Keep It Simple: a Simple Church Podcast

Today, Gavin has a conversation with Kaleb Phillips from Wilmore, Kentucky. Wilmore and Asbury Seminary have been in the news lately because of a student led revival that occurred during most of the month of February of this year. Kaleb lives and works in Wilmore and hosts a house church there. In this interview, Kaleb […]

Today, Gavin has a conversation with Steve Simms from Nashville, Tennessee. Steve has been practicing simple forms of church for more than 40 years and shares some of his insights and principles of the Christian life he has learned along the way. Steve is the author of “Beyond Church: An Invitation to Experience the Lost […]

For those of you who are married, do you look at your life together as a ministry? Do you think about all the people you will influence during your lives? Today, Tom and Gavin talk about a little known, but very influential couple from the book of Acts named Priscilla and Aquila and the tremendous […]

Gavin continues his “Simple Church Conversations” with an interview with Felicity Dale, one of the pioneers of the recent house church movement in America. Felicity, along with her husband Tony, have been very active in planting simple churches for more than 30 years. Felicity is the author of Simply Church, An Army of Ordinary People: […]

Today, Tom and Gavin discuss hospitality and its impact on people. Hospitality – serving others – is not easy. It can be hard work and frankly, not many people know how to do it well. It seems to be a dying art in our modern culture. But if practiced consistently, hospitality can bring people closer […]

Today, Gavin continues his “Simple Church Conversations” by interviewing a good friend, Bart Scarborough. Bart is currently operating a spiritual retreat center in Georgia called The Ancient Way Farm. Bart and Gavin discuss the current unhealthy trend of frenetic ministry and encourage a more focused but slower, deliberate way of healthy ministry through reflection and […]

Today, Gavin continues his “Simple Church Conversations” by interviewing a good friend, Bart Scarborough. Bart is currently operating a spiritual retreat center in Georgia called The Ancient Way Farm. Bart and Gavin discuss the current unhealthy trend of frenetic ministry and encourage a more focused but slower, deliberate way of healthy ministry through reflection and […]

Episodes Eleven through Fifteen You may have noticed some short interruptions our podcast episodes that we call “Acting Out.” No, we are not misbehaving. Acting Out is the segment of our show when we look to the book of Acts in the Bible and find lessons from the early church. In this brief segment, we […]

Gavin kicks off his “Simple Church Conversations” with Nick Sefton who helps lead a house church ministry in Indianapolis Indiana called Beacon.  Listen as Nick shares how house church began for him after many years of leading traditional church ministries. Nick and Gavin discuss several of the lessons that they have learned through following Christ […]

Does your simple church adhere to a Statement of Faith or Creed? Does it use a Catechism to help disciple new believers? What value do these extra-biblical texts have for the simple church? Tom and Gavin examine these centuries-old documents and discuss the pros and cons of systematic theology for the simple church.   Here […]

Recently, Gavin Duerson hosted a breakfast seminar for his network of house churches in Lexington, Kentucky. In today's podcast, he recaps some of the key principles shared at that seminar. Today we discuss the importance of “receiving love” in the Christian life and in pursuit of simple/house/micro church. This is part three of a three […]

Recently, Gavin Duerson hosted a breakfast seminar for his network of house churches in Lexington, Kentucky. In today's podcast, he recaps some of the key principles shared at that seminar. This is part two of a two part series. Great News! We are now on YouTube and Spotify as well as our normal platforms on […]

Recently, Gavin Duerson hosted a breakfast seminar for his network of house churches in Lexington, Kentucky. In today's podcast, he recaps some of the key principles shared at that seminar. This is part one of a two part series. Great News! We are now on YouTube and Spotify as well as our normal platforms on […]

What does a person mean when they say they are “deconstructing their faith?” Does it mean that they have questions, or even doubts about their faith in Christ, or does it mean that they are walking away from their faith altogether? If so, what can the church do to help such a person? Tom and […]

Tom and Gavin review the popular Christianity Today podcast series, “The Rise and Fall of Mars Hill.” We examine the spectacular arc of Mars Hill Church in Seattle, pastored by Mark Driscoll, from its simple beginnings to its tremendous popularity and its sudden implosion in 2014. There is much for any church to learn from […]

After two years of silence, Tom and Gavin sit down before the microphones to record another episode of Keep It Simple: A Simple Church Podcast. I this episode, we discuss how the Covid-19 pandemic has affected our house churches and where we would like to see our churches go in the coming months.   Great […]

In today’s lively discussion, Tom “ambushes” Gavin with an impromptu question: What is the local church’s responsibility towards its members/attendees? Listen as Tom and Gavin hash out what they see are just some of the duties that a local expression of a church should perform to serve its congregation.  

Today, Tom and Gavin reflect on the many ways that their churches have blessed them over the years. During times of blessing and during times of heartbreak, our brothers and sisters in Christ rally to help and encourage us. Let us continue to bless each other as we practice the “one-anothers.”

          The Keep It Simple Podcast has been around for five years! Today, Gavin and Tom reflect on the past five years of podcasting and being advocates for simple forms of church (house church, organic church, micro church).

Episodes Six through Ten You may have noticed some short interruptions our podcast episodes that we call “Acting Out.” No, we are not misbehaving. Acting Out is the segment of our show when we look to the book of Acts in the Bible and find lessons from the early church. In this brief segment, we […]

Episodes One through Five You may have noticed some short interruptions our podcast episodes that we call “Acting Out.” No, we are not misbehaving. Acting Out is the segment of our show when we look to the book of Acts in the Bible and find lessons from the early church. In this brief segment, we […]

A few months ago, a controversial document was created by certain evangelicals warning of the potential pitfalls of the modern social justice movement. These evangelicals warn that an increasing emphasis on social justice issues may be drawing our attention away from the heart of the gospel of the salvation of Jesus Christ and that we […]

Why do Christians worry? What are we anxious about? What are we trying so very hard to achieve? Is our effort in vain? Are we worried for nothing? Listen as Gavin and Tom discuss our anxieties.

As Gavin reviews the recent Simple Church Conference, he brings up one of the topics: How Do We Know That God Really Loves Us? Tom and Gavin weigh in on this topic. Does God love us only when we obey Him? Is His love really unconditional? How do we know and experience His love?

You can tell a lot about a church by what it values or holds dear. Today, Gavin and Tom talk about what they consider to be the strongest values of any church. This is part two of a two part series.

You can tell a lot about a church by what it values or holds dear. Today, Gavin and Tom talk about what they consider to be the strongest values of any church. This is part one of a two part series.