France, faith, family…
I while back I blogged about something I found on a new book by Tom Sine (of “The Mustard Seed Conspiracy” fame, from years back). I still haven’t read the book by the way - don’t know what Amazon has done with my order.
It’s a bit odd writing about a book I haven’t read yet, so while I’m waiting, today I heard a radio interview with Tom Sine in Australia that I found well worth a listen.
If you are one of the four people who read my blog (Hi Mum!), you may have been waiting to find out how my weekend in the Cévennes went. We were staying in a community with the words “God’s Property” intriguingly inscribed on a sign to welcome you as you drive in after an impressively scenic drive into the hills along windy narrow roads. This place was started about 20 years ago by a couple who had been given this property, and saw it as a “safe house” for all who needed it - from homeless and marginals to alternatives, nomads, drifters - anyone was welcome. There are no conditions for entry other than respect for the fact that it is “God’s Property”. In practice this means that people are welcomed and respected in their differences, without judgement, that people participate in the running and financial needs of the community as they are able, and that they attend 2 community meetings each day, where there is singing, prayer, and sharing from the Scriptures. We experienced a couple of these meetings: 70 people crammed into a kind of stone basement with vaulted ceilings, praying and sharing together in all simplicity…it would be impossible to imagine a more diverse bunch of people! You could not escape an overwhelming sense of “God is here”. It’s rather like a modern-day monastery, I suppose.
It was therefore a PERFECT setting for this gathering. How can I describe it? We are so dependent on labels, aren’t we? But such a diverse group is difficult to put a label on. We had Jesus Freaks, student & youth workers, community dwellers, missionaries, a methodist minister, 24-7 prayer guys, house bus nomads, house church planters - you name it. The common thread was a passion for living a Jesus-centred life, sharing that with others, and living it out not only within the four walls of religious buildings but out in the world. We talked a lot about emergent church, simple church, house church etc. etc. But it was encouraging to see that the focus what not so much on any particular structure or method being THE answer for being church in the 21st century. The emphasis was much more on relying on the Holy Spirit to give us the right approach in our particular situation. Since the weekend I’ve been reading Red Moon Rising about the 24-7 prayer movement, and it’s helped me realise how much my way of relating to the Holy Spirit is changing. The book points out that for years in the church we were praying “Come Holy Spirit”, and he came. Today the Holy Spirit is calling “Come, Holy people” - come and live out holiness among people where they live - not to distinguish ourselves, but so that they too can share in what it means to be holy (definition: centred on God rather than on self. It is the opposite of being “holier than thou”, which is the way it is often wrongly understood). The question is, will we go? Or will we remain in the “come Holy Spirit” mode - come and bless our churches.
The meeting did not end with any great strategy or plan for the future, but we achieved our goals of networking, new friendships, and getting a bigger picture of what’s happening in France and across Europe. Hard to predict what the fruit will be, but for me it was absolutely a not-to-be-missed experience.
I’m writing this from Montpellier where I’m waiting for a bus to take me out to a Christian community in the Cévennes hills - a historic area where many huguenots (French Protestants) took refuge during the wars of religion. Some weeks ago I received information about this gathering from Connect Europe:
As many of you know the spiritual situation in France is still more problematic and difficult as may be in other countries. Right now there is a little team of friends coming together who have the dream, aspiration and vision that God wants to change something, that in France a new kind of community based church will emerge, that will influence the French culture and will have something to give to Europe and what God is doing there…
This immediately caught my eye as I’ve been following the activities of this group for a while through various blogs (Marc’s Messages, Andi’s Perspective etc…), and it’s the first time they’ve had a gathering in France. Ordinarily it was going to be impossible for me to make it because of other commitments. And the SUDDENLY, everything opened up, I found cheap plane tickets just yesterday, and here I am! Not sure what to expect, but really looking forward to connecting with people from different parts of France and Europe who are seeking to “connect, pray together, build bridges” and work towards new (old) ways of being church and community in Europe.
Following our discussions on mission in Europe near Valence last week, the Lausanne World Pulse had an interesting article on The European Church Today: Reflections on Her context. It’s gives a useful overview of the details, without getting too bogged down in history. If you’re like me, you often don’t get to the end of pages that you click through to from links on people’s blogs, but if you make it through to the end of this one you’ll get to some interesting thoughts on examples of the openness of today’s Europeans to spiritual ideas - important implications for mission if we could just see the challenges as opportunities and not reasons for failure.
Sitting in the train on the way back from a couple of very fruitful days near Valence with friends working with Bethany Fellowship. It has been nearly 11 years since we left Bethany in Minneapolis after two years of studies, and we have always been a little sad that we haven’t managed to keep contact as well as we would have hoped. So when we were asked to join a conference of their European workers we jumped at the chance. Bethany’s European personnel are primarily church planters and workers in the UK, France, Slovenia, Germany, with a number of alumni working in other places. It was great to meet old friends and join in on discussions about recalibrating Bethany’s European focus and getting some insight on what mission in Europe might mean for Bethany in the future. Although we don’t work directly with the organisation they often function in partnership and cooperation with others and we would love to do more with them. The publicity for their mission training operation in Minneapolis has been called a “best kept secret” and it’s true that although the work is not very well known, it has been remarkable what has been accomplished, especially in developing an extensive network of culturally adapted mission training outfits in some very diverse places (102 to be exact). They call it “GO 100″ if you want to know more. We also talked about what that might mean in Europe, and specifically how their “hands on” training with an excellent new internship programme could be part of this new vision. Bethany played a pretty foundational role in our lives and we’re thrilled to have reestablished that contact.
I found this on a page introducing Tom Sine’s soon to be published new book, The New Conspirators. The book definitely looks worth a read, by the way.
“What a strange way to start a revolution
. . . And what a strange way to end a world tour.”
We worship the seed that died.
The revolution will not be televised.
It will not be brought to you by Fox News with commercial interruptions.
It will not be sandwiched between ads to accelerate you life or be all you can be.
There will be no re-runs.
The revolution will be live.
The revolution will be in the streets.
The revolution will be cleaning toilets and giving another blanket to Karen.
The revolution will not be talking about poverty in hotel banquet rooms.
It will be eating beans and rice with Ms. Sunshine and watching Back to the Future with our neighbor Mary.
Get ready, friends…God is preparing us for something really, really - small.
Martyn Joseph, British songwriter
Let me introduce to you Nicolas, Anaïs, Marianne, and Esther, four young friends from Nantes who will be leaving next week for South Africa where they will spend seven months learning what mission is all about in a context that is completely different to what they’re used to here in France. They will be joining a programme run by OM South Africa which combines Christian training with practical service. We got to know Marianne, Nicolas & Esther well during our time running the youth group at the Saint Sébastien church, particularly during our trip to Spain in 2006 to assist some churches in the Madrid area. Anaïs has also participated in an OM project in Portugal, and all four of them really inspire me. They all completed their high school diplomas last summer, and have all been working long hours ever since to fund their trip. It will be a great experience, but also a sacrifice as they will be living very simply, and have had to put their studies on hold. It has been great to see their single-mindedness and commitment to the cause. If anyone complains to me about the aimlessness of today’s younger generation, I just want to say “look at these guys”! Some would say they’re exceptional, but in fact we often see the same kind of spirit in many of our young friends in the churches here.
So, Nicolas, Anaïs, Marianne, and Esther, have a great time, and we look forward to reading your updates. Follow their progress at name4godfr.blogspot.com.
What is worship? I have felt uncomfortable for years about this notion that if we have great worship in our churches, people who don’t know the Lord will come in to our meetings and be transformed. Nowadays, with few exceptions, it is only with great mental effort that I manage to get through a contemporary church worship time with a good attitude. The question “why are we doing this?” pesters me incessantly. As a worship leader, this is an extremely uncomfortable position for me to be in, so I am very much enjoying an extended “worship- leading” fast at the moment (6 months and counting). I long ago gave up the expectation that what normally goes under the heading “praise and worship” would actually attract outsiders to Christ.
I found this article (courtesy of The Edge ) written by a former praise and worship “guru”, entitled Worship as Evangelism. The context really doesn’t apply to France, as it is speaking more to the American mega-church culture. Where we live, a mega-church has a hundred people! And yet the church here is still influenced by the “praise and worship” movement (an example: Hillsong has now launched a church in Paris - a little taste of Australia in the city of light! Apparently it’s doing really well - some of our Paris colleagues are involved there).
I liked this article because it poses deep questions about this view that church is fundamentally a “worship centre” that draws people (the basic function of a temple), rather than a mobile community which goes out to demonstrate Christ in the world. The very idea that “evangelism” can effectively take place within a church building seems contradictory to me now.
Take a look if you’re interested - it’s a very well-written article. Do you think I’m being too cynical?
Really enjoying Aussies Michael Frost and Alan Hirsch’s book, The Shaping of Things to Come: Innovation and Mission for the 21 Century Church. It’s one of those books that I think fits in the “must read” category. Here’s a short excerpt…
“Clearly the missional church that claims the deed as sacrament will be fully involved in life, evangelism, work among the poor, community groups and causes, and pubs and cafes. This is because the missional church realizes that it is finding God (or is God finding us?) in those places previously perceived as “outside” of God because they were outside of the local faith community’s mission program. Actually there is no such thing as seeking God, for there is nothing in which he cannot be found. It’s all in the “seeing” and the perceiving. Having broadened our concept of God’s involvement in the world and our part in it, Christians can then be free to engage missionally in any and every place. The whole world becomes an arena for the inbreaking of God’s kingdom.”
If you’re not familiar with the phrase “deed as sacrament”, it’s a means of expressing a view of Christian spirituality where God’s grace is made apparent in our actions, and where there is no dichotomy between so-called “spiritual” activities like proclaiming the gospel, and practical deeds of service. God redeems the whole of life, not just the religious part. It’s not a new idea, but in practice we still tend to act as if somehow the things we do that are related to church are more valuable to God than, say, being friendly to our neighbours, serving on the local school committee or spending time at the local pub to get to know the locals. God can be in all of these things, not just the church bit (or should I say, “even the church part” ;-))
Does this strike a chord with you? Click on the comment link above, and tell me what you think.
I haven’t been writing so much lately - actually I’ve spent more time on the technical side of this blog than writing it. Shame about the lack of photos too, but the Internet here is table-thumpingly slow. I’m trying to get my head around how web sites work as I’m planning to move this thing onto another server. You will notice that the url www.bournagain.com now works - no need for the “Wordpress” bit. I’m making use of this time in New Zealand to learn a few new skills.
Otherwise this visit to New Zealand is all about people! We’ve spent a lot of time on the phone and in and out of people’s homes. It’s another reminder of how rich and diverse this thing we call Church is. In the last few days we have been with friends who are all involved with kingdom stuff, but in such different ways.
After travelling to places as diverse as Ethiopia, Lebanon and Portugal, Keith, Carolyn have teamed up with Richard to establish A Rocha in New Zealand. It’s a Christian conservation organisation. Carolyn put it very succinctly when she said that A Rocha is about “the greening of the church and the churching of the greens”. I used to raise my eyebrows at Christians involved in things environmental. Couldn’t really see the point as my eschatology centred very much around the “new heavens and the new earth” that would replace this tired old earth. But somewhere along the way I realised that the earth always has been and always will be central to God’s purposes, and when we look after it we’re doing what God does. It is actually a “missional” thing in and of itself, not to mention the fact that there are so many greenies out there who have been turned off by Christian’s lack of concern for the environment. We should be leading the charge - go for it, guys!
And then we spent an afternoon with Cor and Ria. Not sure if they’re Dutch kiwis or Kiwi dutchies, but they are very special people. Cor is an expressionist painter and if you want to be blessed you should take a look at his work. Our house would be full of his paintings if we could afford it 
Many of his paintings express the things he’s been learning in his walk with God, although he’s very down to earth about the artistic process. It’s 10 % inspiration and 90 % perspiration. We spent the afternoon talking about our love for the church and our frustration with it. As Queen Victoria put it so beautifully, “If all the people who fall asleep in church were laid end to end, they would be a lot more comfortable.”
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