"Table Talk"

For some time now I have found myself wrestling (in prayer and in my own mind) with the question of how we can best help people move in their journey of faith, in particular from the place of not knowing Christ to discovering a relationship with him through faith.

The Scriptures tell us that "faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word of Christ." [Romans 10:17] This statement by Paul comes in the context of his own wrestling in prayer over the salvation of his own people - the Israelites, although as he states, in God's eyes there is no difference between Jew and Gentile in terms of their response to God - he blesses all who call upon him. But then he points out the issue ... how can they call upon him, or believe in him unless they hear the message, unless someone tells them the good news.

I believe that this is the way faith works - ultimately God has called us to be an expression of the good news in Jesus Christ. We need both words and deeds - our testimony about the reality of Jesus in us (the hope of glory), is then reinforced by the evidence of a changed life. The characteristics of that changed life are multi-faceted, it is a life increasingly shaped by the teaching of Jesus as we read in the gospels, for example within the sermon on the mount. I believe that when these characteristics are evident in our lives, when we serve one another out of love, then opportunities are more likely to arise to give the reason for the hope that is within us.

But there comes a point for most people, when they need to hear the truth of the gospel of the kingdom put into words. We do not have a weekly corporate gathering where they can come and visit (should they want to). It is not easy for a seeker to just come and join us in our home churches necessarily (it depends upon the individual). So I believe we need some "middle space" - environments that are relatively 'safe' that allow the issues of faith to be discussed and reflected upon without pressure. I for one, am looking for opportunities and ways in which we can provide this to help people move in their faith journey.

What does that mean for you? Paul tells us in Ephesians that God gave some to be evangelists - both to do the work of evangelism as well as to equip the rest of the body to share Christ. We are not all called to an evangelistic focus, but some are. All of us are called to be willing to 'bear witness', in other words to talk about our experience and knowledge of Jesus Christ. For that, I believe it is incumbent upon us all to build friendships with people who do not know Jesus yet, which means spending time with them (in their world to some extent). The heart of it is that like God, we treat all people the same, not trying to determine whether or not they are 'true Christians', but looking to serve them because they are 'true people'. Out of this, and our prayers, will come opportunities to simply be real about ourselves and our faith.

For any of you who sense a greater desire to help people find Christ - perhaps this preoccupies your thinking, your prayers or you find a natural affinity with those outside the church - I would love for us to get together to talk, pray and dream about how we might serve God and others. Please email me, respond to this posting or call me. This is not a call for those who have it all together, you just might be the only person there! But simply for those wishing to grow in this ministry.

"How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!" [Romans 10:15]

Mike.

How are you "feeling" today?

This week (after a couple of weeks break), I wanted to follow up on the article I wrote at the beginning of the month. I had the opportunity to be involved in some shadow coaching and small group work at the next McCoys leadership training event this week. They call it "Business As Unusual" - B.A.U.

It was a most moving time to have the privilege of helping some men begin to explore their emotional 'make-up' perhaps for the very first time, and to think about how some of their personality preferences were having an unhealthy impact on their ability to work alongside as well as live alongside, people who were important to them. I know I shouldn't be, but I am often amazed at how much brokenness and abuse some people have had to deal with in their lives, very often as children when they should have been able to expect better. It reminds me of two things - my thankfulness for the blessings of my own upbringing (even though it was not without its challenges), as well as my thankfulness for God's intervention in my life through Jesus Christ, and how that has brought about healing and transformation for me (though as you know, I am still a work in progress!)

We are complicated beings - a combination of body, soul and spirit and it is interesting to me to reflect upon the interplay of each of these parts and how that affects our ability to fully respond to God, our family, and one another. I have been exploring ways in which we might be able to use some of these principles in our community life and discipleship here at BridgePoint, as well as further afield. I have been intrigued to discover that Life Builders are working with Intimate Life Ministries to build a relational component into their discipleship process because they are working with increasing numbers of people who are just carrying hurts and pain in their lives that are hindering the growth process. So they are looking for some tools and principles to assist in the healing/transformation process. Yes we need renewed minds through truth (ultimately about Jesus Christ), but that needs to be mediated through close relationships within the faith community.

So, I will keep you posted on this, and just wanted to share some of my joy at being able to touch the lives of some guys in a business context, who might never darken the doors of the church as we traditionally know it.

Mike.

A "twist" on leadership development

Last week I had the opportunity to attend a leadership workshop put on by the Center for Relational Leadership (part of Intimate Life Ministries) on behalf of McCoys, the builders' merchant. This was part of an ongoing program of leadership and staff development. The workshop was entitled 'Exceptional Customer Experience' and reflects the beliefs of McCoys (and the CEO, Brian McCoy in particular), that people and relationships are to be prioritized over profit or productivity. Quite a novel (and radical) concept you might think - especially for the business world. They call this 'Business as Unusual'

It made me think of how some might say that we are doing 'Church as Unusual'! They are seeking to become a company made up of people who care about people, and the process is one of growing self, in order to grow others, in order to grow the business ... in that order. This, of course, requires people to develop relational skills such as;

(i) Knowing yourself as well as others
(ii) Giving first to others by meeting needs
(iii) Showing care and expressing empathy
(iv) Becoming vulnerable in order to help develop trust
(v) Dealing with conflict and giving and receiving forgiveness

It all looks very familiar to us because it reflects the nature of authentic Christian community and love. Their approach is to teach these Christian principles and values, without being overtly religious (particularly in the area of language). That would be inappropriate in a business context.

The week culminated in an extraordinary time when the store teams had an opportunity to give testimony as to how the week had impacted them. This was incredibly moving as people became very vulnerable and real. It was quite an honor to be a witness to this.

A central theme of the training, was the notion that our behavior is often affected by and sometimes dictated to, by our emotional state. If we are living with significant amounts of painful or negative emotions, then that will inevitably affect how we deal with and react to people around us. To effect change (or healing) within ourselves, we need to be able to identify strong emotions within, understand some of their roots, and receive care from others. This is what empowers us to reconstruct out thinking (do away with the lies) and develop new, more healthy behavior patterns.

It has struck me that as we have transitioned into a model of church/life that invites us into more intimate and vulnerable relationships (for the purpose of our own healing and enjoyment of life), then we also come up against the same 'strongholds' (to use a biblical expression), that need to be overcome. It has led me to believe that in BridgePoint we would really benefit from working through some of this and shortly I am going to be inviting any who wish to do so, to join with me in doing so. I hope that you will seriously, prayerfully and courageously consider giving yourself to this process.

I would welcome any feedback, comments or questions on this.

With much love,
Mike.

AMiA Network Gathering ... further reflection

Last week I promised that I would talk a little about the specific subject that Reggie McNeal spoke about during our network gathering in Little Rock. This was certainly the highlight of the gathering for me and Reggie's presentation style and wit certainly kept us engaged. He was presenting material from his book, "Practicing Greatness: 7 Disciplines of Extraordinary Spiritual Leaders". Click here for more information on the book.

Here's an extract of my notes from the day ...

Great leaders bless people – portals for the kingdom of God.

Jesus doesn’t disallow greatness, just puts it in a different context – “like a little child” – not wrong to be ambitious for greatness

Greatness involves SERVICE and HUMILTIY … all about heart attitude, not external position

Service involves COMPETENCY and SKILL SET

1. Discipline of SELF-AWARENESS

If you don’t know who you are, you don’t know why you do what you do (comes with living but not automatically). People can be in their 50s/60s and still be very unaware personally

- Family of origin (knowing loved, secure, dealing with conflict (biggie), etc) - Great leaders take responsibility for personal growth to overcome obstacles

- Talent – what giftedness you bring to the table

o Hidden addictions/compulsions

o Dark sides (we all have them – arrogance one of the hardest to deal with)

- Personality (God does not call us in spite of who we are, but because of who we are)

- Life Experiences (if you’re looking for God in your life, look for the “new” things)

- Passions/Interests (might God be interested in what you enjoy doing?)

These things help us become more strategic and operate out of our “sweet spot”

When did you first become aware that you were a leader? … good question to ask

Never too late (or too soon) to start this journey of self-awareness

2. Discipline of SELF-MANAGEMENT

- Difficult emotions (not wrong to have emotions) – e.g. fear, anger, etc (often we’re not aware of the motivating emotion)

- Time

- Money

- Bodies

- Brains (negative people single most brain-draining – great leaders manage exposure to such people) Protein is good brain food!

- Boundaries – can’t rely on emotions when comes to boundary adjustments because because they have been ‘bent’ towards an unhealthy position

o ‘compliants’ – hard to say ‘no’ due to desire for acceptance

o ‘avoidance’ – build high walls, can’t get in

o ‘controllers’ – passive controllers give most personal pain, know how to hook you, bait is guilt

- Expectations – managing them

o Of people in leadership constellation (eg Jesus with disciples)

o Your expectations of yourself

o Of your followers – don’t set yourself up for disappointment

3. Discipline of SELF-DEVELOPMENT

- Lifelong learning also includes an amount of unlearning (see how Paul had so much ‘unlearning’ to embrace the message of Christ – that by a Pharisee) In a relationship we are constantly unlearning things

- Building upon your strengths (talents issue), not develop/focus on weaknesses

o Gallows Strength Finder

o What makes you feel really alive? Comes easy to you, get feedback on, get better at Your talent will show up in any assignment

o God didn’t make people to get work done, he made work to get people done.

o Burnout happens because we get worn down by the minutiae of things that give us no energy

o Your strengths are also your needs – you need to do what you’re good at

- need to figure out how you ‘lower your rent’ to focus on what you are good at, as well as release others to do what they are good at

- recruit, partner with others (for the grunt work!), outsource (if you can) or quit doing it

4. Discipline of MISSION

Jesus had to go to the nearby villages also. That’s why he came, not to keep ministering to the crowds. [People are drawn to winning causes not losing teams.] Great leaders know why they are on the planet and they are prosecuting that mission. This terrifies the enemy. He uses;

- Discouragement (why we all need cheerleaders in our lives]

- Debilitation (such as operating in areas for which not talented)

- Distraction (biggie)

5. Discipline of DECISIONING

Great leaders make fewer, better decisions. Learn from your decision-making process. Number of components involved;

- Information – right amount at right rate

- Are we answering the right question?

- Do you have the right people involved?

- “God help me see what you see” – prayer to pray for 90min in a park, Starbucks, mall, etc.

- Is this the right timing?

- Do we know the results we expect?

6. Discipline of BELONGING

[People vote for the problems they know rather than the problems they don’t know]

- For some your family don’t get it, but it doesn’t have to be the book on you

- Make FRIENDS!

- Co-workers, mentors, different groups to which you can belong

- Great leaders value community, they understand they’re better because they are connected to others

- Beware the lone ranger leader

7. Discipline of ALONENESS

Great leaders practice aloneness. We all experience wilderness, sometimes because we’re driven there, due to our mistakes, we may seek it out, you’re left alone by others, a spouse walks out, times in our life when we’re suddenly isolated.

Great leaders treat this time differently from most who want out, want to tell everyone what they’re going through. Great leaders ask what they can learn from the experience about God, me, etc. They leave the timing of release in God’s hands.

6 Tough Questions for the Church

This past week, Carol and I traveled up to Little Rock, AR for one of our Network Gatherings. It was a very encouraging time, one in which we both sensed a good deal of affirmation about our ministry and the particular vision God has given us for Austin. It was good to meet Archbishop Kolini and Bishop John from Rwanda - I would certainly recommend the bishop's new book, 'The Bishop of Rwanda' (click here for details). I also got the chance to teach on the subject of Holiness and was encouraged by the amount of positive feedback.

The real treat of the gathering though was to hear Reggie McNeal speak on the subject of leadership. About three years ago he wrote a book entitled 'Present-Future Church' which had a real impact upon me (and many others I suspect). I would certainly also recommend this. I actually preached a sermon series based loosely around the 'six tough questions for the church' which he lays out within the sections of this book. Perhaps some of you remember the series?? :0)

Anyway, I wanted to outline here the basic contents of that book for your reflection as to why we are doing what we are doing at BridgePoint. Next week, I want to summarize the teaching Reggie presented on Leadership Greatness.

Six tough questions for the Church

Reggie McNeal

“Church world has largely forsaken its missional covenant with God, to be a part of Kingdom Expansion”

Basic (Wrong) Assumptions

• If you build the perfect church, they will come
• Growing your church will automatically make a difference in the community
• Developing better church members will result in greater evangelism
• The church needs more workers (for church work)
• Church involvement results in discipleship
• Better planning will get you where you want to go.

Six new realities of the present future

(Most church leaders are pre-occupied with wrong questions)

1. Collapse of Church Culture

Wrong question: How do we do church better?

Tough Question: How do we Deconvert from churchianity to Christianity?

2. Shift from Church Growth to Kingdom Growth

Wrong Question: How do we grow this Church? (Get them to come to us?)
Tough Question: How do we transform our community?

3. New Reformation: Releasing God's people

Wrong Question: How do we turn members into ministers?

Tough Question: How do we turn members into missionaries?

4. Return to Spiritual Formation

Wrong Question: How do we develop church members?

Tough Question: How do we develop followers of Jesus?

5. Shift from planning to preparation

Wrong Question: How do we plan for the future?

Tough Question: How do we Prepare for the future?

6. Rise of Apostolic Leadership

Wrong Question: How do we develop leaders for Church work?

Tough Question: How do we develop leaders for Christian movement?

These would be good questions for us to wrestle with in prayer before the Lord, in our LTPs and at our home gatherings.

The second half of our trip was equally exciting as we got to go down to Houston for our grand-daughter's first birthday party. So, just had to include a photo of her with proud granddad!

Looking forward to our gathering this coming Saturday evening - new time, new (old) location, same good, faithful God.

Much love,
Mike.

"Organic" vs "Institutional"

What do we really mean by the expression "Organic Church" and what difference does this make to how we might do church?

I wanted to follow up my previous post with a question I sometimes hear and one that is important (to my mind) if we are to truly live in to our calling and election in Christ Jesus. Actually, even the question itself betrays a more institutional mindset - church is not primarily something we 'do', but something we are. As the apostle Peter says, "you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light." [1 Peter 2:9] What was once true for Israel under the old, obsolete covenant, is now true for everyone who comes to him (Christ). But Peter begins with who we are out of which flows a responsibility to declare God's praise.

Peter says that we have been born again (spiritually) through the imperishable seed, the living, enduring word of God [1 Pet 1:23]. The true church therefore, does not depend upon human organization and religious programs and a hierarchical leadership that controls the agenda. Rather, it depends upon the presence and power of God in each one of us personally, and among us corporately, mediated through the Holy Spirit. This eternal and enduring life is within us all, the reality of the Triune God brought to earth and experienced by human beings.

T. Austin-Sparks puts it like this, "God's way and law of fullness is that of organic life. In the divine order, life produces it's own organism, whether it be a vegetable, animal, human or spiritual. This means that everything comes from the inside . . . function, order and fruit issue forth from this law of life within. It was solely on this principle that the New Testament came into being. Organized Christianity has entirely reversed this order."

So what are the characteristics of this organic expression of church that we should be looking for and promoting?
(i) everybody playing a part (no clergy/laity divide)
(ii) face-to-face community
(iii) open meetings (vs a dominant leader/speaker)
(iv) servant leadership (through example)
(v) Jesus is the focus and the leader of the community

Paul put it another way when he said, "Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good." [1 Cor. 12:7] Frank Viola put it this way, 'whenever we sin-scarred mortals try to create a church the same way we would start a business corporation, we are defying the organic principle of church life. An organic church is one that is naturally produced when a group of people have encountered Jesus Christ in reality and the DNA of the church is free to work without hindrance. Organic church is not a theater with a script. It’s a lifestyle—a spontaneous journey with the Lord Jesus and His disciples.' (www.ptmin.org/april2007.htm)

One more thing I wanted to say about our DNA - remember the previous post. DNA stands for our need for balance in our life of Divine truth, Nurturing relationships & Apostolic mission. I believe that means for us personally but also that we be instilling these values and priorities in those whom we're discipling. I do believe that the Life Transformation Partnerships provide an excellent vehicle for seeing this really happen. Where we can commit to read the Scriptures and listen to God, to develop authentic friendships of vulnerability and trust, and to be encouraged to be faithful in life and mission. These partnerships are 2-4 people at most and as a discipling relationship matures, these should naturally (even organically!) multiply.

If you are not in an LTP or would like more information, please email me at mike@bridgepoint.org

Growing together in Christ,
Mike.

The DNA of The Church

This week, Neil Cole from Church Multiplication Associates in California, has been visiting Austin to speak at Rez Week on UT campus. On Tuesday lunchtime he met with various pastors in the city and then last night he met with group of house/simple church people at the home of Tony & Felicity Dale. I was at both of these gatherings and wanted to share some of what was communicated, along with some of my initial thoughts upon its significance or relevance for what we are doing at BridgePoint. I know some would have attended if possible, but were unable to do so - hopefully this will give you a sense of his message. For any who were also there, or those just reading this, please feel free to add your own comments for the rest of us.

Some of you will already be familiar with what I share because you have read 'Organic Church' or have been involved in a Life Transformation Partnership/Group.

"Freely you have received, freely give", this is the charge given to the Church, and Neil illustrated this using the trailer for the movie "Pay it Forward" (good book/movie). I found myself thinking about Mother Theresa's words, 'simple acts of kindness, done with great love, will change the world'. Reproduction of life begins with the micro (cell multiplication) not the macro (large churches) - do we have a strategy or vision that expects multiplication of the life of God within us?

Church Multiplication is NOT:-

1) Planting without multi-generational reproduction (as in 2 Tim 2:2)

2) Assimilating disaffected believers from other churches

3) Central organisation that starts new churches

Church multiplication MUST BE:-

1) Self-perpetuating

2) Self-propagating

This is why the Simple Church model is key to a Church Multiplication Movement.

Required DNA for Multiplication

Divine truth : Nurturing relationships : Apostolic mission

A church is evaluated by the quality of its disciple, God has placed the necessary spiritual DNA into every believer. The role of the 5-fold ministries (Apostle, Prophet, Evangelist, Pastor, Teacher) is to equip the saints (all believers) as well as do the ministry themselves (they are also saints).

(As an aside, please check out an insightful article on apostolic ministry by clicking here)

Neil contrasted the notion of 'Community' with that of 'Communitas' ... what makes us communitas is that we are on mission together, under pressure, an environment in which something get forged, a kind of kinship (not unlike the image of a 'Band of Brothers' in a warfare situation). Without mission there is no communitas (Philipp. 1:27-28)

We all need to maintain a healthy DNA in our lives - personally and as community;

1) hearing the word of God consistently

2) being a part of accountable, intimate relationships

3) prayer for and engagement with people currently outside of Christ

Neil identified different size groupings that were all necessary, that provided different spans of relationships and for which we needed appropriate 'systems';

2-3 LTPs
12-15 Simple Church
70-75 Regional Leadership Equipping
102-150 Network of Churches

The same DNA needs to be present and active at each of these levels

Jesus never tells us in the Scriptures to go and plant churches (though that is often the strategy). Rather he tells us to go and make disciples, that is our starting point. Disciples can become leaders who can facilitate churches and can become movements. To try to start a church often means we are scratching around for leaders, because we are not discipling people.

We need to see every believer empowered and released (image of being knighted in the movie Kingdom of Heaven). Leaders are often the bottlenecks - need to stop enabling this kind of dysfunctional dependency/relationship. Once a particular person is needed at any of the above groupings, then it becomes very difficult to multiply and reproduce. What is ultimately needed is Jesus, expressed through people who trust in him. This is practised by Jesus in the gospels - see Luke 10 and Matthew 10.

For this to become a reality, we need a 'healthy' theology of DEATH;

Die daily : Empower others : Accept risk as normative : Theology in pratice : Hold on to Christ, all else with open hands

rather than a theology that is SAFE;

Self preservation : Avoidance of the world/risk = wisdom : Financial security driven : Education = maturity

So, what do we make of all this?

Firstly, do not get preoccupied with particular form or structure. Neil did talk a little about how they are working this out, to give examples. The more important thing is to grasp the principles being presented and to ask, 'are these important for us?' What is the Lord saying to us and what do we need to take away from this and explore together? Here's what impacted me and stirred my heart;

1) Every believer is called by God to play a part in the "Missio Dei", God's mission in the world. Yet the general trend today in the church is that few truly are. The fruit of this is that in every county in the USA, we are losing ground in terms of the proportion of people being followers of Jesus Christ. So, how can we buck the trend, be obedient to the Lord, and become a worker in God's harvest field?

2) Am I devoting myself to making disciples, by investing in some key relationships and sharing my life in Christ in such a way that they grow in their life of faith and experience a deeper relationship with the Lord? This of course, calls for an authentic relationship with Christ myself. I can only 'multiply' what I already have though by God's grace, my desire is to lead people to a greater dependence upon Christ so that they go beyond my level of maturity.

3) I was especially impacted by the distinction between community and communitas. What truly binds us together and builds something among is, is a commitment to work together in mission, to be prepared to be stretched by the empowerment of the Holy Spirit and the encouragement of fellow believers.

Blessings,
Mike.