Worthy change
Friday, October 12, 2007 at 10:54 AM.
In all I write and do it is not to ever take aim at others or people, but I also am out to show people there is a better way. A way that brings life. I best explain it as this, as crazy as it sounds, I'm out to help in changing the face of Christianity worldwide. Who am I, what experience, what ability, what talent do I have to do this or even think this.
Not all that much, I'm not all that skilled, talented or gifted. I can't even really keep a beat. But, I also know that our significance and the measure of who we are is not measured by those things. It is soley on our faith, not in ourselves, not in our ability, not even in the level of faith we think we have of faith...it is soley on our faith in God and our faith in who He says He is. There is no limit, no task, no vision, no person...nothing that can't be changed or carried out by any man or woman who knows this.
If you doubt this it is simply because you have created an idol of who you think God is or you need to repent of one of the two sins that stops God in His tracks. We know pride is one of the two. Pride will stop God from moving in your life and through your life very quickly.
Up until this year I didn't grasp the other one. Then one day when reading I came across the other one. It is dispair. Is dispair a sin? If a person is to a place of dispair it is the exact opposite of pride. Pride says I can do it all myself and I don't need God. Pride is pretty fat in pop Christianity. Simply because there is very little dependance on prayer in all aspects of the church today. From the top to the bottom. If no one prayed, if there was no prayer - honestly how different would things for most of Christianity today change?
The other side of Pride is dispair. This is where you stop thinking God is going to change anything or do anything. You basically think He can't. You basically in the depth of your heart are saying God I don't think you can do this. This has been more of my battle than pride in ministry and in much of my life. Things don't go as I hope or as I want and they don't for years and at times I grow very discouraged. God has thankfully brought me key allies who have been there to encourage me and help me focus back on God and remember who He is.
Today the body of Christ is following to a large degree a model that it has long followed because it has always been and knows no other model to follow to do any better. I do not think there are many who do what they do out of the wrong motive, but simply because they are going with the way it has always been or the way they know works for results. When we just follow the examples we are given over and over and we never ask God if they are the best way we keep doing it the same way. God brings about vast change in the church often through just a few, not the masses. How that comes from me or from those I influence is not the point - what is the point is that is comes.
The gospel has been made known to many now and we know it is by grace alone and not by works, but the gospel and the work of Christ does not stop at a ticket into heaven. It is so much more, but for the average men and women in our churches today that is what the Gospel has been reduced too. In even more it has even lost the truth of salvation and need of Christ and the reality of a very real hell. We have lots of evangalism ministries and lots of recorded decisions for Christ, but so many with so little change in the world makes no since. Something isn't working.
The divorce rate is high in our churches. Habitial sin remains a problem for many Christians in our churches - if not most. Discipleship is very, very, very rare. Few people know how to really walk with God. Few people hear from God or are truly surrendered to Him.
This is not because those leading don't care about people or don't want to help them, but because the models we are following can not bring about the changes we want. I am out to bring about a world wide change in helping others discover more in life in Christ and teaching them to do the same. The early model - the Christ model. Make disciples who then make disciples.
Christ told us to go out and make disciples of all nations. We are out in large numbers making converts, or so we think. We can not make converts, not real ones. We can however, make disciples and those disciples can go and make more disciples.
Why House Groups?
Wednesday, October 10, 2007 at 11:20 AM.
Church and hearing a powerful message preached and leaving inspired can be a great place to find growth. It can be a great source for growth, but it can't further growth in the ways of mentorship and discipleship. Even the most gifted pastors are limited to what preaching can do to grow a believer and simply can't mentor and disciple every person in their church. This is the gap House Groups were created to fill. When there is interaction between others that is focused and intentional and regular it brings about a growth that doesn't come about in any other form. Jesus choose men to follow, live and interact with Him daily and through them the world was changed. We simply don't read a lot in the Bible about any change brought about the masses who would only hear Him speak from time to time.
The concept of small groups has always to some degree been around and you do find more growth in these small groups that without them. The concept of House Groups works something like an Oven - it heats up and finishes what it put inside it.
A house group is a concept that I am very interested in because it is like a spiritual green house for spiritual growth. Those in a house group do not have to put thier life on hold or make a huge dramatic change to enter into one. They can continue going to school or working in their career, but rather than remaining alone in an appartment or the roommate of someone else in a context where there is no intentional spiritual direction you don't find the same kind of growth.
Imagine if you came to live in a house group with 2 or 3 others of the same sex with an equal desire to growth spiritually and discover what God was leading them to in life.
Now imagine if your house group was in the same area of other house groups and imagine if those house groups were among 100 other house groups in the same city, with the same purpose and concept.
Now imagine if twice a month all of those 100 house groups gathered to hear men and women who came to that city to speak to them on various passions, callings and careers they were doing and living for the Kingdom of God. Imagine if not just those 100 house groups with 3-4 people in them came, but hundreds, perhaps even thousands in the city also came to hear those who spoke and join in for the worship before hand.
Imagine an living spiritual organism like this that was nothing fancy, nothing corporate, just a couple hundred or thousand men and women coming a few times a month just to gather to worship God and hear other testimonies of men and women just like them sharing how they were trusting God to be used in ways to make a difference.
Imagine no organizational name or identity pride or name boasting, just the boasting of the power of God and what He was doing through ordinary every day simple men and women with no motive or agenda - just to live for God.
Of course such a vision will not go unopposed. Such a liberating movement for people burned out by "religion" and "pop Christiandom" would never go unopposed. The Religious Spirit would come against such a vision and movement with all it could - something so "risky" so "uncontrolable" and "new" would I freely admit be hard for a organization or group of people to control. It might actually require a dependance on prayer and the Spirit of God to lead it.
In fact is does and it is opposed. Yet, God is building a movement, though small and without much for worldly means. Obedience, trust, faith and growing in the love of God is the fuel for this ministry.
God has led me to work on small things now for this vision and just allow Him to build the big things. When I started everyone told me to push forward, use clever marketing ideas and I watched what others were doing and tried to do them too. Eventually, God got ahold of me and gave me the answers I was looking for and direction in following Him and letting Him work things out. Give up the follow what every one else was doing path and don't look to how He has done other great things, but rather walk with Him in a new and unique path. Learning this has been very freeing. Teaching it to others is setting people free in new ways few have known. He has told me to wait, I don't know for certain how long on these big things, perhaps for five years or maybe for ten years. I'm at peace in waiting for Him and looking forward to walking through the Sea He parts for this ministry. I'm looking forward to teaching others how to walk with God in this way and being there to see God do the same for them.
I am not alone in such dangerous for good visions. I know there are others out there. I'm looking and waiting for God to bring them or I to them. Part of my excitement is meeting new allies and friends with hearts loyal to God alone to follow His leading.
Yet, in all this the lesson I have learned as a key guide is crawl, walk and then run. Walk with God and allow you as a visionairy to be trained by God to be a warrior to become a King or Queen mature enough to watch over and lead others. To fight quickly and bravely before your time of being ready would be to fight bravely, but die quickly.
A King is not made over night. A Queen is not made over night. There is a process of intiation that God must take His sons and daughers through to get there.
House groups. It sounds almost too domesticated. They are more free and wild in nature - just like the Spirit of God. I just wouldn't use "domesticated" as a word to describe the Holy Spirit.
Labels: House Groups
Consuming fire
Saturday, April 14, 2007 at 10:23 PM.
Labels: calling, faith, fire, new creation, vision
Red lights
Friday, April 13, 2007 at 7:23 PM.
Ever feel like your journey has red light after red light on it? This year spiritually something changed for me. Some where along the way God lead me off the highway I was on spiritually, and on to a spiritual street of which has a lot of red lights, but the don't stay red long thwarting me from moving. Yet they have slowed me down. This I think has been a blessing in disquise.
I am realizing more how I was able to meet many great allies on the highway but, now on the street I'm finding it much harder. I find myself wanting to get to the next point, but I keep hitting red lights. I don't think the red lights are warfare holding me back, not that it is without it, but I think God has something in this He wants to teach me. I'm wondering what it is.
Labels: challenges, delay, journey, obstacles
