“Nor do people put new wine into old wineskins, or else the wineskins will break, the wine is spilled, and the wineskins are ruined. But they put new wine in new wineskins, and both are preserved.” (Matthew 9:17). What does it really mean to “do” church differently? What does “change”...

“Nor do people put new wine into old wineskins, or else the wineskins will break, the wine is spilled, and the wineskins are ruined. But they put new wine in new wineskins, and both are preserved.” (Matthew 9:17). Christian Schwartz, a German-born, church-growth researcher suggests that we are in the...

What you call the church determines how you will relate to it. Some of the newer terms we have used to market the local church, and even solicit involvement and participation are the use of the common term “team.” It gets printed on t-shirts, banners and baseball caps, whatever necessary...

Proclamation always presupposes community. What are we saying when we say, “church?” When we invite others to “church” what exactly is it that are we offering people? A meeting, a club, some information station, a clinic, a lecture, an MLM, or a place to actually live with others? There is...

In the last few hours of His earthly ministry, Jesus’ compassion towards His followers reaches out once again to sooth their troubled minds and hearts.  Time and time again throughout His ministry here on earth He had tried to prepare His disciples for His departure, His ascension, His going back...

In Jesus’ classic style of pedagogy He used many forms in expressing many truths. Many of these forms are loaded with picture words, or types, analogies and metaphors that are in parabolic form bringing clarity to the truth of His essential teachings. For the kingdom He used land, pearls, parties...

It was a regular Monday morning for me. At least it started out that way. I was sitting in the patio area of a local restaurant in San Diego enjoying my breakfast and reading through the paper. Actually I have made a habit for years of praying through the USA/Today...

It is now obvious (at least to some of us) that “housechurching” is not just a bailout reaction for believers currently discontent or dissatisfied with today’s church. House Churches (organic churches, simple churches, marketplace churches, etc.) are not just covert gatherings for malcontents, people who have never had very good...

A standing concern of us over the recent years of emphasis on housechurching and community, is that if we are not discerning and careful, we can get so ingrown, so addicted to loving our intimate fellowship, that we might forget to be missional, to go beyond us, and possibly even...

“The harvest truly is plentiful, but the laborers are few.” (Matthew 9:37) A standing concern over the recent emphasis on housechurching, especially with its strong emphasis on the need for deeper fellowship and more authentic community, is that we might be once again concentrating too much on those already saved,...