Tag: church

The work of the Spirit – 1

This new life we live is not just about what we do, nor is it entirely about receiving from the Spirit. Jesus wants our co-operation.

This article is an extract from my short book, Jesus, Disciple, Mission, Church (JDMC). I also mention The Forgotten Ways, a book by Alan Hirsch. The bite-sized piece below is roughly two percent of the book.

JDMC cover

I want to guard against any suggestion that JDMC is merely presenting an organisational mechanism for rapid missional spread. It’s much more than a worldly method or a management technique. Instead it is the pattern set by Christ himself, and therefore the Spirit of Christ is present throughout and waiting for us to hear his guidance and encouragement as we do the work the Master has entrusted to us. To depend on human technique alone won’t cut the mustard – far from it! One of the forgotten ways is keeping Jesus central, following only him, adding nothing in addition. This utter dependence on Christ surely implies and demands a dependence on his Spirit – how could it possibly be otherwise?

We need to recognise that this new life we live is not just about what we do, nor is it entirely about receiving from the Spirit. Jesus wants our co-operation. If there was no need for the work of the Spirit, why would Paul warn us not to quench him? (1 Thessalonians 5:19) And if there was no need for human effort or will, why would he tell us to strive? (1 Thessalonians 5:15, 1 Timothy 4:10)

So in this additional part of JDMC I want to highlight some of the ways we can recognise and value the Holy Spirit’s activity as we attempt to remember and activate the six forgotten ways. I also offer some advice on spiritual listening at the end.

To be clear, this section should not be seen as an additional ‘forgotten way’. It isn’t that at all. But the work of the Holy Spirit surely runs deep in each of those six forgotten ways. He is, as already mentioned, the Spirit of Christ and he was sent specifically to enable us to continue the work of Jesus. If we are the body and Jesus is our head, then the Spirit is like a nervous system – fundamentally centred in the head but with sensory and motor connections to every part of the body. When we resist him and are disobedient, part of the body is effectively paralysed. And if the body acts without the Holy Spirit it is sleepwalking and
ineffective.

If all of this sounds hard – it is. We have to learn to die so that we can begin to live in Christ. It’s not that we have to work hard to be more like Jesus; rather we have to let go of all our own goals and desires and effort and planning and let Jesus live his life in us. He will tell us and show us what to do, when to do it, and how. The Holy Spirit is no less than the Spirit of Christ, he is our guide and walks with us in every situation. He is the heart and mind of the Messiah expressing himself through his people.

Talk together about the ways the Holy Spirit has interacted with you in
your lives as you follow Jesus. Are there some encouraging stories you can
share? (This question is for group discussion, but since you’re reading this you might think about it as an individual.)

Read the book

This was extracted from Jesus, Disciple, Mission, Church (JDMC), page 37. Download the whole thing or read it online – GetJDMC.scilla.org.uk

Useful? Interesting?

If you enjoyed this article, please like, comment, and share below. My material is free to reuse, but a coffee is always welcome!

Cruising the Gospel – Index

Cycling through the gospels to keep Jesus at the centre of all we do.

For convenience, you can jump to any book or chapter by clicking the links below, or skip to the most recent post. Newer items are posted on this site (JHM) and on ‘Cruising the Gospel’ (CTG), but the older ones appear only in CTG. If you intend to work systematically through one of the gospels, or all of them, CTG is designed to make that easier and more comfortable.

Read the introduction, or dive right in…

Matthew 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28
Mark 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16
Luke …
John 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14…

More on ground breaking

In the life of the church the central figure is Jesus and the central idea is that he is Lord. The church was founded on this person and this truth nearly 2000 years ago.

Where should we start in church life, where should we start in mission, or in teaching, or in any other aspect of being a believer and follower of Jesus? The answer is simple and rather obvious – we should start with Jesus himself.

Following my post ‘Ground breaking‘ on 26th February, I’d like to examine a particular example. In my study guide, JDMC, I set out to help small groups of individuals live out Jesus’ command to ‘go into all the world and make disciples’. The idea is that making disciples is the first step on the journey to starting a movement that will grow and grow. Alan Hirsch, in setting out this idea in his seminal book ‘The Forgotten Ways’, identified six factors that work together to make a movement buzz and thrive. The first factor is that there needs to be a person and an idea that together can become the focal point for the movement.

More groundbreaking – Image from Wikimedia
A person and an idea

All vigorously growing movements have this centralised focus. For the communist revolution in Russia in the early part of the 20th century the person was Karl Marx and the idea was that wealth should be shared, not held primarily by a ruling class. The means of production should be owned, not by industrialists, but by the workers themselves.

It’s not hard to identify the same structure in all sorts of other historical movements; think of Al Qaeda, the Methodist movement, female suffrage, the rise of the German Nazi party between the first and second world wars, the growth of Amazon as a supply and delivery business. I could go on, there are many examples, and it’s not hard to see a central personality and a central notion or purpose for each.

Jesus is Lord!

In the life of the church the central figure is Jesus and the central idea is that he is Lord. The church was founded on this person and this truth nearly 2000 years ago. He gave us everything we need to become disciples, and he imbued the church with everything it needs to be a thriving, thrusting movement. And although in the first few hundred years, there was explosive growth, a real movement on a major scale, something that swept through the Graeco-Roman world and far beyond – that momentum stalled. Something fundamental, in church today, seems to be missing.

This is the first of six essential ingredients that Alan Hirsch argues that we need to rediscover and reactivate in the church. I think he is right. We need to recover the sense that Jesus is at the heart of church life, and that he is Lord.

It’s fair to argue that this is exactly what Jesus himself meant when he told his disciples to go out into the world and make disciples. But he surrounded that command with some super-important statements. First he said that he has full authority, then he told them to go and make more disciples, he said to teach those new disciples to do all the things he’d taught his initial disciples, and then he finished by telling them that he’d be with them all the way. They did what he’d asked, they made many more disciples who also understood that Jesus is Lord and that they were, in turn, to make more disciples. And they did. And that is a movement! They literally changed their world.

But it’s essential that we do more than just repeat the slogan, ‘Jesus is Lord’. We need to live the slogan out; as disciples of Jesus, we need to do what he did, and to speak into our culture the things he spoke into his culture. He told us to love the people in our lives, he said we should forgive people who are unkind to us. He calls us to imitate his words, but also his thinking and his actions. It’s essential to go as he did, to bless the people around us, to help the helpless, feed the hungry, and meet every need as and when we come across it. Jesus blessed people in many ways, if we are truly his disciples so will we. But as Alan Hirsch points out, there’s more to it than just this one factor. We may be ever so familiar with Jesus, and have a close knowledge of him. We might study him at degree level, publish learned papers about him, write theses about his life and work, and read and write great books about him, and never once see any hint of a rapidly expanding movement.

Knowing Jesus is not, on its own, enough. It is, however an indispensable first step. We do need to know Jesus intimately, to understand who he is, and follow him to the best of our abilities. Yet this alone is insufficient for the rapidly growing movement we would all, surely, like to see! There are five other necessary factors and we will look at another one next time. Alongside the person and the idea there also needs to be a gift. We’ll discuss this in detail in the next part of this short series, but for now it’s enough to know that Jesus is not only the person, and his lordship the idea, but also Jesus himself is the gift. Jesus gave himself for us. This is the supreme gift, but there are others as we shall see.

BUT! In the meantime, get to know Jesus as never before. Spend time discovering him as a person by reading through the gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. Ask him to reveal himself more fully to you, he is always happy to answer this request, whether you are poor or wealthy, healthy or unwell, highly educated or unable to read. Consider what it means that he is Lord, and consider the cost involved in giving himself and the benefit of that gift to you and to me.

Remember, you need to get to know a person – Jesus: and you need to grapple with an idea – Jesus is Lord: and you need to understand a gift – Jesus’ action in pouring himself out for you, for me, for all of us.

Some resources

Meanwhile, let me leave you with some places to look for more information on this.

  • The best way to get to know Jesus better is to keep reading the Gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke, John). They are freely available on line in a variety of languages and versions. Bible Gateway is a good source, but there are plenty of others. If you like, take a look at my website, Cruising the Gospel.
  • My guidebook, JDMC, presents Alan Hirsch’s six forgotten ways in a short, introductory, workbook format for individuals, or better, a small group of up to 12 people. Part One – Jesus at the Centre is the relevant section.
  • Alan Hirsch’s widely read book ‘The Forgotten Ways’ is available in print or in ebook form. Buy it from Eden, Google Play Books, Amazon or from your local bookshop.

Ground breaking

Have we come to a time when the church is perfect and is missing nothing? I don’t think so! What fresh revelation will be next?

In a recent, very brief conversation on Twitter I suggested that something was ‘ground breaking’. Specifically it concerned some ideas about following Jesus, and whether one particular idea was ground breaking.

Thinking about this afterwards I realised that a useful conversation requires that we agree on what we mean by ‘ground breaking’ in the context of the lives and activities of believers interacting together in groups.

Ploughing with bullocks – From Wikimedia

Arguably, ‘ground breaking’ might originally be a farming or growing term. Before taking a harvest, it’s necessary to plant seeds in fertile soil, get them to germinate, and wait for them to grow. The farmer has much to do during that process, but the very first requirement is to do some ground breaking. Turning the soil with a plough (or a spade) loosens it, damages any weeds growing there, makes it easier to sow seed, and enables water and air to penetrate (both are needed). A bit of ground breaking can work wonders!

Jesus, ground breaker par excellence

In one sense of course, Jesus did all the ground breaking that could possibly be needed in church life. He only did what he saw his Father do, and only said what he heard his Father say. And he told his followers, ‘My Father is a gardener’. He also told a striking parable about seed falling in different places, including well prepared soil as well as several kinds of unprepared, unsuitable, or poorly prepared ground.

His is a foundational kind of ground breaking that we cannot and do not need to repeat. But there’s something else I would call ground breaking; something that happens every time principles, knowledge, or behaviour that the church has forgotten is restored. It’s happened over and over again.

Lesser ground breakings

One relatively recent example would be the spiritual revival that took place in the 1960s and 70s. I’m old enough to remember the excitement of discovering two things in those days. The understanding that the Holy Spirit poured out gifts on his people and wanted us to put them to use, and the idea that small groups meeting outside the denominations were capable of rapid and dynamic growth. They were exciting times. Out of this sprang three phenomena that are still with us today; multiple streams of new organisations like New Frontiers, New Wine, and many more; a re-invigoration of parts of most denominations, Anglican, Baptist, Methodist, Catholic and more; and thirdly the house church movement based around small, intimate groups of friends.

Going back a little we can see that the Azusa Street events were ground breaking in the same sense and resulted in the two main streams of Pentecostal churches.

Before that we might identify the Welsh revival when a new sense of unworthiness and Father’s forgiveness resulted in large numbers of people praising and worshipping, encouraging one another, and preaching to their neighbours in towns and villages. Before that the Wesleys and Methodism flourished and it was understood that small groups can be a powerful way for people to grow and develop together. And there are many more ground breaking events like these right back through the centuries.

When I talk about ground breaking I definitely include developments like these, discoveries that there was, in the earliest state of the church, some other element of following Jesus which has since fallen into disuse or even faded from memory entirely. Rediscovering how things used to be and might be again is ground breaking in this lesser sense.

New, vigorous growth

Such freshly re-broken ground almost always seems to result in new, vigorous growth where previously things had become somewhat tired and wooden. Think in terms of a neglected, weak, dehydrated plant that has just been potted up with fresh compost, is being watered regularly, and now stands in a new spot where there is fresh air, adequate humidity, and plenty of light. A plant like that will put on a sudden spurt of growth, form new shoots and leaves, and perhaps flower for the first time in ages.

We need to see more ground being rebroken and experience that fresh flush of growth and energy again and again. Have we come to a time when the church is perfect and is missing nothing? I don’t think so! What fresh revelation will be next?

Note: Ground breaking can also mean a ceremonial turning of soil at the start of a construction project. It can be instructive to think of Jesus’ work as the start of a building project – the New Jerusalem, which is the church (see Revelation 21:9-10). But that’s a whole topic on its own.

My Father is a farmer

Human society seems to bring a certain amount of order to the scene, but it’s a deceptive kind of order. Anyone who has a garden will know that order demands great effort to achieve and continuous effort to maintain.

Some have argued that living things depend on structure and order. And of course, there is some truth in that; but it’s a limited kind of truth. Look at a forest, a coral reef (or any ecosystem) and you will see the most amazing and thriving mess. Colours and shapes intermingled haphazardly, lots of competition for space and light. Every single organism doing its own thing.

Coral reef, a rich mix of species (Image from Wikimedia)

Human society seems to bring a certain amount of order to the scene, but it’s a deceptive kind of order. Anyone who has a garden will know that order demands great effort to achieve and continuous effort to maintain. And much of that effort will involve destruction – rooting out things that grow where you don’t want them, trimming hedges to keep them straight, cutting grass to maintain a smooth lawn, poisoning unwanted insects and fungi. A garden has structure and looks nice, but that structure comes at great cost to nature and requires constant effort from the gardener. Jesus said his Father is a gardener.

Farmer is really a more appropriate English word. And not ‘farmer’ as in a modern monocrop system of extensive wheat or mile after mile of beans or peanuts. Papa isn’t bothered about measured lines and neat grass; his interests are more to do with fruitfulness than with structure. He is not a park attendant, he is a grower of vines and olives in the way they were grown 2000 years ago in Israel, sympathetically and naturally. Farmers in those days were helpers and encouragers of the abundance of the natural, not at all like today’s farmers who are more like dictators armed with diesel fuel, big machines, and farm chemicals.

For those who want to function in a structured environment with clear and appointed leadership roles and a liturgy – be my guest, feel free. Sometimes Papa calls me to be involved in those situations too. But mostly he calls me to the freedom, glory, and abundant life of his original garden. This is a place where you will rarely see a straight line, where men and women do not control the show, where there is no architecture and there are no roads. It’s a place where he invites his children to come and run free and shout with joy in his presence. There is no liturgy, just an outpouring of praise and worship from rejoicing hearts.

And out of the ‘disorder’ of this garden comes a deeper knowledge of the heart of the Most High and a richer walk with him. And the life I experience there in his presence with my brothers and sisters, that life is something I can take into this struggling world. Truly he is the way, the truth, and the life. HalleluYah!

Is church unbalanced?

If we learn to cooperate with one another … we will catch a view of [Jesus’] nature and so will the world around us

Part 6 of a series – What are we doing?

< The good and bad of services | Index | New situation, new (old) ways >

So – Is church unbalanced? What a question! And what do I mean by unbalanced, anyway?

Let’s put it it like this. I’ve been talking most of my life about five things that seem to me to be of the utmost importance. I’ve been trying to live and grow in these five things, and I’ve always wanted to express them and share them widely. But I’ve found few who will listen, and even fewer who understand at a heart level. Here are the five things briefly described; as you read the list consider their effectiveness within church and beyond church (out in the world).

A rose with three petals missing is barely a rose at all
  • The church should spread and multiply everywhere
  • The church must speak truth into its own culture and into the culture of the world around it
  • The church should stir up desire in people’s hearts and minds, and help them find the way to live and move in truth and light
  • The church needs to nurture and encourage people, especially when they face pain, danger, hardship or doubt
  • The church should communicate in effective, memorable ways

Although the church is working in some of these ways, it doesn’t seem well-equipped to move equally in them all. What’s the problem and how can it be resolved?

Alan Hirsch, one of my favourite authors, explains this very clearly in a short video. It takes less than 11 minutes to watch, but they will be 11 minutes well spent. Can I encourage you to watch and listen as he explains where these five things come from, how they are all essential, and where they should lead us? He has analysed and expressed it all very clearly, but if you’re new to this stuff you’ll need an open and listening heart for the pattern to emerge and gel.

Alan Hirsch – 11 minutes on APEST

All of this is especially relevant to the series of articles on what we are doing in church life and how we might make some changes. We really do need the mind of Christ; our own minds alone are not up to the task. If we learn to cooperate with one another so as to allow Jesus to express himself in us and through us corporately, we will catch a view of his nature and so will the world around us. Being church on our terms will not take us any further than we have already gone, being church on Jesus’ terms will transform everything. What have we been missing?

I’d like to develop some of this in further posts. But finally, please note that Alan begins by saying, ‘One of the dimensions of movements is APEST’. We’ll discuss some of the other dimensions in future posts too.

Additional resources

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The good and bad of services

A meeting that is not managed by us has the opportunity of being managed by the Holy Spirit.

Part 5 of a series – What are we doing?

< Message to a friend | Index | Is church unbalanced? >

In part 3 of this series, ‘Like a waterfall’, I shared a vision and some words from the Spirit about how the water in a river is constrained by the banks and bed of the river, and how a waterfall allows complete freedom for the water to respond to the attractive force of gravity. In this post I’d like to share some thoughts about church services and how they affect church life.

A photo showing people in a typical church service
A typical church service (image from Wikipedia)

Pretty well all denominations hold regular services, usually on Sunday mornings and often Sunday evenings and a weekday evening as well. They are called services because they serve someone. You could argue that their function is to serve the Father and/or Jesus through corporate worship and praise, or you could take the view that they are occasions where a minister serves teaching and guidance to the congregation who act as a (mostly) passive audience. Services follow set patterns, from a loosely defined prayer/hymn sandwich, to a set of rituals, and traditional and familiar practices like preaching or singing, prayer from the front and so forth. But if we turn to the New Testament we find nothing like this.

It’s true that Jesus and his disciples met together a lot, they travelled the road as a group with many other followers and hangers on, and they ate together and talked a good deal. Sometimes Jesus spoke with the inner twelve alone – often asking them questions, so it was conversational teaching. At other times he spoke to larger crowds. He provided wine when it ran out at an embarrassing moment, he healed sick people, spoke to people, sometimes he touched people physically, and yes – occasionally he went to the Synagogue. But there’s very little here that looks like a 21st century church service.

There are more clues in Acts and Paul’s letters. People did meet together, but the descriptions we get are of participatory meetings with no particular person making decisions about timing and no discernable programme. Certainly, if there was a visitor like Paul present, he might share news or even teach, but this seems to have been done on an ad-hoc basis as and when it seemed useful. We read of people praying, prophesying, teaching, singing, worshipping, speaking in unintelligible languages, interpreting what was said, praising, giving way to one another and so forth. There’s nothing here we’d recognise as a service. People were sharing whatever the Holy Spirit urged them to say at that moment.

So let’s think about the benefits and issues of church services on the one hand, and on the other, meetings with no agenda where people listen to the Spirit and share freely whatever he provides. Which seems most like a waterfall? Which seems most like a fixed channel? If the Spirit urged you to pray, or share a vision, or begin a song, or start to teach – which kind of meeting would offer the most comfortable opportunity? Paul wrote that we should do things decently and not in disorder. But he didn’t write that we should decide the pattern, sequence, songs and speaker beforehand! Somewhere between 100 AD and the Middle Ages, dynamic church life in the Spirit was replaced with restrictive and pre-set formats and traditions. The waterfall became a river!

What are the benefits of a ‘waterfall’ meeting? Simply this: a meeting that is not managed by us has the opportunity of being managed by the Holy Spirit. I say ‘opportunity’ because it’s also possible for us to have an unruly free-for-all in which we all do what we think best without waiting for the Spirit to guide us. Paul warns against this. But if a group of his people agree to be silent together and listen and then express whatever they are given, there will be a sharing of spiritual life with a focus and purpose that is astonishing. We have to trust one another to act gently and kindly, to see, hear and share what we are given moment by moment, to give way to one another, to wait for one another, and to focus on the Master, not on ourselves. And then there is the potential for a meeting in which he speaks and we listen in awe and amazement. Pictures and words, Bible verses and songs, unknown languages and their interpretation, prayer, prophetic words and teaching, worship and praise will merge as he leads us and guides us. We will know when he has finished, the end of the meeting will come naturally and with a sense of fulfillment and purpose. All of us will know that something special has happened and we will go away deeply encouraged, with a sense of direction, and the knowledge that this was another special time in the presence of the King. And yes, it will have been a ‘service’ in the deepest sense of that word, for he has served us and we have served him and his presence was clearly evident and amazing.

Will this fruitful kind of meeting come easily? No it won’t. It will take practice, and it may be difficult at first. GK Chesterton famously said, ‘The Christian ideal has not been tried and found wanting. It has been found difficult; and left untried’. The same might be said of ‘waterfall’ meetings – we need to be willing to try and try again until we learn how to let the Spirit lead us together in this way; but we do need to try! The benefits will far outweigh the difficulties. I’ve been in many meetings of this kind over the years, from tiny groups of just two or three people, up to gatherings of more than a hundred.

Here are a few hints that may help if you want to try this with friends.

  • Don’t sit in rows, sit in a circle; if there are many people you might need several concentric circles, but you need to see one another. Don’t have a ‘front’, have a centre.
  • Give Jesus your full attention, and examine the things that just pop into your mind – thoughts, words and phrases, emotions, images.
  • Don’t be afraid of silence. Use these times to focus on Jesus and his presence in the meeting.
  • Give way to one another. Many short contributions will be better than one or two long ones.
  • Don’t have a leader. Somebody might begin with a welcome and to point out the emergency exits or share other important practical details, but then they should sit down and become part of the corporate process, listening and sharing like everyone else.
  • Allow plenty of space, have a gap in the circle so people can come and go – several gaps if the circle is large. Have space for people to stand, walk about a little, or dance.
  • If possible, don’t set a time to end the meeting. Everyone will know when it’s finished.
  • Allow time at the beginning for people to mingle and chat. Consider eating and drinking together, anything from tea and coffee to a pot luck meal. And allow time to mingle and chat again at the end if you can.
  • There is no ‘right’ format. The purpose of meeting is to be one in Christ, to hear from his Spirit, and to share what each is hearing or seeing. Be open, be flexible.
  • If you haven’t met like this before, it may be best to begin with smaller numbers, perhaps twelve to fifteen at most.
  • Don’t prepare what to do or say in advance. Instead come with nothing and be prepared to see and hear and share moment by moment while you are together.

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Message to a friend

It’s hard for passions to stay alive when you’re in a dry and dusty land with the dry bones of church lying all around

Part 4 of a series – What are we doing?

< Like a waterfall | Index | The good and bad of services >

I recently had a conversation with my friend Steve* who had just read my earlier article about Ezekiel, ‘Dry bones in the valley‘. He sent me an email about his thoughts and I sent a reply. Immediately I’d sent it I felt a strong sense that the Holy Spirit was encouraging me to post my reply to the blog as well; so with Steve’s permission, here it is:

Hi Steve,

Thanks for taking the time and effort to reply with your thoughts and feelings. It’s not work for me, it’s fun, it helps us know one another better, it’s a joy and a pleasure. We write about things we only skim over when we chat because our conversations are newsy and more about catching up – and that’s good too, I always look forward to our chats.

There are two journeys here – your personal journey, and the journey of the church. When I wrote the articles about Ezekiel and the valley of dry bones I was writing to and about the church. I felt at the time and still feel today that the church is sleepwalking and not really listening to what Father is saying. It’s a dry, dusty and fairly lifeless place to be when compared with the early church or with any of the great revivals in the last 2000 years. Church hurts people, disappoints people, dries people up spiritually, channels them into limited thinking and limited behaviour; that’s not what Jesus wants for his people! And it’s mostly because we focus our energies on programs, Bible studies, pre-programmed music, meetings, buildings to own or rent, prayer groups, money raising, mission planning, leadership training. Life is not in those things, real life is in Jesus.

But of course that doesn’t mean that Ezekiel has nothing to say to you personally, Steve. Papa will speak into your life as he does into every follower of Jesus. You feel – understandably – like Ezekiel must have felt by the river, before he had his vision about the valley of bones. I know you identified with the sense of captivity, loss, bleak prospects, endless struggle, and a feeling of hopelessness and no future. And those were the feelings of Ezekiel that the everlasting Father put his hand on. A gentle touch on the shoulder is easily overlooked, you might barely notice it. Yet it speaks volumes because it says, I am here, I am with you, I understand how you feel, I will come with you, have peace in your heart, you are not forgotten, I love you, you are my child, I am your Father and your friend, I haven’t abandoned you, I am here.

And as your brother standing nearby I can see that Papa has his hand on you. I’m a witness that he is touching you, Steve. I’ve seen you change, you are responding to his touch even though it’s not come in quite the way you expect or long for. The trip we made to Siddington was part of his touch, this conversation about the valley of bones is part of it, too. Having your children spend extra time with you is part of it. The practical and brotherly presence of another friend in your life is part of it. The new jobs you’ve been finding are part of it. The changes in your thinking about yourself, and about church, they’re part of it. Andy and Ellie are part of it.

His hand is on you and he will continue to show you stuff and use you. Even though you sometimes might not notice! 🙂

I’ve just been listening to Phil Wickham singing ‘All I am’. Maybe you’ll enjoy it too, it seems relevant.

You wrote, ‘I wish Father was more active and willing to power through for me instead of letting me learn through the journey‘.

Maybe learning through the journey teaches us more deeply, but he does power through as well when we are stuck. I think perhaps Siddington was an example of that.

You wrote, ‘I’m in a position where my passion’s dying due to not knowing if my actions in the church are what God wants for me anymore‘.

I was in that place, too. But the problem is not in you, the problem is in the church. If you were amongst a group of people who all just wanted to hear and respond to Jesus and only Jesus, you would find yourself being used – in your gifting and in a thousand other ways as well. It’s hard for passions to stay alive when you’re in a dry and dusty land with the dry bones of church lying all around. Believe me, Steve, if you were back in the early church you would be thriving and alive and contributing and passionate. And a little bit worried that Roman soldiers might kick the door in and arrest you! Church was alive back then – no buildings, no programs, no leadership training, no worship bands, no money raising – but very much alive and thriving and passionate.

You wrote, ‘I found it easier to walk a fair way out of the mess and sweep it all to the foot of the cross and ask God to deal with it…    but now what?‘

Ah, yes, now what? You asked him to deal with it, now you have to let him do just that. You can’t, but he can. You didn’t, but he will. And it’s very clear to me that he’s made a start already. I know that’s the truth because I’ve been part of the process.

A roller coaster, not very exciting until it starts moving! (Image licencing)

You may not feel it and you may not see it yet – but the ‘Now what?’ is already under way, Steve 🙂 You are on a journey with Jesus and who knows where he will lead you, but he’ll be right with you all the way. His ways are not our ways though, so expect the unexpected. He is turning the entire world upside down, and that includes your life!

Hang in there bro, hang on tight ‘cos it’s a roller coaster ride. We’re on Jesus’ roller coaster just sitting there thinking, ‘Nothing’s happening, where’s the excitement?’ Wait and see!

* Names have been changed.

See also: Valley of dry bones – Index

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Upside-down?

Leadership and authority that is different from the usual kind of leadership most of us recognise

Part 2 of a series – What are we doing?

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I’ve just re-watched a video posted on You Tube in 2015; I’d like to share it with you. It’s called Upside-Down Leadership and was made by an organisation called House2House. I personally know several of the people speaking in this video, and they are kind, thoughtful, earnest men and women – all of them have walked closely with Jesus for many years. I hope you will recognise Christ in them as you watch and listen to what they have to say.

The video describes leadership and authority that is different from the usual kind of leadership most of us recognise. I can guarantee that in practically any church gathering of any kind, there will be people like these present. They may or may not be recognised by the institutional forms of church we are mostly familiar with; but if you want to grow as a follower of Jesus, these are the people you need to spend time with. They tend to be gentle, wise, kind, thoughtful, humble, loving and often overlooked, sometimes even rejected.

Watch the video and then think about the people in your church, denomination, or small group. Who might benefit from servant leaders like these? Can you identify any upside-down leaders? (They are always there, and just as likely to be found in the congregation as on the platform.) They may be male or female, young or old, uneducated or professorial, wealthy or poor.

How might we find more such upside-down leaders? And how will we thrive without them? Let me know what you think, leave a comment.

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Spiritual melody

Everyone present should be free to begin a song

Part 6 of a series – Spiritual melody

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When we think about church music, we usually think in terms of something that’s organised in advance and is played by a band of some kind. Often there’s a worship leader. Over the centuries church music has developed in parallel with the changes in secular music, some examples include Gregorian Plainsong, the chanting of psalms, hymns from hymnbooks accompanied by an organ, informal choruses in house meetings, and more recently bands playing in styles drawn from modern secular music and sometimes of excellent professional standard.

How does that compare with music in the early church? We do have some clues; for example, Paul writes about it briefly in Ephesians 5. In verse 18 he tells us

[Be] filled with the Spirit as you sing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs among yourselves, singing and making melody to the Lord in your hearts.

So it seems likely that singing involves inspiration, literally singing as and when and how the Holy Spirit leads. And that would be the very opposite of what we find in many church meetings where the music is led by a person and/or a band at the front and the congregation joins in. It is sometimes the case that people may, in the process, be caught up emotionally and, perhaps, spiritually. But this is never guaranteed and there’s limited freedom to initiate a new song, sing in the Spirit, or be fully free in praise and worship.

Informal and spiritual worship

So what is Victor Choudhrie suggesting? (See the quote below.) Quite simply he is saying that when we meet, at home, in small groups, after sharing a meal, we should forget organised, planned in advance music with a band. Instead, as we pray and worship and teach one another, everyone present should be free to begin a song if they feel led by the Holy Spirit to do so. Not only that, they should feel free to sing in a tongue, or use their voice with no words at all, sing alone or together, pouring out their hearts to the Lord and to one another. As with everything else – complete freedom in music!

Who is it for? Why are we singing? I’m sure you already know the answer! It’s for the Father, Papa, Abba, Daddy, Yahweh, the Mighty One, Elohim – sing to him in praise and worship. And it’s for the Son, Jesus, Yeshua, Yahshua, the Messiah, Christ, our King, our Redeemer and our Rescuer – sing to him in praise and worship. And it’s for his Spirit, the Spirit of Christ, the Holy Spirit, our Comforter, our Guide, our Cousellor and Advocate, the One who prompts us to sing – sing to him in praise and worship. Sing to the Three in One, the Everlasting Mystery! He is with us, and in us, and amongst us. How could we not sing?

Here’s what Victor Choudhrie has to say about it:

Replace professional music with believers speaking to each other in psalms and spiritual songs, making melody in their hearts to the Lord. OT worship required the sacrifice of four-footed beasts; the NT celebrates by offering two-legged Gentiles as a living sacrifice. The meta-church is a discipling hub and not a singing club. Eph 5:19; Col 3:16; Rom. 15:16

Questions:

  • How can we best give the Holy Spirit freedom in our singing?
  • Is it helpful or unhelpful to restrict singing to a particular slot in a meeting?
  • If our hearts are full of praise, are we more or less likely to sing?
  • If we sing, are our hearts more or less likely to become full of praise?

See also:

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