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When I get busy, I tend forget the most important reason why I’m here, my prime directive – to make more and better disciples (Matt. 28:18-20)! In fact, unlike Jesus, the busier I become, the more I lose compassion for the lost. It doesn’t take much for the multitudes to become more of a stumbling block to impede my effectiveness rather than a reason for becoming effective. Freeway traffic is a cause of frustration rather than compassion. A busy parking lot gives me a headache from the confusion rather than a heart that aches with compassion.

Compassion cannot be something pushed on us from obligation, it is something that comes out from within. In fact, the word “compassion” used of Jesus in scripture literally means “bowels” – it is something you feel in your gut. Compassion, real compassion, doesn’t come about by lawsuits. It is a natural feeling that stirs in your stomach and comes out in your eyes, your words, and your actions. It takes “guts” to care for the lost!

There are times when I intentionally go to a crowded shopping mall or a busy restaurant and just stand among the throngs asking the Lord to break my heart.

We are excited to announce the publishing of a new book in Russian - Reimagining the Church by Frank Viola. The book will be available in April, but until then we would like to share with you some excerpts to give you a taste of the book.

Open-participatory meetings do not preclude the idea of planning. Nor do they have to be disorderly. In 1 Corinthians 14, Paul formulates a number of broad guidelines designed to keep the meeting running in an orderly fashion.

In Paul’s thought, there’s no tension between an open-participatory meeting and an orderly one that edifies the church. The order of the meeting is organic. It’s the by-product of each member seeking to edify the whole.

Many people regularly visit this site. More and more churches are adding their information to the list of churches on the site. Since many of you are putting into practice the Biblical principles that are discussed on this site, we would love to hear your testimonies of how God is working. What are you learning about incarnational evangelism, making disciples, practical priesthood of all believers, Christ Headship, nonhierarchical leadership, and participatory gatherings? Share just a few sentences, or even more if you would like. Post it under our forum

Also our blog section is a great place to share what God is personally teaching you. If you from time to time or even often write down your thoughts of what you are learning in your relationship with God, please write a blog and share it with the rest of us for our encouragement.

Finally, we have recently been organizing training events for those involved in simple churches. If you are involved in a simple church or a simple church network and would like to hear about training opportunities, please contact Maxim Nikolaev at m.nikolaeff@gmail.com or Timmy Powers at timmy.powers@gcmweb.org

A list of the values that we’ve observed to be commonly shared among those who are gathering together in simple ways.

The Kingdom of God

• Our emphasis as Christians is on building the kingdom, not a church, or even “The Church.”
• New churches are planted and outreaches are planned in an endeavor to build the Kingdom of God, not necessarily a church or an organization.
• Allegiance within our groups and networks is to the King, not to the leadership within those groups and networks.

Look at the birds of the air . . . . Consider the lilies of the field . . . —Matthew 6:26, 28

Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin"— they simply are! Think of the sea, the air, the sun, the stars, and the moon— all of these simply are as well— yet what a ministry and service they render on our behalf! So often we impair God’s designed influence, which He desires to exhibit through us, because of our own conscious efforts to be consistent and useful. Jesus said there is only one way to develop and grow spiritually, and that is through focusing and concentrating on God.

We are excited to announce the publishing of a new book in Russian- Reimagining the Church by Frank Viola. The book will be available in April, but until then we would like to share with you some excerpts to give you a taste of the book.

Surprisingly, the Bible never defines the church. Instead, it presents it through a number of different metaphors.One of the reasons why the New Testament gives us numerous metaphors to depict the church is because the church is too comprehensive and rich to be captured by a single definition or metaphor. Unfortunately, our tendency is to latch on to one particular metaphor and understand the ekklesia through it alone.

Dear Nicolay,

Do you remember when we traveled around Ukraine doing the Vision Conferences to encourage church planting as part of a saturation church planting strategy? Those were exciting days full of enthusiasm, in spite of the resistance from many brothers. We fully expected that God would enable us to begin 40,000 new churches by starting reproducing churches. We talked about reproduction, movements and starting new churches, and the glory of God.

Too many of us still think the best way to win people is by inviting them to our already-established church, to join us where we are because we have something good for them there. This seems to be the thinking behind most of our efforts to create a welcoming, inoffensive, full-service experience for them once they arrive. This is the “Come To Us” approach.

But that’s not the way Jesus fulfilled His mission, and it’s not how He intends for us to fulfill ours. He completely left where He was in order to mingle with us here. And He now commands us to assert ourselves in a similar way, to leave our familiar surroundings and meet with others where they are. The attitude we need if we’re going to succeed is, “I’ll come join you. Let’s start something with the people you know and care about.” This is a “Go To Them” approach.

Editors Note:
Every day new visitors are coming to our site. In order to expose them to some of our best articles, and to create fresh discussion among those of us who have been active on the site a long time, we will from time to time repost an past article like this one. This article has been a favorite of many people. We invite you to read it for the first time or read it again. Take a moment to add your thoughts and commentary and let's learn together how we can honor and magnify Jesus and join Him in building His kingdom.

Dear Nicolay,

I understand your concern that if you give up control of your meetings there will be chaos and disorder, but be assured that the headship of Christ does not mean confusion or disorder – that is not the nature of Christ.

One of Paul’s common themes is the theme of freedom – it is a word he uses 29 times in his writing. We, in Christ, are set free from sin, Satan, the law, and our fleshy nature. This freedom is the foundation of the communities of Christians. We are free to be the people of God together – to follow, love, obey, walk with, and serve our God together.