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  • Mark 11:08 pm on January 28, 2010 Permalink | Reply
    Tags: Frank Viola   

    Five Unmovable Principles 

    Have you read Finding Organic Church by Frank Viola yet?  I recommend it – he has steadily grown on me over his last several works, and this is his most practical and reasonable book on the world of starting and sustaining authentic Christian communities.

    Viola devotes a whole section of his book to “Practical Steps for Beginning.”  His first chapter in that section, “Five Unmovable Principles” is what I want to mention briefly in this post.

    These are 5 values, or goals that each person in a house church MUST strive for as they are starting a new community together.  Otherwise, it is certainly doomed to become another pet project, run by men and not by God.  Viola says that embracing these principles however, will help a community avoid the major pitfalls and disappointments that so many house churches are hammered with in their first year.

    …I would say that after years of helping plant house churches, seeing some fail and some thrive, that his list dead on.

    They are:

    1. Become like little children.

      2. You may have been a spiritual guru in your last church or at seminary, but now you’re called to drop your agenda, gifts, ambitions and simply be a humble sibling in the Lord.   Unlearn as much as you can at the start.  Lean on Christ alone.

    2. Your feelings will get hurt.

      3. People will let you down, and you will disappoint others – no getting around it.  You will not get your own way.  Strangely you will be most offended by the vices in others that most reflect your own.  When someone hurts your feelings, that is the moment to see exactly what kind of person you are and want to become in Jesus.

    3. Be patient with the progress of the group.

      4. This may be “simple church” but its not simplistic, and its not a microwave!  It took 9 months for you to be born, its similar with an organic church.  All the unlearning and rebuilding going on in hearts of your church family takes time.  Certainly everyone’s clock is not the same as yours, but never fear – there is progress – visible or not.

    4. People will leave your group.

      5. Be honest, working towards a house church with no regular sermon, large-group worship, children’s classes, etc is a tough shift for many Christians to make – even non-Christians have certain expectations for what “church” is in America.  WHEN (not if) people “check you out” and then “shop elsewhere” do your best not to wish them anything but the best, do not judge their motives, and do not pressure them to stay.  Maintain instead a liberal atmosphere of freedom and a presence of God’s Spirit.

    5. People will experience exciting spiritual growth and healing!

      6. Don’t forget that it is in this context that people were designed to grow.  It is their natural habitat to flourish – socially, and spiritually.  It is in intimate, small groups that transformation occurs – and it is in these committed families of love that hold the seeds to upend the world and transform it for GOOD.  Watch with expectancy as lives are changed and healed, and as ideas for local mission and service are hatched!

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    • Jay Abels 11:33 pm on January 28, 2010 Permalink

      Wouldn’t it be nice if there were just some guarantees and a system that always worked, when you did it right. But, we would loose the excitement of seeing God work and experiencing growth.

    • Rachael 12:07 pm on January 29, 2010 Permalink

      These are great, Mark! I can tell you from me and Stephen’s experience the last year and a half in a more traditional church that all of these same concepts apply :) Our church would be much more authentic, spiritual and more successful if everyone was able to remember these things…

    • Mark 12:22 pm on January 29, 2010 Permalink

      Rachael — Thanks for the input! Very truly, people are people, no matter how or where they meet. I agree with you that if we can trust each other enough to take off our masks, we can experience the healing that God intends for us. I appreciate you guys for your willingness to be real with those in the church, and out of it.

      Jay — Ha, its true. So quickly and easily do I reduce “EVERYTHING” down to “five unmovable principles” or “three easy to follow steps.” Pour, mix, serve. Voila!~ “Church!” Not so fast… your comment is a good reminder that not even these 5 principles are a guarantee that God’s Spirit will take ahold of a group! Good thoughts.

    • Jay 8:34 pm on February 11, 2010 Permalink

      I remember the first time I dug up a little plot and planted some vegetable seeds. They just didn’t grow according to my time schedule. I managed to pull up a few little carrots trying to speed their growth. Now it is funny, until I think about maybe having uprooted some young Christians who have just sprouted. He gives the increase, but not on our timeline.

    • Mark G Willis 9:27 am on February 12, 2010 Permalink

      Very sobering Jay – regarding the gardening metaphor – I think you might find this OLD video of Frog and Toad interesting!

      http://godgrown.net/blog/2007/10/03/frog-toad-and-organic-growth/

  • Mark 9:07 am on January 16, 2010 Permalink | Reply
    Tags: Mark Virkler   

    Courageously Wait 

    Psalm 27 ends with the admonition to “wait patiently for the Lord, be brave and courageous, yes, wait patiently on the Lord.”

    What does that mean?

    I normally don’t associate patience and waiting with much bravery.  How brave do you have to be to just sit there?  I suppose it depends on where you are sitting.

    The Psalmist makes it clear that he is surrounded by trouble in the land of the living.  That there is no earth on place to remain safe except in God’s holy sanctuary.  So he sits and waits, with everything crashing in around him – with the enemies assailing the front door, he meditates.  “The Lord is my fortress, protecting me from danger, so why should I tremble?  …Even when I am attacked, I will remain confident.”

    What really caught me was what came next in the Psalm: “Hear me as I pray O Lord.  Be merciful and answer me!  My heart has heard you say, ‘Come and talk with me.’  And my heart responds, ‘Lord, I am coming.’” (v 7-8)

    So much to consider and meditate on there.  The Psalmist is begging God to listen as he pleads for safety, and there is more than enough trouble to focus on.  But somehow he is able to quiet his mind, and heart in order to stopping running around protecting himself, and begin asking God to intervene.

    In that space of stillness, with the enemy at the door of this space of peace, God is able to be heard: “Come and talk with me.”  An invitation.  A momentary returning to the garden where man and God may take a stroll together in the soft morning light.  Where all can be confessed, souls laid bare, tender words spoken, peace offered – between creation and Creator.  This is what the Psalmist desires “more than anything” (v 4) – “to delight in the Lord’s perfections and to meditate in his Temple.”

    This Psalm is encouraging in that it gives hope to those of us being crushed on every side – with pressures from work, family, finances, and perhaps most of all – the very expectations we have of ourselves.  There are enemies at your gates.  They have surrounded the city and are attacking the sanctuary of your heart.  Is it possible that you have even joined their ranks?  That you have so many stresses and ticking time bombs in your world that it is simply easier or more fashionable in this world to join the cause of your own destruction that to fight back for your sanity and for the divine relationship you share with God?

    Your life is in danger, yet you have a choice: run around gathering swords and weapons to fight back in your own exhausted strength, or quiet yourself, and call out to the Lord.  Hear him inviting you to “come and talk,” remembering that just as important as God’s invitation is your response.  Will you be able to courageously wait?

    ————–

    *Want to learn more about a powerful practice in hearing God’s voice?  Click here.

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  • Mark 9:10 pm on January 10, 2010 Permalink | Reply
    Tags: Christianity Today, Mark Galli,   

    Long Live… 

    Mark Galli recently posted an article over at Christianity Today entitled Long Live Organic Church! Which speaks to the nature and inevitability of Christian movements.  He lauded the hopes and dreams of many of the organic church authors and leaders like Neil Cole, Alan Hirsch, Frank Viola and more.  However, he cautioned that this is not the first time a movement of God has come along, and while not using these words exactly, reminded me of this essential fact.

    There is no one size-fits-all solution for the church, and there is no way that a movement based on men, will bring about the absolute transformation and revolution that some in the “organic movement” are hoping for.  Movements turn to Monuments which turn to Memorials faster than you can think.  And sometimes the movement can establish unintended consequences that only further reveal human brokenness.

    I agree that there is MUCH good that is being (re)-introduced by this crazy influx of “organic church” books, conferences, workshops, and more.  Its heading in a great direction.  At the same time – remember that a wave only brings you back to the shore – and riding it too long will leave you dry.  Continue to seek out the next Thing God is up to – carefully discerning the good, bad, and ugly in ALL parts of a movement.  But remember that his Holy Spirit can guide you into all truth.

    Watching out for things that tempt us to “rest on our laurels,” or to distrust other movements of God, or to establish programs and institutions that repeat the success of the past are big red flags that our movement is looking backward, not forward.

    So maybe we should be ready at any moment to see “this movement” die.  If we will it to live on (as his article’s title implies) then we’ll find ways to protect it – which seems to be counter-intuitive to the goal of what the organic movement is all about (reproduce life, don’t hoard life).  Jesus himself did not see life as something to be grasped for, but gave up his life so that his life could begin to multiply.

    How does a movement let itself multiply?  To spend all its resources on the NEXT thing coming – to continue to treat itself with little attention – even as the fruit it produces is evident to the entire world.  Invisible only to itself.  That’s a good rule of thumb to live by, and a good way to avoid self-righteousness.

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