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Jesus was send by the Father to be a spiritual father for the disciples. Paul was a spiritual father to the Corinthian church. In these days we don’t recognize true spiritual fathers, just like the Corinthians (1 Cor 4:15). Why don’t we recognize them anymore? In this article Graziano, gives us five reasons: 1) a wrong picture of what a leader is, 2) we need healing of our wrong picture of father and motherhood, 3) spiritual fathers choose their sons and daughters, 4) stop to control leaders through our expactations, 5) we need spiritual fathers more, than we need teachers. 

What will the church of Jesus look like in 2040? 30 theologians, artists and visionaries reflected on this question. Their thoughts were captured into a new book called: “The church is dead, long live the King.” Marc van der Woude thinks the church in 2040 will be more simple, flexible and multi-coloured. Because of the globalisation, postmodernity, the rise of the creative class and the development of internet, there will be a shift from regular church to more new expressions of church like simple churches, 24-7 prayer rooms and many more.

What is the biblical basis for house churches in the New Testament? John Fenn shares the scriptures where house churches are mentioned or where people met in houses. From Ephesus, to Tessalonica, to Rome, over the whole Roman Empire, the first Christians met in houses. Read on to learn more!

3,000 churches are planted in the last three years in East Africa. How did that happen? What are the keys to this multiplication? David Hunt and City Team ministries evaluated their effectiveness in ministry. God changed their vision to plant churches, who will plant churches throughout the whole world. David went of to Ethiopia and established partnerships with local organisations. Read to learn how God used them to start a CPM in East Africa.

“Contextualization by outsiders is not the issue! Obedience to the Word of God and His Holy Spirit within each context is the issue.” says David Watson. The main focus of missions is making disciples of Jesus who obey His commands out of love (with the help of the Holy Spirit). The gospel is lived out differently in a each specific context. The context of the first century church is different than the context of the 21 century. We cannot impose our cultural doctrine derived from the gospel to another context. We need to present the gospel in an acultural way, so that the new believers learn to love and obey God by the power of the Holy Spirit in their specific context. Read on to learn how to do this.

The Simple Church movement is growing rapidly. Lot’s of people are starting simple churches among campuses, houses, cafes and bars. Many have written good books to help understand simple church. But what are the best books? The Simple Church Europe team tried to identify the nine best simple church books that are out there. All these resources are great to help you catch the simple church vision and plant simple churches in the harvest!

“For though you might have ten thousand instructors in Christ, yet you do not have many fathers;” (1 Cor 4:15a,b) For the simple church movement in Europe we need spiritual fathers and mothers. Larry Kreider writes about the need for spiritual fathers and mothers and what their tasks are. They poor their lives into new born believers, encourage, serve, love and care for them. They live by example and are models for their children. At the end of his book Larry describes what the barriers are for becoming a spiritual father and mother and shares practical insight how to be a spiritual father and mother.

What does it take to become a leader? When does leadership begin? Robert Clinton identifies the patterns God uses to develop a leader. By studying the lives of hundreds of historical, biblical, and contemporary leaders, Clinton has determined the six stages of leadership development, and he establishes checkpoints to clarify where you are in the process. God’s major work in leaders is not developing fruitfullness through them, but working IN them. Ministry flows from what’s inside a leader. This summary will help you in the following ways: 1) Identify those with leadership characteristics 2) Direct the development of maturing leaders 3) Recognize where you are in the development process 4) Counsel those who are experiencing periods of trial or frustration.

“What Would Jesus Do?” a great question to ask in our daily lives. Gayle Erwin gives an exhaustive study on the nature of Jesus. Summarized by a list of His attributes: servant, not lord it over, example, child, younger, least, last, no force, no blind ambition, no reputation, human, obedient, and death. The book boldly discusses problems Jesus would have had with many modern day institutions and cultural norms, and what he would have done differently. The ultimate conclusion is that Jesus was a leader who led by deliberately choosing to be a servant to all. If you want to know how to effectively lead or serve in any capacity, read this summary.

Why don’t we see a Church Planting Movement yet in the West, while in other continents millions are coming to Christ? Felicity shares 15 points why we don’t see a big harvest. Here are a few of them: lack of apostolic passion, we don’t GO to the people, we don’t have a vision of making disciples and there is a lack of training. Continue reading to learn more!