I have a job in a very busy, very intense human services setting. I often do not have more than 10-15 seconds to talk to a person. I always have a brief ‘teaser’ line that might elicit interest, and a quick follow up line that gives more info that can lead to a conversation. Sometimes… Read More
Category: Kingdom skills
Like it or not, we were born again into a world at war. Photo credit: The US Army (Creative Commons) I often recall a story I was told of a soldier, fully clad in all his combat gear, sitting at a table outside a restaurant drinking a cup of coffee. He was killed by a… Read More
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Business as (spiritual) warfare
The Lord has used our business to teach us much about the Christian life, especially spiritual warfare. We began The Karis Group (Karis is Greek for “grace”) in 1996, and God wonderfully blessed–for about four years. We moved from the tiny spare room to our garage. When we were obviously violating the zoning laws because… Read More
Simple things multiply; complex things are much harder to reproduce. Photo Credit: woodleywonderworks (Creative Commons) One of my favorite quotes from a Filipino church planter is this: Never do anything in church that a one week old Christian would be unable to duplicate. Only model what you want to see reproduced and what will lead… Read More
Does your simple/organic church have an impact beyond the gathering? There’s a simple tool to help with that. Â Photo Credit: Kalexanderson (Creative Commons) In the interactive Bible study pattern that we most frequently use and teach to others, four symbols help people share around the passage: A question mark: do you have any questions… Read More
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Multiplication tools: vision
The vision the individual members have for your group will determine the actions they take and your group’s ultimate destination. Photo credit: woodleywonderworks (Creative Commons) Why are the people in your group meeting? Simple/organic church provides a more intimate community. This is great, and an important component of simple church, but if that is why… Read More
Accountability has been key to the church that meets in our home over the last few weeks. Photo credit: ItzaFineDay (Creative Commons) In the last post, I described how a challenge to pray with someone during the week, led to my reaching out beyond my comfort zone to pray with a total stranger over the… Read More
Accountability can make you do some crazy things. Two weeks ago, the church that meets in our home discussed accountability. In order to make it practical, I challenged everyone to try and pray with someone, preferably who doesn't know the Lord, during the week, and said that we would report back the next time we… Read More
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Multiplication tools: practice
If you want to become proficient at a skill, the answer lies in practice. Photo credit: Morrow Cove (Creative Commons) Musicians rehearse, athletes practice, anyone who wants to become proficient at a skill puts in hours per day. They perform the same drill over and over again until it has become perfectly natural. I’m sure… Read More
If you want your group to be outward looking, the list is a powerful tool. In CMA's Life Transformation Groups, each person makes a list of three to four people who are not followers of Jesus that they commit to pray for daily. In T4T, each person is encouraged to make a list of all… Read More