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“Direction” for 2014

For many of us who started simple church here in Central Kentucky, the idea of a “word” for the year is familiar; asking God to place a word on our heart that He wants to serve as a theme for the coming year. Many people have had interesting stories of how God has spoken to them through this practical exercise over the years. This morning as I was meeting with a friend, I believe that God showed me my word for 2014–Direct. This word flows into everything that He seems to be saying to me presently about simple church and in other personal matters. Essentially, I believe that God wants me to be more “direct” in giving DIRECTion. Hopefully, this email serves that end. In our training times over the past two months, we have… Read More »“Direction” for 2014

Keep It Simple Podcast Now Available!

Tom Lecompte and I have started a new free podcast.  It is live now on iTunes at the links below.  Our hope is that we can encourage those searching for life with Christ outside traditional church structures through this audio format.  We are starting with some of the basic questions and sharing our stories about the journey God has us on.  If you are an audio person, perhaps it will be a blessing to you as you work out what it means to follow Jesus and be apart of His family in our day.  Please email us any feedback or questions you would like addressed.  We will look to update the podcast ever couple of weeks. Tom Lecompte is a leader in the New Covenant House Church Network in Louisville, KY.  More on New Covenant… Read More »Keep It Simple Podcast Now Available!

We invite you to come together with folks from various simple/organic/house church communities from the region to celebrate Christ’s birth! On December 8th, we will enjoy a special potluck dinner together and a time of singing Christmas songs.  We also would like to invite your simple church to consider sharing a creative presentation with everyone.  This could be led by your entire group or one person in your simple church, and it could be song, poem, skit, or any artistic presentation of your choosing related to Christmas!  In addition, if you would like to take part in baby dedications, we would love to make this opportunity available at this time as well.  As always, we encourage you to invite friends and family to come and learn more about simple church and meet others involved in… Read More »

Walking Butterflies (Roger Thoman Article)

Roger Thoman at The Simple Church Journal has written an excellent post today that echo’s my feelings as of late.  In this post, he shares his concerns that many of God’s people apart of the simple/organic church movement are like walking butterflies–they are no longer caterpillars but they are failing to use their wings to experience the freedom of flying.  Roger identifies four very perceptive reasons why he believes this is so. Read his short article (and a comment of mine) HERE.  This would be a great article to discuss with your simple church this week when you get together.

Lecrae on Engaging Culture (Video & Free Album)

Check out the video below and hear Lecrae echo our plea to end the sacred/secular divide and truly embrace the “priesthood of all believers” (I have actually used the “JV” analogy he uses in the talk many times to address this issue.  It is always amazing to see how God puts the same ideas, even same words, in the hearts of people from different places and different backgrounds.) and call believers to live as missionaries within their given cultural context. I am convinced that the number one challenge for existing simple/house/organic churches is to continue heeding this call.  Failure to do so will result in ingrown groups of Christians meeting regularly for a “holy huddle.”  This is a timely message for The Church today! “We are great at talking about salvation and sanctification, we are… Read More »Lecrae on Engaging Culture (Video & Free Album)

Child Driven Education – A Lesson for The Church?

I recently posted about Sergio Juárez Correa, a teacher in Mexico, and his “radical new teaching method” that is having an amazing impact on his students.  After discussing this post with some of my friends, I was encouraged to go online and listen to some of the TED talks by Sugata Mitra, the gentleman who inspired Sergio to adopt his new methods of teaching.   I have posted one of Sugata’s TED talks below. I believe that what Sugata is onto has great implications for the western church.  As you view this short teaching, ask yourself the following questions: * Has God truly wired us all to learn in this way?  Are there similarities to how He has chosen to educate us about Him? * Does our access to the Holy Spirit and the Bible provide us… Read More »Child Driven Education – A Lesson for The Church?

Creative Simple Church Planting Training Recap

Each month we invite folks to come together to join in a discussion about issues relevant to simple church leadership.  This month, Uday Balasundaram facilated our time together.  Over the last several months, Uday and I realized that we share a similar passion for missional living, discipleship, and simple church–even though we use different words to describe it.  Uday did a wonderful job of challenging us all to think about how we, as believers, are called to “mix” with the world around us and to join God in the creative process of birthing new life in the culture in which we find ourselves. Here are some of my “take-a-ways” from our time together this week.  Feel free to share your take-a-ways below. 1.  Simple Churches will do well to identify the culture in which they… Read More »Creative Simple Church Planting Training Recap

“House Worship” Opportunities (Guest Blog)

House Worship Opportunities – A Guest Blog by Dana and Diego Vogel Hi family! I know we haven’t met very many of you yet, but my husband and I (Diego and Dana) would love to throw out an idea for you all. One thing we both really have hearts for is worship through music and prayer. We usually incorporate this into our own simple church gatherings, but we also have a desire to share an extended time with everyone dedicated to just prayer and worship. We’ve done this several times before with some of you, and it’s always so GOOD – an evening spent singing to God, praying over each other, encouraging each other through visions, prophecy, Scripture, art, etc., and ultimately just spending time with God and each other with no other agenda. A… Read More »“House Worship” Opportunities (Guest Blog)

6500 New Churches A Year Needed?

Note: Originally posted on March 10, 20011 – This post continues to be one of my most recommended posts to those wrestling with the “Why simple church?” question.     Several years ago, a good friend recommended this post at www.plantingchurches.org. Here is an excerpt: According to census data, the population of the US currently is roughly 300 million.  In 2050, they project that they the population will be 400 million.  While many surveys suggest that 40% of Americans attend a church service regularly, that number is largely inflated.  According to David T. Olson’s book, The American Church in Crisis, in 2005 the number was closer to 17.5%.  That seems more realistic to me.  Multiple studies have also suggested that about 4,000 churches close their doors annually.  So let’s play with those numbers a little.… Read More »6500 New Churches A Year Needed?