Our Church: Small and Simple

If we can't fit in a home, we'll start another group.

Small, simple groups have many advantages over big congregations (which is why big congregations work hard to get everyone into a small group!). Here are just a few....

Community. It's easier in a small group to get to know the other people, do life together, and look out for each other. Small is easier for food and conversation. Small groups grow community more naturally – you don't have to work so hard on community; the struggle is trying to avoid it! You can't go unnoticed in a small group - you are involved whether you like it or not. Small church becomes like a family or team more easily than an organisation.

Simplicity. Practically, small, simple churches have many advantages over more complicated ones. They are much easier to start up, sustain and adapt. Many more people could run a home group than could run a big church, which means we could potentially grow many more churches by using simple church thinking. Pastors of big churches have to be extraordinary. The bigger the church, the more exceptional the pastor must be, and if a pastor finishes up, it can take months to find someone else for the role. Simple churches, on the other hand, can be run by more everyday people, because there are no teams, programs, strategies, administration, services, sermons or staff to worry about. Any problems can be worked out by the group together, with extra wisdom from outside experts wherever needed. And small groups are much more flexible if changes are required. These are some of the reasons why simple church expressions might be an effective way forward for the church in Australia.

Mission. This flexibility means that small churches can more easily reflect the surrounding culture, work their way into existing communities and influence them from the inside out. Smaller groups can connect more individually with people outside the church, although this generally happens more slowly. Jesus compared the kingdom of heaven to a mustard seed, which slowly grows into a not-particularly-large weed-like bush that is very difficult to get rid of and tends to pop up all over the place.

Large churches with many ministries require many people to keep them running, and the best church members gradually spend more and more of their time on the church community (services, home groups, playgroups, music teams, camps, leadership, youth/men's/women's/children's ministry and so on) - which can sometimes lead to spending less time with the non-church people in their life. Simple church recognizes that everyone is already a part of various communities (work, school, uni, mums groups, sports teams) and we try to encourage members to connect with the people in these communities better, to be Jesus where they already are.

Our church has only one official get-together a week, so as to make room for real life: dinners, coffees, BBQs, sports, picnics, family days, school prayer groups, fishing, community festivals, watching the footy, and so on....

Discipleship. Churches have for many years recognised that discipleship happens best in small group settings where there is space for conversation. People grow at different rates and God is doing something different in everybody's life, and the best discipleship adapts to these changes as they come. A small group conversation allows for personal questions (try sticking your hand up during a sermon to clarify something or offer a different perspective!) and provides the space to relate Jesus' message and way of life to people's individual lives - to their particular work setting, family environment, personality, skill set and to their own dreams for the world.

There are just a few to whet your appetite.

He's pretty arrogant

I was reading this morning in "Solo: An Uncommon Devotional" about the way that God sometimes uses difficult experiences to help us see more of our weaknesses and faults. Not a particularly fun reading, but it did make me think.

Back in high school I played a lot of music. A lot. Many people called me a music geek (my wife still does). I played trumpet (the reason for the loosely connected pic below) before, after and very frequently during school . With all that experience and a little bit of talent added in, I became pretty good, which ended up getting me a ticket to a special camp for "musically outstanding students." It was a big thing for us students, and we got to play music with the best music students and teachers in the state (my wife just giggles and calls it "band camp"). I know it sounds like a Hilary Duff movie, but it was an awesome experience for us, and it's a shame it's been cut from the government budget now.

The week ended in a big show at the QLD Performing Arts Centre, which was brilliant. But strangely enough that's not what I remember from the night. As we were walking back to the green room after the show I overheard the tiniest snippet of a conversation between two of my friends. I'm not even sure if this is what they said, but what I heard was something like,

"Ben did alright didn't he."
"Yeah I guess. He's pretty up himself though."

Looking back I know that hardly makes sense logically - both of these guys were friends of mine all week - but it was such a shock that I didn't question it, and it was too awkward that I'd overheard it. I was a nice guy who didn't rock the boat, tried to please everyone and didn't make any enemies, and I couldn't bear the thought that someone might think me arrogant. This one comment, which possibly never happened in the first place, has stuck in my memory ever since.

It's been 12 years since that comment and I can see in hindsight how it has made me much more aware of pride in my life. It certainly hasn't stopped it altogether (as my wife can assure you) - not by a long way - but that difficult experience has helped to make humility a very desirable thing in my life, and to make me aware of pride as a weakness. I never want anyone to think me arrogant again. That night sucked for me.

I hope that God hasn't had to use many difficult experiences to show you your own weaknesses, but if he has, maybe you should take some time to thank him today. It can feel like harsh treatment, but it has certainly made a big difference to me.

A Grain of Wheat

John 12:24-25

Unless a grain of wheat dies, buried in the ground, it will stay just a grain of wheat. Useful, but in a very minor way. Ready to be eaten or crushed.

If we hold on to our life, wanting to stay in control, calling the shots, doing what we want, we will never be anything more than what we are now. Useful in a minor way.

But if that grain of wheat dies, buried in the ground, it will sprout and reproduce itself many times over. Completely transformed, no longer anything like a grain. It turned into a plant!

If we can manage to let go of our life, hand over the reins, stifle our selfish desire to be in control, living generously for others and for God, "reckless in your love," imagine what might happen! The grain was totally and irreversibly changed. What might a transformed human look like, with our much more complex bodies, personalities, imaginations, desires, compassion, spirit?

But how do we do it?

I find it tricky to contemplate how to go about dying to my self. I find proclamations of "I will die to myself and live for God today" largely unhelpful. It's a bit vague. However if I translate it to "I will live for others today; I will put others first," it becomes a lot more doable, at least for me.

Marriage and Choice

Covenant relationships are an uncommon thing in our culture - many people don't even know what the word means. It sounds so old-fashioned. We're used to contracts - relationships that benefit me, usually without a real person on the other end, that I can get out of if I find a better offer. And we've heard the phrase "friends with benefits" frequently, which is a kind of anti-marriage - the sex without the commitment, which gives me freedom to use the "friendship" however I want, or until it doesn't benefit me anymore. No wonder marriages are breaking so frequently. We've been set up for it.

Jesus' view on marriage is a little different. If you marry a divorced woman, Jesus says, you're committing adultery with them. If you divorce your wife, you're causing them to commit adultery. Yes it's that strong. According to the Bible, the basic rule is "One person for life."

There's an escape clause if your spouse has been unfaithful, and I would add abuse to that too. Sadly this happens. But for most people it's not some kind of tragic event that drives them apart. I would argue that at the heart it's just selfishness. Because in our culture, selfishness is seen as a good thing. Keep your options open, our culture says. Something better might come along, or you might need to back out. Just do it now while it benefits you. You're worth it. Stay free.

One person for life? You can hear the objections already. What if I stop loving them? What if they get boring? What if an opportunity comes up and I'm tied down? What if they've got issues? What if their personality starts to annoy me? What if it stops me doing the things I like? "For life" is such a long time - who can really promise something that far in advance? Life happens, you know. Things change. And on and on....

We've heard them all so many times that we've started to believe them. It sounds like truth.

It's not.

Covenant relationships acknowledge that things won't always be good, that different life pathways will present themselves, that better things might come up, that the romance will go up and down and sometimes I won't be able to stand being in the same room as you, that at times you'll be boring, angry, depressed, anxious, annoying, obnoxious, irritating, unattractive, exasperating. But even if all of that happens in the same week, I am still committed to you and I will be for the rest of our lives.

I'm yours for life, for better or worse, in sickness and in health, til death do us part. Those words were written before covenant relationships faded out of our culture.

I want to bring them back. I hope you'll join me. For marriages, and also for friendships. Long-term, unselfish commitment, whatever happens. It's things like this that will change the world.

(Read Mark Sayers' book, "The Road Trip that Changed the World," for some more in-depth thoughts on these subjects, and a more intensive perspective on our culture.)

The Normality of the Bible

"When you compare the Bible to the scriptures of other religions, what is striking is the normality of the Bible. There are not gods or spiritual entities under every rock, or exhaustive descriptions of heavenly battles. Abraham is not taken away from the earth to another spiritual realm. God does speak to him, but the arena for his discipleship is the everyday. His relationship with the spiritual does not drive him away from everyday life, but instead pushes him deeper into it. The transcendent is to be found in the midst of the ordinary."

- from "The Road Trip that Changed the World," by Mark Sayers

The Bone House - Review

"The Bone House" is the second in Stephen Lawhead's Bright Futures series. It carries on the story of a group of people who've discovered how to travel around in time - and skip between alternative universes - using the "ley lines" hidden in our own world. And Lawhead does it better than anyone else, weaving a tale impossibly wide and deep, stretching the reader's imagination in such a way as not to leave you thinking "that's ridiculous," but rather, "Could that happen? What if the world was like that?"

I've not found an author who comes close to Lawhead in his capacity to open up worlds of incredible beauty and colour that somehow still feel familiar, and characters like ourselves to stumble around and discover them. This series in particular I'm finding interesting due to his skill and knowledge in the area of quantum physics, and the way he opens up new ways to think about these fascinating areas. In such areas, we still do not know all the answers, and scientists have to think outside the box to find possible explanations. As Lawhead asks, why shouldn't a novelist enter the conversation?

I'd recommend this series to anyone.

The Skin Map

It was an exciting day for me when I discovered that my favorite fiction author had started a new series. I've just finished the first one today, "The Skin Map," and I loved it. Stephen Lawhead has an amazing way of taking the ordinariness of our familiar world and connecting it with much bigger worlds of colour, mystery and life. His books make me see our own world with new eyes.

I would only say that you couldn't read this book on its own. No problem for me, as I was always going to read the whole series. And luckily for me I just looked it up and the second book's available now too. Brilliant. I don't want this guy to ever stop writing.

For All the Saints

Grab a cuppa, find a nice spot to sit, and meditate on the words of this beautiful old hymn....

For all the saints who from their labors rest,
Who Thee by faith before the world confess,
Thy name, O Jesus, be forever blest,
Alleluia! Alleluia!

Thou wast their Rock, their Fortress, and their Might;
Thou, Lord, their Captain in the well-fought fight;
Thou, in the darkness drear, their one true Light.
Alleluia! Alleluia!

Oh, may Thy soldiers, faithful, true and bold,
Fight as the saints who nobly fought of old
And win with them the victor's crown of gold.
Alleluia! Alleluia!

The golden evening brightens in the west;
Soon, soon, to faithful warriors cometh rest.
Sweet is the calm of Paradise the blest.
Alleluia! Alleluia!

But, lo, there breaks a yet more glorious day;
The saints triumphant rise in bright array;
The King of Glory passes on His way.
Alleluia! Alleluia!

- William W. How (1823-1897)

Above All Else

"Seek the Kingdom of God above all else,
and he will give you everything you need." - Luke 12:31

"Our Father in heaven,
may your name be kept holy.
May your Kingdom come soon.
May your will be done on earth,
as it is in heaven." - Matthew 6:9-10

Are we mostly asleep?

"Altogether, almost half of human genes - the largest proportion known in any organism - don't do anything at all, as far as we can tell, except reproduce themselves."

- A Short History of Nearly Everything, by Bill Bryson

I read this and it makes me wonder: have we got, built into us, the potential for much, MUCH more life? Half our genetic makeup just sits there, doing nothing except reproducing itself so it carries on. And we only use something like10% of our brains.

One day we will be resurrected and will be more fully alive than ever before, with new bodies, capable of much more, far beyond what we can comprehend now. I wonder if God has somehow already built this potential into us. We just can't "access" it in this life.

Like we're mostly asleep. Stumbling around in a daze. Only 10% alive.

If you read some of Paul's letters, he often uses imagery like this. But he also goes further. Paul's perspective is that, through Jesus, we can slowly become more awake even now, start living in the new world, while other people yet sleep. We can wake up and live more fully, more completely, even if it's still only a tiny bit more like our future life.

Could we somehow start living this built-in potential in this life?

I'm not completely sure how this all works yet, but my hunch is that saturating yourself in Paul's writings will give us some ideas.

[Advent Conspiracy] Enter the Story 2011

Check out this one!

Contentment

HLKAW

Here's a quick little exercise that I've found helpful in my life. I call it the hlkaw, which is a word I made up to help me remember it (helps to say it with a Kung Fu-like tone).
Jot down a thought to each of these:
H. A high of the last week
L. A low point
K. A key lesson I'm learning
A. An action point for the next week
W. A warning - something to watch out for
I try to sit down by myself and do this at least once a week, maybe with a coffee. Doesn't have to take long. I've found it useful to keep me on the right track, more aware of what's going on (especially the little joys that can be easily missed) and what God might be doing.

The Importance of the Ressurection

Here's a talk by Tom Wright, the Bishop of Durham, that's very much worth watching if you've got a spare 45 minutes.


Why Does Jesus' Resurrection Matter? Considering Its Relevance for Today Part 1 of 2 from The Veritas Forum on Vimeo.

Outlive Your Life

I love the idea behind this book, that we can live our lives in such a way to make a difference beyond our years on earth. "What if we rocked the world with hope?" Max Lucado asks. "Infiltrated all corners with God's love and life?"


I love this perspective, and I think it's a much more worthy way to live than the usual selfish, get-more style chosen by many people (and shouted at us by the advertisers - "Go on. You deserve it...").

Having said this though, something about this book didn't really win me over. I'm not sure exactly how, but the writing seemed somehow a little fake. It's probably just me. I don't usually go for these inspirational types of books.

I know Max Lucado is certainly living what he preaches. He's living his own life to make a difference, especially through his partnership with World Vision.

I'd be interested to hear what other people thought of the book, if you've read it...?

Thanksgiving Thoughts from Annie Leonard

"Let's opt out of the frenzy this year.
"Our out-of-control consumption has taken a toll on the planet, on our family budgets, and on workers from FoxConn in China to Walmart in New York. And it has taken a toll on the quality of our lives at home.
"We have more and cooler stuff than our parents and grandparents could have ever imagined, but we pay dearly. We spend more time working and shopping than they did and we spend much less time in leisure, on vacation and with friends. What is the use of a brand new Pottery Barn table if we don't have a gang of friends and neighbors to gather around it?
"If we're going to figure out how to build an economy and society that is healthy for people and the planet, this Friday is a good place to start.
"Let's opt out of Black Friday. Choose family over frenzy."


- Annie Leonard, Choose Family Over Frenzy

What is A Good Story?

A character who wants something and overcomes conflict to get it.

- from A Million Miles in a Thousand Years, a brilliant book by Donald Miller.

Here are some more of his perceptions, seemingly unrelated, but most probably not (like much of Donald Miller's writing!)....

"When you are born, you wake slowly to everything. Your brain doesn't stop growing until you turn twenty-six, so from birth to twenty-six, God is slowly turning the lights on, and you're groggy and pointing at things saying circle and blue and car and then sex and job and health care. The experience is so slow you could easily come to believe life isn't that big of a deal, that life isn't staggering. What I'm saying is I think life is staggering and we're just used to it. We all are like spoiled children no longer impressed with the gifts we're given - it's just another sunset, just another rainstorm moving in over the mountain, just another child being born, just another funeral."

It is better to be...

"One goes more quickly to heaven from a hut than from a palace."

My favourite quote, attributed to St Francis of Assisi. I love the simplicity, and the upside-down perspective. It's so unlike what the rest of the world screams at us. But it's so true. THIS is real life. Not palaces, Porsches and playstations (although there's nothing wrong with those) - that's what we're told it's all about. But it's not.

I'm convinced the good life has more to do with great friendships, simplicity, enjoying your work, love, faith, hope and grace.

It is better to be godly and have little
      than to be evil and rich.
For the strength of the wicked will be shattered,
      but the Lord takes care of the godly.
Day by day the Lord takes care of the innocent,
      and they will receive an inheritance that lasts forever.
They will not be disgraced in hard times;
      even in famine they will have more than enough....

The Lord directs the steps of the godly.
      He delights in every detail of their lives.
Though they stumble, they will never fall,
      for the Lord holds them by the hand.

- Psalm 37:16-19, 23-24

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.

"King of All" Song

Ok, I've figured it out. Here's the main song I've been working on. Click here to listen. It comes out of the events of Easter, and what it all means for us on this side of the resurrection.... The new king is here, a new kingdom has come (and one day will be even greater), and it's unlike any other kingdom ever seen. This kingdom brings life, and love, and grace - and hope. Here are the lyrics. Love to hear some thoughts.

Hear the sound
And feel it rising loud
A new day’s coming now
A new day’s coming now

So raise your voice
Let’s join and make some noise
For love’s victorious
For love’s victorious

And we live to bring you praise
And we join the heavens to say

The king of all the earth is here
The song of love, the prince of peace
Forever, forever we’ll sing
The king of hope, the king of grace
You gave it all, you took our place
Forever, forever we’ll sing

 What can I say?
It takes my breath away
This love amazes me
Amazes me

Jesus Christ
Who gave up even his life
Now rules the universe
The universe

The world is waking
Dawn is breaking
All creation has longed for this day
Love victorious
Hope is glorious
Here’s our song, let it soar, Jesus reigns