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09/$@18813#C$To see the kingdom of God established in our cities, regions, and nation, by linking arms as a relational, intentional, and missional network of house churches, that develop and deploy every believer in Christ as they impact others.

09/$80"'4189$41</8C$Starfish line the shores of the world’s beaches. Chop o! an arm, and a new one grows to take its place. Tear a starfish in half, and you’ll soon have two starfish on your hands. A torn-o! limb can even become a brand new starfish. And what’s more, they populate by releasing hundreds of thousands, and sometimes millions, of eggs in just a few hours. Just like the house church movement through the ages. An estimated 300,000 new house churches have started between 1998 and 2006. And this doesn’t include China’s 80 to 100 million house church believers or Latin America’s 1 million Basic Christian Communities in 2007. It’s also taking root in Canada. Enter the Starfish Files. The magazine’s goal is to inspire, inform, and interconnect the house churches across Canada and beyond.

09/$0/"@CEditor, Rad Zdero, rzdero@yahoo.caDesigner, Jason Stacey, jason@yellowcanarydesign.com

8;D@18813#8C$Send your writings, suggestions, and photos to Rad Zdero (editor), c/o The Starfish Files, P.O. Box 39528, Lakeshore P.O., Mississauga, ON, Canada, L5G-4S6, or by email to rzdero@yahoo.ca

41#"#=1"<$53#"013#8CNon-tax-deductible cheques can be made out to “The Starfish Network” with “Starfish Files” in memo line.

4"109$80"0/@/#0COur team accepts the Bible as inspired by God and agrees with historic Christian statements like the Apostles Creed and the Nicene Creed. However, we do not necessarily endorse every particular belief held by individual contributing authors to this magazine.

&'1#0$';#$"#5$/</=0'3#1=$=3&1/8CPublication is 3 times yearly—winter, spring/summer, and fall. A limited print run is available for each issue. Electronic PDF versions are available free online at www.OikosMinistries.com, and www.scribd.com/rzdero

$%&'()(*!+,-,./$-!0,/10,1-2.3/+).(

'/&/#01#2$34$5/"5$63'78$43'$"$2'/"0$9"':/80$34$83;<8BY STEVE HILL, MARILYN HILL, AND RAD ZDERO

E80"'4189$80"08F='388$="#"5"$=9/=7%;&G235?8$<3:/$1#$=10B$"&"'0@/#08$BY PETER KOROPATWA *)

0'"#843'@/5BY LLOYD D. FRETZ*(

71=71#?$10$3<5$8=933<$with Hans Nielsen Hauge: Apostle to Norway*H</"5/'891&$1#$09/$93;8/$=9;'=9$@3:/@/#0BY RAD ZDERO*I

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6"<71#2$1#$;#10B$1#$3;'$$93;8/$=9;'=9/8$BY ALAIN MOREAU

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*( '/:3<;013#$73@1JBY RAD ZDERO

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2'/"0$9"':/80$34$83;<8

Steve and Marilyn Hill are apostolic house church planters from Canada with a Luke 10 vision and strategy to encourage disciplemaking in Central Asia. Since 2002, they have served a growing team of friends in Central Asia who are multiplying disciples throughout central Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Tajikistan. They have established 75 ‘houses of peace’ and 75 functioning house churches. Their home base is in Holland Landing, Canada. They have developed The Luke 10 Manual: Mission as Mandated and Modeled by Jesus, which is available in paper or e-book format from their website. Contact: www.harvest-now.com and stevehill@harvest-now.com

Rad Zdero, Ph.D., has a doctorate in Mechanical Engineering, with a specialty in bio-mechanics and bio-materials. He is the director of a hospital-based research group. Rad has been involved in the house church and small group movement since 1985. He is the author of The Global House Church Movement (2004) and the allegorical novel Entopia: Revolution of the Ants (2008). He is the editor of Nexus: The World House Church Movement Reader (2007) and The Starfish Files house church magazine. He lives in Toronto, Canada. Contact: www.scribd.com/rzdero and rzdero@yahoo.ca

'/&/#01#2$34$5/"5$63'78is one of the foundations of true faith. As

theologian Eugene Peterson translates

it in the Message, “turning your back

on ‘salvation by self help’ and turning in

trust towards God” (Heb 6:1). However,

our experience is that dead works

often begin to pile up after we became

followers of Christ. When we first began

to follow Jesus, we knew nothing except

to receive and give. We talked about Jesus

everywhere, and God was at work bringing

people to himself. Then we began to listen

to, and then give, more and more teaching.

Much of it was good, but the application

was suspect. Consider the following

things, among many others, which are

often suggested as the main reasons we

are not seeing a great spiritual harvest of

souls in the western nations, like there is

in China, India, or Latin America today. !!"

*-$"<0"'$34$63'891&-They said, “The reason we are not seeing

harvest is that we need to build an altar

of worship so that the glory will fall and

draw men and women to Jesus.” We were

radical and committed, so we worshiped,

shouted, jumped, and danced. But, a great

harvest of souls did not come. Did we not

understand that it was Christ in us, who

was the hope of glory? Did we not see that

this model of worship was a return to Old

Covenant realities? God is not somewhere

“out there” ready to fall on us, but he is

already in us waiting to be expressed.

(-$"&3803<1=$"#5$&'3&9/01=$";093'10B-$They said, “The reason we are not seeing

revival is that the church is out of order.

We need to submit to the apostles and

prophets.” We were radical and committed,

so we submitted whole heartedly, and the

apostles received our honour. But, a great

harvest of souls did not come. Did we not

see that Jesus is our apostle, and we are all

brothers, friends, and servants? Did we not

understand that leaders are not to “lord it

over” others. Hierarchies can destroy life,

but friendship releases life.

E-$01091#2$"#5$21:1#2-They said, “The reason we are not seeing

harvest and financial blessing is that we

are not tithing and giving accurately.” We

were radical and committed, so we tithed,

gave, and believed for blessing. But, a great

harvest of souls did not come. Did we

not see that we were turning God into a

legalistic, miserly accountant? Did we not

know God was a generous dad? Mandatory

tithing is the church tax of the Old

STEVE HILL, MARILYN HILL AND RAD ZDERO

4

Testament that went out of date after Christ,

but voluntary, overflowing, generosity is what

God wants.

H-$&"8813#"0/$&'"B/'-They said, “The reason we are not seeing

harvest is that we are not praying enough.”

So we prayed more, fasted more, cried out to

God more, and had massive prayer rallies and

summits. But, a great harvest of souls did not

come. Did we think God was unwilling to love

people to himself? Did we think we needed to

convince him to do what he says he will do?

Vain repetition destroys relationship with God,

can truly free people from their past, but it is

Jesus on the cross who has said, “It is finished!”

K-$@3'/$93<B$8&1'10-They said, “The reason we are not seeing

harvest is that we do not have enough of the

Holy Spirit.” We were radical and committed,

so we had New Wine nights, Fire nights, River

nights, and Soaking sessions where people

experienced healing, joy, and renewal. But, a

great harvest of souls did not come. Did we

not understand that the Holy Spirit fills us so

we will go and do the works of Jesus outside

the four walls of the church building? Did

we not know that God empowers us as we

“go!” into the world? The filling of the Holy

Spirit in power is also for the street, not

just the platform.

F-$@3'/$@//01#28-They said, “The reason we are not seeing

harvest is that we are not going to enough

meetings to prove we are hungry for God.” We

were radical and committed, so we went to

more church services, conferences, retreats,

and seminars to shows God we were serious and

to be filled by his power. But, a great harvest of

souls did not come. Did we forget that Jesus

said that those who drink from the Holy Spirit

will never thirst again? Did we really think

that going to more events would transform us?

Going to more meetings may only prove we

have bought into a religious culture of going

to endless events, but meeting the Living God

face-to-face will change us forever.

G-$D1D</$80;5B-$They said, “The reason we are not seeing

harvest is that we are not studying the Bible

enough.” We were radical and committed, so

we bought the teaching tapes and CDs, read

the thickest theology books, travelled to hear

the best Christian instruction, and read our

Bible from cover to cover. But, a great harvest

but a heartfelt lifestyle of prayer builds our

relationship with God.

I-$5/@3#1=$D3#5"2/-They said, “The reason we are not seeing

harvest is that the curses, demonic bondages,

and past sins have not been addressed.” We

were radical and committed, so we confessed,

did spiritual warfare, broke curses, and did

reconciliation marches. But, a great harvest of

souls did not come. Did we not understand that

if we wanted to break all the curses, we would

need to go all the way back to Adam? Did we

not understand that it was done by Christ on the

cross? We are not the saviours of the world who

!!5

of souls did not come. Did we forget that it was

the Holy Spirit who would teach us all things?

Did we not remember that it was Jesus,

and not the Bible, that we were to worship?

Reading the Bible is not meant to satisfy our

curiosity, but it is meant to change our lives.

L-$93;8/%03%93;8/$2"09/'1#28-They said, “The reason we are not seeing

harvest is that we are not meeting from house

to house like the early church.” We were radical

and committed, so we got involved in small

home groups like evangelistic cell groups,

prayer groups, a"nity groups, support groups,

Bible study groups, and then eventually full-

fledged house churches. But, a great harvest of

souls did not come. Did we forget that it was

not the venue, but the menu, that God was

really after? Did we not understand that small

groups and house churches were just vessels to

contain the fruits of evangelism, discipleship,

and church planting? Small groups and house

churches are not an end in themselves, but

they are just a container for spiritual life.

*)-$&"'01=1&"03'B$@//01#28-$They said, “The reason we are not seeing

harvest is that we are not having open

participatory meetings like 1 Corinthians

14:26.” We were radical and committed, so

we dumped the “one man show” mentality of

the institutional church and encouraged all

believers to participate and use their spiritual

gifts when they gathered as the Spirit led

them. But, a great harvest of souls did not

come. Did we forget that the non-believing lost

world would not just magically show up to our

meetings? Did we not understand that we were

becoming ingrown and too focused on our

own personal growth? Spirit-led participatory

meetings are not meant to just grow believers

into maturity, but also to empower and train

them to be God’s ambassadors in the world

out there.

83M$69"0$#36C$There is nothing wrong with longing for a

great harvest of souls like we see in the early

church at Pentecost with 3000 new believers

coming to the Lord in one day followed by

daily conversions (Acts 2:41-47). It’s fine to be

inspired by what we see in China and India

today through the simple, organic, house

church movement which comprises many

millions of new and on-fire believers. And

it’s good for us to be passionate in prayer, to

hunger after God, to study the Bible more, to

help the poor and needy, to meet from house to

house, to have participatory meetings, and so

on. Let us carry on faithfully and passionately

in these things over the long haul here in the

western nations. “And let us not lose heart in

doing good, for in due time we shall reap if we

do not grow weary” (Gal 6:9, NASB).

But, these things can also become dead works

just as much as praying with beads or killing

chickens. If we are not careful, we can become

full of a works mentality — “This is what you

must do if you want to see a great harvest of

souls.” We must be cautious not to practice

and teach a kind of “spiritual technology” to

fulfill the vision God may indeed have given

us. At best, we can become sincere legalists

6

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who believe we are more committed than

others. At worst, we can become wizards trying

to manipulate spiritual realities. We can even

forget that Jesus is building his church and that

he promised to give his Kingdom to his children.

Truth be told, there are many factors at play

in the spiritual realm and in the world at large

which we may not know about. And God has his

own timing for all things, including bringing

about a great harvest of souls in the nations of

the west.

Why did we see people come to Jesus when

we first came to him? We did not even know

how to do any of the things listed above, and

many other things besides. We were simply on

the streets, in the apartments, in the cafeterias,

and in the clubs talking to people about Jesus.

Jesus said go, so we went. Oh, how simple it

really is! We are repenting of dead works again

and learning to rest in God while we fulfill the

tasks he has given to us to see a great harvest of

souls. How deep do dead works go in each of us?

However deep, grace goes deeper! The Kingdom

of God is freely received and freely given! Enjoy

the grace and peace of God! !Available in Paper or E-book Format…

7889:;;<<<=7>?@AB8CDE<=E?F;GHIACJK

!!L

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At the begin-ning of our house church’s

journey we called our-selves Oikos Christian Fellowship. Originally we were convinced we would soon see simple

churches multiply throughout our city, province, and nation. We still hold fast to this vision though we have learned to wait on God’s timeline.

Our fellowship has experienced many transitions. Time has helped us transition from a somewhat structured to a more relational understanding of church. We now see ourselves as mem-bers of Jesus’ family and part of a larger tribe. So, we continually make efforts to network with similar individuals, groups, ministries, and churches.

God has given us insight into the adventure unfolding before us. He has steadily reminded us of the importance of doing our best to serve Him and to help others. We have involved ourselves in online missions, storytelling, street chaplaincy, coaching, and partnering with community groups.

Our experiences have taught us that we need to strive to be agents of change. We know that we are commanded by Christ to go and make disciples. If we are obedient in this task, these new disciples of Jesus will naturally begin to form new gatherings. We believe that as new gath-erings multiply, individuals and commu-nities will be transformed by Christ.

Connect with us on www.twitter.com/oikosministries, www.facebook.dj/oikosministries, or www.oikosministries.com!

We have been so blessed to

see the Lord working in a variety of ways in the lives of people! We praise the Lord for 9 new believers

who have obeyed the Lord in believers’ baptism in connection with our house church. Three adults, 1 teenager, and 3 boys ages 7 to 12 were baptized in a pond at the back of the property of a couple who often host the gathering.

Also, in November, one of the young married couples from our group were baptized at a local Baptist church building. The pastor there told me we could use their baptistry anytime. Since it’s pretty cold outside this time of year, we accepted his invitation. We went to their morning service and invited the congregation to stay for lunch on us and be with us for the baptism. We had a great time of fellowship.

As with all who ask to be baptized, we encouraged this young married couple to have someone baptize them who had been influential in their coming to Christ. So the young man asked his brother-in-law, who is part of our house church, who helped point him to Christ several years ago, and who has been a real encouragement to him in recent months. Then the young woman asked her husband to baptize her! This is one way we avoid clergy/laity distinctions and follow the New Testament pattern.

We’d appreciate your prayers for us for His wisdom and direction to see other house churches established here in Oxford County in SW Ontario.!

The SeedLife N e t w o r k (w w w. s e e d -

life.ca) is a small net-work of three house churches in the city of Saskatoon. We are intentionally simple.

We have no buildings and no staff. We gather in homes and share our lives. We celebrate God, study his Word, and care for each other.

Our vision is to foster a discipleship movement through the power and wis-dom of the Holy Spirit resulting in an ever growing network of organic church-es starting in Saskatoon and reaching to the ends of the earth.

These disciples will seek to incarnate the gospel of Jesus Christ among vari-ous people groups with a special focus on sub-cultures more likely to be reached through non-traditional approaches.

We see leaders reproducing leaders, churches reproducing churches, and dis-ciples reproducing disciples to expand God’s Kingdom.

Each of our house churches has alot of flexibility in how they do things, as long as they remain intentionally simple and faithful to Christ and the Scriptures.

In May 2010, we had our first whole network gathering in a facility larger than a home. We are still working out how to retain the participatory DNA in a larger group.

If you are in our area and are inter-ested in starting a house church or find-ing out more, feel free to contact us. We would love to help anyone who wants to try something similar.!

='388$="#"5""<D/'0"

Rob Ross(Calgary, AB)

oikosministries@shaw.ca

8"87"0=9/6"#Leighton Tebay(Saskatoon, SK)

LeightonTebay@gmail.com

3#0"'13Bruce Woodford (Norwich, ON)

bwood4d@gmail.com

M

='388$="#"5"8&/=1"<$'/&3'0P$3#0"'13$$93;8/$=9;'=9$/:/#08

We sat down over a ca!eine-stimulated, Spirit-driven con-versation in mid July. For

years there were reasons for this to happen. But this was more than an overdue meeting.

God was afoot in our lives, in the lives of our families and friends, and throughout the region. There were whispers, promptings, and rising hunger in others as well.

Informally, we represented a hodgep-odge collection of Christ followers, from varied church backgrounds as we spoke of a growing understanding of what God might be stirring in Atlantic Canada.

Our network emerged from that meeting. A university professor trying to fulfill God’s calling in his life, thinking it meant an academic pathway to profes-sional ministry and a professional min-ister thinking that His calling might be leading to an everyday approach to more productive Kingdom living.

The network is a growing community of people and ministry linkages in Atlan-tic Canada. There are 11 house churches currently involved, some pre-existing, and others are brand new. Christ is the common vision. We believe Christ has gifted His Bride with strengths and tal-ents, to be identified and used for His Glory. Thanks for your prayers. Visit us at www.247network.ca!

The simple/house church movement keeps rolling right

along here in Ontario. Here’s a brief update that you can pray about.

On September 25, 2010, about 80 folks met for a conference on small groups and house churches hosted by Newmarket Alliance Church and Dove Canada. Joel Comiskey, an internation-ally known cell church advocate, provided teaching, while other leaders from the re-gion led interactive workshops.

On October 3, regular meetings were re-started for the greater Hamilton area leaders network. Mark-John and Nanette Bruwer hosted over a dozen folks in their home. Several other interested individuals could not make it, but intend to plug in. The network represents several function-ing house churches and some potential start-ups.

On October 24, Ross Rains of Pathfind-ers Fellowships and Tyndale Seminary hosted Wesleyan scholar Dr. Howard Sny-der, who gave several lectures on what to-day’s organic/house church movement can learn from John Wesley’s vast network of home groups in the 18th century.

On November 20, the greater Toronto area leaders network I facilitate organized a telephone conference call, as we contin-ued to encourage and pray for one another in leading or starting house churches. We are also reading the book Movements that Change the World by Steve Addison.!

$=9/=7%;&

!!N

Karl Ingersoll (Fredericton, NB)karl.ingersoll @gmail.com

!

Rad Zdero (Toronto, ON) rzdero@yahoo.ca

="#"51"#$=3##/J13#8

D'10189$=3<;@D1"Gord Coulson (Vancouver)homechristian@gmail.com

Grace Wiebe (Surrey)wiebe.grace@gmail.com

"<D/'0"Bob Carroll (Edmonton)rev.bob@telus.net

John Pritchard (Calgary)john.pritchard@cschurch.ca

Rob Ross (Calgary)oikosministries@shaw.ca

Kerry George (Black Diamond)juicyfruitchristianity@msn.com

8"87"0=9/6"#Leighton Tebay (Saskatoon)LeightonTebay@gmail.com

@"#103D"Ken Stade (Winnipeg)kenstade@shaw.ca

3#0"'13Al Remley (Guelph)aremley@golden.net

Ed Peng (Kitchener)pengs@intown.net

Mark-John Bruwer (Hamilton)mj_nanette@yahoo.co.uk

Rad Zdero (Toronto)rzdero@yahoo.ca

Q;/D/=Robert Adams (Montreal)robertandclaudia@gmail.com

Lon Vining (Montreal)lon@impactchurch.ca

09/$@"'101@/8Mike MacLean (New Brunswick)mkmac44@hotmail.com

Bill Morrison (Fredericton, NB)wmorriso@unb.ca

09/$@"'101@/8

Peter Koropatwa(Toronto, ON)koropatwa@rogers.com

As a psychology student years ago, I had no idea that God would one day

call me to do this. After my wife and I returned to Canada after teaching English overseas, we began helping immigrants to Canada refine their resumes and find jobs.

Recently, God has placed us in west Toronto to help people in our area through simple small groups and community services. On several prayer walks, the Lord developed a burden in us for peo-ple living in tall apartment build-ings near our home. The Lord gave me a vision to see those peo-ple cared for and reached with an incarnational approach.

He gave us the vision to be transformed by the Spirit to em-brace all people in our commu-nity with His love, to offer His hope, share our lives, meet real needs, and proclaim the gospel. We want to help people in very tangible ways.

Our practical beginning was some free bicycle repair clinics. Then we did a free blood pressure clinic. That led to ESL in apartments and schools. Soon we were giving skating lessons, resume

235?8$<3:/$$1#$=10B$"&"'0@/#08

JK

help, tutoring, sports camps, and gather-ing youth groups. Parenting and Bible study groups formed. Then two sisters in Christ moved into one of those tall buildings and of-

fered their apartment as a meeting place and homework club location. We’ve also met in our home nearby and had celebration times in both locations.

If someone visited our group, they would notice the 7 or 8 of us gathered near a large window, overlooking 16 floors of panoramic view, praying or singing or studying God’s

word. They would see most of the women wearing a traditional Indian sari and traversing the living room to stir a pot of soup in the kitchen. We’ve seen many answers to prayer!

Our outreach, mentoring, and multiplying strategy is basically reaching youth and building strong relationships with the parents. The families have many needs and chal-lenges. The parents are usually very well credentialed yet struggle for rec-ognition. We support their emotional adjustments and help them network for opportunities.

In 5 years, we envision several shifts in our personal lives and serv-ices. Some families will have moved away, and other new people will ar-rive. The 14 year old youth will have finished high school. Some will be at the local community college, York University, or the University of To-ronto. We will transition to a col-lege and career mode with these and other new students we meet. By then, we will have imparted a good deal of God’s word to them, bathed in prayer. We expect to see many miracles and lives helped in practical ways.

If you’d like to move in and/or get involved, let us know. We welcome your prayers, support, and new team members! Visit us at www.fusiontoronto.webs.com!

!!JJ

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Lord, would you trouble our waters?Please upset the surface of life.Disturb my whole being with heavenly fire,

Come burn out the filth and the strife.

How long, O Lord, is our waiting,Expecting your Spirit to fall?Sweep over my heart that longs for your touch,Bent and broken, I’ll answer the call.

Our sins stand apart and won’t hear you.There’s passion, but hardness of heart.Sweet Spirit of grace and compassion,Come melt me so I’ll do my part.

Our ears are now tuned for your whisper.Repentance has opened the wayFor your plans and purposes accomplishedThrough one who walks faithful each day.

Oh Jesus, our Lord and our SaviourYou faithfully reached me with love.Impressing yourself on my mind and my will,Transforming my life from above.

Oh, “Troubler of Life” my dear FatherI’m standing and walking with grace.By the Spirit, my heart has been capturedIn your arms and your strong embrace.!

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yellowcanarydesign.com905-855-1636

Lloyd D. Fretz (Baden, ON)lloymar@bell.net

Ed Peng(Kitchener, ON)pengs@intown.net

“You are to give him the

name John,” angel Gabriel

said to Zechariah. But Zach doubted his

words and was struck dumb.

Six months later Gabriel told Mary to

name her child Jesus. These names are

decisive: “John” means “God is gracious.”

“Jesus” means “God is deliverance”. The

time of God’s unmerited favour and

deliverance had come.

God not only loosened Zack’s tongue

when he wrote “His name is John” on a

tablet but it burst forth into praise and

prophecy concerning the Saviour and the

forerunner who would prepare the heart’s !!J"

Our family left the “in-

stitutional” church in

November 2003, and

since then we have realized that

some of the institutional mindset is

also in the house-to-house gather-

ings. It is easy to get “Israel out of

Egypt”, but to get “Egypt out of Is-

rael” is the ultimate deliverance.

The coming together of the saints

should not be only good and pleasant

socialization, but also an expression

of what Jesus the Christ is saying

here and now through one another

in order to grow in His character

with the sovereign leadership of the

Holy Spirit.

Love, hope, faith, humility, re-

pentance, transparency, submission

to one another in Christ, in the fear

of God, teaching of the Word, trans-

formation, nonconformity to the

spirit of this world, wisdom, etc. The

whole package of grace to one anoth-

er must be activated among us.

All our efforts should be put into

understanding what is the will of

God so that we, corporately, can be a

lighthouse to our generation. We can

express who the King is and what the

kingdom of God is all about, by lift-

ing Him up, the one and only Christ

Jesus, in an authentic fellowship. He

is the head, and we are the Body.

We can be delivered from our self-

ishness and walk as one heart, one

mind, and one love in unity of faith

(John 17:11).

As the church, we also need to

be prepared to be welcoming to all

people, especially if we enter into a

time of a great “end time” persecu-

tion. The Jewish people, in particu-

lar, should recognize their Messiah

in us. Jesus the Christ is the only

foundation that we are to build on.

It’s all about Him now!

Make sure that the part we have

been given in our house (church)

will not be taken away from us

(1 Cor 11:17)!!

6"<71#2$1#$;#10B$1#$3;'$93;8/$=9;'=9/8

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Alain Moreau(Woodstock, NB)al_domoreau@hotmail.com

of the people proclaiming “the forgiveness

of their sins because of the tender mercy of

our God.”

Everyone marveled! God’s spontaneous

gifts of favour and loving kindness bestowed

pleasure, joy, and gratitude…not debt (Rom

4:4, 16), works (Rom 11:6), or law (Jn 1:17).

A host of angels appeared to open-

hearted shepherds (not religious leaders)

on a hillside. They glorified and praised

God for all the things they had seen and

heard. The church, born at Pentecost, broke

out proclaiming everywhere the gospel of

the kingdom and salvation through Christ

by faith.

“Righteousness, peace and joy…” char-

acterized the reborn subjects of the king-

dom who committed to doing the will of

God. But false teachers caused the kingdom

to become a field of wheat and poisonous

tares. Francis Frangipane wrote, “More

churches have been destroyed by the ac-

cuser of the brethren and its faultfinding

than from either immorality or misuse of

church funds.”

“Do not judge… for the measure you

use will be used on you!” Disapproval

and frustration escalate into anger and

bitterness, thereby defiling many.

“If you hold anything against anyone,

forgive him so that your Father in heaven

may forgive you.”(Mk 11:25). Nip judgmental

attitudes in the bud to keep God’s grace

flowing. Non-judgmental church anyone

(Jn 12:47-8)? Grace-filled church anyone

(2 Pet 3:18)?!

H!" B!#$% R%&'!()When I myself have been in doubt either because the Biblical language has been obscure for me, or seems to be contradicted by another text, I have prayed earnestly to God first and so ransacked his holy Word, comparing the clearest places mutually. I have thus become quite convinced that the Bible explains itself, and thus the holy scriptures do not mislead, except darkened and unbelieving hearts.

H!" I*+,!"-(*%(.One evening the police superintendent there, together with another man, came and tried to arrest me. About 300 people were assembled, but none of them took the part of the superintendent, but they countered his threats with authoritative language, and told him to be quiet and

not to touch me; so I asked them to be quiet and said ‘it is my duty to accompany him, provided he has the orders of the authorities’. He immediately read these aloud, and so I accompanied him.

H!" B/"!(%"" V%(./,%"I have been pondering for a long time the idea that we should interest ourselves in establishing industry, agriculture, cultivate large marshes etc, or start factories as we did before. And so, as Christian and believing people, who love God, ought, as I also believe: love your neighbours — and as we according to Jesus’ word let our light shine for people with great sacrifice and in useful actions in the establishment of necessities for our country and to give work to the poor.!

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H!" C-(0%,"!-(One day while I was working outside under the open sky, I sang from memory the hymn, ‘Jesus, I Long for Thy Blessed Communion.’ At this point my mind became so exalted that I was not myself aware of, nor can I express, what took place in my soul.

As soon as I came to my senses, I was filled with regret that I had not served this loving transcendentally good God. Now it seemed to me that nothing in this world was worthy of any regard.

I asked [God] to reveal to me what I should do. The answer echoed in my heart, ‘You shall confess My name before the people; exhort them to repent and seek Me while I may be found and call upon Me while I am near; and touch their hearts that they may turn from darkness to light.’

H!" M!""!-(&,1 T,&0%$"Everywhere I went I encouraged as much as I could, and it is well known that this resulted in Christian virtue in many people — and this was my main purpose.

Whether I was travelling along the road, many accompanied me in order to speak to me, or I was indoors, so many came streaming in for the same reason.

There was an especially great desire in the people to hear good encouragement to be God fearing, so that it was difficult to find a cottage big enough to room all the assembled company.

71=71#?$109"#8$#1/<8/#$9";2/$"&380</$03$#3'6"B$+*FF*%*G(H.Hauge was an ordinary farm boy until April 5, 1796, when he had a spiritual baptism. He soon started a re-vival in his community and began to travel all across the country to preach. He started a nationwide net-work of underground churches, often with only 20 members, meeting outdoors or in homes. He wrote 33 books which were read by 20% of all Norwegians at the time. He spent 9 years in prison for his preaching activities. He also started numerous factories and mills, which he gave away to others. He was a reformer who brought religious, social, economic, and political change to Norway.

J4

R</"5/'891&S$18$"$5"#2/'3;8$15/"$$09/8/$5"B8NAnd dangerous ideas about leadership exist in some house churches. Some say “We don’t need leaders because we are led by the Spirit!” Others say “We believe that everyone is a leader!” Still others say “We need professional seminary-trained leaders to give us proper spiritual cover-ing!”

But, if house churches are to move for-ward into God’s purposes, we need to re-think the issue. Let’s briefly re-examine leadership.

69"0$18$"$</"5/'C$$Leaders are people with an official role, or just a natural capacity, for influencing others for a specific task or cause. They come in a variety of forms in the real world.

The coach of a sports team formally trains the athletes, so they can easily beat their opponents.

An author of books and articles can sway readers to adopt a point of view or engage in a certain action.

Parents try to nurture, teach, protect, and discipline their children as they grow into adulthood.

A general mobilizes soldiers, weapons, and resources into a cohesive army that will defeat the enemy and win the battle.

But, what about leadership in the house church movement?

80'"0/21=$'/"83#8$First, leaders can mobilize house churches around the bigger vision of the Great Commission. But self-focused groups become ingrown, discouraged, and ineffective.

Second, leaders can provide house churches with training to advance ‘eve-ry member ministry.’ But haphazard groups often fail because of no coaching or direction.

Third, leaders can ensure healthy be-liefs and behaviour by helping house churches dig into the Bible. But unfo-cused groups sometimes get into heresy or become cult-like.

Fourth, leaders can link house church-es into networks for greater gospel im-pact. But isolated groups often fail since they lack outside connections and re-sources.

Fifth, church history speaks loud and clear. By the end of the 18th century, the Methodist movement saw revival fire spread through 10,000 home groups. ‘Class’ and ‘band’ leaders led a home group of 6 to 12 people. ‘Ministers’ led a local network of home groups. And ‘circuit riders’ travelled from city to city speaking to large groups.

Sixth, India has about 1 million house churches. Although perhaps too organ-ized, they do effectively multiply new groups. T1 leaders lead a house church of 10 to 12 believers. T2 leaders train T1 leaders within a 20 to 30 kilometre ra-dius. T3 leaders train T1 and T2 leaders to plant new house churches. T4 and T5 leaders mobilize prayer, people, and re-sources, regionally and nationally.

8='1&0;'"<$'/"83#8The main leaders in the early church were ‘elders’ and ‘apostles.’

Elders were local, seasoned, home-grown leaders of a house church or a citywide network of house churches (Rom 16:3-5; Acts 14:23, 20:17,20; Tit 1:5).

Elders (Greek = presbuteros, mean-ing ‘older one’) were also called bishops (Greek = episkopos, meaning ‘overseer’) and pastors (Greek = poimen, meaning ‘shepherd’). All three Greek terms refer to the same person, but emphasize dif-ferent aspects of the role (Acts 20:17-18, 28; 1 Pet 5:1-3).

Elders were the primary, but not the only, nurturers (James 5:14), instruc-tors (Tit 1:9-11), influencers (Acts 15:2-6, 22-23; Heb 13:17), managers (1 Tim 3:4-5), and patrons/hosts (Acts 10:1-48, 16:14-15, 31-34; Rom 16:3-5; 1 Cor 16:19; Philem 1:1-3) of a local group.

Apostles (Greek = apostolos, meaning ‘sent one’) were travelling leaders responsible for a particular geographic area, people group, or network of churches (Acts 14:23, 15:36, 20:20; Rom 15:19-20; 1 Cor 9:2; Gal 2:7-9).

Apostles travelled to evangelize, start churches, encourage, train, and address crises (Lk 10:1-11; Acts 8:14-17, 10:23-24, 15:1-5, 22, 36, 18:24; 2 Jn 1:12; 3 Jn 1:14).

Apostles wrote letters to deal with problems and teach general Christian truths (Lk 1:1-4; Jn 20:30-31; Acts 15:23-30; Col 4:16; 2 Thes 2:2, 15, 3:14; 2 Jn 1:12; 3 Jn 1:13).

Elders and apostles worked together. They met privately for mutual training and encouragement, as well as making decisions on critical issues (Mk 3:13-14, 9:2; Acts 15:1-6; 20:17). And they mobi-lized multiple house churches for co-operation, training, teaching, outreach, and healing events (Acts 2:1, 41-47; 3:11-12; 5:12; 6:2-4; 8:5-8; 15:4, 12, 22; 19:9-11; 20:20).

Today, may God raise up elders and apostles who will mobilize the house church movement to reach the world for Christ!!

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Rad Zdero (Toronto, ON)rzdero@yahoo.ca

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Edited by Rad Zdero500 pages • 60 chapters • 40 authors

20 countries • 1 purpose“This book is an awesome collection of writings to

assist in our search for what will emerge.” From the foreword by Dr. Ralph Neighbour

Best Price at...

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"D3;0$09/$/5103'RAD ZDERO obtained his Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering, specializing in bio-mechanics and bio-materials. He is the director of a hospital-based research group in Toronto. Rad has been involved in the house church and small group movement since 1985 and is

committed to the full restoration of original New Testament Christianity in our day. He is also the author of The Global House Church Movement (2004) and the allegorical novel Entopia: Revolution of the Ants (2008). He is the editor of The Starfish Files house church magazine. He lives in Toronto, Canada.

rreevvoolluuttiioonnaarryy bbooookkss bbyy RRAADD ZZDDEERROO

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

R A D Z D E R O earned  his  Ph.D.  degree  in  Mechanical  Engineering  from  Queen’s University (Kingston, Canada), specializing in bio-mechanics and bio-materials. He is the director of a hospital-based research lab in Toronto, Canada. Rad has been actively involved in the house church and small group movement since 1985 and is dedicated to encouraging the full restoration of original New Testament Christianity in our day.

The G lobal House Church Movement Rad Zdero gives you biblical, historical, and practical insights for a radical new type of church that is arising all around the world. This book is guaranteed to challenge your under-standing of what the church is really meant to be and do! Perfect as a study guide to kick-start a new house church! (paperback, 155 pages)

Best price from … www.missionbooks.org

Nexus: The World House Church Movement Reader As the editor of this volume, Rad Zdero has compiled the writings of almost 40 house church leaders and scholars from 20 countries in over 60 provocative articles. Get trained to start your own network of missional house churches no matter where you live! (paperback, 528 pages)

Best price from … www.missionbooks.org

Entopia: Revolution of the Ants An allegorical tale written in the tradition of C.S. Lewis’s Narnia chronicles and George Orwell’s Ani-mal Farm. An adventure of grassroots revolution in the hierarchical and or-dered world of an anthill. The system must change! Although just a fable, it has challenges for the church to grapple with. Fun for kids of all ages! (paperback, illustrated, 132 pages) Best price from … www.oaktara.com www.amazon.com