Top Ten Reasons for using SASHET in your church

* Top Ten Reasons for starting simple church by using SASHET to "check in" with each other...

#2. It helps me know what part of me is present. How many times have we gone to church meetings without thinking deeply about where our own hearts are? As a result, we end up merely "going through the motions". We relate on a superficial level. But, when I take time to think through SASHET (Sad - Angry - Scared - Happy - Excited - Tender), I can be authentic with my community. I present my "true self" and the result is meaningful relationships with both the community and with God.

What benefits have you found from "checking in"? Add your thoughts in the "Comment" section below. Also, if you are new to SASHET and the CO2 concept, see the resources in the right column.

*National House Church Conference. September 2-4 in Jacksonville, FL. http://www.cvent.com/events/momentum-basics-and-beyond/event-summary-35d9eb8b489245b383c00068e2ebd074.aspx

*Letters to the House Church Movement by Rad Zdero. Chapter Four is titled "Letter to Women in House Churches". Rad comments that "Women (in the early church) were full participants in church life and mission. They could pray, prophesy, teach, encourage, and use all their spiritual gifts." He lists a number of roles that women functioned in. One particularly significant role was that of apostle. "Women were apostles. In Rom. 16:7, Paul greets two outstanding apostles. One is a man named Andronicus. The other person's name, however could either be read "Junias" (male) or "Junia" (female), ... the evidence overwhelmingly favors the female name "Junia." p. 50. (Rad goes on in the book to outline that evidence.)

When we pray Lk10:2b, we beseech the Lord of the harvest to send forth both male and female apostolic church planters! And, it's happening!

Perhaps you've seen the video below - Leadership Lessons from Dancing Guy. What are the lessons for the LK10 Community?

CO2 virus spreading around the world

Margie James, who is part of the Australian Cohort in the LK10 Apprenticeship, just returned from India where she and her husband attended the Global Summit on Market Ministries. (Speakers included Victor Choudrie, Tony Dale and Wolfgang Simson.)

Margie was delighted to find the CO2 "virus" spreading there in India.

Here's her report...

"...let me tell you about several people we met at the Global Summit who were doing CO2 or had completed The Apprenticeship! We had much to share and I was HAPPY to tell everyone about our Aussie Apprentice Cohorts!

Almost 200 delegates from around the world were introduced to the smallest form of church and we shared some of the Lk.10.com practices with those who were interested to know more. Some already were aware of LK10.com and others were eager to know! We were able to direct them to the LK.10 website! It was awesome to meet people on the same heart journey!"

Maree Watson, who is also part of the Australian Cohort responds... "Beautiful! and how fab that the co2 virus is spreading all around the world."

Invitation to LK10 Apprenticeship

I am delighted to announce that we are now taking applications for the next session of the LK10 Apprenticeship. This is a unique 12 week learning experience designed to "Train Leaders Who Listen". That is, leaders (whether formal or informal) who desire to learn how to better listen to their own hearts, to the hearts of those around them and, most importantly, to God's heart.

Jim Mellon, long time house church leader and one of the founders of House2House Ministries, recently said, "The Apprenticeship is the most important step forward for the house church movement that I've seen in a long time."

Here's the process for applying...

Step One: Watch the video below to see if this is something you are interested in.

Step Two: Email me at DenverWH@aol.com and say, "Tell me more about the Apprenticeship". I'll send you a link to a 24 minute video that you need to watch and an application form. (The video is thorough and detailed because we want you to be clear about what is involved in this commitment.)

Step Three: If the Lord gives you the green light, fill out the application form and send it to me. DenverWH@aol.com We will get back to you as soon as possible to let you know which cohort you are in (assuming there is space).

Step Four: The Apprenticeship begins on Sunday, Jan. 30.

We are anticipating 6-7 cohorts (12 individuals/households in each). Many of these cohorts are already almost filled. So, we encourage you to move quickly if you sense the Lord is directing you to be a part.

Once you've watched the two videos, shoot me an email if there are other questions that you have.

John

PS - For further information about the LK10 Apprenticeship, scroll down here to see the various articles and videos posted on this topic: http://storiesfromtherevolution.blogspot.com/search/label/Apprenticeships

LK10 Apprenticeship: Week Eight (4)

Synergy, in general, may be defined as two or more agents working together to produce a result not obtainable by any of the agents independently.

In the first three parts of this interview with Jim Mellon and Wade Adams, we identified the following "agents" or components that create the synergy of the LK10 Apprenticeship.

1. Weekly (for 12 weeks) learning assignments

2. Private Facebook discussion group

3. Daily CO2 relationship with one other person

4. Personal coaching session every other week with cohort leader.

5. Community conference call every other week

In part four of this interview (see below), Jim and Wade comment on the final components...

6. Participants invest in the ministry of the cohort leader (see 1 Cor. 9:11)

7. Multiplication of cohorts

John

NBC News Reports on the House Church Movement

More and more the media is catching on to the house church movement. Last night (10/21/10), Brian Williams on NBC's Nightly News reported that, at a time when the Crystal Cathedral in California is filing for bankruptcy, 9% of American Protestants now attend only house church. This is an estimated 6-12 million people. (See the video below.)

Although not reported on the program, this represents growth at an unprecedented rate. Even 10 years ago, house churches were almost unheard of in this country. The percentage of Protestants attending only house church was certainly under 1%.

And, no one (no human, at least) is behind this major shift in the American spiritual landscape. It wasn't launched by Rick Warren or Bill Hybels. It wasn't planned by the Southern Baptists or by Campus Crusade. It is simply a spontaneous move of the Holy Spirit to return the church to the way church was practiced in the New Testament.

The Luke Ten Community exists to join God in what He is doing with house churches. Our mission is to "connect and equip emerging house church leaders". Our vision is to see "a vibrant family of Jesus (house church) on every block of every neighborhood of every city or region." http://lk10.com/

John

CO2 - The Hyatt Family (4)

In response to the story about the Hyatt family doing CO2, Jared Looney, a church planter in NYC, posted this comment yesterday...

We recently did S.A.S.H.E.T. as a family. That is, my wife, my five year old daughter, and me. My wife and I had practiced this tool in various settings before, but doing it as a family with our 5 year old was pretty awesome.

Isn't that encouraging! Nothing excites me more than stories of children, even young children, responding to these simple ways of doing/being church.

Today, in the fourth and last part of this interview, Sean tells how his family has shared CO2 with other families and individuals. Notice again how natural and almost effortless this is. It creates a whole new picture for the term "church planting".

Also makes me think of the title of Roland Allen's famous book: The Spontaneous Expansion of the Church.

Your thoughts?

John

House church article in USA Today

Last week there was a positive article about house church on the front page of The Denver Post. See http://www.denverpost.com/ci_15547588?source=email

Now, comes a similar article in USA Today. What do you make of this? What encourages you about this? What potential problems do you see? Post your comments below.

John

'House churches' keep worship small, simple, friendly Updated 1d 21h ago | Comments 116 | Recommend 11

Enlarge By Karl Gehring, Denver Post, AP Darren Boyer, center kneeling beside the couch, prays with, from right clockwise, Susan Dennison, Tasha Gustafson and Jolene Larson, asking for God's wisdom regarding an upcoming decision that Brent Tribble, left, will make about his life, during a non-denominational "house church" service at Boyer's Brighton, Colo. home. The number of these new, small, organic churches is growing, according to the Barna Group DALLAS (AP) — To get to church on a recent Sunday morning, the Yeldell family walked no farther than their own living room to greet fellow worshippers. The members of this "house church" are part of what experts say is a fundamental shift in the way U.S. Christians think about church. Skip the sermons, costly church buildings and large, faceless crowds, they say. House church is about relationships forged in small faith communities. In general, house churches consist of 12 to 15 people who share what's going on in their lives, often turning to Scriptures for guidance. They rely on the Holy Spirit or spontaneity to lead the direction of their weekly gatherings. "I think part of the appeal for some in the house church movement is the desire to return to a simpler expression of church," said Ed Stetzer, a seminary professor and president of Lifeway Research, which is affiliated with the Southern Baptist Convention. "For many, church has become too much (like a) business while they just want to live like the Bible." House church proponents claim their small groups are sort of a throwback to the early Christian church in that they have no clergy and everyone is expected to contribute to the teaching, singing and praying... Read the entire article here: http://www.usatoday.com/news/religion/2010-07-22-housechurch21_ST_N.htm?csp=usat.me

C02 spreads to England (3)

Chris Jefferies attended the House2House Conference in Dallas last September. At the conference, Chris became "infected" with the CO2 (church of two) virus. When Chris returned home to Cambridgeshire, England he began to share C02 with others. As a result, other people in his part of England are starting to get "infected" with the same virus. Observation: The CO2 virus seems to be "sneezeable."

Here's an excerpt from his post:

As far as I'm aware nobody was doing CO2 in the UK until I brought it here from Dallas in September 2009. I'd like to outline the history of it since then.

Infections follow a pattern that is true for viruses, bacteria, trees, rabbits, and even us humans. The stages of this pattern are...

Infection > Latency > Spread > Symptoms > Impact > Dieback

Lets look at these one by one.

Infection - In this stage an active form spreads to a new home. With a cold virus, you might breathe in virus laden particles after someone with a cold sneezed. Or you might touch a contaminated object and then transfer the virus to your mouth or eyes.

The active form of CO2 is the knowledge of what it is, how to do it, and the value it brings. By the time I returned from Dallas I was already infected.

Latency - This is the time during which nothing much seems to happen. The cold virus has to enter a living cell, a seed takes time to absorb water and germinate. During the latent period something essential has to happen but there is no sign of it yet.

In the case of CO2 I needed to find someone who wanted to hear about it and do it with me. Until I found that person, the CO2 virus was present in the UK - but latent.

Continue reading Chris' post on the early stages of the spread of C02 in his part of England from his blog.

"Viral" Multiplication

This video shows the airplane traffic flow around the world in a 24-hour period. This is a good visual demonstration of how a virus, or breaking news or even the Gospel might spread virally and organically through relationships around the world. That which is simple is easier to reproduce and multiply, kind of like C02.

CO2 spreads to England

Chris Jefferies lives in St. Neots, Cambridgeshire, UK. Chris learned about the "church of two" concept at the House2House Conference last fall in Dallas, TX. Here's Chris' story. (BTW, file this under "Viral Multiplication".)

In early December I began CO2 with a house church friend, Sean. After the first week we were clear that we very much wanted to continue, and after three weeks we both agree that our relationship with one another and our relationships with the Lord are deepening noticeably.

Our experiences are similar to those reported by others commenting on 'Stories from the Revolution'. I had expected CO2 to be good, but it was trying it out for myself over a period of days that really convinced me. It's sometimes been difficult to keep going on a daily basis, but it is so worth the effort. My advice - don't give up, keep on keeping on and you will benefit.

Even if you don't have a partner for CO2, I would recommend doing the VIRKLER and SASHET exercises on your own each day. You will still see some useful benefit. But working in pairs or small groups will amplify the value greatly.

VIRKLER (particularly the hearing and journaling aspects) has deepened my awareness of the Lord's constant presence in my life.

SASHET has brought us closer to one another in mutual understanding, respect and trust.As we pray with and for one another in the light of hearing the Lord's direction to each of us, I'm fully convinced we'll be led into church life and sharing the gospel in ways we could hardly have imagined at first.

CO2 is not an end in itself. It is, however, a really useful framework for hearing from the Lord and at the same time developing broader and deeper relationships between individuals. In this way it stimulates spiritual growth and can act as both a building block for church and a platform for sharing the gospel. What a versatile tool!

Thanks, Chris!

To read more of Chris' CO2 story, check out his blog at http://blog.scilla.org.uk/2009/12/church-of-two-co2.html

John

Kent Smith (3): Conditions for Community Formation

What conditions are needed for vibrant families of Jesus to form? This is a big question—but a great place to look for answers is to notice what Jesus actually did and taught. Two factors he seemed to think were important are:

· People of Peace: God-prepared individuals and communities who are ready to receive the life of God. This just makes sense when you think about it. God initiates, God invites his Bride. No kidding—He will build His church. No kidding—apart from Him we can do nothing. When we go casting about for other options we are wasting time and effort.

· Kingdom Carriers, Peace Bearers: Little communities (especially pairs), who carry the vision, message, power and life of the Kingdom as they listen to and follow the King into his work.

This is what Jesus did. This is what he taught his disciples to do. And this was standard practice in life of the early church as vibrant (and flawed!) families of Jesus permeated the Roman Empire (see the map).

So—what do you think about this? In the final post in this series, I’ll suggest some tools that can help people wanting to better engage this life. For now, I’m wondering if these conditions seem as important/possible today as they did two millennia ago? Are there more important factors for multiplied, vibrant families of Jesus in our time?

Kent Smith (1): Incarnations of God

From Kent Smith:

Key Question: What would it take to see a vibrant family of Jesus in close reach—culturally and geographically—of every person on the planet?

Why is this question key? Because it can focus our attention on what has God’s attention: a Bride who, in her many-splendored beauty, is made up of representatives of all the peoples—every tongue, tribe and nation. This Bride alone has the capacity to reveal the fullness of God’s multifaceted wisdom, and to share intimate communion with God now and through the ages of eternity.

For this to happen, incarnations of God—communities that reveal Jesus with skin on—must come near in every people group on earth. Vibrant families of Jesus must spring up everywhere.

So, exactly what are these vibrant families of Jesus? In our next post I’ll unpack that idea some. Meanwhile, what do you think? Is this key question really key? From your perspective, why or why not?

CO2 and making disciples (4)

The fourth reason that a CO2 is an excellent tool for making disciples is that it is so simple. In this way, it's like baseball.

Baseball is both simple and profound. It is simple enough that five year olds can enjoy playing T-ball on their first day. Yet, it is so profound that grown men (and women) can devote their entire lives to mastering its subtleties.

A CO2 is very simple and easy to explain.

CO2 = 2 people + SASHET + VIRKLER + DAILY.

You don't need a workbook or a conference or a twelve week course to get started. Just start. In ten minutes, a person can understand it well enough to begin to practice it successfully. On the other hand, a CO2 can be the starting point for deep and profound transformation.

And, as Neil Cole has said, only that which is simple can multiply rapidly. Think of CO2 as a benevolent Kingdom virus that could spread throughout your whole city.

Who will you "infect" today?

John