House2House MAG_issue_4

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Issue 4 www.house2house.tv

Whos in Charge?Examining Leadership in the New TestamentWhos in Charge?


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Upcoming EventsWolfgang Simson on House Churches

November 27 & 28, 2001 Denver Colorado

Meet others from around the country involved in house churches. Hearexciting stories of what God is doing with house churches around the world.Learn how the prophetic is used in church planting and discover Godsstrategy for planting house churches in your city. Cost is $45 individual/$75couple before Nov 15. $55/$85 after Nov 15. For more information contact

John White: [email protected] (303) 756-0339

Simple Churches for a Complex World

November 29 - December 1, 2001 Cincinatti Ohio

This is a full blown conference on home churching in Cincinnati, Ohio.Featured speakers will be Wolfgang Simpson and Neil Cole. Cost is $25 perperson. For more information email [email protected]. Or callTawd Bell at 513-396-7202 ex103

Radical Discipleship - The Sermon On The Mount

January 4 & 5, 2002 Dallas/Fort Worth, Texas

Youll laugh and youll cry as Jeff Lucas, author of Lucas on Life, takes a lookat radical discipleship, Jesus style. Cost is $39 per person includes Workbookby Jeff. For more information contact David Underwood:[email protected] (817) 337-4654

Hearing Prophetically, Acting Apostolically

The Importance of the Prophetic in Rapid Church Planting

April 4- 6, 2002 Location T.B.A. (D/FW or Denver likely)

Wolfgang Simson and Chris Daza from Switzerland/Germany teaching onthe importance of the prophetic in rapid church planting. Visit our websitewww.house2house.tv or contact our office (512) 282-2322 for more details.

We need articles for the future

issues of House2House. Please

look at the areas that are listed

below, and if you already have

something appropriate written or

would like to write something

please visit our articles submissionpage at www.house2house.tv/

articles.htm.

January 2002 The role of the Holy

Spirit and power in church growth.

(Issue 5 deadline October 31st)

March 2002 Missions and use of

finance within Home Churches

(Issue 6 deadline December 15th)

May 2002 When you come

together, each one has...

I Cor 14:26

(Issue 7 deadline February 15th)

We are also looking for stories and

pictures of house church life.

More than 7 million people around the world read or hear the famous stories brought to you by Wolfgang Simsons

FridayFAX. Every week we provide you with up-to-date and short news and background information on what God is

doing around the world. The information has been researched and verified. DAWN International Network is a widely

connected global research and strategy network.

It is one of the most fascinating aspects of Jesus that he was a storyteller, not relating mere statistics or teaching dry

doctrine. Wolfgang Simsons FridayFAX wants to do both: bring you relevant statistical information and tell stories

about what God is doing worldwide. Through our worldwide network of well informed christian leaders, plus detailed

research we find reports that are:

TRUE - POSITIVE - UP-TO-DATE - ENCOURAGING

These are Great Stories about the Great Comission

Each FridayFAX has between 3 and 6 stories which will bring you quick, reliable and encouraging information - always

with a source (if you want to verify content or contact someone mentioned).

To Subscribe Please visit

www.house2house.tv/fridayfax.htm

Articles Needed


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Information

Contents:4 Editorial:

Tony Dale looks at how to do the leadership thing badly from his

own extensive experience!

5 Letters to the Editor

6 Postcard From the Edge:

Church conferences in Mozambique present some special considera-

tions; missionaries Rolland and Heidi Baker enlighten us on just what

those might be.

8 Speaking Prophetically, Acting Apostolically:

Wolfgang Simson helps to expand our understanding of prophets and

apostles.

11 15 Theses:Wolfgang Simsons theses on house churches, continued from the last

issue.

12 Vision:

Tony Dale helps us to see clearly on the subject of house church

leadership.

14 Comments on Fizer:

The Lord is leading many different people into similar things relating to

the leadership of home churches; Felicity Dale muses on this in her

commentary of Undrai Fizers article, Dying to Glory.

14 Dying to Glory:

Undrai Fizer shows the pathway to true glory.

16 The Dramatic Lack of Attention Given to Leadership

in the New Testament:

Frank Viola, in an excerpt from his book, Who Is Your Covering? ,

explores what the Bible has to say about leadership.

18 Whos the Boss Around Here, Anyway?

Part 4 of Tony and Felicity Dales soon to be published book,

APersonal Journey.

21 Biblical Eldership:

Link Hudson, shares his thoughts and observations on the role of

elders in the church.

22 The Leader as Servant:

John White illuminates some points from Gayle Erwins book,

The Jesus Style.

24 Bible Study:

A look at the character of the leader.

27 Submitting Together, or, Whos in Charge?

The wrong question always results in the wrong answer:

Jody and Dan Mayhew clarify the differences between subjection,

leadership, and authority.

30 Lucas On Life:

Pick Me, Please - Jeff Lucas wonders if we truly understand what

being disciples of Jesus means.

Mission Statement:We are pursuing the rapid advancement of

the kingdom of God by saturating and

transforming communities with a radical,

home-based, church planting movement.

How to Reach UsPhone: 512-282-2322

Fax: 512-292-5700

Website: www.house2house.tv

Mailing Address:

1019 Meredith Drive,

Austin, TX 78748

Advisory CommitteeDerek BrownRespected leader within the British NewChurches, responsible for the KingsChurches across U.K.

Frank ViolaChurch planter, author, Florida.

John ReinholdPresident of Christian Care Medi-Share, FL.

Andrew JonesProject director for the Boaz Project, NZ.

John WhiteHome church leader, Colorado.

Nate KruppChurch planter, author, Oregon.

Robert FittsChurch planter, author, YWAM Hawaii.

Jim RutzFounder of Open Church Ministries,

author of The Open Church, CO.Lynn ReddickPresident of Open Church Ministries, GA.

Linda ReddickChurch planter and author, GA.

Jeff LucasAuthor, Vice-President of the EvangelicalAlliance, U.K.

Wolfgang SimsonDAWN Europe, author,authority on

church planting movements, Switzerland.

Helpful Websiteshouse2house.tv - This magazine

openchurch.com - Open Church Ministriesntrf.org- New Testament Restoration Foundation

themagdaleneproject.org

- The Magdalene Project

imb.org - International Misson Board of the

Southern Baptist Convention

tccm.org - Christian Care Medi-Share

www.ptmin.org - Present Testimony Ministr ies

www.outreach.ca/cpc/ housechurches.htm

- Canadian House Church

www.myideafactory.net - David Bradshaw

www.95theses2000.org - Biblical Basis for HC


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It Shall Not beSo Among You!From the EditorI was young and foolish. (Is it myimagination, or do those two oftengo together?) Felicity and I had beeninvolved in church planting in the EastEnd of London. The Lord was bless-ing, with many being saved and newhome churches beginning to emergeall over that part of London.

John and Peta, the local couple whohad first knocked on the door of our

home, having seen the Smile, Jesusloves you sticker on our car (this wasthe 70s), were actively sharing in thelead with us of this new group ofchurches. John, a local contractor, wasas down to earth as they come. He wasnot a natural preacher (understand thisto mean not very academic!!), but socaring of all involved, that all naturallylooked him up to. However, I neverreally looked up to him.

You see, I was the natural leader. Ihad led everything that I had ever beeninvolved in. I was the captain of myhigh school soccer team. I had beenelected student body president in mysenior year. Why, at the graduationceremony from high school, I was evenvoted by my class to receive the cov-eted Most Likely To Succeed award!So when I told John that I did not feelhe should be doing the teaching at ourSunday celebration meetings when allof the home churches came together,he was hurt. Yet, he was willing to

submit to the leadership that I hadgiven in starting the church.

Looking back on this 25 years later,I can only confess how wrong I was.Leadership isnt education. It isntnatural ability. It isnt how articulateyou are, or how charismatic yourgifts. In the body of Christ, it ismeasured by your servant heart andactions. John would do anything foranybody, and didnt mind who gotthe credit. He not only worked long

hours in his business, but he thencame home and gave endless hoursto being with people, to counselingthem, to searching the scriptures withthem. If someones door was brokenhe could fix it. If someones marriagewas falling apart John and Petawould take the time to listen, to pray,and to bring that couple into theirhome to see how a loving marriage

should really work. John and Petawere (and are) true leaders.

In James 1: 27, we see that truereligion is looking after widows andorphans in their distress, and keepingoneself from being polluted by theworld. Nowhere does this pollutionshow itself more clearly than in howthe Christian church has turnedupside-down everything that Jesustaught us about leadership. Jesusclear teaching in the gospels was thatleadership was not just measured by,but actually lived out through, a life ofservice. You dont only earn the rightto be a leader by putting out thechairs and washing up at the end ofthe meetings (meatings!!), but youactually demonstrate what leadershipis all about. We dont graduate fromservice to leadership, but from serviceto the opportunity to further lay downour lives for our brothers and sisters.

Most of the articles in this issuelook at questions surrounding the

area of leadership. Leadership in anemerging church movement is cru-cial. It is clear from any study ofchurch history, or even just of humannature, that the tendency is always tobegin in the Spirit but to end up inthe flesh (see Gal 3:3). It is not that itis wrong or unspiritual to aspire afterleadership, but rather the question is,[Who] shall have the preeminence?If your heart is to serve, then theanswer to that question is anybody

but the leader! There is a fascinatingverse in 1 Cor. 12:24 where it says,But God has given the greater honorto the parts that lacked it, so thatthere should be no division in thebody. If that is the way God handleshonor, why would we want to dothings so differently?

Hierarchical leadership is a Biblicaloxymoron. When I pulled rank with

John in that first group of churcheswe planted, I was not acting as aBiblical leader. This is one of thereasons that scripture so clearlyteaches a plurality of leadershiprather than a one man band. Thereis safety in numbers. Arrogance getschecked at the door when no oneperson is preeminent.

Nearly every article in this issuecomes back to these core questionson leadership. Without leadership,churches or any other grouping ofpeople will tend to go nowhere. It isstill true that without vision thepeople perish. We desperately needpeople of vision, and with the cour-age to go for the dreams that theLord gives them. It was a part of Hispromise that in the last days even theyoung men will see visions (Acts2:17). But how are these visionsthat inspire leadership to be trans-lated in reality? It is not throughsheer force of personality, or through

our own maneuvering. But rather,like Jesus, we need to learn to leadnot by being served, but by serving.

You know that the rulers of theGentiles lord is over them, and theirhigh officials exercise authority overthem. NOT SO WITH YOU.


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etters...to the Editor

In response to the article on Cell Groups from Issue 2-

Thank you for your article. The Lord spoke to me as a new babe inChrist in 1986 and said His perfect plan is for believers to meet in

HOMES, in prayer groups of 7-12 people. I shared that revelation

with the elders of my huge, denominational church, and waspromptly asked to leave and not come back. As one elder beratedme, the Spirit of God came upon him, and he began to prophesy

that I was right, and that the leaders were afraid to move out oftheir comfort zone and take risks. As I began to read theScripture, I saw in the book of Acts that that is exactly how the

early disciples met. Praise God for you having the courage tospeak forth the Lords Word. Amen!

Doyle Bud H. Millington

Harpers Ferry, West Virginia, USA

Yo! We received the first two issues free and then subscribed via

your web site so that we would be able to get the July issueah,as the ad used to say: Wheres the meat? Ha, ha!

Weve really enjoyed what weve read so far. (Were grateful for

the free issues!) Looking forward to much more meat comingour way! Read quite a bit of material on house church, and have

experienced it at times. The Lord has us in a different place now.

But, were relating to some saints outside of the norm. BrotherNate Krupp has been a great encouragement to us. We whine tohim at times, and he helps us to see things a little more clearly

and, gasp - Christ like. (Not that we werent, of course!) Wellbefore the computer burns up from that last comment, keep up

the good work and grow in HIM! Being always, in HIS grip,

James and Linda Bauers

Tucson, Arizona

Just a short note to tell you that I read Wolfgang Simpsons book.Presently going through it for the third time. Its quite amazing! I

have been hearing these things for years in my spirit, and now Iam very pleased someone has finally articulated them.

We are now up to 35+ folks and ready to plant two new HomeChurches here in Dahlonega, Ga. The children are most amazingin our gatherings. We committed to have them participate with

us; after all, they are members of Christs body as well. At our last

gathering one of the children, a boy 10- years- old, spoke aprophetic word so clear, and he didnt even know it because it

was so organic; but those of us who did notice just broke,

because the anointing was so evident.

When I was saved in the Jesus movement in the early 70s, I

remember having a real excitement, almost trembling inside me

because I knew we were going to meet with the Lord in ourgathering. No one exactly knew what was going to happen, butwe all knew that the Presence of God was going to be with us and

that He was going to speak to all of us through a variety of means.

Well, for over 20 years this expectation has only been in my wife ome but a few times. Since we have begun to meet in our living

room, that point of expectation has returned and returned bigtime. Its extremely cool only to have to prepare my spirit and not

some lengthy sermon. Or feel like I have to control whats goingto happen... I just merely facilitate, sit back, and ride the wave

along with everyone else. Theres always a theme the Lord speaks

to us about and tremendous continuity that is profoundly di-rected by His Spirit.

House2House has been a blessing! All of the folks that meet here

are ordering it. Thanks so very much for your loving sacrifice.

Jim Brown

Dahlonega, GA

Dear Editor,

God is doing exciting things here in our town of Winnsboro,

Texas. I am the incoming president of our local ministers alliance

organization and have served in that capacity several times overthe past 32 years I have been living here. When I am givingleadership in this organization, I always include all races and

expressions of the Body of Christ in our town and area.

Just a quick testimony and summary of what our Lord is doinghere: For about a year now, the city elders (ministers) of our

town have been coming together weekly for a prayer breakfast.Then about six months the same group included our wives in a

monthly retreat with covered dish for pray and fellowship.

Three months ago we agreed that the Church of Winnsboro,

that includes all the Body of Christ, should meet monthly forprayer which we do on the third Tuesday night. We also began

to meet on the 5th Sunday night for joint city-wide worship.

Both the prayer gathering and worship time are held in our cityauditorium. Several of our city elders (ministers) are exchanging

pulpits and some are even beginning to minister in plurality in

the same congregation. Only God could orchestrate things likethis and we give Him all the glory.

Love in Christ,

Dan Hubbell

His servant from a hired house in Winnsboro, Texas USA


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A Postcard from:

Mozambique

Zambezia Province wants a confer-ence. Our hundreds of churches thereare far away and have been left out ofprevious conferences. They donthave telephones or post offices. Thepeople live in mud huts. Heavy rainshave washed away their crops. Theirchildren, thin and covered with sores,wear filthy rags. They hardly knowabout the outside world. But theywant Jesus. They know He is theironly hope, and they want us to gonorth and minister to them. They

want to be taught. They want prayer.They want the Holy Spirit to touchthem. They want our encouragement.They will do anything to have aconference.

First, we have to get to them so wecan make plans together. We cantspend days and days each way strug-gling over terrible, muddy roads. So Ifly and bring some staff with me. Iget up to Beiras airport in centralMozambique, spend the night, andtake off again in the morning towardMorrumbala, another two hundredmiles to the north beyond the Zam-bezi River. Its very windy. A cold fronthas brought heavy rain in the night,and now the clouds have movednorth of us, right in our way. But ourpastors are expecting us that morn-ing, and we have to try to get there.

Rain squalls are all around us. Oncemore we skim the trees, hills andrivers at low level to keep sight of the

How to have a ConferenceRolland and Heidi Baker, Iris Ministries, Inc. Maputo, Mozambique

ground with the rain beating on thewindshield. We cant see anythingahead but I keep studying my chart toknow what terrain is coming. Whenthe rain lets up we are again treatedto vistas of Africa at its most remote.

this year. The fields are muddy, andthe people have lost everything. Theaid organizations are gone, donatedfood is finished, and yet there are nonew crops. This is winter, and thepeople are cold, wet and miserable.We have hundreds of churches alongthe Zambezi too, but now we aregoing farther north to people whoare even more desperate and ne-glected.

Morrumbala has a landmark, ahuge, rocky hill that juts a thousand

feet in the air from the plain aroundthe town. We see it far in the distanceand know we are on course. As wedraw closer I descend around it andfind an isolated dirt airstrip hiddenbehind. We have a gusty crosswind.The field looks like its hardly beenused in years. Very carefully I feel forthe surface. Its rough, the roughestIve landed on in Mozambique. Itsuneven and rocky, with thick clumpsof weeds, but our oversize tires canhandle it. We shake and rattle to astop in blowing dust, turn aroundand taxi back toward the direction oftown.

Hundreds of children run out tomeet us. I pull out a video camera,which has them all jumping andshouting, wanting to be included. Wehave no idea where our churches are,so we head for town far off down adirt road, with children laughing allaround. This is incredibly exciting for

( for the poor)

Bouncing in the turbulence, we makeout footpaths and isolated huts thatmark the presence of people who,even here at the ends of the earth,matter more to the Good Shepherdthan anything else.

We pass the Zambezi River, whichhas subsided from the floods of early

Four thousand people

are expected at this

conference next week.Many will walk for

days, barefoot and

without food. They

will sleep outside on

the ground or on grass

mats, even in the rain.


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them. But I notice their dark rags,bare feet, and hair discolored frommalnutrition.

We have so many churches in thearea that we cant help but run intoChristians along the road, and theypoint us to a pastors house. He inturn leads us to more pastors, and

soon we are with the church leadersof the province. We all duck througha small door into the darkness of amud hut to talk and plan. Somehowthey find enough rough chairs in thevillage for us all. There is a table, asmall oil lamp, a dirt floor...andnothing else. We cannot even seeeach other until our eyes adjust.Because of the cold wind no one herewants windows.

Four thousand people are expectedat this conference next week. Many

will walk for days, barefoot andwithout food. They will sleep outsideon the ground or on grass mats, evenin the rain. We will find some bat-tered trucks in town to rent so we cango farther and bring in more pastorsand their people. As many people aswe can transport will come from allover the province, which is threehundred miles across and only one often in Mozambique. Lack of transportis one of the fiercest obstacles toministry in this country, which is solacking in infrastructure. Even in thecities, few can afford the pennies ittakes to get to a meeting by publictransport, which usually meanshanging on to an overloaded pickuptruck or getting crammed into theback of a leaning, smoking van.

There is no hall or stadium inMorrumbala. We will meet on arough soccer field, full of rocks andweeds. We will bring a generator andthe heaviest sound equipment we can

carry. We will have to feed everyone;so we will truck big pots in from Beiraand scour the countryside for fire-wood. Well have to dig latrines andput up plastic walls for privacy. Freshwater is a big problem, but WorldVision has a compound nearby with awell, and well need to get extratanks. Even cooking plain maizeunder such conditions for so many istough and tedious, and many will beworking throughout our meetings. If

it rains there will be a lot of mud andmisery. Nobody has blankets and thenights are cold. We will encouragelocal people to take travelers intotheir huts.

Eleven pastors from Zambezia havecome to our new Bible school sessionin Maputo, so we leave some money

for their families who are barelysurviving. We distribute more moneyfor transport and other conferenceneeds. Still there are vast needs thatwe havent touched yet. All thepastors need Bibles. They and theirpeople all need food, clothes andmedical care. They need seed andfarm tools. They cry out to the Lordevery day from early in the morningfor His presence and help, and He hasresponded by sending us. We are Hishands, filled with His heart, moving

with His energy and wisdom. Wecannot imagine a more wonderfulcalling. We are in an impossiblesituation, but God has delighted inputting us here, and we would notwant to be anywhere else. Keepbreaking us, Jesus, until we are assensitive and moved as you are, andwill do everything you have in yourheart for us to do...

What will actually happen nextweek? What will God do as we do ourbest? Obviously we still dont knowhow to have a conference for thepoor. Our efforts are like a few fishand loaves of bread before all thesepeople. They need love. They needshepherding. They need to be taught.They need to be healed in body andheart. They need His Presence. Theyneed Him. May the conference be awedding feast. May the poor in spiritcome from the east and west to eatand drink at the Masters tablewithout cost. How will He love them?

How will He satisfy them? Is Heenough even for them? Wait for ournext newsletter...

Rolland and Heidi Baker,

Iris Ministries, Inc.

P.O. Box 563, No. 654/29Zimpeto, Av. Mozambique Km.11. Maputo, MozambiqueTel: +258-82-303-068Email: [email protected] site www.irismin.org

Still there are vastneeds that wehavent touched

yet. All the pastorsneed Bibles. Theyand their peopleall need food,clothes andmedical care.

They need seedand farm tools.They cry out tothe Lord every dayfrom early in themorning for His

presence andhelp, and He hasresponded bysending us. Weare His hands,filled with His

heart, movingwith His energyand wisdom. Wecannot imagine amore wonderfulcalling.


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The following is from a

talk that Wolfgang

Simson; author of

Houses That Change

The World, gave in

Denver earlier this year.

(It needs to be read witha German accent!)

Theres a team, which God putstogether, which is the five-fold minis-try team. I believe the five-foldministry of pastors, apostles, proph-ets, teachers and evangelists is one ofGods ways of empowering the massplanting of churches. I mean mass -thousands. Theyre not supposed to

be hijacked into one single structure,because they are called not to serveone church but to serve the countryor to serve an area.

And what do I mean by apostlesand prophets? Maybe with a fewsentences I can explain what I do notmean. I do not mean powerfulsuperstars; top-down guys who haveit all and who answer the question,Are you an apostle? With theanswer, I have 150 churches workingunder me. I am supervising thou-

sands. I am controlling and top-downing, drowning so many otherchurches. Im not convinced thatthis is the way apostolic ministryworks. I really am not.

I see Paul as a weeping father,crying his heart out for Timothy toovertake him, for Christ to take shapein the nations. I see him broken-hearted - willing to let everybodywalk over him. Thats why inEphesians 2:20, the Bible speaks

about these ministries - the apostolicand prophetic- as foundations. Dolike this with your feet, just for thefun of it. (Stomp, stomp.) Just hitthe foundation of this house. Every-body needs it, but everybody tram-ples on it. It gives you a good ideaabout where apostolic and propheticministries belong. This is not a joke.Because in many ways this is exactlyhow they were treated and how theywill be treated in the future.

Thats how you will find true

apostolic people - usually you candiagnose them - they have a brokenheart. They cry more than anybodyelse. In their wildest dreams, theydont think of building a big religiousempire with themselves at the topand the others being grass roots.Would you like to be grass roots?Who wants to be grass roots? Dontraise your hand because grass rootssounds like doormat. It is a terminvented by people who will explain

laity in a new way too. I believe theapostolic ministries are mainly theweeping fathers. The meekness oftheir heart allows them to inherit theearth. Meekness you cant learn inseminary. Meekness you can onlylearn at the feet of Christ. Really, youcan only learn it there.

I believe that these people are veryordinary. They are approachable, nofaces, no big names. Very un-intimi-dating. Lets say un-impressing. Thething that impresses me so much

about Paul is that he is so unimpres-sive. He says that about himself.Weak, stumbling, stuttering - writeslong letters. A man you can easilyreject. And I think, Yeah - that is sodifferent from the people who have itall together. Who are on the topbecause they deserve it so much. Youknow what Im talking about. But Imtalking about people who havesomehow caught something of theheart of God that Hes given them.

Some specific area they are to workin. I think thats normal. Thats whatHe is doing around the world. Toactually share His apostolic heart withapostolic people like John Knox.Good man, Presbyterian man. Hewas a Christian in Scotland. Heprayed this prayer, God, give meScotland or I die. And God gave himScotland. And then he died.

But I believe the principle here isthat the spirit of John Knox is verymuch an apostolic spirit. Its stillaround, and God gives this passion topeople so that they somehow knowwhat geographical area they wouldbe willing to die for. Paul defines hisown ministry in terms of what I callapostolic territoriality. 2 Corinthians10:13 -15 is where Paul describes hisministry as reaching according to themeasure of God up to Corinth. Notfurther. So he defines geographically.And Peter worked in Israel, Markworked in Egypt. Peter worked on

the right hand side of the Mediterra-nean area - its the area that Godgave them to lay a foundation and tosay, I will not work anywhere elsewhere anybody else has laid thefoundation.

In Egypt, one of my close friends isa guy called Adol Fonsie. He is aborn-again Catholic firebrand whoplants churches like nobody else Iknow. He talked about all of thesethings and he said, You know, Wolf,

Speaking Prophetica

Actin


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House2house - liwhat God is doing is like moving intoa new apartment. The first thing youdo is lay the carpet. Right, I said.And he said, You know these apos-tolic and prophetic ministries are likethat? They lay the carpet, and lateron you put in the chairs and all therest of the furniture. Thats the way itis supposed to be. These apostolicand prophetic people are likegroundcover, and everything else kindof sprouts out of it. Do you under-stand what this guy is trying to say?

In my mind there is actually aworld map with green and red spotsfor areas of countries. Red meansthere is nobody whom I, small guy,am aware of, who has an apostolicvision and has said so. There aremany people who make bold state-ments, but they may not be theapostolic people in the area at all.They may be paid by an organizationto cover the ground and yet actuallyare neo imperialists trying to find a

country where the organization is notyet working. They send some workerthere and think, that is missions. It isnot - it is just plain imperialism!

I believe that there are areas of theworld which are green. I believe thatwhat God is doing is preparing somepeople, men and women, who have abroken heart - they may be totallyunknown, everybody trampling onthem - who actually cry out day andnight. We need to find these people

and pour oil on their fire. Then Godwill give birth to what He has put intothem, and all you have to do is holdtheir hands. These are people whocover the ground with their vision.God has given it to them. I could giveyou the names of people in these areas

Then there are areas in the worldwhere, at least to my knowledge,there is nobody. There may be strongpeople, well-known people, but notwith that kind of spirit. There is a guyin London who says about himself,that he is the guyto whom God isgiving London. And he wrote a bookabout how to reach London and howeverybody should join him in reachingLondon and build a big church withhim at the top. He said this is the wayLondon is going to be reached.Sounds good! But totally wrong! Thechurch is falling apart as I speak.

In a way, this is a corrupted versionof apostolic ministry. If I were thedevil, what I would do first if genuine

apostolic and prophetic ministrieswere about to appear, is to throw upa smoke screen. I would throw upfalse types, or corrupted types ofthese ministries and call it the realthing, so that everybody would beconfused when the real thing came.Nobody would recognize it becauseconverts would be already fooled, thebooks would be already written.

Nobody recognizes the apostleswhen they really walk into the room.

y,

ApostolicallyBy Wolfgang Simson

Nobody recognizes

the apostles when

they really walk

into the room.

They just dont.

Sorry, youre notimpressive.

Sorry, youre not

charismatic

enough. Sorry,

youre not mega

this or mega that

enough. Really,

many are just this

unassuming

people!


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10 - House2house

They just dont. Sorry, youre notimpressive. Sorry, youre not charis-matic enough. Sorry, youre notmega this or mega that enough.Really, many are just this unassum-ing people! If I told you about mostof these apostolic people, you wouldnot be impressed; you would prob-

ably not recognize them if they werein your church. Because all theywould probably do is cry when youmention their country. And youthink, Poor you! Whats wrong withyou? Maybe one of our workers cancome and straighten you out.

Can I say this? I think that part ofthe redemptive purposes of America isto give all that you have to people youdont control and who have a visionthat has nothing to do with you. Andto serve them in a spirit of crucified

colonialism. Sell your houses, and giveyour money to poor people who havea vision. Give with no strings at-tached, which is only possible if Goddoes a miracle, and the cross works inyour life and mine, and Jesus gets allthe glory. You will not believe it - butGod will set you free.

And by the prophet, I also dontmean the person who turns his eyesbackwards and floats above theground and speaks in a strange voiceabout the million dollars were going toinherit pretty soon. They are also, veryoften, broken people, who spend mostof their time just chasing God. Andthen they speak for us not just personalprophetic words. Dare I say that? Thathas been the hang-up of a lot of thePentecostal and charismatic scenes.They just want to hear God speak toME, ME, ME, and the goat wants to betickled. Yes! God speaks to people!But prophets also, often, have a wordfor the nation or the city, or whatever.

Why? So that we can become one.Gods purpose is for the area.

The significance of prophecycannot be overestimated, because itwas Gods centralized system tospeak from His headquarters inheaven a personalized word to everyhouse church on earth. Can youimagine? Its great to have thepastors teaching notes to mull themover on Wednesday night, but itsbetter if Jesus Himself speaks a

personalized direct word into thathouse church.

Can you imagine the Church inDenver coming together every Sun-day or every Saturday and being onechurch, and there is not one bigguy? Rather than Pastor So-and-Sohas graciously consented to come

here, we would say, We welcomeyou, Jesus. There is no platformbecause we dont need one. We areone family under God, and God isgoing to use His apostolic and pro-phetic people to speak, and to lead usin all this and clearly move the wholechurch in one direction and expressour oneness in Christ. Can youimagine that? Maybe some can andsome cant. But the early Church wasexactly like this, and it shook theearth. It really shook the earth!

I remember the other day therewas such a meeting of the city churchcoming together in Buenos Aires. Itwas in September of last year, andwhen they came together, 400,000

people met together down on thePlaza de Repblica in Buenos Aires.The earth shook, literally, with anearthquake at 3:59 p.m. They meas-ured it because, they thought,Whats happening here? And foranybody who knows the New Testa-ment, thats not too surprising,

because in Acts chapter 4 when thechurch prayed like this, the earthshook, so dont be too surprised.

Just imagine that God were tobring us back, NOT to the NewTestament model of church but to theNew Testament DYNAMICS of church,and principles, which need to beincorporated - the word I really loveis, incarnated. You know I have anIndian wife, but this has nothing todo with reincarnation; it has to dowith the Word becoming flesh, the

Spirit marrying the soil. Thats what Ispeak about. I believe whats hap-pening is that there is this travailgoing on, that people are pregnantwith these things; trying to give birthin their village, area, town, city, stateand nation. What I see happening isthe Church in its authentic expressionas house churches AND as a citychurch, together. For me, all thistogether I understand by the term,house church. Thats how I feel,because I think thats the way it wasbefore. I dont mean these little rebegroups of disgruntled believers,unhappy with institutional churches,sitting in the middle of the ghettofiring fiery darts at anything thatmoves and saying, Were right andeverybody else is wrong. Independ-ence Day is our big day . . . No, no,no! That is not apostolic, not pro-phetic, not profound, not God. Its atrauma. And we need to see it, andwe need to cater for it. We need to

have hospitals for it. We need to helpthese friends. But they are NOT thefoundation for what God is going todo here in America. Theres a freshstart, a fresh breaking of ground, afresh laying of apostolic and pro-phetic foundations. Im not sayingthat this meeting is part of it - maybeyes, maybe not. But God is doing thiseverywhere. I see that. I believe that.I want to stay to see this happening.It is happening. I see it wherever I go

I think that part

of the redemptive

purposes of

America is to give

all that you have

to people you

dont control and

who have a vision

that has nothing

to do with you.


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Reormation15 Theses (Parts 10 to 12)Towards a Re-Incarnation of Church

1. Church is a Way of Life, not aseries of religious meetings

2. Time to change the system

3. The Third Reformation

4. From Church-Houses to House-Churches

5. The church has to become smallin order to grow big

6. No church is led by apastor alone

7. The right pieces fitted togetherin the wrong way

8. God does not leave the Churchin the hands of bureaucraticclergy

9. Return from organizedto organic forms ofChristianity

10. From worshipping our worshipto worshipping God

11. Stop bringing people to church,and start bringing the church tothe people

12. Rediscovering the LordsSupper to be a real supper withreal food

13. From denominations tocity-wide celebrations

14. Developing a persecution-proofspirit

15. The Church comes home

CONTINUEDFROM

ISSUE

3...

10. FROM WORSHIPPING

OUR WORSHIP TO

WORSHIPPING GOD

The image of much of contemporary

Christianity can be summarized as

holy people coming regularly to a holy

place on a holy day at a holy hour to

participate in a holy ritual led by a holy

man dressed in holy clothes for a holy

fee. Since this regular performance-

oriented enterprise called worship

service requires a lot of organiza-

tional talent and administrative

bureaucracy, formalized and institu-

tionalized patterns developed quickly

into rigid traditions. Statistically, a

traditional 1-2 hour worship service

is very resource-hungry, but actually

produces very little fruit in terms of

discipling people, i.e., in changed

lives. Economically, it is a high input,

low output structure. Traditionally,

the desire to worship in the right

way has led to much denomination-

alism, confessionalism and nominal-

ism. This not only ignores the fact that

Christians are called to worship in

spirit and in truth, rather than in

cathedrals holding songbooks. It also

ignores the fact that most of life is

informal, and so, too, is Christianity as

the Way of Life. Do we need to

change from being powerful actors

and start acting powerfully?

11. STOP BRINGING PEOPLE

TO CHURCH, AND START

BRINGING THE CHURCH TO

THE PEOPLE

The church is changing back from

being a Come-structure to being

again a Go-structure. As a result,

the church needs to stop trying to

bring people to the church, and

start bringing the Church to the

people. The mission of the church

will never be accomplished just by

adding to the existing structure. It

will take nothing less than a mush-

rooming of the church through

spontaneous multiplication into

areas of the world where Christ is

not yet known.

12. REDISCOVERING THE

LORDS SUPPER TO BE A

REAL SUPPER WITH REAL

FOOD

Church tradition has managed to

celebrate the Lords Supper in a

homeopathic and deeply religious

form, characteristically with a few

drops of wine, a tasteless cookie

and a sad face. However, the Lords

Supper was actually more of asubstantial supper with a symbolic

meaning, than a symbolic supper

with a substantial meaning. God is

restoring eating back into our

meeting.

(to be concluded in the next issue)

By Wolfgang Simsonfrom his book

Houses That Change The World


12/32

12 - House2house

VisiDrs Tony and Felicity Daleshare some insights on whyleaders need vision!

Every year after the Annual Confer-ence of the Caring Professions Con-cern, Felicity, the children, and Iwould stay up in the North Wales

area to climb Mt. Snowdon. Snow-don is the tallest mountain in Eng-land and Wales. Not much morethan a foothill by the standard of theRockies, it still towered over theregion and provided a wonderfulchallenge to serious walkers . Everyyear we would walk up to the top viavarious trails that had been blazed bythe coal and copper miners of previ-ous generations. It could be a hardclimb at times, but was always worththe effort. Sometimes from the topof the mountain you could see formiles around. At other times thecloud cover would be so thick thatyou could barely see your hand infront of your face. Felicity and Iwould use the climb every year as achance to reflect on what had hap-pened at the conference, and to seekGod for vision for the future.

Robert Schuller, in his excellentlittle book, The Peak to Peak Princi-

ple, helps us understand the impor-

tance of gaining vision at a placewhere you can see further. The viewchanges as you rise up higher. In thefoothills, all that you may see is thenext set of peaksthe next set ofchallenges ahead of you. But fromthe peak there is nothing to ob-scure your view of where you can go.

We had been working in the EastEnd of London for a number of years.The Lord had blessed the work inmany ways. Without us even think-

ing about it or realizing the implica-tions, we had grown from 6 to 12 to25 to 50 to 100 to 175 over a periodof approximately 4 years. Each yearwe had doubled.

At this time, the Lord provided theopportunity for Felicity and I to travelout to the Far East and see first-handsome of the incredible work that wasbeing established by Dr. Paul YooghiCho in Full Gospel Central Church in

Seoul, S. Korea. As we sat throughtheir all-night prayer meeting, andthen explored their prayer mountainby day, we were amazed and hum-bled by the scale on which thingswere happening in Korea. It was likebeing on the top of a mountain, atrue mountaintop experience! Whatfaith and vision that they could seeand believe for such incredible things.

The Lord began to challenge me.From here I could see so much morethan what we were currently experi-encing. The Lord spoke to me while Iwas waiting on Him and he told me,Up until now you have had the faithto double in size each year in thework that you are sharing in the EastEnd of London. Now He was chal-lenging me that we needed to doubleour faith.

Now, when your vision is en-larged, you need to grow in your faithand your commitment to the heav-enly vision. God was saying into my

heart that we could double in sizeover the next six months rather thanjust believing that we could doubleevery year.

As soon as we got back home toour brothers and sisters, I begansharing this message of increasingour faith and expanding our vision.We would never be the same again.By the end of the next six months,those of us involved in various homechurches throughout the region had

grown to approximately 300. Godhad not only provided the faith to dohis will, but the wherewithal to do it.

A similar thing happened duringtwo visits to India during the pastyear. Meeting with folks like Dr.Victor Choudhries daughter, andhearing what the Lord was accom-plishing through her family, was achallenging and humbling experi-ence. From a position of prominence

as a nationally respected surgeon, theLord had challenged Victor to leaveall of that behind and begin plantingsimple churches in homes so as toreach his state of Madhra Pradesh. In7 years they have grown to over 7000house churches scattered across thestate. Teenagers and housewives,laborers and engineers were allfinding that God would use them toplant churches if their lives wereavailable. We came home with ourvision renewed, and our heartscommitted to seek the Lord for muchgreater church planting activity herein Austin.

As Felicity took time to wait onGod, she felt that the Lord wasgiving her a goal of being involved in10 new church plants this year(2001). As we write this, it is mid-September, and we have seen 7 newhome churches established so far.Its not 7000, but it is a start! Ourfaith will be stronger next year. And

there will be more people involved inthe task.

America faces a time of incrediblechallenge and opportunity. Therecent tragedies of the terroristattacks produce in us all some of thesame uncertainties that many othersaround the world have had to facefor years. But it is into the very arenaof uncertainty and fear that themessage of the gospel comes acrossso clearly. But for many people, even

Where there is no


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House2house - 1

nthe concept that church will have ananswer to the challenges that wecurrently face as a country is laugh-able. People have given up onchurch, but they have not given upon Jesus.

For them to meet Jesus, the Wordstill needs to become a humanbeing and live here with us(John1:14 CEV). People have the oppor-tunity to meet Jesus whenever they

meet us. The question is not, Willthey come to church? Rather weneed to ask ourselves, How do wetake Jesus to them? The answersare obvious. In our daily living, inour interactions at work and athome, we live the community, theecclesia (called out ones), what theNew Testament calls church. Nowas these relationships develop, andwe live the reality of Jesus amongus, the where two or three aregathered together in myname(Matt 18:18), then we areseeing church emerge. No wonderthe early Christians are described asmeeting from house to house. Thisis where so much natural interac-tion occurs. How did we ever getinto the position where we thoughtthat sharing our lives together asthe family of God needs to takeplace in special buildings and atspecial times?

When Felicity and I visited Full

Gospel Central Church in Seoulsomething new was birthed in ourspirits. It was similar to what Idescribed above as we saw theincredible speed with which newhome churches are being planted inIndia. Dr. Yooghi Cho would de-scribe this as living in the 4th dimen-sionthe dimension of the HolySpirit. Living in this realm, you beginto see as possible things that youwould have formerly thought of as

impossible. From the peak of themountain you can begin to seeranges in the distance that youdidnt even know were there.

Many of you reading this articlewill have read earlier articles fromprevious issues talking about thechurch planting movements that areemerging in many parts of theworld. (If you have not seen these,either check out old issues of H2H

online at www.house2.tv or go tothe Southern Baptist InternationalMission Board site at www.imb.orgto find materials on Church PlantingMovements by David Garrison.) Formost of us church growth used to bethought of in terms of one churchplanting another one home churchdividing into two maybe every yearor two. Now the perspective ischanging. We are all beginning tosee that every church should havebuilt into its DNA a commitment toplanting churches that in turn plantchurches. We are looking for move-ments to start where multiplechurches are growing, and in turnplanting multiple churches. Nolonger is the thought to grow anddivide on a slow basis, but rather topro-actively plan to plant manychurches into new homes andcommunities. Suddenly from a newpeak we have been able to seefurther than before!

Its time for us to scale some newheights and see some bigger visions.After all, God promised thatWhen the last days come,I will give my Spirit to everyone.Your sons and daughters will prophesy.Your young men will see visions,

And your old men will have dreams.In those days I will give my Spirit to my

servants, Both men and women, andthey will prophesy.

(Acts 2:17-18 CEV)

ision

America faces a

time of incredible

challenge andopportunity. The

recent tragedies of

the terrorist

attacks produce inus all some of the

same uncertainties

that many others

around the world

have had to face

for years. But it is

into the very arena

of uncertainty and

fear that the

message of the

gospel comes

across so clearly.


14/32

14 - House2house

A Harder Death To DieDying to glory is a much harder

death to die than dying to sinful

habits, per se. Im not putting sin

into categories, but success is some-thing that we all want and desire. We

do not minister to be a failure or a

stumbling block. But Christ had to

master success. He had to master

being recognized.

Recognition VindicatesTo some of us, recognition vindi-

cates what others have misunder-

stood about us in some form orfashion. It says that we have suc-

ceeded. It answers years of pain and

toil or being put behind by others.

It gives us a good feeling to know

that a recognized minister of the

gospel confirmed words we

taught that brought us personal

persecution.

How many of us have ever told a

person, Do not tell anyone that Iministered to you? Do not tell anyone

that I am the one who prophesied that

word to you. Has anyone of us ever

backed away from a sure victory or

area of recognition? That is one the

hardest things to do, believe me!

Being like Christ is more than

dealing with lustful thinking and

immoral habits. Its learning to live

with the power of success and effec-

tiveness. Its learning to truly give

God His due for the things He has

freely given to us.

Saying It, Or Doing It?We may say it, but do we truly do

it? If we did, it would end a lot of

spiritual competition and inward

jealousy. It would eliminate the I did

it first spirit and cause us to truly

appreciate others and embrace the

diversity of ministries, gifts, and

anointings.

We have all been put down. Wehave all been misunderstood. We do

not want to repeat that process again

because there is no hurt like a

church hurt.

To Bless and be Rejected for itThere is no greater pain than that

of sincerely desiring to bless people

and having it backfire on you. To love

people that will not love you back. To

be rejected by a word you give, but

yet see them receive the same word

from someone else.

It hurts badly. Very badly. (Sounds

like I may have gone through this too,

huh?)

But this is the season and time

where the Spirit of God will allow

those things to happen to cause us to

die to glory. He will cause us to die to

our need of being truly accepted and

embraced, because we are tired of

being alone in this thing! We are tired

because it has been so long...so verylong since we had someone who truly

understands.

Using Our Lonelinessfor His Purpose

God will use that time of loneliness

to cause us to die to glory. Its time to

finally love the kingdom of God and

not the kingdom of our works and

toil. We have built inward kingdomswith Gods material. We have used

His word to build an inward desire of

personal acceptance.

God is breaking that house down.

To those of us who are going through

this season of wild changes and

crazy ministry, He is breaking our

houses down. We are learning to die

to glory. We have to learn that if we

are going to truly live out the kingdom

experience. He is putting us to inner

shame as He breaks off the stuff we

have magnified for so long.

We are going to make it, however.

We will achieve the destiny of our

lives that He has promised. But He is

going to make sure that we love like

Christ and understand like Christ

before we handle His Mantle.

Dying To GloryDying to glory is the hardest death to die.By Undrai Fizer

14 - House2house


15/32

House2house - 1

To Be Found HiddenOur shoulders must be realigned to

wear the burden of Christ. We will

have to really desire for God to find us

still hidden, do a work through us, and

hide us again. Can we handle God

using an opportunity that can bring usfrom the depths of obscurity, and then

forgetting about us, like the worker

did with Joseph in prison? Whew!

Dead Men andWomen Walking

In order for the miraculous to

sweep across America as it did in

Christs day, we will have to die to

glory. God will use living dead men

to raise lost, dead men. He will use

those who have died to glory to raise

others to glory.

Its time to finally

love the kingdom

of God and not

the kingdom of

our works and toil.

I read this prophecy/article recently and was struck byits similarity to some of the things that the Lord is teach-ing us.

Several months ago we had an experience that pro-

duced a paradigm shift in our way of thinking, similar tothe Cornelius episode changing Peters understanding ofwho was eligible to become a Christian. A new couplewho had only been to two of our meetings announced tous that they were starting their home church the nextSunday. Now, if they had given us more than three daysnotice, our reaction would probably have been to sug-gest that maybe they could attend our church for 2 or 3months, until they understood how home church reallyworks, since they had never been involved in one before,and then start one under our auspices. Or maybe wecould give them a crash course in home church leader-ship to make sure they did it OK. But luckily they didntgive us any time to think about it, and after offering anyhelp they would like or need, we blessed them, prayedfor them, and sent them on their way. They had 9 non-Christian adults and about 12 kids to their first meetingand on Easter Sunday baptized a good number of them!

The shift in our thinking occurred when we realizedthat if God had called them to start a church in theirhome, then who were we to try to bring it under ourcontrol! (Obviously we would do everything we could tohelp and bless them.)

I believe that there are three attitudes that God wants topermeate this movement of churches in homes. These are:

1) No empire building.Our efforts should go into advancing the Kingdom of

God, not establishing our own empires. This means thatthose of us in any form of leadership should not be

seeking to bring other groups under our sphere of influ-ence, or creating some kind of hierarchical leadershipwith ourselves at the top. Instead, we need to build theKingdom of God with Jesus as the head of His body, thechurch. True leadership in the Kingdom is always aservant leadership, and a true servant is more concernedabout his masters interests than his own.2) No control.

If Jesus is the Head of His body, then this move needsto be under the control of the Holy Spirit. We are not toseek to control it under the guise of maintaining qualityor promoting unity. Our part is to empower, enable andrelease others to do what God has called them to do,without seeking to gain control of what they are doing.3) No glory.

Jesus is to be the only superstar, and all the glory is togo to Him. This is a grass roots movement. Some peoplewill become better known - this is inevitable. But will werejoice when others do better than we do, or are weprepared to raise up a younger generation into leader-ship while we remain in obscurity? Isaiah 42 states, I amthe Lord. My glory I give to no other.

I am asking the Lord that if ever we stray from theseprinciples that He will bypass us and use others for thework who are trustworthy!

Comments On Fizer by Felicity Dale

House2house - 15

Men who have not mastered glory

get easily offended at others. We get

this stinging bitterness inside of us

when we have not died to glory. We

will only have mediocre success in life

and ministry with this hindering spirit

still raging on the inside. It will cause a

jealousy to build on the inside of you. It

will make you feel good when others

ministry does not work. It will make

you feel that I am the one who can do

this. I am the one! I am the one!

Dying to glory is the hardest death

to die. Glory is what will cause all of

this mess to make sense! All we want

is someone to notice, right?Dying to glory.

The hardest death to die....

Undrai Fize

Undrai Fizer lives in Lompoc, Califor-

nia, with his wife, Bridget and 3

children. They are the directors of

Exploring the Vision Ministries Inter-

national, a prophetic teaching and

worship ministry to individuals and

kingdom fellowships abroad.

www.exploringthevision.org


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16 - House2house

LeadershipThe NT makes a lot of noise about

exemplary action. But it shows nointerest in official positions and giveslittle attention to leadershipinclud-ing the role of elders.

Consider this. Every time Paulwrote to a church in crisis, he always

addressed the church itself ratherthan its leaders. This is consistentfrom Pauls first letter to his last.(Note that the Pastoral Epistles1Timothy, 2 Timothy, and Tituswerewritten to Pauls apostolic co-work-ers, not to churches.)

Let me repeat that. Every time Paulwrote a letter to a church, he ad-dressed the whole church. He neverwrote it to a leader or leaders!Galatians 1:1-2: Paul, an apostle . . .to the churches in Galatia.1 Thessalonians 1:1: Paul, Silas andTimothy, to the church of theThessalonians . . .2 Thessalonians 1:2: Paul, Silas andTimothy, to the church of theThessalonians in God our Father andthe Lord Jesus Christ.1 Corinthians 1:1-2: Paul, called to bean apostle of Christ Jesus by the willof God . . . to the church of God inCorinth, to those sanctified in ChristJesus and called to be holy, together

with all those everywhere who call onthe name of our Lord Jesus Christtheir Lord and ours.2 Corinthians 1:1: Paul, an apostle ofChrist Jesus by the will of God, andTimothy our brother, to the church ofGod in Corinth, together with all thesaints throughout Achaia.Romans 1:1,7: Paul, a servant ofChrist Jesus, called to be an apostleand set apart for the gospel of God. . . to all in Rome who are loved by

God and called to be saints.Colossians 1:1: Paul, an apostle ofChrist Jesus by the will of God, andTimothy our brother, to the holy andfaithful brothers in Christ at Colosse.Ephesians 1:1: Paul, an apostle ofChrist Jesus by the will of God, to the

saints in Ephesus, the faithful inChrist Jesus.Philippians 1:1: Paul and Timothy,servants of Christ Jesus, to all the saintsin Christ Jesus at Philippi, together withthe overseers and servants.

More striking, every church thatPaul wrote to was in a crisis (except-ing the Ephesians). Yet Paul neverappeals to the elders in any of them!

Take, for instance, Corinth, themost troubled church mentioned inthe NT. Throughout the entireCorinthian correspondence, Paulnever appeals to the elders. He neverchastises them. He never commendsobedience to them. In fact, he doesnot even mention them!

Instead, Paul appeals to the wholechurch. He shows that it is her re-sponsibility to deal with her own (thechurchs) self-inflicted wounds. Paulcharges and implores the brethrenover thirty times in 1 Corinthians. Hewrites as if no officers exist. This is

true for all of his other letters tochurches in crisis.If church officers did exist in

Corinth, surely Paul would haveaddressed them to solve its woes. Buthe never does. At the end of thebook, Paul tells the Corinthians tosubject themselves to the self-givingStephanas and his household. But hewidens this group to others saying,and to everyone who does likewise.

Notice that Pauls stress is on

function, not on position. His stress isalso placed upon the whole church.For the entire book of Corinthians is aplea to the entire assembly to handleits own problems.

Probably the most acute exampleof the absence of officers/elders in

Corinth is found in 1 Corinthians 5.There Paul summons the wholechurch to discipline a fallen memberby handing him over to Satan (1Corinthians 5:1ff.). Pauls exhortationclearly runs against the grain ofcurrent thinking. In todays thinking,only those possessing ecclesiasticalclout are regarded as qualified forsuch weighty tasks.

The difference in the way Paulthinks of elders and the way thatmost modern churches think of themcould hardly be more striking. Pauldoes not utter a whisper about eldersin any of his nine letters to thechurches! This includes his ultra-corrective treatise to the Galatians.Instead, Paul persistently entreatsthe brethren to action.

In his last letter to a church, Paulfinally mentions the overseers in hisopening greeting. But he does so in avery fleeting way. And he greets theoverseers only after he greets the

whole church (Phil. 1:1).His letter opens with: Paul andTimothy, bond-servants of ChristJesus, to all the saints in Christ Jesusin Philippi, including the overseersand deacons (NASB). This is a ratherstrange order if Paul held to thenotion of church officers. Followingthis greeting, Paul talks to the churchabout its present problems.

This trend is highlighted in thebook of Hebrews. Throughout the

The Dramatic Lack of Attention Given to

in the NT

By Frank Viola


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House2house - 17

entire epistle the writer addresses theentire church. Only at the very end ofthe letter does he off-handedly askthe saints to greet their overseers(Hebrews 13:24).

In sum, the deafening lack ofattention that Paul gives to eldersdemonstrates that he rejected the

idea that certain people in the churchpossessed formal rights over others. Italso underscores the fact that Pauldid not believe in church officers.

Peters letters make similar music.Like Paul, Peter writes his letters tothe churches, and never to its leaders.He also gives minimal airtime toelders. When he does, he warns themagainst adopting the spirit of theGentiles. He makes the specific pointthat the elders are among the flock,not lords over it (1 Peter 5:1-2).

The elders, says Peter, are not tolord it over (katakurieuo) the flock(1 Pet. 5:3). Interestingly, Peter usesthe same word that Jesus used in Hisdiscussion on authority. His exactwords were: . . . the rulers of theGentiles lord it over (katakurieuo)them . . . but it shall not be so amongyou (Matt. 20:25).

This same emphasis is found inActs. There Luke tells the story of howPaul exhorted the Ephesian elders tobe on guard for yourselves and forall the flock, among which the HolySpirit has made you overseers...(Acts 20:28, NASB). Notice that theelders are among and not overthe flock.

James, John, and Jude write in thesame strain. They address their lettersto the churches and not to leadership.They all have very little to say aboutleadership. And they have nothing tosay about official eldership.

It is quite clear, then. The NT con-

sistently rejects the notion of ecclesias-tical officers in the church. It alsogreatly downplays the role of elders.

Eldership vs. BrotherhoodIt would do us well to ask why the

NT gives so little airtime to the eldersof the churches. The oft-ignoredreason is surprising to institutionalears. It is simply this: The bulk ofresponsibility for pastoral care,teaching, and ministry in the ekklesia

rests squarely upon the shoulders ofall the brothers and sisters!

The richness of Pauls vision of theBody of Christ stems from his con-tinual emphasis that every member isgifted, has ministry, and is a respon-sible believer in the Body (Romans12:6; 1 Corinthians 12:1ff; Ephesians

4:7; 1 Pet. 4:10). As a consequence,ministerial responsibility is never tobe closeted among a few.

This explains why the wordadelphoi, translated brethren,appears 346 times in the NT. It ap-pears 134 times in Pauls epistlesalone. In most places, this word isPauls shorthand way of referring toall the believers in the churchbothmen and women. By contrast, theword elders only appears five timesin Pauls letters. Overseers only

appears four times. And pastorsonly appears once!

The stress of the NT, then, is uponcorporate responsibility. It is thebelieving community that is called tocarry out pastoral functions. Thebrothers and the sisters (=the wholechurch) are called to:Organize their own affairs(1 Corinthians 11:33-34;14:39-40; 16:2-3)Discipline fallen members(1 Corinthians 5:3-5; 6:1-6)Warn the unruly(1 Thessalonians 5:14)Comfort the feeble(1 Thessalonians 5:14)Support the weak(1 Thessalonians 5:21)Abound in the work of the Lord(1 Corinthians 15:58)Admonish one another(Romans 15:14)Teach one another(Colossians 3:16)

Prophesy one by one(1 Corinthians 14:31)Serve one another(Galatians 5:13)Bear one anothers burdens(Galatians 6:2)Care for one another(1 Corinthians 12:25)Love one another(Romans 13:8; 1 Thessalonians 4:9)Be devoted to one another(Romans 12:10)

Show kindness andcompassion to one another(Ephesians 4:32)Edify one another(Romans 14:19, 1 Thessalonians 5:11b)Bear with one another(Ephesians 4:2; Colossians 3:13)Exhort one another

(Hebrews 3:13, 10:25)Incite one another to love andgood works (Hebrews 10:24)Encourage one another(1 Thessalonians 5:11a)Pray for one another (James 5:16)Offer hospitality to one another(1 Peter 4:9)Fellowship with one another(1 John 1:7);Confess sins to one another(James 5:16).

With dramatic clarity, all of these

one-another exhortations givesubstance to the decisive reality thatevery member of the church is to bearthe responsibility for pastoral care.Leadership is a corporate affair, not asolo one. It is to be shouldered by theentire Body.

Stated simply, the NT knowsnothing of an elder-ruled, elder-governed, or elder-directed church!And it knows even less about apastor-led church! The first centurychurch was in the hands of thebrotherhood and the sisterhood.Plain and simple.

In summary, the testimony of theNT denouncing positional/hierarchicaauthority is unmistakably clear. And itis in direct harmony with the teachingof Jesus. As such, the final word tothe Christian regarding Gentile andJewish leadership structures is incar-nated in our Lords piercing phrase:But it shall not be so among you(Matt. 20:26). That is the linchpin of

the whole matter!

Excerpted fromWho Is YourCovering?Third edition,By Frank Violawww.ptmin.org


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One of the most controversial issuessurrounding the type of church life thatwe are discussing is that of leadership.Some people feel that the church doesnot need any kind of structured leader-ship - that if the church consists ofsmall groups, they do not need todesignate any specific leadership.However, the New Testament churchdid appoint leaders, some of whom attimes exerted very strong leadership.At the other extreme is the CEO,business style leadership, where oneman has the vision and carries theauthority to work that vision out. Thedevelopment of the mega-churcheswith their large staffs and polishedprograms would typify this style ofleadership, which has become thenorm for successful churches in theStates. However, it is hard to show thiskind of leadership in the New Testa-ment either. So what was the nature ofleadership in the early church?

A quick read of the New Testamentleaves one with no doubt as to whowas in charge of the church. It wasJesus, working through the HolySpirit! Colossians 1:18 states, Christis the head of the church, which is Hisbody. The Book of Acts makes itplain that this was worked out inpractice. For example, Acts 13:2 says,One day as these men (the prophetsand teachers of the church inAntioch) were worshipping the Lordand fasting, the Holy Spirit said,Dedicate Barnabas and Saul for thespecial work I have for them. Theanticipation was clearly that Godwould guide in the practical, day-to-day life of the church.

So what we are really looking for inchurch leadership is a context thatallows the Lord to lead. This is not ademocracy, nor a CEO type leader-ship, but a style where Jesus Himselfis welcomed to lead His church. How

can that actually happen in this dayand age? Isnt that just pie in thesky? Our experience is that it is notonly possible, but also eminentlypractical. We just need a new look atthe nature of authority as lived andtaught by Jesus.

In Matthew 20:25-27 Jesus states,You know that in this world, kings are

tyrants, and officials lord it over thepeople beneath them. But among youit should be quite different. Whoeverwants to be a leader among you mustbe your servant, and whoever wantsto be first must become your slave.For even I, the Son of Man, came herenot to be served but to serve others,and to give my life as a ransom formany. Jesus was the supreme exam-ple of servant leadership. Paul gives ussome insight into this leadership stylein I Thessalonians 2:7 and 8 when he

says, but we were as gentle amongyou as a mother feeding and caringfor her own children. We loved you somuch that we gave you not only GodsGood News but our own lives too.And Peter, giving advice to the eldersin I Peter 5 states, Care for the flockof God entrusted to you. Watch overit willingly, not grudgingly-not forwhat you will get out of it, but be-cause you are eager to serve God.Dont lord it over the people assignedto your care, but lead them by your

good example. It is clear throughoutthe New Testament that authority is ofa servant nature, willing to submit toothers, gentle and loving and willingto lay down ones life for others.

On a number of occasions we haveseen what this means in practice.Several years ago, Tony had a clearsense that the Lord was leading us tostart a Christian school as a part ofthe work of the church. We worked

Whos the Boss AroThe Continuation of A Personal Journey - Part 4In the late sixties and early seventies, the Holy Spirit was moving

powerfully on both sides of the Atlantic. In the States, it was the days

of the Jesus movement. The emphasis brought by the Holy Spirit into

many American churches was of Gods supernatural power. Many

unusual healing ministries were released, new church movements were

birthed, such as Calvary Chapel and Vineyard, along with much of the

church being challenged by the faith movement. In the U.K., theemphasis was different, with the charismatic movement leading into an

understanding of the importance of being the body of Christ. Church

structure and government came to the fore, as God raised up apostolic

and prophetic ministries to call the church to repentance and faith.

The emphasis tended to be on character rather than charisma.

Both countries had a lot to learn from each other. The strengths on one

side of the Atlantic tended to be the weaknesses on the other. How to

learn from and build on each others strengths was the challenge.


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at the time in the East End of London;an inner city area that most Christiansleft as their kids grew older, becausethe schools were so bad, both aca-demically and spiritually. The leader-ship team was with him in this desire,except for one person. Our patternwas to wait until there was a clearunanimity in all-important decisions.

We trusted the Holy Spirit that hewould give a green light to goahead when He brought us to theplace of being of one heart and onemind. At the right time, in an amaz-ing way, when the Lord was alsogoing to make a superb propertyavailable to us for the school, thiscommon mind came to all on theleadership team.

Contrast this with the seniorpastor concept that is normal inAmerican churches. In one of the first

churches that we were a part of in theStates we were told in no uncertainterms that the vision was the pas-tors, and everyone else was tosupport the pastors vision. We havefound that this pattern exists inpractice in most American churches.There is a CEO who definitely has thefirst and the final say. The interestingthing is that both the senior pastorand the congregations seem to like itthat way. Our impression has beenthat the adulation that is received by

many senior pastors in close toidolatry. Of course we should respectour leaders; that is both natural andBiblical. But we had better be carefulabout putting them on pedestals, orthey might fall off. RememberHumpty Dumpty!

In Matthew 23 Jesus warns thereligious leaders of His day that, theyenjoy being called Rabbi. Dont everlet anyone call you Rabbi, for you

have only one teacher, and all of youare on the same level as brothers andsisters. And dont address anyonehere on earth as Father, for only Godin heaven is your spiritual FatherYet in the evangelical/charismaticworld of today, the pastor loves to becalled Pastor. The people who hangon his every utterance place him on a

pedestal. This idolatry is not entirelythe senior pastors fault. The churchculture of today teaches the people tohave this kind of attitude towards itsleaders. This is unfair. No wonder somany pastors end up acting as CEOsrather than as the servants that theywere called to be. As the paid profes-sional, they are not only expected tohear God about the direction of thechurch, but also to hear from God ona weekly basis for the Sunday andWednesday night sermons, to organ-

ize the programs, visit the sick, andrun a perfect family life too! It is notsurprising that many, trying to live upto this impossible image, end upshipwrecked morally or physically.

It reminds me of the respect thatwas shown to us when we worked asdoctors. Put on that white coat (andmake sure that everyone can see yourstethoscope) and you automaticallybecome the leader, the boss. Thatkind of respect is only skin deep. It ischaracter that makes the person, not

position. The trouble is that it israther fun being given that respect,even when it may not be deserved.When Tony began working withinAmerican churches, he inadvertentlycaused considerable problems for thepastors that he was working with byrefusing to let the people call himpastor or doctor. He didnt want,and wouldnt accept, the prestigethat comes from the position.

Church leaders need to gain respectby laying down their lives rather thanby upholding their position.

Part of the problem here is that thispattern of church, with a senior pastoras the main leader, is not a scripturalmodel. In fact, the term pastor assuch, is only used once in the NewTestament, in Ephesians 4, and then

only as one of a group of ministrieswithin the church. If you look closelyat New Testament church leadership,there is not a single example of achurch being led by one man. In everycase, whether it is Jerusalem, Antioch,or Ephesus, a plurality of leaders isdescribed. In Acts14, we see Paul andBarnabas returning to the churchesthey had planted and appointingelders (plural) in every church. So wesee that local church government wasby a group of leaders.

What were the qualifications thatthese leaders were supposed to have?It was not seminary training, or adegree in theology. In I Timothy 3and Titus 1, there is a description ofthe necessary qualifications to be aleader. The focus is far more on issuesof character and lifestyle than any-thing else. It was, and remains, farmore important for the church to beled by men and women of characterand integrity than charisma! Howdifferent today, when the ability to

entertain (whether in preaching orleading worship) from the platform isthe major ingredient in the choice ofpastor or worship leader. The searchcommittee may be able to offer theright salary to draw away a personfrom another church, but this hardlyconstitutes a call from God!

There is an incredible safety forthose in leadership, when the churchis run along New Testament lines

nd Here Anyway?y and Felicity Dale


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through a group of leaders. I re-member when Tony was doing ahuge amount of national and inter-national travel connected with theministry that he ran among physi-cians and other health care profes-sionals. He was also one of theleaders of the church we were a part

of in the East End of London. Theleadership team of our church inLondon decided that he was awayfar too much, and that our family lifewas suffering. (Now I had beentelling him that for months!) Godwas blessing incredibly wherever hetraveled. Yet, because he was a partof a team that willingly submittedtheir lives to each other, he agreedthat he would only be away for amaximum of two Sundays in anygiven month. I praise God for the

collective wisdom of that leadershipteam! If leaders were genuinely apart of an inter-submitted teamwhich practiced a mutual account-ability, I very much doubt if wewould have seen half the churchscandals that have so devastated thechurch in the States in recent years.

Let me to describe to you a littleof the way that the leadership teamworks. It has proven to be a suc-cessful model in establishing avariety of churches in differentcountries and cultures. We meeton a regular basis, giving the major-ity of the time to worshipping andseeking the Lord. The more busi-ness things we have to cover, themore important it is to spendextensive times in His presence. Ifwe fail to do that, it invariably takesus hours just to cover a few details.If we spend an hour or more in Hispresence, we can cover a hugeamount in a very short time because

we will all be of the same mind.Added to this, the Lord is free tobreak in and frequently does so,giving us prophetic words orinsights that may totally change thecourse of the leadership meetings. Iwell remember our early experiencesof leadership meetings that fol-lowed this pattern. In those days,one would never dare go into ameeting with unconfessed sin,because the Holy Spirit would

invariably break through in someway to reveal and deal with it.Scary, but awesome!

Church leadership is not only seenin the context of the local church.Clearly Paul and others, such as thecouncil of Jerusalem (Acts 15), hadauthority that went far beyond the

local church, both through theirforce of personality and throughtheir apostolic role. It is clear thatthe Lord is again producing in Hischurch worldwide, a respect andexpectation that similar giftings arestill being released into the body ofChrist. What people like PeterWagner call the new apostolicreformation is really just recogni-tion that throughout church historyGod has raised up apostolic andprophetic men and women to help

with spearheading His work.William Burton, pioneer Pentecos-

tal missionary to the Congo (Zaire),left over a thousand churches estab-lished by the end of his life. JohnWimber, founder of the Vineyardmovement here in the United States,may have been hesitant to use theterm apostle to describe his ownministry, but many others wouldrecognize him as fitting that office.Watchman Nee, whose sermons onchurch life were put together in alittle book, The Normal ChristianChurch Life, describes very clearly therole of apostles and prophets.Watchman Nee left behind an indig-enous church movement that hastouched millions in China. His workhas also laid the foundation for manyof the new churches that haveemerged around the world.

You do not have to think thatmodern day apostles are of thesame category as the twelve apos-

tles, to believe that apostles are fortoday. Clearly, this generationneeds every gift that the risen andascended Christ wants to pour onhis church (See Ephesians 4). Thechurch is still being built on thefoundation of the apostles andprophets (Ephesians 2:20). One ofthe weaknesses that we see soprevalent in the smaller independ-ent churches meeting in homes andstorefronts across this nation, is

that they do not want, nor do theyaccept, the moderating influence ofapostolic and prophetic ministriesthat come from outside their ownfellowship. This leads to significantweaknesses. Suspicious of anythingfrom outside, they tend to becomeinsular and at times arrogant, and

sadly some, like the Exclusive Breth-ren of old, end up feeling that theyare the only true Christians around.It doesnt take a prophet to discernthat they might be wrong!

When local churches welcome theinput of those they recognize fromoutside as apostles and prophets, theyare availing themselves of a safeguardthat the Lord has provided. Churchesthat remain open to outside ministryare less likely to become insular andinward looking. These churches are

not limited by the gifting and ability oftheir own people, but can receivestrength from those gifted ministriesthat Jesus has put into His body, tohelp His body grow and mature untothe measure of the stature of thefullness of Christ.

The apostle Paul, in writing to oneof the churches, comments that,though you have had many teach-ers, youve only had one spiritualfather (I Corinthians 4:15). Anapostle is not necessarily viewed asbeing in the office of apostle by allof the churches that he/she visits.Paul fathered the church at Corinthand as such was naturally viewed bythe Corinthians as an apostle. Doesthis mean that everyone who hasplanted a church is apostolic innature? Not at all. This would be notruer than saying that everyone whohas given a word in prophecy isprophetic by calling. What does needto be recognized is that some are

called as apostles and others asprophets. This is biblical, and was agift of the ascended Jesus to Hischurch (Ephesians 4).

But as the work of the Ephesians 4ministries is to release the saints forthe work of the ministry, lets seehow all of Gods people becomeinvolved.

(to be continued in issue 5)


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A note from our Editor:I was just 21 when I first became and elder in a church. We had started achurch within the medical school at Barts Hospital. God was blessing. Everyweek it seemed people were getting saved and filled with the Holy Spirit.

Many visitors were coming from other University Christian groups around thecountry to see what was happening. Every week the meetings were different.We had no idea what the Holy Spirit might do with the times. But the growingsense of love and involvement in the purposes of God was at times almostoverwhelming. At best the elders were one step ahead of others. In reality,we were all learning together as the Lord moved sovereignly among us.Within a couple of years the original elders had graduated and moved on.Myself, to church planting and medical work in Londons East End. For Rick, tochurch planting and medical work in Worcester. Would we use the wordelders now for what we did then? I have no idea! All is known is that Godfound a way to work with willing hearts whatever we may call it. A rose byany other name smells as sweet! (please excuse the misquote from Shake-

speare, definitely not on a par with scripture.)

Biblical EldershipThe Greek word for elders, can be

translated as elders or as older men.

It is likely that Paul and Barnabasappointed older men to be overseers inthe churches. We see in I Peter 5, thatPeter, a fellow-older man, addresses theelders (older men) and tells them toshepherd the flock of God, which isamong them. Notice the contrast inverse 5. He tells the younger to submitto the elder, indicating that the elderswere older men.

Is it wrong to have young elders?Should young men be appointed asoverseers of the church? Many point toTimothy as an example of a youngoverseer (bishop.) But the Bible nevercalls Timothy a bishop. It does indicatethat he was an apostle. (I Thessalonians1:1, 2:6.) It is likely that Timothy, as anapostle, was appointing overseers in thechurch. Apparently, the men the apostleTimothy appointed to be bishops in thechurch were older than him, becauseTimothy was told not to rebuke an elder,but to entreat him as a father (I Timothy5:1). Paul told Timothy not to let anyman despise his youth (I Timothy 4:1).The church may have had many olderleaders, and so Timothys youth mayhave been unusual for the church.

The tradition of the apostles is somuch wiser to me than the practice ofhiring a young Bible college graduatewho hasnt been given time to exhibithis pastoral skills in his own family yet,and making him overseer of a congre-gation composed of his physical andspiritual seniors. He gets the job be-cause his profession is a part of theclergy caste and not because he isactually an elder who meets the Biblicalqualifications.

Some professional pastors eventuallydo meet up to Biblical requirements forelders, but some grow to this point onlyafter serving for years as Biblicallyunqualified overseers of the church. Isntit so much better to let the young menminister in their gifts, and eventuallygrow up into being elders after the fruitof their life in the faith can be tested?

Many Christians mistakenly believethat to be a clergyman, one must havea seminary degree. Others believe thatto be a clergyman, one must have aspecial gift or calling as pastor. Butthe listed requirements for an overseerthat Paul gave do not focus on the issue

of pastoral calling or gifting. Mostrequirements have to do with character

and lifestyle. Paul doesnt say that onemust sense a calling to be an overseer,but the Bible teaches that overseersmust do their work willingly (I Timothy3:1; I Peter 5:2).

We do see that some young apostleshad ministries in the New Testament.Paul may have been ayoung man when he started preaching.But when he was sent out as an apostle,he went out with another believer,Barnabas, who might have been olderthan he was.

Later, when Paul started gettingolder, he had a number of younger co-workers he mentored.Timothy was a young minister who wasmentored by Paul. Paul wrote to Timo-thy to let no man despise his youth.Maybe this was because the church wasused to being led by older men. Timo-thy was most likely appointing elders inthe churches.

Timothys authority didnt come inthe same way that an elders comes. Hehad a measure of rule that related tobeing a part of a team who preachedthe Gospel in a new area. Like Paul, hehad a measure of rule that extended to

these new churches where he had had apart in laying the foundation of Christ(II Corinthians 1:1, 10:13-14).

An elder in a church generally buildsupon a foundation

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