Simply ChurchPhoto credit:Donald Mcleod (Creative Commons) I recently read a fascinating story in a book called The Grace Outpouring by Roy Godwin and Dave Roberts. (Thank you, Chris!) The book is the story of a retreat center in Wales called Ffald-y-Brenin. The Lord led the people there to bless, not just the people who lived around… Read More
We learned many lessons from Rosa's story. The whole experience demonstrated very clearly the importance of church being missional, (Luke 10:3) rather than attractional. Here are some of the reasons: Jesus said, "As the Father sent me, so send I you." If I had failed to obey the impression I had to walk along a certain street,… Read More
Why do we believers so often do the opposite of what Jesus tells us? Jesus told his disciples to go; we ask people to come. Jesus instructed his disciples to make disciples of all nations; we ask people for decisions. Jesus said he will build his church; we try to do it for him. Jesus… Read More
According to Dave Barrett and Todd Johnson in World Christian Trends, the average cost per new baptism in the United States tops $1.5 million! This figure reflects the cost of church buildings, seminary training etc. What has happened to Jesus' instructions to the disciples in Luke 10. "Don't take any money with you…"? There is… Read More
Photo credit: Christophe Pasqual (Creative Commons) There's a dangerous virus going around the world. Like other viruses, it's identified with letters and numbers. Unlike other viruses, I hope you catch it. The 10:2b virus started when a couple of friends of ours, John White and Kenny Moore, were discussing one morning over breakfast how to… Read More
Photo credit: Stef Lewandowski (Creative Commons) When we started a church in the low income housing projects, the first thing we did was to prepare the ground in prayer. In Matthew 12, Jesus gives an illustration in his defense against an attack by the Pharisees. They accused him of casting out demons by the power… Read More
There was an experiment conducted several years ago by a church in Phoenix, AZ. Intercessors randomly selected 160 names from a local phone book. They divided the names into two groups–and prayed regularly for one of the groups, ie for 80 homes. The other 80 homes were not prayed for. After 90 days they called… 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
Continuing the story that starts here: Photo credit: urbaneapts (Creative Commons) When God answered Rosa's prayers in such a clear way, we asked Rosa: "Would you be willing to bring together some of your family and friends to hear about this Jesus who has been answering your prayers?" Rosa jumped at the idea. But that… Read More
Continuing the story of how we started a church in the low-income housing projects. A few months later, Tony (my husband) and I happened to be driving along Oltorf. We had some time to spare. "Let's prayer walk Springfield," Tony suggested. So we parked the car well away from the housing project and walked… Read More