I just came back from a meeting of trainers from around the world who are using simple Biblical principles and methods to see lost people become disciples of Jesus and groups of believers formed into churches that then reach new people and start new churches. Stories came of breakthroughs in Central and South America, Europe, the USA, India, China,  Bangladesh, Thailand, Indonesia, etc.

One of the great metaphors for church is Household/Family of God.  Paul writes in 1 Tim 3:14-15 (NIV),“Although I hope to come to you soon, I am writing you these instructions so that, if I am delayed, you will know how people ought to conduct themselves in God's household, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and foundation of the truth.”  In 1 Peter 4:17 (NIV) Christians are referred to as the “family of God.”  This metaphor has tremendous implications for a Community of Believers.

One of the areas in my own life I have been struggling with for the past year is the concept of community and what it means to be a community and live in community.  I have for several years realized that church, as practiced in most places around the world, does not meet the definition of community as revealed in the Bible.  In my next few blog posts I want to explore with you what a Biblical Community of Believers would look like, and how we can lead Believers to live in Biblical Community.

 I’m sorry this report is late.  I began the trip with an emergency room visit – chest pains.  I knew the pains were not heart related, but the pain was severe enough to get it checked out before I left the country.  It turned out I had an infection of the chest wall, commonly called pleurisy.  The doctors did not ground me, so I left that afternoon for Africa.

I will be traveling in Southeast Asia from 10-25 August.  Please pray for those I will be training.  Please pray for good health for me.
 
Blessings!
 
David Watson

1.3 billion People use the Internet globally.  What you may not know is the distribution of this use.  530 million live in Asia; 383 million in Europe; 246 million in North America; 137 million in Latin America/Caribbean; 51 million in Africa; 42 million in the Middle East; and 19 million in Oceana/Australia.  (Internet World Stats)  There are 6.7 billion people on our planet.  (World PopClock)  This means that about 20% of the global population has access to the Internet, of which, about half of these people live in limited or restricted access nations where it is difficult for us to share the Gospel of Jesus Christ openly and/or effectively.  How will we reach this Online Generation? 

Following is a reply to a posted comment. (Click here to view comment.)  I think this is another subject that is important enough to promote to the front page.
 
I never set out to start a house church movement.  Even today, when I am working with new people in new locations, the objective is not to start a house church movement.  The objective is to meet and address lostness in every segment of society through the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

I have thirty-five years of church planting experience in the USA and Asia, including South Asia, East Asia and Southeast Asia.  Since 1997 I have been training church planters and assisting with strategy development all over the world.  The teams I have led, and the men and women I have trained have been used by God to start more than 50,000 churches and baptize more than 3 million people.  I think I have probably made every mistake that can be made in church planting and leading church planting teams.  I try to learn from my mistakes and share what I have learned with others.  I will be most pleased if this blog helps you to make fewer mistakes than I. 

There was a fire at the company where our servers are located.  This resulted in our websites and email being up and down, mostly down, for the past four days.  We think everything is back in order.  All this happened as we posted replies to questions and a new Church Planing Essentials article.  Please visit:
Church Planting Essentials - Personal Accountability Relationships
 
Comments on Church Planting Essentials - Measure Causes, Not Results

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Blessings!
 
David Watson
Irving, TX

There are two kinds of accountability – organizational and personal.  Organizational accountability deals with what we do in order to fulfill the expectations of those who hire us and pay us, or what we do to fulfill our obligations to teams to whom we voluntarily relate.  Personal accountability deals with relationships we choose to enter in order to be better in six areas of our lives.  In either case, accountability is a forward looking system that promotes improvement in the organization or individual.