The Crowded House (TCH) is a network of missional communities in the city of Sheffield, England. Most of their communities—seven or eight, I think—meet regularly in homes, but that is not the most unique thing about them. Over the past few years, they have focused on what it really means to be a community. They are serious about living life together seven days a week: intentionally and strategically inviting unbelievers into their homes, not just for a worship service or a Bible study or an evangelistic event, but to taste what genuine, loving friendship is all about. Read more

You've been thinking about that co-worker's spiritual condition for weeks, maybe months, but every time you get the golden opportunity to tell them you're a follower of Jesus, your hands go sweaty, your heart begins to pound wildly, and you feel like you're going to faint. Have no fear, someone says, "Just invite them to church!"

Before you act on such advice, read these excerpts by Art Rogers:

Most of the people who are adamantly in favor of inviting the lost to church—“I know that they’ll hear the Gospel preached…”—betray a worldview that is rooted firmly in the churched culture of years gone by.

It makes no sense to invite people to a place that is completely foreign to them in order that they should hear the Gospel.

You don’t have to come to culture—even church culture—to come to Jesus. Read more

What is the Christian life in its simplest form? If we disbanded every denomination, every mission board, all seminaries, and the massive Christian “industries” in our world—book publishers, professional music groups, bookstores, conferences, seminars, workshops, and the list just seems endless—what would be left on the table? Think about that for just a moment…

Now consider the following scenario. Imagine God sending a prophet into our modern world, calling for His people to return to a simple relationship with Him as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. We are commanded to discard our present “crutches” that we have inadvertently crowned as “ministries” and just learn to love and enjoy Him for the rest of our days. It’s time to clean house…completely! The only thing we’re allowed to keep is one copy of His Word, either the old-fashioned paper-and-ink variety or the latest audio version downloaded to your Read more

In his paper, "Church Planting in India," Stanley Mehta summarizes a presentation by D. R. David at the Bless India Conference held in Chennai in January 2006. He says, "amidst all the pressures and changes, the church in India is growing more rapidly than ever before. The persecution has begun to bring together many Christian leaders who have operated rather independently of one another in the past." Most of us in the Western world have heard the incredible reports coming from China, but I was really thrilled to read Mehta's explanation Read more

I ran across an excellent quotation on the What is Church? website:

"Jesus…envisaged that, scattered around Palestine, there would be small groups of people loyal to himself, who would get together to encourage one another, and would act as members of a family, sharing some sort of common life and, in particular, exercising mutual forgiveness. It was because this way of life was what it was, while reflecting the theology it did, that Jesus' whole movement was thoroughly, and dangerously, 'political'. And…the main characteristic of the cells that Jesus called into being was of course loyalty to Jesus himself." —N.T. Wright, Jesus and the Victory of God

Have you ever wondered what it must have been like to attend an ordinary gathering of the early church? I think about such things and I find myself longing for time travel, just so I could experience Christianity as described in the Book of Acts. Although I seriously doubt anyone will ever make such a mind-blowing breakthrough, God has given us the amazing faculty of imagination that can make use of descriptive narratives, such as the Gospels and the Book of Acts. Want to go with me on a quick journey? Read more