Working Title (as of today): Becoming & Making Irreligious Followers of Jesus

In short, you might say that this is a book on discipleship: the power and simplicity of being and making disciples.  I do believe that this is the heart of the ‘simple church’ movement and church planting movements.  More here from an earlier post.  BUT, I also believe that the terms and practices of ‘discipleship’ and ‘making disciples’ are vastly misunderstood which is why so many miss out.

So, with that title in mind, here is my working thesis (at this point):

1. The love and grace that Jesus has for us is bigger than we realize.

My note: I don’t think any book should be written that does not, in the end, call all of us to a deeper walk and relationship with Jesus.

2. The life of a follower (one who follows and makes followers) is a life of adventure, joy, and freedom far greater than we realize.

My note: This point goes to the core of what’s on my heart as I hope to fully explore the dynamics of being and making disciples.  We can discuss this further together and I attempt to clarify what I’m after and, again, get your input.

3. The religious traditions of our Christian culture continue to be a greater hindrance to the life God has for us than we realize.

My note: I know many of you share this ongoing concern that the life Jesus has for us must be engaged in without the religious encumbrances that so often dilute and/or distort His image in and through us.

Note that your input from the past couple of weeks here has greatly informed my outline!  Look forward to more insights from ‘the gang.’

Comments?

Your responses were many and amazing!

I have organized those responses into the three primary categories they seem to fall into.  Below is a mini-version of my notes.  You can download my full notes here.

Key Hindrances:

1. Our relationship with God

• Lack of intimacy with God
• Not listening
• We don’t know Him as He is
• We don’t know His word and/or we are lackadaisical about it

2. Our involvement in religious traditions and legalism

• Religious attitudes
• Man-made traditions
• Religion and pride
• Comfort-seeking in our church life
• Me-centered in our church life
• Consumer mentality as a Christian

3. Our followership (our walk as disciples)

• Lack of obedience to Jesus alone
• Lack of obedience to all of Jesus’ commands
• Not making disciples
• Not surrendered wholly
• No passion for the lost
• Compromise

Again, I only printed the first few responses and you can see the full list here.
Very, very helpful!  More coming…

Because of the value of this input, I am considering writing this next book transparently, the whole process beginning to end, right here on SimpleChurch Journal.

The benefit of doing it this way is:

1. Your insights will continue to shape and bring depth to the book
2. Accountability for me to keep writing

The Decision Not to Pursue Professional Publishing

In order to pursue this direction with you guys, I will have to settle the issue of not pursuing professional publishing.  Although I have a publishing house asking about my next book (which is a far cry from having an offer) I am leaning toward publishing myself, again, for the following primary reason:

This allows me to give it away which has been a huge benefit in developing countries.  Because my last book (Simple/House Church Revolution) was self-published, it was easily accessed in these poorer countries and translated into several languages without any copyright issues.

The downside?  Probably less exposure to Western audiences since it will not have the marketing power of publishers.

This is definitely an experiment beginning to end.  Any thoughts?

Oh, the specific topic of the next book?  Okay… next post!

Comments here!

Why consider this course?

• It’s fun (I think).
• It’s interactive with lots of opportunity to share and hear from others who are on a similar journey.
• It provides a lot of great material that challenges our perspectives and paradigms in order to help us shape our own non-traditional journey.
• It can even be life-changing as it helps set our course as pursuers of Jesus in the context of simple church life.

Who is this course for?  It’s ideal for those who are newly exploring simple/house churches or who are in the process of starting simple/house churches or networks of simple/house churches.

Read more of the description here and sign up now on a first come, first served basis. 

No need to journey alone!

Would you take a moment and help me complete the following list which I will then turn into a poll:

“What’s the number one hindrance in the church of the West today?”

Here are possibilities I already have down:

• Religious attitudes and structures
• Legalism
• Lack of obedience
• Selfishness and overly concerned about comfort
• Materialism
• Worldly distractions
• Not enough understanding of God’s grace
• Overly-comfortable grace
• Lack of prayer

This is just a start and I need more!

Once I have your input, I will come up with the top 12 contenders and then create a poll out of it for my research!

Your help is appreciated!

“What’s the number one hindrance in the church of the West today?”

Please comment here or, if you receive this by email, you can reply!

Religion is a breeding ground for death as it seeks to monitor, control, and keep everything within the confines of predictability.  This can, in no way shape or form, reflect the living power of a Jesus who is at work to raise people out of death, out of oppressive forces, out of darkness, out of slumber, into the light of His life, glory, and radical purposes to change a world.  In three and a half years Jesus initiated a movement that today continues to infuse the world with His living, powerful Spirit through over 1 billion followers!  He is alive and on the move.

Even in the natural, decentralized movements are recognized as having the greatest potential for change in our world:

“In a world of rapid and unpredictable change, the leading social entrepreneurs and the millions of changemakers with their tentacles and sensors touching every corner of the globe represent a far better mechanism to respond to needs than we have ever had before—a decentralized and emergent force that, if properly financed, governed and wired together, remains our best hope to construct a framework of solutions that can keep pace with our problems and create a more peaceful world.” David Bornstein

The church, the expression of Jesus, is always meant to be a decentralized, emerging movement led by the Spirit of God.  “Decentralized” because no one can control it, no religion can contain it, and no organization can claim it.  “Movement” because it is an unleashed force that is designed, by its nature, to cover the earth like waters cover the sea.  “Emerging”*** because it continually brings forth new life in new places and, as it does, emerges in the most unlikely situations and ways.

Our traditional religious approaches to church and Christianity can never serve the movement that Jesus initiated and that is being renewed today.  But Jesus followers—loving Him, surrendering to Him, seeking Him, following Him radically into the world—can and will.

***Note: Please don't make any association between my use of the word "emerging" and the loosely defined "emerging movement."

Comment Here!

The Good and the Bad of Missions

Missions: the Bad!

Missions: the Ugly

Quote: the dirty secret of missions

When Western finance does more harm than good

Guest Post by Roger Thoman (yours truly): 5 Pitfalls of Missions

Motivation for Mission

I look forward to seeing these types of discussions among all simple/organic folk!

 Comment Here!

For 10 whole years before I started Courageous Church I dreamed of it being one thing, started it as another, then spent the next 3 years trying to get it back to the church of my dreams.  I own this. The vision of my heart was for a committed community of people that first and foremost served God in radical ways in inner city Atlanta...  Sunday morning would simply be the time when those people came together to celebrate and honor God and invite others into our Monday-Saturday adventure.

Instead, I started a super cool Sunday worship service centered church with 700 people and spent the next 3 years begging thousands of people to help me be the hands and feet of God by fighting child trafficking and caring for widows and orphans.  I was advised by the best church planting experts in the world to go this route, but in the end it was my decision and it was the wrong one.   I sold my soul for church attendance in our first week and could never quite get it back.

Ouch!  I know that feeling oh so well.  This very honest post on the challenges of professional church building are potent.  Here is one more tidbit from this ex-pastor:

People L.O.V.E to hear about radical change.  They just don’t love making it.

And that applies to ALL people regardless of what type of church expressions they hang their hat on, eh?

Read Shaun's full post(s) here.

Comment Here!

I find that religious people (I know from experience) love the voice of routine, and church events, and predictable services, and knowing what’s coming next.  We often love Jesus but, really, we love even more our comfortable religious boxes, our titles, our roles, and our programs that others appreciate us for.

Not Virginia.  This friend of mine loves the voice of Jesus and knew that He was nudging her toward India.  One of her sons had moved there but this was way outside of the box.  She knew no one where she was going and she was not being sent by any organization or church.  She had no backing, no plan B, and no clear idea of what she would be doing there.  She simply believed that Jesus had spoken and she went.

For 11 months she wondered what she was doing in this strange land surrounded by needs that seemed overwhelming.  She served where she could, but mostly she got sick and recovered only to get sick again.  She prayed and begged God to show her more, but there was little direction and it seemed that her life was making no sense.  Finally, her trust began to crumble and she huddled on her knees on the floor of her small apartment crying out to God.  She said, “I was set to stay in prayer until I heard from Him no matter how long it would take.” 

Virginia went on, “I wasn’t on my knees but a few moments when I heard His still small voice say to me,

‘Go to the mountains.’  That’s all He said.”

The only mountains Virginia knew about were the Nilgiri Hills nearby where there was a Christian school.  She had never been there, but knew the school cared for the children of missionaries as well as Indian students.  To make a long story short, the school had been praying fervently for an Art/Bible teacher because of a recent vacancy.  And, yes, that is exactly what Virginia has a background in.  As this unfolded, she said, “I find I love teaching.  Love the kids, the challenge, the stimulation and being part of this dedicated and serving, God-centered community.”

One can only imagine the impact Virginia is now having in India (not to mention future generations) because she was living outside of religious boxes but married to listening and following the ever-creative, world-impacting Jesus.