Thoughts From Chris

My apologies for being out of commission for two weeks away from my blog.  After I got back from England we moved less than a week later.  Yeah, I timed that right, Kathy did most of the packing while I was away (not to mention she took care of our four kids – three of which are currently in swimming, tennis, and baseball simultaneously).  Yes, she is superwoman!

I wanted to share some pictures and a few more stories from England, but I cannot find my camera.  It is packed away in a box somewhere.  Hopefully, I will find that soon, and will then share more stories. 

In the meantime, I am back in the saddle – both on my blog and this Sunday as I return back to teaching.  We are moving into I Corinthians chapter 11 in our Messy Church series.  This will begin this very interesting and complex discussion about gender roles among men and women (both in home and church), God being the head of Christ, and guys not wearing long hair (how long is long? I interpret that as being no longer than three inches above the waist – so I am still good), and this interesting concept of head coverings for women for the sake of angels and respect for authority. If you know what all this means, please enlighten me before Sunday, so that I can at least look like I know what I am talking about.   Hmmm … Should be an interesting Sunday.

Praise God that the Mexico team arrived home safely.  The trip went exceptionally well, and not only was sickness significantly minimized from last year, no one even fainted on the plane on the way home (I still contend I did that so that we could have the emergency landing and get off the plane more quickly).  As the team this year focused on teens in Mexico, there were unique stories of God’s blessings.   We hope to hear more of them soon. 

As a reminder to Grace Gathering folks, we will be praying for senior high students and their parents this Sunday publicly in our service.  We are going to do it a little differently than we have with the other age groups, and I think it is going to be a special blessing to our teens.

Looking very forward to it!

Scott and I just returned from our trip. I have been to many church conferences over the years and I have visited many churches.  I don’t think I have experienced a church as healthy and exciting as the one we just experienced in Sheffield, England.  We lived out this church throughout the week, and it certainly felt like the name the experience was called: The Pilgrimage. 

No church is perfect, and St. Thomas would be the first one to tell you about their weaknesses, but I have been inspired in ways I did not anticipate.  They are so intentional and focused on who they want to become and what they want to do, they refer to themselves as partly a church and partly a missionary community. 

The three areas most notable to me were the following:

1)    Very biblically grounded and very strong on character discipleship.  The quality of their disciple making was amazing to me. They are building strong and solid follwers of Jesus. 

2)     A refreshing sensitivity to the leading and power of the Holy Spirit.  This church truly believes and practices the gifts of the Spirit and does it in one of the most balanced and healthy ways I have ever seen.

3)     The development of a mindset that in all they do, they are missionaries on a mission field. Within the DNA of the church, most people actually believe that God has sent them to be missionaries to the people around them and to their city.  This leads to serving people, loving people, and sharing the gospel with people as well.  They believe they are to be conduits of God’s grace and blessing to those around them. 

On the last day one of the leading pastors summed up the experience by saying something to the effect: “We want to bring the foundation of the Word and the ministry of the Spirit together in harmony within the context of a missionary environment.”

This was so much more than learning how to make house churches more effective, or how to follow a certain church model.   They talked very sparingly about that kind of stuff (although we did get some practical suggestions that will help in that regard).  What Scott and I experienced was what the church can look like when authentic discipleship, Spiritual filling and sensitivity, and a missionary mindset all become a lifestyle among the people and not simply a check off list. 

As Scott and I debriefed on our eight hour plane ride home yesterday, we both were convinced that Grace is already heading in this direction in so many ways. 

As we shared Grace’s story with leaders from around the world last week, so many people were amazed and excited for us.  While  Grace will never mirror this church in England, nor would we ever want to as every church is unique, I felt like Scott and I went up on the mountain and God showed us what Grace could like 5 years from now if we continue to get on our knees and seek his face in these critical areas. Let me tell you, it would be an exciting place to be.

My first and most important takeaway, having experienced this pilgrimage, has nothing to do with how I want to lead Grace Gathering, however.  My first area of focus is to better lead my family in these areas, because if I am not leading my family, I have no business trying to help lead God’s church.  I have a long way to go in this regard, but I believe it starts there and will eventually spill over into the church as God’s Spirit moves.  I am looking so forward to the journey!

Look forward to sharing more over time.

Final Note:  Please be praying for the 60 people from Grace who are in Mexico right now.  They are focusing on ministry to teens there. I think Craig Eakright is blogging their trip.  You can read that at craigeakright.com.

Scott and I have been staying with a couple who have been in leadership here at the church for over 30 years.  They are so hospitable.  I feel bad for Scott, however, because he has never had this much British tea or British beer/wine in his life (every day).  It is definitely a part of the culture here.

This morning we started with a time of worship through music.  The worship has been incredible and very moving.  As we sat down there was another man sitting next to me.  We had never met but as he got out a piece of gum he offered me a piece.  I took one and also gave one to Scott.  As we began to chew it, both Scott and I looked at each other and mades some very strange faces.  It was awful.  It was like putting black licorice and a teaspoon of salt in our mouth at the same time.  His name was Jacob and he is from Copenhagen, Denmark.  A great guy (see picture below) but terrible gum!

I also got a picture this morning with the two lead pastors of each church location.  The way I would describe these two guys are three words: humble, wise, and Spirit-filled.  Scott and I have had opportunity to talk to both of them, one on one, separately about Grace Gathering.  They have given us great insight that I think will help us as we move forward as a church family.  Look forward to sharing more …

Scott and I are in the thick of it right now in Sheffield, England.  We are meeting leaders all over the world.  Every time we meet someone new it seems like we are meeting someone from another country.   We are so encouraged that many of the things we are trying to do at Grace are some of the same things leaders all over the world are trying to pursue. 

The church here in Sheffield, made up of three locations, has been living out house churches and teams (groups of 2-4 house churches) for about 15 years.  They use different names than house churches or teams but many of the concepts and structures are very similar.  On Sunday night we experienced the celebration of what many of these communities have been doing.

Some examples of their names and missional focuses were:  Lighthouse (ministry to college students), Ambassadors for Christ (to Slovaks), Grace (senior citizens), Reproductive Life (young families), M and M (focusing on a specific street), Just Life (young adults), Same Difference (intergenerational), Simplicity (living simple lives) , Phoenix (starting evangelistic Bible studies) , Xtend (taking risks for God), Roots (social justice and homeless), Carmel (building mountains of prayer), 3PM (meeting in a café/bar), Go Global (multicultural).  All of them are attempting to grow, outreach, and have an intentional UP, IN, and OUT focus.  We were told that 95% of their church grows through these venues rather than due to simply inviting people to the Sunday morning service. 

Yesterday Scott and I went out with a group that desires to bring blessing and care to the city.  We went out as a group of about 18 and went around and simply prayed for people and looked for ways to encourage them.   Our leader asked us to pray before we went out and to ask God to speak to us about what he might show us (specific and tangible things).  As we prayed, I began to think about a lady who has a child with problems.  I had no idea what this meant, or if it was from God, but I prayed God might show me.   

We went into the city (see above), and then two by two, began to pray and bless people. I was with an English guy and we went up to women with children.  We told them we were walking around the city praying for children and asked if we could pray for their child.  Some said no, but most said yes.  We had opportunity to pray for many children and even Muslim children as well, in “Jesus name” of course.  It was awesome.

Just as we were finishing we came in contact with a girl who looked about 20.  We started talking to her and she was extremely receptive to spiritual issues.  At the end I asked if we could pray for her right there in the middle of the sidewalk as people were walking by us.  She then said that she broke up with her boyfriend and that their three year old son was living with him because she did not have a stable home (I had no idea she was a mom).  She was desperate to get her child back.  It was then that I realized this might be the girl and child I thought about as I prayed beforehand. 

The experience was incredibly encouraging and faith stretching.  We didn’t have any extra Bibles with us, and so the guy with me gave her his.  We pray that God would lead this girl to seek Jesus, experience salvation, and be re-united with her son.

Many more stories to tell, but enough for now.

We have made it here in England.  We spent the first day trying to get over jet lag and stayed with a friend of mine, Dwight (above), who lives in Ely, England.   Dwight is also the dark hair guy in the first picture of the previous post holding the British flag with me.  He came over to travel with me while in college, met an English girl, and eventually married her.

Ely is known as a place with one of the largest Christian cathedrals in the country.  As we went inside, it was really kind of a lesson on the history of western church over the last 1300 years.  England has all of these intricate and powerful symbols of architecture and religious power – very beautiful and massive.

However, from everything I have read, life transformation from the advancement of the gospel in the country of England has been decreasing for decades.  England is a post-Christian society.  In fact, life transformation from the advancement of the gospel is currently decreasing in every country within the western world.  The church, however, is growing in tremendous ways in the non-western world.  More about this topic to come later …

Saturday night we arrived in Sheffield with our host family – a great couple in their sixties who have a tremendous heart for God. 

We went to three church services throughout the day yesterday and attended an outreach event with our host family (long day but powerful).   They invited all of their neighbors within close proximity of their house to an afternoon dessert.  What was amazing is that most of their neighbors actually came.  Our host family pointed to each house in their neighborhood to Scott and myself and gave us a bio on each family and how they were praying for that family.  Scott and I were amazed.

Last night at one of the services, the church highlighted seventeen Clusters (our term is Team) – a group of 2-5 house churches each.  Each coach gave testimony of what God had been doing within their cluster/team.  It was very exciting, and the whole church celebrated with great joy!

Lots more to share, but that is it for now.   

Today Scott Jester and I head for England to experience a church that is impacting many in the kingdom through house churches and missional communities. 

The last time I left for England I was in 1990 as a sophomore in college (see pictures above).  I spent two semesters over there studying for my degree in philosophy.  It was quite an experience.  Things like:  watching John McEnroe live on centre court at Wimbledon, watching the Rolling Stones in concert at a famous soccer field, seeing Eric Clapton at Royal Albert Hall, sitting in the House of Commons with Margaret Thatcher, hitch hiking through England, Scotland, and Wales, not to mention a total of 11 weeks of traveling in 17 different countries.

What was most significant, however, is that I arrived in England spiritually lost, and I left England spiritually born.  While studying philosophy, God opened my eyes to the greatest philosopher ever:  Jesus Christ, the king of the universe.

Today I head back to England for the first time in 18 years. Many things have not changed:  I am still a philosopher at heart, I still have a lot of questions, I am still on a journey of discovery, and God is still working in my life.

My discovery process, however, this time is not the inauguration of a relationship with Jesus, but the discovery of his church and what that can authentically mean when it is within community and when it is on mission.

The journey is as important as the destination.  I look forward to what God has in store during this 10 day journey.

Grace Gathering Note:  As you pray for Scott and myself, please also pray for the 60 people our church will be sending to Mexico on June 13.  Lastly, Steve Longbrake will bring the message these next three weeks.

Yes, the Detroit Red Wings won the Stanley Cup!  Yes, Detroit Rocks!