muslim and didn’t want prayer in the name of Isa (Jesus). After sharing with him that Jesus heals the sick, from Surah al Imran 3:42-56 in the Quran, he was open for prayer the next day. He invited all his Muslim friends. He was healed and saw a vision of Jesus that same day in the midst of his Muslim friends. He then invited his Jewish neighbor to join in as many Muslims lined up for healing. That day both a Jewish lady received the Lord and a Muslim lady under one living room!

In one of the house congregations a young Druze (a break-off of Shia Islam) believer commented, “I know Jesus is Lord because there is no other place where Jews, Bedouins, Druze, and Christian Arabs can worship together in one room!”

In the last year, through a Luke 10 strategy, we have seen over 100 healings in the homes of Jewish sabra Israelis secular and Orthodox, Jewish immigrants, Bedouins, Druze, Palestinians, Christian Arabs, and even Gentile immigrants. God is using Jewish believers to minister to Palestinians, and Palestinians to reach Jewish people. He is using the Druze believer for both. The Bedouins, previously an unreached people group, now has a new believer! This has been mostly in the Negev desert and the Hebron hills, both the territory and home of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. This is what was named archeologically “the Way of the Fathers.” The “Way of the Fathers” which the Byzantines built can still be seen in its remnant form today. However, God is spiritually rebuilding the Isaiah 19 highway and Way of the Fathers in the south of Israel as a fresh house church (family oikos) multiplying movement!

“He will turn the hearts of the fathers to their children, and the hearts of the children to their fathers; or else I will come and strike the land with a curse.” – Malachi 4:6

Let’s return to the “Way of the Fathers”. The House Church movement is one expression of this return, but let us embrace the entire return. We need to embrace the return to family language as an expression of our ecclesiology, a return to the physical sons of the patriarchs in Isaac and Ishmael, and a return to the Isaiah 19 road of reconciliation of Isaac and Ishmael in the gospel.

Look to Abraham, your father, and to Sarah, who gave you birth. When I called him he was but one and I blessed him and made him many.” – Isaiah 51:2

By Mike Kim

Editor’s note – This is the final of three parts of an article by a former “traditional pastor” who has embarking on a new journey.

What about the apostolic people gifts? Here are some gaping holes we see in today’s church through the systemic neglect and/or rejection of God’s apostolic people gifts.

• Without apostolic drive, we stop at evangelistic addition — not multiplication.  Salvation stops at the individual as we fail to see how God often doesn’t just reach one but many in the social network through that one Luke 10 “person of peace.”

• Without apostolic action, we fail to experience the promised presence of Christ and spiritual authority that comes when we go as “sent ones” who disciple all nations.  Often times, we are mired in confusion and disillusionment as we only go as far as our human resources of staffing and money and curriculum take us.  To hide the disappointment, we continue to rationalize that the powerful and miraculous stories in Scripture are for a different time and that the current stories coming in from overseas will never happen where we are.

• Without apostolic clarity, the REASON FOR OUR EXISTENCE becomes murky.   We don’t strategically think about culture and DNA — the underlying value systems and core ideologies that define a community.  Corporate identity is thus “accidentally” stumbled upon instead of strategically realized, reinforced and spread to new groups of people.  Organizations that don’t know what they are about often remain stuck in maintenance mode and full of uninspired people.

• Without apostolic modeling, we miss out on a culture/spirit of “releasing” and “empowering” and have to contend instead with a spirit of management and control.  In an effort to be helpful, we over-manage and control processes and people meant to be openly and temporarily guided — not permanently gripped.   And in so doing, we inadvertently short-circuit all momentum and movement as we corral the simple and small things that, if left to themselves in God’s economy, would naturally spread and multiply.

• Without apostolic parenting, the multi-generational mentoring and leadership development that the N.T. models and teaches rarely happens and is replaced by a ”learned dependence” on first generation, clergy-led ministry. Like scaffolding that sticks around beyond its usefulness, leaders often default on staying longer in their role for the sake of  ”ministry quality” that ends up severely limiting the net quality and quantity of workers in the harvest.

• Without apostolic accountability, we don’t ask the obvious questions of sustainability behind our “best practices:” do we REALLY need to have million dollar budgets, seminary educated leaders and 50-100 Christian people to start a church?   Do we need to have land and a building to be the church?  How sustainable are buildings and staff salaries — especially in this economic downturn and especially if the downturn continues?

• Without apostolic imagination, we fail to ask questions of scalability.   We opt to “go big” or “launch large,” assuming that many different things need to be in place before new disciples, leaders or churches can be launched.  And in doing so, we miss out on the power of small things like germs, dandelion seeds and rabbits that can reproduce and thrive even in hostile environments.

• Without apostolic vision, we fail to ruthlessly ask the questions of reproducibility and transferability.   We so complicate the message and training process that few know it and few are able to pass it on to others.   In stark contrast is the elegant simplicity and agility of Alcoholics Anonymous where anyone with little to no resources can go anywhere and everywhere across the globe and start a chapter.

• Without apostolic passion, we fail to embrace our role in the big picture of Kingdom mission.  We busy ourselves with our isolated and small ministry goals for our personal organizations alone instead of embracing our embeddedness in a global movement of the Kingdom that focuses on the transformation of the planet and the mandate to disciple all unengaged and unreached people groups that remain.

What remains is an edifice that never had proper apostolic and prophetic foundations — a house built on wood, hay and straw that cannot stand what is to come.

But God is bringing it all back to the imagination of the church as of late.  We are rediscovering the legacy of groups like the Moravians who had apostolic AND prophetic foundations in place and, hence, launched movements of apostolic mission and movements of prophetic intercession and 24-7 prayer.  Just 100 or so normal people in the town of Herrnhut who had apostolic and prophetic foundations in place and, hence, saw God move mightily in, among and through them — across many nations, cultures, denomination lines, and even time.   In addition to looking at the past examples of groups like the Moravians, God is also showing many the future: providing spiritual insight into new wineskins that can more fully access the strength of God’s new wine.  And so across the world, many are hearing similar messages: the time is short, and something new is needed to complete the task ahead.   The growing global discussion is moving towards the establishment of Apostolic-Prophetic communities or “base camps” that have the proper foundations laid.

If Paul meant every word of Ephesians 4:11-16, then shouldn’t we be repenting and begging God to show us further insight for how the church can get back to first things?

¹¹ Now these are the gifts Christ gave to the church: the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, and the pastors and teachers. ¹² Their responsibility is to equip God’s people to do his work and build up the church, the body of Christ. ¹³ This will continue until we all come to such unity in our faith and knowledge of God’s Son that we will be mature in the Lord, measuring up to the full and complete standard of Christ.

¹⁴ Then we will no longer be immature like children. We won’t be tossed and blown about by every wind of new teaching. We will not be influenced when people try to trick us with lies so clever they sound like the truth. ¹⁵ Instead, we will speak the truth in love, growing in every way more and more like Christ, who is the head of his body, the church. ¹⁶ He makes the whole body fit together perfectly. As each part does its own special work, it helps the other parts grow, so that the whole body is healthy and growing and full of love.

The time is short!  And much is at stake!