Three Things that Hinder a Movement
I’ve been listening to a phenomenal set of interviews by Steve Addison that are part of his “Movements That Change the World” podcast. Steve is interviewing “Barney,” a missionary and church planter that has helped spark a movement in an undisclosed third world nation.
In his fourth interview, “Barney” is describing the wider context in which movements happen. Near the end of the interview, Barney talks about three different things that work their way in and distort the DNA of a church multiplication movement. Most of us would expect these things to be things like heresy or sin. What’s shocking about the things that he lists is they are things that well-intentioned people want to do for successful ministries. What does Barney say hinders movements?
- Buildings- According to Barney, church planting movements happen in all sorts of unconventional places: houses, restaurants, wherever people gather. When someone comes in and builds a building for the movement, the focus shifts from starting multiple churches in many people’s homes to getting as many people to come to the building as possible.
- External Funding- When money comes in from outside of the movement, it can cause the movement to embrace activities that in can’t sustain on its own financially. This can cause the church receiving funding to not be responsible for the resourcing of it’s own activities. Financial independence is crucial in the life of movements.
- Non-Practical Training- Probably the most seductive of the three, this typically happens when someone comes in and offers to build a bible college to train workers. The reality, though, is that this training takes people away from a more hands-on, obedience based training already happening within a movement.
Pretty interesting. Now, here’s the real question: these realities cause movements to slow in the third world. Is it possible that they hinder us as well? If so, why haven’t we noticed it before? Share your thoughts in the comment section!
Photo Credit: Social Media Patterns (Energy Minimized / No Overlap) by KentBye
The Wayback Machine: January
Some things just get better with age. “The Wayback Machine” posts occur at the end of every month and reference the best posts of that month in years past. My hope is to provide a good jumping on point for readers who have never been to Pursuing Glory.
2010
Why You Come To Pursuing Glory
This post was my 199th post. It was my attempt to sum up the reasons why people come and participate in this crazy blog and also articulate a little bit what the path forward looked like. If you’re wondering why you’re here or you have an interest in revival, apostolic ministry, the global house church movement, interecession, or our personal lives, you should check out this post to find out why you’re in the right spot.
2007
I wrote this blog because I was in a season of trying to plant a house church and was finding out very quickly not everyone was going to be as excited about it as I was. You also will get a good look at me wrestling with whether I wanted to bear the stigma of what was (and still is) part of belonging to a house church. The good news is the Lord is faithful and we’re still here.
Our House Church Came Together
This post came out of the very first gathering of our house church. We’ve grown a little numerically, we’ve grown a lot in community and in each other’s lives. This post ought to give you some great insight in where we started. It’s hard to believe it’s been four years.
Food For Thought: Simple Church Sampling
Every week here at Pursuing Glory I try to bring together the best posts I’ve found that will equip the end-times church to operate in her God-ordained destiny. These are the best blogs, articles, books and other resources related to our purpose here at this site. Feel free to visit, comment, and make use of the resources found at each site.
This week’s posts mostly focus on house churches (organic/simple churches). They represent a wide assortment of people who have different perspectives, but all of them have been practicing simple, reproducible, Christ-centered meetings for years. They’ve been my food for thought as I’ve been preparing to write a “Basic Introduction” post on house churches. I hope you enjoy!
Simple Church and Global Missions
The prevailing thought is that simple, organic churches tend not to be very engaged in missions, especially globally. I’ve found this incredibly inaccurate in our own experience, though I think it greatly depends on who makes up each church. (Posted at The Assembling of the Church)
Frank at Reimagining Church shares an excerpt from his book, From Eternity to Here, where he looks at the reality of Christ’s Lordship in the Church as a foundation for understanding how the Church is built. This is must reading for every church planter.
Maurice Smith at Parousia Network Cyber Cafe shares his perspective of where God is leading those in the organic house church movement. This is long post, but there are some keen insights about what the future may look like.
Guy Muse at The M Blog shares a true story about a church planter from Ecuador, that while true, is also a parable for those of us in the organic house church movement.
Photo Credit: Design Probes – Food for Thought by centralasian.
Cluster Map
Pursuing Glory 