Criticism comes easily. Solutions are far harder. D.L. Moody once responded to his critics by saying, “I like what I’m doing better than what you’re not doing.” Some authors are skilled at criticizing others. I once read a dissertation on cell-celebration ministry in which the student spent one-third of the paper to lambast his own congregation as being dead, traditional, and inadequate. Yet, this same student said preciously little about how he was going to graciously lead his congregation to make the transition. “This student is one of those idealists who loves to criticize and envision the perfect church but has few solutions,” I thought to myself.

I just finished reading a popular book on the market in which the author tore apart the church as we know it. The thesis of the author was that the church is following unbiblical traditions. Yet once again, this particular author offered exceedingly few solutions. Again, it’s very easy to criticize but much more difficult to offer practical solutions that help people in ministry.

One of the key thrusts of JCG is to offer solutions. We want to be a non-profit organization that takes the theory down to where pastors and leaders live and work. We believe in the radical middle of cell church ministry. Yes, we believe in radical, outside-the-box type New Testament ministry. Yet, we want to avoid the “I’m better than you are” mentality that is the natural result of putting others down. 

I rejoiced today when I received a flier from Bethany World Prayer Center promoting their October CGI (Church Growth International) conference in Baker, LA. David Cho, Larry Stockstill, and Mario Vega will be speaking at this conference. All three of them are radical cell church pastors who have actually seen cell church work in their churches. We need to applaud what God has done through them and learn from them. Now, I strongly believe that small cell churches can be just as healthy and effective as mega-cell churches, like the ones that Cho, Stockstill, and Vega lead.

I’m referring here to the the need to find cell solutions that work in the battle–rather than offering criticisms that go nowhere. Larry Kreider, another one of the great cell church leaders once said to me, “Joel there’s a lot of poison out there.” He was referring to authors of a particular movement who majored in tearing down the church as we know it.

Yes, we’ll all fail and struggle along the road. Yet, I think God wants us to strive to find solutions that will help Christ’s church rather than tear it down.

What do you think? What has been your experience in this area?

Joel Comiskey

by Mario Vega

By the year of 1989, Elim church had reached a cells´ attendance that already exceeded 25,000 people. During all of this time, around eight years El Salvador had been plunged into a civil war. The military situation had reached a stagnation point and the warring parties efforts´ for a peace dialogue didn’t prosper.

Under these conditions, the guerrilla decided to launch a strong offensive in order to show their military power and force the dialogue between the parties. The offensive was planned for the country’s main cities, but with much more emphasis on the capital city.

One day before the attacks the insurgents began to meet under the most unexpected ways: there were weddings going on where both weren’t really the bride and groom and guests were all fighters with the perfect excuse for meeting without being noticed, there were supposedly relatives keeping watch, mourning around a coffin that had no deceased in it but rifles and other weapons. Some testify to have seen trucks loaded with ‘evangelicals’ singing traditional hymns without recognizing anyone. In deed they were fighters entering the cities.

Despite of being the largest military operation of the war that covered the national territory, that mobilized thousands of fighters and took a little over a year of planning, it was handled with such secrecy that was not perceived by the state’s intelligence. Everything would begin on Saturday, November 16, 1989, at sunset. But not only the army was surprised, also those 25,000 people who precisely on Saturdays, at dusk, met in our cells. They didn’t know that a meeting planned to last one hour that day, would keep them in the hosts´ houses for more than a week.
Would the cell work survive such a trial?

Mario

Spanish translation:

El modelo bajo prueba.

Para el año de 1989, la iglesia Elim había alcanzado una asistencia en células que ya sobrepasaba las 25,000 personas. Todo ese tiempo El Salvador había estado inmerso en una guerra civil que llevaba ya ocho años. La situación militar había llegado a un punto de estancamiento y los esfuerzos de las partes en conflicto por un diálogo hacia la paz no prosperaban.

En esas condiciones, la guerrilla decidió lanzar una fuerte ofensiva con el propósito de mostrar su poder militar y forzar el diálogo entre las partes. La ofensiva se planeó para las principales ciudades del país, pero, con mucho énfasis en la ciudad capital.

Los insurgentes comenzaron a reunirse un día antes de los ataques de las maneras más inesperadas: hubo bodas donde tanto el novio como la novia no lo eran en realidad y los invitados eran todos combatientes con la excusa perfecta para agruparse sin ser percibidos, hubo velorios donde supuestos familiares lamentaban alrededor de un ataúd que no tenía ningún difunto sino fusiles y otras armas. Algunos testifican haber visto camiones yendo cargados de ‘evangélicos’ cantando alabanzas tradicionales pero sin que nadie los conociera.
En realidad eran combatientes entrando a las ciudades.

A pesar de tratarse de la operación militar más grande de la guerra y que abarcaba el territorio nacional, que movilizaba a millares de combatientes y que llevaba un poco más de un año de planificación, se manejó con tal secretismo que no fue percibida por la inteligencia del estado.
Todo comenzaría el sábado 16 de noviembre de 1989, al caer el sol. Pero, no solamente fue sorprendido el ejército sino también esas 25,000 personas que precisamente los sábados, al atardecer, se reunían en nuestras células. Ese día no sabían que una reunión planeada para durar una hora, los mantendría en casa de los anfitriones por más de una semana. ¿Sobreviviría el trabajo celular semejante prueba?

by Steve Cordle

Thanks to Jeff Tunnel for filling in for me last week! He prompted a great question about whether it is ever OK to fast-track people into leadership. When we have a defined equipping track, is there ever a time we should let people start leading a cell without completing it, or fulfilling requirements like church membership. Let me spin off that question for a moment.

Personally, I don’t allow someone to start leading who has not gone through our membership class and taken the membership vow. Why? Most people don’t avoid membership because it’s meaningless - they avoid it because of what it means. If they know we ask leaders to be members (and therefore know and agree with the church’s vision and values), their refusal to do so indicates they will not be good ambassadors of our vision and values.

However, in recent years there have been several times I have encouraged people who haven’t completed the equipping track to start leading anyway - provided they commit to going through the equipping track while they get started. Coaches can provide on the spot instruction and encouragment. I’m comfrotable with this as it allows non-linear growth.

I believe one can fast-track learning, to a cetain extent. What one cannot fast-track is discipleship and spritual growth. So the main question for me is not whether the person has been through the equipping track (we can take care of that in lots of ways), but rather, how solid are they spiritually? We don’t want to “lay hands on somone too hastily.”

The times I have regretted fast-tracking someone are not the equipping track flexes, but rather when someone starts out of the gate spiritaully fast and I move them into leadership, only to find their spiritual immaturity comes back to bite me.

When is a person spiritaully ready? It’s hard to quantify, but a good equiping track give the time, experiences and the learning which promote that readiness. One can make the case that someone’s refusal to submit to membership indicate a spiritaully immaturity (or woundedness) that one wouldn’t want to spread. The desire to start serving right away is great - but a truly mature person will understnad the need to walk through the process. They can also start evagelizing, discipling, and serving in the group context even before they are a leader.

by Rob Campbell

www.cypresscreekchurch.com

One must work through the complex to get to the simple.  Read that first sentence again and reflect upon its meaning for just a moment.  Now, think with me how complex, overwhelming the scriptures can be for you and me.  Frankly, there are some pretty confusing facets of the scriptures that require much thought, study, and appropriate understanding of history.  But, Jesus helps us to move from the complex to the simple.  Check out this example.

Read Matthew 22:37-40.  Simply put, this text implores us to love God and man.  Notice the vertical and horizontal relationships that are highlighted in the words of Christ.  Indeed, effective ministry is hinged to love via our relationship with God and others.

Relationships have the propensity to be life-giving.  There are as well some relational land mines like CONFLICT.  Notice the following three observations about conflict:

Conflict is unavoidable

Conflict is difficult

How we handle conflict determines our success

Successful relationships; therefore, hinge on one’s ability to understand the causes of conflict.  Here are a few examples:

Human Nature (”Cain had a problem with God, but he took it out on his brother”)

Divisive People (No matter where they are, they sow discord)

Hurting People (Hurting people hurt people)

Political People (Controlling people usually cause conflict)

Poor Leadership

Now, let’s return to the two greatest commandments.  Love God and love others.  Are you a person that can be used of God to bring restoration to conflicting relationships?  You bet you are!  You see, every cell will one day face conflict.  It is inevitable.  Successful resolution of conflict opens the door for a deeper relationship.  Avoiding conflict resolution only exasperates the problem.  Deal with the conflict using Matthew 22:37-40 as your motivation.

Comments?

I’m on vacation right now in Colorado. We’re visiting our close friends, Owen and Debby Schumacher. Debby was my wife’s best friend, and she introduced me to Celyce at a barbeque at Owen’s house in 1985. Owen and Debby have been missionaries in Afghanistan for the last sixteen years, so while their home for six months, we decided to hook up in a Colorado. Why am I telling you this? Because I had to decide what to do with my life group while on vacation (At Wellspring we call our “cells” LIFE groups–Living in Fellowship to Evangelize)

In my case, I asked someone else to lead our Life Group in my absence. Yet, there are times when my group just decides not to meet one week. This happens. I was in one cell church that felt it was a sin for the group not to meet each week. This church believed that even if everyone in the group was on vacation and couldn’t meet on the regular day, they should somehow meet on another day to get their regular meeting in. While I applauded their commitment, it seemed legalistic. On the other hand, I know it’s vogue in some “small group philosophies” to close all groups for the summer or worse yet, have all small groups close every semester and then reorganize (very much like Sunday School semesters).

My personal conviction is that cell ministry should continue on a weekly basis throughout the entire year–just like the celebration service. Yet, there are times when indivdiual cells choose not to meet for a particular week due to a holiday, people being on vacation, etc. This should be an individual group decision, as opposed to the pastor saying, “all of the groups will be closed during the summer” or “all of the groups will close for this semester”. If the church decrees that small groups will not meet during the summer, what happens to the person who receives Jesus during the summer? Will she have to wait until September to join a cell? I’ve written an article on this topic, so if you’d like to read more, go to: http://www.joelcomiskeygroup.com/articles/basics/vacations.htm

What’s your feeling on this topic? All comments are appreciated!

Joel

by Mario Vega

Elim was one of the first cellular churches in El Salvador, very possibly the first one. This brought the novelty advantage. People attended the cells driven by the curiosity that those meetings in houses raised.

In the early years it was enough to invite a person to ensure with a lot of success their attendance at the cell meeting. However, as the novelty effect passed, it became more difficult each time to get people to accept the invitation.

So it was necessary to do more than simply invite friends. We saw the need of promoting relationships of friendship and service to get the non-believers attention. Guided by Pastor Cho’s books where he mentions what he calls the ‘holy indiscretion’, we began to penetrate in the lives of our neighbors to identify their major difficulties. That information gave the brethren clues to introduce the gospel to them as the way out of their problems.

Since then the meetings´ purposes in houses were defined as: evangelization and care. The care for people’s needs was not seen as a bridge to evangelize but as a sincere interest in itself. Soon the church understood the double purpose of our meetings, and that was decisive for the growth.

What has been your inviting experience ?

Mario
Evangelización y atención.

Elim fue una de las primeras iglsias celulares en El Salvador, muy posiblemente, la primera. Eso le dio la ventaja de la novedad. Las personas asistían a las células movidas por la curiosidad que esas reuniones en casas les despertaban.

En los primeros años bastaba con invitar a una persona para asegurar con bastante éxito su presencia en la reunión de célula. Sin embargo, cuando el efecto de novedad fue pasando, cada vez fue más difícil lograr que las personas aceptaran la invitación.

Entonces, se hizo necesario hacer algo más que simplemente invitar a los amigos. Se vio la necesidad de comenzar a fomentar relaciones de amistad y de servicio para interesar a los no creyentes. Guiados por los libros del Pastor Cho donde menciona lo que él llama la ‘indiscreción santa’, comenzamos a penetrar en la vida de los vecinos para identificar sus principales dificultades. Ese conocimiento les daba pistas a los hermanos para presentarles el evangelio como la salida a sus problemas.

Desde entonces los propósitos de las reuniones en casas se definieron como: evangelización y atención. La atención a las necesidades de las personas no era visto como un puente para evangelizarles sino como un interés sincero en sí mismo. Pronto la iglesia comprendió el doble propósito de nuestras reuniones y eso fue decisivo para el crecimiento.

¿Cuál ha sido su experiencia al invitar?

Jeff Tunnell here, pinch hitting for Steve Cordle. Not long ago a couple joined us coming from another church. She is outgoing, an extraordinary gatherer, and people love her. Having caught the vision of Cell ministry she is highly driven to multiply a new Cell out of the one in which she currently participates. As far as readiness goes, she wants to get moving THIS WEEK.

This situation is not uncommon as unsatisfied program church people discover the avenue of ministry and relationship their hearts have searched for in the cell-driven environment.

Here is the proverbial “however”; in our training track we include the step of membership prior to becoming a cell leader. (For clarity, this step is #5 in our training track) This couple has many years of serving Christ, plenty of experience and excellence therein, even to the point of shepherding others and administering Christian Schools. Even though she is working on it, they have not yet progressed through all the steps required for leadership in our body. Her husband takes a position that membership is not necessary to be a part of the local church body. I think he has some reservations about control issues from prior church and leadership experiences. Will this become a deal breaker?

The temptation is to fast-track them (or at least her) in order to capitalize on the new cell, get closer to our goals for the year and work out the bugs later. Hmmm…..?

For me the question is not simply one of membership. It’s about Covenant relationship, being committed to one another and being united in mission that is duplicateable (not short-cut-able).

Amos 3:3 provides the rhetorical question, “Do two walk together unless they have agreed to do so?” What principles should be held to in this case and others like it?

Jeff

by Rob Campbell

www.cypresscreekchurch.com

A few days ago, Steve Cordle in his blog post entitled, “Simply Reproducible” got the waters stirring.  Check out the blog comments before carrying on.

I got to thinking about this stirring.  Here’s what I want to say– briefly.  Cell churches should be careful not to make the cell paradigm a core value.  Let me explain.

Built to Last authors Collins and Porras:  “Core Values:  a small set of guiding principles; the organism’s essential and enduring tenets; not to be confused with specific cultural or operating practices; not to be compromised for financial gain or short term expediency.”  I like this definition of core values.

My church family adheres to the following three core values.

First, we adhere to the eternal authority and relevance of the scriptures.

Next, we are Christ centered because Christ is Lord.

Third, all members are equipped and engaged for the work of service.

As we lead our church family, these are the values that undergird our decisions, plans, and ministry initiatives.  I’m sure these three core values are not perfect.  Further, I understand that these values may not be who you are or who God has called you to be.  I affirm and applaud the diversity of the body of Christ.  Indeed, diversity is not the enemy of unity.  

Please notice that a specific church structure (paradigm) is not one of our core values.  Why do you think this is so?

Comments? 

Last week I highlighted Jeff French as an effective cell church planter. I hope you had a chance to send him an email, asking for his MP3 files and lessons. Another church planter I’ve been coaching is Matt Anderson. Matt, a young Assembly of God pastor, is planting a cell church in Venus, TX– a town of about 8,000 people. Matt understands the needs of the area because he grew up in Tyler, TX, not far from Venus.

Matt fell in love with the cell church vision through attending seminars at Bethany World Prayer Center and by reading various cell church books by Ralph Neighbour, David Cho, Larry Kreider, and others. Matt decided to plant his church by starting a single cell (pilot group) in his home. He had a few core couples but the only way to grow was through reaching out. Matt knows the pain of pressing on through unresponsiveness. What I love about Matt is his persistence. Through the tough times, Matt has found his strengh in Jesus.

Matt and I have done a lot of brainstorming about ways to reach out. Matt kept on coming back to the theme of feeding the hungry and helping the needy. Matt grew up in the area, so he has seen the poverty first hand. He shared his vision with the pilot group, and they started a ministry of providing food for the hungry. Last week they served 41 needy families with free food! They testified about God to each family before giving out the food, and asked if they could pray for needs. The result was wour new visitors to their church.

All church planters face the dilemma of how to connect with new people. Let’s rejoice in the fact that Matt pressed on in spite of the obstacles and found a way to reach people for Jesus. Have you found that meeting people’s physical needs is an effective way to reach people for Jesus?

Joel Comiskey

by Mario Vega

In our second year working with small groups in houses, we had already structured leaders within their sectors with their respective supervisors. These supervisors responded to zone pastors, as well.

In a meeting with pastors, one of them mentioned that Roxana was responsible of a cell. She was well known and appreciated upon the church for being a very devout sister, exemplary and of good manners. But there was a problem with Roxana, she was only twelve years old!

When the pastor mentioned that she was a cell leader I was shocked. I immediately told the zone pastor that it couldn’t be possible to have a twelve years old girl in charge of an adults cell. I argued that adults were not going to take her seriously, that she wouldn’t be able to give advise to a couple that was facing marital problems.

That zone pastor patiently heard me, understanding my shock. At the end he just said, -You should listen to her-

I thought it was a wise recommendation. At the very first opportunity I went to listen to little Roxana at her cell. The house was full of grownups. In order not to disturb Roxana, I stayed outside the house and heard how she directed the cell. The more I listened the more I was amazed by what God did through her. At the end of the meeting I was excited. I was very happy with Roxana’s performance.

In the years that followed she continued being an outstanding leader. Then she became a supervisor and, very young, became a deaconess of the church. She always stood out for her maturity and love for the cause of Christ.

Since that moment we understood that age is not an insurmountable obstacle to become a leader. Since then, the age requirement to be a leader in Elim was: a responsible age.
Comments?

Mario

Translation in Spanish:

LA PEQUEÑA ROXANA

En nuestro segundo año de trabajo con pequeños grupos en casas, teníamos ya estructurados los líderes dentro de sectores con sus respectivos supervisores. Estos supervisores, a su vez, respondían a los pastores de zona.

En una reunión con los pastores, uno de ellos mencionó que la encargada de una célula era Roxana. Ella era muy conocida y apreciada por la iglesia ya que era una hermana muy devota, ejemplar y de buenos modales. Pero el problema con Roxana era que ¡Solamente tenía doce años!

Cuando el pastor mencionó que ella era la líder de una célula me sobresalté. Inmediatamente le dije al pastor de zona que no era posible que una niña de doce años estuviera al frente de una célula de personas adultas. Le argumenté que los adultos no la tomarían en serio, que ella no podría dar recomendaciones a una pareja que estuviera afrontando problemas conyugales.

Aquel pastor de zona me escuchó pacientemente, como comprendiendo mi sobresalto. Al final solamente me dijo: -Debería escucharla-

Su recomendación me pareció sensata. En la primera oportunidad fui a escuchar a la pequeña Roxana en su célula. La casa estaba llena de personas adultas. Me quedé fuera de la casa para no perturbar a Roxana y escuchar la manera en que dirigía la célula. Mientras más la escuchaba más me sorprendía de lo que Dios hacía a través de ella. Al final de la reunión estaba entusiasmado. Muy contento con el desempeño de Roxana.

En los años que siguieron ella continuó siendo una líder sobresaliente. Luego se convirtió en supervisora y, muy joven, llegó a ser una diaconisa de la iglesia. Ella siempre sobresalió por su madurez y amor por la causa de Cristo.

A partir de ese momento entendimos que la edad no es un obstáculo infranqueable para ser un líder. Desde entonces, el requisito de edad para ser líder en Elim fue: edad responsable.