Tag Archives: house church

Finally!

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Today, I was finally able to complete the certificate of occupancy process with the city. After multiple inspections, hours of waiting and an open faced toilet seat…we’re finally done.

Tonight’s Organic Group was great. We have been ministering to a family that my wife has gotten to know through contact at my children’s school. This week one of their family members passed away and I showed up a few minutes after her passing. I had a chance to minister to the grieving husband and tonight he called asking if he could join us for Organic Group. I think we will develop a great relationship in the days to come.

Constantly in Awe

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Walking with God is such an amazing journey. I find myself constantly in awe of His handiwork. The precision with which He conducts the symphony of life is a beautiful thing to behold indeed.

Today of course is no exception. Today I sat down to pay the first of the month bills and as has been the case these past 5 weeks, there was just enough. I’m not rolling in excess, but there was just enough to meet the needs of today.

The two websites that I launched yesterday made a combined total of 10 sales in the first 24 hours of operation, so that was also another praise. I am working on some marketing techniques that tap into my love for writing…in short bursts I might add (perfect for those of us with attention deficit disorder).

Tonight we had a large and diversified collection of people in our Organic Group. One of our group was wrestling with some fears that were born out of a season of testing she was going through. Our discussion led us tonight to the promises of God, how they are so huge and from our perspective nearly impossible; yet, we take confidence in those promises because they are rooted in the very righteousness of God. When this woman left tonight, she was testifying of the weight that had been lifted through the reminder of God’s character and faithfulness.

Tonight I received an email from a pastor in Iowa who would like to begin a dialogue of how to start a Simplicity work in his community.

Excuse me while I go to the fire hydrant for another overwhelming gulp of “Living Water.”

And they’re off

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Today we finished putting our donor letters and pledge cards together. We also finished our constitution and bylaws, along with the supporting documentation for our 501(c)(3) affiliation ruling. Before we went to the post office, we prayed over the letters and asked for God release all of our needed provisions.

God is still revealing new facets of the ministry to me by the day. We will use the Simplicity Church locations as church plant incubators open to any starting ministry that is pursuing Great Commission ministry. I am already dreaming of seeing 5, 6, 7 or more congregations birthing in one location on a continual basis. Since our model is based on the incarnational ministry (being the church in your day to day world) of the Organic Groups, the facility is truly only used for a weekly coming together of the groups for mutual edification. This great stewardship, and again something birthed in my spirit in prayer many months ago.

I think the most difficult part of this for those coming out of the institutional design of church will be the paradigm shift. It has been so ingrained to have the building as the hub of activity, to have the family split out by ages, to have programs for your leanings and to have designated leaders. In the Organic Group the Holy Spirit is the leader. We know from Scripture that He is the one who joins the body together for effective service. He is the one who will equip the teacher, servant, administrator, evangelist, etc…