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Reaching Out

In this book, Henri Nouwen compiles his thoughts into three sections: reaching out to our innermost self, reaching out to our fellow human beings and reaching out to God. In these three sections, he writes about moving from loneliness to solitude, from hostility to hospitality and from illusion to prayer. Although this book is not specifically about organic church, there are some great thoughts like the excerpt below on community.

The word “community” usually refers to a way of being together that gives us a sense of belonging. Often students complain that they do not experience much community in their school; ministers and priests wonder how they can create a better community in their parishes; and social workers, overwhelmed by the alienating influences of modern life, try hard to form communities in the neighborhood they are working in. In all these situations the word “community” points to a way of togetherness in which people can experience themselves as a meaningful part of a larger group.

Although we can say the same about the Christian community, it is important to remember that the Christian community is a waiting community, that is, a community which not only creates a sense of belonging but also a sense of estrangement. In the Christian community we say to each other, “We are together, but we cannot fulfill each other…we help each other, but we also have to remind each other that our destiny is beyond our togetherness.” The support of the Christian community is a support in common expectation. That requires a constant criticism of anyone who makes the community into a safe shelter or a cozy clique, and a constant encouragement to look forward to what is to come.

The basis of the Christian community is not the family tie, or social or economic equality, or shared oppression or complaint, or mutual attraction…but the divine call. The Christian community is not the result of human efforts. God has made us into his people by calling us out of “Egypt” to the “New Land,” out of the desert to fertile ground, out of slavery to freedom, out of our sin to salvation, out of captivity to liberation. All these words and images give expression to the fact that the initiative belongs to God and that he is the source of our new life together. By our common call to the New Jerusalem, we recognize each other on the road as brothers and sisters. Therefore, as the people of God, we are called ekklesia (from the Greek kaleo=call; and ek-out), the community called out of the old world into the new.

Since our desire to break the chains of our alienation is very strong today, it is of special importance to remind each other that, as members of the Christian community, we are not primarily for each other but for God. Our eyes should not remain fixed on each other but be directed forward to what is dawning on the horizon of our existence. We discover each other by following the same vocation and by supporting each other in the same search. Therefore, the Christian community is not a closed circle of people embracing each other, but a forward-moving group of companions bound together by the same voice asking for their attention.

It is quite understandable that in our large anonymous cities we look for people on our “wave length” to form small communities. Prayer groups, Bible-study clubs and house-churches all are ways of restoring or deepening our awareness of belonging to the people of God. But sometimes a false type of like-mindedness can narrow our sense of community. We all should have the mind of Jesus Christ, but we do not all have to have the mind of a school teacher, a carpenter, a bank director, a congressman or whatever socioeconomic or political group. There is a great wisdom hidden in the old bell tower calling people with very different backgrounds away from their homes to form one body in Jesus Christ. It is precisely by transcending the many individual differences that we can become witnesses of God who allows his light to shine upon poor and rich, healthy and sick alike. But it is also in this encounter on the way to God that we become aware of our neighbor’s needs and begin to heal each other’s wounds.

Books / Videos

The Poverty of Affluence

I have included some excerpts below from Paul L. Wachtel’s book written in 1989, The Poverty of Affluence. These excerpts were compiled by my good friend Jon Zens who introduces his thoughts on the subject in the first chapter below. The post is lengthier than usual, but I hope you take the time to read it through.

There can be little doubt that an aggressive individualism reigns in America. The “community sense” that used to be stronger here is virtually lost in the 21st century. But, does what is calling itself “church” even foster and cultivate living community, or does it contribute to the individualistic status quo? In the midst of a culture that is falling apart, the Body of Christ is to be an organic setting where the multi-faceted wisdom of God is manifested in and through the saints-a new humanity, a new community which is radically counter-cultural-a setting where the only medium of exchange is love-a family community where Christ’s shared life is lived out among the brothers and sisters as the visible Life expression of Christ in and to a needy world. Wachtel mentions “the widespread yearning for greater closeness to others.” It is clear that folks will not find this in the culture at large. Many are looking for love in all the wrong places. Will they find that “greater closeness to others” in Christ’s ekklesia? Jon Zens

Something about our commitment to (economic) growth seems akin to the phenomena observed in individual neuroses. For me the heart of the notion of neurosis is the occurrence of vicious cycles in people’s behavior in which their sense of security is undermined by the very efforts they make to bolster it. In what follows I shall examine how our quest for economic growth has been both a cause of drastic changes in the way we live, and a cornerstone of our efforts to deal with the anxiety generated by those very changes…

In explicating further, I wish to begin not with economic growth per se but with the sense of community and its decline. For most of human history people lived in tightly knit communities in which each individual had a specified place, and in which there was a strong sense of shared fate. The sense of belonging, of being part of something larger than oneself, was an important source of comfort. In the face of the dangers and the terrifying mysteries that the lonely individual encountered, this sense of connectedness-along with one’s religious faith, which often could hardly be separated from one’s membership in the community-was for most people the main way of achieving some sense of security and the courage to go on.

Over the past few hundred years, for a number of reasons, the sense of rootedness and belonging has been declining. In its place has appeared a more highly differentiated sense of individuality, implying both greater opportunity and greater separateness…

This does not mean, of course, that some sense of community, and some secure ties to others do not remain. We could not survive without such ties…While there is much truth in the common claim that individualism arose in the Renaissance, that claim must be understood as referring to individualism as a vector that began to challenge that of rootedness as the central force in society, not as a new phenomenon altogether.

The facts of our separate bodies, our separate pain, our separate deaths, as well as the differences in temperament and personality…preclude the possibility of a complete absence of individual identity and a sense of separateness…This understood, it may be stated strongly that we have witnessed a striking increase in the sense of separate, differentiated identity and a corresponding sharp decline in the sense of community and belonging.

The sense of belonging and shared fate has been further eroded by the social and geographic mobility that are far more characteristic of our society than of previous ones…One out of five of us moves each year. Today our place in the social order is less clearly demarcated and less securely held. We have no reserved seats. We must win our place.

We have friends, of course, but they are friends who have chosen us…Jeremy Seabrook refers to the “strangers who live where neighborhoods once were”…

Our enormously greater capacity to predict and control events, to alleviate pain and hunger, to provide leisure and abundance should have made us happier, Life now shouldn’t be just different, it should be better, much better…That, I think, is not the case…

Our present stress of growth and productivity is, I believe, intimately related to the decline in rootedness. Faced with loneliness and vulnerability that come with deprivation of a securely encompassing community, we have sought to quell the vulnerability through our possessions…But the comfort we achieve tends to be short-lived.

In all eras people must find means to reassure themselves in the face of their finiteness and mortality. We are all ultimately helpless to a far greater degree than we dare admit. Our fragility before the forces of nature (both those outside us and those within that cause pain, disease, and aging), as well as the certainly that death is our ultimate earthly destiny, are unbearable to face without some means of consoling ourselves, and of giving meaning and purpose to our lives.

Religion, as well as the sense of belonging to a community, once provided that means for most people. But over the years the progress of science and the development of newer, more efficient modes of production undermined religious faith, as it did the traditional ties between people that, together with religion, made life livable…The older ways did not disappear, but they ceased to exert the exclusive dominance they previously had…

The accumulation of wealth and material comforts, rather than secure rooting in a frame and context, began to form the primary basis for quelling the feelings of vulnerability that inevitably afflict us. Increasing numbers began to base their hopes and dreams on the evident progress in our ability to produce goods…

The economist Fred Hirsch noted that a decline in sociability and friendliness has been characteristic of modern economies. He noted that friendliness “is time consuming and thereby liable to be economized because of its extravagant absorption of this increasingly scarce input.” Hirsch suggested that the time needed for consumption of all that has become within economic reach may “reduce friendliness and mutual concern in society as a whole”…

If we are to fashion an alternative capable of luring us away from the attractions (and concomitant costs) of the consumer way of life, clearly restoration of the sense of community and connectedness to others must be at the heart of it…This kind of change will require considerably more attention to context, to support groups, and to the mutual sustaining of values and assumptions…

The consumer society has not left people in higher spirits. Far more than joy or contentment with their present materially comfortable status, Seabrook found disillusionment, sense of hopes betrayed. A sense on the part of parents that they had lost touch with their children; a sense on the part of the children that they had been set adrift; a fear of muggers, rapists, vandals; a diminished sense of being able to count on others for help-these were some of the things that seemed to accompany and to spoil these people’s increased affluence. The loss of community is one of the great problems we face as a society, and one of the great burdens for a very large number of individuals…

Few of us would explicitly avow that we have chosen to rely on products instead of other people, and, fortunately, the bonds of community and interdependency are too important to be severed completely. But the widespread yearning for greater closeness to others suggests that for many there is a sense of superficiality about these connections, even when things look good “from the outside”…

We are faced with having to learn again about interdependency and the need for rootedness after several centuries of having systematically – and proudly-dismantled our roots, ties, and traditions. The tallest trees need the most elaborate roots of all. To make use of our technology in a way that enhances rather than degrades our lives, we must take account of our new understanding of ecological limits and interdependence.

Books / Videos

Beneath the Graffiti

Many of us have felt discomfort in our spirits while attending institutional church. We’re not quite sure what’s wrong so we suggest tweaks to help things run smoother hoping that will fix the problem. It never does. This recent (2024) book by C J Penn reads like his personal journal as he begins to remove the graffiti from God’s masterpiece.

His honesty is refreshing and the pages are filled with scripture and quotes from others. Like the Matrix movie he takes the red pill and documents his journey out of church religiosity. Throughout the book he encourages readers to start their own journey.

The first half of the book flowed nicely but then I came to Chapter 16 entitled “Christian in Name Only” which seemed to be completely out of character. His disparaging remarks on Trump and on his Christian supporters and his remarks about the pro-life movement were concerning.

Mature Christ followers know the temptation on relying on politics to save the world. Politicians will never save the world and legislating morality doesn’t work. It’s completely legitimate to write about how Christians can get overly zealous about politics and politicians, but the writings here railed against one politician and one political party.

Honestly, I didn’t read the rest of the book. Hopefully, the author will rewrite this chapter presenting a more general view of politics and religion which I agree is well needed.

Books / Videos

The God-Evaders

This hard-hitting book was published in 1966 by Clyde Reid. The full title is The God-Evaders: How Churches & Their Members Frustrate the Genuine Experience of Christ. Many books talk about the dysfunction of the church structure but this book focuses on the mutual evasion by the clergy and the laity in experiencing the genuine Christ. If you find this online, it’s worth reading. The short excerpt below talks about “The Law of Religious Evasion”.

Churches tend to be more interested in programs and buildings and statistics than in persons. Never before has the spiritual poverty of our present religious structures been so clearly revealed. As a student put it to me so vividly one day: “The church stands in the way of Christ. You tend not to believe in God because of what you see in the church.”

To suggest that a revision of the order of worship or the liturgy will solve the problem is naïve. To rely on a new and up-to-date theological understanding is not enough. To insist on better preaching as the answer is to base our hopes on a false premise. We must look further and deeper than we have looked thus far. In this spirit I suggest the following insight as one of the dimensions of our difficulty.

We structure our churches and maintain them so as to shield us from God and to protect us from the genuine expression of Christ.

On a conscious level, we are gathered and organized in our churches for religious purposes, but on an unconscious level we have other motivations which take precedence and which contradict and nullify our spiritual intentions. Our behavior reveals all too often that unconscious resistance rather than conscious intention is determining our actions.

The church as a group tends to emasculate impulses toward Christ, corral them, then render them safe and harmless so they cannot upset the comfort level of the body.

This emasculating process is carried out in a number of subtle ways in the churches. We structure the services of worship as to prevent genuine worship. We use the clergy as buffers to protect us from the direct impact of religious influence. We invest great energy in the defense of doctrines which stand between us and God, rather than opening the way for a deeper relationship.

One of the bedrock answers that helps me to understand why we structure our churches to evade God is simply our fear of God. If we expose ourselves to His influence, we cannot be sure where it may lead us. If we follow Him, we may be led far from home. God represents the unknown, and the unknown is always frightening.

Unsung Heroes

Unsung Heroes – Kaua’i

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. I had the pleasure of meeting Stephen Ventura recently while I was on vacation. He tells his story here.

Hello! My Name is Stephen Ventura. I grew up on the island of Kaua’i in Hawai’i. I grew up Catholic and did not have a personal relationship with Jesus. I graduated high school in 1981 and found the Lord in 1995. I was 32 years old when God radically changed me. After a series of bad decisions I found myself at the end of my rope and called out to God. He answered me and my life has never been the same.

In 2000, I went to seminary in the San Francisco, California area. I became a youth intern for a church in California and that’s where I met my wife, Diana. We got married and had my daughter Victoria who is now 19 years old. In 2010 we were called to the associate pastor position at Waikiki Baptist church on the island of Oahu, Hawai’i. We stayed there for five years (2015) then moved back to Kaua’i as church planters. The name of our church is Kaua’i House Church Network which includes three solid house churches and one that is starting up.

I was searching for something more after my seminary schooling and fifteen years on staff at two conventional style churches. I was looking for something more organic and less institutional. I’ve sat through endless board meetings, worked through tight budgets and then there’s building maintenance and logistics all overshadowed by the need to bring in more tithing people to keep the machine running.

As a church planter I was looking for something simple and organic, something with low overhead. I found that in the house church model. None of our leaders, including me, gets paid and we don’t have a cost associated with a building. We meet in homes, on the beach or in parks. It can’t get any simpler than that and the model is easy to reproduce.

We started out with a vision of a network which would organically grow by everyone making disciples. As more disciples are made there would be a need for leadership development and then we would see a natural multiplication of groups. We started in 2015 and this initial group met for five years before expanding. In 2021 we expanded into three groups, tw of which are located on Kaua’i and one located in Oahu. In 2023, one of our families moved to Florida and started a community of believers in their home. Also in 2023 another family attending our church started their own house church which grew quickly. They decided to become their own church and actually broke away from KHCN but they had our blessing. The goal is and always has been kingdom growth, not Kaua’i House Church Network growth. Our vision is to see simple forms of organic churches rise up throughout our island and beyond.

2018 – Small beginnings – Making disciples

The challenge I would say is not everyone has the vision nor can they understand the concepts of house church, disciple making and church planting. I also believe that house church is a whole new paradigm that will take some time for people to catch on. Discipleship is another challenge. Christians are engrained with the idea that church is simply a spectator event: you attend once a week and it’s the pastor’s job to make disciples. After all, isn’t that why we pay them?

The house church structure and setting has been a great way to establish close relationships and we’ve become like family. Every week we meet and enjoy a meal together while discussing what’s going on in everyone’s life. After some time we break into a period of worship and discussion of the word. The message is shared and everyone can chime in. I usually close it with some key points, the good news and a challenge. I enjoy the intimate setting and the discussions that are initiated through the message. Others share their experiences, perspectives and things they’ve heard and learned about the particular passage we are studying. It brings a “multi-perspective” approach to preaching. I love that. Everyone is able to participate and everyone is hearing from the Spirit and speaking out. I think our quaint family style home church setting is the key to authentic biblical relationship building. We meet in our individual house church groups throughout the month and on the last Sunday of the month we all get together in one location for a big family-style potluck at the beach or a park.

For our group, the kids stay with us. We usually have something for them to color and we ask them questions and they share things as well. Two of our other groups have so many kids that they have someone lead them and they usually go outside to play while the adult group meets.

In my opinion, if a house church has all the same people meeting together after twenty years with no changes something is wrong. The goal is to make disciples that make disciples not sit, soak and get comfortable in our own little holy huddle. I challenge our people to be on mission at work, home, their communities and everywhere they go. The house church is always morphing, it’s organic, alive and takes on different shapes over time.

I think the secret, for me, is that I don’t have to build anything. I just share the gospel in a casual way with people I know and am trying to build relationships with. I disciple and teach our people to seek to make disciples and churches will eventually form. Some disciples grow faster than others and some house churches will spawn faster than others. So keep it simple and continue to preach the gospel rather than beat yourself up because you don’t see growth. Just live the gospel and the fruit of your labor will naturally develop. Jesus said, I will build my church. That’s all I need to know.

To contact Stephen and to find out more about the Kaua’i House Church Network click here.

Unsung Heroes

Unsung Heroes – Bauru, Brazil

Post author By admin
Post date October 21, 2024
4 Comments on Unsung Heroes – Bauru, Brazil

My name is Fernando Souza, I am 58 years old and was born and raised in the city of Bauru, Brazil. I studied Arts in college and currently I am instructor in Muay Thai. In 1997, I married my beloved wife Sheiza, with whom I have two daughters: Fernanda, who is married to João Vitor, my walking companion, and Lívia, who is 18 years old.

My experience of meeting Christ in July 2002 was impactful and transformative. It was through the lives of a couple who invited us to a church different from the ones I knew. This church had no name, building, or pastor, which initially seemed strange to me, but soon I realized the authenticity and simplicity of the faith lived there.

In August of the same year, I experienced deep repentance and decided to follow Christ wholeheartedly. I was baptized, symbolizing my new life in Christ and my commitment to Him. This experience brought spiritual renewal, peace, and purpose to my life, strengthening my journey of faith and bringing me closer to God.

Like many disciples in the Bible who had transformative encounters with Christ and were baptized as a symbol of their new faith, I also lived this significant experience in my life. The act of baptism represents death to sin and rebirth in Christ, marking the beginning of a new spiritual journey and a public commitment to the Christian faith.

My journey of transitioning from initial faith to understanding the importance of organic church and communion with disciples was marked by a deep and significant transformation. Initially, I held a superficial view of Christ and had no affinity with the disciples, even mistreating them and rejecting the idea of being part of a church.

However, God’s work was evident in my life through the loving influence of my wife and a Christian couple. The love of Christ was manifested through them, leading me to genuine conversion and baptism in a short period of time. From that point on, worshiping God became about intimacy, communion, and mutual love among the disciples.

Over the years, the church I belonged to was growing, but gradually it was losing its simplicity and initial essence. Institutionalization began to overshadow genuine communion, with the renting of a building, establishment of a clerical structure, and ritualization of services.

Faced with this scenario, there was an awakening in our group to return to the roots of faith, choosing to gather in homes, in a simple way guided by the Holy Spirit. In this setting, we rediscovered the joy of communion, sharing meals, sharing the Word, and praising the Lord in unity and simplicity.

This transition experience was crucial in realizing the importance of organic church and communion among disciples. We learned that true worship goes beyond rituals and structures, being grounded in a living relationship with God and mutual love among brothers and sisters. Thus, our journey led us to value the essence of Christian communion and to seek authentic and transformative worship.

Our journey of organic communion began this year, and we have witnessed the presence of several people participating in the meetings. During this period, we faced significant challenges, such as people missing the more spectacular format of institutional churches and their difficulty in understanding and accepting the true meaning of the church. People are so ingrained in religiosity…

It is interesting to observe that, even in the face of these obstacles, the Lord has been leading the process in a surprising way, attracting lives to join us. Amid uncertainties and questioning, our stance has been to keep our eyes fixed on Jesus, fully trusting that He is in control of all things.

The key to overcoming these challenges has been to focus on loving God, loving others, and fulfilling the commandment to make disciples. This love-centered and mission-focused approach has strengthened our community and empowered us to move forward, even in the face of adversities and resistance.

Thus, we remain steadfast in the purpose of living organic communion, trusting in the Lord’s guidance and in the transformative power of love and communion among disciples. Each challenge faced has been an opportunity for growth and spiritual maturity, strengthening our faith and commitment to the Kingdom of God.

Living in authentic relationships has had a profound impact on both myself and those around me. When people witness the communion and genuine bonds of the church, they may initially feel awe or strangeness, but these feelings soon give way to other perceptions. Some are drawn to the life of Christ manifested in the community, while others may show repulsion and disdain, labeling us as a “cult.”

The greatest benefits of this experience are the true connection and mutual edification that occur in authentic relationships. The ability to share life, challenges, joys, and sorrows genuinely strengthens the bonds between disciples and fosters an environment of love and mutual care. This atmosphere of communion reflects Christ’s love and positively impacts the lives of all involved.

Regarding raising children in the organic church, I can witness firsthand the benefits of this experience. My daughters grew up attending church meetings in our home, and the result was remarkable. They have become wonderful young women who love and fear God in all areas of their lives. They were raised according to the Lord’s principles, and this is reflected in their integrity, character, and relationship with Him.

Therefore, living in authentic relationships not only transforms lives individually but also significantly impacts future generations, as in the case of children raised in the organic church. Building strong bonds and witnessing Christ’s love shape not only the present but also the future of the community of disciples, yielding lasting fruits of faith, love, and commitment to the Kingdom of God.

To encourage someone facing difficulties with a group of people and to motivate them to start a new group, it’s essential to remember that we are merely collaborators with the Lord. We must keep in mind that He is in control of all things and that our obedience to His commandments is fundamental. The main thing is to love Him above all else and to love our neighbor as ourselves, following the call to build His house with living stones.

Starting a new group requires faith, perseverance, and humility. It’s important to remember that the Lord is the one who empowers and directs, and we must trust Him amid the difficulties and challenges that may arise. Encourage the person to trust in divine provision and guidance, always seeking unity, love, and truth in all interactions with the group.

Experience and faith teach us that the solid foundation for long term success lies in the constancy of faith, dedication to teaching the Word, and the practice of mutual love. Keeping a group active requires commitment, patience, and care for each member, cultivating authentic relationships and encouraging everyone’s spiritual growth.

Just as Scripture teaches us in Timothy about the importance of faithfulness, the expectation of persecutions, the need for perseverance, and the sufficiency of God’s Word, these principles are fundamental to sustaining a group over the years. The secret lies in remaining faithful to the Lord, facing adversities with courage, and building one another up in faith, always keeping the focus on the purpose and mission entrusted to us.

Dear leader, organizer, facilitator, pastor, or apostle who dedicates your time and effort to guide and care for the group, I want to share a word of encouragement based on faith and the truth of Scripture. Remember that it is no longer we who live, but Christ who lives in us. This is the essence of our mission and our service: to allow Christ to manifest Himself in everything we do.

To ensure the longevity and success of the group, it is essential to maintain focus on the Kingdom of God as our highest priority. When the Kingdom of God is at the center of our lives and ministry, we are strengthened and empowered to overcome challenges and grow together in fellowship and love.

Furthermore, remember to never take your eyes off the Lord, even in the face of adversities and difficulties. Trust fully in the Lord, for He is the one who sustains, empowers, and renews our strength. Keep your faith unshakeable and hope alive, knowing that the Lord is in control of all things and that He has a greater purpose in every situation.

As the group leader, be an example of humility, love, and dedication. Always be willing to listen, teach, and guide with wisdom and grace. Cultivate genuine relationships and invest in the spiritual growth of each group member, for it is in fellowship and mutual love that we find strength and encouragement to continue advancing together.

May your life and ministry be marked by the living presence of Christ, faithfulness to God’s Word, and unconditional love for others. May the Lord richly bless you and empower you to lead with wisdom, grace, and integrity, guiding the group on the path of truth and eternal life. May the peace and grace of the Lord be always with you.

Fernando can be contacted through WhatsApp +55 14 99191-9477 or email: aigrejaembauru@gmail.com. You can also check out his blog here.

Books / Videos

58 to 0

Post author By admin
Post date October 15, 2024
No Comments on 58 to 0

My wife and I had the pleasure of meeting Jon and Dotty Zens a couple of weeks ago. It was an honor spending time with them and hearing stories of their travels around the world. They have been encouraging relational fellowships since 1977 so their knowledge is not only based on the Word but founded on real life experiences. 58 to 0, How Christ Leads Through The One Anothers is a fabulous book. It’s meatier than some of his other books, so be prepared. I have included an excerpt below. You can check out his website here.

Years ago, Vernon Grounds wrote an article about “the fellowship of porcupines.” He noted that all of us are capable of poking one another in hurtful ways. The DNA of Christ in us longs for a community of shared life in Christ. But, as Henri Nouwen observed, the path to vibrant community “is hard and full of difficulties,” (H. Nouwen, Reaching Out, p. 46).

From the Lord’s perspective and purpose, He birthed the ekklesia on earth to express and display His Son. And through the ekklesia, He makes His wisdom known to the principalities and powers that rule in the heavenlies, thereby, His reign and love in the ekklesia will be seen by the watching world, (Ephesians 3:10; John 13:35).

Thus, despite the numerous obstacles and challenges to a believing community, fully functioning ekklesia is not optional, but the vitality and the heart of God’s eternal purpose in Christ. Followers of Christ on earth are faced with living in a serious tension within the messiness of His family, yet nevertheless, continuing to pursue Him together as those captured by His eternal purpose for His Son to have a Bride.

Nouwen crisply captured the essence of community when he called it “a joyful togetherness of spontaneous people,” (H. Nouwen, Reaching Out, p. 15).

So why do we find it so difficult to live the shared life of Christ with others? Why does a believing community seem to blossom so infrequently? I think it would be beneficial to touch upon some of the formidable challenges that we must wrestle with in the context of community.

Every culture has its peculiar characteristics that give believers a sure test of faith as they follow Jesus. Here are four to reflect upon.

1. Mobility: In our era, mobility is an issue in most places in the world. But in America it seems that many people are too mobile! Folks do not remain in the same place long enough to establish community with other believers. They are always moving for a variety of reasons. This makes it not only difficult, but near impossible to develop community together. Usually the parting takes place before the bond of Christ takes root through knowing Him in and through one another.

2. Distance: Many Americans drive long distances one-way from home to the church building of their choice. The fact remains that deepening relationships cannot be built from a distance. Living within reasonable proximity to one another facilitates community Life. Authentic community is the everyday things and everyday life that we share together.

3. Individualism: We live in a culture where, for the most part, people have built walls around themselves, and they don’t want to let any body in. People live in subdivisions and have never met their neighbors. “Jeremy Seabrook refers to the ‘strangers who live where neighborhoods once were’…. It may be stated strongly that we have witnessed a striking increase in the sense of separate, differentiated identity and a corresponding sharp decline in the sense of community and belonging,” (Paul L. Wachtel, “America, Land of Lost Community,” Searching Together, 38:3-4, 2012, p. 29).

Given that believers have usually been infected with forms of individualism, it takes a fresh revelation from Christ in order for them to see that in the Spirit they are part of a Body in which they receive from and give to the other parts, (1 Cor. 12:13).

4. Materialism and Consumerism: Most Americans feel pressured to devote a lot of time to obtaining and maintaining their things and their career. Building Christ-centered communities will involve each follower re-visiting how they use their time, money and resources. Community flows out of believers giving priority to Christ in others, not to pouring time and resources into things that will perish. Bruce Springsteen captured the spirit of this in “Blood Brothers”:

We played king of the mountain out on the end away
The world come chargin’ up the hill, and we were women and men
Now there’s so much that time, time and memory fade away
We got our own roads to ride and chances we gotta take
We stood side by side, each one fightin’ for the other
We said until we died, we’d always be blood brothers

Now the hardness of this world slowly grinds your dreams away
Makin’ a fool’s joke out of the promises we make
And what once seemed black and white turns to so many shades of gray
We lose ourselves in work to do and bills to pay
And it’s a ride, ride, ride, and there ain’t much cover
With no one runnin’ by your side my blood brother

It is with great sadness that we must observe that the churches people see on the street corners are not counter-cultural, but for the most part they acquiesce to American cultural norms. Is it any wonder that we do not see the Life of Christ in believers coming to expression in vital community? The very church structures themselves-both the buildings and the hierarchy-tend to foster mobility (people hopping from one church to the next), distance (relationships are not developed), individualism (no cultivation of body-life), and materialism/consumerism (church budgets need so much to pay for the buildings, the upkeep, their image, and the salaries).

Unsung Heroes

Unsung Heroes – Whanganui, New Zealand

Post author By admin
Post date October 15, 2024
2 Comments on Unsung Heroes – Whanganui, New Zealand

My name is Geoff Willmott, I’m married to Carrie (Caroline). We have three adult children and six grandchildren. I grew up in Hamilton, New Zealand then at age twenty one travelled to London where I lived and worked for two and a half years. While in London I met Carrie, we married and returned to New Zealand.

I grew up in a Christian household and asked Jesus into my life when I was eight years old. During my teenage years I rebelled and lived life in the world thinking it would provide me with the satisfaction I was looking for. How wrong I was! When in London, the New Living Translation was on sale at the St Paul’s Cathedral bookshop around the corner from my workplace. When I read it, compared to the KJV, the Bible came alive. I recommitted my life to Jesus and eventually trained through Baptist Theological College in Auckland alongside Anglican, Methodist, Catholic and Church of Christ students. I worked on mainframe computers for eighteen years, trained and pastored for fifteen years and had several small businesses. In my latter years I drove a school bus.

A couple of reasons why I was a rebellious teenager was I saw the institutional church looked nothing like the book of Acts and the demarcation lines of denominationalism were set in concrete. (Interestingly, the Chinese underground church has a manifesto based on the book of Acts: PRINCIPLES For the Gathering of believers under the Headship of Jesus Christ rather than the Gospels.) These realizations started a journey of looking for authentic church. Reading books helped, like James Rutz’s book ‘Open Church’. This book explained the history of how the church went off track.

Over the last forty years there were small group gurus who came to NZ that influenced me. Ralph Neighbour and Larry Kreider (Cell churches), Wolfgang Simson, Tony and Felicity Dale (House churches), Steve Addison (No Place Left discipleship and church planting).

We had some good small groups over the years and our church in Auckland saw fifty people come to the Lord over a two-year period using the cell group model. There was a transition from just a small group to a small group which desired to see people saved and groups multiplied. A friend introduced me to Paul Watson (son of David Watson) and a few of us did some Skype meetings introducing us to Discovery Bible Studies. We have since been involved in No Place Left by Steve Addison and others. T4T: A Discipleship Re-Revolution by Ying and Grace Kai was a great resource and it worked well in Auckland. Over one weekend, with minimal visitation, we found 82 houses of peace out of 450 visits open up for a DBS. I learned that we need teams raiding our communities to find houses of peace and then begin the discipleship process.

Currently, I’ve been involved in small groups of several kinds. Destiny Church meets Sundays and Wednesdays at a cafe, Wednesday night we feed the hungry in the city square and Friday night we have a group Bible study on Revelation. We are involved in We Are One Prayer Network – New Zealand and Beyond on Facebook which is growing rapidly as we pray for our towns and cities. Saturday mornings there are Indian house church fellowships with evangelizing afterwards at a river market. I believe God is sending Indian believers to NZ to wake us up! Sunday morning, I support my wife at her church (Indian pastors). Sunday night, I am part of a new church planted as a result of people excluded from places of worship during Covid. We are also involved politically, interviewing people like the mayor and other politicians and we see people being saved.

Children are involved in Destiny Church and children participate in the general part of the meeting at the Indian house church before going off to do something by themselves. My friend, a few hours north whom I network with, facilitates several house churches and trains people in disciple making. His three boys, eight to twelve, run their own house churches and evangelise their schoolmates and their parents.

I don’t hold things in permanence because things could suddenly change in this world. One thing we learned from Covid was that we were never going back to the ‘old normal’, God is preparing us for what is to come. So hang on for the ride and enjoy it. Hold to what the Holy Spirit is telling you and trust that Jesus is your covering. Stick with like-minded people for encouragement because at times it gets lonely and you’ll find you won’t fit into the ‘old’. We are a new creation destined for great exploits with our God. HALLELUJAH!!!

Geoff Willmott can be contacted at geoffrey.willmott@gmail.com or 027-775-4131 or +6427-775-4131.

I would love to hear from those who have been doing organic church for an extended time. Contact me (Jonathan Rovetto) at 414.217.2189 or at jirovetto@yahoo.com. Don’t miss the next Unsung Heroes, subscribe below.

Unsung Heroes

Unsung Heroes – Laguna, Philippines

Post author By admin
Post date October 11, 2024
No Comments on Unsung Heroes – Laguna, Philippines

My name is Eman Abrea. I am married with three children. I encountered Christ while attending church services near our home. I don’t remember the exact date when I gave my life to Him during my teenage years.

My life as a believer had its challenges. But a turning point came when I moved in with my older brother. He and his wife regularly attended a local church near their home. Since then, I gradually began to learn about Christ and His teachings personally. I started to grow in my faith and decided to study at a Bible School. I completed my Bachelor’s degree in Theology.

Q–How did you go from your initial faith to a realization that organic church/fellowship with believers was significant enough to change your pattern of worship? What was your journey?

At the age of 21, I became the pastor of a struggling church, older than myself. During those years, I began comparing the church’s practices to the teachings of Jesus and the early church. While studying the New Testament, I noticed many practices of the modern church that are not explicitly taught by Christ. For instance, conducting worship services every Sunday. Worship in the New Testament is a lifestyle, not a program-based activity confined to a particular day or days. The New Testament describes gatherings in small groups or house churches. All believers contribute to one another what they have learned from the Word and the Holy Spirit during their gatherings. There are no passive observers; everyone participates.

Q–How long have you been doing organic fellowship and are you still doing it? Have you seen other groups start from your initial group? What are the challenges you’ve seen? How do you/did you overcome challenges?

In the year 2000, my family and I embarked on a journey of organic church ministry after resigning from the church we had planted. We firmly believed that God was the one who encouraged us to start this path, with no support from any individual or group. By faith, we obeyed Him, even though we weren’t sure what to do. We felt alone in this endeavor. Some pastors we knew accused us of being backsliders because we stopped attending a local church. To make matters worse, they labeled us a cult group. We ignored their accusations and continued doing what we felt God was calling us to do. During those years, we established several house churches in different locations. However, we encountered challenges that led to setbacks:

Lack of effective discipleship
Absence of training for new leaders
Insufficient prayer
Insufficient reliance on God
Failure to focus on God’s Kingdom
Lack of character development
Lack of genuine relationships

Q–Have you had children grow up in organic church? Have you seen the benefits of this?

I’m grateful to say that our children grew up in a nurturing house church environment. We thank God for the fruits we’ve seen in their lives, they are all God-fearing, loving, and obedient to us and the Lord.

Q–How would you encourage a struggling group? How would you encourage someone to start a group? What’s the secret of a group that lasts more than 5 years?

My answer is simple, yet essential: Build an intimate relationship with God, especially with the Holy Spirit. This is His time, and He is actively working in our lives as the Teacher, Counselor, Coach, and Discipler-always available. He will teach us everything we need for this life. We must ask Him, talk to Him constantly, and listen to His guidance for every question we have. I assure you, He will not fail us. This is what’s happening in my life, my wife’s, my children’s, and in the lives of other believers. And this is what I teach to others: daily Bible reading, meditation, studying, journaling, and obedience are essential for building an intimate relationship with God.

This is not a system, method, program, materials, etc., but rather a growing and fruitful relationship with the King.

You can contact Eman Abrea by email at emanelvie@gmail.com.

Perspective

Lost Earring

It’s the beginning of October 2024, only 33 days until the “big” election. At 65 years old, I’ve been through many election cycles but I’ve never seen this much angst within the Christian community.

The majority of my friends are conservative and will vote Republican but they seem to have adopted a do-or-die attitude. They think if the Democrats win all hell will break loose, Christians will be persecuted, religious freedom will be a thing of the past, our country will crumble and civil war will break out. I guess only time will tell.

I’ve heard Christians distort scripture (Romans 13) saying that we don’t have to obey authority if we deem that our leaders are “evil”. I’m hearing comparisons to Hitler and Nazi Germany. They say Hitler would never have stayed in power if the “church” took action, implying that the church should take up arms. There is even a movie coming out in November about Dietrich Bonhoeffer called “Bonhoeffer: Pastor. Spy. Assassin.” Last time I checked Jesus was not a ninja.

My wife and I enjoyed the beauty of Kauai last week; it was awesome. Beautiful scenery, refreshing oceans, great food. We didn’t want to come back to Phoenix especially with the record breaking heat, but we did.

The picture above was taken at the beach where my wife lost her earring. Yes, she was upset but she knew the general area where it had fallen. When she searched for it the sand had already swallowed it up.

A short time later, out of nowhere, comes an angel named Daniel with a metal detector. We asked if he could search for the earring and he agreed to look for it. In a short time his detector started pinging and he recovered the earring.

Daniel then said to my wife, “Do you know the greatest thing that I’ve ever found?” After a short dramatic pause his response was “Jesus”. We all let out a hallelujah and had a great conversation about the Lord.

Maybe you think this was luck or a happy coincidence but could He have orchestrated such an event? Was this a reminder of His many promises in scripture? He knows our name, He knows how many hairs we have on our head, He’s gone to prepare a place for us. He cares about us and He loves us. Do we have faith in His promises? Can we trust Him?

If times get dark, which we know will happen, what will we decide to do? Should we take up arms and start shooting our enemies? Should we fight and rely on our own strength or rest on His many promises and expect Him to take care of us in life and even in death? We need to seriously work through these issues before things start getting darker.

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