A Kingdom, A People & A River
 
A New Paradigm For the Post Modern House Church Movement
Parousia Weekly Update Letter For The Week of  September 14, 2005
 
"When a prophet is accepted and deified, his message is lost. The prophet is only useful so long as he is stoned as a public nuisance calling us to repentance, disturbing our comfortable routines, breaking our respectable idols, shattering our sacred conventions" (A. G. Gardiner as quoted by Arthur Wallis, "In The Day of Thy Power").
 
In This Issue:
 
Post Cards From The Edge of a Post Christian Post Modern Culture
A Kingdom, A People and A River
A House Church Manifesto – Revisited
Rough Draft of New Equipping Workbook On-Line
Wolfgang Simson House Church Conference Page On Website
 
Dear Friends,
 
Our son’s wedding went wonderfully well (with much of the credit going to his sister who took over as “wedding planner” and did a great job!). Thanks to all for their kind words and pray ers and Brandon & Lisa begin this new journey. If you have had trouble accessing audio files on our website recently, that’s why. Brandon runs the server which holds our audio files. It was temporarily down while he moved. It is back up and running and audio files of Wolf and our radio program are once again available! Brandon tells me we have been receiving a considerable number of hits & I am glad. Please pray for us as we consider going to a daily “Webcast” as opposed to a radio program. Radio is expensive and we’re a poor ministry. A webcast would cost us simply the expense of production & the band-width to store them. We are mulling this over and would appreciate your pray er. ‘Nuff intro.
 
Blessings,
Maurice
 
Post Cards From The Edge of a Post Christian Post Modern Culture
 
"I believe in Christianity as I believe that the Sun has risen: not only because I see it, but because by it, I see everything else."-C.S. Lewis
 
Post Cards Next Issue!
 
A Kingdom, A People & A River
 
The God of all creation has always been about three things in this world. First, He has always been about establishing a Kingdom of righteousness and peace. Second, He has always been about calling out a people who would love, worship and obey Him. In return He would love, bless and rule over them as both Shepherd and King. Third, God has always been about empowering His called out people to serve Him by pouring out a spiritual River of His power, presence and blessing. These three great purposes of God have guided all He has done throughout all the ages of man. And in these “last days” these three great purposes are finding their culmination in a simple message: “The Kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and believe the good news.”  And therein lies a story of a Kingdom, a people and a River.
 
A House Church Manifesto - Revisited
 
As you may remember, three weeks ago I sent out an e-mail entitled  “A House Church Manifesto: Toward An Apostolic Strategy For Rapidly Multiplying House Churches In Spokane .” Since then I have received several very encouraging responses with thoughts and observations (although none from people in the local area . . . hmmmmm). I regard the Manifesto as a “work-in-progress” and am seeking to fine tune it as time proceeds and people have an opportunity to interact with it. For this reason I am updating the website version which you can  view at www.parousianetwork.com/a_house_church_manifesto.htm
I want to encourage you to interact with this document and to forward your thoughts and observations. Toward this end I thought I would share three of responses which I have received so far and a way of encouraging you to do the same.
 
From John White of Denver :
 
Hi Maurice,
 
I can't tell you how delighted I was to see your "Manifesto".  It's so encouraging to see people beginning to think and talk and pray in this direction.  (In addition, I always enjoy both your writing style and your knowledge of history.)  I'm going to need some time to digest all that you are suggesting but since you asked for a response, let me share a few initial reflections.  In general, I want you to know that I agree with almost all of what you are saying.
 
1.   Proposition # 1: We need to seek out those in our region who are carrying an apostolic mandate for house church planting.    We are hoping to launch a year long research project this fall to identify every apostolic church planter in Colorado .  Humanly speaking, these "sent ones" are the key to the harvest.  To use Wolfgang's words, we want to "pour oil" on these folks.
 
2.  First, where are these harvest workers going to come from? Not from existing non-house church paradigms.  I'm not convinced of this.  We are seeing a growing number of traditional church people (including pastors) who have been sovereignly and supernaturally prepared to move into house church.  The Lord of the Harvest has spoken to them about this and they are just ready to go.  They need a little help but the DNA takes root quickly and they begin functioning in the new paradigm quickly.  (We think 10:2b has something to do with this.)  Perhaps Cornelius is a picture of this.  One day he was quite involved with the synagogue (as a god-fearer) and the next day he was probably leading a house church.  He was prepared for this by two things.  First, he was a mature and experienced head of a household (oikos).  Second, he and his household had an encounter with the Holy Spirit.
 
3.  We must model and teach them the reality that there is no place more holy, sacred and worshipful than their own living room if God is in it!  Yes!  The "incarnational model" vs the "attractional model".  This also focuses on family/household (oikos) as the primary locus of ecclesia.  See Gehring on this.
 
4.  I am not yet convinced that all new converts in the New Testament brought all their wealth to the Apostles and then lived on whatever the Apostles and deacons thought was adequate.  I heard Wolf teach some of this last spring and I agree with you.  I don't think he has the Biblical basis to make this normative.  On the other hand, we have a lot of thinking to do about how to support apostolic workers. 
 
5.  We need to create a network of Christian professionals.  While there is nothing wrong with this and probably a lot that is right about it, I think we should focus on the family/household as the center point more than the marketplace.  Both are important but there is much more emphasis in Scripture on the household.  (No indication of a "Fellowship of Christian Tent Makers".) 
 
6.  Clarity about the end result - Where are we going? What does the product we are seeking to achieve look like. To my thinking this means that we are clear on our purpose of producing disciples who are meeting as house churches and other forms of churches without walls and who possess a kingdom vision to reproduce themselves and to transform their particular "oikos" (i.e., extended family or sphere of influence).   When thinking about "end result" there is both a micro and a macro dimension.  The micro refers to individual healthy disciples and house churches.  The macro refers to a way of thinking about "making disciples of a whole ethne (region or people group)".  The DAWN Vision helps me with this - "a church (ie, a vibrant family of Jesus) within easy access of every person in a given region or people group."  There is a difference between talking about process (a church planting movement) and end result (a genuine NT church within easy access of every person).  I think we need to think about both.  10,000 new house churches in the greater Spokane area moves in this direction.
 
7.  Clarity about my personal assignment - What are my gifts and where do they (and I) fit into what God is doing. What has God gifted and called me to do?   I'm thinking more about the John Knoxer kind of thinking here.  "Give me Scotland or I die!"  What part of the harvest am I called to?  Could be large (a whole country) or small (my block).  Could be geography (the state of Colorado ) or could be a people group (all of the Russian speakers).  The text doesn't say this but when Jesus send the 72 "ahead of him to every town and place where he was about to go"  (Lk. 10:1), I think he gave them specific assignments.  "You two go to Capernaum .  You to Jericho .  Etc."   We need to be clear about our ministry assignments.
 
8.  John White (and many others) suggests that the starting point is Luke 10:2b, ... But it seems to beg a question about a prior point. Who is supposed to do the pray ing? Answer: a cadre of committed disciples who have accepted Jesus six commands found in Matthew 10:7-8 (the parallel passage to Luke 10). ... So, what’s our starting point? Which comes first, the committed disciple who has accepted the commission of discipleship as given by Jesus, or the pray ing disciple who is asking God for more harvest workers. Or isn’t the starting point a recognition by the individual believer that God is calling him or her into a life of radical discipleship in the Kingdom of God. Who, other than radical disciples, will be willing to pray such pray ers or enter into the labor of such a harvest?   What we've found is that the very act of pray ing the pray er day after day (and seeing answers) changes the person who is doing the pray ing.  Jesus' heart for the harvest begins to grow in the heart of the pray -er.  So, who is to do the pray ing?  Anyone who is willing to.  And, as they do they are changed.  (Jim Montgomery has written an recent article on this.  See the attachment.)
 
9.  Clarity about my partner - This asks the question, "With whom has God called me to labor." While Jesus did indeed send disciples out by twos, we also see a pattern in the New Testament of 5-Fold ministry teams which labor together. Where are the people, and where is the team, that God has called me to labor with?   I certainly agree that both groupings are important, I am more and more convinced that the pair relationship is foundational for every believer.  See link for a great article on this http://kingwatch.co.nz/Church_Ministry/power_pairs.htm  I am thinking that having a partner (not just your spouse) should perhaps be a part of the basic DNA.  (See Eccles. 4).
 
10.  We need a strategy for planting reproducible house churches in every identifiable neighborhood in our city. This strategy should include: 1) Asking God to raise up one or more "persons of peace" to host a house church gathering in each neighborhood.   Amen to this!  One thing we must be clear about is the nature (definition) of a "person of peace" (how do you know when you have one?).  Some teach that this is any person who is open to the message and who has some influence (positive or negative).  In this way of thinking, the woman at the well in John 4 would be a "person of peace".  This would lead us to try and plant a church in the home of anyone who meets Christ.  The result of this has been lots of churches being planted but also of many of them dying fairly quickly because of the immaturity of the new leader.  My belief is that we must understand "person of peace" in the context of the First Century Jewish culture.  Shalom implies "wholeness, health and maturity".  So, the "person of peace" may not be a believer but they are a mature person who is probably an experienced head of a household (Cornelius is a good example).  I can't prove it but I suspect that Paul is describing a "person of peace" in 1 Tim. 3.  (Once again, Gehring's work has shaped my thinking on this.)  All of this means that we might plant fewer churches initially but they will be much healthier and will have a much better chance of reproducing.  This also shapes the way we pray 10:2b.
 
11.  Rest time is over. Gird yourself up and get ready to run!   Yes!!!
 
So, Maurice, let me emphasize that there is much that you said that I haven't commented on just because I'm in agreement with you.  Thank you for the thought and pray er that you have put into your Manifesto.  May the Lord indeed birth 10,000 new house churches in the greater Spokane area!
 
John
 
From Tony Dale of House2House:
 
Maurice,
 
I have had a quick read through your newsletter and the accompanying 14 point thesis.  At this stage just a couple of very quick comments:
 
You are welcome to publish my thoughts if you are creating a chat room or discussion thread on your 14 points. Enough!  Let me know how the dialogue progresses.  -Tony
 
From Felicity Dale , author of  the new book, “An Army of Ordinary People”.
 
Maurice,
 
This is a great document—I hope it gets read by many people.  It was obviously born out of much thought and pray er.  Here in Austin we are beginning to think in these ways too.
 
I would be interested to dialog in one area—the subject of 5-fold teams.  Obviously the 5 different ministries functioned in the NT, but I am not convinced they functioned in 5-fold teams, at least not as a set and permanent team.  I am concerned if we build a doctrine or practice on a single verse.  Maybe my caution comes from our experiences in the UK where we saw such teams formed across the nation and becoming a source of division in what was then known as the house church movement  (I am of Paul, I am of Cephas etc.). All the different house churches belonged “under” one 5-fold ministry team or another.  In the NT, it appears to be a much more fluid thing, and maybe that is what you are meaning.  A prophet was needed, and Agabus happened to be around.  Let me know what you think. 
 
I love the sense of strategy that you have and believe it may easily be the next step in the maturing of this move of God.  What wonderful days to be at work in the Kingdom.   I am so excited by what you and Larry are doing, too.
 
Blessings
Felicity
 
Rough Draft of New Equipping Workbook On-Line
 
As you may be aware since spring & throughout the summer I have been working on a new House Church Equipping Workbook. It at times has felt like “the never-ending project” (I literally have people coming into the local Starbucks where I like to write asking me “Haven’t you finished that book yet?”!). As I close in on the end of this phase of the project I thought it might be helpful if I posted the various Modules on the website as PDF files for your review and comment. It would be great to get your input regarding the usefulness of what you see. So, by this coming weekend I hope to have the files posted on the website (parousianetwork.com) with a link on the Site Menu (second item down). Please take the time to review a module or two and tell me what you think. Understand that I am still “tweaking,” adding bibliography, checking spelling and grammar, etc. That’s why this is a “rough draft.” But your thoughts and input would be appreciated.
 
Wolfgang Simson House Church Conference Page On Website
 
O.K.  We now have the Wolfgang Simson Conference page up and available with photos from the weekend and downloadable audio files! Go to our website (www.parousianetwork.com) and follow the link on the Site Menu.
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