Reading: House to House - Chapter 17 Let’s Dream Together

Chapter 17

Let's Dream Together

It Happened in a Home

I love to read the Book of Acts. It seems like everywhere the apostles went, there was either a revival or a riot. Paul and Silas went to Philippi and cast a demon out of a fortune teller. Her masters were irate and threw Paul and Silas into prison. So they started singing hymns and the Lord sent an earthquake. The jailer was so shook up he was going to take his life, but Paul quickly assured him that the prisoners were all still there in the prison. Let's pick up on the story.

He then brought them out and asked, "Sirs, what must I do to be saved?”

They replied, "Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved--you and your household.” Then they spoke the word of the Lord to him and to all the others in his house. At that hour of the night the jailer took them and washed their wounds; then immediately he and all his family were baptized. The jailer brought them into his house and set a meal before them; he was filled with joy because he had come to believe in God--he and his whole family (Acts 16:30-34).

These guys were amazing! Paul and Silas had just experienced imprisonment, a beating, and an earthquake. Yet they were prepared to experience a move of God, in the home of the jailer. It was quite an unconventional place for a revival.

Rick Joyner, in his book The Harvest, believes that in the next revival in the Church, one of the greatest tools that the Lord will use for equipping His people will be "home groups.”

Literally hundreds of thousands of couples will begin to open their homes to small groups. These couples will be equipped to lead the lost to Christ, cast out demons, heal the sick and lay a strong biblical foundation in the lives of new believers. These will not become isolated home churches but will be used to incorporate multitudes of new believers into larger congregations. After they have brought a group of new believers to a place of stability and function in the church they will begin with another group of new believers.

Ultimately, home groups will become the foundation upon which the entire church is being built. Home group ministry teams will actually provide the bulk of the work in equipping the saints, including teaching and pastoring. Without these small ministry teams church leaders would be quickly overwhelmed by the massive task of the harvest.¹

We agree. We believe the next revival will happen in all sorts of unconventional places, including homes, offices, parks, coffee shops, and warehouses.

Mega-churches and Community Churches

We cannot place God in a box. He will move regardless of our structures. We firmly believe He will move within the different types of churches we have today. Let's take a look at the type of church structures around us. First there are the mega-churches. They usually use one building that becomes the center for "ministry.” In a mega-church you will often find a clear vision and a real sense of unity as the Lord's people work together with a common purpose. Many times a gifted charismatic leader is found at the helm of this type of church. The Lord has used mega-churches during the past 25 years in a marvelous way; however, some mega-churches may have some deficiencies.

Karen Hurston, who has spent many years of her life studying churches, once told me that many mega-churches are more like teaching centers. This is a bold analysis, but in some cases she may be right. One of the difficulties that many mega-churches have is that many believers are bench warmers and never use the many gifts that the Lord has given to them because they get "lost in the crowd.”

Another type of church that we can find in our communities is the community church. One church outgrows its building, and a group is sent out to start another congregation. Praise God for many, many wonderful community churches today. There are also many new churches that are linked together by an "apostolic fellowship” or some type of denomination. The positive trait that you can find in many denominations is the freedom for each new congregation to use the gifts that it has. Many people get involved in the work of the Kingdom. Some denominations have a focus on their central denominational headquarters, while others continue to grow with little "control from the top.”

One of the difficulties that some denominations have is a constant struggle between the vision of a "central headquarters” versus the vision of a local church(es). When a lack of unity comes into a denominational structure, they usually lose their spiritual momentum and fervency for prayer. Believers are no longer focused on Jesus and the harvest, because they are too focused on each other. The result sometimes is spiritual barrenness.

A Grassroots Movement

This brings us to a type of church that is growing exponentially throughout many nations--the grassroots movement. This type of church is being modeled for us in various parts of the world today. I mentioned the church in Ethiopia, which is modeling this type of church. The church in China is also an example. The church in the Book of Acts was a grassroots movement of the Holy Spirit as was the Methodist revival in the 18th century.

All grassroots church movements seem to have some common denominators. First of all, they usually meet in small groups for mutual accountability and discipleship. Second, nearly every member is involved in the work of ministry--a participant and not a bystander. Third, those in leadership are often average, common people who know that they have a big God living inside of them.

When they saw the courage of Peter and John and realized that they were unschooled, ordinary men, they were astonished and they took note that these men had been with Jesus (Acts 4:13).

A fourth common denominator in grassroots church movements seems to be an emphasis on prayer. The Moravians prayed in agreement around the clock for 100 years!

And a fifth common denominator appears to be the use of roving preachers/teachers who went from town to town and from house to house. These "circuit riders” kept the revival fire alive.

Today there are movements of the Holy Spirit that are following these five common denominators. I personally believe para-church ministries like YWAM and Campus Crusade for Christ are grassroots movements. They emphasize having a common vision and exhort their constituency to maintain a close relationship with Jesus and have a vision to reach the world and make disciples.

Sometimes we get so caught up in church programs and committees that we miss it. It is not too late! We believe that one of the reasons the Lord has raised up para-church ministries is to be examples of grassroots movements to our generation.

Part of the secret to grassroots movements is that clusters of believers work together with a common purpose. Yet there is a tremendous amount of flexibility for each group of believers to continue to expand and work together with other groups to build the Kingdom of God. Some church growth consultants today call this type of church a meta-church. Carl George, in his book Prepare Your Church for the Future, says:

The prefix meta- means "change,” as in metabolism, metamorphosis, metaphysical, and the Greek word metanoia ("to change one's mind” or "repent”).²

We have come to believe that a true meta-church then is a grassroots movement that is constantly willing to change the structure in order to obey the Holy Spirit's direction to prepare laborers for the coming harvest. For example, the bones of a physical body provide the structure that is needed to remain healthy as a human being. As we grow, our bones must continue to grow properly to facilitate the rest of our body functions. The same principle applies to the Church of Jesus Christ. Our church structures must be constantly changing in order to serve the Kingdom of God growing in our midst; however, structure is necessary. Without a bone structure, our body would be a pile of nerves, arteries, muscles, and skin lying on the floor. Without an appropriate Church structure, the Church of Jesus Christ cannot function properly. But the focus is not on the structure; our focus must be on Jesus Christ and on people.

The Book of Acts is an excellent example of a grassroots (or ground swell) movement as the Holy Spirit moved from house to house, city to city, and nation to nation. When the apostles and elders met in Jerusalem to make decisions on certain issues that were affecting the church, the church leaders sent the prophets and teachers back to the churches to give their verdict, teaching the Word of God and encouraging the believers (see Acts 15 and 16) with the result that the church continued to grow.

Some of the dangers that face grassroots movements are exclusiveness, heresy, and pride. These dangers can be eliminated if the spiritual leaders are accountable and open with leaders in other parts of the Body of Christ. We need each other.

No matter what the structure, we believe the key is that the structure that is created must allow for the free expression of the creative abilities of God's people within that structure. The most efficient and effective structures are those where the individual can be seen and utilized, rather than disenfranchised or ignored.

In his book The Church at the End of the Twentieth Century, Francis Schaeffer described the necessity of understanding that God has created the form with which we have to live within--but He allows considerable freedom within that form. Francis and Edith Schaeffer opened their home in Switzerland to be a place where people might find satisfying answers to their questions and practical demonstration of Christian community. It was called L'Abri, the French word for "shelter,” because they sought to provide a shelter from the pressures of a relentlessly secular society. Schaeffer understood that in a loving environment where community was practiced, people could find a voice and find their way, thus allowing God to use each one in the work of ministry.

Impacting the Marketplace

Everyone has a calling from God. Being called into church leadership is not more important, from God's perspective, than a calling into marketplace ministry. Some Christians feel apologetic about their role in the marketplace, but they do not have to. Christian believers must take the Word of God literally and begin to apply it where they spend 60 to 70 percent of their waking hours--at their workplaces. They can use their spiritual authority in their work lives, reflecting their spiritual value system in their area of influence. Small groups and house churches found in places of business are dynamic. Let's take the church to the people!

In order for us to effectively experience the Kingdom of God in every area of society and true transformation in our cities and regions, we must disciple both the present and the next generation to focus on their God-given call to "seven mountains of influence” that shape society. These seven mountains include the family, the church, business, government, education, the arts, and media. New unconventional churches will spring up in the future with a clear focus on each of these areas of influence, and we need to be ready to embrace God's people as they start these new churches, new wineskins, so to speak, that will look much different than what we have been familiar with. Many of these new churches will be micro-churches that will focus on one or more of these mountains of influence that will bring societal transformation.

Preparing for the Future

We need to be prepared to be the church regardless of what happens around us. What if the government closed every church building like our Ethiopian brothers and sisters experienced? Would the Christians that you know be able to survive without their weekly church programs?

Now is the time to prepare for the future. I dream about the Church of Jesus Christ experiencing a new flexibility in the coming days. We are starting to see it. New house churches are being birthed by the Holy Spirit to provide new wineskins for the coming harvest. They network with the Church that Jesus is building throughout the world. In some cases, homes are being used for these churches to meet in and the money that is saved on building rental and maintenance is given to the poor and to missions and to the support of the fivefold ministry gifts that the Lord has given to equip the Body of Christ.

Small groups and house churches could meet in smaller homes, and larger homes could be used for celebration meetings for everyone involved. Every few months a large auditorium or amphitheater could be rented for a massive celebration of believers involved in small groups and house churches throughout the area. All of the churches in a given area could begin to share their resources and support, various gifts of administrations, counseling and apostolic ministry for sending missionaries, and so forth.

A team of apostolic overseers would give oversight to the Church in a given area; however, they would not be involved in the majority of the decision-making. They would only concern themselves with the basic values and guiding principles of the Christian revival movement. Local elders would handle the majority of the decision making at the local level. People would be added to the Church daily as they come to faith in Christ. And everyone would be involved in making disciples. As someone said recently, "When revival hits, everyone will need to be a small group leader.” And true spiritual fathers and mothers will serve as servant leaders for these small groups and house churches.

As we look to the future, we can expect the Lord to teach all of us to be flexible as we receive direction from Him. New types of small groups, house churches, and congregations will spring up to take care of the harvest. I was speaking at a seminar and met a woman who told me she leads a small group meeting at midnight. She ministers to people who work the second shift. That's flexibility!

Some congregations will meet in homes or house churches, releasing more money for missions rather than putting it into rent, mortgages, or maintenance. Other congregations will be led of the Lord to purchase, rent, or build facilities for teaching and training and to provide a place for outreach for those who have not yet determined to follow Christ in their communities.

Apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, and teachers will go from house to house and from congregation to congregation to train and encourage believers to minister in the love and power of our Lord Jesus Christ. Pastors will also equip believers in Christ to make disciples in each local area.

Local elders will serve God's people in their local congregations and house church networks. Apostolic overseers will be free to spend time in prayer, in ministering the Word, and continuing to give clear direction for the whole church under the anointing of the Holy Spirit. These apostolic-type overseers will lead more by influence than by hands-on management. They would be more concerned about undergirding believers through prayer and encouragement rather than in "leading from the top.”

Teams of prophets will relate to the apostolic overseers on a regular basis as they receive messages from the Lord. The apostolic gifts need the prophetic gifts to stay on track. Dick Iverson from Portland, Oregon, points out that "the apostle is objective in nature, while the prophet is subjective in nature.” And Kevin Conner from Melbourne, Australia, confirms this by adding, "Apostles and prophets are especially called to work together, each balancing the other.”³

Some small group leaders and house church leaders will serve in a deacon-type role while others will serve in a pastoral role, serving the people of God and making disciples from house to house. They model New Testament hospitality. The home will be the main center for ministry.

We can expect to experience real joy as we work together as the church in each community. At certain times, hundreds of churches in a given area will close down their Sunday morning services and meet together as a sign to the world that the Body of Christ is one as the Father and the Son are one. In some parts of the country, sports stadiums could be utilized for these massive celebration meetings.

As we meet weekly in local congregations, small groups and house churches, our communities will be reached for Christ. Apostles and missionaries will continue to be sent out to the nations as churches are planted throughout the world. The young and the old will labor together as the Lord turns the hearts of the fathers to the children and the hearts of the children to their fathers (see Mal. 4:6).

The Church will work together internationally as the Lord sovereignly ordains international networks of apostolic leaders. These leaders will submit to one another and build the Church on the continents of the world. Modern-day prophets will be assisting them in this work. There is no competition in the Kingdom of God, and the Church will experience a laboring together that will make the world systems around us sit up and take notice. There are various anointings and spiritual insights that believers from different nations and continents have that we all need. There is no group of believers in any one city, nation, or continent that has it all. The Lord has made His Body in a way that we all need to be dependent upon one another.

This is the kind of Church that I dream about and expect to experience in the coming days. It is a true "underground” Church that is not dependent upon the church structures as we know them, but is a living organism that radically revolutionizes every strata of society. Believers meeting together from house to house with a vision burning in their hearts for the cities and the nations of the world will give honor and glory to Jesus Christ, the Lord of all Lords and the King of all Kings.

Questions for Practical Application

1.Do you believe the house-to-house concept is one of the Lord's strategies to evangelize the whole world? Explain.

2.Give five common characteristics of grassroots movements.

3.What would you do if all the church buildings were closed down by the government?

Chapter 17

1. Rick Joyner, The Harvest (Charlotte, NC: Morning Star Publications, Inc., 1989), 46.

2. Carl George, Prepare Your Church for the Future (Tarrytown, NY: Fleming H. Revell Company, 1991), 51.

3. Kevin J. Conner, Today's Prophets (Portland, OR: Bible Temple Publishing), 20.