What does faith in Jesus have in common with rabbits and elephants? If you put two elephants in a room together and close the door, if youre lucky, in three years you may have one baby elephant. But when you put two rabbits together for the same amount of time . . .

Using this simple analogy, church planters Tony and Felicity Dale and acclaimed researcher George Barna bring a big message to Gods church. How could we change the world if our Christian faith began multiplying at a rapid pace through a way of life that is explosive and transformational? It happened once before, in the early days of the church; what will it take to bring us to that point of urgency and determination again?

The Rabbit and the Elephant offers keys to twenty-first-century evangelism: leveraging the power of the small and taking the gospel to where the pain is and where the people are. And as God uses us to channel Jesus love into a hurting, desperate world, well see his church grow beyond anything we could have imagined.

Table of Contents

Introduction

Chapter 1: In the Beginning

Chapter 2: God Breaks Through

Chapter 3: A History Lesson

Chapter 4: History Brought Up-to-Date

Chapter 5: Beyond Reformation

Chapter 6: A Radical (Church) Life

Chapter 7: The Masters Voice

Chapter 8: Drenched in Prayer

Chapter 9: Images of Church

Chapter 10: Simply Reproducible

Chapter 11: Marching to the Spirits Drumbeat

Chapter 12: The Great Omission

Chapter 13: Luke 10 Principles

Chapter 14: Stories from the Harvest

Chapter 15: Telling Stories

Chapter 16: Making Disciples

Chapter 17: Leadership

Chapter 18: Unity in Diversity

Chapter 19: Kingdom Finances

Chapter 20: Challenges to the Momentum

Chapter 21: Pitfalls to Avoid

Chapter 22: No Empire Building, No Control, and No Glory

Chapter 23: The Art of Rabbiteering

Appendix: Some Questions and Maybe Some Answers

Acknowledgments

Notes

Endorsements

God is shifting the church fro church-as-we-know-it to church-as-God-wants-it. Felicity and Tony Dale bring us a thrilling backstage account of how God is restoring divine order in his house. May the spiritual rabbit plague they describe here sweep through our post-man-made church world and invite all of us to join the King, Jesus, as he builds his church.

Wolfgang Simson, Author of Houses that Change the World

I have read many books on the house church movement, but this one was the most helpful of all! Tony and Felicity Dale have been involved in the house church movement, both in England and in the United States, for many years and bring a wealth of information and practical help in every aspect of house church ministry. The Rabbit and the Elephant will be the first book I will be recommending to those who are led to get involved in simple church.

Robert Fitts, Author of The Church in the House: A Return to Simplicity

In this new book by Tony and Felicity Dale, rabbits are simple churches, and those rabbits are multiplying rapidly! Here you will find quality rabbit food in the form of dozens of practical insights wrapped in real-life stories. Tony and Felicity Dale are wise voices speaking into this emerging movement.

John White, Community Coach at LK10.com

Tony and Felicity Dale ask the right question in this book: why is the church growing in Africa, Asia, and Latin America, while thousands of churches are closing and church attendance is at an all-time low in America and Europe? They ask the question and they tell us the God answer! Dont miss this book!

Floyd McClung, International Director of All Nations

Tony and Felicity Dale are at the forefront of a revolution that is brewing in the body of Christ today. That revolution is marked by a growing number of Christians who are gathering outside the organized church and finding Christ in fresh ways in Christian community. This book will give readers a window into some of the exciting things that are marking this revolution. Among other things, you will discover that Jesus Christ can be profoundly known and expressed outside the typical structures of institutional Christianity in new and simpler forms of church life. Read this book and join a revolution that just might outstrip the Reformation!

Frank Viola, Author of Reimagining Church and Pagan Christianity?

About the Authors

Tony and Felicity Dale trained at Barts Hospital in London, where thy pioneered simple church concepts while in medical school and later in the East End of London. Now living in the United States, they are actively engaged in church planting. They founded House2House magazine and have authored several books, including Renewing the Mind, Simply Church, and the Getting Started manual on planning house churches. The Dales speak regularly at conferences throughout the world. They have four grown children and live in Austin, Texas.

George Barna is the bestselling author of Revolution as well as over forty other books, including The Seven Faith Tribes, Revolutionary Parenting, and Pagan Christianity? He is the founder of The Barna Group, a research and resource firm in Ventura, California, that focuses on facilitating transformation. Barna has been hailed as the most quoted person in the Christian Church today and is counted among its most influential leaders. He lives with his wife and their three daughters in Southern California.