Churchless Christian

The Organic group of Believers our family usually gathers with decided to make a bit of a change for a short while to our usual Sunday gatherings. We decided to split up the Males and Females for a month or so, meeting at different times of the week. We have done this just to break out of any rut that may be forming.

Last Saturday night about 7 guys gathered in a home. We brought in Chinise and while we ate, two or three guys shared truths that they had seen in the Bible. We laughed and shared. One guy then sang a spiritual song of thanks and need to God. Two other guys sang a song each which was a cry of the heart. I really felt the Holy Spirit in the room dwelling with us. In that quiet place two or three prophetic words came to encourage and build us up. At the end we prayed for one of the younger members of the group and spoke words of encouragment into him to pursue his calling.
We then returned to finishing the Chinise off (typical Men!)and had coffee and cake as we watched the Super 12 rugby final. I left first at half time as I was the only one who was supporting the losing team. Thats the Church. Thats "Where two or three gather in my name, there I am also".

This point is for those who are trying to explore being community with other believers (e.g. church in the house etc).

Several times on my trip during discussions, groups of believers brought up that they were struggling to become the relational, miss ional community that was impacting their neighbourhood that they had envisioned. It may have just been coincidence but each time the issue was raised the problem appeared that in the group their was some who did not really consider the group ‘real church’ and were often going off to what they saw was ‘real church’ on Sunday. So in some ways the ‘church’ was being treated like a cell group for a mid week bless me time, but their was no sacrificial commitment to the group and a readiness to work through the myriad of issues you will face when you start to live out a real faith together. When the hard times hit or real deep issues have to be worked through it is easy for those who are just coming along on the side to drop out. Having people in the group doing that for long periods to my eye is liking having your hand brake on while driving your car. Here are a couple of thoughts on this issue.

When stepping out into being an organic community forget about numbers. Jesus said where 2 or 3 are gathered, so if it’s just you and your spouse, praise the Lord! When we come out of the culture of organised Christianity we naturally think bigger is better and we invite everyone (usually other Christians!) we can think of to get involved. But two people in complete unity, totally committed to what the Holy Spirit has spoken to them about is far better than 10 people who are just drifting along. Numbers do not validate what we do! Otherwise people meeting organically would automatically be a failure. We need to break the numbers mindset that traps us. Work with what God puts in your hand. God has put my wife and three sons’ in my hand that is my starting point, and what God will hold me accountable for.

If a group of you are transitioning from organisational church to working out how to be the church you will most probably have (though not necessarily) have a main gathering time each week. From the groups of people who wandered out into organic faith with myself , the easiest thing we did to ensure that people did not start trying to do both was to have the main gathering on a Sunday (though the day itself is not significant to us). That way people needed to make a decision whether which way they were going to go. Human behaviour naturally avoids making hard decisions. So if someone has the option of carrying on doing church as they have always done it and adding on organic faith on the side they will. Doing the main gathering on a Sunday has eliminated this as an issue with the groups who we came out with.

. I was reading recently that the senior pastor of Toronto Christian Fellowship (laughter revival) after observing the significant migration beginning to happen out of organisations into organic life made two predictions for 2005. After this trip I would say they hold true for N.Z and try and resist number two happening (my opinion).

John Arnotts predictions:

 In the next year, we will see a growing number of traditional church and Para church leaders embrace simple church concepts.

 At the same time, as these concepts become more and more accepted, we will see a growing number of attempts to "organize and institutionalize" the house church movement.

Already in NZ we are seeing the organic ness of this new move of God be formalised into systems and structures. I really encourage people to sign nothing and agree to nothing official at this time but instead commit to building strong relationships that make you truly submitted one to another. In organisational church where many of us have most of our influences it is encouraged that we build systems and structures and then fill them. But being organic moves us away from formalised systems. We should hold to “Don’t organise it until there is something to organise”. I know for a fact that throughout this country we certainly are not at the stage where we need to worry about organising. I personally believe that signing pieces of paper and creating hierarchical structures are just an avoidance of building on strong relationships. I speak to myself in this. People like me who have been professionals in the institutional church have spent our professional lives building and supporting structures and it is one of the hardest things to break for myself. Do you know that in the seven years as a pastor I was involved with many structures and built many systems but I never had a relationship that I was mutually submitted to, that’s crazy!

Even though we have been encouraging people to go the Micro Conference starting on Friday week, we just want to clarify that we are not involved with putting it on. Our family is paying to attend like anyone else, and know as much (or as little) about the conference as anyone else. The only point of difference is that I have been asked to lead an elective on an afternoon that is all. In regards to queries, clarifications and details you should contact Followers Network in Wellington who is hosting the camp. www.followersnetwork.org

In regards to the camp I am aiming to update my blog with photos of the camp and notes of what was shared by Tony and Felicity Dale a couple of times a day if you can’t make it to Otaki. If I am unable to do that, I will certainly get it up within a week of the camp ending. Remember to check the archives on the right side of the page for other articles and thoughts.

Wading through the mud, confidant that the tide will rise again!

reflections on gathering together

One of the hardest habits (or addictions?) it seems for an organic believer is to break free of our liturgical behaviour when we gather together. As soon as we get together we automatically assume there must be some praise and worship songs sung. We often expect that we should open in prayer, have a time of prayer. The big part of our liturgy is that a ‘special’ person chosen for the day shares ‘the word of God’. We quickly compartmentalise everything and expect it to be over in less than two hours. When we are so used to doing ‘church’ we quickly behave and do what we did in our home group / cell group settings. The fact is many organic believers and churches once again slip into institutional church behaviour except now its being done on a smaller less effective scale!

Wolfgang Simson points out that the liturgy of the church service hardly differs between denominations, whether Pentecostal, Catholic, Orthodox, Evangelical etc. He also points out that it is not based remotely on the New Testament but on what they did in the Synagogue which was an invention of man not God (remember there is not one single prophecy or mention by God for the Jews to establish synagogues in the Old testament). And as Wolfgang who is Jewish points out if you go into a synagogue today you will see basically the same liturgy.

So what should you do when you gather together? Well you need to work that out for your selves. I suggest you read 1st Corinthians and see if the themes in that book are being reflected in your own groups. I ask this of myself as I write these words.

Are people coming ready to share a prophecy, a song, a testimony, a revelation from the word of God.

I really try and remind people when they gather that they should spiritually and physically (eg food) give something to the gathering and take something from the gathering. If everyone does that it is a powerful time in Christ.

Even though things are a lot more casual and ‘real’ when we gather, as individuals we still need to before hand have prepared spiritually as an athlete prepares for the Olympics as Paul says. Slackness in our personal walk will equate with slackness when we gather.

Avoid ‘discussing’ what people share. Talk it through if there is lack of agreement or uncertainty but otherwise focus on applying what is shared to your life instead of wasting words with impressing one another with your ‘knowledge’ and your stories.

The great thing with attempting to model your gatherings on the New Testament is that you can use the NT as a manual in guiding what you do. The Bible with the hand of Jesus Christ is your final authority not men’s ideas.

(Please don’t email me asking about 1 Corinthians + women + church I don’t want to even go there!!!J)

I am more and more amazed at how many people I am meeting and hearing about who are attempting to live out a less uncluttered faith in Jesus Christ. Just in my area of Auckland City (North Shore) I am meeting more individuals and groups who are at different stages of stepping out of the safety zone of 'church' and taking the risk to chase after God in unorthodox (but more Biblical?)ways.

My guesstimate is that at a minimum there are at least 20 organic groups on the North Shore and you could most probably double that if you counted even more disorganised little groups. Thats in a poppulation of around two hundred thousand. The dificulty is that we are all so disconected and unaware of each other. This part of the Kingdom of God is truely underground and it is very hard to find one another.

One defining point of this new move of people beginning to express there faith more simply and organically is committment to ONE ANOTHER.
It is not about individualisim and personal experiance, it is about interconnectedness, reliance on others and truly being part of the body of Christ. It's about being vulnerable and being Christ to one another.

Let's find one another!

Below is some photos of the gathering in one of our churches that goes House 2 House this morning.

We talked about the danger of House Churches tending to wind up becoming 'discussion groups'. We acknowledged that we had been slipping into that trap and desired to live out in our gatherings Pauls challange in 1 Corinthians

"When you come together everyone has a song, or a word of instruction, a revelation, a tongue or an interpretation. All of these must be done for the strengthening of the church"

Let me emphasise EVERYONE, that means you, God wants to give you something to bless the group you gather with. Enjoy the photos!

Remember to check the archives on the side of the page for more organic church information, contacts and photos

Having fun on the way to the Micro Church Conference in Otaki NZ last June. Remember its on again this year 3rd to the 6th of June 2005.

The Greek word 'Koinonia' is the word that refers to the deep "fellowship" that the early Christians had together. It is something that many Christians today long for - and it really is the essence of 'church life' in the Bible. But to a very large degree the modern church seems to have lost it.

When we have a 'service' or meeting today, where everyone comes and sits in rows facing the front, sings some songs and listens to the sermon, then says "Bless you" to a few people and goes home - that is far from true 'koinonia'. Even in quite a few cell
groups and house meetings today, there is little deep fellowship.
-It is more like a miniature "church service" - where a few people do all the 'ministry' and the rest sit around and watch.
We need to realize that 'koinonia' was at the very center of the way the early church lived out their lives. Without this, I do not believe that we truly have "church" at all. We may have a 'meeting' but we do not have deep fellowship. And without this, we really have nothing. (Andrew Strom)

(I wrote the below a year ago and disagree with some of it now. We should not get caught up to much in Jewish culture (as Paul warned in Galatians) but be more relevant to our own cultural mores, eg for a Maori it may be Marae style, for a POM it may be drinkies at the pub etc...)

One thing I have realised is the near impossibility of not being massively influenced by your cultural past when you start something new. I have certainly seen this as we have started meeting from house to house instead of a designated building. I can shut my eyes and imagine those first Christians gathering together to celebrate and do ‘church’ for the first time. What would they have done? It would have been very difficult not to do what they were so used to doing as Jew’s. What would they have done when they gathered together for the first time in a house? A’ Christian Shabbat’ is my guess, with the bread and the wine now reminding them not of the exodus but of Christ as he commanded (Don’t misunderstand why I have come. I did not come to abolish the Law of Moses or the writings of the prophets. No, I came to fulfil them. Matt 5:17) . An extended family with an open door (“Cheerfully share your home with those who need a meal or a place to stay.” 1 Peter 2:?) Doing Shabbat was most probably the first form of the early church and is still the most pared down (and the most powerful!?) form of church there is.

The New Testament I believe fleshes out the above point. Often when a particular church is mentioned, a certain person or household is mentioned. One can imagine that the extended family such as aunts, uncles, slaves and servants were a significant proportion of those churches. When Lydia or Aquilla and Priscilla became Christians and saw churches established in their houses it would be strange if most of the church was not made up of family connections. Remember that in those cultures you had several generations living in the same house and also living close by. And if these Christians named in the Bible were Jews then you can bet that their churches were just an extension of their Jewish roots. The obvious story about the extended family being a church is of course the story of Peter and the Roman Jailor. It specifically mentions that the whole ‘household’ were saved and baptised. They could not have all wondered down the road the next day to the local community church, so a church would have been birthed out of that extended family. This family was not Jewish, but those who brought them to Christ were, so again this gentile family when they gathered together most probably had a similar look and feel as Shabbat.

The stats to this blog are going crazy, the page views are doubling every day. I hope this means something to someone and is helping organic believers out there. Alot of this stuff I have written, was done a year ago when I made the decision to resign my ordination out of the fact I was no longer convinced of its Biblicalness. Its been a wild ride since then!

I have been reading Wolfgang Simpson’s book ‘Houses that Change the World’ this week and in it he has an awesome quote. “THE EXTENDED FAMILY IS THE BUILDING BLOCK OF THE CHURCH”. Simpson points out in his book that the hardest place to be holy and spiritual is in ones own home, where everything you do and say is tested for real life value. Simpson lays out a premise of hope that God is going to reclaim our homes for Christ. That our homes are the natural habitat for church, the down to earth community of the redeemed. “Christianity in return becomes a powerful testimony at the place where it counts most: next door”.
So how do I apply this truth personally to my life?

If we are to truly to believe that New Zealand is to be won to Jesus Christ we must be prepared to consider radical changes to what we are doing and how we are outworking our faith. I love the quote “If you continue to do what you’re doing, you will get what you’re getting”
As a minister of a church I have been very dismissive of congregation members who continually change churches or who drop out altogether. They have been labelled as people who will not accept authority, have ‘problems’ or who have lost their faith. As leaders in the church we have made sweeping judgements on these people who are struggling to connect with church or who have just opted out. However the large numbers of people who are in this position must challenge our presuppositions. Tens of thousands of committed Christians are opting out of the New Zealand church. Tony Collis states that in the Wellington region alone that there are approximately seven thousand Christians meeting in informal groups in halls, homes, marae's etc. Several years ago Bill Subritzeky stated that he believed that there were around twenty thousand Aucklanders drifting from church to church, surely they can not be all bitter negative people?

“Just as the illiterate cannot read books like those who are literate, neither can those who have refused to go through the commandments of Christ by practicing them be granted the revelation of the Holy Spirit like those who have brooded over them and fulfilled them and shed their blood for them.” — St. Symeon

A couple of years ago a couple in my church asked me if I could baptise their son. I was taken back a bit. I knew their son was a Christian, but I had not seen him in church for along time.

I knew that he had been going to church on Sunday night at a more ‘youth’ church and attending the youth group there. When I enquired whether he would prefer to get baptised at the church he was attending, they said no, he still identified himself as part of us and myself as his pastor which is why he wanted to be baptised with us.

This illustration sums up the modern Christian and how they ‘belong’ to a church has changed. I can think of many examples of where parents have moved to a more ragey church to get their teenagers involved more and find their teens start going to a little youth group down the road because ‘their friends go there’! Christians I think are less likely to compartmentalise themselves with their church.

This shift was observed in the 1980’s when Christian leaders realised that Kiwi Christians no longer identified with the denominations they were in and when they moved town did not automatically go to their denominational church but happily shopped around. Today we are still seeing this shift but it has now moved to where Kiwi Christians are not looking to their church as a one stop shop for their spiritual needs anymore but taking it from several sources. Compared to 20 years ago the Kiwi Christian now has Christian radio, television broadcasts and the Internet from which they have an incredible choice of diet of Christen information and teaching which they can choose from which no connection with the local church has. There are Christian schools they can choose to send their kids to, and after school Christian groups.

One common habit which is rarely commented on is the regularity of church members attending other church services. Even ten years ago I observed that at the large church I attended around a third of the attendees at the evening service went to other churches that did not have evening services. Certainly in the city now with often only larger or ‘youth’ churches having Sunday night meetings many who go are actually committed elsewhere. I often wonder if these people get counted twice, once by their own church and then again by the church at which service they popped along to.

It is becoming quite normal for Christians to send their kids to one churches kids programs to send their teens to another church program for the parents to attend another church and the Mother to go along to her friends coffee group which is connected to a different church altogether. This is an extreme example but differing degrees of this are increasingly common. The reality is that the Kiwi Christian is becoming more interconnected with their local Christian community and world and the paid clergy need to catch up.

I remember being told by an older man in my church several years ago that in the 1970’s the Presbyterian, Methodist and Anglicans voted on whether they should amalgamate. Their was to be two votes one for the church members and one for the clergy. Both had to pass for it to happen. In the congregational vote 70% of the church members voted overwhelmingly to unite, however about 70% of the clergy voted to stay separate and so nothing happened. Where the people were, was not where the clergy were. I tell this story because I wonder if today pastors are trying to build strong local churches which try to provide for every physical, emotional and practical need of the congregation not realising that their church members have moved into another paradigm. A paradigm of the City (or regional) church where we all belong to the church in Auckland for example.

Jesus taught us that “new wine needs new wineskins." The experience of history says that continues to be true. The experience of history also tells us that what Jesus went on to say in that context was that people prefer the old wine. Nearly all that we know who have been birthed in old structures prefer to stay in those old structures, or revert to type once the charismatic leaders who show them new ways move on.

Biblically, we all know that the church began in homes. Historically it stayed there for the first 2-300 years, with few exceptions. Now worldwide, it appears that the Holy Spirit is taking the church back to simplicity. Can the complex (traditional) become simple? I don’t know. In the rest of life the complex only becomes simple as it breaks down, wears out, and dies!

Maybe we can make the choice that Jesus urged when he said, “Unless the grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains alone. But if it dies, it brings forth much fruit.” If we will die to self-glory, our kingdoms, our control, maybe what we will see is what Samson alluded to when he said, “Out of the strong, came forth sweetness.” What a blessing it would be if this time around the “old” did not condemn or seek to destroy the “new," but rather welcomed it! May it be so.
Excerpt by Tony Dale of House2House

Inban Caldwell a Anglican Priest shares some ups and downs of planting Organic Churches among Moslems in Indonesia

a) Seeing many develop (joy) and seeing some fall away (tears) after months of preparation through training & relationship.

b) Seeing people being saved & reached with the Gospel (joy) and having to see churches fighting one another (tears) especially between pastors.

c) Seeing the sovereign hand of God in our lives daily (joy) & having to see the poverty and suffering of multitudes, mainly children (tears).

d) Planting ‘House-Churches’ (joy), only to be criticized and called a cult by institutionalized churches (tears).

The ‘church’ building as I see it can be used for social activities, celebrations, conferences, performances, social concerns etc. with Christian emphasis. This building is merely a social & evangelistic tool but never a church. The Christian home is responsible for the spiritual well being, lifestyle & education of their children & youth in their respective homes under the spiritual authority of the parents. Today, we have either stripped the parents or parents have refused to take their God-given responsibility in the home.

Every Christian home is a church and the home was empowered to be the church to proclaim, declare & do the works Jesus did right in their home & community (Acts 2:46). The Church in the NT continues its role & purpose in the homes (Rom 16:5; 1Cor 16:19). We go to a building in order to have gone to church when the believers home is the church where all the authority & power has been given to preach the word and do good works. (Inban Caldwell)

1. The number of house churches in the USA has probably doubled in the past 18 months, from 2,500 to 5,000," according to participants at a symposium organized by Church Multiplication Associates' Neil Cole in Los Angeles from 25-28 April 2005.

2. Already in 2001, Professor David B. Barrett and Todd M. Johnson mentioned that there were already 111 million Christians without a traditional local church.

3. the development of the so-called 'Neo-Apostolic' networks and movements, of which there are already over 20,000 around the world, numbering around 394 million Christians. According to Barrett, these Christians reject historical denominationalism and all restrictive central authority, and attempt to lead a life of following Jesus, seeking a more effective missionary lifestyle. They are the fastest-growing Christian movements in the world. Barrett estimates that by the year 2025, these movements will have around 581 million members, 120 million more than all Protestant movements together.

4. Belief that these new Christian movements "are simply under the radar of traditional Christianity", at least as long as it holds on to the classical Constantine church structure (pastor + building + programme = church.

More from Inban Caldwell who is bearing much fruit in Indonesia

Q. How did I hear from my call?

a) Was not satisfied with where/what I was. A sense of discontentment that made me feel there has to be a lot more to being a Christian.
b) Could not reconcile what I read in the Book of Acts and the church today.
c) Read about heroes of the Kingdom of God in the bible & church history and wondered why only read but be one like them.
d) Two thoughts that keep confronting me: Do I just love Him OR Am I in love with Him? (Ruth 1:14) – see illustration:

I just love Him: We have a legal position with God. We know that Jesus died for our sins and refusing Him will lead us to hell. So with a legalistic view to salvation from hell we come to Him. Many are totally satisfied with such a relationship.

I’m in love with Him: Well the above is good but there is more. What He is calling us is into a total & complete involvement with Him to the separation of things that in themselves are not necessarily wrong. It is a path to a higher level. The path of holiness is often the elimination of things that are not sin in themselves. The things He lays His hand on we must release because He has something higher for us.

Below is a brief article by a Anglican Priest called Inban Caldwell. I consider Inban a friend and a mentor in the faith. Inban is a missionary in Indonesia seeing incrediable fruit among Moslem young people in unreached people groups. Inban has seen many churches in homes established. I will pop more of his thoughts up in the next couple of days

Many people I know are not satisfied with Christianity today. Why?

1) Fed up with playing church – a form without power, a religion and not a relationship. a) Based on two hours of weekly celebration in a building & calling it ‘Church’.
b) Based on attendance on a Sunday as the size/strength of the so called ‘Church’.
c) Based on the Clergy (professionals who do the ‘sacred’ duties) while the laity (spectators who are not quiet there yet) who respond/react by, ‘Sit & sulk’ OR ‘Sit & soak’ OR ‘Sit & snooze’.

2) The status quo has little appeal – institutionalized (lets make 3 booths as the disciples of old) Lk 8, structured to man made convinces of control (control focussed on a man or board but not thru the fivefold ministry, traditions that are irrelevant to the 21st Century Christian.

3) People don’t want to be spectators; they want to be participants in the great work God is doing. “Praise God! His Kingdom has advanced and He has allowed me to be a part of it.” They want to participate by going, giving & growing.

4) People do not want to study the Word of God for merely knowledge only but want to live it, and the way things are structured (church is a place people go to & do spiritual things when church should be everyday predominantly in the home). Therefore we go to church, like we go to the shop, to the movies, to school, to work etc. Church is associated with a building more than a lifestyle of spontaneous worship in everyday living.

5) Set format of worship, as we understand it with little or no room to practice biblical Christianity that can be spontaneous and different (visitation of home, sick, prisons, practical helps etc). Our faith should be based on Biblical history & NOT traditional history of men. Why do we adopt & settle for the later (maybe good) when the former is the best.

It's funny how we can often at a gathering not have music or a 'teaching' or communion but we have never missed out on the food aspect

If you are looking for more writing or infoormation on Organic Christianity check out my archives of this blog. They are are on the right side of the page

We had an awesome gathering on Sunday. Because it was Mothers day etc it was only about 12 or 13 at our place. I thought it was going to be a bit of a dead duck because half the people there had stayed upto 2am playing RISK with the Master (me). I then wrote my blog to 3am, so I thought we would all be so shagged to do anything much. Funnily enough our tiredness made us more vunerable and less able to keep the pretenses up. We just sat around the dining table and ate Morning Tea, continued talking and moved right on to lunch. This way of doing church is teriable for my weight. It was really real. We talked straight with each other, with some honost confession about how things are with us and God. God spoke, we looked at the word to find solutions, we prayed earnestly and masks came off. We did'nt sing, we didnt get around to communion, but 'where two or three gathered, Christ was in the midst'. We ate Turkish delight, fresh scones, fresh pineapple, fresh bread, shortbread, fresh sushi, plunger coffee, fresh bananas, fejoa and orange cake. Yum yum yum. (I am a terriable speller without my darling Kim proof reading, I only ever got to level 3, praise God for grammer check)