an open letter and the start of something new...

dear friends,

i am writing to invite you to a "group" i am "starting". i don't exactly know what title to give it, so we can say "home group" or "cell group" or something along those lines. basically, i am hoping it will be a fairly accurate reproduction of the church in the New Testament. therefore, in reality, it is a church. but certainly not what the majority of churches in the western world looks like now.

(and i say "starting" because i think the ideas behind this group are certainly not unique to me, and therefore i consider myself more of a facilitator, not the owner of a group.)

here's some more specifics:
* i want it to be an authentic, incarnational, Christ-centered community. we are open, honest, welcoming, gentle, vulnerable, and truly LOVE one another. we are here because of Jesus and no other reason. He is the center and focus of our lives, and therefore of this group and whatever it is or does or becomes. we should approach each other with humility and teachability, willing to work things through in conflict and in our lives. we all sin and mess things up, let's have grace for each other and all learn as we go. none of us has this thing called life figured out, but we know the One who does.

* we are hospitable and open. new people (believers and non- or pre-believers) are warmly welcomed and invited into a deeper friendship. we come looking for ways to minister to one another, to meet others' needs and to be intentionally looking beyond ourselves. (yes, we will have times when we need to be the one ministered to, but in general, we shouldn't always be looking out for #1 first and foremost.)

*we are here because we love God, and we are here to love one another. but along with that is loving the community. let's find ways to really be Christ to those around us.

* this will be a place for people to use their giftings. whatever God has put in you and called you to, we want to help you grow in it, challenge you to try new things, and support you along the way. this means all of us will try new things and learn how to do this. we need to learn and practice how to give others freedom to step out where God is leading them, even when we don't understand. and we need to learn how to support them and encourage them along the way, especially when we don't understand.

* this is more than just a meeting one night a week. this is a way of life. for this to really work, to really impact us and our community, it really is a new mindset to take a hold of. i certainly don't want to force external standards on anyone, but i really really hope that we will be excited enough by this to take risks and involve ourselves more in the lives of those around us. i really hope we care enough to commit ourselves to each other, not just a meeting. one of my favorite verses:
1 Thes. 2:8 (ESV)
So, being affectionately desirous of you, we were ready to share with you not only the gospel of God but also our own selves, because you had become very dear to us.
i think the NIV says "our own lives". i love this picture: love that stretches between friends and ministry that it is no longer a task to disciple one another or a requirement, but a desire that shares all of life together. and this is not only within our group, but in our jobs and other spheres of influence. we can't compartmentalize our lives.


ok, realistically, this won't be easy. and it certainly won't happen overnight. but i do think it is a worthy goal to strive for. i do know that if we don't start with the end in mind, we will certainly never get there.

another slight curveball is that i am planning to move to CA to go to grad school this fall. i am not sure yet when i will leave, but likely june or aug. so i have no idea what will happen to this group then, but it will clearly be a time to re-evaluate.

so let's realistically say that to be a part of this group, i would like you to really give it all you've got for 3 solid months (until the end of may), then if it's not working, it was a great learning experience for all of us. i know this is completely new for some of you, so i invite you to check it out, research what the church really looked like in the NT, find verses of what you think the ideal of this group might be (the "one another" verses may be one place to start), and take stock of your own life. ask me questions, pray about it, look up some of the resources, do whatever you need to do. i know this isn't for everyone (and i would be in waaaay over my head if it were), but i did want to invite you all to at least consider it.

i know, too, that most (if not all) of you are involved in your own churches and ministries. i think this group could complement those things well, at least for a season. one of my goals is to pass on some of the training i've had, and the passion for a group like this, and resources so that everyone who is a part of this can do the same thing wherever you go. some of you may want to simply take back the lessons learned and be more effective with what you're already doing. some of us will move away and do new things and maybe start another group like this. i pray all of us find something deeper in how we live as a member of the body of Christ at large.

again, this is an invitation, but if you're doing something else and don't feel like it fits, go, and really get involved in what you're doing there!

ok, some more specifics:
when: tuesday evenings
where: dianne's house (at least to start with)
who: you and anyone else this might resonate with

i know it's really late notice, but if you are free tomorrow (tues, jan 22), i'd love for you to come over at 7pm to pray and talk about this. i don't really know a lot more about what this will look like, and i want it to be worked out as a group. like i said, i'd rather be a facilitator than a leader. search out for yourself the absolute fundamentals of what "church" means, and we'll go from there.

i really don't mean to step on anyone's toes or offend in any way. and i'm sure some of you have concerns or confusions, and i'd love to talk with you about this more. PLEASE feel free to email me or call.

i love you all and want the best for you, whether that includes this thing or not. if you've read this far, thank you. (i tried to condense it, and if i've verbally processed this stuff with you already, you know that i have! so sorry to those who aren't used to it!)

for Christ and His glory,
dianne

ps. PLEASE pass this on to anyone who might be interested. it is a completely open invitation!

pps. i've attached some articles for those interested in reading/seeing more. i don't necessarily agree with all of it, nor is all of it a practical place to start, but it is certainly good food for thought!

youtube videos worth watching and considering:
(10:01) - an introduction to simple church

(1:29) - house churches around the world

attached pdfs:
"Finding Organic Church" by Frank Viola (has an awesome description of what i hope this will look like) (a link to this article was posted in a previous blog post)

"Missional Movements: Transforming the Harvest to Transform the Church", a paper by Fuller student Peter Gent - some ideas that were brand new to me and changed my perspective (if you want this article, i can send it to you)

books worth checking out:
Organic Church: Growing Faith Where Life Happens by Neil Cole

Blue Like Jazz by Donald Miller

Houses that Change the World by Wolfgang Simson

a new mantra?

"May your trails be crooked, winding, lonesome, dangerous, leading to the most amazing view..., past temples and castles and poets towers into a dark primeval forest where tigers belch and monkeys howl...,where something strange and more beautiful and more full of wonder than your deepest dreams waits for you --- beyond that next turning of the canyon walls."

-- Edward Abbey

i like it!!

AAAARGH!!!!!!

I CANNOT BELIEVE I JUST SPENT 2.5 HOURS ON A JOB APPLICATION THAT CAN'T GO THRU BECAUSE I'M NOT USING INTERNET EXPLORER!!!! I HATE MICROSOFT AND REFUSE TO USE THEIR STUPID BROWSER AND CAN'T BELIEVE COMPANIES WOULD LIMIT THEIR APPLICANT FIELD AGAINST NON IE USERS! IT'S COMPLETELY LUDICROUS!!!

at the very least, they should say from the beginning that firefox won't work and allow me to save the frustration and time of applying for their dumb job when my application won't go thru.

AAAARGH!!!!!!!!!!

Dear Kenexa,
In this day and age when it is clear that Microsoft no longer has the market cornered on internet browsers, I find it extremely irritating and frustrating that your online job application service for BB&T bank does not allow me to use Mozilla Firefox. I have worked on my job application for 2.5 hours, only to have a non-error hinder me from proceeding with my application. I called the Kenexa Recruiter Help Desk and spoke with an impatient and frustrated woman, who after a few minutes of "not understanding" me, was finally able to tell me the source of my error was simply in using Mozilla Firefox, a web browser I find highly superior to Internet Explorer. I think it is completely absurd that your computer programmers cannot design a program that will work within Mozilla Firefox. At the very least, you should put some sort of warning on the first few pages of the application that using Internet Explorer is mandatory to save us Firefox users time and frustration.
Thank you.
Dianne Laird

"the house church..."

"The house church is a way of living the Christian life communally in ordinary homes through supernatural power. It is the way redeemed people live locally. It is the organic way disciples follow Jesus together in everyday life. Since the redeemed no longer belong to themselves, they adopt a mainly communal, rather than purely private and individualistic, lifestyle. House churches emerge when truly converted people stop living their own life for their own ends, start living in a community life according to the values of the Kingdom of God, and start to share their life and resources with those Christians and not-yet-Christians around themselves.

"It is the result of the conviction that we do not only experience Jesus Christ and His Spirit in sacred rooms dedicated for that express purpose, but in the midst of life. In that sense, the organic house church is the death bed of egoism, and therefore the birthplace of the church. True community starts where individualism ends. Art Katz, a Messianic Jew who lived in community much of his life, says:

"'Community life pulverizes you old ego in the power of the Spirit of God, and rescues you from just living a miserable private life, where after loving each other during a one-hour worship service a week we rush home.... We need to start to function as a part of the fellowship of the redeemed. As the redeemed, we do not go home after a service, we are at home with each other.'"

Houses that Change the World, Wolfgang Simson, p79-80.

smitten

to impress favorably; charm; enamor

i just got off the phone with an old friend. "smitten" is the only word that came to mind when i hung up - grinning ear to ear, sighing with delight. no, i'm not in love, nor do i have a crush on my friend.

really, i'm in love with the God who redeems, with the God who is so in love with us. to talk with this friend, to hear him speak and describe his life, he is a completely different person today than he was when i met him, almost 6 years ago. God has worked such amazing miracles of transformation and redemption, it is ridiculous!

this God i serve is truly an amazing God.

hypocrisy

i am quite a good hypocrite when i want to be, when it's convenient for me. and that's even the nature of my hypocrisy.

i see that my generation is very consumeristic and me-centered. we generally are just looking out for number 1. whatever is convenient for me, meets my needs, sounds fun to me, that's what i'll do. don't ask me to give of myself, don't ask me to commit and stick it out when it's hard and ugly. don't ask me to show up when i don't feel like it.

i don't "receive well" from the leadership at that church, so i'll show up on occasion to hang out with my friends that attend there, but don't ask me to get involved, or even commit to showing up every week. i'll go when it's convenient for me.

i don't like some of the people that are involved at that ministry, so i'll show up and only talk to my friends that i already have. don't expect me to go out of my way to love people by just having a friendly conversation.

i don't think that activity is very fun, so even tho this ministry that i'm involved in is planning that activity as part of the fellowship of that ministry, i won't go. fellowship when it isn't fun is not worth it to me.

i'll show up at this Bible study because i like the theological discussions, but i don't want to open up about what is really going on inside my heart. don't expect me to be vulnerable and open, that's not what i do.

i feel like sleeping in today, so i won't go to church. i feel like watching tv tonight, so i won't go to Bible study. i would rather play on facebook than go serve dinner at the homeless shelter when it's my church's night (just once this month) to serve.


Matthew 16:24 (ESV)
Then Jesus told his disciples, "If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me."


Jesus, forgive me.

craziness in initiation....

definitely some thoughts to ponder... :-P :-D

finding organic church by frank viola (a pdf, 15p)

at church, the last sunday of the year, we had a time for people to speak about the past year, what God had done and what they learned and were thankful for. one guy got up and spoke about how he had learned so much, but couldn't describe it, or quantify it, or explain it. he just knew that the past year had held a lot of lessons that had changed him and were changing him, and he was excited about it, even if he couldn't verbalize it. i definitely agreed with him, but wasn't so excited about it.

now i think i see a glimpse of something that will put the past 2 years in perspective. well, the lessons of the last 6 years, really. and i'm quite excited about it. ;-)

All Your ways and all Your thunder
Got me in a haste runnin for cover
Where we gonna go from here?
Where we gonna go from here?