Skip to content

discipleship

Part 4: Intentional Discipleship

Today is part four of a series on my recent trip to meet Kazakhstani and Italian house and simple church leaders.  In my last post I shared how the trip re-emphasized to me the importance of seeing church primarily as a “way of life.” Today I reflect on how the importance of intentional discipleship as a characteristic of this way of life was highlighted during my travels. Intentional Discipleship I was really encouraged that many people we encountered emphasized discipleship.  Cru and other ministries are making relational investments in many people by focusing on intentional discipleship.  David reminded me and… Read More »Part 4: Intentional Discipleship

Part 2: Italy

This is part 2 of a multi-part series on my recent trip overseas to visit with ministry leaders and specifically house/simple church leaders in Kazakhstan and Italy.  You can read part 1 about Kazakhstan here.  In he next several days I will be sharing some take-a-ways from this experience.  But for today… Italy I was greeted in Italy by John (Juan Carlos) and Betsy.  I met them through a common friend Ed Magnum during the pandemic.  Over the past several years, we have had many conversations online about simple church and they have been excited to be a part of… Read More »Part 2: Italy

Overseas Trip: Part 1: Kazakhstan

It’s extremely difficult to put into words what I experienced recently on a trip to visit leaders in the church and specifically house churches in Kazakhstan and Italy. In many ways these destinations provided a polar opposite experience. Yet many of my take-a-ways from meeting the believers in each place were the same and may have direct lessons for us here in America. In the next few days, I’m going to share about these experiences. Today is part 1: Kazakhstan.  Tomorrow I’ll share about my time in Italy and then a few posts on my take-a-ways from the experience.  I… Read More »Overseas Trip: Part 1: Kazakhstan

Rethinking Multiplication

At the beginning of our simple church journey, I was energized by the thought of rapid multiplication of churches. I read many Christian authors who describe the importance of simplifying our understanding of what constitutes a New Testament church so that multiplication can happen easily.  One of my favorite books to this day on simple church is The Rabbit and the Elephant.  This title was taken from the concept that simple things (rabbits) can reproduce easily and more quickly than Elephants. Many have sought out strategies and programs that will finally provide the secret sauce to replicate what God has… Read More »Rethinking Multiplication

Remembering David Griffin

This past week our simple church lost someone special.  David Griffin was our next door neighbor and a faithful pillar in our simple church family.  Loving and being loved by Dave has been one of the biggest blessings of hosting simple church on our street.  Simple/house church creates family and as we grieve the loss of Dave, I realize how true this is. I was honored to facilitate Dave’s Celebration of Life Service this past Saturday.  It was a true joy to hear others tell stories about Dave. His hilarious personality, love for others, and desire to always help people… Read More »Remembering David Griffin

Keep it Simple Podcast #134 Bart Scarborough (Part 2) – Simple Church Conversations

Check out round two with Bart Scarborough as we dive deeper into our conversation about what it means to walk with Jesus… and not run.  How the spiritual disciplines impact living in His love and help us to avoid religiosity.  UPDATE: We look forward to being with many of you this weekend at the Simple Church retreat!  We are welcoming so many new folks it’s going to be exciting to see how the Lord encourages us all!  Please let us know how we can serve and encourage you where you are as you seek to walk with the Jesus and… Read More »Keep it Simple Podcast #134 Bart Scarborough (Part 2) – Simple Church Conversations

Back 2 Basics (Part 1) – Keep It Simple Podcast #128

What do we mean when we talk about house church, organic church, or simple church?  I’m really excited to share these next two episodes with everyone as Tom and I discuss this foundational question!  Today, a lot of folks mean a lot of different things when they talk about “church” and specifically house church.  In fact, my understanding of church and the role the local house church plays within the Kingdom of God has changed over my 10+ year house church expedition.  In this two part series Tom and I will go “back to the basics” of what it exactly… Read More »Back 2 Basics (Part 1) – Keep It Simple Podcast #128

Support Simple Church Alliance

Friends, I cannot thank you enough for supporting our family and the ministry of simple church.  A gift to Simple Church Alliance allows me to serve in the role I do and it has enabled me to navigate a very tumultuous time for our family these past two years as we have been in and out of the hospital with Wylie. Thanks to all who have supported us in this special way.  We are eternally grateful. The past year has been a challenging but wonderful year and we could not be more grateful to still be here after ten years… Read More »Support Simple Church Alliance

Stages In The Simple Church Journey (Thurman)

1. Letting go of old paradigms of church life. This stage is described in a variety of ways from “taking the red pill,” to frustration with old wineskins to discovering what the Bible teaches about church life to…