Author: admin

Jesus Led

Post author By admin
Post date May 12, 2026
4 Comments on Jesus Led

I noticed a pattern in the many books on house church that I’ve read (see my Resources page). Earlier works began by defending house church as a legitimate venue, followed by books on ecclesiastical history and then “how-to” books. More recent works, such as Jesus Led by John C. White, Toni M. Daniels, and Dr. Kent Smith, discuss discovering how to connect with God and with each other. This book is healthy and profound, and if you are involved in small-group gatherings, you will recognize how much it is needed. Healthy community does not simply happen on its own. The excerpt below offers a glimpse into the process of cultivating a healthy spiritual life.

We are never alone. Never! God has promised us his very life-presence always, and not just near us, but in our “innermost being.”

Those are strong words, even strange words for many, but they are true words. Unfortunately, even though God is near, we often cannot sense him with us. As Ephesians 1:18 says, we don’t know how to see with “eyes of our heart.” There could be many reasons for this:

-We are not connected relationally.
-We dismiss our own need for sensing God’s presence.
-We do not know how to quiet our minds.
-We do not know our own feelings enough to distinguish God’s presence within us from our own thoughts.
-We are afraid of perceiving God’s presence.

There may even be a dismissive tendency hardwired into our brains that keeps us from consistently recognizing God’s presence. If, for example, our caregivers were emotionally unavailable to us when we were growing up, then we will automatically dismiss our need for connection. We will downplay any need for intimacy, and our relationships become intellectualized.

This automatic dismissive pattern can divide our souls, resulting in our loving God with only half of our heart and mind. Our brain is comfortable with this experience because it is all it knows. We used to think spiritual life was about changing behavior through correcting wrong intellectual ideas. If we just memorized Bible verses, studied Scripture, sang songs, and listened to sermons, we would know God. We believed that the more we could absorb into our minds, the more we would obey God and please him. Sensing him or feeling loved was not even something we aspired to because we were told it was not necessary. And because dismissal of emotion felt true, we did not question it.

The reality, however, is that God delights in us and wants us to sense his pleasure in us! He knows we have needs, even if we are detached from them. Paying attention to whether or not we can feel his love for us (even when we are not trying) is the doorway into healthy connection with God and a transformed life. After all, it is what Paul prayed for the Ephesians:

That you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge-that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.”

This “knowing” is not merely an intellectual understanding, Paul used every word and image he had (rooted, established, surpassing knowledge, fullness) to describe what this “knowing” was like. The image depicts a person so deeply immersed in love that they feel stable, grounded and empowered. This love that penetrates every cell of mind and body must also impact feelings.

Don’t misunderstand us. Theology, Bible study, and good teaching are very real components of our lives together as Christians. We want to be whole-brained Christians. However, as Wilder and Hendricks explain in The Other Half of Church, our character is not transformed by information, correct thinking and good choices. These activities only appeal to the left side of our brain (the logic center), which is actually not the part of our brain that controls our behavior. It is the right side of our brain, where our emotions, experiences, and relational attachment are lodged, that shapes our character.

The New Testament speaks repeatedly of this relational component.What do these verses have in common?

But I tell you the truth, it is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper (Comforter, Intercessor-Advocate, Counselor, Strengthener, Standby) will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him (the Holy Spirit) to you [to be in close fellowship with you]. John 16:7 (AMP)

He who believes in Me [who adheres to, trusts in, and relies on Me], as the Scripture has said, ‘From his innermost being will flow continually rivers of living water.’ But he was speaking of the [Holy] Spirit, whom those who believed in him [as Savior] were to receive afterward. The Spirit had not yet been given, because Jesus was not yet glorified (raised to honor). John 7:38-39 (AMP)

May he grant you out of the riches of his glory, to be strengthened and spiritually energized with power through his Spirit in your inner self, [indwelling your innermost being and personality]. Ephesians 3:16 (AMP)

In the same way the Spirit [comes to us and] helps us in our weakness. We do not know what prayer to offer or how to offer it as we should, but the Spirit himself [knows our need and at the right time] intercedes on our behalf with sighs and groanings too deep for words. Romans 8:26

Casting all your cares [all your anxieties, all your worries, and all your concerns, once and for all] on him, for he cares about you [with deepest affection, and watches over you very carefully]. 1 Peter 5:7 (AMP)

These verses point to the part of the Trinity Jesus called the “Spirit” who would come to our innermost being to comfort us, take joy in us (i.e., is glad to be with us), care for us, guide us, intercede for us, and correct us. It is a promise of God living with us and within us. Immanuel…enjoying us no matter what.

When we have a secure relational bond with God and others, our character grows and changes. Information alone cannot do that. Believe it or not, someone can have a securely bonded relationship with God even if they do not have all the correct information. It’s like a child who knows nothing about her parents’ history or present-day lives, yet she knows their love, comfort, and safety.

Unfortunately, even individuals who understand correct theology can succumb to various addictions and personality disorders. Regardless of what intellectual truth or theology a person mentally assents to, it is their emotional attachment and maturity (or lack thereof) that will lead their life, whether it is healthy and secure or distorted and harmful.

You can find out more about the book, authors and ministry by going to LK10.com.

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Encouragement

I’m his God

We’ve all seen the movies: rugged men and women trekking across America in search of a better life. American pioneers were primarily 19th-century settlers who moved westward across North America, driven by the search for land, opportunity, and freedom, including religious freedom. They faced immense hardships, traveling by wagon on trails like the Oregon and California Trails to build new lives.

American pioneers faced severe hardships during the 19th-century westward expansion, including deadly diseases such as cholera and malaria, extreme weather conditions like blizzards and droughts, starvation, and isolating loneliness. Traveling more than 1,000 miles in wagons, they endured treacherous river crossings, harsh terrain, and shortages of food, water, and shelter.

Through these hardships, they traveled believing that a better life was possible. I dare say we hardly think of their contributions as we travel at high speeds down asphalt highways.

Similar to those pioneers, we who by faith believe there is a better way to live in Christ are also facing struggles and difficulties. Digging ourselves out of 1,700 years of dysfunctional religion, we long to see a city of light, a pure bride, if not for ourselves, then for our children and grandchildren. By faith we believe, and thus we travel forward, blazing a trail for others to follow.

If you’re on social media and follow any house church groups, you will notice people asking questions about how to conduct meetings and how leadership should be structured. There is lots of advice given and others all too eager to “correct”, sometimes in a not-so-loving way. In this period of transition, we need to help and support one another and be filled with grace when expressing our opinions. No one has all the answers. We are learning, we are adapting, and we are moving forward.

Perhaps one day there will be house church groups on every block, and we will have a more consistent way of gathering – groups with relational connections to one another, working in harmony with what the Spirit longs to do here on earth. We long for that city.

I recently read Hebrews 11, that great chapter on faith, and came across this passage…

These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off were assured of them, embraced them and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth. For those who say such things declare plainly that they seek a homeland. And truly if they had called to mind that country from which they had come out, they would have had opportunity to return. But now they desire a better, that is, a heavenly country. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for He has prepared a city for them.

Perhaps those advocating for a better way to follow Christ will never see the full fruit of their labor in their lifetime. However, those of faith who continue on have a great encouragement: God is not ashamed to be called their God. I can just imagine God looking down and proudly saying, “Yes, that’s right – I’m their God!”

It’s wonderful to think that God is proud of us, even if we don’t get everything right 100% of the time. Let’s endeavor to work together as we journey onward.

Thoughts from Others

Batter Isn’t Cake

Someone shared this post on Substack from Michael Sullivant and it’s so true.

A church, a ministry, even a family can possess all the right ingredients.

Sound doctrine.

Clear vision.

Disciplined practices-prayer, study, generosity, fasting, service.

Everything Scripture commends. Everything a serious Christ-follower would affirm.

Picture a kitchen counter covered with ingredients: flour, sugar, eggs, butter, salt, baking powder. All present. All necessary. All measured.

Mix them together-what do you have?

Batter.

Not cake. Not nourishment. Not delight.

Just potential.

What’s missing?

An oven.

Without sustained heat, the ingredients never integrate. They remain a loose mixture-technically correct, yet structurally unfinished.

In the life of a community, that “oven” is relational joy.

Not hype. Not sentimentality. Not superficial friendliness.

Relational joy-the settled experience of being genuinely glad to be together in Christ.

The atmosphere of hesed love.

The peace of secure attachment.

The warmth of belonging.

Shared stories. Shared laughter. Shared tears.

A living sense of “we” – who are glad to be together.

Without that sustained atmosphere, identity formation into Christlikeness stalls. In some cases, it even reverses. People become dutiful but brittle. Busy but disconnected. Active but inwardly cold.

Practices alone do not transform us.

Heat does.

When batter is placed into an oven-at the right temperature, for the right amount of time-the ingredients undergo integration. Something new emerges. Structure forms. Texture changes. Aroma fills the room.

Transformation happens under sustained warmth.

This is how character forms.

This is how attachment deepens.

This is how the image of Christ becomes embodied in real people.

Too much of our witness to a hungry world has been the equivalent of serving bowls of goopy batter-impressive ingredients, carefully measured theology, plenty of activity…but no integrating heat.

The world does not need more batter.

It is starving for cake.

If we want durable disciples-joyful, resilient, emotionally mature, rooted in love-we must tend the oven as carefully as we measure the flour.

The question is not merely, “Are we doing the right things?”

The deeper question is:

Are we cultivating the atmosphere where those things can actually transform us?

Until we build the oven, we will keep wondering why nothing rises. This is the slower, holy labor of becoming a joyful people.

You can find out more about Micahel Sullivant by checking him out on Substack. To receive my bi-monthly newsletter sign up below.

Unsung Heroes

Unsung Heroes – Cirencester, UK

Post author By admin
Post date April 23, 2026
2 Comments on Unsung Heroes – Cirencester, UK

In Western society it’s difficult to do life together, but it does happen, it can be sustained and it can be life-changing. I pray these stories encourage you to keep meeting, keep searching and start gathering. This story is told by Chris Jefferies. Check out his link for a free download of his book.

I’m Chris Jefferies, I grew up in Cirencester, Gloucestershire, England, UK, a small town (about 20-21 thousand people). We don’t call that a city here, it’s an ancient town, founded in Roman times in 75 AD. I studied horticulture at Bath University and worked at a research station just outside Bristol on pollination and fertilisation of fruit crops including apple, pear, gooseberry, but mainly plum. I married my first wife, Judy in 1970; we became close friends during our final months at school. Judy developed bowel cancer in the 1990s and died in December 1995 when one daughter was at university and the other one finishing at school.

I think I first experienced Father’s presence as a deep voice like thunder when I was just outside my junior school, aged perhaps 7. It seemed very significant at the time. There were no words, but there was a powerful presence and I knew it was real, significant, and the voice of the Most High – as if I was being given an important job. I did not experience the Son, Jesus, until much later, when I was about 19 or 20. I’d begun a kind of searching. I was confirmed as an Anglican when I was 14 though that had meant nothing to me. I went through the process because that’s what my parents expected.

The time of searching continued after Judy and I married and we discovered the Plymouth Brethren in Bristol with their ‘Open Meetings’ where any adult male could help lead the meeting in a cooperative effort that reflected what I’d read in Acts and in Paul’s letters.

We moved to Yatton, a village near Bristol, where we took out a mortgage and bought our first home. And it was here that I was introduced to the Holy Spirit in a real way.

Judy and I began meeting with friends from very different backgrounds – Anglican, Catholic, Baptist, you name it. The thing that bound us together was the ongoing move of the Spirit. This began in 1975 after the birth of our first daughter. Organic meetings have come and gone from that time on, but they’ve always been what I’m most comfortable with. No rules apart from the rule of love amongst his people! HalleluYah! There were many challenges, described in this series of posts.

I’d say the biggest changes have been recognising more and more clearly that the way things were done in the early church works really well, while none of the human-managed approaches have worked out effectively. At present I’m part of a Baptist Small Group; I don’t attend the Sunday services, just the home group. I’ve tried for 8 or 9 years to explain the difference between a friendly Bible study and a family/community, but I seem not to be getting the message across fully. They value my contributions and are happy for me to take them off-piste from time to time, but they’re chained to the system apart from these infrequent excursions. My daughters have not benefitted much from the meetings we had while they were growing up. Debbie is open to talking about spiritual things, Beth (3 years younger) is a firm atheist as is her husband (who has a degree in theology!).

I’d point people to look carefully at the great commission in Matthew 28, and to read Ephesians 4 several times. And I’d say that struggling with a group (unless you feel called to do so) is likely to be ineffective and frustrating. Starting a group? Anyone can do this, especially if they already have like-minded friends and/or family. Keep reading the gospels, keep reading Acts, keep reading the letters. I’d remind people that we all have the APEST gifts (I call these the gifts of service). But we don’t have them all to the same degree, that’s why groups are important, in part. What I lack will be someone else’s strength and vice versa. We serve one another. If you feel you should start a group, if Jesus is calling you to do so, just make a start and see how it goes. For more I’d point people to my short book, JDMC.

The group Jesus started on the shore of Galilee, lasted only 3 years. Lasting is not a bad thing, but neither is it a necessary thing. I wonder how long Corinth lasted? We don’t know. Lasting too long can be a problem; maybe it’s a sign we need to be doing more planting. The body of Christ has existed in one form or another for nearly 2000 years. But that has been achieved by reproduction. It’s how life itself continues, many, many new beginnings, as long as births exceed deaths life will grow and extend. Same with meetings. What we need to avoid are bad endings where brothers and sisters fall out over various issues. The group may end or divide (another form of multiplication) but everyone should remain on good terms and continue loving one another. Groups should never get too large. Ten to fifteen people is good, but the dynamics change as the numbers increase.

This is so important. Jesus is the person who ultimately organises the group (I will build my church.) Jesus expresses himself as leader, guide, facilitator through the distributed gifts of service (APEST again). We all serve one another, Jesus decides how to hand out those gifts.

You can check out Chris Jefferies blog here. Download a free pdf copy of Jesus, Disciple, Mission, Church here.

Thoughts from Others

When Will It End?

At 98 years young, my good friend Buff Scott, Jr. is still active producing his weekly Reformation Rumblings newsletters and campaigning for true reform. Below is an excerpt from a recent newsletter. You can get on his mailing list by emailing him at renewal@mindspring.com.

Nowhere in the New Covenant Scriptures do we find an example of any man being imported by a congregation of believers to function as THE minister, THE pastor, or THE preacher. And that is because the early believers ministered to and edified one another. They didn’t find it necessary to import a professional ecclesiastic to do their ministering for them.

They exported men to evangelize, and supported them financially, but no one was ever imported to do what all believers should be doing-ministering to one another. In our contemporary scene, we hire and pay big bucks to a specialist to function as a proxy, the exact opposite of what the early believers practiced.

Who Breaks The “Bread of Life”?
A “Church Bulletin” from Colorado tells it all. The “evangelist” announces his resignation and expresses his appreciation that God has granted him the noble opportunity of “ministering to the saints.” He has been with them five and one-half years and feels it is time to move on to other “evangelistic fields.” In his concluding remarks, he states, “We pray you will find a suitable man to break the bread of life unto you.”

The modern-day picture is conspicuous. The bread of life cannot be broken without the employment of a professional ecclesiastic. The saints would suffer from spiritual malnutrition without him. He’s the minister, the priest, the preacher, the pastor, and the orator. Shades of hallelujah, how far we have drifted! We now demand to be spoon-fed by a special feeder. We have not matured to the point of feeding ourselves. So we all gather at the church corral on Sunday mornings to warm pews while an imported hireling prepares our spiritual food and spoon-feeds us. Is it any wonder we haven’t matured in the faith?

Let’s Get Down To Brass Tacks
Any principle or practice we introduce in our assemblies today that either denies or interferes with the reciprocity of the saints, such as our “one another” exchanges or joint participation-as the scriptures define it-is a grave innovation. We ought to be reminded that if a congregation can import a man and pay him a big salary to do all or most of the public speaking, the same congregation can import another man and pay him a healthy salary to do all of the singing, and still another man to do all of the praying-for a salary, of course. Well, you get the idea. The principle that allows one allows the others.

To state it more explicitly, if importing specialists to feed the flock is heaven’s way, all of our gifts can be performed by proxy. As a result, all we need do is warm a pew and wait till heaven arrives. For, after all, we’re paying others to do our ministries.

The universal biblical principle, found throughout, is that in the assembly of the saints, all gifts are to be shared mutually. The “hired hand” interferes with and disrupts this principle. Do you suppose Paul had the professional minister in mind when he told the Roman believers they were “able to instruct one another” (Rom. 15:14)? Surely he was not referring to a one-man instructor! And was Paul coming off the wall with a lot of nonsense when he told the believers at Colossae they were to “teach and admonish one another” (Col. 3:16)? The one-man admonisher was nowhere to be found.

The Rule In Each Assembly
In the early assemblies, there was a mutual exchange of praises, teaching, sharing, and singing. No one person did it all. The Thessalonians were told to “encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing” (1 Thess. 5:11). And there’s more. The point is: When we substitute this “one another” arrangement with a counterfeit system, such as the professional minister, we are guilty of disrupting heaven’s blueprint for spiritual growth. There’s no way to avoid this conclusion.

Take a look at our “house assemblies,” commonly referred to as “house churches.” Where’s the pulpit minister? He’s not needed! Why? Because all attendees contribute their share, as God’s grace abounds within them, and as He confers a diversity of gifts among them. Now tell me: Why in heaven’s name are we incapable of conducting our “church services” in the same fashion? The reason is because we have gone professional. We have abandoned common ground in favor of skilled specialists. We want the world to know how sophisticated and refined we have become. So we go all out to import the best and build the fanciest edifices. We have adopted idolatry, just as surely as we have substituted a bogus system.

The End Or The Beginning?
When will it all end? In the trash-heap of by-gone religions unless we wise up and address our deficiencies and get back to the basics of edifying and strengthening one another. The situation will not improve until and unless we rediscover the one another arrangement, as is so clearly defined in scripture. May God open our hearts and minds to do just that.

So Very True
“Jesus never left us a building. Nor did His disciples leave us a building. As a mater of fact, His last words were, ‘Go into all the world and make disciples,’ not to build buildings.” – Charis Felix.

Books / Videos

System or Ecosystem

The System or The Ecosystem is a new book by author Michael H. Peters. It contains great words of wisdom, seasoned with over forty years of practical experience, presented in concise, easy-to-digest segments. I highly recommend this book. It’s free to download or you can request to receive a free hard copy. You can check it our here along with some excellent resource materials.

AS AN ENGINEER and “Expert in Residence” at the Harvard Graduate School of Design, home of the #1 ranked School of Architecture in the world, I can tell you: architecture and design determine outcome.

You cannot build the 500,000-ton, 2,717-foot Burj Khalifa (the Mission-Impossible-Tom-Cruise-climbing, “world’s tallest building” in Dubai, a Harvard Architect product) on a foundation designed for a three-foot doghouse.

You cannot modify a bicycle into an F-16 no matter how many parts you replace.

You cannot optimize a failing system into success if the system itself is wrong for the task.

Would you try to fix Alaska to grow an orange tree? Perhaps optimizing Alaska weather isn’t the right solution. If Orange Tree Habitat Life is the goal, why not try to grow any Lifeform in the place it grows naturally?

It is the same with “Growing a Christian.” Why not use the Ecosystem God Designed for JesusLife in humans, that they might grow as mightily as they possibly can in the shortest amount of time, to harvest the best fruit? And that CANNOT be the System of Sunday attendance, programs, missions and clergy.

Similarly, learning how to dribble an American football is a really dumb thing to try to optimize. Why not just do it right in the first place? Trying to optimize the wrong system versus allowing the Ecosystem to flow.

But that is Precisely what Christianity has tried for centuries:

Optimizing a thing Jesus never designed. Jesus designed a“walk along with Me daily real-life apprenticeship,” and the apostles then of course did the  same with those they encountered and shared life with: the priesthood of  ALL believers.

Just to demonstrate further why “The Master Teacher” chose to bring an Ecosystem of Life from Heaven, a daily hand-to-hand apprenticeship  (the Greek word for “disciple” is well-translated apprentice), rather than  a classroom or “study” or speech, is convincingly portrayed in the book  On Combat, by Lieutenant Colonel Dave Grossman.

Colonel Grossman tells of the necessity of “high fidelity” training, true  life training rather than classroom or theoretical incomplete practice.  Everything is different when life is authentic, rather than theatrical  or an academic exercise or information dump.

Here’s how it went. A police officer in training practiced disarming an intruder or criminal who was pointing a gun at him. Literally, hundreds and  hundreds of times he had friends and family members surprise him with  a replica dummy gun pointed at him. The policeman understudy would  practice responding instantly, by snatching the gun out of the hand of the  bad guy. Again and again. He became very, very proficient at snatching the  gun in a smooth, lightning-fast move. He would then hand the “gun” back,  and they would soon sneak up on him again-training, training, training.

Then, finally and predictably, came the moment of truth. As the rookie  police officer was in a convenience store bodega with a partner, he stepped  around an aisle and a criminal pointed a gun, close range, at the officer.  They were both shocked at how fast he disarmed the thief.  Good on you!

And both the officer and the criminal were also equally  shocked when the officer, having magically stripped the  gun right out of the gangster’s hand, proceeded to hand  the gun back to the criminal. Just as he had practiced 1,000  times with his friends and family members. True story.

Hall of Shame Police Academy Training story. And that truth matters to us.  

People do not rise in real “combat” to the level of their information,  aspirations, and hopes, or the great discussions and classes and studies  they’ve had. They sink to the level of their training, hopefully a  high-fidelity  apprenticeship.

But if instead, in a religious attendance-based System, we practice,  practice, practice words and emotions and information, even if all true- we will never have one-tenth of the Transformation that we might have had  if we were living in an apprenticeship of the DAILY priesthood of  believers,  each “considering how to spur one another on to love and good works.”

Ritual, attendance, and clergy are not bugs, but FEATURES  of the System that is not the Bible. But if we are serious  about “the full measure of the stature of Christ” then  “I am in the pains of childbirth until Christ, Anointing,  is formed in you.”

General Jack Keane mentioned in an interview that there is  no such thing as Abrams Tank training on weekdays for a few hours, with  summers off. Paraphrased, “If you want to learn how to fly an F-16 or drive  an Abrams tank or operate a Patriot Missile battery system, there’s no such  thing as a school week. Seven days a week, 14 or 15 hours per day, is the  way to learn anything meaningful. Immersion.”

Why did the American school system fail? There’s your answer. Why does  American religion fail to help their teens and their marriages? There’s your  answer. A System is not how God Designed us. Both the Scriptures and  the Fruit support that we should direct our energy towards the 59 “one  another” daily verses and thereby discover the overflow Ecosystem of Life  He came and suffered unspeakably to bring us from Heaven.

And yet, here are the most common “fixes” leaders pour their energy into:

-better sermons, better “pastors,”“preachers,”“reverends”
-better worship leader, better organist, better worship band
-better branding, better marketing
-better programs
-better discipleship or mentoring curriculum
-better leadership training to make the little people feel more involved and give them a job
-better facilities, better location
-better small groups, better curriculum
-better outreach strategies

But no amount of optimization or programming can transform the System  into the Ecosystem.

Imagine trying to fix the Titanic by:

-upgrading the silverware
 -repainting the decks
 -polishing the brass
 -adjusting the weekly schedule

None of that fixes the fundamental flaw-the architecture and path are wrong.

The Systems Architecture Produces:

-spectators
-spiritual passivity
-shallow roots
-leadership burnout
-inability to really know or walk with God in His steps
-consumer Christianity
-moral collapse
-teens who walk away
-adults who give up and pretend
-unsaved people who think they’re saved, so they don’t try to find the Real Jesus to wash their sins and fill them with His Spirit
-leaders who control and pose
-the wax museum effect

The Ecosystems Architecture  Produces:

–priests of all true believers, as He equipped us to be and do
 -daily transformation
 -unexplainable joy
 -supernatural unity
 -courage under pressure
 -impossible forgiveness
 -evangelism by overflow
 -deep repentance 
-miracles of character
 -surprise wisdom
 -multi-generational strength 

The problem is not the people.

It’s a faulty blueprint.

The System Fails,  Not Because Christians Are Weak…

…it fails because the architecture cannot produce strength out of the  inevitable starting places of weakness for all of us.     

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Perspective

Dojo Discipleship

My good friend Brittany Cline and her husband Carl manage San Antonio Jiu-Jitsu Academy. Occasionally Brittany will post on social media the workouts, training sessions, and competitions. It’s always fun to watch, especially seeing the kids grapple with one another.

I imagine before you sign up to become a Jui-Jitsu disciple, you would count the cost. You would talk with Brittany and Carl and discuss the training, workouts, ability to enter competitions, and what the rules are. Lots of rules, especially for the kids, click here. After you commit, your training begins. It certainly would be odd if you showed up in your gi and just sat on the mat the whole time watching. At some point you are expected to participate.

When I compare the early church to the Western model of Christianity, I see a big difference. There seem to be a lot of people sitting around in their gis not really participating. I’m not sure why that is. Maybe the institutional church leaders prefer to teach and preach rather than get involved in the grappling. Maybe it’s something else?

I think the church may have gotten things backwards. Acts 14 says,

They preached the gospel in that city and won a large number of disciples. Then they returned to Lystra, Iconium and Antioch, strengthening the disciples and encouraging them to remain true to the faith. “We must go through many hardships to enter the kingdom of God,” they said.

When people in the first-century church became disciples, they knew the cost. Proclaiming Jesus as their King and Messiah meant they became treasonous to the state. The Roman emperors were no longer their king. They gave up, or were disowned, by friends and family. They knew they would go through many “hardships” even to the point of death.

I see so much discussion about disciple making. Yes, it’s important to share our faith, but are we really making disciples when we don’t explain to people the cost involved when a decision is made to follow Christ? Is there even a cost? Do we get them saved and then abandon them? It seems to be a priority to get people to make a confession and then after, try to motivate them to be good disciples.

Western society is filled with people who claim to be Christ followers, many walking up to the front of the church and saying a prayer and then told to sign up for Church Membership 101. Most come because they are convicted of sin and want to avoid eternal punishment. We then hear church leaders complain when only a small percent of their flock participate in church matters or even worse, just leave through the back door. Somehow we get upset when people only have a casual relationship with Christ, even less with their brothers and sisters, and have no understanding of what true discipleship is. Who is to blame? And let’s not talk about any “hardships.”

Maybe we should tell people about the cost of following Christ before they want to join our club.

Books / Videos

Institutions vs. Organic

I recently found a website that has 40 years of content and everything is free. Seems pretty awesome.

jesuslifetogether.com/With-You-Now BibleStoriesOnline.com SystemOrEcosystem.com

Have you ever thought about the fact that the nature of the Church is that if I don’t love and have a relationship with Jesus, then I don’t have a basis of existing in the Church? There’s no other way IN to Jesus’ Church than a relationship with Jesus or at least a hunger for Jesus. There has to at least be some desire to please Jesus because of this Person – Jesus of Nazareth. That’s so different than “I think I’ll become a Christian, or I think I’ll attend this church.” The very basis of our relationships together in the Church is centered around our Love of Jesus.

When we miss that, and we institutionalize ourselves in any way, it creates these other avenues in…things other than this Love of Jesus. And once we’re institutionalized, we can’t tell who loves Jesus and who doesn’t anymore.

When one man stands in a pulpit and is the official presenter of all Truth, you have no idea what’s in anyone else’s heart. Not only does it disobey scripture, which says, “When the second has revelation, let the first one sit down.” Not only does it disobey – flat, plain and simple – a simple command of the scriptures, but the reason that command is there is because God intends that the motives of the heart would be laid bare.

The beauty of an Organic Church is that it strangles the carnal man. People who want to “have church” on their “own time” and in their own way? People who want to know “what time the meeting will be over” so that they can have “THEIR day” back? People who love their lives…won’t want it.

God has designed things the way He has with no props. The same way that Jesus lived with the twelve. The same way the twelve lived with the three thousand without any props, without anything to hold onto, without any official designated thingamabobs 🙂 He designed it that way so that people who don’t really love Jesus feel some sort of tension there. There’s something that is exposing about it.

The only way you’ll ever know if someone else loves Jesus is by what a person does when the Shepherd’s voice is applied to their LIFE and heart on a daily basis. That’s the only way you’ll ever know. And this can only really be walked out in an organic environment. You can’t tell it from a pulpit. You can’t tell in a Bible class. You can’t tell in a series of “house church” or “cell group” or “organic church” meetings. If it’s an institutional environment, it’s hopeless. It’s totally hopeless. In a Sunday morning, Wednesday Night, Friday Night small groups existence, you can’t tell who loves Jesus. You can’t even tell if the preacher loves Jesus on Sunday morning – because all you hear is words. There’s no way to tell who loves Jesus outside of organic, devoted relationships with one another – the body of Christ being knit together and needing each other, living for each other, glorying in each other’s gifts rather than just their own, and receiving each other’s gifts rather than fearing the lack of their own.

What they could get away with for forty years in a Sunday, Wednesday environment with a clergyman they can’t get away with day in and day out in an organic environment. And our assumption is, of course, that they don’t want to get away with it. They don’t want to be dull. They don’t want to be cut off from Jesus. They don’t want to be disConnected from the Head. They want to have a love affair with the Master Teacher. Our assumption is that everybody, if they really knew what that was, would want that. And so our job then as the Church looking at things from the helicopter is to have such a climate or such an environment that if I’m not doing well – there’s a Nathan some place close by to say, “You are that man.” There’s somebody right there around me. “Admonish one another daily so that none are hardened by sin’s deceitfulness.” And “as long as it’s called Today” make it happen. That’s God plan for building his Family and keeping us from being hardened and deceived, which is such a common situation in just about any generation.

In an institution, in an organization, what happens is that the traditions of men blind us so that we’re not grieved when the Spirit’s grieved. If something is grieving the Spirit, doesn’t it make sense that it would also be grieving the Church? If the Spirit of God lives in the Church and a person is grieving the Spirit in their personal life, doesn’t it make sense that it would also grieve the Church, if the Church is really in tune? Is that all fair and reasonable?

We’re supposed to be the pillar and foundation of Truth – the Household of God – according to Paul and yet we’re misrepresenting God or under – representing God. We make people feel comfortable even though their lives are very grievous to God on a personal level. Do they want to be grievous to God on a personal level? If you asked them I think they’d say no. Most people, I think, want to be in a place of pleasing God and living for Him and serving Him. I mean, we can make that assumption, but they’re not getting the help they need because the environment does not provide the food they need. “My people perish for lack of knowledge.” There’s a famine in hearing the word. These are very old themes of God that “without revelation the people perish. They cast off restraint.” If the revelation of God is not before God’s people, then they’re going to perish. They’re going to wander. They’re going to go astray. They’re going to be wounded and their wounds are going to become infected rather than bound and healed.

I’m not really interested in giving details and specifying tremendous amounts of things. It’s just paramount that we keep sifting and sorting. Where does it end? It doesn’t. It never will end. There’s always going to be things that we’re relying on because of our flesh, because of our blindness from the past, because of our fears, because of our lack of revelation. We’re going to keep finding things as the days go by that are not like Jesus – that are not part of the Son of man and the Son of God’s way to approach the Father and to approach other people. I just want to give you the flavor so you can taste the difference between Ishmael and Isaac, the Tree of Life and the Tree of Knowledge, the Spirit and the flesh, and facilitating our own needs and desires and propping up our flesh to protect us and all of that. I just want you to see the difference between that and a vulnerability before God that allows us to not need any props, to not fear anything, to not fear our memories, to not fear what people may think – which I’m afraid to say drives a whole lot of things in our world.

Thoughts from Others

Slow Cooker

Post author By admin
Post date March 9, 2026
1 Comment on Slow Cooker

I was excited to have my niece visit us from New York. Of course, she came to see her favorite aunt and uncle, but she also wanted to experience a few relational gatherings here in the Phoenix area. While sharing her testimony, the group noticed it was more of a gentle nudge from the Holy Spirit rather than a lightning strike leading to immediate conversion. God works in many ways, as my good friend Krista Lynn shares below.

Considering Jessica’s testimony the other night, the idea of using a slow cooker and an Instant Pot came to mind. To make a chuck roast tender and juicy, you can either cook it in a slow cooker for 8 to 10 hours or use an Instant Pot for under an hour. Although the cooking methods differ, they yield the same result: a delicious dinner! Depending on the cut of meat, each cook assesses and creates what they believe will taste best, adding specific seasonings and aromatics to enhance the flavor. I can’t help but imagine God in His heavenly kitchen-who created us, chose us, and knows us intimately-preparing us as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to Him.

As followers of Jesus, we each have unique stories of how the Lord found us. No two stories are the same. I love this because it reminds me of our Creator, who formed us in the womb and knows every detail of our lives and every thought we have ever had. He knows how to speak to us and how to draw us to Him. It is truly beautiful.

For some people, there is a particular moment they recall-something we Southern folks refer to as a “Come to Jesus” moment. It is a significant event, whether an encounter with Jesus or a conversation with someone, where the “light” turns on in the soul and change happens instantly. It is like night and day-a complete 180-degree transformation.

For others, the transformation was neither instant nor monumental but rather a gradual process that could take months or even years to fully welcome Jesus and allow Him to change us. It was a season of life composed of small moments during which the heart was gently softened until it was completely surrendered to Him. The change is slow but steady.

Think back on how the Lord prepared you-was it an instant transformation or a gradual process? Be encouraged for your loved ones who are still lost or have wandered away, and continue to intercede on their behalf. Whatever way He chooses to prepare us, let us agree: “Thanks be to God for His indescribable gift!” (2 Corinthians 9:15 NASB)

Books / Videos

The House Church Life

The House Church Life by Bill Wagner can best be described using his own words. “These pages capture the kinds of conversations we had, the lessons we learned, and the values that quietly shaped our community – discipleship, accountability, responsibility, restraint, worship, love, and life lived in the presence of others.” The excerpt below is about love.

“I give you a new command: Love one another. Just as I have loved you, you are also to love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” John 13:34-35

Jesus did not say the world would recognize His disciples by their correctness, their volume, their arguments, their political alignment, or even their moral clarity. He said they would be known by their love.

That should stop us in our tracks.

I once asked a congregation a simple question: When do Christians retire? The better question is this: When do Christians retire from a God-given call?

A calling comes from God, and a calling ends only when God releases us. As long as we have breath, influence, and opportunity, we are called to love, to serve, and to reflect Christ. There is no retirement from obedience.

But many believers misunderstand what a calling actually looks like. A calling is the place where love meets obedience, expressed through the gifts God has placed in you.

“A manifestation of the Spirit is given to each person for the common good.” 1 Corinthians 12:7

Spiritual gifts are not trophies; they are tools. They are given so that love can become visible, practical, and effective in the lives of others.

I remember a sixth-grader named Ben who went on a mission trip to Mexico with much older students. When asked what gift he used to serve God, he answered without hesitation: “I like to play.“

So that’s what he did. He played with children. And through something entirely natural to him, joy spread, relationships formed, and Christ was quietly made visible.

Love does not always look impressive. It looks faithful, consistent, and ordinary.

Many believers want to declare love, but Jesus calls us to demonstrate it.

“Little children, let us not love in word or speech, but in action and in truth.” 1 John 3:18

Love is proven over time-by patience, restraint, humility, and how we treat people when we do not get our way.

That includes how we respond to frustration. That includes how we speak when misunderstood. That includes how we treat those who oppose us.

“But I say to you who listen: Love your enemies, do what is good to those who hate you.” Luke 6:27

We are allowed to be angry. Scripture acknowledges that. But how we express anger reveals whether love still governs us.

“Be angry and do not sin, Don’t let the sun go down on your anger.” Ephesians 4:26

Uncontrolled anger, sarcasm, contempt, and public shaming may feel justified, but they erode our witness. They do not advance the kingdom of God.

I once witnessed a situation where hostility was met-not with force, not with defensiveness-but with calm, respect, and patience. No one “won” the argument. But peace prevailed. Accusation lost its power because love left nothing to attack.

“When possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone. ” Romans 12:18

Love does not mean agreement. It means restraint, clarity, and self control under pressure.

Jesus said the world would recognize His followers by their love. That means people are measuring us-whether we like it or not.

“Let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven.” Matthew 5:16

The question is not Are we right? The question is Are we recognizable as Christ’s? If people leave our presence feeling belittled, dismissed, or dehumanized, then regardless of our position, God was not honored in that exchange.

The early church did not conquer governments. They conquered hearts. They loved one another visibly. They cared for the sick. They protected the vulnerable. They adopted the orphan. They fed the po0r.

And the world took notice.

“See how they love one another,” the world observed–not because Christians were dominant, but because they were different.

Jesus did not command His followers to win culture wars. He commanded them to make disciples.

“Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations…teaching them to observe everything I have commanded you.” Matthew 28:19-20

The battlefield is not coercion. The battlefield is public witness through love.

Truth without love hardens hearts. Love without truth lacks direction. But truth expressed through love transforms lives.

“Do not be conformed to this age, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.” Romans 12:2

The world will not be changed by louder Christians. It will be changed by holier, kinder, steadfast ones.

Let us return to what Christ made unmistakable:

Love one another. Not selectively. Not conditionally. Not strategically. Just as He loved us.

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