I just attended Verge 2012, a conference put on by Austin Stone, a mega-church here in Austin. It was an high-energy gathering with caliber, big-name speakers, sold out several days before it started and with something like 500 groups watching online. I had the privilege of running a workshop there. But you know what impressed… Read More
Category: Gathering to Listen
Photo credit: WingedWolf (Creative Commons) If there is one key skill in simple/organic church, it is listening to God. This skill is foundational in almost all we do. In my experience, however, God tends to speak to me about the things I ask him questions on. So if I never ask him about finances, he… Read More
Photo credit: pipnstuff (Creative Commons) Simple/organic churches can be inward looking. But when we seek Jesus, making him the center of everything that goes on and we ask him what is on his heart, we may find things change… A few months ago, our simple/organic church spent time learning to listen to God. Each week… Read More
I sometimes think the Lord gave us the experience with Rosa and starting church in the projects because it so closely parallels Luke 10. In Luke 10:1, Jesus commissions 72 disciples to go ahead of him in pairs to all the towns and places he plans to visit. Jesus had a strategy for the area–the… Read More
How do we hear God? Does He speak in an audible voice? How do we know it is Jesus speaking and not an over-active imagination? What might happen if we deliberately listen to God, believing He will speak to us? About 18 months ago I had the idea of a multi-media e-book that would address… Read More
I've just completed a 40+ page multimedia ebook on the subject of listening to God. (By multimedia, I mean it has videos and other links that are part of the book.) I'd love to have feedback from a few people so that I can make any relevant changes before I "go live" with this. My… Read More
In my last post on this subject, I looked at my personal journey and how God set me free from guilt-based religion. For me, that liberty came many years ago during my medical school days. I've not always lived in that freedom, but it has formed a basic backdrop for my life. My advice to… Read More
I was asked a fascinating question in response to the last couple of blogs on how an inward focused group can become more missional. Basically the question was: what do you do about mission if there is very little sense of community in your group? Here's a part of my response to the person who… Read More
The Mission Impossible series follows the exploits of the Impossible Missions Force, a small team of secret agents used for covert missions against evil organizations, dictators or crime lords. Most episodes begin with the leader getting orders from a hidden tape recorder and an envelope of photos and information which explains the mission. It ends with… Read More
Here are some of the trends I believe God is bringing into the body of Christ and more specifically into the simple/organic/house church movement that we will see in the coming year: An increasing emphasis on the Kingdom of God Groups on mission with God, listening to what he says to them and obeying what… Read More