The Upper Room

What is simple church

I sometimes hear the question, "what is simple church"? This vid gives a good explanation. It also demonstrates why simple church is one of the most effective ways for reaching people in the West.

To see the vid click HERE.

Challenges of multi-site churches

Hirsch & Stetzer respond to a question on multi-site churches. Here is one quote,

"Setting up movie theaters to project the graven image of rock-star celebrity pastors across the United States has some long-term implications"

To see this vid click HERE.

Is the Purpose Driven model working

I have often asked "what sort of disciples does the seeker sensitive, purpose driven model of church produce".  Many of us have by now read Willow Creek's Reveal study.  Now other Churches are carrying out their own studies. One such congregation is Granger Community Church.  The results were shocking.

47% of those attending Granger DO NOT believe in salvation by grace.

57% of those attending Granger DO NOT believe in the authority of the Bible.

56% of those attending Granger DO NOT believe Jesus is the only way to eternal life.

While I have no criticism of any church, I do question if we understand what the purpose of Church is? Are we there just to attract people or do we exist to make disciples? With a declining gospel witness across North America I feel this a question of paramount importance.

Tim Stevens of Granger gives a response HERE.

John Piper gives a solid post on why Protestantism is dying, click HERE.

More on the decline of Evangelicals in North America, click HERE.

Just something to think about.

Failing Fads

In a recent article on evangelical fads, it was questioned if they are really impacting people.  Several key points are brought out, the most powerful revolving around tradition.

"Part of the problem is that evangelicals really don't have traditions," said Carter. "Instead, we have these fads that are built on the strengths and talents of individual leaders. ... But a real tradition can be handed on to anyone, from generation to generation.

"It's hard to hand these evangelical fads down like that, so it seems like we're always starting over. It's hard to build something that really lasts."

I find the above statement powerful and true. What do we really had down to the younger generation? What practices bind and tie us together as believers.  I used to think  something like communion did that.  Sadly, in most churches communion is practiced once a month and wedged in between the sermon and announcements.

What traditions do you think we hand down to others?

To read the full article click  HERE.

Praying up a storm

I shared about my recent trip to England. One joy in that dark time was to visit with other believers.  We took a Sunday morning and went to West Drayton Baptist church. I must admit for all the years I lived in West Drayton have have never set foot in this church...shame on me. 

Have you ever been in a place where there is a sense that GOD is about to move? I got that sense in West Drayton Baptist. It wasn't a large congregation. Neither did it have a power preacher (thank you Jesus). What was present is the deep abiding sense that GOD is about to break through.

I have found myself praying almost daily for the gathering in this building.  Here are some of the things I have been praying:

That the believers love for each other would grow in knowledge and depth of insight.

My prayer is that several families, strong in the faith would join this Church.

That GOD's power would be present.

That the sovereign GOD would pull more people into this church.

May the Kingdom of GOD be truly manifest in West Drayton Baptist.

May the gospel of Jesus Christ go out to West Drayton through this church.

There are many other things that come upon my heart. Please consider praying for this church also.

To be or not to be...that is the question

Over at To be a fool  there  is  an interesting conversation  on being real.  The author points out something  that  I find painfully obvious, people in church don't seem to be real.   We seem to be leading a double life.  Here is what I mean.  When people come to church they change.  We just can't act the way we normally would in other places.  I find this strange. Why do we feel the need to become someone else?

Clearly church culture has something to do with this.  Reformed Churches all act a certain way, Pentecostal churches have their culture, the list goes on. We tend to conform to the culture around us.  So an outgoing wife and mother can become something completely different when she enters the building.

Here is the challenge of our times, we must walk away from a culture that conforms us outside of the bible.  As disciples of Jesus  we  are to conform  to His teaching. We are not called to be like Jonathan Edwards we are called to follow GOD.  Can the church today tolerate a people that are so different yet following Jesus? We like those who look like us. We want to be around our kind.   Can we really tolerate those disciples that are different?  I hope so, for that is what the Church is called to do.

More on saving Africa's children

I continue to post on Africa's so called "witch children".  As in the previous post this is a call for prayer. 


Thanks to the adventures of ASBO Jesus for the above image

Children who fear the cross

Blogging can be fun, friendly and engaging. But blogging is also a way of conveying information. Sadly, some of that information is not always good.   This post is one of those times.  I must awaken you from your secure slumber to horrors that even I do not want to face.

Let me introduce you to my new object of  prayer, the witch children of Africa.  British Channel 4 television carried a documentary on the situation. I encourage you visit the documentary site HERE.

So who are these children? The documentary describes the situation thus.

"In some of the poorest parts of Nigeria, where evangelical religious fervour is combined with a belief in sorcery and black magic, many thousands of children are being blamed for catastrophes, death and famine - and branded witches by powerful pastors. These children are then abandoned, tortured, starved and murdered - all in the name of Jesus Christ."

Why would this happen you ask?

"Influential preachers from the more extreme churches brand the children witches or wizards and exploit their desperate parents by charging them exorbitant amounts of money in return for exorcising the spirits."

As I saw some of these clips I was filled with anger and disgust.  The anger is toward those who do these evil acts. The disgust is for all those pastors who know better and allow this to go on.

This Christmas your son or daughter may be up on the stage at Church singing "away in a manger".  You will tuck them into bed Christmas eve and tell them "Jesus loves you". The witch children of Africa fear the name of Jesus. To them Jesus brings only pain.  

In my anger I will leave these Pastors the words of Jesus.

"But if anyone causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him to have a large millstone hung around his neck and to be drowned in the depths of the sea." Matt 18:6

This week I will be posting video's on this subject.  My heart was treuly broken that such evil could be done in Jesus name.

A parable

I originally saw this on Trey Morgan's blog.  It is a thought provoking parable.

Primer on the Missional church

The term "missional church" has become used and abused.  Now everyone is missional. So we may want to ask ourselves just what the term means. To access a great primer on this subject click HERE.  There are a ton of references and well worth a bookmark.

Tim Keller has an interesting definition of Missional Church.


Mark Driscoll gives us his thoughts.