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Pastor David Jones and his wife Mary have been told that they cannot invite friends to their San Diego, Calif. home for a Bible study — unless they are willing to pay tens of thousands of dollars to San Diego County.
This past Wednesday evening was just plain awesome! We shared dinner and fellowship time together, and then gathered in the living room to talk about what God’s been teaching us recently. We were able to rejoice with one another about praises and miracles. We were also able to listen as a few people shared questions they have about their own spiritual journeys. It was so encouraging to see the group respond with encouragement and insights rather than looking to Marty to supply a pat answer. It felt that we were witnessing the beginning of the type of organic church we’ve been envisioning.
We know we have a long way to go, but this week felt very real and relevant. Thank you for your prayers!
Sally is the best server at Village Inn. Over the past several weeks we’ve become friends – I go there every week for Bible study. A few weeks ago Sally shared with me that her mother has cancer, so I’ve been praying for her. Each week, we exchange a bit more about our lives. This week, faith came up and I shared with her that we meet at my house for church on Wednesday nights. It happens to be her night off, and she’s interested in coming. I’m so excited to continue building our friendship and introduce her to our group. Please pray for things to work out for her to come. Thanks!
Michelle is a fourth grade teacher at a very difficult school. She has two minority students that come from rough homes with no father figure . Michelle has been faithfully praying for these young boys to be matched with just the right high school mentors. Last week God came through! Two high school boys of the same ethnicity came and volunteered their time to befriend these young men. Michelle said, “You should have seen their eyes light up when I told them that two high school boys wanted to be their friend and hang out together!”
Hank has befriended a neighbor over the past few months. His friend, Troy, discovered that he had to appear in court … something about a government check that was mistakenly given to him and now is supposed to be repaid. Hank has been asking God to show him how he can share Jesus with Troy in an honest, helpful way. This week, Hank had a breakthrough conversation and shared with Troy how Jesus is our advocate–like an attorney in court– and that he is on our side. Troy was open to what was said and Hank is planning to accompany him to court to demonstrate God’s love for him.
Mitch is a high school teacher. Two weeks ago, Mitch heard Jesus tell him to talk to one of his students, John, who gets in trouble… just to let him know that he’s there for him and that he’d like to offer to help him out in life. Unfortunately, since Jesus said that to Mitch, John hasn’t been to class. Finally, on the last day of school – when over 70% of the class was absent – John was there. Mitch pulled him aside and shared his heart with him. John said, “Wow, you’d do something like that for me?”
Steve is new to our group – he’s Allyson’s father – and shared openly about his faith journey. ”I only associate certain parts of my life with God,” he said honestly, “but I want to associate everything in life with God. It makes sense, God created every part of my life, so wouldn’t he want to be involved in every part?” Steve is not alone.
Joy is a mature believer in our group. She shared that she’s been recently challenged by a Bible study she’s having with another woman in Mark 9:23 that reads,” ‘If you can’?” said Jesus. “Everything is possible for him who believes.” Jesus is challenging Joy’s lack of faith and asking her to simply walk in the faith that all things are possible with Jesus.
(Names have been changed to protect identities.)
At our mother-church, CCWC, we use the Life Journal for basic devotions. Every now and then I’d like to share with you what God has been speaking to me about. Here was yesterday’s journal entry.
1 Thessalonians 5:10 “He died for us so that whether we are awake or asleep, we may live together with him.”
“The gospel” sometimes gets confusing, lost, or elusive to me. It means good news and when I was 7, it was explained to me as the good news of forgiveness and heaven after I die. Later it was taught to me more holistically. That Jesus and his disciples preached the good news of the kingdom being at hand. I always have the feeling that people Jesus told that to must have understood it better than me because that doesn’t really mean anything to me. But in the last couple years I’m finding some clarity – mostly from Dwight Robertson’s perspective – that Jesus came to be with us. Emmanuel – God with us – IS the good news. Yes there is forgiveness. Yes we get to go to heaven. Yes we are a part of the kingdom. And on top of all that, Jesus is with me! Now THAT’S GOOD NEWS! As this verse basically says, “He died so that whether we are alive or dead, we may live together with him!” Thank you Jesus!
What has God been speaking to you about?
I grew up in a family that practiced our faith fluidly. If we had a soccer tournament or if we were going to the mountains, we didn’t sweat missing church… we just sang a few songs, read a little scripture, talked about it, and prayed. We jokingly called it Roadside Reformed, Lakeside Lutheran, or Bedside Baptist. (Evidently we weren’t too concerned with denominational affiliation.) It was real, it was personal, and everyone participated. This approach to church and Jesus helped reinforce in me that the Holy Spirit is mobile and lives where we live.
God demonstrated his love for his people through Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, the prophets. Then God demonstrated his love for people through Jesus. And now God is demonstrating his love for people through us by his Holy Spirit. The church is not a place, it is a people. And where two or more are together and acknowledge Jesus’ presence, that’s church.
Jesus stopped for a drink and changed a woman who told a whole town. Jesus saw a tax collector up in a tree, invited himself to dinner and changed a whole family. Jesus got off a boat, saw a crazy man possessed by demons and healed him. Jesus ministered to people in everyday, along the way situations. He made it clear that real life is the context for ministry.
Today, my wife and I are passionate about demonstrating God’s love to people right where we live. We are praying and working toward a movement of people who demonstrate God’s love for others in sacrificial action and in truth. We envision a network of fluid churches that meet weekly in homes, coffee shops, break rooms, wherever two or more can gather in His name… and that the whole movement will have an all gathering once a month for celebration, singing, food, and preaching.
Right now, we have a small group of people meeting at our house on Wednesday nights. Attendance fluctuates, but within that we definitely have a core team that is committed to the vision for the long haul. Please pray for us.
The everchurch name is a working title, but it reflects our desire to be the people of God everyday, everywhere, with everyone. Don’t go to church. Be the Church.
For several weeks no
w, Raya has been friends with our backyard neighbor girl, “Allyson.” We share a section of fence, and the trampolines are right near each other. The girls like to talk while they jump. Allyson is a pretty 6-year-old. When I’m out in the yard, she stands on the trampoline and talks to me about her German heritage, what she got for Easter, and anything else that’s on her mind. She keeps on talking to me the whole time I’m on my way back into the house.
Raya eventually asked me if Allyson could come over to play, so I talked with her mom and she brought her over. The girls have since been to each other’s houses a few times, and they always have fun together. They’ve recently taken to sitting at the fence and talking through a hole. They pass toys back and forth, and we recently uncovered a plot to “make a gate” in the fence so they can go back and forth whenever they want to. (They were looking for loose nails to pull out.)
This past week, Allyson’s dad brought her over to play again. She ran out back to see Raya, and he stayed to talk for a while. Once she was out of earshot, he said, “Did you know that Allyson has selective mutism?” We didn’t, and hadn’t ever heard of it before. He told us that when she turned four, she stopped talking to new people. She speaks to their family and to friends they had before she turned four, but has not spoken to anyone new. Her teachers and classmates have never heard her voice.
We were stunned to hear this. We would never have guessed it, considering the way she chatters away at our house.
Her dad said, “She must sense something here.”
We are thanking God for this incredibly encouraging interaction. We are praying that our home and family will be so filled with the Holy Spirit’s presence and Jesus’ love that this circumstance will be repeated over and over in unique ways as we open our doors and invite the world inside.
Allyson’s family is planning to join us this Wednesday for “church.” Please pray that God will be noticeably present!
-Jaclyn
What is Ecclesia?
For the past few weeks, some of us have been learning about house/simple church from John White who is part of the Simple Church movement in Denver. I’d like to hear your thoughts on what we’ve discussed, so here are some notes.
Jesus said, “For where two or three come together in my name, there I am with them.” (Mt. 18:20) Jesus promised his presence. Similarly, “And he [Jesus] is the head of the body, the church;” (Col. 1:18) This tells me that when two or more gather in Jesus’ name, he is present and he presides… that is the embryonic church.
If Jesus is here – literally – and he’s the head of the church, our father, our shepherd, then the most beneficial thing we can do is listen to him. He said clearly in John 10 that he is the good shepherd, “I know my sheep and my sheep know me.” And, “the sheep listen to his voice…” And, “the sheep follow him because they know his voice.”
If the above scriptures are true, there are two keys to ecclesia (church).
The key fact: Jesus is present. The key skill: listening to Jesus.
Discipleship can be summarized as, “Listen, obey, and teach others to do the same.” Our desire is for every person in the movement to be listening to Jesus and obeying him. If this occurs, people will be learning to fulfill the Great Commission in the spirit of the Great Commandments straight from the Great Commander. Of course, we see many examples of spiritual mentorship/coaching in scripture as well and we believe this will happen intentionally and organically.
I am currently discipling 4 young believers and am being casually discipled by three mature believers. This is the pattern for everyone to follow… get discipled and disciple others. Among other characteristics of maturation in Christ, this will be highly emphasized.
What does this look like?
For the past 8 years I’ve dreamt of a grassroots movement of believers that are recklessly following Jesus and living out their faith in action by blessing the world around them. I’ve envisioned this church network as a web of Christians meeting together in very small discipleship groups (2-3 people) and churches (a.k.a. house churches) of 10-20 people. Then the entire movement will meet together to celebrate, baptize, serve the community, share stories, worship in singing, and receive preaching/teaching once a month.
A friend and mentor of mine, Sean, recently told me about a house church network going very well in Boulder. As it turns out, this is the closest thing I’ve ever seen to my vision. To learn more about it, visit http://emmausroadonline.wordpress.com/ To get a good feel for why this would be attractive to people, I recommend watching the videos and reading the “About” content.
So what do you think? Would you agree that wherever 2 or more believers gather in Christ’s name, he’ll be present? What program or curriculum is necessary or would be helpful to learn to listen and obey Jesus? Please share your thoughts and questions in the comments.
We headed back to Hoosierland for my 10-year high school reunion. We had so much fun reconnecting with my old friends!
On Sunday we had lunch with our dear friends and former youth group students, Heath and Kelly Jones. Miss Kelly was a big hit with the kids. (Surprise, surprise!)
Raya was SO excited to see Aunt "Mimi!" (Jamie) We were, too.
We stopped to visit my Grandma Cox at the nursing home in Marion. She doesn't remember us much anymore, but she still has her old sense of humor. She kept making silly faces at the camera and flirting with Marty.
We can't come to Indiana and not go see the Browns. Unfortunately, Kevin is in Scotland, but we were able to see Maria and the kids for a couple hours. If you think of them, please pray for their house in Shipshewana to sell.
It took some coaxing to get Raya and Cambel to stop playing long enough to take a picture. They were in their own little world. Aren't they a cute couple?
