LoTR Parallels Coming Up…. July 10, 2009
Posted by bajanpoet in personal.Tags: Christianity, freedom, Lord of the Rings, movie, vacation
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I will soon have the house ALL TO MYSELF for at least 3 weeks – the rest of the family is going to the States for a family wedding. I wasn’t interested in going, since the lure of being a bachelor for 3 weeks was too strong! 
I love my family but one word was resounding in my heart when I heard the news and the date of the travel – Freedom! Freedom! Freedom!
One of the things I plan to do during this time is to catch up on my watching of Lord of the Rings (again!) I have watched these three movies so many times that I can ad-lib along with the movie if it is on…. don’t u hate people who say the next line before the actor does on screen? ( 
) :lol: Well, that’s me!
As I said over at ShawnW’s place, I hear God speak in several ways – one of the most unusual being that the Holy Spirit reminds me of movie quotes that fit into the theme of what He’s trying to say to me. (For example, look at my comment section of the last post.)
So one of my personal missions is to ‘research’ for my next post by re-watching the entire LoTR trilogy (AGAIN – Oh JOY!) God speaks so much to me about fellowship (which was the theme of my last series), spiritual warfare, courage and sacrifice through that movie! I wanted to research fellowship as well as spiritual warfare, so expect to see some LoTR themes for a couple posts.
For those who are praying for me, knowing that I’m going through some stuff…. a heart-felt THANK YOU! I’m seeing breakthrough…. God is working in my life! Keep praying that I come out of the dark wilderness with the power of the Spirit – like Jesus did!
First Guest Post: New Normal July 2, 2009
Posted by bajanpoet in Christianity, personal.22 comments
This is my first guest post! My good friend, fellow prayer warrior and all out good girl Annie consented to do a guest post for me…. part of the reason I hadn’t written anything myself is because I’ve been going through a lot of stuff… but I’ve also been waiting for her to answer me 
Anyway, here it is! My first guest post! (And when you’re done, hop over to Annie’s place and read her stuff… she’s very good…)
______________________________________________________________________
“NEW NORMAL”
Have you ever tried to …
break an old habit?
go on a diet?
change a wrong behavior?
———————
I discovered about a year and a half ago that my intestines don’t digest dairy very well at all. (Some people call this lactose intolerance. I don’t like labels. Or excuses. So I don’t say this. I say I don’t eat dairy. It’s a choice, not a victimization. Anyway.)
When I discovered this, several things happened. Firstly, I was relieved. It explained several things that had troubled me for almost all of my life, and which I had asked the Lord many times to reveal to me what was going on. Secondarily I was chagrined. Really?? No dairy?? But I LOVE milk, butter, and cheese! I grew up on them. Yummy, yummy, yummy. Thirdly, I knew from Scripture that the promised land was ‘a land flowing with milk and honey’ and I had already looked up in the past the first occurrence in the Bible of eating dairy, and God Himself actually was the one who did. Abraham served curds to God when He visited him (as the three men) before He went down to investigate Sodom and Gomorrah. So. I believed then (and I believe now) that my particular problem is a problem, and not normal. So I’m still believing for the revelation on that.
At any rate, since that time, it has been a constant battle for me. It is really hard to go out to eat and find non-dairy options. This country’s cuisine depends on the cow like you would not believe. The real war though, was in my taste buds. The stuff just tastes so good. I may know in my head all the consequences of eating a piece of pizza or taking a bite of that yummy Alfredo sauce pasta, but my taste buds are in denial. They don’t consider the fact that if I eat it I’ll have to deal with the consequences. They just know it will taste good. And that’s all they know.
So I am left at the point of this decision. Do I give in to my tongue? Or do I respect the entire rest of my body and force myself away from it?
You know, when the Israelites left Egypt their physical situation changed. They were no longer in bondage; they had freedom. Yet even though their physical condition changed, in their minds (or hearts, as the Bible puts it) they were still longing for Egypt. Egypt was still their ‘normal.’ They didn’t take ownership of where they were and say, “I’m free, in a desert, and pressing forward to the promised land.” Instead they expected what they had had in Egypt. They expected provision a certain way; they expected comfort a certain way. And even though they knew that the precursor for having those things was bondage, they still didn’t give up wanting the ‘good tastes’ of Egypt.
So you’d think that after a year and a half I would have got this dairy thing down. I mean, it’s the same decision every time. But in my head you know … I always held on to the prospect of how good it would taste to eat it.
And finally I had an epiphany.
Psychologically, I hadn’t accepted that there had been a change. I let my mind keeping thinking that ‘normal’ was everything I used to eat. And therefore not eating it was ‘abnormal’ and ‘temporary.’ Light bulb! I decided to change that. So now, instead of looking behind me and ‘longing for Egypt,’ I created a ‘new normal.’ In my new normal … I just don’t eat dairy. It’s not something that’s forced on me; it’s not even something I regret. It’s just … normal.
You see, in the past, feeling bad was normal. And in my mind, I couldn’t break away from that. Feeling good (when I didn’t eat dairy) was just a nice perk. A temporary fluke. It wasn’t normal. I had put up with feeling bad for so long that it had come to feel comfortable to me. And regardless of the fact that I had plenty of evidence to tell me that a ‘new normal’ was possible … my heart had never accepted it.
The epiphany came when I was willing to look at that and say, “It’s not normal for me to feel bad. And look bad. It’s normal for me to feel good. And look good.” The choice to not eat dairy was just a part of my new normal.
So I am happy to report that the last month or so I have lived in my new normal. I’m not longing for Egypt anymore.
Normal never felt so good.
———————-
Has there been a ‘new normal’ in your life? Would you like to share?
PS: for those who are interested in my symptoms and results, I would love to answer questions. Most people, I think, wouldn’t, so I haven’t made that a part of this post. :)
Annie
http://callingtodeep.blogspot.com
http://www.myspace.com/callingtodeep
I’m not dead! June 26, 2009
Posted by bajanpoet in Uncategorized.Tags: hiatus, not dead, pray
8 comments
I’m not dead! I can’t believe that I haven’t written a blog post in such a long time!
I want you all to not lose hope – I am not dead….. this blog is not dead…. I will not abandon it. The friendships I have here are too important to me.
I have bee n going through a lot recently, and I have not been on my computer as often as I have been since my birthday. That, plus the hectic nature of my job (gotten even more busy….) I have not had the time to sit and craft new blog posts.
Please pray for me. And remember I’m not dead!
Happy Birthday To ME!!! June 8, 2009
Posted by bajanpoet in personal.19 comments
This is a shameless post (singing)… it’s my birthday and I can post if I want to, post if I want to… you would post too if it happened to you.. (Ok, I have NO idea where that came from!)
Just a short post today… Now I accept well wishes, gift cards, cars, houses, land, credit cards, frequent flier miles as birthday presents! Be creative!
Love you guys!
Life Together: Showing Mercy June 1, 2009
Posted by bajanpoet in Bible Study, Christianity, devotional, personal.Tags: devotions, Christianity, purpose driven life, Life Together, fellowship, what is fellowship, Showing Mercy, mercy
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Almost done this series! Continuing onward we’re going to look at showing mercy. The title of the devotion was “Life Together: Don’t be Reluctant to Show Mercy”.
You can read the devotion here.
Rev Warren comments that,
“In real fellowship people experience mercy. Fellowship is a place of grace, where mistakes aren’t rubbed in but rubbed out. Fellowship happens when mercy wins over justice.”
I mentioned an example of this in my second last post on Authentic Friendship , where my church came around me and supported and accepted me when I confessed a sin to them. That’s just showing mercy in action – true fellowship!
I like what he says here:
You can’t have fellowship without forgiveness because bitterness and resentment always destroy fellowship. Sometimes we hurt each other intentionally and sometimes unintentionally, but either way, it takes massive amounts of mercy and grace to create and maintain fellowship.
How about marriage? I’m sure my wife would agree with the above statement right now – massive amounts of mercy and grace…. ”Fellowship” is usually seen in the context of friends, or a small group, or a church… but reading that above statement, I’m sure that the family should be a microcosm of true fellowship. You have to forgive to maintain any relationship.
Quoting the Scripture, Rev Warren continues:
The Bible says, “You must make allowance for each other’s faults and forgive the person who offends you. Remember, the Lord forgave you, so you must forgive others” (Colossians 3:13 NLT).
The mercy God shows to us is the motivation for us to show mercy to others. Whenever you’re hurt by someone, you have a choice to make: Will I use my energy and emotions for retaliation or for resolution?
It’s easy to retalliate, hard to choose to forgive – but God says it’s necessary. (Did I just say that? Lord, help me to obey!)
I like the contrast he makes between forgiveness and trust:
Many people are reluctant to show mercy because they don’t understand the difference between trust and forgiveness. Forgiveness is letting go of the past. Trust has to do with future behavior.
Forgiveness must be immediate, whether or not a person asks for it. Trust must be rebuilt over time.Trust requires a track record. If someone hurts you repeatedly, you are commanded by God to forgive them instantly, but you are not expected to trust them immediately, and you are not expected to continue allowing them to hurt you. They must prove they have changed over time. The best place to restore trust is within the supportive context of a small group that offers both encouragement and accountability.
“Forgiveness must be immediate….trust must be built over time” I’m working this out in my own marriage right now… it’s not easy rebuilding trust… and every slip back jepordizes the whole process. I’m pushing ahead, though, with my friends and loved ones who are like Aaron and Hur, holding up Moses’ hands so that Joshua could win the battle
The passage is from Exodus 17:10-13:
10 So Joshua fought the Amalekites as Moses had ordered, and Moses, Aaron and Hur went to the top of the hill. 11 As long as Moses held up his hands, the Israelites were winning, but whenever he lowered his hands, the Amalekites were winning. 12 When Moses’ hands grew tired, they took a stone and put it under him and he sat on it. Aaron and Hur held his hands up—one on one side, one on the other—so that his hands remained steady till sunset. 13 So Joshua overcame the Amalekite army with the sword.
I’m Joshua, fighting my battle against the Amalekites – my flesh and demonic oppression – but I have awesome friends and family who are like Moses, Aaron and Hur… interceding to heaven on my behalf!
…..
Now I have been fortunate, and I have been exposed to some of my readers’ and online friends’ struggle with spiritual abuse. I know that some reading this may be going through a mix of emotions as they deal with memories, reading how things should be and remembering how they were treated and abused…. just let me say that THE LORD LOVES YOU! No matter what others have done to you or with you…. just know that God loves you. Also, I want you to know, in the words of one of my blogging buddies, that you are safe with me. I know that trust takes a while to build, I know that people who promised to love you abused you… but here, you are safe.
My encouragement, then, is ask God to help us all to forgive, and to show mercy towards each other – that is true fellowship!
Thoughts?
Life Together: A Mutual Dependency May 27, 2009
Posted by bajanpoet in Bible Study, Christianity, devotional, personal.Tags: A Mutual Dependency, blog series, Christianity, devotions, friendship, interdependence, Life Together, purpose driven life
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Continuing on with the current series, I will be commenting on the next devotion in the Purpose Driven Life – A Mutual Dependency.
To read the whole devotion, click here.
How many Christians would see that authentic Christian life can be seen in the word interdependence? Rev. Warren starts of this devotion by saying,
“In authentic Christian fellowship people should experience a mutual dependency. This mutuality is the art of giving and receiving; it’s depending on each other.”
Now, personally, I don’t like depending on people. Honestly, I find it hard to ask for things. I willingly give of myself, but when it comes to asking … well… ummm… let’s say I’m still working on that. This devotion cuts across that, though. We are encouraged to depend on each other – for “no man is an island” is the popular adage, right?
I love The Message. It makes things so clear and understandable. Check this out:
The Bible says, “The way God designed our bodies is a model for understanding our lives together as a church: every part dependent on every other part” (1 Corinthians 12:25 MSG).
Now that’s clear! The church is seen as a Body… how much does the ’smallest’ part NEED the ‘bigger’ parts? It wouldn’t be a fully functioning Body without every single part! Interesting thought….
All of us are more consistent in our faith when others walk with us and encourage us. The Bible commands mutual accountability, mutual encouragement, mutual serving, and mutual honoring.
I know that’s true in my own life, for sure. Who hasn’t tried to work out alone? 
Have you been able to stick it on your own? No. I didn’t think so…. Reminds me of one of my most quoted Scriptures – Ecclesiastes 4:10-12
10 If one falls down,
his friend can help him up.
But pity the man who falls
and has no one to help him up!11 Also, if two lie down together, they will keep warm.
But how can one keep warm alone?12 Though one may be overpowered,
two can defend themselves.
A cord of three strands is not quickly broken.
Isn’t that powerful? “If one falls down, his friend can pick him up. But pity the man who falls and has no one to help him up?” I’ve been down a lot recently (I’m going through a painful process), and thank God for my friends who are constantly there to help me up – through encouragement, prayer and support – several of them, who don’t live in the same country as me (thank God for Internet friends – long live the Blogosphere!) have independently mailed me books and resources that can help me through this time. I have cried thinking about how much my friends love me – some without seeing my face in person! I wouldn’t trade them for the world….
*wipes tears* Ok, where was I? Right… *cough* *cough*
Rev. Warren next says this:
Over fifty times in the New Testament we’re commanded to do different tasks for “one another” and “each other.” The Bible says, “Make every effort to do what leads to peace and to mutual edification” (Romans 14:19 NIV).
Derek Prince makes mentions of the “one anothers” in Scripture. Over FIFTY TIMES!!!!!! WOW! I know that when God wants to emphasize something he repeats himself, “I, even I, am the Lord….” So what is he trying to say by repeating the same point over and over? Go figure. This isn’t supposed to be a solitary faith walk. No sir-ee…
The concluding statement is this:
You are not responsible for everyone in the body of Christ, but you are responsible to them. God expects you do whatever you can to help them.
So, what are you responsible to the Body of Christ with? What can you help with? How do you see yourself being of assistance to the Body?
Life Together: Authentic Friendships May 22, 2009
Posted by bajanpoet in Christianity, devotional, links, missional.10 comments
Continuing on our journey of discovery, this is the second installment of the Life Together series, where we are exploring corporate life together, with Rev Rick Warren and Purposed Driven Life.
Here’s the devotional in its entirety.
Now, to my thoughts. The first thing that jumps out at me is this quote:
Authentic fellowship is not superficial, surface-level chit-chat. It’s genuine, heart-to-heart, sometimes gut-level sharing.
Now I know that most people cannot even fathom this level of intimacy in their assemblies, but to me that is a shame – a travesty! To be known completely and to know completely – oh the JOY of it! You would not know until you stop how limiting living behind masks is. This goes far deeper than, “How are you?” “Fine.” “How are the children?” “Oh they’re good…” This level of authenticity is not for the faint-hearted. It is challenging…
It happens when people get honest about who they are and what is happening in their lives. They share their hurts, reveal their feelings, confess their failures, disclose their doubts, admit their fears, acknowledge their weaknesses, and ask for help and prayer.
My church family know my weaknesses, my sins .. just recently there was a great healing of my own personal emotions when I went to them confessing something I had done which was pretty serious, but having them all surround me and pray. As fear of rejection is one of the things I struggle with from time to time, one member prophetically discerned that I was still carrying guilt about the past actions (which went against what I was saying with my mouth!)
Then, on behalf of the group, she publicly recieved me and accepted me … that broke me – I fell on my face sobbing, as the guilt poured out in tears! After a long time of them literally surrounding me and praying over me as I was crouched on the floor, I was able to stand, whole, healed – and accepted!
Authenticity is the exact opposite of what you find in many churches. Instead of an atmosphere of honesty and humility, there is pretending, role-playing, politicking, superficial politeness, and shallow conversation. People wear masks, keep their guard up, and act as if everything is rosy in their lives. These attitudes are the death of real friendship.
It’s dangerous to be this open:
Of course, being authentic requires both courage and humility. It means facing our fear of exposure, rejection, and being hurt again.
That’s the sad truth. Instead of havens of holiness… most churches represent political parties – bickering and one-upmanship abound! It’s disgusting… rather than a place of peace and safety – a ‘city of refuge’ where those hurting can come to be healed and protected, most churches attack more than they assist – especially their own. Thank God it is not all like that!
Echoing the devotion’s question – who would want to take the risk of being ridiculed, ostrasized and hurt – again?
Because it’s the only way to grow spiritually and be emotionally healthy. The Bible says, “Make this your common practice: Confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you can live together whole and healed” (James 5:16 MSG)
My own experience bears this out. My prayer is that for those hurting, the Body of Christ would again represent healing and wholeness rather than separation and pain. Like others (Jonie, Jennifer, Annie, to name a few….)
And you don’t have to look into a ‘traditional’ gathering in a building to fine authentic friendship in the Body of Christ! I have found authentic friends for life right here on the blogosphere – either by commenting on their blogs or having them commenting here on mine! The friends I have found here have borne me through some crises in my own life and have become wrapped around my heart – all without seeing them face to face (yet!)
Is there authentic friendship in your life? Do you see life together either with a group, either online or offline?
Life Together Series: A Shared Life May 19, 2009
Posted by bajanpoet in Bible Study, Christianity, House Church, devotional.Tags: A Shared Life, Christianity, fellowship, Life Together, purpose driven life, what is fellowship, what is the church
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I remember the last time I did a series off of my Purpose Driven Life devotionals that come up in my in-box. They were on love – love is an action, a decision, a habit, and others. This is another series from the same source.
Coming off of the last two posts on The Shape of the Church (part 1 and part 2), this series, taken from the Purpose Driven Connection – the weekly email devotional from Saddleback Church and Pastor Rick Warren is called the “Life Together” series – dealing with the focus of the church. The first devotion deals with “A Shared Life.”
To read the devotion yourself, click here.
Rev. Warren starts off with this:
God intends for us to experience life together. The Bible calls this shared experience “fellowship.”
Today, however, the word has lost most of its biblical meaning. Fellowship now usually refers to casual conversation, socializing, food, and fun.
Isn’t that the truth? But what is the real meaning of ‘fellowship’?
The Greek word for ‘fellowship is “koinōnia” and according to the Blue Letter Bible its definition is “fellowship, communion, communication, distribution, contribution, to communicate.”
Real fellowship is so much more than just showing up at services. It is experiencing life together. It includes unselfish loving, honest sharing, practical serving, sacrificial giving, sympathetic comforting, and all the other “one another” commands found in the New Testament.
That’s so true… as Rev. Warren also comments in this devotion:
When it comes to fellowship, size matters: smaller is better. You can worship with a crowd, but you can’t fellowship with one.
Once a group becomes larger than about ten people, someone stops participating—usually the quietest person—and a few people will dominate the group.
The small group is the heart of fellowship – of sharing life. My own home assembly is about ten people and I see this in practice – even although we can learn to do it so much more practically! It’s really humbling to see the entire church come out to help when one member is sick, or in need… I remember when I was low on funds for an extended period of time and some of the money we were collecting as tithes showed up unanounced under my door one evening – and a couple members of the church felt the need to contribute out of their pockets as well. All in all that day my wife and I saw about 3 envelopes that had almost $1000 all collected! All this without asking for any assistance!
Rev. Warren comments that, “The body of Christ, like your own body, is really a collection of many small cells. The life of the body of Christ, like your body, is contained in the cells.” This is the goal for small groups, although in practice I have found that when ’small group ministry’ is tacked on to a larger assembly’s DNA it doesn’t always achieve the fullest potential. Instead of a small group of people learning how to have real koinōnia through extended periods of sharing life by being vulnerable, being real – when it is tacked on to a larger assembly participants tend to retreat into the big meetings and never really connect.
When all you have is ten people – there is nowhere to hide! The quiet ones are encouraged to communicate, and the ones who are more dominant are more easily encouraged to let the others particpate. It’s easier in a small group to share hurts and pains, to confess sins and receive forgiveness, to ask for and receive practical assistance – and even to keep in contact!
How many of you really know the people in your church? What aspects of life do you share? Are you comfortable letting down your guard? Being yourself?
Thoughts?
Blue Letter Bible. “Dictionary and Word Search for ‘fellowship’ in the KJV”. Blue Letter Bible. 1996-2009. 19 May 2009. < http:// www.blueletterbible.org/search/translationResults.cfm?
Criteria=fellowship&t=KJV >
The Shape of the Church (Part II) May 14, 2009
Posted by bajanpoet in Christianity, House Church, House churches, new churches.Tags: changing paradigms, Christianity, House Church, leadership, The Shape of the Church
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I’ve just gotten a great post in my Reader today, from Kingdom Grace .. and she’s pointed me to another great website that goes along the same topic as we’re discussing here Wayne Jacobsen’s blog LifeStream is dealing with “Starting A House Church”. So I’m delving into what even more people are saying about this topic of the shape of the church.
This is part of Wayne’s opening statement:
The unspoken thought is that systems will work pretty well if the right people are in charge. The reality is that systems themselves are destructive to relational and organic growth.
Really? All systems are destructive to relationship and organic growth?
It seems all of this stems from the fact that we really don’t trust that Jesus is capable of building his church—that he cannot give rise to the reality of his family if we don’t “start something”. It’s as if living loved and loving just won’t be enough to let him do all he wants to do.
Ok, I understand the implications of letting Jesus build his church, but like I say in my previous post, structure is important, even for fluid organisms, right? I am not a fan of ’starting something’, either, but the statement seems to demean all structure, which is thinking I’ve had to get away from.
Wayne was having a conversation with a brother, Mike, who felt called to start a church. Wayne’s responses try to disuade him from ’starting a church’, per se, but being open to sharing life organically instead. To Mike’s initial comment that he felt led to start an open church, Wayne says, in part:
People who start a church end up basing it around their vision or gifts and it will either bog down or simply become the outgrowth of one person. I am convinced real church emerges as an organic outgrowth of relationships people are already sharing. So the question is not, how do we start a church, but rather, how do we facilitate people caring for each other and growing spiritually together and see over time whether or not church life emerges from that reality?
I like what he says here: ”… real church emerges as an organic outgrowth of relationships people are already sharing.” In my personal experience, “facilitat[ing] people caring for each other and growing spritually together” happens naturally as I extend myself to love – that part I can see. I’ve grown to love my interactions on the blogospshere because of the deep abiding relationships that have formed and are being formed as I make myself available to love, without the structure. However, I did find the tendency to build a structure…. was it necessary? I don’t know – I’m currently in a time of reflection and seeking God. Maybe when I come out I won’t need that structure, who knows? It’s too early to tell…. I do find it easier to just love and be loved, at the moment.
I like this quote:
I really don’t think we need to start churches. Jesus started the only one that matters at Pentecost 2000 years ago. We just need to live in that reality instead of starting more institutions that only further divide the body. That’s probably not what you wanted to hear, but I honestly thing the way God works is very different than the way we do…
That God works different to us is definitely on target! Just more to chew over…
He comments that, “If I could encourage you in anything it would be to share your life freely, but look to come alongside someone else’s journey.” Now that I can relate to. Coming alongside someone else’s journey is the most fulfilling thing I have found, myself. I love how God enocurages me as I encourage others….
Once we try to get people to have the experience we have, we’ll manipulate them instead of serve them. Jesus just wants you to come alongside folks and give them truth as they are ready for it. Once we start trying to manage people’s spirituality, people will run from us. God will show you. I love your heart and passion, but church leadership has done this wrong for a long time and its why people are fleeing from the church instead of finding God in her.
Hmmm. Is ‘church life’ just trying to get people to have the experience we have? Is it a case of ‘managing people’s spirituality’? In every case? That’s the question. You don’t want to throw out the baby with the bath water….
Another response to Mike:
My response: What should you do? Follow him. If you don’t know what that means yet, just live in his love and love others around you. In time it will be clear what he wants you to do. If you don’t know now, other than to follow someone else’s form, then maybe you are moving ahead of him. I’m really serious about this. We’re just asked to love like he loves us (John 13:34-35), to proclaim the gospel as we have opportunity and to help others follow Jesus who want to follow him (Matthew 28:19-20). We are not told to plant a church, for he said he would build his own. He’s good at this. He knows what to do. Just help others as God gives you grace.
He continues with an interesting statement:
Don’t try to start something. Don’t try to ‘get people’ to do anything. Live your life before them until they are hungry enough to ask for help. Then help them learn to live loved and follow Jesus. And the gospel will spread…
I like that. ”Helping them to live loved.” I think that’s a great way to describe how I help. I’m always showering those who are broken with love, telling them that they are loved – not just by God, but by me. It’s awesome to see the love of God creep under someone’s defenses until they don’t even know that they are out of their pain…
We must not forget that the ‘early church’ did not arise out of a plan to get people to do anything. The early church emerged out of a revelation of who Jesus is, and hungry hearts responded who wanted to know God and live in his life. There was no recruitment campaign and no strategy to manage people through a hierarchical system. They lived as a family and grew to discover how they could embrace his life together and live transformed in the culture.
One of his concluding statements is
Somehow we have to think differently—that our calling is not to build the church, but to present an authentic demonstration of the Gospel in how we live and what we say. Then, we take the time to equip those who want to know him, how to live in a relationship with him. As a pool of people discover how to live loved and love, then the church can take on a variety of forms and expressions in various times and seasons.
The whole article is well written, but has caused some healthy debate in the blogosphere. Is he ‘bucking the system’ out of a lack of respect for structure? Does he think we should just ‘hang loose and let Jesus do his thing?’ as one of his commenters on his blog asked?
I’ve been debating with a fellow commenter on Kingdom Grace’s blog who said, in part:
Jesus personally appointed Paul to ‘plant churches’ amidst the Gentile nations. Yeah, he got persecuted too. Just the term ‘plant’ indicates something organic. But didn’t Paul also place structure into those organic families of believers? Didn’t he have the leaders he mentored (e.g. Timothy and Titus) mentor others for appointment to leadership? There must be some middle ground here somewhere.
He called this post and others like it a ‘backlash against the institution.’
To my and other’s call to ‘obedience to God, whatever it ‘looks like’ he said:
Having served in both church leadership and in international missions I have had to work with people who were absolutely convinced that they were being obedient to God’s call – and they ended up offending hosts, abandoning commitments, and making my job a whole lot more difficult than it should have been. It got to the point that I became very cynical of those who began their sentences with “God spoke to me … ” or “I feel led of the Spirit … “, etc.
He also said, in part, that
When working with volunteers in the mission organization there needs to be a sense of maturity, and certainly the younger volunteers who may not have had the proper experience to mature yet should at least be under the guidance of a mature leader. A leader who has the wisdom and influence to instruct these youngsters to minimally stick with the commitment they made in the initial agreement.
I agree with Ken’s assessment that leadership is necessary… but I don’t get that Wayne is trumping leadership at all. In my opinion, he’s saying that the structure of top down leadership misses the mark. Paul and the other apostles were well known and defined leaders in the early church, yet the early church did not have the goal of ’starting something new.’ I agree with Ken’s last statement:
Thus, I agree with you up to a point, but from my experience in real life, much of this sounds idealogical. Life and people (yes, even Christians), are unpredictable and messy. I am a father and grandfather and I love my wife, my kids, and my grandkids more than I could ever express in words. But even within our family relationships it takes a lot of work to keep us moving through life together. We all ‘hear from God’ but we don’t always agree on what we’re hearing. It takes structure, collaboration, patience … and leadership. That’s how a healthy family functions.
I agree, brother, I agree…
In my experience, being relational doesn’t divorce from leadership at all… it is necessary, absolutely necessary – in my own network (which some call a house church) there are clearly defined leaders that we all look up to for advice and counsel, even as each group explores what God’s kingdom might mean for them. So I’m agreeing with you, brother… it might seem ideological, but there are places where ideology seems close to reality
What are your thoughts on this?
The Shape of the Church May 13, 2009
Posted by bajanpoet in Christianity, House Church, emergent, personal.Tags: amoeba, cell church, Christianity, disciples, House Church, shape of the church, viral disciples, what is the church
20 comments
For those who don’t know, I’m a part of what some would call a ‘house church.’ We meet in each other’s homes and exist with a paradigm that tries to break ‘Christianity’ down to its essentials – relationship with God, and man. (See Matthew 22:36-39)
Some members of the Body of Christ have been recently making house church as the ‘new thing’, the best thing since slice bread, and crying down the more ‘traditional’ types of church assembly (where ‘traditional’ in this context isn’t just whether you meet and sing hymns, or meet and sing contemporary songs.) (Gentle jab to one of my new blog acquaintances and her blog post on modern vs contemporary church services – Hi Lynese!)
I used to be one of them.
But I’ve come to realize that the container doesn’t matter as much as the commitment to the purpose, if you get what I mean. Whether the church meets on Sunday morning, or Tuesday night, whether we sing hymns or just sit in a circle and discuss life – the main purpose for the church is put pretty succinctly in the Scriptures (Matthew 28:18-20 and Mark 16:15-19. )
And now I see a blog post that gives me what I’ve heard recently is an ‘Aha!’ moment!
In Discipling Viral Disciplers, the author had me at the first line: “I no longer try to start house churches.” Wha…. Interesting. Let’s continue.
The post says:
Jesus invited us to join him, organically, in the reproduction of life. (my emphasis) His church is a living, thriving, reproducing organism (Mark 4) that allows life-in-the-Spirit to spread virally from one disciple to the next. His church is alive as illustrated by a seed (Mark 4) that brings forth 30, 60, or 100-fold reproduction. That is the life of the kingdom. His life in me is passed on to the life of another (2-fold) which is passed to the life of another (4-fold) which is passed to the life of another (8-fold), etc. That is the way of organic/viral life and this is what the kingdom IS. This is ultimately what Jesus invited us to become part of: discipling viral disciplers.
I’ve been a part of a house church for over ten years. When the Lord first called me to join it, I turned away from everything that was, in my view, ‘rigid’ and ’structured.’ It took a couple of years for the Lord to finally get into my skull that even an amoeba (a one celled organism that flows into any shape and reproduces by splitting in half) had a structure.
So I came to realize that house church, in itself isn’t “it” – the author puts it beautifully when he said that:
When I have made house churches the end game, I have discovered that they do not naturally reproduce nor become movements. In fact, house churches have a shelf life. They may serve a purpose for a season, but when that season ends (and it will) the “movement” is over. The influence of a house church is temporary.
He says had commented earlier that “Kingdom life is viral, organic, and, by nature, a movement.” and he expounds on this by continuing:
This explains why Jesus did not ask us to go and “make gatherings or churches.” He did not ask us to go and “make house churches.” He said, “go and make disciples.” This shift from starting gatherings to making disciples (who go and make disciples) goes to the very heart of the matter. Discipling viral disciplers is the end game. This places us squarely in the midst of reproductive life that the kingdom is intrinsically about. We become movement-starters not church-starters. We release disciples who will influence the world throughout their lifetime and beyond as those they disciple disciple still others.
WOW. I couldn’t have put it better myself. This is the missing link in my thinking. But does this mean that we have to look for another container to house the church in? Not according to him – but house churches themselves are not the goal, they are the means to the end of spreading the gospel….
Now, not to confuse the issue, but often in the work of discipling viral disciplers I will be gathering people together in a manner that looks an awful lot like a simple/house church. Absolutely! But the underlying DNA makes all the difference. When I reach and disciple a viral discipler, that person is going to gather with other viral disciplers for encouragement, and then, as each of them reaches others, still more gatherings will take place. So, along the way, house churches are started. But, but rather than being the end game, they become a means to support the life that is being reproduced from one disciple to the next.
Just like the amoeba, “[the] house church gatherings themselves will shift, change, morph, end, and re-establish themselves in new forms but the movement of disciples who are reproducing disciples will continue.”
I like his comment here: “When we start house churches, our focus tends to be on the gathering—what to do, how to do it, what it looks like, etc. We say to ourselves that we are learning to “be” the church 24/7 (and we may even go do missional things), but often our priority remains on developing the structure/form of simple house church gatherings.” I dare say, that this is also the priority of those who gather in more ‘traditional’ settings as well. He contrasts this way of thinking – “church starters” – with being “movement starters” by saying
When following Jesus and inviting others to follow him becomes our focus (discipling viral disciples), we will have to shift from the “gathering” mentality to the “lifestyle-going” mentality. This shift changes the processes we walk out from top to bottom. And, this shift will propel us from being church-starters to movement starters (where churches spring up along the way).
I love this comment in his conclusion: “Jesus, the adventurous, undomesticated, on-the-move God invites us to join him daily where He is working.” He challenges that this change of thinking calls us to ‘examine our own “followership” as a starting point.’ (his words)
I will echo his concluding questions: What does this mean for us, to really be the church in the world? I am not calling out those who gather in church buildings on Sunday and saying they’re wrong – they are not. I am asking – what does it really mean to be the church? If we move from starting churches to releasing viral disciplers, how does this change our paradigm? What will it look like?
Thoughts?
