Jesus Manifesto

Leonard Sweet and Frank Viola wrote Jesus Manifesto in order to correct the "Jesus Deficit Disorder" they see in many Christians and churches today. There seem to be many Christians for whom Jesus is really not the centre of their lives, as he should be.

As Paul writes in Colossians,

"[Jesus] is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For by him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by him and for him. He is before all things, and in him all things hold together...."

Contemplate that for a bit! Jesus is our life, the only truth, and the only way to live, but too often he's just brought in as an interesting side-point. So when I saw this book, I thought, "Brilliant. This will be a great book to recommend. That's exactly what people need to hear."

But as it turned out, that message was exactly what I needed to hear as well. The writing is wonderfully simple, honest and direct, and the point was clearly driven home again and again. I actually started to get a little annoyed at the book, as it seemed like it was saying the same thing over and over. "Ok I've got it already," I thought. "Give me some new insights."

But I hadn't got it. As I read more and more about Jesus, it slowly started to get under my skin, and it was weeks before I even noticed the change. I started to feel more uncomfortable with where Jesus was in my own life. I began to realise that Jesus was too often just a side-point even for me, a pastor - like the interesting analogy that illustrates the real point (or even worse: a footnote).

So here I am in one of those infrequent moments of greater clarity, and I hope and pray this fragile seedling of faith continues to grow.

I would love for my life to be more centred around Jesus, but more than that, I would love for Jesus to live more in me. Not my life but his. Not my ways but his. Not my thoughts, insights, or perspectives, but his.... Christ in me, the hope of glory.

Lily's World

While we were praying together last night....

Lily: God... can you make me whistle?

Why start a church? Pt III

It took a fair amount of convincing for me to even consider the prospect of planting a church.

But convincing people to do things seems to be a task God enjoys. There was only the smallest thought in my head about church planting (which I hadn't shared with anyone), but the idea started to come up in conversation more and more often. Everywhere I turned, the idea of church planting kept buzzing at me, like an annoying mosquito when you're trying to go to sleep at night.

Someone (who again didn't know any of this) recommended listening to a series of talks by Michael Frost, given at a mission conference in the US. And suddenly he starts talking about church planting, and how church planting is the most effective way to grow the Kingdom of Jesus....

I picked up a book called Total Church, by Tim Chester and Steve Timmis (not unusual for me - I'm interested in anything about church), and as I'm reading away, they suddenly start talking about church planting. Turns out they organise a church planting network in the UK....


I share with friends about how there doesn't seem to be a church for us and they say, "Well maybe you should start one...."

So the annoying mozzie kept buzzing away. More and more often church planting came up, and each time it was attached to the idea of "simple" church: that we don't need more churches with amazing programs, brilliant worship music, unbelievable pastors and big ministry teams. We need more simple churches - house churches, cafe churches, basic churches that meet in parks, pubs and living rooms - the kinds of churches that non-church people might feel comfortable in. Different expressions of church, for the people who don't feel like they fit in to the normal way of doing it.

And more and more I found myself thinking, "Maybe we could do that?"

World Cup

We're all sad the World Cup is over.

Lily's World - The Election

Me: Who do you think I should vote for in the election, Lily? Tony Abbot or Julia Gillard?
Lily: Julia Gillard.
Me: Yeah? Why do you think she'd be a good prime minister?
Lily: Because I like her, so I think she would be veeeery good and helpful.

Lily's World

Me: Come on Lily, it's time to pack up all the toys.
Lily: I'm feeling sick now, Daddy. I need to sit down.
Me: Oh, you're feeling sick now that it's time to pack up?
Lily: Yes, I'm going to womit.
Me: Well womit in the bucket if you do.
Lily: No, I'm not going to womit. I just still feel sick from when I was sick last night.
Me: Oh ok. Well you'd better go to your room and lie down if you're feeling sick.
Lily: No, I don't need to go to my room. I just need some honey toast.

Only three and already trying to con me. At least I can spot it when she's this age. I'm in serious trouble when she gets older though. She'll be running circles around me in a couple of years!

Why start a church? Pt II

Tam and I had known for months that my role as youth and families pastor in our previous congregation was going to be finishing up, so we had plenty of time to pray and search around for the next position. We expected that we would have our final Sunday service at the church, say an emotional goodbye to everyone, and then Monday morning I'd walk into my new position in another church. We knew that God had it all worked out - wherever it would be - so we were expecting he would organise everything to the right timing (our timing).

But the months went by, different positions came and went (none of which were right), our final Sunday came and went, Monday arrived, and we still had no idea what I was meant to be doing.

An unemployed pastor.

One week passed. No job.

Two weeks passed. Still no job.

And at the risk of being overly poetic, three weeks passed. Still no job.

And then a mate of mine who's a gardener and landscaper mentioned he had a couple days work for me if I wanted it. Not something I'd ever really done before, but I ended up enjoying working outside and helping make people's yards look good, like the team on Domestic Blitz. My friend generously kept giving me more work, a few days each week, and it's still going months later.

But this also created a small conundrum: why was God setting me up with work outside of a church? Why wasn't there a church that was right for us?

And then the church planting suggestions started coming....

The River

- From Between Two Kingdoms, a brilliant story by Joe Boyd....

   "So we just jump right in, Pops?" asked Bobby.

   "Pretty much. We just jump in and away we go! Come over here by me and hold hands. Mary, you stand in the middle. It's easier if you all go in together."

   "But what about our clothes?" asked Tommy.

   "You go in just like you are," Pops said. "That's the only way to do it." He stepped behind them and Tommy felt a strong hand on his back. "Ready to jump?"

   "Not quite yet," said Mary.

   "Sure you are!"

   One forceful jolt from Pops and Tommy flew into the River, pulling Mary and Bobby along with him. Pops jumped in like a cannonball right behind them.

   Cool water rushed all over Tommy’s face and pulled him downstream. In a minute, he understood what Pops had meant about the River being a person with a mind of her own. She pulled him under her waters, then threw him up high in the air when he needed a breath. If he grew scared, the River calmed him down and let him float. Whenever he grew bored, the River sped up and dropped him with a force that made his stomach jump into his throat. At one point, the River pushed Tommy into Mary and the two of them, arms linked, shot way up in the air. They hit her waters again, giggling all the way. Tommy yelled, “Do that again!” and it happened! Every time Tommy asked, the River shot them skyward and caught them when they came back down.

Who You Gonna Call?

Why start a church? Pt I

So we're planting a church. How did that come about? It's not the kind of decision you make on a whim, when you're bored on a Saturday afternoon ("So, pizzas are in the oven - what should we do while we wait?".. "Why not start a church?".. "Sweet.").

No, it wasn't a whim. Tam and I have been wanting to be involved in church planting for years now. We just thought it would be five or ten years down the track, when another "experienced" pastor started something we could help with. It certainly wasn't something I felt I could do myself.

I was under the impression that you had to be some kind of super-pastor to plant a church - an incredibly charismatic personality, who can instantly draw thousands of people, while at the same time caring personally for each one of them. Someone who God speaks audibly to on a daily basis, who prays for 5 hours every morning, and wherever their shadow falls, sick people are healed....

Of course that sounds ridiculous now that I've written it down - but to be honest, that is probably fairly close to how I felt. I didn't feel I was at all capable of planting a church. So how did that change?

It didn't. I still don't feel capable. But now I'm ok with that. Much of the first part of this journey was God explaining to me that I don't have to be all of that. The weaker and less capable I am, the more God gets to do himself. "Just do it," God was saying. "I'll work out the rest." And if I get to the end of my skills five minutes into the journey, then from that point on everything will be God. Tam and I don't know how it's all going to turn out - how it's going to grow, whether anyone at all will show up, what it's going to be like when we do gather together as a church, or what kinds of struggles we're going to have along the way. But we're ok now just to start walking, and trust that God will organise what we can't.

As Frank Viola says, birthing a church is a divine work. A church is a living organism, and God is the one who grows it and gives it life, just like he does with humans. All God needed was for Tam and I to say yes - despite all the doubts, confusion and unanswered questions.

So we did. Tick step one.

Why start a church? Pt V

On Tuesday morning, the day after I talked with Tam, she had morning tea with a good friend of hers. As they were catching up together, Tam mentioned our conversation. She was thinking her friend would say it was naive and crazy. But instead.... "You should definitely plant a church! You guys would be great at that!"

On Wednesday morning, she met with another good friend - another wise woman who Tam also thought would say it was a bad idea. Same result: "Yeah you guys could do that! Where would you do it?"

On Thursday morning, I met with a man who works for one of the denominations around, whose job it is to help pastors find the right church to join. We were trying to find the right pastoral position for me. I was happy to go anywhere, if it was the right church. But the more we talked, the more we discovered there just wasn't anything available. No one was looking for a pastor. The conversation wound down, because there was really nothing going. I'm not really sure why (probably because nothing else was happening), but I mentioned to him that something we'd always wanted to be involved in was planting a church. I thought someone with his pastoral experience and wisdom might be able to give some insight. And suddenly his face lit up and he said,

"Ah! Now you're talking my language!

It turned out that he was also the man in that denomination who was in charge of supporting church planting. I wasn't aware of that at all, but the way things were going, it didn't really surprise me! He instantly rattled off five reasons why planting a church is one of the most effective ways to grow the Kingdom. And we talked about church planting for the rest of the meeting - what the next steps for us would be, how we could be supported, etc.

"How'd your meeting go?" Tam asked when she got home later.

"Interesting," I said. "There aren't any churches looking for pastors at the moment. But it turns out he heads up the support for church plants."

Tam said she figured something like that would happen. Really she'd known we'd end up planting a church from the moment I brought it up on Monday night. It just needed some time for the idea to settle. It had taken months for me to get used to the idea, but God convinced Tam in just two days (she's a lot quicker at listening to God!).

And that was it. We were in the water. No more thinking about swimming, wondering what it might be like. No more discussing and debating how to swim. No more comparing swimming pools. We jumped, and that was it.

And as it turns out, swimming is fun.

Mission and Church

"The energy of most churches is absorbed in maintaining the legacy of a program of activities and church buildings. Roles exist that have to be filled. The life of the church is geared around maintaining its structures and programs.

"We need to shift into 'mission mode.' People are beginning to say we need 'missionary theology' rather than a 'theology of mission.' Mission can no longer be looked at as one branch of theology. All theology must be missionary in its orientation. We need the same orientation as churches. We are in a missionary situation, and all that we do must be missionary.

"Church planting is the best way for this to happen..."

"Church planting puts mission at the heart of the church and church at the heart of mission."

- from Total Church, by Tim Chester and Steve Timmis.

What Will It Take?

More inspiring words from Frank Viola (Finding Organic Church)....

"There is a revolution brewing in the body of Christ today, and the need of the hour is for God to raise up, from the soil of organic church life, workers who will lead the charge. Perhaps some who are reading that last sentence wish to know "What will it take for me to be on the front lines of that revolution?"

"The answer is simple. It takes vision, insight, courage, and spiritual depth. It takes humility, maturity, genius, pain, sacrifice, and lots of rejection. It takes tenfold more problems and more heartaches than you could ever imagine that God would pour out on you. It takes the ability to see the unseen, to know the depths of the Lord Jesus and the breaking and devastation of His cross, and the ability to drown God's people with a breathtaking revelation of Christ.

"That's all it takes."

Oh, so that's it then. Wonderful....

(I'm especially looking forward to the pain, rejection and tenfold more heartaches)

Slacks Creek Community

My wife and I have fairly recently started moving towards planting a church in our local area. It's a pretty big thing, and it's going to be a long journey, so I've started putting some thoughts on here as a kind of journal - to share what's happening with others, to write down some of the ideas and thoughts that come out along the way, and so that we ourselves can look back later and see the story unfold - especially what God is doing along the way.

Elijah, Ahab, and the Prophets of Baal

1 Kings 18.

What amazing faith Elijah had here! What if God hadn't come through and set fire to the sacrifice?

Elijah would have certainly lost his life, his credibility, and ultimately it would have been the end of the people's faith in God. Baal vs God. Baal wins. God is dead.

Elijah had to trust that God would come through. Everything was on the line. Elijah was sacrificing himself too.

Thankfully, God did come through, as it seems he likes to do when only God can save the day. A huge win for God. And a crippling blow for the Baal religion.

But think of the terror Elijah surely felt while he waited for the fire. It doesn't seem so amazing when we already know the end of the story, but if we were in the middle of it, would we have had that much faith? Would I?

The Plan

So here's the plan, at this point. This will probably all change many times along the way, but for now this seems like the best way for us to go ahead....
(Click on the diagram to see it bigger.)

The first thing we're doing is putting on a free BBQ breakfast, welcoming anyone in the local community. This is a chance to meet people, make new friends, help people to meet other locals, and enjoy fun and food together. There's nothing directly spiritual about these - no talk, prayer, etc. But they are still a way to share the Kingdom of Heaven, through our generosity, grace and love, and through the fun and friendships.

If people want to come to something a little more spiritual, they can come along and bring something tasty to our morning tea. This will probably be in the park as well, so it'll stay informal, but we'll also have a spiritual discussion - talking about life, God, relationships, heaven, work, the Bible, parenting, etc. - engaging with Jesus and his way of life. We'll pray a little as well, for each other and for those who want it.

Along the way, we might find that some extra teaching may be required. E.g. Finding out about Jesus and the Bible, or what a Jesus perspective might be on parenting, marriage, money, etc. We can add these whenever we need to.

Out of all of this, and over time (probably a long time) will grow a group of people who will be our little church, where real friendship, encouragement, family, prayer and spiritual growth happens. We're praying Jesus grows us into a church that represents him well and shares his love and light in our community.

We'll keep organising the free BBQs the whole way, because it's a great way to connect with people and generously share some of what we've been blessed with, and down the track there might be some other ideas for social gatherings that we could also do. The cycle provides the potential to give birth to other church communities in the future, in different areas, or with different people groups, as more people experience the Kingdom of Heaven and begin to become Jesus' light in the world.

Five Unmovable Principles

Here are Frank Viola's Five Unmovable Principles for planting organic churches....

1. Become like little children. No one is an expert in this. Nobody is more gifted, more mature or more spiritual than anyone else. It's the body of Christ and everyone's on the same page. Humility and mutual encouragement is required.
2. Your feelings will get hurt. "Institutional religion has a way of hiding our flaws. It also has a way of safeguarding and insulating us from each other. In an organic church, we get to know one another very well. That means that what we are in the natural gets exposed. Authentic church life is a house of mirrors.... Consequently, it's inevitable that you will hurt one another...." And I love this: "Body life is a holy wedding of glory and gore - agony and ecstasy. This journey will be the most difficult adventure in your life. But it may very well be the most glorious."
3. Be patient with the progress of the group. It takes time for a church to be born, just like it takes time for a person. You have to be patient. It's a living organism, so you have to wait for God to do it. "Starting something is human; but birth is divine." There's a lot of preparation for God to do first, including helping us unlearn a whole lot of things we've picked up along the way.
4. People will leave your group. It's difficult being a part of a church like this. It requires more from you. You can't just come to receive and not to give. And giving requires spiritual preparation, time, energy. Some people who come won't be ready for the commitment, the dedication to one another. Viola's advice? "When people leave, I beg you not to pressure or persuade them to stay. And more important, do not speak ill of them when they go.... Accept what they say at face value instead of second-guessing their intentions. In fact, if you really wish to hit a high watermark, bless and speak well of them when they leave. Especially after they leave. To do so incarnates a monumental breakthrough in the kingdom of God. It also speaks volumes about your group."
5. People will experience exciting spiritual growth and healing. Because church like this is what we were made for. It's our natural habitat. It's what God called us to, so when we're a part of a community like this, it grows us significantly. It produces transformation.

Thanks Frank!

Wonders Never Cease

Just finished a great novel by Tim Downs called Wonders Never Cease, thanks to BookSneeze. I have to say I wasn't really expecting much (I picked it up mostly because it looked like one my wife would enjoy), but it turned out to be brilliantly perceptive and entertaining.

Kemp McAvoy is an ambitious nurse who ends up looking after a movie-star in a medically-induced coma, and he concocts a "brilliant" plan to use the situation to make himself rich. So he contacts a struggling young publisher, adjusts the patient's meds just a little, dresses up as an angelic visitor, and gives her "a message from God for the world." And when she wakes up, they only thing she'll remember is the message - and Kemp and his friend will have an inspirational book that'll sell like hotcakes. At least that's the plan....

Obviously it's a bit of fun, but Tim Downs' creative storyline and uncanny character insight certainly bring out some interesting commentary on life, ambition, love, success, family, and God.

The story started slowly, and there were a fair few chapters given to setting the scene, introducing the characters and so on. But once it got going, it just kept building and building, and I became more and more involved - mostly dreading how everything would turn out!

Worth a read - I've put it on my wife's bedside table for when she next needs something.