Key principles for building the underground church

DOVE Family Core Teaching video coming soon

DOVE International carries a particular emphasis on the “underground” church as seen in our focus on nurturing believers in accountable relationships with one another and the Lord. As we wrap up these CORE teachings, this session sums up a lot of what DOVE has found to be important.

Principle 1. Friendship evangelism

  • Sharing the love of God and the gospel message with those who know you well is the most effective way; trust is already established.
  • God uses ordinary people to expand his Kingdom.

Principle 2.  Spiritual fathering and mothering

  • People need relationships to grow spiritually.
  • Converts become disciples.
  • New Christians were fathered in a home meeting in the early days of DOVE.

Principle 3. Reaching youth and outreach

  • Focus on the reaching the young; they are the mission field and ready to embrace God’s love.
  • Historically, most people that become Christians do so in their teen or young-adult years.
  • Paul-Timothy relationships answer the questions people are asking.
  • Let’s be faithful to reach the next generation.
  • Mother Teresa said, “God has not called me to be successful, He has called me to be faithful.”

Principle 4.  New wine and new wineskins

  • When we take new life and try to put it into an old structure, both the life and the structure are ruined (Matthew 9:16-17).
  • Newly saved believers (new wine) need new wineskins (flexible structures).

Principle 5. Keep the priority of prayer

  • Prayer should be the foundation and starting point of everything we do.

Principle 6.  Biblical accountability

  • We should individually take responsibility for our spiritual growth.
  • We must be willing to be transparent and give an account for our actions.
  • The small group is the easiest place to practice accountability.
  • We can learn and use our spiritual gifts in small groups. Helpful feedback will cause growth.

Principle 7. Spiritual multiplication

  • Growth and multiplication should be expected at every level.
  • The end goal is new believers, new small groups, and new churches.
  • A church starts officially when elders are in place and the church has spiritual oversight.

Principle 8. The body of Christ provides safety

  • We need every church expression in the body of Christ.
  • We are all part of the Kingdom of God.
  • Every spiritual family has something unique to offer.
  • As soon as we think we know it all, we’re in trouble.

Principle 9. The underground church

  • The church meets house to house for outreach and growth and can meet in corporate meetings.
  • The church is like a tree; much of the church life is under the ground and not visible.

Principle 10.  Build relationships

  • We want relationship with God, the lost, and each other.
  • The New Testament gives clear instructions about how we should relate to brothers and sisters in the body of Christ.

Principle 11. Honor spiritual leadership

  • Godly leaders serve by leading, and they are blessing to the church.
  • Pray for your leaders and speak verbal affirmation.
  • When you are called to lead an established church, try to affirm the previous leadership.
  • If someone new begins to come to your group, be sure to affirm their previous leaders.

Principle 12. Perseverance

  • We have learned that “not quitting” is actually an act of spiritual warfare.
  • There is a price to pay in leadership, and persevering through obstacles is part of it.
  • When there is no pain usually there is no gain.
  • The blessing of serving is greater than the cost.

Principle 13. Head and shoulders government

  • God calls leaders.
  • We need leaders and teams.
  • Head and shoulders leadership is needed in small groups and among elders.

Principle 14. We must be committed to missions and church planting

  • God’s heart is the world (missions). He calls us to consider how we can multiply small groups and congregations to reach the world.
  • All nations and peoples will be praising God before the throne.

Principle 15. Don’t compromise the original vision

  • Your vision will be tested by success.
  • Whatever vision God places in your heart, be sure to write it down and clearly communicate it. Someone else’s vision could be different.
  • People can agree and run with vision that is written down.

Principle 16. Please God rather than man

(Galatians 1:10)

  • The fear of God is the beginning of wisdom.
  • It is foolish to do things to be honored in the eyes of man.
  • Always check your motives.
  • You have an audience of one: the Father.

Principle 17. Never adopt methods without understanding the values

  • Core values are why we do what we do.
  • When learning from others, we need to understand why they do what they do.
  • Methods may change depending on the specific context, but values must remain constant.

Principle 18. Learn to repent

  • Repentance brings freedom.
  • Repentance brings security to the people.
  • The devil only wins if we quit.

Principle 19. God is a faithful God

  • We depend fully on His grace in all we do.
  • Go beyond what you can do on your own strength.

Principle 20. We learn from victories and mistakes

  • Every experience should be a learning experience for us.
  • We should not be too discouraged when we fail or too excited when we succeed.
  • God calls us to give away what we have so others know what to do in similar situations.

 

 

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