Today is part three of a three-part series by guest blogger, Dr. +Ralph Neighbour. Please see Part 1 here. See Part 2 here.  __________     FACT 3: OVERSEAS BODIES OF CHRIST HAVE HARVEST EVENTS   When we began to develop the Faith Community Baptist Church in Singapore, we threw away the traditional church calendar with all its programs. Our motto …

Yesterday, we began a three-part series by guest blogger, Dr. +Ralph Neighbour.  Please see that post before reading this one.  __________   FACT 2: OVERSEAS BODIES OF CHRIST HAVE HARVEST FIELDS “As you look around right now, wouldn’t you say that in about four months it will be time to harvest? Well, I’m telling you to open your eyes and …

Over the years, I’ve had the privilege to partner with this week’s guest blogger in many different ways. I edited his book, Christ’s Basic Bodies, written and led training seminars for the ministry he founded (TOUCH Outreach Ministries), and interviewed him for my blog and other writing projects. Neighbour is one of the pioneers of the groups movement in America …

GUEST POST by Randall Neighbour, randallneighbour.com. *     *     *     *     *     *     * In my last blog entry (click here to read) I shared that my wife and I felt led by God to start a house church with hopes it would grow into a network of house churches who have mid-week cell groups. What have we learned in the …

What Giving up Control Taught Me about Effective Group Ministry GUEST POST by Allen White: http://allenwhite.org *     *     *     *     * I hear a lot of pastors debate the need for a quality experience at the expense of connecting and growing the vast majority of their congregations and their communities into their group system. I also hear the reverse of …

As a coach and consultant, I’m often asked to talk about the right methods to achieve the goals and mission that the church wants to accomplish. Sometimes the questions sound more sanctified, as I’m asked about the most biblical methods. Other times the discussion forms around models, usually relating to the ones certain successful churches use. Methods and models often …

In Alan Danielson’s blog post today, he discusses “the most overrated church comment.” What is that comment? “I want to go deeper.” I totally agree, and I’d add a second, related comment: “I need to be fed.” I’ve heard both comments quite a bit. (People have even left our church and other churches, making these comments as they left.) Both comments …

In my last post I discussed “Rethinking Our Small Group Model.” A couple small group architects, Alan Danielson and Ben Reed posted some intriguing comments, which inspired another blog post. Basically, Alan said that if Jesus’ group met in America today, they’d meet in a variety of places outside church buildings and homes. Ben responded that homes would be a …

What is “authentic biblical community”? It’s within the environment of authentic biblical community that disciples are made and we live out our faith. But what does that look like for us today? Recently I’ve been thinking a lot about what a model for discipleship should look like today, and truthfully, I have more questions than answers. I began writing about …

What if everything we’ve always believed about small groups was wrong? What if we have it all backwards? What if the model for discipleship is actually something other than sitting in a circle, answering an icebreaker, studying the Bible (hook, book, look, and took) or watching a DVD, and taking prayer requests? What if we were to go and make …