Subject: re 24-7church and cultural shift
Dear friends...
Here are some factors determining our procedure:
-HEALTHY NEW AND BROADER FOUNDATIONS.
rebell factions with a breakaway mentality who have formed their ghettos
shooting firy darts at the institutional church and forming small streams
around indiv. people and teachings. (Frank Viola is one of those who have a
good grasp on what has been happening). Here the need is simple: healthy
new foundations of apostolic and prophetic crucified and humble people who
are not boosting their own ministries but clearly serving the kingdom of
God in their area of calling. Kingdom people, not empire builders. The
current flavour of "apostolic ministry" megachurch style, heavily ladden
with top-down language and networks, pyramidical and nicolaitean minds and
a selfimposed superimportant behaviour (want to be part of my network,
brother?) like a second president simply won´t do. We are looking here for
the "meek suffering slaves" of Christ, weeping brokenhearted fathers
giving birth to "Christ in the Galatians" and gleefully watching Timothy
overtaking them, and genuine prophets with a fathers heart anointing the
new Davids, Samuels Elishas, not with a mind to sell their next book.
-NOT THE SONS ALONE.
We also need some "fathers blessing" here, that is, some serious people who
have done that, been there, and earned their way to be heard, people like
Jim Montgomery, Ralph Winter, Art Katz and others.
- FIVEFOLD MINISTRY FOUNDATION.
As we observe it here in Europe, the formation of a fivefold ministry team
working regionally is absoluteley key to the process. If we leave it to
individuals planting housechurches "becaue its good for the kids" the
process becomes erratic, static, sometimes cultic, or we are having new
forms of monastries emergin again. Again, in good-old Dawn terminology, the
John Knoxer (give me Scottland or I die) types are essential here not
necessarily on a national scene, but regional, local, even on ethnic or
homogeneous-unit-group level (like age groups...).
- HOUSECHURCH AND CITYCHURCH BELONG TOGEETHER.
God is clearly speaking about forming the citychurch, and it will NOT
happen with traditional pastors and their churches sometimes getting
together for an extraordinary all-saints worship event once a year, but it
will happen only by deliberately and prophetically moving beyond a
denominational /fragmented understanding of church, often involving the
dissolving of 10-100 churches with similar vision, values and heartbeat
into the city church, forming the fivefold ministries and housechurches in
the area and starting citywide regular celebrations. This will write a
completely new chapter of church history.
- THE BOOK
"Houses that change the world" (on the web: www.outreach.ca) is going to be
out in print 1st February 2001 (says Paternoster-Publishing, Carlisle, UK).
If similar things happen in the US as they are happening here (German
world) , within weeks there will be a healthy discussion going on in
thousands of places. There is hardly a group which is not seriously
discussing shifting into that type of genetical code of church now,
hundreds of housechurches are emerging, and we have between 4-8 regional
conferences per year facilitating this process. It is quite possible to
insert a flyer into all books shipped to the US with the specific
invitation to a larger convocation on that subject, if the date of such a
conference would be in June.
-"24-7CHURCH".
God is emphasizing 24-7, a moving away from 2 hours out of
168-h-perweek-Christianity, and it is not prayer alone what is on his
heart, he is moving the church into 24-7discipleship and ultimately
24-7church (thats where we came from, anyway). I also believe that the term
"24-7church" (am I inventing it herewith?) will be a key term to focus the
attention of the youthscene and hedlp them plant housechurches or
habitat-churches into their biotopes. For many young people "housechurch"
could smell like Grandmas applepie, a definite lack of enough laser shows
and cool multimedia screens, or like those rebell groups who became
bless-me clubs or new forms of the old system painted in revolutionary
colours, and many simple do not live in houses, (thats for parents...) they
live outdoors, in McDonalds, the schools, offices, dancefloors and
somebodyelses house. Still, hosuechurch is a return to new testament
apostolic and prophetic christianity with large citywide celebrations,
small "workshops" /housechurches/cells/hangouts for ongoing discipling,
character-formation, restoring the extended family and for multiplication.
-FIRST NATION ISSUE.
God has spoken to me that the "first nations" (Indians, Inuits, Aborigines
etc) have suffered from a racist spiritual colonialism and have in some
places started to like the white mans God, but remain at odds with white
mans church, no matter how "contextualized" it looks. God yes,
PPP-churches, no (Pastor, programms, problems...) The thing which I felt
God say is this: its time to see the concept of housechurch (24-7church)
incarnated (not contextualized) in the "First Nations", because that is the
way they think and behave anyway. Its their type of Church from the
beginning. Here God will prepare some people to be apostles and prophets of
this, and especially in combination with a resurgence of healthy prophetic
ministry in those houses (tipis, iglus, tents, gers, huts, houses,
appartments) this will be a very powerful place for many white people to be
discovering God and church ina totally new way, by learning from them. God
will develop this into a humanly speaking "weak" platform for a very
powerful prophetic message to the US, coming from an angle few people will
not be able to refute. I foresee a housechurch movement amongst the Sioux
and Navajos, Eskimos and Apaches, (just like amongst Australian
Aboriginees, Finnish Lapps, Brazilian Indios and others) because this
"unchurched form of church" will immediately click with their genetical
code of thinking, their spirituality and their life patterns. They have
precious little church history to lose and are the types of gregarious
colourful earthly itinerant communities, which will become prophets to the
global young generation and model literally godly tribal patterns of life
and celebration.
-The ESOTERIC/NEW AGE ISSUE
In Switzerland and Germany we are seeing some new breakthroughs. God has
told us to go to the God-seekers, because, quite simply, "those who seek
shall find". One of those groups definitely is the new age/esoteric group
seeking God at all the wrong places, often enough because they are bitterly
dissapointed by the traditonal church. In Luzern/Switzerland we
experimented just now with inviting new Agers to a hotel for "Moments of
healing", featuring a first evening we called "African power". 300 people,
astrologers, Reiki-Masters, healers, Tarot-cards readers etc came, crowding
the place. Chris Daza, a prophet and christian statesman from Malawi (he
will most probably work with us full time from now on) appeared in full
african garb and spoke to them about what the Holy Spirit does today
(typical Fridayfax stories). Then he started prophesying over some,
resulting in blackouts, expulsion of demons, some healings, and startling
prophetic insigts which simply blew people off their feet. As he asked "Who
wants this ´african power?´") everyone rushed forward, and he explained the
source of this power to them: Jesus. It is important to note, that when we
had housechurch explained to them (you are not to sit down in a cold church
building and consume sermons, but experience organic family, eating,
sharing, praying, prophesing and the Holy Spirit doing these types of
things in your living room...) there was an instant recognition of truth in
them and they said: we waited for this all our lives... 5th Nov we had a
follow up meeting with David Hathaway (english evangelist), same pattern,
but now with 500 people because they asked "Can we bring our meditation
group, please?!). In that absolutely crowded atmosphere we saw a half
paralyzed person (young man having had an accident from paragliding) be
healed instantly and walking in front of everyone. David preached on what
is easier, to say your sins are forgiven or take your bed and walk... and
again around 180 wanted to become followers of Jesus....
As you can see from these tidbits of information, here clearly is another
key group to plant housechurches into (the modern day Jewish Proselytes)
and to reckon with.
ALL THREE ISSUES
We are seeing that the issue is not only housechurch, but the answer to
discipling nations in the west revolves around three questions:
1. What really is church? (24-7church/housechurch, citychurch)
2. How do we work together in the future (5fold ministries,
geographic identity, movements, flat structures...)
3. How will we finance this (because the present financial system
simply is as unapostolic as possible)
Any comments or suggestions?
Every blessings
Wolfgang Simson, Germany
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