Simply Church: A House Church Perspective

Teachings from India (part 1)

Prior to the World House Church Summit in India, a much smaller group came together to go through the training that the Indian church planters use.  It is interesting that similar training, from many different sources, is being used all over the world.  The Holy Spirit is giving the same principles to those who are seeking him about reaching out to transform society with the Good News.

I took extensive notes during that time, and hope that what was covered will prove useful to others.

Victor:  Making Disciples

It is the business of a bride to produce babies.  If she is not able to have babies, then she is investigated by a doctor.  Similarly, a church has to multiply to show she is alive!

John 1:35-40

Two disciples of John spent time with Jesus.  From that time on they made disciples--for example, Andrew brought Peter to Jesus.  The very first house church was planted in Jesus' house.  It lasted one day.  There was no singing, no pulpit, no pastor.  The message was about making disciples which is the primary function of the church.

John 15:8

God is glorified when we bring much fruit, and that fruit is disciples. To be a discipler, you have to make disciples.  If you want to glorify God, make disciples!

Drinking from a Fire Hydrant

At the beginning of October, Tony and I left for a five-week trip that included Turkey, the UK and India.  What a privilege!!

The first week was spent in Turkey near Antioch.  Actually it was at Seleucia, which is the port from which Paul and Barnabus set sail on their first missionary trip.  The jetty from which they would have left was just behind our hotel.

There have been some great blogs about our time in Antioch. I suggest you start with Mike and Leslie Kim's account and then follow their links to other blogs on the subject.  http://bit.ly/7TgOoL

From there, we went to the UK where I had a wonderful couple of weeks with family and friends while Tony came back to the States for some business related conferences.  This was followed by some time in the south of India to follow up on a healthcare project we have been involved in for the past couple of years.

Then on to the World House Church conference in Delhi.  That's where the fire hydrant came in.  The first few days about 50 of us gathered to experience the training that one of that nation's leading church planters does.  This church planter and his wife saw 68,000 baptisms in their network in January followed by more than 250,000 baptisms on the Day of Pentecost this year.  I plan to blog about what was taught there in subsequent blogs. 

Following that, 200 of us from more than 40 nations came together.  A report on that time will follow.