Church is changing!

A couple of weeks, ago I shared with you these important quotes from a recent article in The Huffington Post (of all places!)…

Something startling is happening in American religion:  We are witnessing the end of church or, at the very least, the end of conventional church.  The United States is fast becoming a society where Christianity is being reorganized after religion.

But there is good news in this article…

But nearly half of Americans appear to hope for a spiritual reformation – even revolution…  there is a grassroots desire for new kinds of faith communities, where institutional structures do not inhibit or impede ones relationship with God or neighbor.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/mobileweb/diana-butler-bass/the-end-of-church_b_1284954.html 

And that’s where LK10 comes in.  Our mission is to train people for these “new kinds of faith communities”.

One of the main ways we do this is through the Foundation Courses.  These Courses teach a new paradigm of church in the context of a vital learning community.

If you haven’t been in one of these Courses yet, you can get a good picture of what it’s like from this interview with Sean Hyatt. 

What happens in a Foundations Course?

The video above is an interview with Walt Hastings who is one of our LK10 Coaches.  Walt has just finished leading one of the Cohorts in our six week Foundations Course and is describing what happened during the Course.  (See below for comments from members of that Cohort.)

Five new Cohorts are beginning in January.  One in Africa.  Two in Australia.  Two in the US.  To find out more information and to register see the right column.  Further questions?  Send me an email at john.lk10@gmail.com 

John White

Comments from members of Walt's Cohort...

Phyllis:  I had gotten God's messages before, but had never thought of it as hearing His voice. I had never tried a dedicated "listening time" before either. So I guess you'd have to say I am leaps and bounds beyond where I was.  I'd love to live my whole life as a "listening time"...   The class has emphasized for me that "church" is about relationship (to God and to each other) more than it is about worship. Worship flows from the relationship. 

Joseph:  The class has strengthened my marriage. We have checked in with each using "SASHET", which helps us to state where we are much more quickly. Sometimes we can't put emotions into words but this method helps. The class also has helped me to be more in tune to God and to listen to Him.  

Angie:  My highlight was meeting new people.  I also liked the roadmap that LK10 presented.  Doing check-ins using SASHET helped me understand where others are and be more tender toward them. I learned to listen to others, without offering advice. I was able to hear God's Voice every day and journal. I am appreciating that God wants to be with me each day, and that He desires relationship. Observing Walt when coaching allowed me to see a good example of listening well and asking good questions, without telling people what to do.   

Troy:  I liked the course material, especially how the role of the Holy Spirit was presented. It was great having a coach to whom to be accountable. My coach made observations and asked good questions that led to personal growth.  I also like the training options for the future that LK10 is planning.   

Raymond:  For me, the highlight has been the Skype session with the group. The fellowship with the other members in Skype was so welcome and refreshing. One member came through with some useful info on home churches that he sent to me. It has been a great encouragement to me to have fellowship with others of like mind and desires.  

Audrey:  I've learned better skills for listening to God.  Taking out more quiet times to spend with God, has made my relationship with Jesus seem more real to me...  I think that just knowing someone is committed to connecting with me each day (CO2) is pretty great, as well as knowing that I have a non-judgmental ear ready to listen to what's going on with me... When we arrive at our church meeting, I already feel connected to her, not like I'm only seeing her for the first or second time during the week. 

Bob:  I see more clearly the presence of Jesus in people in our cohort. I have new friends via the cohort. I want to hear what God does in their lives in the future, and to find opportunities to encourage them in their journey. 

"A powerfully affirming daily routine"

Of course, we mean something different by CO2 than when the term is used in the environmental sense.

The CO2 (church of two) is one of the six rhythms of the LK10 Apprenticeship. At first, it's sometimes challenging to begin this as an every day rhythm. But, over and over, once people find that rhythm, it becomes foundational for their lives. See the quote below from one of the members of the Apprenticeship on her cohort forum.

What difference would it make if CO2s were to become global?

John

"I'm checking in excited. Today was a good day and it is Friday. My CO2 partner is traveling this weekend, so I offered to not do our calls for the weekend. It was very affirming that he said he wanted to continue them because they are very helpful. It is mutual and what seemed a little overwhelming to me when this (ie, the Apprenticeship) started 5 weeks ago, (a phone call every day) has become a very big blessing and a powerfully affirming daily routine. I am also excited about what I am learning from the E-book lessons and the way God is calling me to a deeper relationship with Him. I'm in!"

CO2 virus spreading around the world

Margie James, who is part of the Australian Cohort in the LK10 Apprenticeship, just returned from India where she and her husband attended the Global Summit on Market Ministries. (Speakers included Victor Choudrie, Tony Dale and Wolfgang Simson.)

Margie was delighted to find the CO2 "virus" spreading there in India.

Here's her report...

"...let me tell you about several people we met at the Global Summit who were doing CO2 or had completed The Apprenticeship! We had much to share and I was HAPPY to tell everyone about our Aussie Apprentice Cohorts!

Almost 200 delegates from around the world were introduced to the smallest form of church and we shared some of the Lk.10.com practices with those who were interested to know more. Some already were aware of LK10.com and others were eager to know! We were able to direct them to the LK.10 website! It was awesome to meet people on the same heart journey!"

Maree Watson, who is also part of the Australian Cohort responds... "Beautiful! and how fab that the co2 virus is spreading all around the world."

LK10 Apprenticeship: Week Eight (4)

Synergy, in general, may be defined as two or more agents working together to produce a result not obtainable by any of the agents independently.

In the first three parts of this interview with Jim Mellon and Wade Adams, we identified the following "agents" or components that create the synergy of the LK10 Apprenticeship.

1. Weekly (for 12 weeks) learning assignments

2. Private Facebook discussion group

3. Daily CO2 relationship with one other person

4. Personal coaching session every other week with cohort leader.

5. Community conference call every other week

In part four of this interview (see below), Jim and Wade comment on the final components...

6. Participants invest in the ministry of the cohort leader (see 1 Cor. 9:11)

7. Multiplication of cohorts

John

LK10 Apprenticeship: Week Eight (3)

Here's the best definition of the LK10 Apprenticeship: a small "community of practice" (a cohort of 12 people) that creates a powerful learning environment.

Our learning is focused on three foundational rhythms or practices...

1. Individually learning to pay attention to both our own hearts and God's heart.

2. Learning to pay attention in these two areas with one other person. We call this a CO2 (church of two).

3. Learning to pay attention in these areas with a small family like group. We call this a house church or simple church.

The learning environment of the Apprenticeship is the result of the synergy of several different components. In the last two posts we heard from Jim Mellon and Wade Adams about

1. The weekly learning assignments

2. The private Facebook discussion group

3. The CO2

In the video below Jim and Wade talk about two more components: coaching and group conference calls.

John

LK10 Apprenticeship: Week Eight (2)

The LK10 Apprenticeship can best be described as a small "community of practice" that creates a powerful learning environment. Several components come together to create this community. In the video below, Jim Mellon and Wade Adams reflect on the third component: being a "church of two" (CO2) on a daily basis.

John

LK10 Apprenticeship: Week Eight (1)

We are continuing to pay close attention to what God is doing through the LK10 Apprenticeship. Eight weeks have been completed with four weeks to go. This last week I was in Killeen, TX for a LK10 Leadership Training Conference. I had the opportunity to interview two of the twelve people who have been in my cohort.

Jim and Cathy Mellon are two of the mature, godly leaders in the house church movement. They started their first house church 18 years ago and helped found House2House Ministries about 10 years ago. http://www.site.house2house.com/

In the Apprenticeship, Jim has teamed up in a CO2 (church of two) with Wade Adams. The Lord moved Wade into the house church world in the last couple of years after 19 years as a pastor in traditional churches. So, these two men are mature, experienced Christian leaders.

The Apprenticeship can best be described as a small "community of practice" that creates a powerful learning environment. Several components come together to create this community. In the video below, Jim and Wade reflect on the first two components: weekly learning assignments and a Facebook discussion group.

John

CO2s enhance house churches

Pair relationships were the "basic building block" of Jesus' ministry. We see this in Mt. 10:2-4. We notice there that the 12 are listed but we also see that they are listed in pairs.

Simon and Peter.

James and John.

Philip and Bartholomew.

Thomas and Matthew.

James and Thaddaeus.

Simon and Judas. (must have been an interesting CO2!)

Pair relationships are also the "basic building block" of healthy house churches. Margee Ramsey (who happens to be my daughter!) began a CO2 (church of two) with Brittani Morris as a result of joining our Apprenticeship. Below, she shares below how her CO2 has enhanced her experience of house church.

John

"This new partnership of CO2"

Dean Cross is the Battalion Chief of the Folsom (CA) Fire Department and a member of Tim Pynes' cohort in our LK10 Apprenticeship. Dean reported this wonderful CO2 story last week on the cohort discussion board.

John

Yesterday, My new CO2 partner Daniel and I had an amazing few hours together. Daniel came to my place of work and road along with me as he also is looking into a fire service carreer. We many time respond to animal and pest concerns if the incident is immediately hazardous. A woman called into the business line and was getting attacked by wasps at her front door. Normally, being the Battalion Chief, I usually assign these types of calls to an engine crew, yet I now know it was the Lord that was telling me to go take care of this problem myself.

The resident ends up being a very prophetic prayerful sister in the Lord in her 70s that I knew years ago from a church we attended. So she invites us in and I begins telling both Daniel and I amazing stories on hearing God's voice and His going before us to battle. I felt the Lord nudge me to have her pray for Daniel and I in this new partnership of CO2 and we all felt the Spirit of God rush over us as she prayed the most amazing prayer for me and Daniel that I have ever heard. She ended the prayer by quoting Matthew 28: 18 Then Jesus came to them and said, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in[a] the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age."

I have experienced this twice this week and it is like I hear God saying, there is power when two or three are coming before His throne praying for each other and for God's heart and passion to know us intimately. I just wanted to share this mountain top experience with all of you and yes we did take care of her wasp problem without getting stung. I believe God used this to bring us all together in the first place. She also agreed to continue to pray for us in this area of Luke 10:2b. She knew the passage before I could even tell her what it said. Nice knowing there are older and wiser saints out there being prayer warriors for us.

Apprenticeship: Week Two (1)

One aspect of the Apprenticeship is that each cohort has an online discussion group. In this context, the members of the cohort interact with the learning assignments, ask questions and share what they are learning. I thought I would share with you some of the posts from this week. Very encouraging to see what God is doing in only the second week!

John

I'm checking in today as excited. I think I'm finally starting to get this listening thing... Tuesday I felt the Lord urging me to get up in the mornings to spend intentional time with Him; so that's what I did Wednesday morning. Wednesday around noon I found myself responding to some frustrations differently... more Christ-like.

...if you would have told me a year ago that I'd be able to literally quote what God was saying to me, I would have said you were nuts (or that I went nuts).

I had a revelational conversation with someone earlier this week, and it really opened my eyes to the ideas this group is trying to teach - having an "intimate conversational relationship" with the Holy Spirit. I have been viewing scripture through the lenses that I was given growing up, and it is amazing what you can see when you are given new lenses.

I feel like this is the first time in my life where I actually turn to God first when I need Him and it has brought a great amount of peace to me as I do. It's really been an amazing experience amongst the turmoil in my life.

This journey is definitely something I have needed to be a part of. Especially right now in my life I am experiencing lots of distractions just with how busy things have recently gotten. Having some type of structure and a CO2 partner like this will help me to seek God's heart in clearer ways and a more disciplined way.

I too have learned to appreciate Scripture much more since learning to hear directly from the Lord. I would also add that Scripture means more to me now that I'm regularly checking in with my own heart. Scripture was always meant to interact with the real-life struggles, fears, and joys of the heart of the believer. Divorced from interactions with the real workings and condition of the heart, Scripture becomes a lifeless book of rules.

CO2: A new (old) way of discipling

CO2 is a very flexible tool. I have been doing it with one partner almost every day for three years. At other times, the Lord has told me to do it for a week or a month with someone to help them see what it was like.

This summer, Randy Haragan from San Diego contacted me in response to one of my blog posts about listening to God. (See picture of Randy with one of his kids.) As I talked to Randy on the phone, I felt the Lord directing me to offer to do a CO2 with him for 30 days. Randy accepted my offer and we had a great time being a "church of two" long distance.

I asked Randy if he would share with our blog what this experience was like for him. See what he wrote below. His comments reveal how disciplining can occur through a CO2 in a way that is natural and non-authoritarian.

John

I recently concluded a thirty day CO2 experiment with John White. Let me tell you about my background leading up to this and what I learned.

My wife Donna and I have been married for more than 21 years. We have five children (ages 19, 17, 12, 2, and 1) and until almost three years ago were both supported ministers in a large church in San Diego. I grew up in the restoration heritage and since 1980 have been associated with a branch of the churches of Christ known as the discipling movement. For more than 20 years I served in the full-time ministry. During my earliest experiences with discipling relationships, we drew heavily on Coleman’s "Master Plan of Evangelism" and Getz’s series, "Building Up One Another". At first these close relationships were natural, spontaneous and transformational! In time as this movement grew both in number and pride, “discipling” became an authoritarian hierarchical system. We understood our relationships as either “over or under”. What was once an expression of grace became burdensome and often harmful. With both fear and excitement I agreed to the CO2 experiment.

Here are some valuable lessons I learned. From the first to the last I was struck with John’s humility. Though John was the expert, I never felt talked down to. His humility and vulnerability were endearing. With genuine curiosity, John would usually reply to my questions with his own questions that drew forth my sense of God’s leading. John demonstrated both flexibility and consistency in our commitment to connect daily. I primarily learned by John’s example.

We would practice SASHET and then share with each other what we were hearing (or in my case attempting to hear) from the Lord. This would naturally lead into other areas about life, our pasts, marriage, church, and occasional academic discussions of early church history. John would share about what he was hearing and offer helpful suggestions to help me hear. During the month that we were CO2ing I made progress in listening to and expressing my own heart and even experienced a few times in which I really believe I heard the Lord….even as I write this I sense my own tentativeness. I loved doing SASHET and now practice it with others in my life. I am continuing to practice stillness so that I can hear the Lord more clearly.

Prior to and during this time with John, my family and I have been meeting with some other families in a home church. John was always willing to share ideas that we might find helpful in the house church. We are excited about what God is doing here in San Diego and believe that in some small way we are getting to be a part of it!

White Cohort

In the past few days, I’ve introduced you to the Smith Cohort and the Pynes Cohort. Today you will meet the White Cohort. Like the Pynes Cohort, my group will function as a virtual community although many of the people know each other. We also have an international element with Noah Cremisino in New Zealand.

One element of the virtual cohorts is conversation via internet discussion forums. Tim’s group will be experimenting with a Ning site and my group will try using a private Facebook group. We’ll let you know what we discover.

At the National House Church Conference last week, I caught up with two of the CO2s that will be in my cohort. See the video below for a bit of their stories. Notice that some of the cohort members are already thinking about how to pass the learning on to others.

Your questions/comments?

John

Pynes Cohort

For the last several days, you’ve had an introduction to the (Kent) Smith Cohort which, as I’ve mentioned, is face to face. The (Tim) Pynes Cohort, by contrast, is virtual. With the exception of the CO2 pairs, the people in this cohort don’t know each other and will not meet in person over the 12 week Apprenticeship. So, this will be an important part of the experiment as we pay attention to how community develops and how learning occurs in this virtual context.

As I’ve mentioned before, Tim Pynes brings an important passion for coaching to the Apprenticeship. In addition to facilitating and coaching his own cohort, he will also be training/sharpening Kent, Chadd, myself and some future cohort leaders in coaching skills this fall.

In the video below, you will see one of the CO2s that will be in the Pynes Cohort. I was able to catch up with David and Les at the National House Church Conference for a short interview. Following that, Tim gives us a brief introduction to coaching.

Your comments/questions?

John

Apprenticeships (1)

A growing number of people have been asking for training in the basic practices of the Luke Ten Community. Our sense is that we are to offer 12 week Apprenticeship training groups this fall. This training is designed to deepen your personal relationship with God. In addition, it will increase your capacity as a spiritual leader.

The training will take place in small virtual communities (called cohorts) of 10 people. Two cohorts have already been filled and we have space for only 10 more people in a third cohort.

I'll be saying more about the Apprenticeships over the next few days but here's an overview of what will be involved ...

1. Weekly learning assignments designed to deepen your understanding of our first three practices. (Listening to God on my own, listening with one other (ie, a CO2) and listening with a spiritual family) These assignments will expose you to the best articles and videos on these foundational spiritual rhythms.

2. Learning in the context of a small virtual cohort (weekly online discussion forum, monthly conference calls). We believe the best learning takes place in community. And, these small communities will give you the opportunity to get to know and learn from 9 other people who are on a similar journey.

3. Two individual phone sessions each month with a trained LK10 coach. This individualized help will assist you in paying attention to the specific things that God is addressing in your life.

Again, we have only 10 more spaces available for the fall session of the Apprenticeship. If you are interested in learning more, email me as soon as possible at DenverWH@aol.com Just say, "Send me info about the Apprenticeship"

John

Sarah Young (3)

Here's an example of the devotional reading from August 3 in Jesus Calling. As you read it, you will see that it's something Sarah felt the Lord spoke personally to her.

This is valuable to those of us who are learning to hear God's voice because it gives us an example. It helps answer the question that I've heard many times, "So, what kind of things does God say to you when you listen to Him?" For those of us who were trained to believe that God only speaks today through Scripture, these examples are quite important.

Seems to me that this same sort of thing can happen in CO2s (churches of two) and in our simple churches. That is, we can help each other by sharing the kinds of things we are hearing from God.

Share with us your impressions about what Sarah wrote below.

John

From Jesus Calling on August 3...

Watch your words diligently. Words have such great power to bless or to wound. When you speak carelessly or negatively, you damaged others as well as yourself. This ability to verbalized is an awesome privilege, granted only to those I created in My image. You need help in wielding this mighty power responsibly.

Though the world applauds quick-witted retorts, My instructions about communication are quite different: "Be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to become angry." (James 1:19). Ask My Spirit to help you whenever you speak. I have trained you to pray - "Help me, Holy Spirit" - before answering the phone, and you have seen the benefits of this discipline. Simply apply the same discipline to communicating with people around you. If they are silent, pray before speaking to them. If they are talking, pray before responding. These are split-second prayers, but they put you in touch with My Presence. In this way, your speaking comes under the control of My Spirit. As positive speech patterns replace your negative ones, the increase in your Joy will amaze you.

Sarah Young (2)

Sarah Young continues describing a turning point in her spiritual journey. The year is 1993 and, although she had been a Jesus follower for many years, she now begins listening for God's voice.

My journaling had changed from monologue to dialogue. Soon, messages began to flow more freely, and I bought a special notebook, to record these words. This new way of communicating with God became the high point of my day. I know these writings were not inspired as Scripture is, but they were helping me grow closer to God.

...This practice of listening to God has increased my intimacy with Him more than any other spiritual discipline, so I want to share some of the messages I have received.

Sarah's daily devotional, "Jesus Calling", is simply 365 short examples of the messages she has received from the Lord. I'll include one of them tomorrow so you can see what it's like.

What I want to emphasize today is that this "practice of listening" is at the heart of our Luke Ten Community. This is a "community of practice" where we are...

*sharing what we are hearing as we listen as individuals

*sharing what we are hearing as we listen with one other person (CO2)

*sharing what we are hearing as we listen with our spiritual family (simple church)

The whole thing is pretty simple, isn't it.

John

Antennae and Sandpaper

Did you know that we all have spiritual antennas? We do. Every one of us. It's how we "hear" from God. It's those times when you're driving down the road and suddenly feel impressed to pray for someone. Right out of the blue, no advance warning. Or those times when you hear a song - perhaps a worship song - you've never heard before and all of a sudden you know again that God is alive and well and active in the world and in that moment it is as if it is just you and God on the planet and the two of you are along together in that space.

We are all born with the ability and capacity to connect with God. It is hardwired right into the fabric of each of us. That's the good news.

The bad news, however, is that over time our antennae, our spiritual receptors, can be dulled and can begin to lose their sensitivity. Lots of things can cause this dulling of our receptors; chronic pain, shame, anger, a hard heart, disobedience, sin, and the list goes on. It's as if these things are like coats of paint and over time our antennas have so many coats of paint applied that they begin to lose their receptivity. Think of Saul and David for a moment. As we read both of their stories found in scripture, we see that Saul slowly lost his ability - over time - to discern spiritual matters. This occurred to such a degree that he eventually sought out a medium to help him contact Samuel who had already died. On the other hand, David continued to grow and develop his ability to connect with and hear from God. Another way of saying this is that David's ability to "see with the eyes of his heart" continued to develop while Saul's ability diminished over time.

God knows that this numbing and dulling of our spiritual receptors happens to us over time and He is not surprised at all by this dynamic. As a result, every now and then (usually when we least expect it), God in his great kindness to us and out of his fierce devotion to ensuring that we continue to be able to hear from Him, initiates a season of shaping and transformation into our lives. Each season is different for every person, but in almost every case this season of shaping (see James 1) is characterized by struggle, pain, suffering, crisis, confusion, etc. We might call this time a season of disorientation. If you've ever had a season like this, you know from experience that nothing gets our attention like pain and suffering. Let me say that again.

Nothing gets our attention - nothing - like pain and suffering.

But, the good news is that God uses these times (regardless of how they came about...from God, from Satan, from our boneheaded choices, by accident, etc.) to help re-sensitize our ability to hear from and connect with Him. It is as if God uses these times to take a sheet of brand new sandpaper to us in order to violently rub away the old coats of paint that have dulled our spiritual sensitivity. This has been true throughout history: Moses, David, Paul, St. John of the Cross, Teresa of Avila, Ignatius of Loyola, St. Patrick, Watchman Nee, Brother Yun (and the list goes on...) all had a season (if not multiple seasons) where God used the struggles they were enduring to further develop and re-sensitize their spiritual antennae in order to forge a deeper level of connection and intimacy with them.

Having said all of that, other than pain and suffering, I know of no other way that God typically uses to sharpen our ability to "see with the eyes of our heart" than the historically-practiced spiritual disciplines such as fasting, or silence, or retreat, etc. The spiritual disciplines have survived in part because over time they have proven to be rituals that help to facilitate transformation and connection with God and with what is really going on inside of us.

SASHET - the first of the two disciplines that comprise C02 has this same quality. When it is done right, it has the potential to be like the metaphorical sandpaper that God uses to re-sensitize our spiritual antenna. When we show up to our C02 and we bring our whole hearts and we speak honestly and we connect in a deep way with the heart of another, we are, little by little, scraping off more of that old paint. We are cultivating our ability to connect with Gods heart.

Don't believe me? Go back and re-listen to my 2-part conversation with Tim Morris from a couple of posts ago on the blog. What you will hear is the story of a man who has had his heart healed greatly and his spiritual antennae recharged and re-sensitized by practicing C02.

CO2 spread to England (2)

More "church of two" insights from Chris Jefferies in Cambridgeshire, England...

I've had a further thought about CO2 based on my own experiences with it. Just wanted to share in case it's useful to you in any way. If so feel free to share it any way you wish.

Long, long ago (about 1975/6) I was involved in the so-called Charismatic Renewal in the UK. When we met at home across the denominational divides it was normal to experience prophecy, visions, interpreted tongues, and to receive words direct from the Lord. In other words, the flow that Mark Virkler pointed out as available to all of us was well known at that time and expected eagerly - but only in meetings! (At least, that was my experience.)

We expected the free flow of the Spirit during our meetings, but it didn't occur to me that this was also available personally and at any time. I think I was under the impression it was only possible because we were meeting - as if the Spirit fell on the meeting, not on the individuals gathered there.

So the flow component of Virkler in CO2 comes very naturally to me and leaves me wondering, 'Why have I not been doing this for years and years?' How silly! But better late than never, and CO2 has played an important part in achieving it.

Very helpful comment, Chris! Thank you.

John

PS. The photo is of Ely Cathedral in Cambridgeshire where Chris lives. Seems that a new and very different expression of church is now developing there!

CO2 spreads to England

Chris Jefferies lives in St. Neots, Cambridgeshire, UK. Chris learned about the "church of two" concept at the House2House Conference last fall in Dallas, TX. Here's Chris' story. (BTW, file this under "Viral Multiplication".)

In early December I began CO2 with a house church friend, Sean. After the first week we were clear that we very much wanted to continue, and after three weeks we both agree that our relationship with one another and our relationships with the Lord are deepening noticeably.

Our experiences are similar to those reported by others commenting on 'Stories from the Revolution'. I had expected CO2 to be good, but it was trying it out for myself over a period of days that really convinced me. It's sometimes been difficult to keep going on a daily basis, but it is so worth the effort. My advice - don't give up, keep on keeping on and you will benefit.

Even if you don't have a partner for CO2, I would recommend doing the VIRKLER and SASHET exercises on your own each day. You will still see some useful benefit. But working in pairs or small groups will amplify the value greatly.

VIRKLER (particularly the hearing and journaling aspects) has deepened my awareness of the Lord's constant presence in my life.

SASHET has brought us closer to one another in mutual understanding, respect and trust.As we pray with and for one another in the light of hearing the Lord's direction to each of us, I'm fully convinced we'll be led into church life and sharing the gospel in ways we could hardly have imagined at first.

CO2 is not an end in itself. It is, however, a really useful framework for hearing from the Lord and at the same time developing broader and deeper relationships between individuals. In this way it stimulates spiritual growth and can act as both a building block for church and a platform for sharing the gospel. What a versatile tool!

Thanks, Chris!

To read more of Chris' CO2 story, check out his blog at http://blog.scilla.org.uk/2009/12/church-of-two-co2.html

John