There is a spiritual lesson here that we dare not miss. History both reminds and warns us that every generation of Christians who are used of God, and every movement of the Spirit of God that moves beyond the four walls of the Church will be remembered for something. Legendary behaviour is part of the legacy each generation of believers (both individually and as a Church) leaves behind them. That reality should come as an admonishment to the Simple Church or House Church movement. In short, we will all eventually be remembered for something. Like those intrepid warriors and "band of brothers" whom Shakespeare immortalized, we too will become legendary. The only question is, "For what?"

Like one untimely born, I came to Christ at the tail-end of the Jesus Movement, a movement now legendary for it passion, power and hippie preachers like Lonnie Frisbee. I became a campus Christian radical at the University of North Carolina (Chapel Hill), eventually going on staff with Campus Crusade for Christ. "You Campus Crusaders, why, you’d charge hell with a water pistol!" bemoaned an exasperated pastor. Yep, it was the stuff of legend, which still causes aging alumni to chuckle when reminded of those exciting days of "campus aflame".

When we look beyond our own generation other legends stand out. During the Evangelical Awakening in England in the 1700s, John Wesley and the Methodists also became legendary. First, in an age of debauchery and conspicuous consumption among the upper classes of English society, they became legendary for their commitment to personal holiness and modest living. Secondly, in an age of appalling child labor abuse and illiteracy, the Methodists implemented "Sunday Schools" to give children a rudimentary education. In an age of poverty and debtors prisons, the Methodists became legendary for creating what today would be called "credit unions" to give the poor an alternative to pawn shops for short term loans and to help many of them start their own businesses. And in an age of widespread spiritual lethargy and social apathy, they became legendary for their evangelistic and social work among the lower classes of English society, people excluded from or abandoned by the Church of England and the rest of proper English society. Every Methodist was required to pay a weekly "penny tax" which went exclusively to fund their outreaches to these people. Why were they willing to pay it? Perhaps in no small part due to the example set by Wesley himself, who gave away 98% of everything he made through the sale of his books and writings. Methodist outreach became legendary throughout England for 100 years. When their vision for such "cutting edge" outreach fell out of favor in the mid 1800s, a licensed Methodist preacher named William Booth, along with his wife Catherine, left the Methodist Church to found The Salvation Army and to recapture the vision of outreach to "the least of these." And new legends were created (such as Booth’s work with London Journalist W.T. Stead to expose appalling social exploitation - including child slavery and prostitution).

About the time that William and Catherine Booth were laboring in the slums of London, Jozef de Veuster was stepping off a ship in Honolulu Harbor. Better know to history as Father Damian, he was a Catholic priest assigned to the Catholic Mission in North Kohala on the island of Hawai‘i. When his Bishop announced a desire for a priest to minister to the needs of the 816 lepers living at the leper colony of Kalaupapa on Moloka’i, Father Damien gave it prayerful thought and then asked for permission to go to Moloka‘i. In May of 1873 Bishop Maigret presented Damien to the colonists as "one who will be a father to you, and who loves you so much that he does not hesitate to become one of you; to live and die with you." For the next eleven years Father Damian worked tirelessly to bring order out of chaos and basic medical treatment to the colony. Then, one evening in December of 1884, during his evening ritual of soaking his feet in hot water, he realized that he could no longer feel the heat. He himself had become a leper. Father Damian continued to work among his "brother lepers" until his death in April, 1889. Cannonized as a Saint in 1995 (the patron saint of lepers and those suffering from HIV/AIDS), Father Damian is a legend, both in his native Belgium as well as in Hawai’i where a statue of Father Damian stands outside the entrance to the Hawai’i State Capitol Building on the island of O’ahu.

There are other examples I could use, both historical and contemporary. I’ve used these simply in order to frame the question: "What will you, your house church and the simple house church movement be legendary for in generations to come?" I wish I could give you a clear and concise answer to this question, but I cannot. No one can. The answer will be determined by what those of us in the movement do in response to the call of God upon each of our lives. Anything I offer here is shear speculation (sanctified speculation, of course!). But since speculation on God’s will for the future is a time honored tradition in the Church, allow me to share some of my speculations with you.

Let me begin by speculating on what will NOT become legendary (or, "How to avoid becoming the recipient of the "Edsel Ford House Church Innovation Award"). First, I don’t think we will become legendary for our structure. We will not become legendary for meeting in houses. Sorry. It isn’t about our structure. It’s about our values (which I hope you can articulate; cuz otherwise you probably won’t be doing simple house church for very long). Second, I don’t really think we will become legendary for our books, magazines, newsletters, DVDs, or podcasts (ouch!). Does anyone remember the books John Wesley wrote (and he did a LOT of writing) or the name of William Booth’s book ("In Darkest England And The Way Out"), or the magazine Evan Roberts edited after the Welsh Revival? Did Father Damian even write anything (not that I’m aware of). A generation from now will anyone even remember "The Purpose Driven Life" or "Houses That Change The World" (sorry, Wolf. It really is a great book!)? Hmmm. Don’t count on being legendary for your writing. Third, I don’t think we will become legendary for our critiques of the traditional, institutional church and its perceived faults and failures. Do you recall the name of the Reverend Peter Price? Probably not, yet he created quite a sensation as the chief critic of the Welsh Revival of 1904. But today, when people speak of the Welsh Revival, they speak of Evan Roberts, not Peter Price. Unless they are spectacularly right, like Martin Luther or John Calvin or John Knox, critics seldom attain legendary status, except as unwanted "gadflies".

O.K., allow me to speculate about two things I believe God wants us to become legendary for in the coming move of His Spirit as it sweeps through the simple house church movement. First, I have a growing sense that God wants us to become legendary for our outreach to "the least of these". I have written previously about my perspective on this topic (see my e-letter for October 19, 2006, posted on our website) and it has become an inescapable burden for me. I believe there is a broader message here for the Church at large and for the house church movement in particular. This is no idle speculation for me. I have helped found a food rescue agency which supplies the ministries in our city that feed those in need. I spend Thursday evenings feeding men at a homeless shelter where I am on the board. And my goal is to see house churches planted in the toughest, most drug infested neighborhoods of our city. I am still working to come to terms with what I believe to be a word from the Lord, but I am increasingly convinced that it is genuine. I believe God wants to take His available church "back to the streets" to reach out to "the least of these," and He is looking for "house church legends" who hear and answer the call. How this finds expression for you and your house church network is what we are all waiting to see.

Second, I believe God wants us to become legendary for the DNA of our movement. At the outset of the Welsh Revival of 1904, Evan Roberts built all of his meetings around four propositions: 1) You must confess any known sin to God, and put any wrong done to man right; 2) You must put away any doubtful habit; 3) You must obey the Spirit promptly; 4) You must confess your faith in Christ publicly. These four "planks," if you will, became the DNA of the Welsh Revival. I believe God has given us the "Three Planks" of the coming movement of the Holy Spirit in House Churches: 1) Holiness/The Fear of God; 2) Repentance; and 3) Intimacy (see my e-letter of May 9, 2007, "Defragging House Church - Part 1: The DNA of the Coming Move of God,"posted on our website in our newsletter archives).

While I am deeply sympathetic (and in basic agreement) with those people in the House Church movement who believe that "miraculous signs & wonders" should characterize what we do, I am increasingly convinced that God is as concerned with our "character" as He is with our "power". Perhaps He knows that character made up of holiness/fear, genuine repentance and personal intimacy will prevent us from being destroyed by the very power we seek to walk in. The person who would choose spiritual power over spiritual character is untrustworthy with the one precisely because he is devoid of the other. The person who would choose the hand of God over the character of God doesn’t understand the heart of God. Consider the following summary statement which I offer in our study "Seven Reasons To Believe: A Study of The Seven Signs of John". Here it is: "Miracles are signs which cause men to wonder, and which point to God at work; and are intended to result in repentance and faith". When the end result of any "signs and wonders" movement is anything other than a challenge to "repentance and faith", they quickly become a distraction and you are well on your way into the realm of "false fire" and "fire on ice" (such as the current craze over gemstones, gold dust and manna currently sweeping our local area).

History demonstrates that the importance of God-breathed DNA at the outset of a movement cannot be overstated. One outstanding example is that of the early Moravians. Although the Moravians (or "Bohemian Brethren") traced their roots back nearly 300 years to the teachings of John Hus, it wasn’t until 13 August 1727 that the Moravian remnant living at Herrnhut experienced a visitation of the Holy Spirit, was dramatically transformed and "Learned to love one another." The impact upon the Moravians was profound as God imbedded the movement with new DNA that would cause them to become legendary for 100 years. That DNA consisted of 5 things:

1. Prayer - "The Lord’s Watch" became a movement of continuous prayer which ran uninterrupted, 24 hours a day, for 100 years.

2. Daily Watchwords - daily devotionals started on 3 May 1728 and which are now published in 50 languages, making it the oldest and most widely read daily devotional work in the world.

3. Community - the Moravians established over 30 settlements globally on the Herrnhut model, emphasizing a lifestyle of prayer and worship, and a form of communal living in which personal property was still held but simplicity of lifestyle and generosity with wealth were considered important spiritual attributes. As a result, divisions between social groups and extremes of wealth and poverty were largely eliminated.

4. Missions - The Moravians became "legendary" as the first large scale Protestant missionary movement. Their first two missionaries (Leonard Dober and David Nitschmann) became legendary for selling themselves into slavery in order to reach the salves on the Caribbean island of St Thomas in 1732 (If you have never heard Paris Reidhead’s famous sermon, "Not For A Shirt And Ten Shekels" in which he relates this story, you really should).

5. Renewal Meetings - The Moravians formed hundreds of small renewal groups (known as "diaspora societies") which operated within the existing churches of Europe. It was in a Moravian renewal meeting at Aldersgate where John Wesley had his "heart warming" experience that launched him into the Evangelical Awakening.

Conclusion & Application

O.K., time to stop circling the airport and land this thing. In order to accomplish my goal for this letter I am going to have to REALLY irritate some of you (Sorry, It’s a gift, and once the ol’ "snot anointing" kicks in, I just can’t help myself!). Today, from my limited perspective, the simple house church movement is trying to become "legendary" for being "different" ("We aren’t like the other institutional guys".) Being different is cute and fun until you wake up one morning and realize that you’re simply a spiritual rebel without a clue who knows how to do great bible & word studies. And that isn’t enough to sustain a movement. The simple house church movement is currently being led by some of the brightest and most gifted people I have ever met (current writer excluded). They really are some of the "sharpest knives in the drawer" and would be successful in whatever they applied themselves to, inside or outside the church. But some things haven’t changed. We are often walking in new structures but with old values left over from old (but successful) paradigms. The Evangelicals are still being evangelical. The Pentecostals are still being Pentecostal. The Charismatics are still being Charismatic. The healing people are still lengthening legs (O.K., My wife & I both experienced a profound healing a couple of weeks ago in our meeting! Wahoo!). The Toronto Blessing people are still trying to get people to fall down (or at least subscribe to the magazine - I spent a week in Toronto in 1995). In a word, we are ALL still trying to walk in the DNA of the last move of God’s Spirit that touched us. And that is like trying to eat yesterday’s manna. It was miraculous and nourishing yesterday. But today? Not so much. Old DNA will only produce old results. That’s fine if you are content with yesterday’s results and aren’t interested in the new things God has for you. I, for one, am no longer content with yesterday’s manna.

Every great move of God’s Spirit has it’s unique DNA that is sovereignly God-breathed at some point in time, and from that moment forward life profoundly changes. It is that DNA, delivered like a burning coal fresh from God’s altar, that will characterize the movement it touches and drive "ordinary" believers to acts of service and obedience in the Kingdom of God that will become "legendary". At the risk of sounding like a "broken record," I believe the River of Ezekiel 47, the River of God’s Spirit - and the well-spring of all spiritual renewal in the Church - is preparing to flow in fresh power and blessing not seen in our generation or lifetime. And when it flows the River will bring to God’s Church fresh DNA that will transform the spiritual landscape and determine the nature of this move for the remainder of this generation. Is your house church a vessel for the coming River? Are you prepared for holiness & the fear of God, profound repentance and profound intimacy with Him? Are you and your house church prepared to become "legendary"?