- Jubilee offer: spend £10 or more on any product sold by Amazon.co.uk on or before June 6 and you can buy The Diamond Jubilee A Classical Celebration Album for just £2.50 Here's how (terms and conditions apply)
The House Church Book
and over one million other books are available for Amazon Kindle .
Learn more
| |||||||||||||||
 Trade In this Item for up to £1.50
Get an extra £5 when you trade in books worth £10 or more until June 30, 2012. Trade in House Church Book The HB for an Amazon.co.uk gift card of up to £1.50, which you can then spend on millions of items across the site. Trade-in values may vary (terms apply). Find more products eligible for trade-in.
|
Special Offers and Product Promotions
Frequently Bought Together
Product details
|
More About the Author
Inside This Book
(Learn More)
Tag this product(What's this?)Think of a tag as a keyword or label you consider is strongly related to this product.
Tags will help all customers organise and find favourite items. |
What Other Items Do Customers Buy After Viewing This Item?
Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
Format:Hardcover
In this book called "The House Church Book" author Wolfgang Simson condenses his previous much longer work - considered a classic by many -- called "Houses that Change the World." This newer version has several strengths. First, like its predecessor, it gives a whirlwind tour of how the church went from being a grassroots "house church" movement to a bureaucratic institutional "cathedral church." Second, the author has a way of putting words together that catches your off guard and makes you take new notice of things you thought you already understood well. Third, it provides solid philosophical and practical tips on how to start multiplying movements of house churches no matter where you live. Fourth, the 15 theses offered near the start of the book challenge the very framework that many consider to be bedrock truth and challenge us all to get back to the original blueprint of what the church was meant to be - simple, strategic, and scriptural! My main concern with this book, however, is that its biblical analysis was not thorough enough for my liking. Although scriptures are given to argue for a New Testament-style house church network, the scriptures are not assessed closely enough to give anything like a "theology of house churches" or to provide a practical nuts and bolts understanding of what the first-century church was actually like. Overall, however, this is a very worthy addition to the library of anyone wanting to be a part of what God has done in the past, what he is doing today, and what he is surely doing in the days ahead! Well done Mr. Simson!
RAD ZDERO, author of LETTERS TO THE HOUSE CHURCH MOVEMENT and THE GLOBAL HOUSE CHURCH MOVEMENT
RAD ZDERO, author of LETTERS TO THE HOUSE CHURCH MOVEMENT and THE GLOBAL HOUSE CHURCH MOVEMENT
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
17 reviews
17 of 17 people found the following review helpful
Great book, but description somewhat misleading
6 Jan 2010
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase
I purchased this book because I had already been interested in reading the author's Houses that Change the World. So when Barna came out with "The House Church Book," I bought that one instead, since the description reads, "Houses that Change the World (originally published in the UK) is... Now revised as The House Church Book." After I finished reading The House Church Book, I came to the "Recommended Reading" page, only to find listed, "Houses That Change the World -- If you wish to study the subject of house churches further, Houses That Change the World is the 'big brother' of the book you have just read."
I am now reading through Houses That Change the World, and what it appears Barna has done with The House Church Book is to simply make an abridged version of Houses That Change the World, polish the editing, and update some of the facts, figures and "dated" comments. In essence, The House Church Book is just a "leaner" version of Houses That Change the World. I think it is misleading to call it a revision. The content of the new book is virtually identical to that of the former, it just contains less of it. One might argue that Barna edited out some of the "unnecessary bulk," and it would certainly be a less threatening book for someone who is just getting their feet wet with the idea of house churches (it's under 175 pages, versus over 300 for the previous book), but, personally, I prefer the former book, so far (despite the occasional grammatical and editorial issues).
I would recommend this book if you wanted to give it to someone else to introduce them to the topic of house churches, or if you want the most up-to-date facts and figures (though there are not enough of them, in my opinion, to make this a determining facor). Otherwise, I would go with Houses that Change the World for Mr. Simpson's full picture of house church (and to save a few dollars).
I am now reading through Houses That Change the World, and what it appears Barna has done with The House Church Book is to simply make an abridged version of Houses That Change the World, polish the editing, and update some of the facts, figures and "dated" comments. In essence, The House Church Book is just a "leaner" version of Houses That Change the World. I think it is misleading to call it a revision. The content of the new book is virtually identical to that of the former, it just contains less of it. One might argue that Barna edited out some of the "unnecessary bulk," and it would certainly be a less threatening book for someone who is just getting their feet wet with the idea of house churches (it's under 175 pages, versus over 300 for the previous book), but, personally, I prefer the former book, so far (despite the occasional grammatical and editorial issues).
I would recommend this book if you wanted to give it to someone else to introduce them to the topic of house churches, or if you want the most up-to-date facts and figures (though there are not enough of them, in my opinion, to make this a determining facor). Otherwise, I would go with Houses that Change the World for Mr. Simpson's full picture of house church (and to save a few dollars).
12 of 13 people found the following review helpful
A New Passion for An Ancient Practice
26 Aug 2009
Format:Hardcover
"...instead of getting people to the church it gets the church to the people," so says Wolfgang Simson. The `it' is a house church.
Born out of a multi-faceted view, that the there is too much "copyism" in the Christian faith today that leads to discouragement among church leaders, lay and clergy, when a `successful' ministry model does not take root; that the institutional needs of the larger congregation cause a siphoning off of a person's faith and joy in Christ; and that while there has been reformations of faith throughout history there has not been a suitable `structural' transformation, Simson argues that a simplification is needed and that simplification is the house church.
Written in an engaging and impassioned style, Simson argues from the point of history and modern cultural that for the Church to truly grow and be all that God has called it to be, it must grow "flatter" and "sideways."
Anticipating questions regard the issues of male and female leadership, Simson affirms the need for both and often uses the analogy of family to emphasize the point. The book also contains several practical outlines as to how house churches can and do function.
While respectful of the cell church and the traditional church, Simson passionately argues for the house church model that is less dependent on a single leader and less wieldy to adapt and multiply. But his vision is very challenging especially as it depicts a church that basically returns to a counter-culture perspective in which smaller is healthier and challenges the individualistic culture that has engulfed western society. (Tyndale)
A book worth reading and `chewing' on.
Born out of a multi-faceted view, that the there is too much "copyism" in the Christian faith today that leads to discouragement among church leaders, lay and clergy, when a `successful' ministry model does not take root; that the institutional needs of the larger congregation cause a siphoning off of a person's faith and joy in Christ; and that while there has been reformations of faith throughout history there has not been a suitable `structural' transformation, Simson argues that a simplification is needed and that simplification is the house church.
Written in an engaging and impassioned style, Simson argues from the point of history and modern cultural that for the Church to truly grow and be all that God has called it to be, it must grow "flatter" and "sideways."
Anticipating questions regard the issues of male and female leadership, Simson affirms the need for both and often uses the analogy of family to emphasize the point. The book also contains several practical outlines as to how house churches can and do function.
While respectful of the cell church and the traditional church, Simson passionately argues for the house church model that is less dependent on a single leader and less wieldy to adapt and multiply. But his vision is very challenging especially as it depicts a church that basically returns to a counter-culture perspective in which smaller is healthier and challenges the individualistic culture that has engulfed western society. (Tyndale)
A book worth reading and `chewing' on.
6 of 6 people found the following review helpful
It was eye opening
10 Oct 2009
Format:Hardcover
Being a recent seminary graduate I had my bias going in reading this book. I am glad I was wrong. The author really does a great job explaining what House Church is all about. It is more than just for missionaries on the other side of the world. Here in America is a growing need a hunger for God that today's modern church has forgotten about. This book surprised me and opened my eyes to the real growing needs of ministry. I did not agree with the author's views at first. I am glad I kept on reading and you will too.
Were these reviews helpful?
Let us know
Customer Discussions
|
This product's forum
Active discussions in related forums
Search Customer Discussions
|
Related forums
|
Listmania!
Look for similar items by category
Look for similar items by subject
Feedback
- Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
- I am the Author, and I want to comment on my book.
- I am the Publisher, and I want to comment on this book.
|
