"When you begin to think outside the box, you often become some other "leaders" lousy follower. That usually costs something" (Andy Rayner)

"Our guardian angels are bored." (Mike Foster)

It's where I feel I'm at these days. “In the second half of life, it is good just to be a part of the general dance. We do not have to stand out, make defining moves, or be better than anyone else on the dance floor. Life is more participatory than assertive, and there is no need for strong or further self-definition” (Falling Upward. Richard Rohr.120).

Sunday, August 18, 2013

Less Church Structure & More Church Substance!

So far I've planted nine simple, economical, low budget churches, with no outside funding, that are lead by unpaid staff, both in Canada and Africa.

I just do not require all the gimmicks and "Stuff" many Christians have come to expect today.
What I need are people genuinely interested in my spiritual welfare, and I in theirs.
Learning, correcting, encouraging and living the word of God together on mission to the place we live. I don't need a building, a PHD teacher, PowerPoint, and live entertainment, to keep me interested. Where there is genuine relationship over mutual growth, there is no lack of interest on my part. I could assemble in a living room, under a mango tree, at a park, and my "church" could include a BBQ as well as communion and that would notch the interest level way up for me.

"The Roman Catholic Church went on to canonize the system. Luther reformed the theology surrounding the gospel, but left the outer forms of “church” remarkably untouched. The Free Churches freed the system from the state, the Baptists then baptized it, the Quakers dry-cleaned it, the Salvation Army put it in uniform, the Pentecostals anointed it, and the charismatics renewed it, but until today nobody has really changed the system. The time to do that has now arrived."

(The House Church Book. Wolfgang Simson. Barna, 2009, pg xiv)

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