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Who are you to judge someone else’s servant? To his own master he stands or falls. And he will stand, for the Lord is able to make him stand. One man considers one day more sacred than another; another man considers every day alike. Each one should be fully convinced in his own mind (Rom.14: 4-5).

Oh, come on Paul; give it to me straight, should we worship on Sunday or not? Can we eat meat sacrificed to an idol or not? Don’t hem and haw, just give me the rule and I’ll obey. But he doesn’t; why not?

Many people are finding the church planting training done by David Watson to be very helpful. We know of several people that have recently began to use these principles and accompanying materials effectively in Russian-speaking countries. You can find the video teachings for this training under the resource section on our site-Video Training
(//simplechurch.com.ua/en/resursy/video-teachings.html).

You can also find the written materials and tools that David Watson speaks of under the resource section- E-Books and Other Written Material:
-Discovering Jesus Bible Study
-Discovering God Bible Study
-Obedience Based Discipleship Bible Study ( //simplechurch.com.ua/en/resursy/e-books-and-other-written-material.html)

Please share your stories, as well as struggles and questions, concerning using this principles with others on the site. Thanks!

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.

If we are going to transition from church-as-we-know-it (a box) to a dynamic Spirit-filled movement, we will also have to transition from leadership-as-we-know-it to something else.

Alan Creech says the WHOLE thing has to be reinvented:

I mean full-time, paid staff pastors who preach every Sunday and do pretty much all the ministry and stress themselves silly over every little thing in the community. I think this will kill us if we keep this up. It's beginning to happen, but we've really got to re-envision what it means to be a pastor, leader, elder, whatever in our new churches. I don't think we can afford to keep the old pastoral paradigm alive any more. We can't do that and expect to happen what we want to happen in these communities.

A fresh look at the question of leadership in the church

//vimeo.com/19847639

The beauty of simple church is - it's simple! We enjoy the simplicity of sharing our lives with each other, growing in our walk with God, and reaching out to the lost with the gospel.  However, one area that can be neglected is giving.  Some people even got involved in a simple church due to the troubling focus of some bigger churches on budgets and money.  Perhaps they were in a situation that was even legalistic or manipulative. However, it is really important that we not neglect this area of service to the Lord, for the welfare of others, as well as for our own spiritual growth.

I have noticed two extremes when it comes to finances and giving. The first is where leaders demand that the members give. They may not come out brazenly and say it that way, but through manipulation, guilt, or the promise of financial blessings from God, they will get your money out of your hands and into “the work of God.” Some leaders are experts at this, to such an extent that those who give are unaware they have been taken advantage of.

Jesus often comes to us in unexpected ways and unexpected means.

Think about how He came to Earth. For centuries, Israel had waited for a political Messiah. They expected Him to lead a rebellion and free Israel from Roman oppression. But how did the Messiah make His entrance? He came in a way that made it easy for His own people to reject Him. He came as a frail baby, born in a feeding room for animals. There He was. The promised Messiah who was expected to overthrow the Roman Empire and set Israel free from oppression. A needy Nazarene born in a manger.

When Jesus grew up, He ate and drank in their presence and taught in their streets (Luke 13:26). Yet they didn’t recognize Him. He was unassumingly modest. A mere craftsman; the son of a craftsman. He grew up in the despised city of Nazareth, fraternizing with the despised and oppressed. But more startling, He befriended sinners (Luke 7:34). As such, the people of God didn’t recognize Him. Why? Because He came in a way that made it easy for them to reject Him. And what about the disciples?

Hello Friends,

We keep having this conversation about the several responsibilities that one must accept if any church is to work. Folks join up with a simple community and then discover that the freedom brings responsibility! It would seem as though some actually prefer freedom from responsibility to the responsibilities of freedom! Sitting in the stands watching the game carries no inherent risk but actually playing the game carries the risk of failure as one of the prices of the possibility of victory.

THE RESPONSIBILITY TO BECOME A SELF FEEDER!

If a church meeting is defined as a community where each one contributes something (and I Corinthians 14:26 is the only New Testament instruction on how to do church!) then each member must take responsibility to seek Jesus for themselves in order to be able to make a play! They must become a self feeder! We enjoy feeding our children when they are small but not when they are going to school! It is amazing to hear "mature" christians complain about how their pastor does not feed them! Is she/he really supposed to? If the Lord is your Shepherd then let Him lead you by the still waters and make you lie down in green pastures! Unless you feed on Him, you have no life in you!

Dear Nicolai,

Allow me to share with you two recent experiences which have led me to one conclusion.

The first was a recent visit to Madrid to spend time with Betel. Betel has begun 180 drug rehab homes and 40-50 churches around the world in the last twenty five years. One of their distinctives is that they work (businesses) to raise over 90% of their own support. The self-sufficiency allows them to have an apostolic spirit of reproduction - always looking outward and moving forward.

If the primary metaphor for church in the New Testament is family, then the primary model for leadership of an individual house church is spiritual mothers and fathers. Healthy families need healthy parents. Parents care what happens to their kids. They are always looking out for their good. They love it when their kids succeed. Their greatest longing is that their kids do better than they have done. With good parents, there's no envy, no one-upmanship.

A good parent will not do something for their kids that they could do for themselves. They assist their kids towards maturity in every area of life. Their goal is that their kids don't remain dependent on them any longer than necessary, but that a healthy interdependence results. In a healthy family, the kids will leave home and start their own families.

It has recently dawned on me that we really have no idea whatsoever what living in true community is. Perhaps the most telling symptom is found in the response so many of us receive when we speak of multiplying groups. It is quite common that people do not want to reproduce a group because they value the relationships they currently have and are afraid that if they start a new group they will lose the relationship. A recent review of my book, Search & Rescue, even mentioned that Life Transformation Groups foster short-term relationships because they are to multiply frequently and discipleship must involve much longer relationships than LTGs promote.
Well, this is actually a glaring symptom of a much more serious issue: we do not have very good relationships! If our relationships cannot endure maturation and development over the years then they are weak and anemic.