This past semester I’ve taken part in a class called Christian Spiritual Formation. The most recent assignment due was a “Rule of Life” - basically a formally written document expressing foundational principles by which I can grow with God throughout my life. Pretty hefty stuff!

The first half of it I spent writing out some major statements that have always been central to who I am (like my ultimate purpose in life, and my central message to the world). And if that wasn’t challenging enough, the second half I spent writing out specific disciplines that I will engage in to intentionally open myself up to the Holy Spirit’s transforming power (something we all need more of!).

One of the “disciplines” I committed to was praying a specific prayer at 10:02pm each night. Why in the world would someone do that? Actually, quite a few people already do. See, they’ve read Luke 10:2b, a verse in which Jesus tells his disciples to “ask the Lord of the harvest to send out workers into the harvest”.

This is not a simple prayer - there just aren’t enough people to reach the whole world for Christ. And many of the people who are workers are all working in the same parts of the field! We need all kinds of people to work all parts of the harvest field. We need punk rockers, retirees, Cherokee, chefs, and all things in between. Lord of the harvest can already see them in the harvest fields! As we pray the 10:2b prayer, we ask God specifically for those who will be brought out from the harvest, and put to work to find their friends among the wheat.

Let’s spread the workers out! Many megachurches in America have spent a way too long in the upper to middle-class white suburban parts of the field. Keep those workers there, but invite them if they feel ready to begin praying the 10:2b prayer…at 10:02 each day! What might happen if a MILLION people prayed this prayer? What on earth could be impossible after that?

Katrina and I are making a realization. As our trip to Chicago approaches (which is during the Christmas holidays) we are becoming more convinced that choosing a team might be more crucial than selecting a location.

Through prayer, we have begun asking God to show us a team of people who are ready to do what it takes to see a vibrant family of Jesus spread throughout an entire city in North America. Already, he has been responding to our prayers in amazing ways!

Honestly, I’d rather have a tight team that is passionate for the area, than Katrina and I leaving for a predetermined region all alone. Even if it is not Chicago, the place I have been praying and studying for the past few months, I would much rather be a part of a solid team committed to wherever the Lord might lead us.

So the asking has begun. Katrina and I are beginning to have conversations with a few of our friends, and asking them to be open to the Lord’s leading in this way. What will come of these conversations? Only God knows.

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Happy Thanksgiving!!!

Some great LTG (Life Transformation Group) news!

Several great things happened last Friday afternoon when Will and I finally got together for our time of prayer, accountability and reflection on God’s Word. He and I had just about had enough of this bouncing around from one time to another time each and every week, so right then and there he and I decided on Saturday’s at 9:30am, which was a BIG relief to both of us. I have thoroughly enjoyed my time meeting with him, but sometimes schedules between two very different people can make meeting VERY difficult.

Also! Our friend Trey is planning to join us each week, making it a full-blown 3-person LTG! There are already about 3 more people on our “sights” for inviting in the near future, which means there could possibly be two LTG’s happening before the end of the year! Exciting!

More exciting news: Will has been talking to his wife about starting an LTG with some of her very close friends (some are followers of Christ, some not). It was such a blessing for me to hear Will explain what LTG’s are and what they have meant to him over the past 3 months. It is SO awesome to hear him catch the vision. I pray regularly now that God will make him the leader of an LTG, and then someday a simple church!

Mondays are my major “class days” where I’m in class for 9 hours straight, and then meetings, and work surround that. Its pretty much a whole week’s worth of work crammed into one day. While I really like having the rest of the week to prepare for my Mondays, I rarely have enough time to catch my breathe and reflect on what is being discussed in my classes. So here it goes - a complete rambling; samples from my classes today.

Organic Church Planting (9am-11:30am) - My classmates and I shared personal struggles and joys we are having in our inner spiritual journey as well as how we are beginning to engage in the world around us. Afterward, a man named Darell Martin came and shared with us about his longings to reach out to the lost in other religions, and how simple church might offer some insight into “life evangelism” (letting the shape and function of a community to speak the words of Christ to the lost). I was amazed to learn that “simple, house churches” were in the early stages of a movement back in the hippie days with the Jesus Movement. I’m thankful that they went before me, and now I have seasoned veterans like Kent Smith and Darell who have tried some of these experiments before.

Christian Spiritual Formation (12pm-3pm) - Powerful conversations on a visible model for spiritual formation in churches. We talked about how important radical discipleship is (church statisticians report that there is basically no moral difference between the church and the general public), but then we coupled this need with the caution of the “Boston Movement’s Story” (which authoritatively abused its members with cult-like discipleship). Where can we find that balance? Are we looking more like the leader of some organization, or more like our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ?

After class, I had a short conversation with a fellow classmate who was talking about his experience with non-institutional churches of Christ (of which I am a descendant from!), and how the younger leaders of this fellowship are very open to simple and organic churches. VERY INTERESTING that I am so drawn to such a church model, since I spent my developing years (until age 17 ) inside this extremely conservative, yet extremely democratic church type.

I’m still waiting for Narrative Evangelism, which is my last class today - but I figured I might share my insights of a regular Monday with you, since I’m usually giving my blog little attention during my class day. Blessings!

Sorry for the lack of postings this week. I have in fact been writing entries, but as it turns out the subject matter is still confidential, and I don’t want to betray trust.

In our Organic Church Planting Class (which meets in a professor’s home, appropriately), we regularly have meetings where the teacher steps aside and lets a student direct the learning of the class for the day. Today, a classmate, Luke Norsworthy, guided our conversations on “Cultivating the Life of a Team”.

One of the biggest insights he brought to us was the a historical one. Apparently, Quakers of old would come together before big decisions and hold what is called “A Meeting for Clarity”. It would begin with reading Psalms and a short time of worship and silence to acknowledge God’s presence in the meeting, and would continue then with communal discernment. Usually the one calling the meeting will have been struggling with a life issue (to marry a girl/ to move to a new place/ etc) and they seek the guidance of wise counsel.

My American impulse shines through brightly here. “What right do you have to tell me how to live my life!” I would protest. But what has individualism brought us in over 200 years? It has brought isolation, fear, and finite relationships. I’m looking forward to trusting a community with guiding my wife and I humbly towards God’s will for our lives, and even more I am desperate to find God revealing himself in the people I am surrounding myself with.