Wild Hope

2003-06-04T06:51:00.000-07:00

Had breakfast with a friend yesterday morning. They (his family) had gone to a certain church on Sunday. Said that they were so turned off by what was going on there.... The worship seemed more like a show. And the pastor talked way too long and too much about their building program. He even divulged the amount some were giving .......
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Last night had coffee with Wayne. We asked the question, "Is there anybody in our lives that we need to forgive?".......
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Tomorrow I will be meeting with someone in the hopes of reconciliation.......
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I was thinking about different ideas that we in "simple church" could implement.
1- instead of paying someone mega bucks to do a conference we could meet at someone's cottage and have discussions about the direction we are heading. (Lt's idea).
2- We need more people who will write inspiring books with no more than 70 pages in them. In the last 5 years I have rarely read a book right through. It's not that I don't enjoy reading but most people say in 312 pages what they could say in 70 or less. Anybody want to start up a small book publishing firm in their basement?
3- Sharing choruses and music that we have written for free.
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Why is it that when someone writes a book on a certain topic, he or she becomes the resident guru and everyone falls all over themselves trying to book that person for a conference? For example there are some writers who write about house church but they always seem to be on the road and talking about house church but never seem to be in one... mmmmmmm.
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Cute one liners. How does a butcher introduce his wife?........... meet patty!!!! Did you hear about the two Saskatchewanians who went hunting? ...... they were following some tracks and got hit by a train....
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2003-06-02T13:00:00.000-07:00

THE TITHE?????
I do not believe the tithe exists for the Christian today. It is because of the erroneous teaching of the tithe that church justifies having buildings. If there is any way we can begin to convince people that the building is unnecessary begin with dismantling or deconstructing in the minds of people the teaching of the tithe. The tithe is the central reason for the existence of church buildings. Without the tithe we would have no buildings or system of church that we have today. These are the reasons I believe the tithe is not binding on us today.
1- New Covenant.... The destruction of the temple
2- Transportation of the gospel to the nations.... not Jewish customs
3- Paul's appeal for giving..... not the tithe
A quick overview of scripture regarding the tithe. I will not spend a lot of time here. There are three reasons given for the tithe in the O.T. First, to support the Levitical priests since they had no income. Second, for celebration around the temple system and the regular celebrations in keeping their religious customs. The third reason had to do with the sojourner, the stranger and the needy.
First: The New Covenant.... There are not very many of us who understand how new the New Covenant really is. Here is a question.... Who's idea was it that the Temple system come to an end....? was it a) house church and emerging church types. b) the Roman government in the apostolic age. c) the apostles, or d) George Bush. The answer is none of the above .. It was God's idea. When Jesus was overlooking the Temple in all of it's splendor he predicted that not one stone would be left upon another thereby predicting the Temple's destruction. He was not lamenting this but knew it had to be. He had already taught the woman at the well that people would not be worshipping in this place or that but in spirit and in truth. He wiped out the need for the Holy mountain .... Sinai .... and the Holy City.... Jerusalem. This was the new covenant... the new reality.... that God was not going to live in temples or buildings made of stone.... but amongst living stones.... His people. Now if the temple is destroyed and we no longer have that system what need is there of the tithe......mmm unless, of course, we the church have resurrected the temple system..........
Second. 95 to 99% of the gospel message was transported out of the nation that rejected Jesus as their Messiah and given to all the nations around them and all around the world. What was not being transported was the Jewish temple and the continuance of Jewish customs including the tithe system. They were transporting Jesus and His message. The nations knew nothing about the Jewish customs and celebrations and so on. So when Paul talked about giving, what was his foundation or what did he appeal to....... The tithe or first fruits?????? Hardly.
Third. The way teachers teach about tithe, it is very odd that neither Paul, nor John, nor Peter have anything to say about it. Paul often talked about giving. He even half heartedly confronts the Corinthian church to give. He uses the example of the Macedonian church on how to give. Now if the tithe were still in place it would have been Paul's right to go into some lengthy teaching about the tithe and how it was their responsibility to give based on the tithe. Of course he didn't because we no longer give based on any law. We give based on our being followers and being alive to Christ. Paul did not appeal to the tithe like so many preachers do today. Instead this was the reasoning he used. "the grace of God that is in you." "Give what you have purposed in your heart." Give sacrifically like the Macedonians" and give when there is need like in the Acts church. In an article in (www.house2house.tv), magazine entitled "Sacrificial Giving" Maurice Smith says.... "I am convinced that the New Testament standard and model for giving is not tithing, but radical sacrificial giving out of a transformed life. Now, I don't really want to engage in a "debate" over tithing, but I would challenge anyone to produce a single New Testament passage where tithing is demonstrated in practice in the life of the New Testament church. I can't find one. But I can find many examples of radical, sacrificial giving out of a transformed life which went far beyond tithing."
I would love to see a Pastor stand up and say to his congregation. From this day onward we teach that the tithe is not binding on you as a congregation. If you want to keep this going then it will have be totally on your giving. But before you give to this organization called church, have you checked around for struggling single moms or dad's? How about widows? Have you responded to our brothers and sisters who are hungry and homeless in Africa and India? How about our persecuted family in other countries. "But, but, but, pastor if we do that then there will be no money to pay for our building". To this the pastor answers "so be it" "But, but, but pastor if we do that we won't be able to afford to hire you". "Mmmmm never thought of that". Next Sunday his sermon is "The absolute necessity of Tithing." It would be better for him to have said "so be it."

zuzu@mts.net

2003-06-02T07:57:00.000-07:00

Well I am back blogging. Last week I did some construction work for a friend.....aaaahhhhggg every bone in my body shut down. I was walking around like a zombie for a couple of days. here are a few updates. Last weekend Leighton Tebay (surprisingly pronounced Teebee) dropped by. He was in Winnipeg for a conference. We chatted for almost 6 hours straight. Seemed like we were just renewing old friendships instead of meeting for the first time. I'm not sure he got what he came for but we sat and talked about a lot of things. Thanks for dropping by Leighton. By the way Leighton calls his blog "the Heresy". you wanna talk heresy.... he likes coke and the Calgary Flames. It makes a guy wonder.
This weekend our former church invited me to do worship. I haven't done that in over 5 years. They are having family camp and they always end off the camp with a church service on Sunday morning.... that is when they want me to lead. It's funny... friends from that church were over for supper a couple of months ago and asked about our philosophy of church. So I answered.... relational, organic and the fact that we have done away with the church service. Of course that was the short answer. Well I was waiting for some kind of rebuttal and none came. Instead he talked about burn out and not really liking church and so on. I told him that I did not like church or the church service. A couple of weeks later I stopped and chatted with him at a building site. and he said "I have a hard question and an easy one. The hard one is "will you work for me on Monday?" I said yes. Then he said the easy one is "Will you lead worship at our family camp." It shocked me out of my pants." (I guess you can imagine the embarrassment i felt standing there with no pants on). Talk about mis judging the questions. I told him that I had to pray about this one. It took me three weeks to decide. The Lord kept telling me "They are not the enemy... they are not the enemy." so I'll have to shake the dust off of my overheads and get ready.
Just heard about another group in Steinbach who may be pulling out of their church to meet organically and an relationally. Interesting....... I am trying to get people 40 and over to start blogging but..... it's like trying to make changes in a church. whew....... My kids came home from a church family camp...... Amy my 13 year old had only 3 hours of sleep the first night and none the second night. Lynn and I were not around when they got home so Amy went to bed at 3:30 yesterday afternoon and go up at 7:30 this morning...... Jeff our 16 yr old (soon to be 17) had enough sense to get an average of 4 to 5 hours a night...... July 1rst is Lynn and my 25th anniversary. Wow i remember when my parents celebrated theirs. I thought they were old. Pressure's on to do something. I thought either Miami or Holland. Since Manitoba has towns with those names it might not be so expensive after all........... What to do for a job???????? Anyone want to visit the "Church of the Saviour" with me in the next couple of years? Today i will be working on a little article. (Half or three quarters of a page) entitled. The Central Reason the Church building exists is the erroneous teaching of the tithe. So that's it for now zuzu@mts.net

2003-05-26T09:07:00.000-07:00

PART V

So what lesson did I learn? Well it is bridging the gap between the immature visionary and the practical visionary. To understand, in a deep way, that it is never about how many people one has in a group but whether those people are willing to count the cost. The immature visionary gets 10 people together and cares very little about those 10 people. His mind is scheming and thinking about the next 10 people he has no interest in helping. His satisfaction is not found in building quality but rather in numbers. Gordon Cosby of the Church of the Saviour has said this, "Vision is the destroyer of essence." This is coming from one of the most visionary minds the church has ever seen. For Cosby it is not about vision and fruit. It is very much about vision + sacrifice and commitment and then fruit. Does that mean we are to do what the church of the Saviour did. No. But there are lessons we can most definitely learn from them. I know that there are people who talk about being a missional church and wanting to make a deep impact but care little about the hard work that comes with it. At the same time, essence of the church is NOT the vision: Listen to Gordon Cosby in these 3 quotes: Read them slowly and let it sink in.

“…The essence of church is not its mission. [The “vision statement” is not what its about.] It’s not a matter of a group, battling homelessness, or working with at-risk children or people who don’t have jobs or people who are addicted or working with issues of justice or peace…the soul of the church is a gathered people whose only reason for gathering is Jesus. The church is a people who gather because they want to know Jesus in a deeper way. The focus must not be on the vision first but on the relationship with the one who gives the vision. The vision will not ultimately sustain us, but the one who gives the vision will…”

We will commit ourselves to an intensive love effort with a few people. We will be committed to smallness. Large numbers tend almost inevitably toward depersonalization and institutionalism, toward a lessening of commitment. So we resist the temptation of numbers and the power that comes through numbers.

The central reality of Church is a group of people, core people, called to be in deepening personal belonging of friendship with Jesus of Nazareth and through him to others.
Unfortunately when some people read this they think Cosby is affirming their belief of having no vision. But this is reading Cosby way out of context. He is saying that mission is NOT the essence of church. I find it very sad that many small groups never get beyond themselves and look outward. END PART V

2003-05-22T07:57:00.000-07:00

PART IV

I am not free to share about the Winnipeg group so I will fast forward to my chat with Wayne. I went to his place and we began to talk about growth and so on. We began talking about problems people have and as we talked about these things I believe the Lord was revealing something. You see I view myself as a visionary. The problem many visionaries have is that they tend to see the positive and that positiveness is usually linked with how many people will come along (ie numbers). We will have 20 to 30 new groups in the next 2 years and will plan and just about do anything to make it happen. They do not see that people come with all sorts of problems. And they need patient people to come along side them. It takes time for many people to get from where they are to being where God can reveal to them the flower that is in them and the gift that God has put in them. But we visionaries want some measure of success and we want it now. I will call this group immature visionaries. These visionaries spend much of their time wondering why the groups they have established keep falling apart.
On my way home from Wayne's I began thinking about all of this. Then my thoughts turned to the Church of the Saviour in Washington D.C. I had first read about them in 1994. The book was called "The New Community" by Elizabeth O'Connor. Then I read "Call to Commitment" by the same author. I had to visit them and in 1996 I did just that. I was amazed at what was happening there. Well as an immature visionary I was astounded by what I could see. The dilapidated apartments they transformed into beautiful living quarters. Drug addicts being healed. Free health clinics. The depth that seemed to be a part of them and so on. My eyes beheld the fruit of their work and I was amazed. What my eyes could not see were the hours upon hours of commitment and sacrifice that went into the work the Lord gave them to do. I wonder if those of us who are immature visionaries understand the commitment and sacrifice it will take to establish new communities. End PART IV

2003-05-21T11:16:00.000-07:00

PART III
On Saturday morning I was cleaning my tapes up and came across a tape by Clarence Jordan called "The Substance of Faith.". Clarence Jordan began a communal farm just after World War II. His outreach purpose was to hire black people to work on his farm so they could save up money to buy themselves a house. Now Clarence Jordan was educate in agriculture and had a masters degree in theology. He was 6' 4" and usually wore suspenders. He did not look the educated type. Anyway in his effort to love black people (in Georgia) in the 40's and 50's, their farm was shot at, barns set on fire and bombed.... bullets often whizzed by them in the kitchen. Their farm was boycotted by all the businesses in Americus Georgia. So the words I share from Jordan are not words coming from a man that closes himself in an office and reads about the faith of others. He experienced real persecution in the States. Jordan was also the man who came up with the idea for Habitat for Humanity. He died in 1968 just before the first house was completed. Here are a few quotes that has helped out in my fight against FEAR.

"Faith is not belief in spite of the evidence, but a life lived in scorn of the consequences."

"Faith is not a way of thinking but a way of acting."

"Faith is the activation of our aspirations. The life based on unseen realities."

"So long as the word remains theory to us and is not incarnated into deeds and living... you do not have faith. You may have good theology but you do not have faith."

"Fear is the polio of the soul that prevents us from walking by faith."

"The foundation of fear is self-preservation."

"Death is fear's greatest worry"

"But death has been ABOLISHED."

"Fear will be overactive in us so long as it sees anywhere on the horizon the specter of death."

"we must have the assurance of the abolishment of death."

"Faith lay in the power of the resurrection"

"They did not preach ethics, but the resurrection."

"Three aspects of the life of Jesus are...His life, his crucifixion and His resurrection."

"We must stop putting our emphasis on freedom..instead that we are bound slaves.. slaves of the living God.
End part III

2003-05-20T11:00:00.000-07:00

PART II
I don't think that I can remember all these in chronological order. I'll start with Mark 4. The part where Jesus is sleeping on a boat. A storm arises and the disciples are afraid. They wake Jesus up and His words hit me like a ton of bricks, "Why are you so timid.... don't you have faith." Well a revelation happened in getting me to see that fear works against faith. As long as fear was operative then how could faith.... which is always connected to conviction and action..... flourish? If one is paralyzed by fear then faith shrivels up. Now there are some things that are out of our control... like healing, changing someone's heart and the like and the only thing there is to do is to come to Jesus and believe...... but even some of those who were healed in scripture acted..... they sought Jesus out. But there are things that are firmly in our control and if we let fear rule then nothing will happen. For example our next door neighbors have lived there for about 2 or 3 years and we haven't said boo to each other. Well putting aside my fear I went over and had a chat with him for a half an hour.(this was about 4 days ago). Afterwards Lynn, my wife, brought over some rhubarb meringue pie. I also said that they could use our trampoline for their little guy anytime they wanted to. But if I continued to let fear control me it would not have happened.
Also Wayne, Lynn our children and myself are reading the book of Mark.... Well one of the things that comes out quite strong is the fact that throngs of people sought after Jesus. My thoughts are, how in the world could he keep up. Coupled with this is the same idea when Leighton Tebay (www.theheresy.com) posts "Escape from Christendom" on his blog. I scrolled down and my eyes fell on the fourth wilderness called the harvest. The question that was asked was, "But will I have the strength to keep on working among people with such great needs." This happened two nights ago shortly after I got in on Sunday night after my conversation with Wayne. Now tripled with that was an article I read from house2house magazine about someone's excitement about starting simple churches in their neighborhood. After being there for 5 years they have led only one family to the Lord and have started no other home groups. Then that person went on to tell how a couple of people in Spokane had a word from the Lord that revival was going to happen. Their question was "will the people of these cities be ready." And that was this person's question.
I wonder, when we pray for revival, do we know what we're asking? The truth is, if my neighbors did start coming to the Lord and home groups did start forming and multiplying on my street, my life would change. The usual routines would have to go. My thoughts and time and energy would have to be focused on a whole new group of people and a whole new set of challenges and opportunities. This is the crucial question remains "Do we really want this to happen...... end PART II

2003-05-20T08:56:00.000-07:00

PART I
What do these things have in common? Mark 4: The book of Mark. The Church of the Saviour. Clarence Jordan. Escape from Christendom. An article called, "Are we ready for revival." Assinaboine Park in Winnipeg. A group from Winnipeg. Last night's chat with Wayne........ ANSWER: the leading of the Holy Spirit...... to teach me one small but significant point that is crucial to home groups and reaching out.
Three weeks ago today, which is Monday, May 12th, I went for one of those long walks in Assinaboine park in Winnipeg. I struggled with the Lord about how our group had been together for a year and a half and no one has joined us in our journey. It seemed very much as if the Lord led us out of the traditional church and had asked me to begin small buildingless churches or home groups...... but nothing was happening. As I was praying and thinking, I began thinking of different ways to make contact with people and basically plan different ways to let people know about these kinds of churches. Well my spirits really began to soar. The Lord was with me.
I came home and a few days later came across a verse that hit me like a ton of bricks. "I will arouse him in righteousness. And will make his way smooth. He will build my city and will let my exiles go free. Without any payment or reward." Well I knew the Lord had aroused me. I also was sensing that a hedge was being built around me concerning a certain sin. That strengthening has lasted three weeks thus far. The area of fear was also always in my face. Somehow that had to be dealt with. But how? Now remember this is all happening in the last three weeks. That is over the past three weeks there has been a deep sense that God is speaking to me. I know this because of an aura or a sensing. My reading and circumstances are revealing deeper things. And I am understanding that it is purely a gift. This ends part I

2003-05-16T08:09:00.000-07:00

So here is the home church situation as far as I know it in Manitoba. First there is our group of 5. We are connected to another home group in Sprague. Sprague is a good hour drive from our home. Good people there. They are in the south east corner of Manitoba just a few kilometers from the U.S. border. There is a Mennonite house group in Steinbach. We went there three or four times about 3 or 4 years ago. Not quite what we were looking for. In Morden, there are apparently 5 home groups. (Mennonite). Do not know too much about them. There is a home group of two families in Anola. In Pinawa a new home group has just started. They are connected to 3 other autonomous cell groups in Winnipeg. Through the grapevine we have heard about a Ken Stade, who is interested in house churches.
What I'd like to do is make connection with all the above and see if we can connect and learn from each other. There are three fears that I have concerning this. First, those who are a part of a denomination tend to want everyone to come under their umbrella. For example the Mennonites in these home churches are proud of their Anabaptists roots. If they were really honest with their "roots" they would realize that the early Anabaptists did not want to be called by any name. Just brothers and sisters. The name Anabaptists was not a name they chose for themselves. It was quite derogatory. It meant "you re baptizer." Many lost their lives because of re baptizing. It was only later when gifted leaders (learned or charismatic) began boxing everything in and making rules and regulations for everyone. Of all the so called theologies I identify most closely with the Anabaptists. I just think we need to drop the name and call each other brothers and sisters.
The second fear is connecting with those groups who have merely transferred what they did on Sunday morning to the home. When they have a few more people they will think about renting the school with the hope of building someday.
The third fear is two-fold. First, the simple church will become denominationalized...... aided by me. I got a phone call about a year ago and the person on the other end was very gracious. But he said that there was a possibility that a national house church leader could be appointed. This is why, amongst other things, we have been slow to jump on to this wagon. It just seemed that this strategy would naturally lead to the 20,000 and first denomination. Do you remember when the Israelites wanted a king like all the nations around them. God called them a stiff-necked people. I think you get the analogy. The second has to do with my own heart. I tend to want to connect with only those who share our vision and way of doing things. But how is this possible? Will this not lead to spiritual pride and building my own kingdom? What can we learn from each other? As I begin, which is for me a scary thing, to contact some of these groups I pray that we will be able to network to offer each other support and encouragement. Please pray for me.

2003-05-09T09:29:00.000-07:00

So here we are a group of 5 rebel-like 50 year olds meeting in our homes and other places. We have all but done away with the church service. We like to eat when we get together and share. I guess you could call us organic. I used to think that that meant you were a vegetarian. (I'd gladly be a vegetarian if they dropped the rules of no meat). The dictionary meaning has to do with body organs... mmmmmm interesting. The 3rd definition is almost the opposite of what I thought it meant. 3. of plant or animal... having organs or an organized physical structure. Organized physical structure?????? Having organs????And what type of organ do they use, pipe/electric or standard. I don't know, I think I'll come up with my own word. I need a word that means all these things. 1-eating together. 2-relational. 3- caring. 4- learning. 5- mobile, fluid, adventurous. Any ideas????
Anyway this is not going where I first intended it to go. As I read about what is happening in the church I am encouraged to see the church is changing. What I am a little concerned about is how the Lord is doing different things. My concern is not with the Lord but with us. Will we all separate and do our own thing instead of working together? Recently I got to thinking that it seems kind of useless to only connect with those home groups/simple churches who think exactly like us. Or to try and birth simple churches that have our values and way of doing things. There are groups out there that take a Jesus only approach. There are others who just wanna hang out and have nothing to do any type of training or discipleship. Next you have groups that have a vision. Those who have some basic values. There are some who get into deeper training. There are those who are simply doing the church thing but in their homes. There are groups which focus highly on evangelism.... some on community.... and some on mission. Some a mixture of all three..... And you know what each group is producing bible verses to support their stand. As for me and my house we like em all. Well we don't like em all but what good does it do to stay away from each other?
What I desire is a mixture of all the above. In 10 years from now I want people to look at us and say, "they were about vision because they embraced vision and came to a fullness of being visionaries. (fullness does not mean perfection) Then they look at us and say "look how they loved one another because we embraced a lifestyle of one anothering and came to the fullness of loving one another." They look at us again and say they have helped so many people because they embraced mission and came to a fullness of being missionaries. They were mobile, fluid, bubbling, adventurous. They loved diversity. The loved to celebrate. They engaged with the hard sayings of Jesus. They loved the Word of God. Through the valley of tears and failures, the the ups and downs, through the dying and the living of life, through the struggles, through the joy and laughter, through all of the crap life and the enemy throw at us, they learned to be disciples of Jesus.
But it doesn't start with all the above. It starts with getting to know the Father, the Son...Jesus and the Holy Spirit. "For they who know their God shall gain strength and take action" (Daniel 11:32) I do not think though that we are called to do all these things in different seasons. For example, we will get to know God for a year and a half. Then we will pray about all this for a year. Then we will build community for three years and then we will think about reaching out. No no no. They all begin at the same time. The orders have all been given. But the foundation is getting to know GOD. Let's walk together.......

2003-05-07T08:52:00.000-07:00

Here is a song I wrote about 20 years ago.

ANGELS UNAWARES

I met a man whose name was
I admit that I don't know
He had dirty hair
And his back was bare
He had nothing

When he looked into my eyes
I quickly turned away
It was plain to see,
He would ask me
For something

As he slowly came my way
He reached out his hand
But I told him no
That i had to go
Somewhere

As I walked away I heard someone say
Who is my neighbor?
From deep down inside I heard someone cry
I knew it was my Saviour I knew it was my Saviour

As I turned to watch him go
My heart was stilled in fear
He was standing there
Then into the air
He disappeared fjd

This song is based on a true story about a man I helped in L.A. just after I gave my life to the Lord. (1975) The story is too long to retell but his last words were I'll meet you back here at 4 o'clock. I came back and he never showed. (At least not in the flesh). Who knows????

zuzu@mts.net

2003-05-07T07:53:00.000-07:00

I was really inspired this morning by Laurie Chalmers blog. I haven't blogged in a while. But inspired by Laurie, I will share what our church is in the process of doing. Becoming a little more intentional about what we do. Three of the five people in our church live in Southern Manitoba. The other two (Winnipeggers) about a 45 minutes away. . The 3 who are southerners have been talking about becoming more intentional in our area. For example, this past Saturday morning, we met for breakfast. Chatted and caught up on our lives. Wayne is a Christian book distributor and is on the road a lot. We also discussed some of the things we'd like to get more intentional about. We prayed a bit and i shared some scripture. "trust in the Lord with all of your heart. Lean not unto your own understanding. Acknowledge the Lord in all your ways and He will make your paths straight." There is a single mom across the street from us (early 30's) who lost her husband in a boating/hunting accident when they tried to cross a lake (about 5 years ago). Halfway across a storm met them. Being quite experienced at what they do, they thought no sweat. But as the waves got bigger two of the three in the boat were thrown overboard. They died. Now she has been alone for 5 and a half years. Their two boys are a handful. I mean a handful. (but they are great, just two boys full of enegy). Well any way, my wife Linda went to talk to Linda (the widow) (earlier in the week) and she put together a list of things for us to do. So after breakfast we went over to her house and raked the leaves from around her bushes and house, dug up the weeds from the soil around her hedges and cleaned all the windows on her house. It took us about 5 hours. Someone (Phyllis) brought us donuts. Wayne had to leave so Lynn and I invited Linda and her boys over for pizza. I share this hoping that it will inspire others to good works.
I recently read something by Elton Trueblood ( forward to "Call to Commitment). He was quoting Gordon Cosby. "If you want to make something real, make it local." I do not believe being intentional about something takes away from being authentic. Nor do programs. The Church of the Saviour intentionally agree to pray for an hour each day and weekly attend "the school of Christian living." People are astounded at how real, deep and authentic they really are............ Thanks Laurie for sharing your coffee time with us. Feel free to contact me at zuzu@mts.net

2003-05-02T08:41:00.000-07:00

Our God is a God of beginnings. There is in him no redundancy or circularity. Thus, if his church wants to be faithful to his revelation, it will be completely mobile, fluid, renascent, bubbling, creative, inventive, adventurous, and imaginative. (Jacques Ellul)
I’d like to introduce to you a fellowship of believers that is breaking all the rules of traditional “church.”…………. to the horror of many and to the delight of a few. A church that is mobile: that has no central building to meet in once a week. It meets in homes, restaurants, the park, one on one, at a senior’s home, the home of lonely people, and so on. It meets to discuss, to pray, to laugh, to eat, to share, to worship, to encourage, to plan, to sing, to teach, to reach out, to admonish, to impart…… to learn. A fellowship that can meet to sing and pray one week and the next can meet with a lonely senior and the following week is on the beach fellowshipping with one another. It can show up at a traditional service as well as work side by side with those who have a desire to reach out. In this way the well worn out cliché “being the church” takes on real meaning.

A church that is fluid. Like the floating lands in C.S. Lewis’ Perelandra, it can respond to needed change. It can respond to the changes that occur all around us. It can be comfortable worshipping God at sunrise on Easter morning as well as entering a bar to have a beer with a non Christian friend. (It can change its own order and look to new ways of church forms, mission and being the church with one another. It is a church that is as comfortable square dancing and celebrating as it is worshipping awe and reverence. It can embark in transforming programs (as needed) as well as seeking rest and refreshing. It can cancel it’s meetings as well as add a few for a season ……. It takes a while to get used to the floating lands but once you do there is no returning to the fixed lands………

A church that is renascent. A church is made to be birthed and to be re-birthed again. A church is not made to be institutional nor traditional. It is made to listen to the voice of God. Neither is it an entity that is perfect. It resembles more the marks of the Spirit. He blows this way and that. You hear the sound of Him, but don’t know where He is going or where He has come from….. so it is true of them who are of the Spirit. Renewal goes way beyond morality (morality is actually a dirty word in scripture). It is a deeper renewal…. Renewal of the heart. Renewal of the heart certainly brings renewal everywhere it goes. Listen to Elizabeth O’Connor…. “We would say that the church of Christ is never an experiment, but wherever that church is true to it’s mission it will be experimenting, pioneering, blazing new paths, seeking how to speak the reconciling Word of God to it’s own age….. It cannot do this if it is held captive to the structures of another day or is slave to it’s own structure.”

A church that is bubbling. Bubbling brings to mind many things but perhaps the thing that I think of most is “the joy of expectancy.” Having spoken with many people in former churches, there is often a sadness in the tone of their voices as they have admitted to me that church was better at the beginning. “We were smaller and it felt more like a family.” There was also a sense of expectancy. The programs had not yet become redundant. There was a looseness, a vibrancy. Because it was small, relationships became important and primary and programs secondary. But as the church grew larger a shift took place. Programs became more important. Relationships, secondary. The influence of the Wind disappeared and predictability replaced it. Domestication replaced wildness.

A church that is creative, inventive, adventurous, imaginative.

Creative: something out of nothing
New
Renewal

Inventive: new
Rearranging
Creative

Adventurous: risk
Daring
No maps
Journey
Wild
Wind-like

Imaginative: dreaming
Painting a picture

A church that embraces all the above.

Meet a church that is seeking to live outside the walls…… meet a church that is seeking to know it’s God……. A church that is focusing on relationships and learning to be family…… a church that is seeking to become mature and encouraging the mature to fly and leave the nest (present fellowship) and begin new fellowships or ministries. A church that stands in solidarity with the poor, the widow, the orphan….. a church that loves to get together to eat, fellowship, pray, discuss scripture, learn the cross life, argue with each other….. A church where it is safe to share our fears and sins…… A church that has no building……. A church that feels like home yet is on a journey, where community is as important as mission and mission as important as community…. A church that is daily learning to count the cost.

We are not that church but with God’s help and grace we seek to be all the above and more. This is our journey. zuzu@mts.net

2003-04-23T11:04:00.000-07:00

Before I get to those ideas..... I got my guitar out and played Help by the Beatles and "Try a little kindness," by Glen Campbell and a few others. It reminded me of being at Redondo Beach California in 1974. I was hitch-hiking and had my guitar. I had long hair 1/4 waydown my back. I went to the beach there. Redondo have these walkways with shops, restaurants and even night clubs that extend over the water. I took out my guitar and began busking. well I was averaging 10-12 dollars an hour. Not bad for 1974. Today that would be close to $30. A guy came up to me and asked if I did any Gordon Lightfoot... I said yeah. How abot Sundown. "No but I know Home from the Forest. I sang it and he gave me 5 dollars for a 3 minute song. I even sang "surfin u.s.a. and two kids (9-10) come up to me and ask if i was one of the Beach Boys. Anyway I was thinking if I made 12 dollars an hour in 1974 busking.......mmmmmmm I need a job...

2003-04-23T09:34:00.000-07:00

I think that the key point in seeing solid house churches/missional communities lies in the willingness of the people to do what needs to be done. I know there is this debate about being or doing, but I believe they are both valid. We cannot pit two good things against each other. If people want to create communities that truly love one another it only makes sense that we will be available to each other.....that we will take time and be with each other. It really has to go beyond our meeting together. A re-ordering of our lives is needed. The same thing needs to be said about missional communities. What are we willing to do???? If all we are willing to do is talk about it, then it will be on that level we live. To create an alternative community that is missional will most definitely take a re-ordering of our lives.
Growth is something we all desire even if we say we don't want it (for quality's sake). We all start out this journey by convincing ourselves that what we are doing will grow. (numerically). There are so many people out there, we say, who are not going to church and who are struggling. But after being together for one year maybe two, we find that nobody is seeking us out. Those people who are struggling with church aren't beating our doors down. So we play the waiting game hoping that one Sunday three or four couples will knock on our door and want to journey with us. Though you may have a story like that, it is quite abnormal for that to happen. Then we convince ourselves that growth is not important. Numbers are the institutional church's game not ours. We are building quality. Five years later our numbers have decreased and we are convinced we are on the right path.
Well I'm going to say it, "I desire growth in our little fellowship." I want more and more people to become interested in the journey we have embarked on. I get discouraged when month after month goes by and no new person comes through the door. But I am also realizing that will not happen unless we are willing to live a life that is dedicated to mission. And that will take a re-ordering of our lives. It will be organic but also intentional, it will involve little in the way of programs but we certainly need training, we live in the everyday but need a huge vision, we need the Holy Spirit but we need also to rise up to walk in faith........ We need communities that are attractive and inviting but also leading to maturity.... to counting the cost of being a disciple. "let the foundation of our mission be community and let the foundation of our communities be none other the Jesus" What are we willing to do?

So...... my next blog will be about ideas and dreams.

2003-04-20T08:44:00.000-07:00

THE VICTOR by Jamie Owens-Collins
Off the Album "FIREWIND" Sparrow 1976

He swallowed into earth's dark room
death has triumphed, that's what they say
It tried to hold Him in the tomb
The Son of life rose on the first day
Look the gates of hell are fallen
crumbling from the inside out
He's bursting thru the walls with laughter
Listen to the angels shout

It is finished
He has done it
CHRIST CONQUERED DEATH
JESUS CHRIST HAS WON IT

His plan of battle fooled them all
They led Him out to prison to die
But as he entered Hades hall
He broke those hellish chains with a cry
Listen to the demons screaming
See Him bruise the serpents head
The prisoners of hell redeemed
All the power of is dead

It is finished
He has done it
LIFE CONQUERED DEATH
JESUS CHRIST HAS WON IT

2003-04-17T09:53:00.000-07:00

I guess I am turning a corner. I have been reading blogs now for about 8 months and most are simply repeats and rehashing of what I have read 6-7-8 months ago. So I am looking for bloggers who do want to share what is happening. So if you are reading this and know of any place where groups/small churches are sharing their journey, let me know about them. Also if you would like to network in creating a place where we can learn from each other then let me know. (zuzu@mts.net) I don’t suppose I’ll have an overabundance of answers to this but I have got to start somewhere.
Our group is older then the average group I am reading about. But we are not walking with canes yet. (After shovelling sand into a garage for 5 hours over the last two days, I may need one). Our group ranges in age from 47-53. This does not mean we know everything let alone anything. We all grew up in the traditional church and felt that it provided no answer to the deep questions that Jesus asks and what we felt church really is. So we are basically at the starting line with knowing how to do this.
We are extremely fluid in our structure. We began in Sept 2001. We began by meeting every Sunday. We always had/have a meal when we meet. In our first months we brought our group to a senior’s home, to my wife’s dad’s place. (Paul and Eleanore graciously drove two hours from Winnipeg to Winkler to be with us on this trip). We did a little service for him, in his home. Lynn’s mom passed away a year earlier. Her dad is very lonely and sick, but insists that he keep his house. We invited neighbor’s and friend’s for a barbecue and fireside in late Sept 2001. 25 adults showed up + their children. Great time. Since Kleefeld is 95% Christian in the evangelical sense, we were able to comfortably sing choruses, share, and chat. We took the kids to the park and played a hide-n-seek game called search. After Christmas we began meeting every Sunday with little going out. Since Christmas of this past year we have decided to meet every two weeks and use the alternate week to get together with Christian that don’t go to church, or are struggling, or are in need of a friend. This has so far produced a lot of contacts so far but very little interest in journeying with us. Wayne ( the other fellow in our group) and Lynn and I will begin discussing over the next few weeks what cost we are willing to pay as we begin new small groups.
Our meetings are never the same.This past Sunday we had a meal (ham and scalloped potatoes) watched a film starting at the last supper and going to the resurrection. Then we had communion and sharing followed by a discussion about the film. Since our center is not the meetings but Christ and loving one another, if we meet at a restaurant one week we don’t feel we need to meet the following day for a “church service”. Paul & Eleanore live in Winnipeg (45 minutes away). Wayne in St. Pierre (10 miles away). Jeffrey (16) and Amy (13) are our children. we have given them the freedom to be with us in our meetings, since they have more than enough "teaching" outlets in their lives right now. That’s it for now

A quote from George Barna:
"While poverty is growing and welfare is declining, the average church spends $6 on facilities for every $1 it spends on its ministry to the poor." states Barna
With over two thousand verses that speak about the poor, the widow, the needy, and no verses about “church buildings” do you think our priorities are a little mixed up?

2003-04-15T08:56:00.000-07:00

Right now I am jobless. Got laid off last July. Worked in construction for a couple of months in the fall. On Saturday, a friend who works in construction asked if I would help him and his crew finish up a house they were building. (4800 square feet not including the basement. total square footage 6300). Well do you think he'd have me making deliveries. NOOOOO. I started by sweeping all the rooms up and down. Then we cleaned the basement. Then I had to saw some styrofoam... had to hold the skill saw in such an awkward postion that I pulled something in my arm. I couldn't turn my arm the least little bit sideways. Then i put rebar in the basement. then i cleaned out the garage. So far not so bad. Then at abot 3:00, i had to shovel sand into the garage.....for two and a half hours. I came home with every muscle in my body revolting against me. I sat like a zombie during supper. I sat and watched the hockey game and evrytime I got up it took every bit of my groaning and grunting to do it. This morning I feel better but can still feel the strain. i have to start thinking about work somewhere. Not sure construction is the answer though.

2003-04-15T08:34:00.000-07:00

I sometimes feel like a fish out of water. No i almost always feel like a fish out of water. I have never liked going to church. Never understood the purpose of it. At least not in the sense it is done in most Christian circles. I was told that I had a bad attitude. I have always enjoyed small intimate gatherings rather than large ones. I was told that small groups are cults or sects. I have always desired discipleship within a community of faith. No one else did. Unrealistic they said. Monologue preaching/teaching was never something I looked forward to. Most everyone else liked it. My passion/hobby/and interest was talking about Jesus and His kingdom ways. For other people it was an add on. I was a fanatic so they said. Now i am blogging and most of the people I interact with are 15-25 years younger than I am. Most of them think being postmodern is the answer. I only want to be a follower of Jesus. They like to quote and discuss and debate. I want to hear stories, network and work together. mmmmm. I wonder about myself. I was once described as an old hippy who doesn't fit in anywhere. Maybe he was right.

2003-04-04T09:23:00.000-08:00

I am taking a huge risk here. I am really starving for stories about what is happening in the home groups/mission groups that are developing in North America. Most of what is being shared is strictly on the level of the abstract. There are enough people reading other people’s materials, quoting other people, going to conferences, musing about how great this is all going to be, trying to give scriptural reasons for home groups, being philosophical about it, offering devotionals around it, asking questions….. yet no one is sharing what is actually happening in their groups.
There have been a few who are lamenting this. For example I read a comment by Jeremiah Smith on Jason Evans blog:

on another note, most people's blog entries on this subject do seem to be on a purely conceptual and abstract level.

it would help us a lot if those who are leading truly "missional" communities could share some real-life examples/stories of what it has meant for them to be "missional."
Listen to Jason’s new friend Jedd:

. Despite all of the conversations, reading, theorizing, and even writing on the subject, my own experience of community has been intermittent at best.

Listen to Todd hunter quoting Mark ????

let’s make some of the missional communities that actually live out the implications of the new way we are learning to understand the Gospel (i.e. Willard, Wright, etc.), THEN lets talk about it; or do both simultaneously. The bottom line: talk ALONE won’t get it done.

Stories have a power to encourage, motivate to give hope in the face of discouragement. After all isn’t that what the whole Bible is about; the stories of people who decided to follow God. What impressed me most from the Church of the Saviour was not their theorizing, but the stories of what they did. It excited me to believe that church could be ordered differently. The amazing thing about them is not so much what they have done, which is quite amazing, but how people continue to visit them knowing there is something quite different and exciting about them. And that difference has much more to do with the cross life than it does church success.

So my call here is to begin sharing what is happening amongst us even if we are taking baby steps. Stories of healing, reconciliation, ministry, new believers, struggles, ideas, new start ups, wisdom, and so on. Let’s ask some tough questions about this. At the same time we can continue to share new insights through what we’ve read, imagined, and thought about.

I have some ideas about this if anyone is interested and I would like to hear any ideas that you may have.

Please offer some feedback. zuzu@nts.net If you read this please pass it on to those on your mailing list. I’d certainly like some feedback.

2003-03-28T09:56:00.000-08:00

This is in response to Todd Hunter's rant...... Having said what I said on his blog comments, there are still many wonderful people in the Inst. church. It is the system that never allows for any meaningful change, any creativity, any move towards depth.....
No doubt some will reply that God is not a God of disorder, incoherence, or arbitrariness, but a God of order. Of course he is. Unfortunately the whole of the Old Testament shows us that God's order is not that which we conceive and desire. God's order is not organization and institution (cf. the difference between judges and kings). It is not the same in every time and place. It is not a matter of repetition and habit. On the contrary, it resides in the fact that it constantly posits something new, a new beginning. Our God is a God of beginnings. There is in him no redundancy or circularity. Thus, if his church wants to be faithful to his revelation, it will be completely mobile, fluid, renascent, bubbling, creative, inventive, adventurous, and imaginative. It will never be perennial, and can never be organized or institutionalized. If the gates of death are not going to prevail against it, this is not because it is a good, solid, well-organized fortress, but because it is alive; it is Life-that is, as mobile, changing, and surprising as life. If it becomes a powerful fortified organization, it is because death has prevailed." (Jacques Ellul Subversiveness of Christianity)

2003-03-27T09:28:00.000-08:00

testing 1....2....3
This is my site Wild Hope-Frank Doiron

2003-03-20T10:21:00.000-08:00

MORE BITS AND PIECES

FIRST BIT: Can you imagine being on that boat the night that Jesus walked on the water. Have you ever tried walking on water. Go ahead. Not only did Jesus walk on the water but he told Peter to give it a try. And Peter tried and for a little while he walked on the water until he saw the waves around him and lost his nerve and faith…. He began sinking. Remember when Jesus commanded the sea to be calm. Peter was in utter confusion as he looked at Jesus. He thought he knew Jesus quite well until that moment. He was undone and fell on his knees and said “Depart from me Lord for I am a sinner.” I wonder if sometimes I am so busy wanting God to work that I fail to realize who this person really is. Just a thought.

FIRST PIECE: Some traditions our family has: This one might come as a bit shocking but on Christmas Eve we pull out the mattresses and put them in front of the Christmas tree and we all sleep in the living room together. In our earlier days it was Jeff and Amy against me in the biggest pillow fight you ever saw. Then at about 11 everything calmed down and we went to sleep. A couple of years ago (as we were ready to go to sleep) I asked, “what do you remember about Christmas’ past ..that was good. In the morning we read the Christmas story and open presents……
Another tradition is on the weekend of December 1rst about 8 or 9 families go to a Christmas tree farm, cut down our trees. We head to the building on their site have hot chocolate while most of the kids go on a horse drawn sleigh ride. From there we order in pizza and go to someones house to eat and chat.
In March we have what the Big Boss-Little Boss tournament. In 1988 Lynn and I invited 8 other people to play Big Boss-Little Boss. We have had one every year since. We had it again last Sunday afternoon. 28 people (adult tournament) showed up. Up to two years ago we had it in our basement (32 people) but we rented out the rec center the last two years. Big Boss is a card game that practically anyone can learn. 6 to 96. It is amazing how the adults we invite look forward to coming. If you want to learn the game and come up here next march I’ll send you the rules.

SECOND BIT:
More great lines from songs.

“do you ever wonder just what God requires
You think He’s just an errand boy to satisfy your wondering desires”
(When You Gonna Wake Up.. Bob Dylan)
“We say Lord give us comfort, Lord give us peace
heal our nation can’t you see…
Yes my people I hear all you ask
I see how you pray, I see how you fast
But I also see children who wander in fear
Small swollen bodies starving in fear
(Isaiah 58 Terry and John Michael Talbot)

2003-03-20T08:31:00.000-08:00

BITS AND PIECES

FIRST BIT: I was talking to a friend the other day. I asked him, “Do you really like going to church?” he said, “No but I think it has been good for me.” Now that is an answer I don’t quite like. There are things in life that we may not like but is good for us. Like eating healthy, practicing piano that we might get better, disciplining the children, and so on…. but assembling (we are called to assemble) the believers together is for the purpose of edifying and being edified. It is supposed to fill us and be edifying. And most of all it is to be an all member participation. How in the world did the church assembling get to the way it is now….. I don’t know????? How did people come to enjoy routines and sameness in church services with only two or three people involved. No wonder Gordon Cosby has said “We are structured towards infancy”

FIRST PIECE: War has started. Do we really think that war will bring peace? Suppose they get rid of Sadam Hussein. Do we think that will stamp out terrorism. Will not in fact thousands more terrorist arise in his place. I wonder if Jesus and His followers would have enlisted today.

SECOND BIT: The greatest call that Jesus gives is to love: Love God, love neighbour, love your enemies, love one another. Now I am not very good at this call. I’d much rather do my own thing and hang out with those I like. But God is changing that in me. I really believe that is the cross life. Love is hard so instead of building small communities that love one another we develop programs to get involved in……… go figure.

SECOND PIECE: Great lines from songs

“ But that was so long ago that I can scarcely feel
The way I felt before
And if time could heal the wounds
I would tear the threads away that I might bleed some more….. “
( The last time I saw her face Gordon Lightfoot).

Just remember in the winter far beneath the bitter snow,
Lies the seed, that with the sun's love, in the spring becomes The Rose.
(The Rose Bette Midler)

A song about following Jesus:
“He bid me follow
My cross to carry
This child became a man
And back to child again.
(Down the city streets…. fjd )

2003-03-13T09:26:00.000-08:00

Finally it is starting to warm up here in S. Manitoba. +6 for tomorrow. WOW. It has been a cold cold winter.

Kevin Rains is reading a book by Norman Krauss called "Authentic Witness.” Here is a short quote of Kevin’s quote from the book.

“The church then, not as scattered individuals fulfilling vocations within the secular structures and not as one of the institutional powers, but as SMALL GROUPS OF AWARENESS caught up in the excitement of communion and communication are the units of incarnational witness.”

This is what I also believe. It was for good reasons that the first church met in homes and it wasn’t to wait for a time to wait for persecution to end (for many churches were not persecuted)so they rebuild the temple structure. It was to incarnate the truth in a loving fellowship. It was to learn to rub shoulders with each other. Day by day the church learned to love one another. It matters not how well the Corinthian church did this or even if the New Testament church even wanted to pursue loving one another. But this is our MANDATE according to the apostles. Unfortunately, the church today is organized around the institution of church with the church service as the rallying point. Our job seems to be to make sure the programs run smoothly. Before this becomes a sermon here are other quotes from men whose writings I have come to respect.

The central reality of Church is a group of people, core people, called to be in deepening personal belonging of friendship with Jesus of Nazareth and through him to others.(Gordon Cosby)

The' great need of our day will not be met by training more counsellors. It will not be met by leaders calling us to join the fight against moral pollution, in our society ... [We need] communities of people who care about outsiders and draw those outside into something they've never known but have always wanted. Communities of people whose passion for Christ is stronger than their grudges, their competition for recognition, and their jealous feelings... [Who] are so consumed with knowing Christ better that they hang in there through the messiness of community and never give up on themselves or others, because they know that Christ hasn't (Larry Crabb)

We strongly believe that the first call of the gospel isn’t to proclamation ( though we are committed to evangelism). Nor do we believe the first call of the gospel is to social action ( though we are committed to helping the poor). We believe the first call of the gospel is Christ is to incarnation. (Tom and Christine Sine).

" Never did Paul or Peter or Steven point to an empty tomb as evidence of the resurrection, the evidence was a Spirit-filled fellowship. If that closeness of sharing in a common life exhibited the Spirit of Jesus alive in those men, why not now."

“We will commit ourselves to an intensive love effort with a few people. We will be committed to smallness. Large numbers tend almost inevitably toward depersonalization and institutionalism, toward a lessening of commitment. So we resist the temptation of numbers and the power that comes through numbers. Gordon Cosby)

“Love one another, that the world may know that you are my disciples,” Jesus

2003-03-05T08:10:00.000-08:00

Well it's been awhile. It was a horrid -40 overnight (including windchill) factor. The normal high for this time of year is about -5. There seems to be no letting up for the next 7 days. I am looking forward.

Make me a Channel of Your Peace

Make me a channel of your peace
Where there is hatred let me bring your love
Where there is darkness, - only light
Where there is sadness, ever joy

Make me a channel of Your peace
Where there is despair in life let me bring
Where there is darkness, - only light
Where there's sadness, ever joy

O Spirit, grant that I may never seek
So much to be consoled as to console'
To be understood as to understand
To be loved as to love with all my heart

Make me a channel of Your Peace
It is in pardoning that we are pardoned
In giving to all that we receive
And in dying that we're born to eternal life
Prayer of Francis of Assisi

This story happened a little over a year ago and is ongoing. It involves Amy Doiron and her two friends, Kaeli Martens and Katie Froese. At the time Amy was 12, Katie 10, and Kaeli 10. You know how kids like to start up clubs, well this is one club start-up with an inspiring twist. One day I walked out unto our deck and these girls were sitting on our trampoline. They noticed me and Katie said, "We started a club called GGHH." "What does that mean?" I asked. "God's gracious helping hands," Amy said. "Oh that's nice," I said. Kaeli said "We collect dues." Good," I said almost indifferently. "You know how much we collected," she continued. "How much," I asked. Sixty three dollars," Kaeli blurted out. I did a double take. 63 dollars, I said in a suprised tone. "Where in the world did you get that kind of money." I probed. "Oh birthday money, and babysitting money," they said. What do you intend to do with the money, I asked. Give it to the poor, they said. "Wonderful," I said proudly.

About a month later, Kaeli said, "You know how much we have now. "How much, I said. A hundred and twelve dollars. I looked at them in disbelief. By the end of the year they had collected 168 dollars from their own pocket. The money went to help a girl go to school in Uganda.

With a little encouragement from me I suggested that they get other people involved. So over the next 6 months these girls collected over 500 dollars. They are continuing to collect money for the poor in Uganda and with the help of those around they hope to raise 2000 by the July 2003. Praise God for these three little girls who have huge hearts for the the Lord. We as adults have a lot to learn from them.

(I finally got the letters GGHH fixed in my mind. I used to call it GGIF, TGIF GTIF GGTF and so on).

2003-02-26T10:10:00.000-08:00

But don't our children need church activities?
I'd suggest that what they need most is to be integrated into God's life through relational fellowship with other believers. 92% of children who grow up in Sunday schools with all the puppets and high-powered entertainment, leave 'church' when they leave their parents' home? Instead of filling our children with ethics and rules we need to demonstrate how to live in God's life together.
Even sociologists tell us that the #1 factor in determining whether a child will thrive in society is if they have deep, personal friendships with nonrelative adults. No Sunday school can fill that role. I know of one community in Australia who after 20 years of sharing God's life together as families could say that they had not lost one child to the faith as they grew into adulthood. I know I cut across the grain here, but it is far more important that our children experience real fellowship among believers rather than the bells and whistles of a slick children's program. (Wayne Jacobson)

2003-02-22T10:18:00.000-08:00

In Christian circles, optimism typically is built on the idea that God's central purpose is to bless us with the kind of life we want or to transform culture into a friendlier environment for Christians . . . Christian leaders tell us that our prayers, activism, and united influence will turn our nation around and usher in a godly society. [They] may be guilty of distracting us from the real call of God. It is our individual lives and our Christian communities that must turn around. We must learn to continue serving Christ when problems come and to draw closer to Christ in the middle of unrelieved suffering. Whatever influence we have on culture must be the product of a deep passion for God, a passion that makes us into attractively different people and keeps us struggling together in community that is imperfectly but genuinely loving.

Social crusading is so much easier than finding God. Fighting for Christian standards sometimes seems to involve a belligerence that compromises humility, or an aggression that masquerades as courage ... Neither social crusading nor solving our problems stirs the kind of self-awareness that lets us know that the real problem is within ourselves ... The' great need of our day will not be met by training more counsellors. It will not be met by leaders calling us to join the fight against moral pollution, in our society ... [We need] communities of people who care about outsiders and draw those outside into something they've never known but have always wanted. Communities of people whose passion for Christ is stronger than their grudges, their competition for recognition, and their jealous feelings... [Who] are so consumed with knowing Christ better that they hang in there through the messiness of community and never give up on themselves or others, because they know that Christ hasn't given up -- and never will.

To become this kind of people we most certainly need transformation. The question I have for myself is one that asks in a deep way, “Am I willing to be transformed?” We need communities that are both inviting and prophetic. “ a quote from Cecil Murray, “"The church must be prophetic or it will be pathetic.” So how will these churches come into being. Or what do I see needs to happen in order to see more churches that are community instead of institution. Well first it needs to be said that very few people will want these kinds of communities. First, deconstruction. Those who know there is something wrong need to leave….. and not bring with them the old paradigm of “church” They must build on a new foundation. Secondly the agenda has to be bearing one another’s burdens. The program way of thinking about church must go. Being relational or organic will become more and more the reality. Third, we must be willing to listen to the Spirit and change direction at a moments notice. In the beginning (which may be the next 10 years) we must be willing to count the cost. The groups that are formed will unlikely be our group for the long term. We will have to be willing to change groups, be part of two groups and generally go where the Lord leads. Until the Lords begins to give us more people in our area this will be the norm. Fourth, the poor, the widow, the downtrodden, the orphan, the homeless and so on must once again become an essential part of who we are. Fifth, when we understand that we are to be in the world but not of it then we will begin once again to have influence in the world. But this will not come about by trying to get Christians elected into government positions and trying to get N. Americans living by Christian-Judeo values. Like Crabb says, It is our Christian communities that need to turn around.
But be warned this will not be the easier way. Transformation and transition rarely are. We need to hang in there through the messiness of community. We most certainly need people who are strong in the Lord and not strong in themselves. Am I ready. NOOOO! But I am willing to begin the journey.

2003-02-19T09:22:00.000-08:00

I’d like to introduce our little home fellowship of 5. There are Paul and Eleanor, Wayne and Lynn and me. Our ages range from 47 to 53. Paul is a school teacher and a lot of his students have terrible home situations. There is much day to day challenge in his work with these students. Eleanor teaches music and is quite busy with that. Along side of that she is taking a university course. They are a wonderful couple. They are very committed to our group and very committed to reaching out to others whom the Lord has brought their way. They are not people who come to the meetings to receive but to give. Wayne travels from Regina to the Toronto area. He supplies books to evangelical bookstores all across this area. He is often away. Because he has the salesman blood, he is very good at making contacts with others who may be interested in home fellowships. Wayne also makes a lot of contacts around here with people that need a friend. He inspires me quite a lot in this area. He is also a giver. Linda, my wife works at Bethesda hospital in Steinbach as an RN. Linda is the most content person I have ever known. She is a listener, a friend and a compassionate person. She is also a giver. Then there is me. A royal sh…. disturber. I am laid off at this very moment. I worked for a couple of months in the fall at construction. Not sure I want to do that full time. By April I hope to be working 25 to 30 hours a week somewhere. Hopefully people see me as a giver also.
I love being part of this group. Recently we made a decision to meet only every two weeks. The alternate weeks we would get together with couples who don’t go to church or are struggling with church. This would be over coffee at a restaurant or in the home or whatever. Wayne gets together with two men (separately) and loves them. He invited me to have coffee with one of them and himself. We went to the restaurant and went to Wayne’s to pray, read from the word and encouraged each other. Wayne’s friend is also meeting with another fellow who has just recently divorced and is hurting. So we prayed for that fellow. I explained to him that we weren’t trying to get him to join our group. That we were willing to fellowship with him regardless. I also said he was free to come to our meetings. I encouraged him to at least network with us. I believe we are trying to give people the sense that church is not about what group you join but how we will care for one another. Now I do believe that being part of a group is crucial for a number of reasons, one of them is that people tend to get forgotten if they are not. We are excited that many such groups will begin popping up everywhere. Two or three gathered in his name as well as 10 to 20 who meet in homes.
This is it for now. I will share what happens to our children in all of this some other time.

2003-02-19T08:23:00.000-08:00

Jesus said “the kingdom of God is like a little child.”

Surf’s up… mmmmmmmm aboard a tidal wave.
Come about hard and join the young and often spring you gave
I heard the word
Wonderful thing
A children’s song

A child, a child, a child oh is the father of the man
A child, a child, a child oh is the father of the man
A children’s song
Have you listened as they play
Their song is love
And the children know the way
(Brian Wilson-Van Dyke Parks, sung by the Beach Boys)

Last night I was thinking about this song and what Jesus said about children. I wonder if Jesus wasn’t thinking about the mammon spirit when he spoke these words. Give a child (one, two or three year old) a thousand dollar bill and watch what he/she does with it. He might throw it up in the air. Or he might try to eat it. He’ll take it out and as you’re cleaning up you find it in the sandbox covered in doggie dooo. The next day you find it in three pieces in different parts of the house. Money and it’s value means diddly squat to a child. The child is dancing, making his way through endless fantasies. Doing what he was meant to do.
Then it happens……….
He learns the value of money. He desires it, craves it, hoards it, works long, long hours for it. Give adults a thousand dollar bill, and right away they are planning and scheming what to buy with it. Few of us are unscathed. My wife’s parents used to put a check for a certain amount under all their children’s plates at our Christmas family gathering in their home. After looking at the check, our eyes would get big and we would all humbly say, “Mom and dad you didn’t have to. This is too much.” A few years later they doubled the amount and our same old humble response, Mom and dad you didn’t…….” Then one year they had to revert back to their original amount. As we looked at the check something happened in our hearts. We didn’t mean for our hearts to sink. Nor did we mean to think those selfish words, “That’s all?” We just said in a half hearted tone, “Mom and dad you didn’t have to.” What makes perfectly good people bare their teeth at each other when it comes time to split up the inheritance money.
But let’s look at the children. They are not even worried about where they will get their next meal. They are busy doing what they are meant to do.

Jesus said, “Take no thought for tomorrow…….for your heavenly Father cares for you.

2003-02-17T13:15:00.000-08:00

Some favorite quotes;
UNCONDITIONAL LOVE:

Why is it so important that solitude come before community? If we do not know we are the beloved sons and daughters of God, we're going to expect someone in the community to make us feel that way. They cannot. We'll expect someone to give us that perfect, unconditional love. But community is not loneliness grabbing onto loneliness: "I'm so lonely, and you're so lonely" It's solitude grabbing onto solitude: "I am the beloved; you are the beloved; together we can build a home." Sometimes you are close, and that's wonderful. Sometimes you don't feel much love, and that's hard. But we can be faithful. We can build a home together and create space for God and for the children of God.

Within the discipline of community are the disciplines of forgiveness and celebration. Forgiveness and celebration are what make community, whether a marriage, a friendship, or any other form of community.

What is forgiveness? Forgiveness is to allow the other person not to be God. Forgiveness says, "I know you love me, but you don't have to love me unconditionally, because no human being can do that." (Henri Nouwen..... From Solitude to Community)

The first community of disciples was known as those who turned the world upside down. They were constantly challenging the dominant values of their culture and paying the price. The contemporary church is one of the strongest apologists for protecting the dominant values of modern culture and is uncomfortable with those who challenge these values.

The reason this happens, I believe, is that we not only have settled for a model of discipleship that ignores cultural transformation but also have accepted a model of church that has too often chosen to silently sanction all the values of the dominant culture, unless they are blatantly immoral. And in the process we have become domesticated. Somehow it has escaped out attention that McWorld isn’t really our home, that we are called to be sojourners, resident aliens in this world.

In other words, my ecclesiology leads me to believe that the church isn’t just a place where we worship and consume activities and programs that “meet our needs.” But it is rather called to be a countercultural community that is called to unmask the values of the dominant culture, rather than sanctioning them, and to helping those both inside and outside the church to find a new way home. (Tom Sine ....... Mustard Seed Versus Mcworld

SIGNS AND WONDERS:

The story is told of Dominic who was given the royal tour by the Pope when he visited Rome. After witnessing the lavish wealth of the Vatican, the Pope turned to Dominic and said "Saint Peter can no longer say 'silver and gold have I none.'" Dominic replied, "Neither can he say ‘rise and walk.’"

FREEDOM:

God's freedom is freedom to love, rejoice, to sing and dance, but it is also a freedom to sacrifice, to mourn and feel the pain of others. This freedom releases us to serve and lift mankind from every form of bondage! How often do we pursue freedom from such obvious prisons such as poverty and sickness, but fail to realize how bound we are to the subtle powers of complacency, indifference and to the illusions of vanity and materialism? These also rob us of our ability to be truly and fully free! (Dan Beaty)

COMMUNITIES OF SUBVERSION:

To fully activate ourselves individually, many are finding that a return to various expressions of Christian community is necessary. While some practice their concepts in actual separate communities on farms out in the country, others are being directed by the Lord to begin thinking in these terms where they already are now. By acts of obedience to God we are breaking away from the trends of our time. We know that God wants us to be more closely integrated in our lives together. Therefore we must make the effort to build relationships that allow for what He wants to accomplish in us individually and corporately. (Dan Beaty)

2003-02-17T13:06:00.000-08:00

We never have expected to hit upon that final stable structure. This is important for a church to understand, for when it starts to be the church it will be constantly be adventuring out into places where there are no tried and tested ways. If the church in our day has few prophetic voices above the noise of the street, perhaps in large part it is because the pioneering spirit has become foreign to it. It shows little willingness to explore new ways. Where it does it has often been called an experiment. We would say the church of Christ is never an experiment, but where that church is true to it's mission it will be experimenting, pioneering, blazing new paths, seeking how to speak the reconciling words of God to it's own age." It cannot do this if it is held captive by the structures of another day. (Elizabeth O’Connor….Call to Commitment)
The cost of deconstructing what church is all about and then re-constructing it will be great. But what we must ask is what will we give our lives to and what do we hope to accomplish by this reconstructing? I have been reading about Alleon and the conferences that they had a few weeks ago. Allelon means bearing one another’s burdens. This is the reconstructing that we need. Along with that is to see ourselves as missionary people. This is why O’Connors words are so crucial. We need to be blazing new paths. Incarnational and missional are the central issues. (not what we do as a church service). To focus in on trying to be relevant may be in fact an enemy to incarnational living
An extremely thoughtful blog by Jeremiah Smith on the subject. http://miah.blogspot.com/

If anybody ever reads this and can help me with the comments section HEEEEEELP

2003-02-10T14:08:00.000-08:00

When Jesus got up from His sleep ( on the boat) and calmed the storm, Peter full of bewilderment fell on his face and asked, "WHO ARE YOU?" Having followed Jesus for awhile, he still did not realize who Jesus was. How's this for an answer
Exodus 3:13 and 14 Then Moses said to God, "Behold, I am going to the sons of Israel, and I shall say to them, ' The God of your fathers has sent me to you.' Now they may say to me, "What is His name?' What shall I say to them?" And God said to Moses, "I AM WHO I AM"; and He said, " Thus you shall say to the children of Israel, "I AM" has sent me to you."
John 8: 56-59 "Your father Abraham rejoiced to see my day; and he saw it and was glad." The Jews therefore said to Him, "You are not 50 years old yet andYou have seen Abraham?" Jesus said to them, "Truly I say to you, before Abraham was, "I AM"
WOOOOOWWWW

2003-02-07T08:51:00.000-08:00

I offer these stories not to make us feel guilty. Nor am I suggesting that we go do what they are doing. It is simply to offer inspiration, especially to those who have dreams of their own and need this kind of encouragement to get them on their way.
STORY #1
The Church of the Saviour is another example of prophetic imagination. Their visions and imaginings are too numerous to catalogue here. But I will try from memory to recount the beginnings of Jubilee housing. Their story is told in “The New Community” by Elizabeth O’Connor. The only copy I know of is in the library at Steinbach Bible College. In the early 70’s some members of the “Church of the Saviour” went to protest peacefully against the Vietnam war. In 73 the war came to an end. Over the next year they prayed about how the Lord would lead them to some significant ministry. The news began covering the poverty in their city. Moved by the deplorable conditions of these people, they met to discuss what they could do. Their first step was to go and check out an apartment building. A lady trained and got her real estate licence. She went to check one out and came back saying that it was worse than they had imagined. The garbage was piled two stories high in the stairwell. There were holes in the walls in the hallway as well as urine all over them. The apartments were the same. There were rats running everywhere as well as cock roaches. There was no electricity or heating. The apartments in the top floor were full of pails to catch the water from the leaking roofs. The residents did not want her to tell the authorities lest they come and condemn the building, forcing them to leave. When she came back with the reports they had a brainstorming session of what to do. One person said, “Let’s go and clean it up for them.” Someone else pointed out that if they did that the owners would only raise the rent and the poor people would have no where to go. As they batted around ideas a brave soul said, “Why don’t we just buy the building and fix it up ourselves and then charge them what they can afford.” “We don’t have that kind of money,” someone else said. Then a lady said that she had a banker friend who had a heart for the poor and that she would talk to him. Through him they secured a loan for two apartment buildings. Over the next two years they slowly transformed the apartments into attractive living quarters charging the people what they could afford. I visited the Church of the Saviour,” in1996 and believe you me they do quality work. Oh yes when they purchased the buildings they were slapped with over 900 code violation.

2003-02-04T11:15:00.000-08:00

This is something we laugh about or at least think is cute. Whenever our children bring home a form for camp or something else there is usually a place that says HOME CHURCH _______________ Since our church meets in a home we simply fill in that blank with YES

2003-02-04T09:24:00.000-08:00

We are back in the deep freeze. -24 C in good old Southern Manitoba
I would like to comment on a blog posted by Leighton Tebay. Leighton is very thoughtful in his blogs and I enjoy reading his thoughts. Today he talked about Orthodoxy. He feels that this is not the way we should go. I totally agree with him. I believe we most certainly need a reformation. The reformation I believe we need is found in these two quotes from a man I have come to respect because of the way he has lived out what he believes. That is Gordon Cosby of the “Church of the Saviour” in Washington D.C.
Cosby (who is now 84) loves the church deeply so any criticism is well thought out.

“If men and women today began by the thousands experiencing the depths of Jesus Christ in a transforming way, there would simply be no place for their expression of experience to fit into the present-day straitjackets of Christianity. Protestant or Catholic, neither one is structured to contain a mass of devoted people who long for spiritual depth. We are structured towards infancy.”
Gordon Cosby, Co-founder, The Church of the Saviour

And………….
I believe that the only hope of the world is the existence of Christian communities which are completely authentic” (Gordon Cosby)

Furthermore

We will commit ourselves to an intensive love effort with a few people. We will be committed to smallness. Large numbers tend almost inevitably toward depersonalization and institutionalism, toward a lessening of commitment. So we resist the temptation of numbers and the power that comes through numbers.
I believe that what Cosby says and what Leighton suggests is the reformation we need to go towards. This is what Leighton says.

The church will be relevant when it delivers a message and walks in a power that changes people’s lives. Nothing is more relevant than redemption, healing and sincere community. Leighton Tebay ( http://www.theheresy.com/)

We desperately need new structures. The home church may provide an answer but meeting in houses is no solution if the only thing we’re interested is meeting informally. Being a church that is indeed transformational will not be the easier road to travel. Internet community is fine but it simply isn’t incarnational living but we can use it to encourage one another in our walk. This is a call for people to consider leaving institutional “church” for small groups (no more than 15 to 20 adults and as small as two or three gathered in His name) of people who are committed to a different agenda. Let us network together for encouragement as we seek the inward journey of getting to know Christ and the joy that is found in him. Let the agenda be the one anothers. In new and fresh ways let us remember the orphan, the widow, the single mom or dad, the hungry, the thirsty, the poor. Let us be living stones who are connected to the chief cornerstone Jesus. Drop me a line and let me know about your journey zuzu@mts.com

2003-02-02T05:56:00.000-08:00

“Do you ever wonder just what God requires
You think He’s just an errand boy to satisfy your wandering desires”
Bob Dylan in the song “When you gonna wake up” on “Slow train Comin’”

Sometimes I treat God that way. I live in Southern Manitoba. This is somewhat of a bible belt. I have very little faith that things will change around here. That is from organized church to a more relational reality. In no way am I a numbers person but I keep telling God that it would be nice if He sent us more friends to be with on this journey. I think I should be more thankful for those that God has given us. There are 5 of us in our home group. We are scattered. Not so easy to pop in on one another. We have another group from Sprague we are networking with. Often (at least once a week) I hear of another group considering home fellowship……….. But I am impatient. I want it to happen now. That is when I get to thinking that God isn’t coming through for me. Then I start treating Him like an errand boy. “Come on God, Get on board with the plan.” I am very well aware, (deep inside) that if this thing grew quickly there would be more problems then we would know how to handle. We would be back to dealing with quantity rather than quality. But I want some measure of success. After all there are people out there looking on and many of those measure success by the numbers you have in your group. To have only 5 after a year and a half is somewhat…..mmmm un-American. But you know what……. I would not trade our group and the experience of getting to know each other for another way. The meals we share together are really precious to me. It combines the common touch with intimacy. Laughter and seriousness. We can solve most of the world’s problems way before dessert and find that we have to solve them all over again the following week. And the sense of wonder that I feel when we intentionally remember Jesus with wine or juice and bread is still as fresh as when we first did it. It is neat to see the way we are drawing close to one another and the way we are being transformed to the Jesus way. Then there is the giving aspect. There is such a freedom now to use our financial resources almost exclusively for the widow, the orphan, the needy and the poor…… the persecuted Christians. We can partner with people who go to different churches and build a home for someone 10,000 miles away. There will be a time when we will support a person who will do apostolic work here in Southern Manitoba. I am also excited that our group can change direction when we feel lead to. Almost immediately. This kind of freedom is so foreign to most of us. The change from “going to church” to “being the church” is truly becoming real. Since we don’t have a church service to attend we don’t feel the need to try to get people to come to our church service. We pray for one another………………
So in saying all this, I am going to say that I do not believe in HOUSE CHURCH. I get excited about small groups of people learning day by day to love each other to encourage one another to good works.
So Lord forgive me when I treat you like my servant. You are the great God…. Able to raise up and tear down. You have fashioned the universe with delicate precision. You opened the Red Sea. You walked on water. Raised Lazarus from the dead. Calmed the raging sea. Raised Jesus from the dead.

This is the first verse to a song I wrote about 15 years ago.

Heaven stood in silence
As they watched Him go
No trumpet sound of glory
No cheering throngs below
Born to a humble woman
In a stable dark and dim
They hardly noticed Him

He gave up His home in glory
To come down to earth
He gave up the powers He knew
He came to serve
Not to be served
Have this attitude in yourself which was also in Christ Jesus, who, although He existed in the form of God did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a servant, being made in the image of man.

2003-01-31T07:16:00.000-08:00

How do people get encouragement to move towards dong the good works that Jesus and Paul speak about. It is very possible that we can be frozen by fear, cold hearts or by plain old apathy from moving out in faith to the thing that God wants us to do. The way I get encouragement is by hearing and especially reading the stories of people who have dared against all odds to go forward. These stories leave a scar on my heart ( in a positive and fire like way) and a hope that things do not need to be the way are. They can change. Here is a quote from Walter Brueggemann
Hope is the refusal to accept the reality which is the majority opinion,” declares Walter Brueggemann. Hope is subversive, for it limits the grandiose pretensions of the present, daring to announce that the present to which we have all made commitments is now called into question.” Brueggemann sees this subversive hope being kept alive in the “ministry of imagination.” Jesus was part of this prophetic ministry of imagination. He came proclaiming a vision for the future that was different from the dominant vision in his time and ours. (Tom Sine quoting Walter Brueggemann in…….Mustard Seed Versus McWorld)
I will share stories of people who dared believe that this kind of positive change was and is possible.

2003-01-31T06:51:00.000-08:00

This is the first song form a John Michael Talbot song.

Thanks to Thee O Lord
That I have risen today
To the rising of the sun (John Michael Talbot)

All of life is a gift form our great God. The sun, the moon, water, trees and plants, the air we breath

Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good
For His lovingkindness is everlasting
Give thanks to the God of gods
For His lovingkindness is everlasting
Give thanks to the Lord of Lords
For His lovingkindness is everlasting

To Him alone who does great wonders
For His lovingkindness is everlasting
To Him who made the heavens with great skill
For His lovingkindness is everlasting

To Him who spread out the earth above the waters
For His lovingkindness is everlasting
To Him who made the great lights
For His lovingkindness is everlasting

The sun to rule by day
For His lovingkindness is everlasting
The moon and stars to rule by night
His lovingkindness is everlasting (Psalms 136: 1-9)

2003-01-27T07:42:00.000-08:00

This is a quote from an article by Jon Zens and Cliff Bjork.
Instead of crusading and picketing against all of the perceived evils in our culture, believers would better glorify Christ by leading the way in concrete acts of kindness and love. Instead of complaining about our government's tendency to waste money on useless programs, believers should open their hearts and their purses to care for the poor and needy. Instead of blocking the doors to abortion clinics (or worse), they should open the doors of their homes to pregnant women who don't need a “Pro-life” lecture, but a clear presentation of the gospel and loving assistance in carrying their babies to term. Instead of fighting to have “prayer in the classrooms” of our public schools, believers should be spending more time in prayer themselves. Instead of suing for the right to display a nativity scene in the public square believers should be “using the, public square” to tell anyone who will listen about the grace of God in Jesus Christ. These are but a few of the practical ways believers can demonstrate the love of Christ instead of becoming objects of ridicule by constantly engaging in all of the negative rhetoric about how bad our society is. (Jon Zens and Cliff Bjork)
Yesterday at our home meeting we discussed the issue of materialism and miracles. The point I wanted to make was related to the beginning of the first paragragh of the sheet I was handing out; that God uses living stones to help other people out. Many people feel there is a persecution coming on the church. Now I don’t know if this is true but regardless of that, the question remains for me is this, “Will the house church be more than simply an informal way of doing church or will we involve ourselves in helping the needy, the widow, the orphan……? not for our own sake but for theirs. I hope so. It will take a major paradigm shift to get people thinking differently. The next few blogs will be about be about dreaming dreams for the kingdom of God. I’d like to hear some of your feedback. Until I figure out how to put on a comments section my email is zuzu@mts.net Let me know if you want me to publish your comments. Thanks.

2003-01-27T05:58:00.000-08:00

Richard Halverson, while chaplain of the US Senate wrote that,

"Christianity started out in Palestine as a fellowship. Then it moved to Greece and became a philosophy, then it went to Rome and became an institution, and then it went to Europe and became a government. Finally it came to America where we made it an enterprise."

2003-01-25T10:54:00.000-08:00

Brett Hull is my favotrite hockey player....as of today..... he probably won't be tomorrow. Listen to these quotes from The Hockey News. This was in the Winnipeg Free Press.

Usually it's Gary Bettman pulling out what little hair he has left when Brett Hull spouts off, but this time it may be the NHLPA's Bob Goodenow who goes a little bald when he picks up the latest edition of The Hockey News and sees what one of his members is doing to the cause. "I don't think players are going to get away without a salary cap [in the next collective bargaining agreement]," Hull writes in a guest column. "We'll get away without a hard cap, but we're going to have to agree to some sort of luxury cap and we should take that money and put it towards the Canadian teams." The Golden Brett went one further on the salary issue. "I think salaries have risen to the point wherewe, the players, should be satisfied..... You have 10 goal a season scorers earning $2.5 million. We need to think about the good of the game." Wow I am sure this will land Hull in hot water with the NHLPA and the players themselves. The truth always hurts. I wonder if Hull would play for a Canadian team and collect his salary in Canadian dollars. As the commercial says, "Give your head a shake man." Still it's nice to see someone stand up and speak the truth.

2003-01-25T06:47:00.000-08:00

Heard a cute little one liner

How does a butcher introduce his wife?

Ummmm I don't know

Meet Patty

2003-01-24T13:22:00.000-08:00

More and more I am hearing that people are wanting to move to a simpler form of church. This morning John told me of fellow from Landmark who may be phoning me about house church. Apparently house churches are starting up in Winnipeg. I heard from Wayne that a couple from Toronto approached him about house church. Two years ago this same couple wondered what Wayne was getting into when he shared about home churches. In Saskatoon people are approaching Leighton Tebay and sharing their discontent with church the way it is. This morning John and I imagined what would church in Steinbach look like if every church got rid of it's buildings...... kinda nice to think about it. I believe it would force us to begin to be missionaries in our own backyard. 5 couples move to Ile Des Chenes to start up home groups...... 4 others to St Adolpe. The Steinbach believers sent 5,000,00 dollars to build orphan villages in Uganda and Kenya.......... imagine

2003-01-24T12:57:00.000-08:00

My good friend John Enns is off to Africa again. He is leaving in a couple of days. He is meeting some people from Manitoba who have put up money for an orphan village. John works for Child Care International. Through John's work we have had the privilege of meeting Michael Masambe from Uganda. A few of us helped the Masambes build a new home in Uganda. Of course we didn't do the actual work. Michael works with C.C.I. in Uganda. An orphan village consists of 9 buildings that house 20 orphans apiece. So almost 200 children get help. Apparently Michael (Whoa this blog was published without me pushing any button... good thing i can edit it). has started a home church. It will be neat to see where it goes. Another person I am excited about is Gitow.... I am sure that is not how you spell it... but it sounds that way. he also works with orphan children. He and his wife have a real heart for the children in their care. It is neat to be connected to someone who can make these contacts a little more personal. If you have any interest in helping out these orphans let me know and I will let John know.

2003-01-24T12:41:00.000-08:00

Had breakfast with a friend this morning. He said he had read my blog about church meetings and said "kinda critical wasn't it." mmmmmmmm i wonder. As I re read it Maybe I was. To me it is just a frustration..... but to others maybe it is too critical. So I am asking forgiveness to anyone who may have been turned off by the blogs. I hope that I can take to heart when someone confronts me on things.... though it wasn't a confontation. I know too many people in the traditional church that are sincere in their faith towards God. They are good people. Having said that these blogs are for the encouragement of home church and other kinds of things that God is doing in the area of breaking down the walls of institutional type church, so there will be challenges to the traditional church. Still I need to find ways to share that without being overly critical Thanks for listening and patience.

2003-01-23T09:54:00.000-08:00

JESUS JESUS JESUS (fjd)

Let us Dance Let us Sing Let us Praise our holy King
Let us worship the name of Jesus
Lift up our hearts Clap our hands
We will sing His praises and
We will worship the name of Jesus

We will sing about the love of Jesus
We will sing about His righteousness
We will sing the blessed name of Jesus
JESUS JESUS JEE_EE_EE_EE SUS

Let us never forget who it is about.

2003-01-23T08:15:00.000-08:00

So that is my rant about church meetings. But it still does not get to the essence of what I believe church is. What will happen to home groups if they simply pull the existing church service into the home. My fear is that eventually, could be a year or five, they will return to the current form of how church is done. The question is, “Are people ready for a complete paradigm shift when it comes to what it means to be church or simply tweak the already existing system? This is what I am finding when people are discouraged about their church. Most people I encounter are simply bored with one aspect of their church. For example, they wish the singing was better. Or if only they had a better teacher/preacher. These are by far the top complaints. The church hopping begins. They are satisfied until the preacher gets tiring…. Or the singing gets monotonous. Then they are off to another church. They hear about home fellowship. They give it a try. At first they think it is neat but soon afterward start pushing for a church service in the home. For them the singing is never quite as good and they miss just coming there to sit and soak in what someone has prepared. It isn’t too long before they are back to a congregational church
A very common scenario is found in couples where the husband or wife is ready but their spouses aren’t. Usually the husband is ready but once in a while it is the wife. The other scenario is that both the husband and wife are ready but they haven’t got the courage to make the break. Perhaps what friends and family will say prevents them from moving out. Or they are guilty that they are leaving a form prescribed by God Himself.
Two other situations are common: First, people come into a home fellowship or start one with the intentions of renting a school if the numbers get bigger. Eventually they will build a building and recreate the very thing they were frustrated with in the first place. Secondly, the most common concern is “what do you have for the children?”
So who will embrace the home fellowship? First let me tell you who will not embrace it. First, the 40+ crowd. (with exceptions). Second, those who see nothing wrong with the church form as it currently is. Thirdly, technicians and maintenance people. Fourthly, leaders (who are paid) who are afraid to lose their jobs and their priestly functions.
Who will embrace it?: First, those who know deep inside that it is the system that needs changing and not simply parts of it. Second, 35 and under. Third, those who desire a deeper sense of community. Fourthly, visionaries.
From this time onward my blogs will be dedicated to the encouragement and edification of this new way of “being church.” I would like to bless those who choose to remain in the traditional form of “church.” Let’s build bridges together. Let’s get together and pray for each other. Opening the word to each other. Sharing our struggles. Let’s invite each other over and talk about the Lord and what kind of dreams He has put on our hearts. That the glory of the Lord may spread through Southern Manitoba as the waters cover the sea.

2003-01-20T14:24:00.000-08:00

PART 3 Read the first two blogs
I am reading a book called "the Heavenly Man" It is the story of Brother Yun from the Chinese House Churches. Reading it feels very much like reading Acts II. Lots of miracles. He was in Toronto last fall and he was talking to a group of Pastors. Yun said "I have two things to say to the North American Church. First, Stop building church buildings. there was an uncomfotable silence among the pastors. Thinking about that really begins to shift the focus doesn't it. Of course you can begin home churches and drag the Sunday morning Service into the home and then it begins to look like church in the home. Listen to some of the quotes from his book. When Yun says the cage he is refering to the State run church (The three-self churches) in China.
"The true church is not an organization contolled by the rules of men but a holy collection of living stones with Jesus Christ as the cornerstone."

"We see the three self believers as caged birds. Yes, they are able to sing to the Lord, but their enviroment is controlled and their wings are clipped. They are free to sing only within the restrictions imposed on them. In the house churches we enjoy the freedom to fly around wherever God leads us and to sing from the depths of our hearts. We have been released from the cage and never intend to return.

"It is a known fact that birds confined in cages have a hard time reproducing. ......... house church Christians love to be free, to roam around the country wherever the Lord leads them and to proclaim the gospel to all people.' These quotes are from the book "The Heavenly Man" with Paul Hattaway......Monarch Books 2002
Whoa, as i am writing this I went to the chapter "Reflecting on Four Years in the West" Last night as I was sharing that this book both encouraged me and discouraged me. It was like reading acts but I said that we don't experience miracles like that here in the west. He explains why in the book. OUCH.

Why have i done this. Simply because I believe the church needs to change. It is not a matter of liking different styles. It is a matter of releasing the church to be priests and ministers. To send the church into the world instead of trying to call people to "go to church". All over the world the Lord is trying to get people's attention. The church is changing. The new church will be marked by getting to know The Trinity, loving one another and going out into the world. It will be organic, meaning that relationships and friendships will be the agenda and program. More and more the Lord will raze the institution of church and raise an organic, living church with Jesus as the cornerstone. The poor, the widow, the orphan will once again be taken care of. The least will have their say and leaders will become servants. This is the new way and frankly speaking I want to be part of it. Imagine if we aren't giving our money to pay for buildings and pastors salaries, then where can we give.....................??????? God Bless you
"The glory of Jesus being spread all around Southern Manitoba as the water covers the sea"

2003-01-20T10:00:00.000-08:00
This is my rant which is related to the blog just before this one. So you might want to read it….or not. I was eight or nine years old. We were opening our gifts and my sister got this neat telescope….or what looked like a telescope. She held it to her right eve and pointed it at me and said “EVER NEEEEEAT.” Well my sister had never said that kind of thing about me before so I guessed that it wasn’t me she was really looking at. Then my mom said, “While you’re holding it up to your eye turn the front end.” Well my sister did that and further exclaimed….”WOW EVER NEEEEEAT.” Well it took me the better part of the morning before my sister let me look into it. When I did I said “EVER NEEEEEAT.”
Now I don’t wish to demean the way people like to meet but I would like to throw a wrench into how we do church and more specifically the way we meet. If you haven’t guessed it by now, the telescope we were looking into was a kaleidoscope. When you look into the kaleidoscope you see a panorama of bright colors and when you turn the end the colors begin moving causing you to say words like, groovy, far out, cool, freakin’ out man……. or the more generic “WOW EVER NEEEAT.” (back in the early 60’s we were a lot more generic). The assembling together of the believers is designed to be a panorama of different gifts. It is a gift of God given to his people to “edify one another and to spur one another on to good works.” And how are we to edify and spur one another on? A bible study?……NO. A time where we have 20 to 40 minutes of singing?…….NO. Is it a time we’re supposed to hear a monologue from someone who has prepared for 20 hours that week?…. NO. God’s chosen method is a panorama of different gifts. Everyone has a treasure to share. God’s chosen method is diversity. “One has a psalm, one has a hymn, one has a teaching, and another has a revelation. One has a poem, one has a testimony, one has a devotional, one has a chorus, one has a story…. and another has cookies to share. One has a tongue, one has a special number, one has an object lesson, one has an encouragement, and another has……….. there are limitless possibilities. GOD LOVES DIVERSITY WHILE MAN LOVES SAMENESS. Man is totally committed to cookie-cutter Christianity. Tell me, what did you do in your church service last week? I’ll tell you. It was the same as the week before that, which was the same as the week before that which was the same as …… What will you do next week….. get my drift. God did not plan it that way…..man did. When we start a new church we automatically press the green photo-copier button.
I’ll have to wrap this up. Last night a friend and I, from Winnipeg, were discussing man’s bent to retain the temple mentality of worship. New Testament Christian’s (today’s version) do not fully understand that the God who used to reside on Mount Sinai, the arc of the covenant, the holy of holies…. No longer resides there. HE resides in living stones: you and me. But man has a bent towards temple worship and constantly seeks to worship God through altars, icons, holy furniture, form…… Man has this uncontrollable urge to put God back behind the curtain. Last thought. If I, in Moses’ time, ambushed Moses and went up to the mountain and tried to meet God, I would have been struck dead. If I touched the arc of the covenant, same result. If I entered the Holy of Holies, DEAD. But I am teaching you something totally different ……..The God who used live in these places, now lives and makes His home in you and me…… and the best thing of all, it was totally HIS idea. Learn how to become priests. PART 3 QUOTES FROM A BOOK ABOUT A HOUSE CHURCH LEADER IN CHINA..
Check out these resources; http://www.solidrock.net/library/anderson/essays/discovering.the.purpose.of.church.meetings.php

Wolfgangs Simson's, "Houses that change the world." book page 98 to 101

Mike Bishop's article......http://www.next-wave.org/jan03/242.htm

2003-01-16T09:13:00.000-08:00
I deleted most of this post because of the critical nature of the post:
This morning I was lying in bed and thinking about this. This past summer my wife went to the town’s unity service, which of course was held at the park in the open air. When you have a unity service you have to have a unity message. It went something like this. “well God is so gracious. Represented here are many different churches. God is good that way. He has given us a wide range of churches to choose from. I liken churches to grass. Some like this color, others another color (different shades of green and manicure) and so on. It doesn’t matter what color of grass you choose as long as you are all “going to church.”
I do not like this kind of message. You mean God, in times past, got the churches fighting each other, torturing each other and killing each other just so little ole you and me could have our choice of churches…… mmmmmmmmm

2003-01-08T08:52:00.000-08:00
experimenting

2003-01-01T10:44:00.000-08:00
Part IV
Linda (meaning beautiful) Dianne Wieler married me on July 1 1978. Linda grew up in Haskett, Manitoba, 13 miles south of Winkler. Her dad was a farmer. In the mid 70's took a nurses course. She could not land a job in the south so north she treked. 550 miles north of her home town of Winkler/Haskett.....to Flin Flon. That's where she met me. Mining was not for me so we travelled to Orillia Ont. (home of Gordon Lightfoot). We worked as group home parents. We moved to Manitoba. i went to WBC (Winnipeg Bible College). Lynn was hired as a nurse at bethesda hospital in Steinbach (part time). Within 6 months she was working full time. After the first year of marraige we decided to start a family. Well it wasn't as easy as just deciding. It wasn't happening. Year 2 came and went, year 3, 4, 5, 6. By the 7th year of marraige we had all but resigned ourselves to the fact that it wasn't going to happen. then Lynn took a part time position at the hospital. Our sign that she was pregnant was a hug and she would lightly bite the lobe of of my ear. she came home and bit off the end off my ear...... just kidding.... We were going to have a baby. On June 30, Jeffrey David was born. Lynn is the most content person i have ever met. She is kind, joyful. She is a hugger, never yells. She is a joyful server. She is a compassionate listener. The name beautiful (Linda suits her well)............and may i add she has the most amazing husband.

Jeffrey (gift of God) David 16 grade 11
Not a whole lot to say except that he just got his lisence. As his macho father i thought "Jeffrey go out there and drive, drive, drive' but turns out that i am watch gazing everytime he is late. i imagine he is in a ditch somewhere in trouble. he enjoys reading getting together with his friends and listening to his music (if you can call it that.) jeffrey has a gentle and calm character.

Amy (beloved) Michelle 13 grade 8
Like Jeffrey, Amy is a joy to be with. She is shy when she first meets someone but warms up nicely. She enjoys getting together with friends, playing games with mom and dad, and snow....and Christmas. She too has a gentle and caring character.

2003-01-01T09:41:00.000-08:00
BTW until I figure out how to put a comments thing on my blog this is my email. zuzu@mts.net.

2003-01-01T09:37:00.000-08:00
Happy New Year to everyone.
2003...... I just got used to writing 2002. What will 2003 bring..... in the news, personal or otherwise. Our family was touched by tragedy on Christmas Day. Jen Lussier, 16 years old, (someone I did not know, but was in Jeff's class though he did not know her well, and Lynn (my wife) works with her mother....as nurses) was killed in a snowmobile accident along with another girl who was visiting from the Ukraine. They decided to go snowmobiling (4 of them on 2 snowmobiles). Almost as soon as they got out of their driveway, they drove in the ditch for a few feet and turned onto the road without looking. A car broadsided them. Jen's sister 13, was on the other snowmobile and saw the whole thing. She rushed back to get her parents. The parents put on their shoes and ran to the scene not knowing what to expect. The worst possible scenario awaited them Jen died a couple of hours later. Vera 22, the other girl, died instantly.i am wondering if those of you who read this would take a couple of minutes and uphold them in prayer. Mainly for strength for the families. Thanks. If you feel led to pass this on to other bloggers feel free. Jen knew Jesus.

2002-12-31T10:35:00.000-08:00
Part III My Family
In 1977 I was working in the mines of Flin Flon Manitoba. I was part of a church Charismatic/Mennonite (somewaht of an oxymoron) of 20 to 30 (not including children). well to make a long story even longer, there were no single ladies in that church. So we began to pray. A couple of months later 4 nurses move to flin flon and attend our church. Wow. i was song leading one Sunday evening and one of the youth came up to me and said "I've got your wife picked out". In the foyer 10' x10' don Bone introduced me to Lynn and my first words were 'So i hear you're going to me my wife." She simply said "so that's what they tell me" which is a whole lot better than "drop dead." Well Somewhere along the line I asked each one of the nurses on a date.... which means supper and home. i was able to do this because Lynn and Tina shared one apt. and Lotti and Florence shared another just across from each other in the same apt. i was there every night. well one evening at what I used to call "church" The 4 nurses were doing a skit. after their individual parts they froze while the others did their parts. While Linda was standing there was a voice that spoke and said "this is going to be your wife". I didn't argue. Now i had to find the perfect and most romantic place. I know .... at the local gas station. I went up to her apartment and we went for a drive. I stopped to gas up. I drove 10 feet from the gas pump, put it in park and I asked her "what would you say if i asked you to marry me "Her eyes went big in confusion, "i guess so" she murmurred. "That's not a certain enough answer" I said to her. Then she said "I think so" That sealed it. We were married on July 1st (Which by the way is canada's birthday) It's so neat to mess up everyones long weekend. If your wondering (and I don't know why you would be) on July 1 it will be 25 years. Later on Jeffrey and Amy.........

2002-12-31T09:29:00.000-08:00
Part II
Too many jobs to be fully accounted for here. Delivering newspaper 1963-64. Odd jobs for the next 5 years. Janitor St. Hubert Quebec 1970. Hotel Montreal 1971. Rope factory and Lumber mill in New Westminster BC. A store in Montreal 1973. A lodge Sturgeon Creek Ontario. Mines in Flin Flon Manitoba 1975 - 79. Group Home parents in Orillia 1979. Manitoba Pool Elevators 1982-1989. Constuction off and on. 1990- 1994. English as a second language 1995 -2997. Mantoba Pool Elevators (Renamed Agricore)
2002. 7 months a year. That job is no more. I have workrd in construction in for about 6 weeks since September. Something I refuse to do in -20 wether. Now i am off pondering what I will do when i grow up??????????????????

2002-12-30T14:57:00.000-08:00
Tomorrow Part II My working life, my christian history and my family.

2002-12-30T14:47:00.000-08:00
This is my attempt at blogging. I live in Kleefeld Manitoba Canada. At 51, I am probably the oldest blogger on line. If I am not I'd like to hear from you. ARE YOU OLDER???? I was born in Charlottetown P.E.I. (Prince Edward Island). A province of Canada that can fit in anyones back pocket. My dad was in the armed forces. At the age of 2 we moved to St. Jean Quebec(20 miles south of Montreal. . At 8 we moved to C.M.R. (College Militaire Royale) in St Jean. At 13 to Cold Lake Alberta. At 14 to St. Bruno Quebec (10 miles south of Montreal. 9 months later to St Hubert (5 miles south of Montreal). At 20 my parents moved back to P.E.I. I began my hitchhiking days. 14 times across canada in the next 4 and a half years. (and around California). I lived in New Westminster B.C. Surrey B.C., Summerside P.E.I. Greenfield Park Quebec, and landed in Flin Flon, Manitoba in 1976. I met Linda (my wife) in 1977. We married in 1978. We lived in Orillia Ontario in 1979. Moved to Steinbach Manitoba (1980). St. Pierre Manitoba, 1981-82. Otterburne, Manitoba 1983-89...... and then to Kleefeld. in 1989. We have been here for 13 years.