In 2006 I was working at a local hospital as a chaplain and taken back by a high number of patients who could express and articulate their personal belief in Jesus Christ and convictions in biblical doctrines, yet who also had no involvement and fellowship in any church congregation. Many of these same individuals also shared stories with me of … Continue reading →
I belong to a Facebook group of some 4000 small church pastors, and recently someone asked what “What would be your advice to a new pastor?” The first thought that came to my mind was “Study, study, study.” Then as I thought it over further, a slew of things came to mind, so here they are… • Study God’s Word, … Continue reading →
If we were to meet over coffee to talk about your hopes to plant a church, I would begin by asking you if you have developed a theology of pastoral ministry. A theology of pastoral ministry isn’t much different than having a theology of God or a theology of the return of Christ or any other conviction of biblical beliefs. … Continue reading →
Don’t start a house church because you want to be in charge. That’s not a good reason. Worse yet, you can not sustain a house church if you just want to be the boss. My personal opinion is that it is perhaps the one really bad reason to want to start a house church. I happen to think that starting … Continue reading →
There was once a time while I was serving as a hospital chaplain that my family and I attended a new and growing Baptist church. We loved the fellowship, the church, the vision for growth, but there was one thing that use to drive me nuts…the pastor would often say “Why do you get so excited about your favorite sports … Continue reading →
Francis Chan has the left the mega church world and is now focused on ministry through his We Are Church house church network. I happen to like Francis Chan and I have a greater respect for his voice when it comes to advocating for simpler and smaller church groups and communities. Here is a video clip that I like and … Continue reading →
A few weeks ago I posted on 2 Corinthians & God’s Word and got into a bit of a rant on my observations on the waywardness of today’s church with a trend away from preaching from the Bible. You can read about that at https://www.crosshopechapel.org/2-corinthians-gods-word/. Sunday I shared about a comment in our pastors’ Facebook Group from a new minister who … Continue reading →
In a previous post I gave a definition for what I think when I use the term “Organic Pastor” and you can find that post here. In this post I would like to help you understand just what I mean when I use the term “Simple Church Communities.” My definition of the term “Simple Church Communities” is any gathering of people for … Continue reading →
I can remember one of my Old Testament professors discussing the difference between leaders who pull and leaders who push. He explained the difference by sharing with the class something he witnessed on a trip in the Middle East while he was traveling from a teaching assignment in Israel to a new teaching assignment in Ethiopia. He explained that when … Continue reading →
David Jones was a British teenager who wanted to make a career out of his love for music. He was playing and performing his music before he ever graduated from school. He became a leader of several bands and finally recorded his first album. The album received positive reviews by England’s harshest music critics, yet it sold little. In a … Continue reading →
There is a difference between leadership and management. You may be a workplace manager, but not necessarily a workforce leader. You may even have supervisory responsibility of employees, but that doesn’t automatically make you a leader. Leaders differ with managers in that they posses and practice qualities that allow them to succeed in motivating people. They don’t just manage projects; … Continue reading →
I consider myself an advocate of house churches, but I have long been perplexed by books, blog posts, and statements that claim an identifying mark of a house church is having “no pastor” or no leader. Usually the flip side of that coin is often explained as “the priesthood of all believers” and everyone in the house church is involved. … Continue reading →
I read an account from a church pastor who recently had some work done at his home by an electrician. The electrician asked him, as the homeowner, “What do you do for a living?” To which he replied, “I am a church pastor.” The electrician, while still working with the wires in the man’s ceiling said, “So you are a … Continue reading →
I am going back to using my English Standard Version. Last August I bought a Christian Standard Bible and really liked it and I still do, but in recent months my enthusiasm for this new translation has developed into reservation. An odd thing about me is that I like to have one Bible that I stick to for personal reading, … Continue reading →
While we were looking at the 4th chapter of 1 Corinthians, I pointed out that Paul’s understanding of a minister was very different than today’s “executive” or “celebrity” image often assigned to today’s pastors. 1 Corinthians 4:1 gives us the glimpse of ministry being likened unto a 3rd tier rower of a slave ship, something that James pointed out was … Continue reading →
Want to do some more exploring about how others are doing simple church? Let me suggest a couple online visits you can make to explore the concept of house church ministry. The sites I’ve listed below do not imply an endorsement, but they do give some clarity to today’s house church movement. • YouTube video: “What is Simple Church?” • Ed Stetzer … Continue reading →
Mega churches are great when it comes to outreach, but drawing a crowd isn’t what a pastor is called to do. Smaller gatherings is where disciples are made and souls are brought to Christ. Any executive can lead a mega church, but only a pastor can lead a small gathering of souls. Hundreds in our world are really wanting to … Continue reading →
A house church is not a one-size-fits-all or a cookie-cutter singular approach, but rather a zero-budget mission that is developed organically according to God’s leading and your calling. First, start with a call upon your heart. God uses pastors in His ministry and house churches that are led by pastoral care leaders are certainly following the biblical example that best … Continue reading →
The word church comes from the Greek word ekklesia which is defined as “an assembly” or “called-out ones” so according to the Bible, the church is the body of Christ—all those who have placed their faith in Jesus Christ for salvation. Our society has benefited from the traditional brick and mortar church building as a beacon of light in its presence and mission. However, … Continue reading →
Here is another video clip from Francis Chan on “How to hear from God” where he deals with comparison between the American Church and Jesus, with a godly balance speaking the truth in love. There are many speaking against the modern institutional church without love, which is why I so appreciate Francis Chan addressing these issues. This is a good … Continue reading →
It’s not often I copy and paste from another’s blog but I can’t say it any better and I want to share these thoughts with our CrossHope Chapel fellowship and those considering God’s calling to a simple church ministry. The below words are from a January 29, 2015 post by Ben Gosden, Senior Pastor of Trinity United Methodist Church in … Continue reading →
I am an advocate of doing church simply and a believer in the God ordained pastoral calling. However, I realize that there are voices in organic, simple, house church movements who reject the roles or at least the position of a “pastor” as belonging to institutional church. (I spoke to my concern of pastoral clergy criticism in my blog post “Critics of … Continue reading →
Several years ago I left traditional institutional denominational church pastoral ministry and received a lot of criticism from my colleagues on planting a house/organic church fellowship. Criticism from my fellow traditional ministers didn’t surprise me as much as the criticism I received from other organic church advocates, including random unexpected emails and even letters chastising me and trying to correct … Continue reading →
Somewhere along the line of my journey with CrossHope Chapel, it occurred to me that my calling in this mission was one of an “organic pastor” in philosophy, approach, and ministry. I want to give you a definition for the term “organic pastor” which is a term that I like to use when talking about those called of God to pastoral … Continue reading →