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This is a wonderful article about movement of disciple-making in Iran.

//godreports.com/2019/09/fastest-growing-church-has-no-buildings-no-central-leadership-and-is-mostly-led-by-women/

Editors Note: Though many of the articles on our site deal with very practical aspects of evangelism, discipleship, and church life; our underlying passion is the exaltation of Jesus Christ in our lives and in our churches. We want people to discover the surpassing greatness of Jesus and the opportunity that we have to live in deep relationship with Him. This article is one that really expresses well that which is most important for all of us.

I tell you, her sins—and they are many—have been forgiven, so she has shown me much love. But a person who is forgiven little shows only little love.

Luke 7:47

Women have a large part to play in the New Testament story. They funded Jesus’ earthly ministry (Luke 8:1–3). They were also the most faithful of His disciples, staying with Him to the bitter end.

But of all the women mentioned in the New Testament, none can compare with Mary of Magdala.

-Five ideas to keep in mind when you're planting something new

House churches are not organizations that require people with administrative skills or immense giftedness to coordinate and direct a group—they simply call for ordinary people who are in love with Jesus. Neil Cole, in Cultivating a Life for God, believes that simplicity is the key to fulfilling the Great Commission. He says, "The more complex the process, the greater the giftedness needed to keep it going.'"

Conference in Lviv, Ukraine March 10th-12th

We encourage participation in this conference sponsored by Епохa. There will be profitable training and an opportunity to go out and put the training into practice during the conference.

Visit this link for more details- https://www.emsreg.eu/public_otm/events/14/registrations/landing_page

We have all gone through times when we wondered where our discernment was.  One of the lessons that Marilyn and I  have learned is that we begin to fly blind when we have any agenda other than simple obedience to Jesus. 

In I John 3:15- 17, John talks about three agendas that capture our hearts and blind us.  I want to speak of them in reverse order.

Advantages of Having Elders
It would be a serious blunder to conclude that elders are unimportant to the life of a church.  Paul warned that "fierce wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock." (ESV, Ac 20:29).  Some wolves are schismatic, others promote false doctrine, and still others practice immorality.   Too often, house churches without qualified elders fall in a type of spiritual malaise.  No one takes leadership responsibility.  There is no 'point man" to offer direction.  Things just coast along.  Discipleship is minimal.  In many cases, it becomes a case of the blind leading the blind.  Pooled ignorance in "teaching" becomes the norm.  Evident sins are overlooked.  Social problems are not dealt with.  The church can become vulnerable to wolves in sheep's' clothing.

Dear Nicolay,

Greetings, dear brother!  Here is the first practical idea for you to consider.  Hang on because it will seem radical to you.  I begin with I Cor. 14:26 where Paul encourages everyone to participate.  Compare that to your services where only a few participate.  Nicolay, allow me to suggest one way for you to encourage participation of all of your people is to change the way in which you handle God’s Word – to go to participatory learning and participatory teaching of God’s Word.
In all honesty, monologue preaching is less than effective in making disciples or transforming lives.  Evaluate this for yourself.

So here we go again...

Can a Christian eat pork ribs or a ham sandwich? Not many of us who confess faith in Christ would have too hard a time answering that question. Yet, for first-century believers this was one of those "tough issues" that had to be worked through. Just ask Peter. In Acts 10 Peter tells the voice from heaven, By no means, Lord, for I have never eaten anything unholy and unclean. Yet he is corrected, What God has cleansed, no longer consider unholy.

Can a Christian drink wine? Believers in Argentina would think, what a silly question! Of course you can. Jesus did. There is even a miracle in the Bible about Jesus turning water into wine at a wedding feast.

I have never been able to enjoy looking at a bird in a cage, even if it is a nice cage. While it may provide a safe haven and contain all the food and water she will ever need it also prevents her from doing the one thing God made her to do. A bird that cannot take wing and soar to the heights misses the best part of being a bird.
Over the last decade I’ve communicated with thousands of people whom God has awoken to the fact that they have grown up in religious cages that have stunted their growth and robbed them of God’s life. Some were thrown out for questioning the sanctity of the cage, while others escaped when they noticed the door was not closed as tightly as they’d been led to believe.

Dear Nicolay,

Before I get to the practical ideas that you asked for – let me first talk about the nature of change.

The decision about change often centers on not the need for change, but the rate or speed of change.  There are those who favor gradual, systematic change and there are those, like myself, who propose significant, radical change.