Editors Note: God is doing some fresh things in His church around the world. He is speaking to many people in similar ways. Due to our varied gifting, levels of of maturity, and even personalities, not all of us will see and understand these things in the same way. Not even the handful of us who manage the site see all the articles presented here the same way. Our heart is simply to encourage those to whom God is speaking about simple churches. We want to let you know how God is speaking to others around the world. This article is an example of some of things that believers are thinking about and discussing in regards to the church. We found these statements by a German brother to parallel some of the things that God has been speaking to us. These thoughts are challenging, and there may be something here you don't agree with. We, however, believe it is helpful to prayefully consider such statements and to allow God to speak to us as He would want to.

May our goal be fully aligned with God's goal-to see Christ exalted and for all men to be drawn to Him.

"Jesus told them, "The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few.
Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field."

Luke 10:2 NIV

Pre-Christendom  -  Christ to Constantine:

Christianity grew from a small, marginalized sect to a centralized accepted religion in 200 years - from a negliable percentage to 10 percent and growing.

Conversions were most likely a result of strong relational, interpersonal contacts with family, friends, and neighbors.  To keep growing, Christians maintained open networks - able to reach out into new adjacent networks.

Epidemics played a crucial role in Christianities growth.  From caring for their own to caring for others was significant - a lower death rate and relationships developed while caring for pagans.

It is vital to understand that house (or simple) church networks are not the same thing, in any way, as churches with small groups (even if those small groups are called "house churches."

The cell church (I will adopt the term "cell" church to refer to all types of small-group-based churches) has been a strong movement in North America over the past 30 years while the house (or simple) church network is only just beginning to emerge.

Earlier this year I heard a message  entitled Not by Might, Nor by Power from Zechariah 4:1-14.

This phrase which bounces around in Christian circles- "not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit says the Lord" has held great power through the ages. That was the first point of the sermon- It is about the Holy Spirit. He must be at the center of things. We can't do anything without Him. Our dependence must be on His guidance, not our own. This was a great reminder....

In Alcoholics Anonymous, The 12 Steps are read out loud at every meeting. 

For those of us who are still in detox from programmatic Christianity, there is value in repeating what we have said before:  the simple church revolution (reformation?) is not about doing conventional church in a home.  It's not "Honey, I shrunk the church!"  It's not 20 minutes of singing, 30 minutes of Bible study, 10 minutes of prayer and then refreshments.  (Or, any other prepackaged way of meeting.)

"OK.  If it's not about that, what is it about?"

Some call them house churches. Some call them organic churches. Some call them simple churches. We prefer to just call them churches. They are rapidly multiplying, simple communities of believers, meeting in homes, offices, campuses, wherever God is moving. This is the pattern common to many parts of the globe, and is now becoming more and more common in the U.S. as well.

When teaching about the organic church, a question I am asked more than any other is how we handle the threat of heresy. I understand this concern and want to address it in an intelligent and articulate manner because it is very important. The organic church movement is not going to last if we simply ignore the challenges it faces. But I also believe that the issues that are raised in response to our movement can find solutions that are not only satisfactory but even better alternatives to the way the church has addressed these issues in the past. If the organic church movement is not a move forward toward better health and wholeness, then it is not worth pursuing at all.

Our first challenge in grasping what God intends church to be, is to stop looking at it through the lens of our background and through the lens of 2,000 years of "church" as a formal institution.

Organic Church. I've been using this term for around fifteen years now. Today it's become somewhat of a clay word, being molded and shaped to mean a variety of different things by a variety of different people.

Ukraine is a European country; yet its spiritual history is quite different from Europe.  Europe is Western and a bastion of both Christendom and post modernism, which has brought Christianity to a comatose state in most of Europe.

Years of sitting in traditional church has not prepared us to do church in the manner described in the New Testament. We have been taught to come. To sit. To watch and listen to what others have prepared. (Someone described it as "sit, soak and sour".) This is Spectator Church. And it is no way to train believers to be priests!

By contrast, the churches described in the Bible engaged in Participatory Church. This kind of church requires preparation on the part of all of it's members. This is new. We haven't been taught how to do this.