Receipients of the Bibles in Panama

Several months ago, Cyndi collected money to send Bibles to Panama. Here is what she said:

Here is a picture of some of the people in Panama who received the bibles that house church people purchased and sent. Also the message that came with the picture.

Hey Cyndi! How are you? I wanted to send you the picture we took of the family/church that needed Bibles. They were SO excited! Please pass on our huge thanks to everyone who contributed to getting the Bibles and materials to us! We love you guys!

Miriam

The Color of Her Eyes

NOTE: To understand the subtlety of this story, you need to know that my wife and I are extremely caucasion, but almost five years ago we adopted a most beautiful daughter of Asian descent.

I have been trying to get a handle on all of these new friends Lily has made in Kindergarten. She has 20 children in her class and not many of them have been in class with her before. Nicole was a name I had heard often, and I asked Lily, "Is Nicole the other Chinese girl that sits at your table?" Lily responded, "I don't know, dad."

Trying to help her, I added, "well, you know, does she look like you?" Lily screwed up her face in intense concentration and said, "no, dad, she has different color eyes."

I had tried to help her identify her friend by the color of her skin and country of origin, but Lily saw deeper, someone who she had considered long enough to notice what color her eyes were.

He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit has to say to His church.

The Handout, thanks to Earl!

Thanks to Earl B...for scanning the handout from Sunday...

Click the image to download a copy of the handout if you want to read the scriptures before next Sunday...

Have a GREAT week!

What I Learned at ACU Summit

As we were taking classes this past week at the ACU Summit, I was also doing a lot of reading. I find it helpful and even refreshing that these questions that we have been addressing for the last 18 months or so are also weighing on the minds and hearts of other believers.

Here are some results of what 'house churches' bring a community of faith that statistics reveal are different from that of the 'traditional church'.

1. Community members stop doing church and start being church

2. Church touches all of life and be 'holistic'

3. The house church model...ends the money problem

4. And the leadership problem

5. And the building problem

6. House churches bring a new quality of conversions

7. They redefiner the mission of the Church

8. Create church members who are doing less acting and more acting

9. Excitement levels rise

I believe all of these are AWESOME things to consider. This Sunday, I plan to survey what the New Testament has to say about the role of houses in the early Church - so BRING YOUR BIBLE!

Houses That Change The World

"Our bookshelves are full of Christian books and videos. We have churches on every major street, more staff workers than ever before, large Sunday school departments, cell systems, mega- and meta-church seminars. We have Christian bumper stickers, political action groups, huge parachurch ministries - and in the midst of it all, we have lost every major city in North America. Rather than rethinking our methods and challenging our own effectiveness, we try to escape responsibility for the eternal damnation of those in our communities by blaming others for our own spiritual ineffectiveness." (Page 10, Houses That Change The World)

"The image of much contemporary Christianity could be summarized as holy people coming regularly to a holy place on a holy day at a holy hour to participate in a holy ritual led by a holy man dressed in holy clothes for a holy fee. Since this regular performance-oriented enterprise called a 'worship service' requires a lot of organizational talent and administrative bureaucracy, formalized and institutionalized patterns developed quickly into rigid traditions. Statistically, a one- or two-hour 'worship service' is very resource-hungry but produces very little fruit in terms of discipling people (changing their lives)...Do we need to change from being powerful actors and start acting powerfully?" (Page xxi, Houses That Change The World)

It has been a stretching week for Jonathan and I. Much of the discussion here at the Abilene Lectures has centered around new forms of Church and the call to take Christ's call to discipleship more seriously.

Reg Cox spoke this morning from I Peter 3 about the necessity that Christians be willing to suffer for our faith, and our need to follow Jesus not only because He is our Savior, but also because he is our LORD! I am more impassioned that at any point in my 41 years about the need to be an apprentice to my Rabbi Jesus and follow Him wherever He may go. Will you join me? Are you also impassioned? What might the Spirit of God be leading you to RIGHT NOW?

More from Artemis

I looked at Acts 19 a couple of weeks ago during our study time, but in watching some Ray VanderLaan videos this week, I realized how much I had NOT mined from the passage. That info seems particularly relevant to our discussion is to our situation at the moment.

If you are reading your Bible tonight or in the morning, check out Acts 19, Ephesians 1 and Revelations 2! See you tomorrow!

Metanoia

I bought some books off of Amazon.com to be used as giveways for our retreat. But, if you know me, and you know how much I love to read, so, when the box of books showed up I just had to sneak a peek into a couple that I haven't read yet. This quote comes from a book entitled "From Nomads to Pilgrims", by Diana Butler Bass. It is a collection of essays from people who are involved in little communities like ours, striving to 'do church' the way the early disciples did. I was so taken by what she said in her introduction:

"The stories that follow are stories of metanoia, of individual and congregational change, of people on pilgrimage. The pastors who share these stories will be the first to say that their congregations are not perfect, and they, as leaders, are not perfect, either. They often struggled and were surprised by the Spirit along with their congregations as the communities changed through practice. Indeed, in their stories, they share their metanoias.

From these pastors and the people they served, we learned that two practices are foundational to pilgrim communities: discernment and hospitality. Having FIRST learned to listen and welcome, congregations THEN embarked on the unique practices which God had called them."

Have we learned to listen and welcome? If so, then perhaps it is indeed time to consider what practices will drive our little community.

Fordlandia

Interestingly enough, Earl brought me a clipping about a new book called Fordlandia...it is a tome about a jungle utopia that Henry Ford tried to create in the early part of the 20th century in Brazil.

Ford created a town of wide thoroughfares to accommodate Model T's and A's and ice cream shops and bandstands that eventually disintegrated into riots and a boomtown filled with saloons and brothels. The picture above is part of the ghost town that is left. What happens when man tries to create utopia on his own?

Thou art Peter, and upon this rock...

Our text this morning comes from Matthew 16:13-ff (also found in Mark chapter 8)...and deals with whether or not the church is on the offensive or defensive in the battle against evil.

After Christ has spoken to his apostles, and asked them who people say that He is, He goes on to tell them (Mark 8 indicates he spoke to the assembled crowd, as well) that they must "come after him". After that, what does Jesus tell them they must do?

In what ways do you think people who worshipped Pan and other gods would have to "deny themselves" in order to follow Jesus? (Also note I Peter 4:3-4 and I John 2:15-17)

How do you think the disciples felt when Jesus suddenly calls out to this pagan crowd? What impact do you think His strong words about being ashamed of him had on his disciples that day and in the future when they went out into the pagan cultures of Asia Minor?

Flat Leadership

Hey, I really think you should all check out this article about 'flat' leadership.

Click here to access the article!

Making a Difference

This past Sunday in the New York Times Bruce Feiler wrote an article entitled 'The Joys of Vicarious Divorce'. Here is an excerpt from his column:

"Turn on the television. Visit a bookstore. Pick up a magazine. Head to a multiplex. Divorce is everywhere these days. The culture is practically gorging on it.

The biggest film for adults of the summer centers on a divorce (Eat, Pray, Love), the most talked about television series of the moment revolves around a divorced couple ("Mad Men"), the hottest revivals on Broadway of the season pivots on divorce ("Promises, Promises"), the bawdiest memoir of the year chronicles an affair that eventually led to a high profile divorce (Andrew Young's "The Politician).

With the notable exception of Chelsea Clinton, the biggest celebrity news stories of the year have all involved breakups, from movie stars (Sandra Bullock, Susan Sarandon), to television stars (Kelsey Grammar, "The Bachelor"), to sports stars (Tiger Woods, Frank McCourt) to political stars (the Edwardses, the Gores). Forty-three years after the Summer of Love, one can be forgiven for thinking we're in the Summer of Divorce.

In a world where everything seems to be spinning madly on, I wonder exactly what it means to be 'the Church' in the midst of this culture. We have become a very tight knit group of people who share in one another's joys, as well as their sorrows. We have the added blessing of sharing in a time of honest searching and finding. But what has God intended for us to be and say and do within our greater community? For the next few weeks, as we approach our retreat October 8-10, I will be examining more in depth what it means to be 'The Church'. It might be instructive for you to check out the following links:

* The Ecclesia Network

* Ecclesia Church: Houston

* The meaning of ecclesia and other links