Prayer for Friday, June 10

Scripture for Friday

Acts 14:20-28

20 But after the disciples had gathered around him, he got up and went back into the city. The next day he and Barnabas left for Derbe.

 21 They preached the gospel in that city and won a large number of disciples. Then they returned to Lystra, Iconium and Antioch, 22 strengthening the disciples and encouraging them to remain true to the faith. “We must go through many hardships to enter the kingdom of God,” they said. 23 Paul and Barnabas appointed elders[a] for them in each church and, with prayer and fasting, committed them to the Lord, in whom they had put their trust. 24 After going through Pisidia, they came into Pamphylia, 25 and when they had preached the word in Perga, they went down to Attalia.

 26 From Attalia they sailed back to Antioch, where they had been committed to the grace of God for the work they had now completed. 27 On arriving there, they gathered the church together and reported all that God had done through them and how he had opened a door of faith to the Gentiles. 28 And they stayed there a long time with the disciples.


Prayer: Fruitfulness in Our Own Lives
Lord of the Harvest, we know that it is from the overflow of the heart that the mouth speaks. We pray that you will continue to cultivate the soil of our hearts so that our lives will produce much fruit for you. We desire to be the change we hope to see in this world; we long to live as citizens of the kingdom that is at hand and which we anticipate arriving in fullness. Only the Almighty God can bring about this kind of change in our hearts. When we've tried to produce this harvest ourselves, our efforts have been exhausting and fruitless. We turn to you, O Lord of the Harvest, as the one who brings growth. We call on you, the Faithful One, to do what you've promised. And we pray with confidence, knowing that you desire this more than we do.
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Final Thoughts
Today is the final day of our 7 weeks. I am so grateful that you've participated in this process with us. As I look at all that has happened since Easter Sunday, I am once again amazed by our God. As usual, things have not progressed as I anticipated...and as usual, I rejoice that God is at work beyond what I'm able to see in the moment. 7 weeks ago, I expected this Sunday to be the launch of fundraising for Intentional People and had no idea what sort of timeline we'd be working with regarding a new church plant...

Well, we've made a lot of progress with Intentional People, but we're moving the official fundraising launch forward to September, when we'll be participating in a Missional Church Conference in St. Louis. Yet, our new church plant, The Gathering, has already begun! The Christ Journey community encouraged us to move forward and three families decided to join us.

Since then, Brandy, a friend I met at Denny's nearly 3 years ago (who was quite uninterested in "church" at the time), has also joined us. Several months ago she moved to Fort Worth and with her work schedule hasn't been able to be part of our worship gatherings. However, Ron and Shandy Stogsdill (participants in The Gathering) were able to offer her a job with better hours and she told me yesterday, "Just so you know, I'm in."

Rachel Elder, another member of our community, invited her friend Paula to join us for a swimming party for the kids a couple weeks ago... This past weekend Paula made the comment, "I've never enjoyed being part of a church service like I did today." She was one of the first to sign up to bring food for our meal this Sunday... Thank you for your prayers, I believe God is hearing them.

Prayer for Thursday, June 9

Scripture for Thursday

Acts 14:1-7

1 At Iconium Paul and Barnabas went as usual into the Jewish synagogue. There they spoke so effectively that a great number of Jews and Greeks believed. 2 But the Jews who refused to believe stirred up the other Gentiles and poisoned their minds against the brothers. 3 So Paul and Barnabas spent considerable time there, speaking boldly for the Lord, who confirmed the message of his grace by enabling them to perform signs and wonders. 4 The people of the city were divided; some sided with the Jews, others with the apostles. 5 There was a plot afoot among both Gentiles and Jews, together with their leaders, to mistreat them and stone them. 6 But they found out about it and fled to the Lycaonian cities of Lystra and Derbe and to the surrounding country, 7 where they continued to preach the gospel.


Prayer: Fruit for the Poor and Oppressed
Lord of the Harvest, if our service in your name isn't good news for the poor in our community, then it isn't good news. You are the God who declares freedom for the captives, deliverance for the oppressed and hope for the hopeless. Almighty God, we pray that you will take our meager offerings and multiply them so that no one among us will go without. We pray for the faith to give generously and sacrificially and we pray that you will direct us to the places and people who most need to feast on the fruit that you have provided. Lord of the Harvest, we pray for you to send out workers into your fields; we long to be counted among those workers and we eagerly anticipate the new co-workers in your kingdom that are even now being prepared to serve alongside you with us.

Again, for weeks now, we've prayed for the poor and oppressed in our community. What have you learned from this process? What opportunities have arisen...were you able to respond? In the past month and a half my family has witnessed our son raise over $1000 for people in Japan; we've seen a young single mother get a new computer and a new job, a struggling family get a new car, hungry people receive food, thirsty people receive cold water...and each of these gifts came from regular people who would not normally consider themselves wealthy (at least by US standards). 

Prayer for Wednesday, June 8

Scripture for Wednesday

Acts 10:23b-48

The next day Peter started out with them, and some of the believers from Joppa went along. 24 The following day he arrived in Caesarea. Cornelius was expecting them and had called together his relatives and close friends. 25 As Peter entered the house, Cornelius met him and fell at his feet in reverence. 26 But Peter made him get up. “Stand up,” he said, “I am only a man myself.”

 27 While talking with him, Peter went inside and found a large gathering of people. 28 He said to them: “You are well aware that it is against our law for a Jew to associate with or visit a Gentile. But God has shown me that I should not call anyone impure or unclean. 29 So when I was sent for, I came without raising any objection. May I ask why you sent for me?”

 30 Cornelius answered: “Three days ago I was in my house praying at this hour, at three in the afternoon. Suddenly a man in shining clothes stood before me 31 and said, ‘Cornelius, God has heard your prayer and remembered your gifts to the poor. 32 Send to Joppa for Simon who is called Peter. He is a guest in the home of Simon the tanner, who lives by the sea.’ 33 So I sent for you immediately, and it was good of you to come. Now we are all here in the presence of God to listen to everything the Lord has commanded you to tell us.”

 34 Then Peter began to speak: “I now realize how true it is that God does not show favoritism 35 but accepts from every nation the one who fears him and does what is right. 36 You know the message God sent to the people of Israel, announcing the good news of peace through Jesus Christ, who is Lord of all. 37 You know what has happened throughout the province of Judea, beginning in Galilee after the baptism that John preached— 38 how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and power, and how he went around doing good and healing all who were under the power of the devil, because God was with him.

 39 “We are witnesses of everything he did in the country of the Jews and in Jerusalem. They killed him by hanging him on a cross, 40 but God raised him from the dead on the third day and caused him to be seen. 41 He was not seen by all the people, but by witnesses whom God had already chosen—by us who ate and drank with him after he rose from the dead. 42 He commanded us to preach to the people and to testify that he is the one whom God appointed as judge of the living and the dead. 43 All the prophets testify about him that everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name.”

 44 While Peter was still speaking these words, the Holy Spirit came on all who heard the message. 45 The circumcised believers who had come with Peter were astonished that the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out even on Gentiles. 46 For they heard them speaking in tongues[a] and praising God.

   Then Peter said, 47 “Surely no one can stand in the way of their being baptized with water. They have received the Holy Spirit just as we have.” 48 So he ordered that they be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ. Then they asked Peter to stay with them for a few days.



The Global Community as a Harvest Field
Lord of the Harvest, as often as we overlook the harvest field in our own back yard, we are often even more unaware of how you are moving in distant lands. We confess that too often our focus in too narrow, our vision too clouded by our supposed limitations. Open our eyes Father, to ways that we can partner with others who proclaiming the good news of new life "over there," just as we are doing here. God, we pray that these connections will serve your advancing kingdom and that they will also serve to remind us that you are not a regional God. You are the Lord of the Harvest, at all times and in all places. We worship you as such.


During the last few weeks, we've been encouraged to connect with different resources and groups operating around the world. Have you taken the opportunity to communicate with anyone? If so, would you share their story with us? I plan to challenge The Gathering to partner with someone financially, to encourage them regularly and pray for them often - I challenge you to do so as well.

Prayer for Tuesday, June 7

Scripture for Tuesday
Acts 10:9-23

9 About noon the following day as they were on their journey and approaching the city, Peter went up on the roof to pray. 10 He became hungry and wanted something to eat, and while the meal was being prepared, he fell into a trance. 11 He saw heaven opened and something like a large sheet being let down to earth by its four corners. 12 It contained all kinds of four-footed animals, as well as reptiles and birds. 13 Then a voice told him, “Get up, Peter. Kill and eat.”

 14 “Surely not, Lord!” Peter replied. “I have never eaten anything impure or unclean.”

 15 The voice spoke to him a second time, “Do not call anything impure that God has made clean.”

 16 This happened three times, and immediately the sheet was taken back to heaven.

 17 While Peter was wondering about the meaning of the vision, the men sent by Cornelius found out where Simon’s house was and stopped at the gate. 18 They called out, asking if Simon who was known as Peter was staying there.

 19 While Peter was still thinking about the vision, the Spirit said to him, “Simon, three[a] men are looking for you. 20 So get up and go downstairs. Do not hesitate to go with them, for I have sent them.”

 21 Peter went down and said to the men, “I’m the one you’re looking for. Why have you come?”

 22 The men replied, “We have come from Cornelius the centurion. He is a righteous and God-fearing man, who is respected by all the Jewish people. A holy angel told him to ask you to come to his house so that he could hear what you have to say.” 23 Then Peter invited the men into the house to be his guests.

Tuesday Prayer

The Local Community as a Harvest Field
Lord of the Harvest, we thank you that in the midst of your concern for all creation you do not forget to respond to the cries of individuals. God, we confess that the same is not true for us. We allow ourselves to be consumed with our own drama or we become enthralled with stories of more exotic places. Father, if your kingdom can break in anywhere, it can break in here. We believe, forgive our unbelief. Holy God, open our eyes to the people who live across the street or who drop their children at the same school as ours; people who we have seen but not truly seen. Lord of the Harvest, give us eyes to see as you see. We pray that your name will be proclaimed in Burleson; we pray that the hopeless will find reason to rejoice and those in darkness will see your great light.

What does the gospel have to say to your neighborhood? For 6 weeks I've been asking you to look around with intentionality. What have you seen? WHO have you seen? What is the next step that you need to take in order to engage more fully as an ambassador of a kingdom that can literally change everything for those who will embrace it? Participants in The Gathering have already invited some "dechurched" friends to share life with us (and have already seen God producing fruit from those actions) - will you pray for us to continue living with this kind of intentionality?

Prayer for Friday, May 27

Partners and Community for Ourselves
God, Community of Love, you have created us to live in community rather than isolation. We pray, for our own continued health, that you will surround each of us with friends and family committed to a shared vision of following you together. We pray for the leadership of Intentional People, that these families will continue to cultivate trust and friendship, so that each will be nurtured and encouraged to continue serving others. We pray for our new church plant, that relationships will be strengthened and cultivated so that we will continue to move forward in discipleship with joy and passion. In both of these endeavors we continue to pray for those you are raising up to partner together in different ways. Grant us wisdom and discerning hearts to protect one another from those who would do us harm and guide us forward in cultivating community in the places where you have placed us.

Back on Sunday, we asked you to be praying for financial, prayer and ministry partners for both Intentional People and our church planting efforts. Has God put any names on your heart? If so, would you consider speaking with them about these ministries? Please also feel free to contact us with names of these potential partners. Are there ways in which God may be laying it on your own heart to join with us in some way or to take the next step toward deeper connection? Again, we are extremely grateful to you for joining us in this season of prayer. We thank God for your partnership in the gospel.

Prayer for Thursday, May 26

Cultivating Community with The Poor and Oppressed
God, Community of Love, we want to follow in the footsteps of Jesus. We want to be known as "friends of sinners," we desire to show solidarity with and developing community among the poor, the overlooked, forgotten and oppressed. Open our eyes to see these people which our society tries so hard to ignore and open our hearts to see them instead as you see them, as your beloved children. God we pray not only for opportunities to extend hospitality to the poor, but also for the grace to receive it. Grant us the honor of affirming the dignity of your image bearers who may have, this very day, been denied that birthright. God we acknowledge that among impoverished communities there is much darkness, sin and violence. We pray that you will bring light, repentance and peace to these places and that you will use us as your cracked and humble vessels in doing so.

Today, would you ask God to reveal ways in which Intentional People can serve as an encouragement to the poor and oppressed? We pray for partners and a growing community of people working together to eradicate the darkness around us through the Light of God that is within us. We have been blessed as part of Christ Journey to serve the poor in this area, and have cultivated some lasting friendships. We pray that this will continue as we launch out with our new church planting work as well.

Prayer for Wednesday, May 25

Cultivating Community in the Global Community
God, Community of Love, we are citizens of your kingdom which transcends national and ethnic boundaries. Teach us, Lord of Light, to see this world through your eyes and not be blinded by narrow, nationalistic thinking. Holy God, we pray that Intentional People will serve as a resource for inspiring those whom you are preparing to serve in various ways throughout the global community. We place our hands, our talents and our lives at your service to bless and encourage others wherever you may send them. In the same way, Father, we pray that our local church planting work will not lose sight of your love and concern for all people everywhere. Guide us in loving and caring for those who live across the street and together with them, in being mindful of those who live across the oceans. As citizens of your vast empire, God, Community of Love, erase from us any selfish desires or agendas for building empires of our own. We confess Jesus the Christ as both our savior and our Lord, to the glory of the Father and through the power of the Holy Spirit.

Do you know someone who is working to build community or bring hope amidst the global community? If so, we would love to connect with them and perhaps even interview them for the Intentional People Video Project or the Missional Monks podcast. As we pray together, we invite you to think about and approach God with us regarding those we can partner with to inspire others.

Prayer for Tuesday, May 24

Cultivating Community in the Local Community
God, Community of Love, we know that you bless us in order that we will be a blessing to others. We pray that your wisdom will guide us into the midst of our neighborhoods and communities to model and invite others into a life of community - with you and with one another. Father, teach us to see the ways in which you are already at work bringing people together and allow us to serve as your co-laborers and ambassadors. Lord, we ask that Intentional People will serve to bring people together in their local context, working alongside you in community. We pray that you will show us those you are raising up to work in your fields - we pray that your Spirit will cultivate those relationships and produce a great harvest. God, Community of Love, we pray that through our work of planting the gospel in north Burleson, we will be aware of the people you bring across our paths - give us eyes to see and ears to hear so that we may make the most of every opportunity.

Be intentional today about looking for people that God may be bringing into your life. Cultivate awareness of those around you - often the only thing that keeps us from being able to have a positive influence for the kingdom in someone else's life is that we simply aren't present in the moment. God is already at work all around us. 

Prayer for Monday, May 23

Community in the Church
God, Community of Love, we are grateful for your Church. We pray that wherever the Church meets, your spirit of community and communitas will be present. Teach us, O Lord, to lay down our selfish ambitions and in humility consider others better than ourselves. We pray that our attitude will be that of Christ Jesus, who did not consider equality with you something to be held on to, but humbled himself and took the form of a servant. We pray that our small community of faith will grow in its influence throughout our region by living openly as your humble servants in community. Let our love for one another display our identity as your disciples; let our testimony of redemption be a proclamation of hope to those we encounter. God, Community of Love, we pray that Intentional People will serve as a resource and encouragement to your Church. We pray that our work will be a pleasing gift to your kingdom, which we believe wholeheartedly is at hand and which we anticipate arriving in fullness in the future.


As we pray today for community in the Church, let us remember that there are local expressions of the Church, but all are connected to the One Body of Christ. We pray that Intentional People will serve to help cultivate the experience of community in local churches through the fostering the experience of communitas (community shaped and formed by shared mission or struggle). Are there ways that your local expression of the church could partner with or benefit from the work of Intentional People? Consider talking with your local leadership about this, or contact me for more information.

Church Planting Movements and Missional Communities

As I mentioned in a previous post, we are at the end of week 4 in our season of prayer in preparation for the launch of Intentional People. In the next couple weeks we will also be starting a new missional community (or house church or whatever you want to call it), planted out of Christ Journey in preparation for the formation of a new church planting movement in this area.

I've been asked if there is a difference between forming a new missional community and a church planting movement.

The answer is simple: yes, and no...well, sometimes, sorta.

Here's the reality: the Church is intended to be the Body of Christ, at work as ambassadors and agents of God's Kingdom. The Church is meant to be a worshipping community, gathered in the name of Christ, committed to discipleship in the Way of Christ and empowered by the Holy Spirit as active participants in the mission of God.

How this gets expressed is something that needs to be worked out within the local context. It may take the form of thousands of people gathered in one place, or a network of thousands gathered in smaller communities, or two people committed to living the Way of Jesus in their community and inviting others to join them as they go along.

How we are structured matters. Not because there is one approved structure, but because the way we organize affects the way we function together. We have seen/are seeing the danger of becoming institutionalized and yet there are also problems associated with jettisoning all intentionality and organization.

When I (and others) speak of a church planting movement, we're referring to churches that plant churches that plant churches. This can, and does, take different forms. So long as those forms serve to support, rather than limit the participants' call to be BOTH the gathered AND scattered church (the ones called together to worship and sent out by the One they worship), then...great.

We live in a context that is increasingly post-Christian, which is an extremely difficult place to plant the gospel. Unlike a pre-Christian context where the news of Jesus is fresh and new, or a Christian context where the news is accepted and normative, a post-Christian context tends to start from a "been there done that/ thanks but no thanks" mentality. I have seen first hand that this response can be overcome when people are introduced to the life-affirming, meaningfulness producing, adventure of following Jesus.

The process of initiating a church planting movement should include what missiologist Gailyn Van Rheenan describes as the "missional helix": theological reflection, cultural analysis, historical perspective and strategy formation. These commitments force us to take our context seriously; to exegete our culture and ask the questions, "How does the good news impact this place?" and "Where is it already breaking in?"

While it isn't flashy or inspiring, there's also a need to discern mundane matters like: "Will we incorporate as a legally recognized (by the IRS) church?" The answer to that may be "no," but either way there are ramifications which need to be considered.

I distinguish all this, in part, from the formation of a new missional community, particularly when the missional community is being formed with several disciples who are already pursuing the way of Christ together in a given place (not relocating to a new community). They will still need to engage in these same processes of reflection and discernment if they seek to plant new churches in the area, but it does not necessarily require the same level of planning and preparation BEFORE they begin. Similarly, the churches/missional communities planted "from the harvest" as it were, by a church planting movement will also often start and exist simply in similar fashion.

The beginnings are different, in my opinion, for a family or even a couple families, sent into a new area fur the purpose of church planting - even if they plan to begin simply with a missional community. In such a situation, it seems wise to begin working through the aspects of the missional helix (or a similar process) before they attempt to "officially" launch something. Such a process forces them to get to know their new neighbors and community (which is the only way to start a simple church anyway); they begin to learn the history of the area, what's been done and how its affected people's perspective.

Granted, in some models of church planting (ie the highly organic models proposed by Neil Cole, Frank Viola and others) there may never be an intentional engagement of the missional helix, even in the process of cultivating a planting movement. Personally, I have some doubts about the ability of these approaches to sustain ongoing movement, discipleship and missional engagement beyond a couple house churches.

Neil Cole and Church Multiplication Associates will point to their rapid multiplication as evidence to the contrary, but I have my suspicions about the long term viability of "rapid multiplication" movements in this culture - not just from the perspective of the lifespan of a "church," but from the depth of transformation and ongoing discipleship of individuals and families within those churches. I could be wrong, and those who believe in that approach have my prayers of encouragement.

It seems, given the context of North American culture, that there is value and a need for organically but intentionally structured movements which help train, equip, teach, inspire, organize and communicate the continued shared vision. Such movements also function together as a larger extended family that worships and works together.

The structure doesn't exist to supersede, control or micromanage. However, it does allow for the smaller communities to also collaborate, worship and serve with an extended family. Perhaps this looks like a church of 80-150 or so people, sharing life together daily in 5-10 missional communities, but gathering weekly to worship, share stories of God at work in the community, and to continually rehearse the alternative narrative of God's in breaking kingdom. Each missional community contains the dna of complete church and can/should give rise to new communities, but they are not left alone in the cold.

This is just one possible way such a movement could be expressed. Our preparation for such a movement will begin (in this case) with the formation of one missional community...and from there we will discern together, through prayer as well as theological reflection, cultural analysis, historical awareness and then strategy formation.

So...how's that for a simple response?

Stranger Than Fiction

This is week 4 of 7 in our season of prayer and preparation for the launching of Intentional People. We're also nearing the formation of a new missional community, planted out of Christ Journey in preparation for the starting of a new church planting movement in this area. By the way, I’m actually in the process of writing a short post describing the distinction between forming a new missional community (or house church, or whatever you want to call it) and the starting of a church planting movement.

Throughout this first month of prayer, I have been blessed to witness multiple examples of God working in our lives through this process. Timing that could only be described as divine; conversations and developments that I've been waiting and praying for...it has been amazing.

Last night was one such experience.

Our prayers this week are focused on spiritual formation and discipleship, and yesterday I posed the question to our praying community, "What specific spiritual practices have been beneficial to your own spiritual formation?"

I arrived at work last night (6pm to 6am security shift in Saginaw) a little flustered and frustrated. I realized about the time it was too late to turn around that I'd left my phone at home. This meant I'd have to borrow someone else's phone to clock in and out, and if there was anything to report to the police during my shifts, I'd have to rely on the other guard working with me.

To be honest, I wasn't really in the mood to spend much time talking to the young guy that I was working with from 6 to midnight. But...I tried to check my attitude and give him my attention when he rolled over to talk.

He started asking questions which arose from a conversation he'd had with another employee the night before. This other employee is a Christian and was telling him that if a Christian sins, there is forgiveness through the blood of Jesus. But if they willfully sin, knowing its wrong and doing it anyway, there's nothing left for them because they're in open rebellion to their Lord.

He wanted to know what I thought about that...and phrased it in very hypothetical terms.

I asked him if God holds us to a standard that God isn't held to. We are told by Jesus that if our brother commits a sin against us repeatedly and comes back asking forgiveness, we should offer it, not even seven times but seventy times seven. If this is the case for us, how much more so is it likely to be true of God? However, this is not a license to sin (which is the point behind Paul's whole argument regarding whether we should continue to sin so that grace may abound...by no means!)

The danger comes in when we stop caring that we sinned. When we give in to our weakness and afterwards, rather than feeling remorse and seeking forgiveness...we just  don't care, we feel nothing.

He was quiet for a minute and then said, "What do you do when you've fallen into that kind of rut? What if you want to get out, but don't know how? What if your faith just doesn't seem to matter any more...but you want it to?"

Suddenly our hypothetical theology conversation had a whole new air about it.

So I asked him, "Is this still hypothetical, or are we talking about you now?"...

And so here, on this day, of all days, he asked me what practices could help cultivate and rekindle his spiritual formation.

Over the course of the rest of his shift (with frequent intermissions so that we could do our job) we talked about the need to pray and meditate on Scripture, worship and share struggles with others are trying to take Jesus seriously, and to devote ourselves not only to studying and talking about these things, but actually getting out and living this kind of life on mission with God.

I encouraged him to find others who were asking similar questions and who would be willing to participate in this kind of life together. He responded by saying that sounded like a great idea but he didn’t have the first idea how to go about finding such people.

I shared several stories from our experiences in prayer and discernment where we prayed that God would bring us into contact with someone in whom God was at work and that day, “randomly” someone would come stumbling up asking questions. I suggested that he spend some time each day for the next week asking God to bring him into contact with people who asking similar questions - and then open his eyes expecting an answer. “This isn’t the kind of prayer that you have to wonder whether or not God is going to answer affirmatively,” I told him.

He became very excited, but then stopped and said, “But, even if I find other people, how will we even know what to do when we get together? What if we just end up being something unhealthy and cynical? I don’t know how to lead a group like that.”

In my head, I was shouting, “Seriously God? This is a bit over the top, don’t you think? He asks about spiritual practices and then asks about church planting?” To him, I happily grinned and said, “If you’ll pray and be willing to bring together the folks that God connects you with, I’ll help y'all figure out what to do next.”

He was shocked that I would be willing to drive to Denton to do so, and eagerly agreed. As he left to head back home, he’d already thought of 2 or 3 people he wanted to talk to about it all - though an hour before he didn’t know anyone who might fit this description.

All I could think as he drove away was, “Wow. Didn't see that one coming...but I probably should have.”

What Does it Look Like?

It’s been a year now since I began attempting the life of bi-vocational domestic mission work. I started off last fall as a substitute teacher in Mansfield. Then in February I began working as a roofing contractor - slowly at first, still subbing as I learned the ins and outs of this trade. This summer, after some very heavy storms, I spent five or six days a week doing the roofing thing in Oklahoma City. All throughout this season I’ve wondered what life looks like for the long term.

Working bi-vocationally came about as a necessity, with bills and groceries and whatnot, but it also makes a lot of sense theologically and strategically. The reality that we have slowly come to see is that raising long-term missionary support in the US is difficult (even in a good economy) and the work we’re trying to do is slow...and often among people with few financial resources to support us.

We could go the route that many others have and focus on gathering a large crowd of Christians who are dissatisfied with their current church. However, I did not feel called to leave my job preaching in order to seek out people from other churches. I felt called, and continue to feel called, to go out in search of those who haven’t heard that there is a new kingdom at hand. Mine is a missionary calling. More specifically, I feel called as a missionary to join God in inviting others to live as a community of missionaries under the banner of a new (old) kingdom.

So, I am a missionary with gifts in teaching and discipleship, not merely striving to impart information but to participate in a particular way of life with others. The past couple years in Burleson have been a series of ups and downs, victories and failures. I’ve witnessed miracles I couldn’t have anticipated and watched helplessly as friends decided that this way of life wasn’t for them, and walked away.

I’ve discovered that my struggles aren’t unique, even though I have often felt isolated and at times, even abandoned. There are others who even now are experiencing the same insecurities and confusion.

Today the small part of the church that I am a part of is growing - slowly by “church growth” standards, but often faster than we’re prepared to handle. There are problems and difficult life situations we don’t feel equipped to help people escape. Then there are the logistical issues for which we have no brilliant solutions.

For both practical and theological reasons, we are convinced that “church” should be a community of shared leadership under the reign of God; people on mission together sharing life and the responsibilities of ministry. But what does all that look like?

The reality is that people look for a point person. The slaves in Egypt needed a Moses, the Israelites wanted a king, the disciples followed the man Jesus, the early church looked to the apostles, then later to bishops and elders. We aren’t advocating a leaderless church (and please note that we are not discounting the role of Christ as our head, however, God has always chosen to work through human leaders). We ARE advocating a church that recognizes that we were neither created nor called to a life of passive consumption; deferring the call to make disciples and proclaim the new life to a few chosen “professionals.”

We believe that when God’s people take seriously the call to make disciples, the church will spread through neighborhoods, coffee shops and work places. The church should be at the forefront in standing against injustice and oppression, declaring the hope of life in the face of death’s despair.

The difficulty we face is relearning what it means to be this kind of community. Those of us who grew up in churches have only seen one primary model - that of the professional minister. Now, to be sure, growing up in rural Texas I was acquainted with many congregations who had part-time or volunteer ministers. With no disrespect to those wonderful people, I did not see many of them joined together in a meaningful ministry of transformation. Some of those small town churches were filled with people who’d known each other their whole lives, and unknown and “fringe” members in their little country churches were rare...because strangers in their little country towns were rare. If you were born in the church you were part of the church, if not...

But I also know that often in those congregations, members had little to no contact with each other between services. There were no attempts at service, outreach or ministry to their community. There was little, if any, emphasis on evangelism - even that done by “ministers.” The life of those churches was a couple official meetings each week, and whatever friendships already existed between members.

This isn’t to disparage those congregations, most of them were filled with very good people, doing the best they could. However, the model of the rural church doesn’t seem to offer much help to our current situation. The reality remains however, that if I (and Chris) are working full time jobs and raising families, we simply will not have the time to fill the same rolls that we did when church planting was our sole vocation. We are, in the sense of finances, part-time or volunteer ministers.

When we initially invited Christ Journey to enter into a more intentional shared leadership we witnessed a mass exodus of folks who felt that other, more established ministries would be more beneficial to their families. To quote a relatively unknown person engaged in this same struggle in WWII Germany, “It is not that we who stayed are good, and the others bad...It is just that they saw everything as an experiment, and we know it is a calling.”

As the school year has begun, Chris is now engaged in his first year as a teacher and I am still struggling to string together sufficient pay checks. I am still willing to use my gifts for our community and I’m committed to connecting with unbelievers, but time is in limited supply. The other members of our community have jobs and families as well, so it isn’t just an issue of people not being committed. We have folks who are ready to do what needs to be done, but I think everyone is looking around for someone to take point. We don’t have money to pay someone...and when we do have money, I think we’d rather use it to help people who are struggling anyway.

This is going to need to look different than what we’re used to, and I don’t think it will work if we just tell everyone what we’re going to do. This will need to be something that the community discerns together so that we have a shared investment and firsthand perspective of what’s being described.

So what does it look like? I admit it, I don’t really know.

Do We Have Time for This?

My friend Chris left the following comment on my previous post. My response got long enough I decided it needed to be its own post!

What say you to folks out there who would respond with: "I'm too busy to share deep relationships with other people" and/or "Too many people have let me down throughout my life, and I'm not going to put myself on the line like that anymore"? 

Also, we talk a lot about how life in the suburbs seems to discourage (or at least make it really difficult) to share in communitas with others. How does life in the suburbs encourage such relationships?

First of all I'd say, I totally understand.

I've lost count of how many jobs I have and can't remember the last time I woke up without a list of things I had to get done yesterday. There's never a day that I think to myself, "I really have too much free time, I should develop some deeper relationships."

I also know all too well what it is like to be let down by people. We've put ourselves out there only to be burned on more occasions than I like to remember. We've totally thrown ourselves into the work of a church only to be put on the street without warning because a committee decided that paying off building debt was more important than my family.

So I get it. But as citizens of the new kingdom we have no choice in this matter. We can sit around feeling sorry for ourselves or worse yet, we can sit around feeling justified in our seclusion. But in the end the reality is simple. The Creator of the Universe has reached out and redeemed us and in turn has called us to serve as ambassadors for the renewed world.

The old-timers - like my mom ;) - used to tell me, "can't never could do nothin."

We are the people of hope. We must live that hope if it is going to mean anything at all. There is room for struggle and doubt, but there is no room for resigning ourselves to mediocrity and complacency with a status quo that is far from God's will being done on earth as it is in heaven.

To be clear, I'm not saying that everyone needs to dedicate 30 hours a week to an evangelism campaign or begin every conversation with, "Do you know Jesus as your personal savior?" Certainly the relationships we cultivate grow directly from our connection to Christ and our agenda is driven by our conviction that the kingdom of God is at hand.

That is why surface relationships can no longer suffice. Friendships may begin at a surface level and may even stay there for a while, but when we choose to leave them that way, the relationship (and we) fail to bear the mark of kingdom. I realize that it is scary and intimidating to put ourselves out there, risking rejection and frustration. But it is well worth the risk. Rejection is frightening, but isolation is flat out terrifying...and some of our friends and neighbors are silently gripped with terror.

I think that the suburbs are a very hard place to cast this vision. However, one reason that many people choose to live in the 'burbs is a desire to raise their kids in a more family focused community. We have dreams of the white picket fence and waving at our neighbors while we mow the lawn. That turns out, for the most part, to be a myth and culture quickly sells us on a more consumer friendly version of community. Instead of the picket fence and hand waving, we settle for facebook and drive-thru lattes. Instead of glasses of iced tea on the front porch everyone drives their car into a garage and watch TV inside until time to rush off to work or soccer practice.

However, perhaps with time we can reignite people's imagination for "a better life," one that is filled with meaning and substance rather than just filled with activity. However, this won't happen unless we are, at some level, embracing and experiencing such a life ourselves.

The Traveling Companion: final episode

I just started my next to last class for my D.Min at Perkins - Spiritual Leadership in Missional Churches. One of our assignments is to keep a journal during the 2 weeks of class. I decided to blog mine...

After two great weeks, my time in class is over (until my FINAL class in January!), so this will be my final installment of "the traveling companion." Processing through these ideas with other leaders has been enriching. It has been particularly helpful to listen in on the comments between folks in more established contexts as they have begun to wrestle with how to help their congregation cultivate a missional identity. I often think through these concepts from the perspective of a someone forming new communities and planting new churches. However, the reality is that even when dealing with people with no background in church attendance there is still baggage to address and an intimidating process of change to undergo. The concerns and struggles that my friends and colleagues expressed has been extremely helpful as I think about our context...which is different, but perhaps not so different.

Today we engaged in an exercise meant to help us think through the emotional response a congregation has when deep level change is being considered. We were split into teams and blindfolded and then given a tent to set up. If you've ever had to set up a tent in the dark, which I have on several occasions (mostly due to my own poor planning and goofing off), you know that it is not always an easy task.

I've set up many tents in my life and have a good idea of the different types that are out there. I knew, as soon as we were told what we'd be doing that I had the information and experience to get this job done - maybe even blindfolded. There was a moment, when I first pulled the tent out of the bag (blindfolded) that I was nervous about being able to identify all the pieces and get them lined up correctly. I can imagine this response in a congregation that has been being prepared to shift toward a missional identity.

There is usually a period of instruction, through classes, book studies and a sermon series that takes place before any actual changes are suggested. In addition, churches may also conduct experiments and pilot programs to begin introducing people to the actual practice and to determine contextual nuances that must be considered.

However, as changes begin to be implemented on a larger scale, anxiety is common. There is that moment when you realize that, even with prior knowledge and preparation, we can't always see how everything is playing out or even know our final destination as we begin.

After that initial fear subsided in our little tent-making activity, a new anxiety began to threaten to settle in. My teammates knew that I've done a lot of camping and were expecting (in my mind anyway) for me to give them clear direction and an accurate information. What if the thing I thought was the tent's footprint (a piece of material shaped like the bottom of the tent to protect it from rocks and whatnot) was actually something else? What if we got halfway "finished" and we discovered that I'd been steering us wrong? How foolish would I look if Dr. Heath, who was observing the teams could see that the thing I was confidently describing was something entirely different?

From a leadership perspective, I know this feeling all to well. Whether we want it to be so or not, often people look to leaders to have a clear understanding of the change they're undertaking - especially if that leader has spent time cultivating in their own life what they're attempting to do with others. But the reality is, when we start congregational change (or a new endeavor with any group), we're all blindfolded to one degree or another. We are all experiencing many of the same limitations, regardless of prior learning or preparation.

Thankfully something my friend Dwight Robarts taught me several years ago was ringing in my head. "If you are going to be an effective leader, you need to strive to be a non-anxious presence." Each of us on the team played important roles in laying the tent out and lining everything up appropriately. My job wasn't to do all the work, it was to help the other teammates succeed in their respective tasks and not do anything to add to the anxiety of the situation. Over time our tent came together and, though it took a little longer, ended up pretty much the way it would have if we'd started without blindfolds.

We don't have to eliminate all the obstacles to our progress. If we will work together as a team, showing grace and patience with each other along the way, we can sort through our shortcomings in process.

The reality was that we weren't setting up camp for the night, it wasn't about to rain...it didn't really matter that the tent came together perfectly in quick fashion. The value and purpose for our class was found in the actual process of setting up the tent together.

Alan Hirsch refers to this as communitas - the process of journey through a shared struggle - and it is quite powerful. Perhaps, as leaders we need to remember this truth above many others. It isn't JUST our transition into a more missionally minded people that is important, the process itself - though sometimes painful and terrifying - can be a formative and transformative experience.

I pray that God will grant me the wisdom to resist the temptation to let the end result become more important to me than the experience of shared life with my community along the way.

Thank you Elaine, Develous, Sandy, Marci, Bev, John and Todd for being my community of co-teachers and co-learners these past two weeks. May God continue to richly bless you all.

The Traveling Companion: episode 8

I just started my next to last class for my D.Min at Perkins - Spiritual Leadership in Missional Churches. One of our assignments is to keep a journal during the 2 weeks of class. I decided to blog mine...

How is it with your soul?

This question represents the entire curriculum for an experience in early Methodism referred to as "class meetings." A small group of folks would gather regularly and each in turn would respond to this question. In our contemporary culture obsessed with information and "stuff" we may be tempted to respond that such a gathering would be a total waste of valuable time. If we're going to get people together shouldn't we try to get more accomplished? After all, people are busy, you know.

And such a response would be a huge mistake.

My friend and ministry coach, Anthony Parker, asks me questions like this regularly in our coaching sessions. To be totally honest, I have mixed responses to the question. At times I just don't want to get into it. Maybe I'm a little embarrassed about how it is with my soul. Perhaps the emotions are too raw and I'm not sure how well I can manage talking about it. Sometimes I know that opening that can of worms will take up all of our time and there are other things I (wrongly) feel are more pressing.

But to continue with my confession, even when I choose not to give full honest disclosure on how it is with my soul, I know that I'm short-changing myself. There are a lot of things that I don't know, but I have learned this much: it takes courage to stand up to my ego and address my brokenness, and when I lack that courage, every aspect of my life suffers.

I would not be surprised to learn that most people aren't as damaged or neurotic as I am, but I would be shocked if it came out that we don't all need to take the care of our souls more seriously. I am convinced that a regular time to gather in the name of Jesus to honestly assess how it is with our souls and deeply listen to how it is with others'; to engage in a time of confession, testimony and prayer within community would be more beneficial than many of the intricately designed and information heavy curriculums and programs we often implement.

The Traveling Companion: episode 7

I just started my next to last class for my D.Min at Perkins - Spiritual Leadership in Missional Churches. One of our assignments is to keep a journal during the 2 weeks of class. I decided to blog mine...

I knew exactly what he was going to ask me. It was bedtime and I was home, so the question was inevitable. The boy with the huge blue eyes and big gap where his two front teeth should be reached up and grabbed my face with both hands. "Daddy...magic TV?"

For the past year or so Conner, Micah and I have been on a journey with two young boys named Steve and Crazy. Steve is very tall and Crazy is very, well...crazy. They live in a special house. In this house there are lots of rooms and in each room there are lots of tv's. There are big tv's and small tv's. Black-and-white tv's, color tv's and rainbow tv's. There are rectangle tv's and round tv's. There are flat tv's and fat tv's. There are tv's that hang on the wall and tv's that sit on a table. But there is one tv more special than all the others. In fact, you could say that its a magic tv. You can't find this tv if you're looking for it...and actually, you can only find this tv if you aren't looking for anything at all. But, whenever you watch this tv you find yourself inside the story. (Micah named this unchanging part of the story, "the commercial." Conner loves it and Micah always wants to skip it and get to the good part.)

Each night Steve and Crazy watch a show - sometimes its a cartoon that Conner and Micah enjoy, like Phineas and Ferb, the Backyardigans or even the Smurfs (yep, our boys know about the Smurfs). Sometimes its a show about dinosaurs, ninja's, jungles, outer space or a combination of several. And each time Steve and Crazy must help the characters in the show finish the episode. Sometimes things go wrong, sometimes things are just plain silly. We never know what's going to happen (seriously, I make it up as I go).

Crazy never says anything that makes sense - he is crazy after all. Micah usually has some random statement that he wants Crazy to say...and since it doesn't make any sense its usually pretty easy to fit it in!

These stories can be exhausting...how many different plot lines can a guy come up with after all? But I keep telling them because Conner and Micah truly love Steve and Crazy. Sometimes I get Conner to tell the story and I'm always amazed at how he already understands that a story has a beginning followed by some sort of crisis with twists that don't get resolved until the end. Micah hasn't been willing to tell any stories yet, but he has completely outlined several plots for me...

It had been a while since I read it last, so last night I looked back over Roxburgh's book The Missional Leader in preparation for our class discussions today. I'd forgotten just how good of a book it is - if you are a church leader considering ways to encourage your church to take seriously the call to actively live as the missionary people of God in your community, I highly recommend this book.

One of the passages I'd previously highlighted grabbed my attention. In it the author is describing the value and purpose of narrative in forming community.

A narrative has several characteristics. It comprises a story that is moving somewhere; it gives a social group a story that tells where it is going and what the group will look like when it arrives. There is purpose and quest within the narrative calling a group in a specific direction and toward a particular goal...Because narrative creates and sustains social community, it's the glue, the atmosphere of all social life. The key to innovating missional community is formation of a people within a specific memory and narrative. - The Missional Leader, 70-71.

I love that first bit - it comprises a story that is moving somewhere. I remember as a grad student at ACU and while preaching in New Orleans I was a part of several discussions about "narrative preaching." There are a number of folks who have a low view of the idea because they see it as "watered down." I was convinced then and remain so that this is primarily due to 1) bad examples of the narrative style and 2) misperceptions of the purpose and function.

For those that don't know distinctions between preaching styles, the traditional approach that many of us grew up hearing was expository preaching - the preacher takes a text of Scripture and "expounds" or teaches through it. Intro, 3 points, a poem and an invitation was typically the week-in-week-out format, at least in our Church of Christ circles.

Changing anything, even the format for your sermon delivery, usually results in a spike in the corporate blood pressure of a congregation. So when some preachers began telling stories with no acronyms or "that leads me to my next point" many people began to fear that the Bible was no longer being preached. And sometimes they were right.

Narrative preaching or proper use of narrative in general, is not meant to be merely the telling of entertaining or warm fuzzy stories. That isn't to say narratives aren't entertaining - in fact good storytelling is at the heart of most things that are truly entertaining.

However, a good narrative sermon tells a story that is moving (and moving us) somewhere. It connects with something lodged deep within us and by drawing it out, draws us into the story in such a way that we suddenly look around and realize we are no longer in the same place we began. Many of the great truths in scripture are revealed through powerful narrative and we, as the people of the Story are invited to find our place in that Story with each fresh retelling or rereading.

And this Story we find ourselves in is a grand epic that is greater than any of the stories that our culture attempts to lure us into.

Stories, even silly stories like the Magic TV, shape us and teach us about reality. They help us form our identity and make sense of things which at first glance seem like chaos.

When it comes to inspiring a community to begin moving together toward some goal beyond passive consumerism, story isn't the whole answer, but it plays an important role. If we want to call people to something bigger than themselves, we will do well to become better storytellers.

Often Steve and Crazy do things in a way that would seem strange to many people. They model for Conner and Micah a radical new way of living. This weekend I witnessed something in my boys and I wonder if it is directly attributable to the stories of a guy that is tall and a guy that is, well...crazy.

The boys and I went and played putt-putt for the first time. When we were finished we went into the nickel arcade (50 cents for half an hour of fun? I can do that!) Several of the games gave tickets - the kind you can trade in for cheap junk when you're done. We didn't really have enough to get anything so I suggested that maybe there were other boys and girls there who could use them more than us. I didn't really expect the response. Micah, my 4 year old, immediately began tearing off groups of 6 or 7 tickets and asking other kids if they would like them. "I want to make sure everyone gets some, Dad." Conner gave some to a couple guys and took the time to explain that yes, he wanted the tickets, but we didn't have that many and this way they could get an even cooler prize.

My kids are awesome. I think this story makes Jesus smile...and its a story that is definitely moving me somewhere.

The Traveling Companion: episode 6

I just started my next to last class for my D.Min at Perkins - Spiritual Leadership in Missional Churches. One of our assignments is to keep a journal during the 2 weeks of class. I decided to blog mine...

Today was a good day...

I went on a field trip.

Its been a while, and in some ways it was reminiscent of my days of youth ministry (which are mostly positive memories!) All but one person in our class piled into a suburban to head out on a tour of some tremendous missional community development endeavors around Dallas. The remaining classmate followed behind in her car...well she tried to follow anyway. We didn’t exactly follow a logical path all the time, but that’s how journeys are, right?

Though I was terrified for everyone’s safety (yes, dear reader, even yours) at several points riding down I-35 with the Reverend James (just kidding...but seriously), it was good to have those brief moments of connection that inevitably accompany a road-trip - even a brief one.

Parts of the field trip made me a little sad - specifically I began missing the relational connections that we were forming with the community lunches we shared with Harvest House. But then I began thinking about the great things that are happening in Shenandoah - great things that we were blessed to play an early role in, but which have now taken off and flourished as a locally led and driven phenomenon.

I enjoyed seeing places like the Romero House and Christ Foundry - sacred places that I have heard about in stories but wanted to see with my own eyes. I have great hope and anticipation for the development of greater collaboration between our two movements.

But the really exciting part of the day for me were the conversations with new friends who are beginning to passionately explore ways in which the missional life can infect their own established church contexts (sorry Marci, I know you don’t like the virus language, but I find it incredibly appropriate!)

I listened as leaders began to adapt and even start over in their project proposal to incorporate the kingdom focused values we’ve been discussing. I hope and pray that under their leadership these bands of Christ’s disciples will witness radical transformation in their lives and in their neighborhoods and communities. I pray that God will bring them into contact with the spiritually confused sojourners that have been longing for someone walk alongside them in their search for meaning and significance. I beg our Father to throw open the floodgates of the kingdom and allow a fresh experience of vitality to sweep through the streets of their hometowns.

And I pray the same for ours.

Perhaps this is the most significant development in my own spiritual formation to date. I found myself just as excited - and in some ways, even more so - about what God may be planning to do in these other communities as I am for what I know is happening and will happen in our own.

Today I quote with hope and joy the lines from psalm 70, which have often been my cry of despair...O Lord come quickly to help us!

Helping the Church Be the Church: Part VIII

If you are new to this series, you can read the intro here. This post contains excerpts from 3 sections of my essay on The New Friars.

The New Friars: The Emerging Movement Serving the World's Poor

by Scott Bessenecker

The New Friars differs slightly from the previous works discussed in this series of vignettes. Each of the books have described, to one degree or another, the call to the simplified, stable, communal life of the new monastics. One of the 12 Marks of new monasticism is relocation to the abandoned places of the empire. That commitment, perhaps one of the more easy to spot marks, has been displayed by groups sharing space with the homeless in Philadelphia, families living and working together on a farm; a small community of folks sharing life in a large house or even moving into a neighborhood together. We’ve seen a few who were willing to spend a season in India with Mother Teresa and the Sisters of Mercy.

Bessenecker sets out to describe the prophetic call to relocate, not only to abandoned places of the Western Empire, but also to the abandoned corners of the globe. For the new friars, solidarity with the world’s poor extends beyond drinking fair trade coffee and boycotting globalization megastores that perpetrate the dehumanization of the two-third’s world. Instead the new friars are those who have left behind any number of comforts, friends and security to instead bind themselves to the poor and experience their fate. Friars, new and old, often take a vow to live in non-destitute poverty among the poorest of the poor.

It should be noted, before the reader’s blood pressure spikes, that Bessenecker acknowledges, “The call of the friars to bind themselves to the poor in a vocational way is a particular call, not a universal one. The universal call to any who profess to follow Jesus is to believe that he is the Son of God and to act like, no matter what we do for a living.”

Last week someone made an unnerving comment regarding my life as a church planter. “Not everyone is called to take their faith so seriously and do something as crazy as what your family has done. Most people are just called to be normal Christians.”

Not every preacher is called to leave their steady paycheck and begin starting new congregations...praying that eventually God would bring along a workable financial situation. Though, perhaps rather than people being called to leave the “secular” workforce to receive training and be ordained as full-time clergy, more clergy will be called to learn the holiness of a secular vocation; called to embrace life in their community, to relieve the financial burden of struggling congregations that don’t have anything left to give away after paying the bills.

Not every family is called to relocate in order to live, work and play among the marginalized. Though, I am convinced that every family should be aware of the marginalized, overlooked, forgotten and oppressed people that are already in their midst (they’re there, I can almost guarantee it).

I find little evidence to suggest there is now or ever was such a creature as a “normal Christian.” We are a peculiar people, called to follow the Way of the Risen King. We are those who both experience and anticipate a new existence. Living into this seemingly abnormal calling will not look identical from person to person and community to community. However, whatever it is we are called into, we should, with both confidence and humility, enter into that calling with the same prayer, commitment and dedication that any other person enters into theirs. Those who carry the name of Christ are those who display the new normal...even if it still appears abnormal to most people.

For New Monastic Communities: The New Friars does represent a slightly different calling than that which we have dealt with most commonly in this series. Hearing and responding to a call to voluntary poverty, particularly abject poverty among communities with little or no hope of recovery, is a weighty but worthwhile endeavor. It is not necessarily the same as the choice to live simply or to chose the path of downward mobility in community. It is a choice to, like Christ, live as hope among the hopeless; not swooping in as an aloof savior from on high, but settling in to share in the plight of those you love. The new friars are those who align themselves with the truly forgotten and oppressed because they are convicted God has done so as well.

New monastic communities will benefit from the expectation of these new friars, as described by Bessenecker. There is little hope for neighborhood renewal on a grand scale (at least immediately) for those living in the slums among the world’s poor. Their goal is to love. Their goal is to share in the ministry of presence. To be there and to remind others that God was already there.

There is a temptation among Western (or perhaps all) monastic communities to locate success in the neighborhood and societal reforms that our presence has influenced. We describe neighborhood watch programs, community picnics, reduction in crime, rezoning legislation, return of police presence, crackdowns on slumlords and drug-dealers.

These are certainly exciting, and precisely the kinds of effects we might expect to find in the wake of Jesus. Still, there is a danger of becoming a social agency whose existence is defined, not by the presence of Christ, but by the success of our projects. Will we remain faithful even if the police never respond to our 911 calls? Will we maintain solidarity with these people if the slumlord and the drug dealer continue to hold sway? Will we chose to stay if the schools continue to deteriorate and the medical care is still just out of reach?

The new friars encourage us to say, “Yes!” followed by a deeply felt, “come Lord Jesus.”

For the Established Church: In the book, Bessenecker mentions his work, and that of several organizations, in recruiting students and young adults to live, for a season, among the world’s poor. It strikes me that churches should be leading the way in sending missionaries out to proclaim life, light and hope. Bessenecker notes that throughout history the periodic times of renewal and reform have typically been led (from a human viewpoint) by youth17 and this new movement appears to be no different.

With that said, why is it that most of our churches experience disturbingly high percentage of teenagers graduating from high school and leaving the church altogether? Perhaps our kids no longer recognize the Church as a valid place to be a part of something revolutionary and worthwhile.

I recently attended a conference where Alan Hirsch made the comment that Western Christians have attempted to eliminate risk from our lives and in so doing we’ve lost our sense of adventure and we’ve lost out on the full and passionate life available to us. Jim Rayburn, founder of the Christian parachurch ministry, Young Life, was known to say, “Its a sin to bore a kids with the gospel.” Perhaps in our attempts to keep our kids entertained we’ve bored them all the more.

What if in addition to using the latest technology, relevant speakers, music and free food to call kids to pledge sexual purity, avoid drugs and recycle, we also invite young people to join Christ in changing the world? What if, instead of ski trips in Colorado, we dedicated resources to introducing our young people opportunities for solidarity with the poorest of the poor? What if our churches once again became the primary sending ground for radical missionaries of hope?

Throughout this series of papers, we’ve acknowledged that though there are often ways in which the principles can be applied and the prophetic call can be invigorating, many established congregations will either not be willing, not be able or not be called to transition wholly into more monastic expressions of faith. In this case, it may be that the Spirit, through Bessenecker’s work, may be calling us to, once again, “Set apart... Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.”

Helping the Church Be the Church: Part VII - Inhabiting the Church

If you are new to this series, you can read the intro here. This is an excerpt from my essay which takes a look at what Inhabiting the Church has to offer Christian communities of different kinds. I've included a passage from the intro and church planting sections.

Inhabiting the Church: Biblical Wisdom for a New Monasticism

by Stock, Otto and Wilson-Hartgrove

I haven’t been asked to take many vows in my life as a (non Roman Catholic) Christian in the US. I exchanged vows with a beautiful young lady in 2000. A decade before that I heard a call to enter into a most incredible covenant through baptism. I understood that certain things were expected of me...but mostly I was just asked if I believed. I have signed conduct agreements with universities and accountability contracts with small groups, but outside of my baptism and marriage I can’t recall any relationships that have adequately carried the weight of the word “vow.”

Inhabiting the Church addresses this somewhat common (lack of) experience by examining the value and implications of the Benedictine vows, particularly as they have been implemented within new monastic communities comprised primarily of free church Protestants.

Even setting aside momentarily our issues with the taking of vows, the three Benedictine promises of conversion, obedience and stability are perhaps themselves somewhat foreign among many Christian groups. The values of individualism and autonomy which cause us to cringe at the thought of being held down by vows also react to any claims of authority which expect obedience or the subjection of our personal freedoms. Yet, the authors claim, this is precisely what Jesus and indeed the whole corpus of Scripture demand.

At first glance conversion doesn’t appear too radical...until we consider that both internal AND external changes are expected. Many Protestants, especially those from more biblicist traditions, are used to the idea of obedience...until it is revealed that for the Benedictines this includes declaring our intent to be obedient to a community and even a human leader. Stability is fine as long as we’re referring to financial stability and our friends accepting the tough decisions we’ll have to make to do what’s best for our family...we’re not? Oh, then we all agree that’s ridiculous.

For Church Planting: One aspect of the Benedictine vows that struck me while reading this book was their positive and constructive nature. Those who feel called to a life that is dissimilar to the prevalent culture are often tempted to understand their identity in negative terms; they’re tempted to define themselves by what they are rejecting. It is easy for those setting out to cultivate community and plant new faith communities to think in terms of what they’ve left behind and how they are different from traditional churches.

While there is certainly a place for thinking through and critiquing the status quo, this is not a sufficient expression of identity, nor does it provide a compelling vision for the community. The vows of obedience, conversion and stability provide positive landmarks for the path forward. These vows cultivate an expectation that to be the people of God in a certain place is not merely about abstaining, it is about embracing; embracing community, rhythm, a new economy, the presence of Christ. It is about embodying hope and announcing the new kingdom.

The authors state that, “Conversion is a way of life that must be practiced.” This vision for our community is one that inspires excitement. We are learning to expect God to break into our lives and transform each of us regularly. We expect to see miracles in the lives of our friends and we anticipate ways in which God will allow us to witness glimpses of the kingdom even in the lives of our non-Christian neighbors.

Within my own community, we are becoming increasingly convinced that long periods without such experiences should be considered aberrations that can often occur when, 1) we’re not regularly seeking the kingdom and the presence of the King for our own continued transformation and 2) we aren’t praying specifically for the Lord of the harvest to send out workers.

We are not creating a counter-culture merely for the sake of being counter-cultural, we are inviting people to join us on a journey into new life. Yet the reality is that the essence of this journey does run counter to the systems of this world. Those who would invite others to follow the Way of Christ are wise to consider the role of vows taken in community. The life of church planting is incredibly hectic and unpredictable. Our network is convinced that no one should plant alone, but this conviction alone is insufficient. The Benedictine vows represent some very specific areas of struggle and temptation for church planters and provide equally specific tools for combatting these trials.

The book opens with an essay on the legitimacy of vows in general and confesses that, “if vows are applicable for new monasticism, they can only be such in a setting where face-to-face encounter is a daily reality. I suspect that vows, ultimately, are only as true as the life together that they represent.” Upholding a commitment to whole life discipleship in community is imbedded in the very nature of these vows.

Helping the Church Be the Church: Part VI - God's Economy

If you are new to this series of posts, you can read the intro here. This post is somewhat longer than others as it includes excerpts from the introduction as well as sections on missional monastic church planting and the established church.

God's Economy: Redefining the Health and Wealth Gospel

by Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove.

Sometimes, when I’m alone with my thoughts, I am afraid they made a poor decision. Nevertheless, it is easy for me to name a long list of wise, godly men and women who have made a considerable investment of time, money and even their own lives in me personally and in my development as a leader. To whatever degree I have learned, matured and grown in leadership, I owe a debt of gratitude to the Spirit of God at work in these teachers, advisers, coaches and friends; a work that continues to this day.

Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove’s work in God’s Economy emphasizes the value this type of investment over a carefully and meticulously crafted stock portfolio, retirement account, business venture or McMansion in the ‘burbs.

He believes in a theology of abundance and invites us to approach God with a desire to be blessed with a rich and full life; we ask the Father for our inheritance of great wealth. Meanwhile he sets out to show that in the new (or very old) economy of the Kingdom, wealth and success are defined in much greater terms than society and even many of our fellow Christians realize.

Some of the accepted wisdom passed on in the Church and in seminaries reflects this confusion of economies and reflects Western business principles more so than the radical abundance of God. Preachers and televangelists wearing two thousand dollar suits telling the lonely widow to invest her money in their ministry so that God will give her more money in return are an easy target in this conversation. But perhaps the danger goes deeper and is more subtle than that.

Few people significantly challenge the tenured and well-respected professor at a certain seminary who teaches future ministers that they cannot have true community within the congregation they serve because they are an employee that can be fired at will. I hope and pray that he is wrong, but I think he’s accurately describing the present situation. What disturbs me is not that he is wrong, but that neither he, nor those who hang on his words seem to believe this is a travesty which must be eradicated.

More recently I remember a conversation with a good friend and coach who was reflecting on something said to him by a friend and advisor to us both. He said, with a hint of resignation, that as we grow up we must accept that spending time with good friends is probably redefined as regular phone calls and an occasional get-together for coffee or a meal. The reality is that we are busy and highly mobile. Our close friends will move away and our work keeps us from being able to spend face-to-face time with them regularly. That conversation has haunted me since.

Wilson-Hartgrove highlights a reality that many outside the white, middle class seem to know intuitively; the lifestyle of isolation and upward mobility is not the only choice.

I have several Hispanic friends who are part of a community in Dallas. Some of them are doing well financially, many of them are not. Some of the families have lived here in the States for two or three generations, quite a few grew up in Mexico and came here for a fresh start. Some speak perfect English, most used to push me to dust off my Spanish if I wanted to communicate. All of them know how to party.

It is not about impressive presentation or outdoing the last soiree. I’ve heard that all Hispanics need for a party is grass and Corona. That statement, meant as a joke, actually provides a glimpse into a worldview that is rich in the new economy.

I don’t remember many of their gatherings, formal or informal, that didn’t involve a feast. I don’t remember a single one of those feasts being catered and I don’t remember ever wishing one had been. They taught me to put my grill in the front yard and have extra to share with my neighbors. They taught me that the best way to help newcomers become part of the group was give them a job cooking or helping prepare for the meal. I think its fair to say that the development of my “strategy” for incarnational ministry in our neighborhood is credited as much or more to the Trejos and Vejars as it is to the missional church folks like Darrell Guder, Alan Hirsch, Hugh Halter, etc.

These truths of community contain wisdom for us all, regardless of the outward appearance of the our church structure. These truths are very much part of God’s economy. They require investments in people rather than financial security. They value stability, consistency and loyalty over upward mobility. And, like the parable of the shrewd manager highlighted by Wilson-Hartgrove, they appreciate the “wisdom of the weak” to develop economic friendships which provide security that seems so counter intuitive to many of us.

For Missional Monastic Church Planting:

“What are we inviting people into?” This question has come up from time to time among our leadership. It is easy to fall into the trap of defining ourselves by what we have rejected. We may have spent time processing through and deciding that wasn’t our motivation on the front end, but it still tries to creep in when we aren’t looking. We are convicted that the Kingdom of God is not driven by programs and passive consumerism, but merely avoiding those things is not a sufficient calling.

We are so used to inviting people to a worship gathering, retreat, youth group activity, revival, Christian concert, marriage seminar or some other event that it can sometimes be difficult to imagine any other kind of invitation. The invitation to a new life; to walk with us in community in the Way of Jesus can sometimes seem a bit ambiguous, particularly to those who have a clearly preconceived notion of “church.” For those looking for ways to describe the calling to whole life discipleship, God’s Economy can be a tremendous help.

We have made a decision not to ask new house churches and incarnational communities to tithe toward corporate building funds, administration costs, overhead, salaries, etc. That decision means that I’m now a seminary trained roofing contractor who offices at local coffee shops and worships with his community wherever the doors are opened. We don’t always know where we’re gathering until Friday or Saturday and some people don’t really like that. We have several kids under the age of six and that often brings up issues for which we don’t have good solutions.

It has been very difficult, but I am convicted that this is precisely how we are called to operate at this time. We are being reminded of our roots as nomadic people, with a God who tabernacles among us. We are free to use our community’s resources to invest in people, to give generously to others. We aren’t compelled to base our decisions on what will boost the bottom line financially. We are no longer under the illusion that ministry requires a line item in the budget.

We are learning, and God’s Economy is going to be a useful resource in this, to reject ecclesiological mindsets that assume scarcity. Our young network of communities will most likely never have stacks of money in the bank. Still, we are learning to expect wealth of a different kind without waiting to leave this rock and this body behind for a mansion in the clouds. We’re learning that if our friends have a car, we have a car. If we have a lawnmower, our friends have a lawnmower. Just like that our resources have multiplied without increasing our clutter.

For Established Churches:

For those within the established church who are wondering whether these young communities have adequate theological grounding and biblical support, God’s Economy can be quite informative. Yet, I also think there are benefits that established churches themselves can reap from this book as well.

A few years ago a church I knew of laid off several ministers for budget reasons even though they had (literally) millions of dollars in the bank. This money was earmarked for missions, not ministry. Besides, good stewardship wisdom suggested that the principle balance remain untouched and only interest be used... after all the money needs to last. Overnight, several people learned precisely what my professor had warned - the minister’s relationship with the congregation is a transactional one, and they found themselves alone without a job, a church or a support network.

I was once informed by a well-meaning minister of a five-hundred member church that they were interested in church planting, but until their weekly contribution averaged twenty-thousand dollars they would be unable to give any money to outside efforts.

When approached with the idea of serving as an anchor church for a missional-monastic church planting movement, a local senior pastor asked, “What is the financial benefit for us?”

I do not believe that any of the congregations just described are evil; I don’t think that the leaders are malicious or their love for God insincere. They are simply functioning within a system that is bound to the rules of the empire. As Wilson-Hartgrove, quoting Dwight D. Eisenhower, reminds us, “you cannot amass great possessions without also having to take up the sword and defend them.” This quote doesn’t merely refer to violence, it affects our process for decision making and world viewing.

That isn’t to say that established churches have to sell their buildings and fire their ministers. It might mean that they draft new criteria for decisions regarding the use of congregational funds. However, I think that this book is extends beyond merely calling congregations to change their budget process.

Image the possibilities for blessing if a church of two hundred people began taking the needs of one another more personally. What about a church of five hundred or two thousand? Can you imagine any single mothers in those congregations still struggling to decide whether to pay the electric bill or buy groceries? Would there be any way that an elderly widower would die alone because he couldn’t get out of his house and didn’t want to burden his children living in another state?

The Kingdom of God will not support such travesties; they are unsustainable in God’s economy. You do not have to move into a large house with several other people to see this kind of community develop. It may take more work if you don’t automatically see each other everyday, but it is far from impossible. Imagine the possibilities!

Imagine what affect it would have on a city if suddenly there were hundreds of people experiencing this kind of life in their midst. I predict that this type of economy and kingdom would roll forward with such force that no gates - be they of hell or a gated community - could stand against it.