In a conversation with friends recently, we found ourselves discussion various incarnations of the body of Christ and at one point I stopped to correct what I think is a fundamental error in our understanding of who we are as “the church”. It was simple, really, and one might argue that it is mere semantics, […]

I said I might post these later… then I thought, well, why not! I’m sure they are great. And, if you are a voracious reader, then you’ll be done with all of these and ready for more before I finish the next one! So why wait! Here they are: Living in the Relational Church – […]

“So, after 2,000 years, how do you think he’s doing?” That was a question posed in an article I read recently about living in the relational church. It was referring to the time where Jesus said, “I will build my church, and the gates of hell will not prevail against it.” The question was posed […]

KEEPING CHURCH SIMPLE – PART 2F How does leadership work in a simple church? Once again we must think of family as our primary image of church instead of thinking of non-profit organization as our primary image of church. Once we do that, the idea of leadership becomes simple. Leadership then resembles parenting more than […]

KEEPING CHURCH SIMPLE – PART 2E How are finances handled in a simple church? There are many options for this. In our network, we encourage everyone to meet the financial needs of those in their simple church family first. Then, with whatever money is left, give back to the church network to help start new […]

KEEPING CHURCH SIMPLE – PART 2D What do you do with kids in a simple church? If the primary image of the church is that of “family,” then healthy churches should deal with their kids in the same way that healthy families do. This means that kids are frequently included in the life of the […]

KEEPING CHURCH SIMPLE – PART 2C How do you control these churches doctrinally and morally? There are two ways to respond to this question! The first way to answer this question is to acknowledge that simple churches do have a natural form of accountability that comes through relational lines. Every church was started by another […]

KEEPING CHURCH SIMPLE – PART 2C Practical Implication #3: Learning to Question our Most Frequently Asked Questions! Meaning no disrespect to those who ask, I must admit that most of the questions that we are asked about simple church are the wrong questions! We humbly acknowledge this because these are the same questions we spent […]

KEEPING CHURCH SIMPLE – PART 2A Practical Implication #2: Learning to See Family as the Primary Image for Church There are two problems that emerge from trying to figure out “church.” First, when we try to figure out “church” we often start with a cultural assumption that church is a non-profit organization, or a “place […]

KEEPING CHURCH SIMPLE – PART 2 PART II: PRACTICAL IMPLICATIONS OF A SIMPLE UNDERSTANDING OF CHURCH Practical Implication #1: Learning to see what is happening with the church globally. As Americans it is very hard for us to admit the facts that are now being widely reported to us: The church is growing faster in […]