Friday news of the week

This is the first of what I hope to be regular weekly posts to the website to let everyone know what is happening with the house churches in the valley of the Son.

First of all, there is a new house church starting up in Gilbert, Acts House Assembly.  Find out more about them at http://www.actshouseassembly.org and http://www.meetup.com/acts-house-assembly .

This weekend, there is a house church conference going on in Las Vegas with Frank Viola and Milt Rodriguez.  There are some folks from Oasis in Tempe attending and will be returning tomorrow.  If you didn’t go, like me, check Chad Irvings website http://organicchurchresource.org for information and resources from the conference.

Every first Saturday of each month, several of us from the east valley house churches go to ‘A’ mountain in Tempe in the morning and hike up to the overlook or the top and spend some time in prayer.  This was begun a couple of years ago and we have been pretty consistent.  We focus our prayers on the cities of the east valley and the students at ASU.  We also pray for our county, state, and federal leaders.  Tomorrow is the first Saturday of November and at least of couple of us will be there at 8am.

Every other Wednesday, some of us from the east valley house churches meet for prayer at the Coffee Rush at Gilbert and Baseline at 7pm.  We catch up on how things are going and then spend some time praying for individual needs within the house churches.  This is a great time of fellowship and prayer.  We will be meeting there this Wednesday, Nov. 11.  Anyone interested in joining us is welcome.

Speaking of Nov. 11, it is Veteran’s Day.  Applebee’s is honoring all veterans and active duty military with a free lunch or dinner on that day.  Tell  every veteran you know about this.  See their website http://www.applebees.com/vetsDay/default.aspx for more information.

Last of all, don’t forget about the Music Festival/Outreach at Encanto Park on November 21.  The music will begin around 11:00am with Dotty and Tina followed by The McCabes and Consider This.  We will also be giving away hot dogs (courtesy of John and Debbie Rowden of the Durango Grill) during this time.  We still need volunteers to help with setup/teardown, prayer table, and ministering.  The last one we did in February was a great time, even though the temp was in the 90s that day.  We had 3 confirmed salvation decisions and we are praying for a greater move of the Spirit this time.  Please come and help minister in any way you can.  If you are so led, please contact Colleen Kolb (602-390-9600) or Howard Kolb (602-390-2585).

 

 

Next House Church Meeting

I hope you can join us the next meeting at the Durango Grill at 9AM, Saturday, October 10. John Rowden has promised to cook up some pancakes and bacon. We will also be talking about the park outreach in November and the house church conference in Las Vegas in November.

If you need directions to the Durango Grill, feel free to call me at 602-524-9400.

There was only a couple of house churches involved in the last Encanto Park outreach. If God has given you a heart for reaching the people of Phoenix, please join the effort. We look forward to seeing you there. If you plan to come, please let us know so that John will have an idea for the food.  You can email me at ljoh3106@cox.net .

Facebook – Reminder

Just a reminder that the Phoenix Area House Churches has a fan page on Facebook. If you are on Facebook, become a fan by clicking on the link on the right sidebar. As a fan, you can post content on the wall. Hope to see you there.

House Church Meeting Recap

First of all, thanks to John Rowden for opening up his Durango Grill for another Saturday meeting.

Joining John and I (Larry) from East Vally Grace in Mesa/Gilbert, were Chad Irving from Oasis Home Church in Tempe/Maricopa, Rich Kraemer and Howard Kolb from Sonlight Home Church in Surprise, and Ron Friesen from Oasis for the Nations in Phoenix.

Also joining us was Jeff Smith.  He is currently not in house church but has been in the past.  He is very interested in how God is moving in the house churches in Phoenix.  Thanks to Jeff for sharing his story with us.

Nate Terlisner was unable to make it because of the requirements of a new job.  But he called and let me know that his family is involved in a new house church start in central Phoenix.

Oasis for the Nations is reaching a variety of immigrants, including Muslims, each week.  They have been able to provide financial assistance when needed to some.

Sonlight Home Church is going through a period of spiritual attacks.   Please keep Becky Kraemer’s health in your prayers since she has been affected in a large way.   They are also planning a fall retreat.

Howard talked about the band Consider This and the plans for another park outreach/music festival on November 21.   Currently,  John Rowden will again provide hot dogs to anyone showing up for the music.  Howard will provide more information and possibly a planning meeting in the Sept/Oct timeframe.

Chad and Jeff indicated that they will probably be going to the conference in Las Vegas with Frank Viola in early November.  We will post more information on that conference soon.

We enjoyed very good discussion on the unity of the Church around the supremacy of Christ.   With the small group we had, there was a very strong sense of wanting to see unity and to make Christ the center of everything we do.

With that,  we lifted up our prayers to the Father.  My prayer is that there will be unity in the Body in Phoenix and that more house churches will want to share their story with the other house churches.   We know God continues to move in the valley and we all love to hear how He is moving in the small groups.

A reminder that if you are on Facebook, please sign up as a fan of the Phoenix Area House Churches.  See the link on the right side of this webpage.

Reminder – House Church Meeting – 7/25

This is a reminder that this Saturday morning at 9AM, the Durango Grill, 3341 W. Durango, Phoenix, will again be the location for another house church meeting.  We will have free coffee and donuts.

Please join us and share with us what God is doing in your group.   Our friend Nate Terlisner (you may remember him from the outreach in February) will update us on his work with a downtown ministry.  I’m sure there are others who also have stories to share.

We will also talk about the conference with Frank Viola and the Encanto Park outreach planned for November.

Call me if you need directions ( 602-524-9400 ).

House church meeting July 25

John Rowden will be opening up his Durango Grill (3341 W. Durango, Phoenix) for another house church meeting at 9AM on July 25.  At the minimum, there will be free coffee and donuts. But you never know what John may cook up.

I know things are usually pretty quiet around Phoenix during the summer but hopefully most everyone will be done with vacations by then.

It would be great to know how God is working in the many house/organic/simple churches around Phoenix.  Our friend Nate Terlisner (you may remember him from the outreach in February) will update us on his work with a downtown ministry.  I’m sure there are others who also have stories to share.

Also there are a couple of things coming up in November we can talk about.

Our friends from the group “Consider This” have reserved Encanto Park for another outreach in November.  They have three other groups lined up just like in February. The last outreach went well but could have been better.  I think it was just a warmup for future events.

Also, thanks to Chad Irving of Oasis, we have learned very early of a House Church Conference with Frank Viola in Las Vegas coming up in early November.  It would be great to have a large contingent from Phoenix attend this conference.  Its not that far to drive.  The prices are very reasonable.  We will talk about this also.  If you want more information before the meeting, please email Chad or me.

Please plan to join us at the Durango Grill.  Its been so long since we met, I hope to see folks from many of the fellowships around town.

Give Me Jesus

A Jesus Manifesto

Leonard Sweet and Frank Viola have co-authored  “A Jesus Manifesto” or

“A Magna Carta for Restoring the Supremacy of Jesus Christ

a.k.a.

A Jesus Manifesto for the 21^st Century Church”.

Although these two men may disagree on many issues, they both agree in the centrality of Jesus within the church.   They share a common vision they want to impart to the church through this manifesto.

Go to the blog website: http://ajesusmanifesto.wordpress.com/ to read it and to comment on it.

Personal Jesus

That is the headline of today’s article in The Arizona Republic, Valley & State section.   Chelsea Schneider has written a very positive, although too short, article on how “Micro churches offer informal, interactive worship”.  

In Phoenix, we do have house churches, home churches, organic churches, and simple churches.  This is the first time I have see the term “micro churches” used in the context of the simple church movement here in the US. 

Chelsea did a great job of introducing this movement, although its not a new one, to a new group of local residents by including this article in the Valley & State section on Sunday and not in the Religion section on Saturday.   

If you haven’t seen her article, its on the Republic’s website here.

And post a comment if you there is something you want to add.

 

Redirection of financial resources

This is the title of the latest newsletter from House2House.  In this edition of the newsletter, Tony Dale says  ”One of the great potential benefits of the simple church revolution is the redirection of financial resources. Hundreds of millions of dollars, once spent on buildings and pastoral staffs, can now be released for mission of all types (care of the poor, church planting both locally and globally, etc.). Unfortunately, this shift of resources isn’t happening yet on a large scale.  At least one reason is the lack of models – examples of simple churches who are handling financial resources well.”

Tony then revisits the model used by Jim Mellon and the Association of Home Churches in Killeen, TX.  

Jim summarizes their model:  ”Over the last 17 years we have been able to deploy approximately one million dollars away from building payments and salaries towards benevolence and missions. We have helped plant over 450 churches in India, influence our community, and save a life through benevolence giving.”

Tony has begun a discussion thread on the http://www.simplechurch.com website.  I encourage everyone involved or interested in home church to visit this website and join the discussion.    Especially, take a look at the attached TheBigBang1.doc that explains some of the ways their pooled resources have impacted their city. 

Here in Phoenix, I am very interested in how the various house churches, that don’t have buildings and don’t pay pastor salaries, spend their resources.  I know in our group, each family supports ministries or causes that are dear to that family.  We have occasionally pooled our resources toward a specific ministry or family need.  

Please shoot me an email with any information on how your house church handles its financial resources.   I will post the results in the future but I won’t indicate anything specific unless requested to.