principles

“The All By Itself Pathway” by Christian Schwarz

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all by itself

  • How can your church grow in quality and quantity regardless of unfavorable trends in society?
  • How can you have the greatest impact on your church regardless of your level of responsibility?
  • How can you maximize your fruitfulness in all areas of life regardless of your present starting point?

The All By Itself Pathway invites you into a 90-minute encounter with Christian Schwarz, the founder and head of Natural Church Development (NCD).  Christian will reduce the discoveries of two decades of research in tens of thousands of churches to a handful of personal steps. While countless churches have implemented individual aspects of Natural Church Development, the majority have yet to discover the strategic key that Christian calls the All By Itself Pathway—
consistently living in line with the unique gifts, energies, and resources that God has already granted you and your church.

In this little book, Christian will explain (among other things). . .
How Natural Church Development leads every movement back to its roots!

The All By Itself Pathway eBook is now available online at:

Natural Church Development Principles and the Bible

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Why are the nations so angry? Why do they waste their time with futile plans? 2 The kings of the earth prepare for battle; the rulers plot together against the Lord and against his anointed one. 3 “Let us break their chains,” they cry, “and free ourselves from slavery to God.” Psalms 2:1-3 (NLT)

When the people who rule the world, the most influential people on the planet irrespective of the position they hold, want to ‘break their chains’ and ‘free ourselves from slavery to God,’ what are they talking about?

It seems to me they want to turn their backs on the great unchanging and unchangeable principles that God has woven through every atom and molecule and cell of His creation, and they want to establish their own way of doing things that will result in disaster. Perhaps it is not only that they want to get rid of God as a Person and the great Creator; they also want to find their way around principles, like sowing and reaping, and multiplication. In part this may be seen in the so-called sexual revolution and freedom from the restraints as imposed by the seventh commandment, with subsequent STDs that have developed and spread (principles: sowing and reaping, and multiplication, working against us).

It can also be observed in the development of plants that will not reproduce, even the suggestion that it may become law that individuals are not permitted to grow crops from seed they have carefully gathered for that purpose. Those principles are like the iron rod that will break these decision-makers and leaders of earth (v.9).

It may appear to us that these unfortunate people are being punished for their sins after they have committed them, and that is true enough; but it is equally true to say that the ‘punishment’ was written into the matter from which God formed the earth, and even deeper than that, it was written into the very character of God Himself!. There is no way of escape from God’s great principles.

We may as well respond to the invitation of Jesus and ‘learn the unforced rhythms of grace.’

How Natural Church Development can help your Church: What will you do?

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When we do the survey, control over the quality of our church is placed in our own hands.

God is showing us, through his people and by His Spirit where we should make adjustments so that He can better display His power through our church. Not only does the survey result enlighten us as to where God is doing His best work in our church, but where we should now focus in order that He is empowered to do what He has always wanted to do in and through our community of faith.
The Preacher says, “God detests the prayers of a person who ignores the law.” (Proverbs 28:9) The law here is not the ceremonial law, but the moral law, those great principles that God has woven through His whole creation. Sometimes our conscious prayers are contradicted by our unconscious prayers. If God were to answer some of our prayers it would be the end of creation.
I am serious about that. It would be impossible for God to answer because we are not in the right space, and if God were to respond to our prayers in the way we want Him to, He would be denying Himself.

Sometimes we pray God will act in our church when He is waiting for us to act; to address the issues uncovered by the survey result.

Natural Church Development Principles and the Bible

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A wise youth harvests in the summer, but one who sleeps during harvest is a disgrace. (Proverbs 10:5)

This is a simple example of our interdependence with God’s natural world. We do not have any control over the seasons; God has established them and we have to co-operate with, and take advantage of, the way God’s creation works. This very basic principle can be connected to every different world – politics, family, health care, finance, church – to life in general. Natural seasons are easy to see; that is why it is a disgrace if a person sleeps during the summer harvest. Seasons in other worlds are not always easy to discern; that is why we need the advice of others with the appropriate gifts and understanding. Like those soldiers who joined David’s army: “From the tribe of Issachar, there were 200 leaders of the tribe with their relatives. All these men understood the signs of the times and knew the best course for Israel to take.” (I Chronicles 12:32) In every church it is likely there is – or was – someone like these leaders from Issachar. The question is: Are they heard? Do they have a voice?

Natural Church Development Principles in the Bible

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Those too lazy to plow in the right season will have no food at the harvest. (Proverbs 20:4)

Jesus said He always did what He saw the Father doing in both the spiritual and the natural worlds. In the world of horticulture, believers and unbelievers alike, do what they see the Father doing in the natural world. They know there is a right season to plough, and if they do not plow at that time they will come up short. There will be no food on the table. They are doing what they see the Father doing whether they believe it or not.

Several significant Principles are ignored by a lazy person like this one in Proverbs:

Sowing and reaping, Fruitfulness, Multiplication, Sustainability, Interdependence, Energy Transformation – all of these are working against this lazy person.

Fruitfulness: There will be no fruit because the ground has not been prepared at the right time to receive seed.

For Multiplication to happen, seed has to be sown and a crop harvested.

Unless someone else comes to his rescue, the life of this person will not be Sustained because he has no food.

Because he has failed to work, using the Interdependence that God has set up in His creation, he will starve to death.

This principle will also be working against him.

Energy Transformation: It is very clear that he is investing no energy whatever in doing what needs to be done, when it needs to be done, in the way it needs to be done, so there is zero energy going into the very thing that should be done. Investing energy in avoiding work could very well work against him in his muscles seizing up (what you don’t use, you lose); starvation (scarcity of food); strained relationships (who will continue to provide food and a bed for this sorry individual?)

These are some of the principles that God has woven into His creation and that Natural Church Development is based upon. They are always working whether we acknowledge them or not. And if they are not working for us they will surely be working against us.

Natural Church Development Principles in the Bible

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A fool’s proud talk becomes a rod that beats him, but the words of the wise keep them safe. (Proverbs 14:3)

Why such different outcomes over mere words? Words are much more than words. They are pronouncements that are supported by the nature of the person who utters them. They are extensions of his character. The words of the wise are spoken with integrity; that is, the words of the wise are aligned with their thoughts and emotions and their actions. They are holistic. The proud talk of fools has very little connection with reality. The fool’s pride prevents him from seeing life as it really is. Instead, he sees life as he is and, in his eyes, he is larger than life. Proud talk has very little to do with what the fool is able to achieve; he promises much but delivers less.

The tragedy of all this is the fool does not seem able to understand the Energy Transformation principle that is working against him here. He cannot for the life of him see how his ‘proud talk’ has morphed into a ‘rod that beats him.’

How NCD can help your church: Principles

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Natural Church Development has the potential to take a church from copying ‘Model’ churches to co-operating with God’s unchanging and unchangeable principles: 

When we look at another church as a ‘model’ we imitate what they are doing (This may be fine; and it may also be like taking someone else’s prescription medicine!). But with principles we can look at different churches from any location on the planet. We abstract those things that work in any culture and in any place: Principles. We ignore the local characteristics and flavour….the practices. We know that the principles have application to all other churches in general and to our specific church situation in particular. The Principles inform us “How” the Natural Church Development process should be engaged. 

One of the goals of Natural Church Development is to have pastors and people think principle.

 Christian Schwarz defines what is meant by ‘principle.’

  • Principles are universally valid. They apply to all denominations, to all church models, to all devotional styles, and to all cultures.
  • Principles must be proven. Some so-called principles are more properly ‘interesting concepts that are worth considering.’ The only way to know if something is a principle is to find out if it works in all cultures and settings.
  • Principles always deal with what is essential. Principles do not deal with cosmetic issues or secondary aspects of the Christian life. Therefore we may expect to find these principles also described in the Bible, even if we use different language and terms.
  • Principles always have to be individualized. They never tell you exactly what to do. Rather, they give you criteria which can help you discover what should be done in a given situation.

“Basing our happiness on our ability to control everything is futile. While we do control our choice of action, we cannot control the consequences of our choices. Universal laws or principles do. Thus, we are not in control of our lives; principles are. We live in a modern society that loves shortcut techniques. Yet quality of life cannot be achieved by taking the right shortcut. There is no shortcut. But there is a path. The path is based on principles revered throughout history. If there is one message to glean from this wisdom, it is that a meaningful life is not a matter of speed or efficiency. It’s much more a matter of what you do and why you do it, than how fast you get it done.” (Stephen Covey, ‘First Things First”)