Simple Church – putting a number on it…

Ever feel like you are the only one?

Simple Church, Organic Church or House Church is no longer thought of as some fringe, obscure or illegitimate expression of the Church made up of hippies and those too strange to belong to traditional christian churches.  Let me take that back… some of us are strange.  However, there is a longing amongst many believers today for something more than the status quo, more than church attendance.  There is a growing desire to not change the structure of church but rather be changed people.  This is leading to a shift in how believers meet and gather.  It’s less about the building and more about the relationships and Christ being the center of communal life. 

So is this a passing fad?  It doesn’t seem so.  By the growing numbers it’s becoming a movement – a Jesus movement and is gaining acceptance even among mainstream traditional and denominational churches who are not only embracing it as legitimate but who themselves are now planting Simple Churches.

Give it to me. What’s the number?

One of Christianity’s most influential leaders, George Barna, who has both been a part of the movement for many years and has done extensive research share some interesting facts.  This is a recent article written by the Barna Group entitled “How many people really attend a House Church?”.  CLICK HERE

Simple Church video…

This is a great video about the Simple Church movement by House2House featuring a number of leaders and Simple Church practitioners.

 

Simple Church: The mystery of God and the Beauty of the Journey…

This is a great post by Katie Driver about the adventure of Simple/Organic Church.  It can also be found at CMA Resources. 

The Journey of Discovery, by Katie Driver

I have a lot of conversations with people who are struggling with the blind adventure of the simple, organic and missional church life.
I hear things like; ” I don’t really know what to do!”, “I wish someone could show me how this works!”, “I tried that/that, and it didn’t work so what’s wrong?”, “What is this supposed to look like?”, “Is there a manual or something I can follow?”, “Can you give me a blueprint to work from so I know what I’m supposed to do?”

I empathize with these questions. These are real struggles from hearts that want to “do it right” and have been trained to follow models, leaders, organizations, and manuals so that what they do is “successful” and “correct”. I resist the tendency, which is so easy for me, to tell them what to do. Instead, we start talking about what they are learning in the process, what their goals are for living this organic simple life in Christ, what the Scriptures say we should esteem, and that it is okay to try different things and even fail a few times in the process.

God is certainly capable to get us where we need to be, when we need to be there, with all that we need in the process. The bottom line is; He is faithful.
Have you ever heard that saying of on “a need to know basis” ? I think that fits well with His leading of us. He takes us one step at a time. He gives us what we need to know and understand when we need it to lead us forward in faith. He also lets us struggle.

Most of us don’t want to hear that we learn best by what we struggle with and figure out on our own. We also don’t like to hear that failure is a better teacher than our successes. In fact, I recently read a medical study that concluded that we actually grow more brain cells when we fail! How’s that for “organically” rewarding our failures? What incredible Grace!

I believe, God is taking us each on our own wonderful, unique and unmapped “Journey’s of Discovery”. That is what the journey west, of the explorers Lewis and Clark’s into the then unknown, was called.

For those of us who admit to being ” a Trekkie”, you’ll be familiar with the saying; “of boldly going where no man has gone before”. I like to use the Star Trek motto to illustrate what the journey in the lifestyle of simple, organic, missional church is like. No manuals, no maps to follow, no clear guidelines and directions (yet,… just give it a few more years and the experts will have the ‘5 steps to simple church success’ available soon at your local bookstore….sorry, my cynicism again).

We do have some great folks out there who are sharing their own journeys of what they are learning and experiencing. Giving us some understanding of what this whole simple lifestyle is all about. Lewis and Clark types who, are on the “Journey of Discovery”, just like the rest of us, but are a little further along on their expedition and keeping great journals.

Tom and I have been doing something different this summer. We have been taking short three or four day “mini” vacations on the motorcycle, but we’ve been doing it in a totally new way from how we have done it before.

In past years we have had a general plan to our vacations. Not completely, but we would have an idea of where we were going, where the scenic spots were, where the camping areas and the places available to us for lodging, eating, getting gas, etc would be. We would, once in a while, drive off the planned course and see what we could discover, but that was the exception. Most of the time we just followed the mapped course we’d laid out together in the kitchen over a couple of nights.
In these vacation expeditions we’d also have a definite goal and agenda of what we wanted to see, experience and accomplish. We don’t have the name “driver” for nothing, and some days the only goal seemed to be how many miles we could push through in a day!

This summer however, has been different.

Instead of loading up the car and luggage carrier with all our necessities for camping, our suitcases full of “stuff” that we’d maybe use, coolers packed with food and drink, we packed small bags that fit into the limited spaces on the motorcycle. Usually not more than a change of clothes, our rain gear, a couple bottles of water, basic toiletries, a bible and extra jacket. We’d take along a map, but only for the sake of getting us back on track if we got disoriented and lost out on the back roads of Minnesota and Wisconsin.

We load up and take off in a matter of minutes (verses hours), heading out of the city, in the general direction we wanted to go. We would find some road unknown to us and take it, just to see where it would lead. Often times it would lead to some great and awesome place that we would never of found on our own. Sometimes we would find ourselves at a dead end, where we would have to turn around and go back a bit until we found another road and take that for a while. We found some incredible places and experiences that made us look forward to what new things we’d discover tomorrow! We felt alive and revived. Resulting in thankfulness for all that we saw God bless our journey with each day. A beautiful road, a person to encourage or pray for, finding new friends in towns we’d never of known, creating memories and special times of enjoying life together in the goodness of God. It was simple (unencumbered and portable), organic (let’s see what unfolds naturally in the process) and missional (what other lives can we bring some aspect of the nature of Christ to today in our encounters).

When Lewis and Clark made their journey into the western wilderness some two hundred years ago, they went not knowing what they would encounter with each day and decision of direction. Sometimes, the river they travelled just took them along it’s natural path and when that was no longer possible, they found their way through mountain passes and vast prairies with sometimes the help of those native to the area. They recorded information, observations and drew pictures of what they were discovering and wrote it in journals for those who would be following in the future. Even though this would be the beginning of the westward movement of settlement, each of the pioneers soon to head west on that journey still had to discover, on their own with just a few journal notes of information and helps, the path to where they would eventually settle.

Tom and I driving along this summer on the unknown back roads of MN and WI, not knowing where we would eventually end up that night was exciting, rewarding, adventurous, fun, a bit unnerving, tiring and stressful at times. All of the above and more! I wouldn’t give up one moment of it.

The simple organic and missional church life gives us no GPS, maps and instructional directions. Instead, we have the Holy Spirit to lead and guide us in the direction we are to go. We get to learn how to follow Him in a dependent and intimate way. When He says; this is the way, we go that way. We learn to have ears that hear. We learn to discover, on our own with Him, the unique adventure that Jesus has planned for us to experience more of Him and what He has in store of us while we walk this side of heaven. To know Him, and walk daily in an intimacy that is fresh, alive, exciting and dependent. We have the ultimate “journal”, the Word, that has all that we need pertaining to life and godliness. We have the journals of others on similar journey’s that can encourage and aid us, but in the end, we find our own Journey of Discovery with the Author of it all!

In the vernacular of motorcycle trekking………….”enjoy the ride”!

From Katie Driver’s Blog, Backseat Driver

Forgive them for they know not…

“Obey them that have the rule over you, and submit yourselves: for they watch for your souls, as they that must give account, that they may do it with joy, and not with grief: for that is unprofitable for you.”  Hebrews 13:17

Having lunch today with my wife at TGI Friday’s, (great salad by the way) I was deeply saddened and angered as I sat by two older women.  One of them was speaking with great authority and let me say venom, spite, disrespect and self-righteous pride, about her church and specifically her Pastor.  I don’t think she could have found many more ways to verbally tear him down.  I’m glad I was almost done with my great salad when she said “I think we are just going to fire him.”

I wanted to walk over and ask, “What church do you attend, so I can know where not to go.”  I had many other thoughts, but had I said them, someone might be writing a blog about me right now.

No one knows the burden of a Pastor but a Pastor and/or his wife.  How can people become so arrogant and unloving?  According to Barna Research, in 2008 there were over 1700 Pastors that left formal ministry every month.

Let me encourage you to take heed to the passage in Hebrews and Paul’s encouragement.  Repent if you have been guilty.  If justifying yourself is at all running through your mind right now  or this blog personally offends you – you need to repent.  Make it your aim to make your Pastor’s labor on your behalf a joy.  Go out of the way to serve him as he serves you.  Love him with the kind of love Jesus died to give you.

The Vision and The Journey…

Not all journeys begin with a vision, but every vision is the beginning of a journey. 

As I mentioned in my last post, I am talking about something that originated from the heart of God, not the desires of man.  We have all felt strong desires and placing them in beautifully crafted words and called them a vision.  Church leaders are notorious for this , the proof being captured in many churches’ three part vision statements.  I’m not slamming on the desires of Godly men who want to do good things, but there is a big difference between the visions of men to do Godly things and the visions from God that only He can give and fulfill. 

“That which is born of flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.”  John 3:6

God fulfills His visions through us and by the resources He supplies.  We cannot see or understand the full scope of this kind of vision.  If we did, we would run away from it like Jonah or run right out thinking we can fulfill God’s vision.  A true vision from God frightens you and captures you at the same time.  You don’t go looking for it, it finds you.

It was a typical Sunday service.  We were going through the same routine we go through every Sunday.  As we came to our time of worship, I was engaged as I usually am somewhere between sorting out the last thoughts of the sermon I am about to deliver and half listening for any last minute promptings from the Holy Spirit and trying to worship.  All of a sudden I am arrested by God with a vision.  I am engulfed by what I see in the Spirit as everything in the natural fades into the backdrop till I am only aware of God and what He’s showing me.  And, this is all I see…

I was taken outside of our Church building as I watched a storm appear.  It was sudden with no time to prepare.  You could not see the storm, only it’s effects.  It was like seeing one of those storm stories about a hurricane or tornado on the Discovery Channel.  The power of the wind began to tear the building apart starting with the shingles.  Piece by piece the building tore apart, shingles, plywood, timbers and bricks, til all that was left was the concrete slab foundation.  Then as quickly as the church was torn apart and stripped away, God began to build it back.  Suddenly, I found myself back standing in our sanctuary singing our last song if worship.

I tried quickly to compose myself.  What now?  I sensed in my spirit that God was about to do what I saw, but I had no idea what that meant.  As I said before, it frightened me and captured me.  I heard the Lord say, “surrender.”

I made my way up front and stood before the people God had been so gracious to bring together as our church.  I felt compelled to share what I saw and what God said to me.  When I was done sharing the vision, I said to the church that I sensed God telling us to surrender, that if He needed to strip anything away, we needed to surrender and let Him.  If I needed to go, the building needed to go, any programs, any people, finances, ideologies about ministry or personal issues, then we needed to surrender and let Him.   I asked everyone to pray with me a prayer of consecration.

What came next, I would not have expected.  And, so the journey began…

Come along with me.

Changes, changes, changes….

Life is an incredible journey and it is easy to lose sight of it if we only focus on the moment.  Some moments in life can be paralyzing if we let them.  Those of you who have done much flying have been stuck in a city or airport when you needed to be somewhere else.  It’s a layover, not your destination.  None of us decide to permanently stay there.  However, we are there.  We make the best of it, maybe even find a way to enjoy it, knowing it’s a journey not the destination.  We have to learn to enjoy the journey which means embracing changes.

Our Church has gone through many changes over the past 3+ years.  These changes have reshaped and reoriented who we are and what we look like.  There have been many moments in this journey that could have been paralyzing and maybe for a season even were.  But weathering and savoring the good and bad continue to shape us for God’s plan – a people who genuinely reflect Him and reveal Him.

I am not the same nor is our church the same but what we are changing into is something glorious.  This blog and our church blog will begin to reflect the changes we are going through.  Tomorrow I am going to share a vision God showed me 3 years ago that has shaken everything in my life. (Vision: not something I desired or dreamed up, but an actual, literal vision from God.)  This vision was the beginning of a journey.

Have you ever seen a literal vision?  What did you see?

The measure of success…

I just love the awkwardness of conversation.  You know it when you encounter it.  The proverbial “How’s the weather” conversation; the superficial stuff.  We do this when we don’t know someone, don’t know what to talk about or what questions we should really ask.

These kind of conversations are interesting among christians, especially leaders.  This is why pastors, church planters, leaders and those observing them ask superficial questions about success.  How many people do you have coming?  How many groups do you have? 

People want measurable and decisive answers.  I’m always tempted to give such answers, but the truth is these days such answers are not impressive if that is how we perceive success.

Let me leave you with two thoughts:

1. It is much easier to describe to you what I’m doing rather than tell you what I’m becoming.

2. Faith will always lead you down paths where you can’t use your eyes.

Unfortunately these two thing are not impressive to those looking to measure success by superficial things.

What I’m reading…

It has been said that “a teacher that ceases to learn ceases to teach” or “teachers are life long learners.”  You can also tell a lot about a person or at lest their current state by observing what they are reading or in other words, “their teachers.”

So I just wanted to let you peer into my life and mind a little by sharing what I’m reading at the moment.  I frustrate my wife in how I read.  One, I read slowly or at least much slower than her.  Two, I always have 4 - 6 books on the hook and 3 – 4 waiting in the wings.  Here’s what I’m chewing on:

ON THE HOOK

The Normal Christian Life – Watchman Nee

 

 

 

The Watchers – Mark Andrew Olsen

 

 

 

 

 

Finding Organic Church – Frank Viola

 

 

 

The Rabbit and The Elephant – Tony & Felicity Dale, George Barna

 

 

 

Organic Leadership – Neil Cole

 

 

 

 

 IN THE WINGS

So Beautiful - Leonard Sweet

From Eternity to Here - Frank Viola

Organic Community - Joseph R. Myers

Atlantis- David Gibbins

 

What are you reading?

Simplify: The Rabbit and The Elephant…

I picked up this small book after running across it on This Blog.  The title alone was enough for me to buy it.  Curiosity!

I have not finished it yet, but, let me recommend it to you for your reading pleasure.  It is well crafted by 3 great writers, not the least of which is considered one of our most quoted christian leaders of our times,  George Barna. 

Let me quote from George Barna’s website:

“If you put two elephants in a room together and close the door, in 22 months you may get one baby elephant. But two rabbits together for the same amount of time will result in thousands of babies!”  

The idea is that something large and with a complex structure is harder to duplicate.  However, something small and simple is easily multiplied.  What if we applied this principle to Discipleship and Church Planting?

Skye Jethani, managing editor for Leadership Magazine shared these similar thoughts as it related to the church and sharing the Gospel in our times:

“To declare the gospel in a culture where fewer people are likely to step foot in a church means valuing swiftness over bigness, agility over security.  This means smaller, missional communities with less baggage may be better equipped to advance the gospel than some larger churches burdened by their programming and overhead.

Does this mean we should abandon all our institutional baggage?  Of course not.  But like a smart traveler, conditions today require us to be more discerning about what to take on our journey, and what to leave behind.” 

You can read more about this in an earlier post entitle Going Missional.

Is He building His Church or are we building Churches?  We are in desperate need of a Jesus movement, something Spirit lead and empowered that man cannot take credit for.  Are we positioning ourselves in the best way to allow this to happen?  Do our modern Church practices enhance or detract from this happening?  Is the Cross of Jesus and the Gospel of His Kingdom really the central focus of our Church efforts?  Lot’s of questions running through my mind today obviously. 

What are your thoughts on what it will take for Jesus to move in this way today?

Oh yea, buy the book.

Shared life…

Today I played golf for the first time in 1 1/2 years.   I was invited by someone in my church who loves golf and lives on the 6th fairway at Beau Rivage.  My Dad was home, so the three of us hit the links.  It was the most awesome weather; great temperature with a nice breeze.  Now I’m not going to give Tiger Woods a run for his money, so I don’t take things too serious.  But, I ain’t too bad; though I will admit being last today.  A bad day on the course is still a good day.  I think I lost 6 balls and my golf shoes obviously sat too many years in my garage, because on the 5th hole the soles of my shoes literally began to come apart.  By the 8th hole I was playing with one sole.  By the 9th I felt like I was walking in mockasins with no soles.  My back was killing me by the 10th green.  What an awesome day!

Why?  We may not always think about it, but everything that is worth anything is better when shared with people we love.  Think about it.  Just about everything in life is enhanced by the presence of others we can share the experience with.  A funny movie is funnier when you can laugh with someone.  Your favorite restaurant is better when sharing it with a friend.  Golf is even better when you can play with people you care about.  Even if you play badly.

All said, this journey with Jesus is enhanced by the community of intimate friend that I get to walk with.  Love if fuller if we can share it.  I am glad that God has me on the path I find myself.  Church has taken on new meaning and new life for me.  I am breaking free from lifeless religion and institutional spirituality into the beauty of organic church, oneness with Jesus and share community.  Life and life more abundantly. 

Does something in your spirit long for something more, something different that what you are experiencing?  Is there a longing for something deeper in Jesus and others?  Ask yourself, what is keeping you from experiencing it?

Run away church…

“…and a little child shall lead them.” Isaiah 11:6

Maybe there is something to learn from this young generation about Church.  When I was a kid I didn’t like going to church but I did like seeing my friends there.  I remember the old man who used to give all us kids a stick of gum every Sunday.  Isn’t it funny the things that matter to us.  For me, the greatest memories of my childhood church experience had to do with the relationships I valued and the people who showed value to me.

It’s all about the relationships.  God living in us, us living in relationship with Him, us living in relationship with each other revealing the relationship with Him.  So as I tell the church I have the privilege of leading and loving, “when we leave the building, the church has left the building because we are the church, not the building.”

Hearing Voices…

“In high school I was a friend of Herbert Orin Tubbs, a scrappy country boy from Alabama who loved to kill snakes, shoot guns and play basketball.  Herbert, despite what you might imagine from my description, was quite intelligent, and when he graduated was offered a full scholarship to a good private university. Surprisingly Herbert, turned down the scholarship, stayed home and went to a local community college part-time. When I asked him why he turned down the scholarship, he said, “I didn’t feel that tinkle in my nose!” He went on to explain, I won’t say yes to anything unless I feel a tinkle in my nose. I believe its God’s way of talking to me.” Over the next few years that tinkle, apparently, led him to quit college, float between various odd jobs and chase a girl across the country.

We all know someone who speaks with authority about how God or destiny has lead them to make certain decisions. If you are like me, you relish the ring of authority and confidence this brings to a person. But at the same time you are suspicious of such idiosyncratic declarations.”     Dojo @ ReImagine – Experiments In Truth Week 2

I read this the other day and it reminded me of a conversation I had with my brother about hearing God.  I encounter so many people who are Christ followers that say they hear God telling them to do things I know violate His nature and Word.  The problem is they are convienced at they have heard God.  I know at the outset of this post, you might think I am judging what God tells other people or maybe I’m wrong and missing God myself.  I realize this and am willing to take the criticism.  People have to make decisions all the time that are difficult and that affect relationships.  The problem comes when we are not honest with ourselves and make decisions with wrong motives driving us.  Our decisions always have consequences and many times relational ones.  God’s direction is always loving and redemptive even if the decision is a hard one.  Relationships are what God values - it is the core of our faith journey and where our growth happens. The issue here is the necessity to hear God and the dangers of not.  Not hearing God can leave a wake of relational carnage behind us or cause a lot of personal pain with major spiritual detours.

Like the above quoted story, there are people who say they got the tingle.  Now, they may use different words but it’s the same thing.  I’ve heard many people over the years in ministry say “I’m leaving my Church, God has released me or I’m leaving my spouse, God has released me.”  A friend of mine, after hearing one of these comments said to me “You know what released means; It means I can do what I want.”  Now last I checked, we are the church.  I mean the body of Christ’s followers.  How can you leave the body accept be cut off?  When we leave a church we are really leaving relationships.  This is why Jesus used the picture of marriage to symbolize His relationship with the Church and therefore our relationship with each other. Truth be told, most of the time it’s due to hurt or offense.  God wants us to operate in love in our relationships, even when it’s hard.  This is where growth happens.

Here’s the point - We must check whether the tingle (voice) we have is from God or just a feeling that will relieve us or absolve us or excuse us of the responsibility to love one another and bear with one another instead of signing God’s name to our decisions and then saying it’s about the need for a different type of Church.  It’s easy to feel intently about something and call it God’s voice.  The flesh always seeks self -preservation and self-gratification.  The Spirit seeks sacrifice, unity, love, generosity and thinking of others. The more scary thing is when we cannot distinguish between His voice and our fleshly desires.

“For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.”      Hebrews 4:12

We must be able to divide between the soul and spirit and discern by the Holy Spirit even our own thoughts and intentions hidden in our hearts.

A little advise:

1. Don’t make decisions when you are angry, hurt, or offended with someone.

2. Don’t let hurt dictate your decision making by clouding your ability to hear God.

3. Talk to your pastor. If it’s your Pastor, talk to your Pastor.

4. Seek unbiased, wise counsel before you make decisions.

5. Pray and seek scripture.

6. Make sure it’s your Spirit not your soul that you hear.

7. Love always fulfills the law of Christ.

My Sentiments Exactly…

As I mentioned in the last post I’m on a most intimate and incredible journey.  In the past two years God has been cleaning my canvas.  What He has begun to paint is an incredible portrait of His Bride.  There is great beauty and freedom to be found in the church Christ builds.  This blog  has reflected many of my thoughts along the way as the fellowship I pastor has changed and continues to.  In reading this morning on Shapevine, which I recently joined to share my thoughts and hear from others on this journey, I came across this post from David Mills  I would encourage you to read it - it’s real short and thought provoking.

What would happen if we relinquished the need to control the church and actually let Jesus build it?  Are we willing to risk years, decades and centuries of man’s tradition to find what Jesus desires?  As I have been finding, we as leaders will need to be willing to lose everything to gain everything God desires.  Our history bears witness to the power of free forms.  God has worked in mighty ways where the focus and pursuit is Jesus (Christology) and the form of Church (Ecclesiology) flows out of Jesus’ mission (missiology).  This requires us to be willing to adjust our forms as needed for our mission.  The problem comes when the form  needs to change and we find we are in bondage to it or worse worship the form rather than the creator.

If you have any thought or comments along these lines, I would appreciate you leaving them.

Going Deep – Pt.3 Fellowship

Fellowship is something that we generally equate to hanging out with other people or doing something together.  In this third week of our series “Going Deep”, we look again at Acts 2:42-47 which says the new believers “devoted themselves to….the fellowship…”.

 

“And they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers. And awe came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were being done through the apostles. And all who believed were together and had all things in common. And they were selling their possessions and belongings and distributing the proceeds to all, as any had need. And day by day, attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes, they received their food with glad and generous hearts, praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved.”  Acts 2:42-47

When we look at this passage as well as other throughout the New Testament we see that what these new disciples of Jesus were experiencing something new.  This was something different.  This was something Deeper!

“That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we looked upon and have touched with our hands, concerning the word of life– the life was made manifest, and we have seen it, and testify to it and proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and was made manifest to us– that which we have seen and heard we proclaim also to you, so that you too may have fellowship with us; and indeed our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ. And we are writing these things so that our joy may be complete. This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all. If we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin. If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.”      1 John 1:1-10

John shares his first hand experience of the fellowship we see in the book of Acts. 

First, he says this fellowship is with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ.  He uses the words “Our fellowship”, which is a possessive personal pronoun, indicating fellowship as a distinguishing mark of Christians rather than something just enjoyed by them.  This fellowship set them apart as a unique and new experience to them.  It is unique because it is with the Father and His Son.  This is something they had not experience before now.   Their fellowship was based on that which united them; a relationship with the one who’s blood gave grace to cover their sin and who’s resurrection gave them new life and an experience of the Fathers love.

In Thayer’s Greek Definitions, fellowship is the Greek word “koinonia”, meaning association, community, communion, joint participation, intimacy and (social) intercourse.   This is more than mere religion or religious acts.  This is intimate’ knowing and being known. 

Second, he says our fellowship is in the Light.  If we walk in the Light we will have fellowship with one another.  To walk in the Light means to be expose, open with nothing hidden in darkness.  We spend much of our lives trying to hide certain thing from God and most things from people.  Even those we consider closest to us.  This is why so many Christians substitute Religion for true fellowship.  They put on the appearance of outward spirituality while inside they are closed off, bound and burdened by the things hidden in darkness.  Ephesians 5:13-14 tell us that anything brought into the Light becomes Light because Christ shines on you.  It is amazing the relief we feel when we have no secrets, when we open up and share with someone what we have tried to hide.  Satan can no longer hold it over our head and we step out to find, not condemnation, but rather love and grace.  We fellowship to the degree we are known.

• Who do you know like this?
• Who knows you like this?
• Are you willing to expose yourself, take the risk of being utterly transparent and real with someone?

Going Deep – Pt.2 The Word

In our second week of this series we looked at Going Deep in God’s Word.

“And they devoted themselves to the Apostles’ teaching…”   Acts2:42

In Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible, he says “One evidence of conversion is a desire to be instructed in the doctrines and duties of religion, and a willingness to attend on the preaching of the gospel.”  When we come to Jesus there is a desire stirred to know Him and our new life in a deeper way, both in knowledge and experience. 

God, from before time has been a God who reveals Himself and wants to be known, not out of His need but ours.  In this He has not left us without a way to know Him.  He has done so in His Word, both written and incarnate.

“You search the scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is they that bear witness of me…”  John 5:39

In the scriptures we find the revelation of Jesus.  As we behold Him we are transformed. (2 Corinthians 3:18)  For God’s plan has always been to conform us to the image of His Son. (Romans 8:29)  

The new believers in Acts 2 were responding to this desire by devoting themselves to the Apostle to be taught.  And as a result they were experiencing the change of this new life in Christ.  They were going deeper in the Word through the Apostles’ teaching.  The word for teaching here is also the word doctrine, which is not meant to be a systematic order if information.  It is deeper than just knowledge.  Referring again to Albert Barnes Notes, Barnes says it was not to just hold or believe the doctrine of the Apostles, but to adhere to or attend on those teachings.  This was a new and deepening life in God’s Word.

“All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be competent, equipped for every good work.”   2 Timothy 3:16-17

To understand why and how going deeper in the Word and devoting ourselves to it’s teaching changes us, we can look at 2nd Timothy.  It says “All scripture is breathed out by God…”  In the Greek it literally means by the breath of God the Scriptures were formed.  Peter says it this way:

“For we did not follow cleverly devised myths when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of his majesty. For when he received honor and glory from God the Father, and the voice was borne to him by the Majestic Glory, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased,” we ourselves heard this very voice borne from heaven, for we were with him on the holy mountain. And we have something more sure, the prophetic word, to which you will do well to pay attention as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts, knowing this first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture comes from someone’s own interpretation. For no prophecy was ever produced by the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.”   2 Peter 1:16-21

The Greek “carried along” actually means “borne” from the root “to bear.”  Benjamine Warfield says:

“What is “borne” is taken up by the “bearer,” and conveyed by the “bearer’s” power, not its own, to the “bearer’s” goal, not its own.  The men who spoke from God are here declared, therefore, to have been taken up by the Holy Spirit and brought by His power to the goal of His choosing.  The things which they spoke under this operation of the Holy Spirit were, therefore, His things, not theirs.”  Benjamine Warfield

This is why our human words only have power to the degree of our own limited ability and authority, but when we are borne of the Holy Spirit, we are taken up by Him andwhat we then do in Him is by Him through us.  This kindof power is supernatural.  This is the power of the Word given by these men borne of the Spirit.  This makes the Word of God powerful and as we go deeper into it, it works in us powerfully to the end and goal of the Spirit to which the Word belongs.

“And we also thank God constantly for this, that when you received the word of God, which you heard from us, you accepted it not as the word of men but as what it really is, the word of God, which is at work in you believers.”  1 Thessalonians 2:13

In the life of the “borne” again believer, the Word performs powerful and life changing things for those who go deeper into it and put it to practice – obey it.  This is why it says in Ephesians:

“And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes. Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love.”   Ephesians 4:11-16

No one is going to do it for us.  Our new life is a journey and the change we must experience is a process.  It is a process that is hindered if we do not go deeper in God’s Word.  It is amazing that as much as  we (believers) hold the Apostle Paul up on a pedestal, that we would fine this in his writings:

“The brothers immediately sent Paul and Silas away by night to Berea, and when they arrived they went into the Jewish synagogue. Now these Jews were more noble than those in Thessalonica; they received the word with all eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see if these things were so.” Acts 17:10-11

Let me invite you to GO DEEPinto God’s Word.  Take advantage of the opportunities you have to devote yourself to Apostolic teaching.  Your pastors and spiritual leaders humbly labor to lead you into a deep and rich encounter the the Word of the Word, Jesus.  God is faithful to bring favor in your life from devotion to the teaching of His Word.

“But those that were sown on the good soil are the ones who bear the word and accept it and bear fruit, thirty and sixty and a hundredfold.”  Mark 4:20