In This Issue:

Bill Hybels, John Wesley And House Church

 

Bill Hybels (aka Willow Creek) has a problem that John Wesley understood. The difference is, John Wesley understood the problem and how to fix it. A lesson Bill Hybels could benefit from, and therein lies the heart of the matter . . . and the beginning of a new house church tale.

 

A house church friend recently sent me a link to a Willow Creek website featuring a video of Bill Hybels giving a talk at a recent "Leadership Summit". The talk was entitled "The Wakeup Call Of My Adult Life" and it is exactly that: A WAKEUP CALL TO THE "PURPOSE DRIVEN" MEGA-CHURCH MOVEMENT. To summarize (although you MUST watch it for yourself) some young wags at Willow Creek did a survey of their constituents regarding the overall effectiveness of their programs. The results were "interestingly devastating". When it comes to reaching "pre-Christians" and ministering to "young believers" Willow Creek is effective. What they do "works". But as young believers begin to grow in their faith, Willow Creek's effectiveness falls off dramatically. In other words, they are "bringing 'em in" but they are NOT "making disciples". Bill's solution to this problem? The creation of a new "discipleship program". Wow, bet you did't see that one coming! O.K. it's time for you to watch the video for yourself and draw your own conclusions. If this doesn't "stun" you, nothing will. Here's the link: http://revealnow.com/story.asp?storyid=49

Now let's go back. John Wesley was an evangelist (not unlike Bill Hybels). By means of his preaching ministry throughout the chapels, by-ways and fields of 18th century England Wesley reached thousands of people whom the Holy Spirit "awakened" from their spiritual slumber.  Wesley maintained that whether or not they were truly "regenerate" could only be determined over a period of time during which the individual must be given pastoral care and close examination. All of these "awakened" respondents were invited to attend Wesley's "Society" meetings. "There is only one condition previously required of those who desire admission into these societies," Wesley wrote; "a desire 'to flee from the wrath to come, and to be saved from their sins." (hmmm, a somewhat higher standard than most churches today!) 'But a problem soon arose. Wesley's preaching ministry was so successful that in the year 1743 alone one thousand new members were added to his London Society. This kind of rapid growth presented a problem for personal pastoral care and supervision (hello Bill, are you listening?). How were so many "awakened" seekers to be supervised and encouraged, and false professors weeded out? Wesley was adamant regarding the necessity of constant, personal pastoral care. "How grievously are they mistaken who imagine that as soon as the children are born they need take no more care of them," he wrote. But how could he personally minister to so many?

The answer began in Bristol where Wesley's "Society" there had grown to 1,100 people. A society member by the name of Foy suggested that one person call on eleven others during the week to inquire of their status. The Bristol Society was quickly transformed, "In a while, some [class leaders] informed me that they found such and such a one did not live as he ought. It struck me immediately, 'This is one thing, the very thing we have wanted so long.'" These weekly visitations soon became weekly class meetings, "This was the origin of our classes at London," he wrote, "for which I can never sufficiently praise God, the unspeakable usefulness of the institution having ever since been more and more manifest." Soon, every Methodist Society was broken into smaller Classes of 12 persons who met weekly with a Class Leader for pastoral care, examination, encouragement and exhortation. According to Wesley, "Many now happily experienced that Christian fellowship of which they had not so much as an idea before. They began to 'bear one another's burdens,' and naturally to 'care for each other.' As they had daily a more intimate acquaintance with, so they had a more endeared affection for, each other."

The "Class," consisting of 12 people pursuing the discipline of Christian godliness, became the centerpiece of Methodism for the next 100 years, until the mid-1800s. It was in the Class that the "awakened" were discipled, examined and instructed, and where they shared mutual fellowship and learned to bear one another's burdens. It was in the Class that the "Rules" (those standards of behavior expected of every Methodist) were read and where individuals were examined to see if they were sincere in their desire to live according to Methodist discipline. Eventual membership in the greater Methodist Society was contingent upon a probationary period in the Class. People whose lives appeared to genuinely mirror their profession would be recommended for full membership. Those who continued in their old ways and demonstrated no willingness to change their walk would eventually be excluded from the weekly Class and the quarterly "Love Feast".

 

O.K., time to stop circling the airport and land this thing. So, what do John Wesley and Bill Hybels have in common with each other? A lot, but specifically they had an identical problem separated by 200 years. What do you do with thousands of people who "respond" to the gospel? The typical and predictable American solution is to build a bigger building to hold them all (or build a "satellite campus") where a gifted person can preach to all of them, thereby creating a spiritual river a mile wide, but barely an inch deep. On the other hand, Wesley's solution was to "get big by going small".  He solved the problem of providing pastoral care and personal discipleship by creating small groups which were essentially "simple house churches" (the original methodist Classes met in people's homes on Thursday nights, until the Methodist movement began building its own "preaching houses"). It's interesting that the original size of the "Class" was about the optimum size of a simple house church. How successful was this approach? By the time of Wesley's death in 1791 it is estimated that there were 186,000 Methodists who were discipled and committed to the Kingdom of God. Bill Hybels can only hope for such a spiritual legacy. BTW, the epitaph on John Wesley's grave marker reads: "Lord Let Me Not Live To Be Useless" Amen to that, John.

 

Jamie's Journey - An Update

 

Roughly 10 days ago my wife and I made a "quick" day trip to Seattle and pick up Jamie and her mom from Harbor View Medical Center and brought them home. Jamie is recovering (she left the hospital with 16 perscriptions. She currently takes 20 pills three times a day and is still beng treated for 7 (!) different infections! Jamie needs your prayers for recovery, and for a fresh touch from God. It has been a long journey and she is tired.  There are many issues yet to be resolved, but love, prayer and encouragement are the best medicine that the house church community can offer Jamie and her mom right now. They just need to know that they are loved and covered in prayer. They need to know that this is how a believing community responds to those in need. If we as a house church movement are to become "known" for anything, let it be for our love and good deeds toward "the least of these".

The "Simple Church Minute" Radio & Podcast Project Update

My thanks to those of you who inquired about our "Simple Church Minute" Radio and Podcast Project. As Special thanks to a  house church friend and supporter of our ministry who gave us a generous gift of $2,000 toward this project. I had the joy of ordering three more pieces of much needed equipment this morning! Wahoo!  There is still on-going need (for another $3,000, primarily for radio time) and opportunity for you to participate (hit your "REPLY" key and tell me what you would like to do). Our goal for this project is to give "simple house church' a consistent & quality media voice which we pray will be like feeding people "salt" and making them "thirsty" for more. The end result is that we want to plant simple house churches wherever radio (and podcasts) can reach. In addition to the podcasts  (I have now posted the first 15 podcasts on a new website we have created: www.simplechurchminute.org) I am preparing an introductory simple church book entitled "You Want To Do What In Your House?!: Straight Answers To Your Most Frequently Asked Questions About House Church."  The finished product will be approximately 75 pages (5X7) and will be both humerous and informative. My wife, Gale, is busy illustrating it right now and we're having way too much fun with it (yes, the Klingons do make an appearance, along with kids, farm animals, the police and more!). The radio/podcast commentaries will eventually offer the book to everyone responding to the program. I hope you'll catch the vision, get involved and help this project succeed. Here's how you can start right now: First, I would love to get your  feedback on the podcasts as we create and post them. Second, I have established an initial "broadcast budget" of $5,000 to officially launch the broadcast phase of the project and get it aired. Thanks to the gift we received this week we only need another $3,000 for this initial phase.  Needless to say, there will be on-going needs as the project goes forward, but right now we simply want to get it off the ground and airing. If you would like to help out financially, you can send a gift to: The Parousia Network, P.O. Box 18793, Spokane, WA 99228, or use our PayPal account at donations@parousianetwork.org. We're excited about this simple house church planting project, including parts of it I can't share with you yet because they aren't finalized. Please keep us in your prayers as we push forward.

 

"A Gathering Of Angels . . . And A Time To Dance"

Our next gathering is scheduled for this FRIDAY evening the 9th of November at 7:00 PM at the Smith's.