Shaun King discovers "Jesus Calling"

In my last two posts, I've told the story of Shaun and Rai King leaving the church they started in Atlanta.  This story seems important to me because I believe it is the story of an increasing number of the leaders of traditional churches.  Over and over, we keep hearing leaders say something like, "I still love Jesus but church is killing me.  There has got to be a better way!"

I happen to check out Shaun's most recent blog post (9/17) and was quite surprised and delighted to seethat he was talking about a book he just discovered called "Jesus Calling" by Sarah Young. This is significant because I believe that this book unexpectedly holds the key to the "better way" of doing church that Shaun and Rai and many others are longing for.  http://www.shauninthecity.com/2011/09/not-a-joke-you-need-to-buy-this-at-list-click-on-the-link-4-my-birthday.html

Here's what Shaun wrote about the book...

Last week my wife bought herself a daily devotional entitled, Jesus Calling: Enjoying Peace in His Presence.  The lady at the bookstore swore by it.  She said it had changed her life and the lives of more customers than any book they sold.  Within two days my wife was completely hooked.  We've been in a real transitional season of our lives and she said it was helping her in amazing ways.


So... I decided to try it myself.  I generally hate daily devotionals.  Not this one.  It's profound.  It cuts right to the chase.  It's written as if it is Jesus speaking to you and it's not the slightest bit cheesy.  Each day has verses and a simple lesson and I'm telling you it changes my day.




The author of Jesus Calling is Sarah Young.  Here's what she writes in the Introduction (xii) about how the book came about...

I had been writing in prayer journals for years, but that was one-way communication:  I did all the talking.  I knew that God communicated with me through the Bible, but I yearned for more.  Increasingly, I wanted to hear what God had to say to me personally on a given day.  I decided to listen to God with pen in hand, writing down whatever I believed He was saying.  I felt awkward the first time I tried this, but I received a message.  It was short, biblical, and appropriate.  It addressed topics that were current in my life:  trust, fear, and closeness to God.  I responded by writing in my prayer journal.  My journaling had changed from monologue to dialogue.


...This practice of listening to God has increased my intimacy with Him more than any other spiritual discipline. 


Stay with me now as I "connect the dots".

• When an individual begins the practice of listen to the Lord, prayer changes from monologue to dialogue and amazing things happen.  As Sarah says, "This has increased my intimacy with Him more than any other spiritual discipline.
• When a group (ie, a house church) begins the practice of listening to the Lord, amazing things happen.

Here's the simple but powerful tool that changes everything.  We teach individuals in a house church to take a piece of paper and write this question:  Jesus, what do you want to say to this church today?  Then, we send everyone off for 20-30 minutes to listen to Jesus about that question and write what they hear.  When people come back, they simple share what they have written down.  And, what happens?

• Church flows from listening
• Community flows from listening
• Bible study flows from listening
• Worship flows from listening
• Prayer flows from listening
• Intimacy flows from listening
• Mission flows from listening
• Changed lives flow from listening

We've been doing this for several years and I can tell you that it really works!  Jesus really is the Head of the church and He brings the agenda every week.  And, that changes everything!  I'm convinced that this is the "better way" that Shaun and Rai and so many others are longing for.

Equipping people/churches in this "better way" is the mission of the LK10 Community.  To learn more, go to http://storiesfromtherevolution.blogspot.com/2011/09/foundations-course.html

John

For more on the biblical basis for thinking this way about church and mission, go here...  http://www.youtube.com/user/LK10VIDEOS?feature=mhee#p/u/97/9lh7GysHCJM

and here...   

http://www.youtube.com/user/LK10VIDEOS?feature=mhee#p/u/96/GekEFaTkAHs

"God became the keynote speaker".

Three years ago Marty Reiswig was a skeptic.

He was a devoted follower of Jesus.  In fact, he spoke to youth groups all over the country.  But, he was skeptical about God speaking to him on a regular, daily basis.  Maybe God would speak once in a long while about the big issues - who to marry, etc.  But, not as a part of daily life.  We have the Bible, what else do we need?

But, things have changed in Marty's life.  He has come to experience an intimate, daily,  conversational relationship with Jesus.  And, he's teaching this to teens.  Below, he reports on a youth camp where he spoke this summer.  He helped 200 Jr. Hi and Sr. Hi students learn how to hear God's voice.  He reports, "I had this strong thought/sense that I was to let God be the main speaker - all the students would listen to him and share what they heard."

Before you read what happened with the teens, watch this short video where Marty describes some of his journey. (What if this is supposed to be the normative Christian experience?)



Here's Marty's report about how God became the keynote speaker...

For the past few years I’ve had the opportunity to be the speaker at some teen camps. Each one is unique, challenging, and exciting. At almost every camp God moves on young people’s hearts, brings them to repentance and salvation, and teaches all of us something. This year was very different. God became the speaker.

I took a few teens from CCWC to the CO/NE camp. The first night was filled with God’s compassion for those caught in sin. He freed us. The second night I felt like God wanted me to switch things up and teach on hearing God’s voice and then take a few minutes at the end to let kids pray and listen for God to speak. Reports came pouring in that night and the next day about what God was saying to students and adult leaders alike. The third night I taught about growing deep roots in Him and allowing God to produce his fruit in your life, but I felt like there was something incredibly special coming for the last night.I couldn’t put my finger on it, though.

As adults, we came together in prayer unlike I’ve ever seen before and begged God to show us what we were supposed to do. Should preach one of the messages that I brought? Should we have a worship night? Should we get in groups and pray? We sought Him with everything we had.

As the worship was blasting wonderfully, I went to the back soundboard and joined a few men in prayer about what I was to do. I had this strong thought/sense that I was to let God be the main speaker – all the students would listen to him and share what they heard. I immediately suppressed it. You simply don’t do that with 200 Jr. and Sr. high students. Not with your reputation on the line. There’s too much that can go wrong. Just then, one of my prayer partners said he believed God had already told me what to do. So we proceeded.

I’ve never experienced anything like it. Two hundred students sat in absolute silence for twelve minutes listening to the Spirit of God. Then I asked anyone who heard something meant for the group, not just for them, to stand and share one at a time. And for the next 45 minutes, student after student stood to share. Confession, prayer, scriptures, encouragement. My favorite was students praying for other students. God became the keynote speaker.

http://treasurefield.wordpress.com/2011/08/08/summer-camps-exciting-report/?utm_source=TreasureField&utm_campaign=b9c12d0e67-RSS_EMAIL_CAMPAIGN&utm_medium=email

Five ways to listen better

At the heart of the LK10 Community is a deep commitment to take seriously Jesus' teaching about the Holy Spirit.  In Jn. 16:13, Jesus explains that "He (the Spirit of truth) will guide you into all truth.  He will not speak on His own; He will speak only what He hears..."


The point here is that the Spirit is not just a vague presence.  He is a person and HE SPEAKS.  This is Jesus' teaching!  And, the obvious implication is that the most important skill we need to develop is that of listening to Him (and obeying).  HE SPEAKS.  WE LISTEN.  Everything else flows from that... family, church, mission, etc.


Chris Jefferies (England), recently sent me a video of a TED presentation by Julian Treasure called "Five ways to listen better".  As you watch this, think about how it applies to listening to the Spirit.





Here are a few of Chris's comments about the video...


According to Julian, hearing is something that our ears do pretty much autonomously, but listening requires intent, focus, and deliberate attention. But Jesus says that even though we listen (pay attention) we still may not hear (understand in depth). He says there are those who pay attention and hear the words but the spiritual meaning eludes them.


..Physical reality always points to a spiritual reality; that's why Yahshua spoke so often in parables. Understanding the physical truth can help us grasp the parallel spiritual truth. The need to pay attention to physical sounds points to the notion that we also need to pay attention to spiritual 'sounds'.  We need to listen intentionally to the Spirit of Christ in the same way we listen to the words of the people we meet. The Spirit is a still, small voice. We have to pay close attention to him.


..We are losing our listening - The church has substantially lost the ability to listen spiritually. Many believers are not even aware that listening is possible, others have no idea how to go about it.


To read all of Chris' comments go to:  http://jesus.scilla.org.uk/2011/07/response-are-you-listening.html




Ways to connect...


*I'll be leading a seminar (on listening to God!) at the National House Church Conference.  Love to see you there!   September 2-4 in Jacksonville, FL.  http://www.cvent.com/events/momentum-basics-and-beyond/event-summary-
35d9eb8b489245b383c00068e2ebd074.aspx


*Along with Desi Starr, I'll be leading a one day training on the western slope (New Castle) of Colorado.  Love to have you join us!  Contact Lee Price for more information.  lprice@sopris.net


*LK10 Online classes starting in September.  More information on this soon.

The Apprenticeship in Kenya

Many of the members of the Apprenticeship have chosen their spouses as their CO2 partners. The result has been numerous postings on the cohort forums about transformed marriages. Below is a posting from a church planter in Kenya who is part of the African Cohort.

"I'm checking in this morning scared, Its planting season and i have not ploughed,heavy rains are just about the corner and planting kicks off.Today the internet looks faster than most days,My family is happy and praying for our cohort that has made me happy.We are taking time to listen to each others heart and this has encouraged my wife so much and i feel blessed with teachings in week three.As we start week four my heart is refreshed that the past three weeks have tremendously changed both of us especially when dealing with each other.Today we create time for each to listen to our hearts and what God is saying.Im expectant because i know the lord has more in store.have beautiful week of listening to God."

Here's what his wife posted:

Im tender because my husband listens to me and im very very excited there is heart to heart conversation.I feel newness in the spirit.

Writing on through the tears

Each week in the Apprenticeship, there are four Learning Assignments. These Assignments involve watching a video or reading a short article and then dialoguing with the Lord about the content. Then, people post what they heard on their cohort's online forum. Often these conversations with the Lord are quite powerful.

Here's one example...

"Checking in as happy after having a powerful encounter with our Father. After watching John's "Spontaneous Church" video, Assignment #1, I asked God how do I get to the place where I'm only doing what I see Him doing? I wrote what He said in red, which I thought was a really cool assignment....He said

"Lay aside your schedule, your plans, your urgings, and come to Me, you who are heavy laden and concerned with many things. Come be with Me and enter into My rest me. Let Me wash over you with My presence and My love. Let Me show you things to come. Let Me share My secret, let Me open My heart to you. Let Me heal your heart...so you can see what's important to Me. Then just follow Me, follow where you see Me going. Maybe we won't go anywhere today, maybe we'll just be together in My rest. Enjoy just being with Me, I love just being with you. I love you."

Well, by then I was blubbering and couldn't even see the page I was writing on through the tears. But I can tell you that after a while of just being in His presence, my heart is healed from some very painful things that happened today. His love reached down into the hurt places of my heart and washed it all out. Then He filled me back up with His joy. That's exactly how it happened. How powerful our God is."

Cohort Tip: Listening to the Coach

Anyone who has attended school for any length of time has had lots of practice with the analyzing skill. Solve this word problem. Evaluate John Steinbeck as a writer. Analyze the causes of World War Two.

The four assignment in each chapter of our eWorkbook (three Learning Assignments and Further Resources) require a very different skill. This video explains the learnable skill of listening to the Coach.

John

What's it like to be "coached"?

We are about to enter week eight of our twelve week LK10 Apprenticeship. There are several elements that go into making this a unique learning experience. One of the most important is coaching. Everyone in each cohort receives a coaching session every other week. I asked Sean Hyatt to reflect on what he has experienced so far. As you read what Sean wrote (below) you will gain a clearer sense of what we mean by "coaching".

John

I grew up in a church denomination where there was a lot of "pouring in" but very little "drawing out". All of my life I have "sat under" good teaching and preaching. A lot of pouring in. Even in counseling sessions with church leaders it was a lot of them trying to talk sense into me, and me doing a lot of listening. This had its value, but recently I have been learning that this could have been so much more effective.

Over the last 6 weeks participating in coaching sessions with John White, I am slowly (but surely) coming to an understanding of the value of "drawing out". We have had three coaching sessions now, each under an hour long -- and in all three, I have left the conversation feeling incredibly clear and edified in the topic we ended up coaching around. The first session had to do with frustrations and fears and lack of direction in my relationship and mentoring of my 11-year-old son. The second, regarding my wife and I butting heads over a certain stressful issue. The third was about an upcoming teaching session on prayer that I will be teaching that I needed some clarity on.

On all three topics, I came into our coaching session honestly doubting that it was going to help much (thanks to my old traditional mindset). Nothing against John - if there is anyone whose counseling and coaching abilities I truly believe in, they are John's. It is this unfamiliar process - how can just talking about something, and me answering a bunch of questions about it help get me the answers I am in such deep need of? But go figure - on all three topics after a short time of discussion over the phone, I left with so much direction, clarity, and understanding that I could not have asked for more!

What adds to my feeling of pleasant surprise on this coaching thing, is that in two out of the three sessions, I didn't even know what I wanted to talk about - and so we approached it by me simply mentioning a number of things that were on my mind and heart, and then trying to pick one of those topics I mentioned (awesome - coaching around want I need coaching on!).

John has been careful to point out to me at the end of each of these sessions, that the majority of our coaching time was me simply talking about these things, and discovering things for myself. He's simply there to be a good listener, ask some key questions, and make sure I am noticing what I am teaching myself as I am talking. I love it!

So, my experience in being coached so far has been both eye-opening and powerfully edifying for me. Personally, this has been the most powerful and formative aspect of this apprenticeship thus far. It has even given me the desire to be a coach myself - to learn "how" to coach others, so that I can be this helpful for my own friends, family, and brethren in the Lord too!

City Networks and listening

In the Luke Ten Community, we believe that the individual house church is important but it's not enough by itself. Our sense is that the Lord has said to us, "Smaller still. And, wider yet."

Smaller still is the "church of two" (CO2). A house church made up of multiple CO2s is well on it's way to becoming a "vibrant family of Jesus".

"Wider yet" means that individual house churches and their leaders are connecting regionally. In fact, this is the seventh of the seven key practices of the Luke Ten Community: Connecting in regional networks.

One of the expressions of this regional connection here in Colorado is periodic All-Gatherings. (See the picture above.) These grow out of our MRTs (regional apostolic teams) listening together for the Lord's direction. To see more of what is going on in Colorado, go to http://www.coloradohousechurch.com/

The Luke Ten Community is a "community of practice". That means that we learn from each other on many levels. We would love to hear how the Lord is directing your regional network. Send me your story and I'll share it with the larger Community.

John

Sowing seed

There's been some confusion about the finances involved in the Apprenticeship. I want to clear that up.

But first I want you to consider two numbers: $717 and $79.

$717 is the cost per semester hour at the Graduate School of Theology at Abilene Christian University. The typical 12 hour class load for one semester comes to $8604.

$79 is the cost per 45 minute coaching session on the website of a Christian ministry we looked at.

We considered charging a fixed amount for the LK10 Apprenticeship but rejected that idea for one reason... We are committed to making listening to God the starting place for everything.

Instead, we have asked everyone in the Apprenticeship to come as close as they can to these commitments...

1. For a period of 12 weeks, set aside 10% (a tithe) of your income as belonging to the Lord in a special way. (Of course, it all belongs to Him.)

2. Invest some part of that 10% each month in the person who is facilitating/coaching your cohort. (This is the principle that Paul set forth in 1 Cor. 9:11. "If we have sowed spiritual seed in you, is it too much if we reap material things from you?" The facilitator of your cohort will be investing in you in several ways including two coaching sessions each month.)

3. The amount invested in your facilitator each month comes from your listening to God. The amount could be $5/month or $500/month. Whatever God tells you.

Please understand that we are not advocating tithing as a Biblical mandate. (I could either side of that issue.) The last thing we want to do is to put someone back under legalism. Rather, we are setting this forth as a spiritual discipline (like "checking in" with your CO2 partner as close to every day as possible) for three months.

I understand that there were sometimes serious financial abuses in traditional church. However, I also believe that it's time to return to the principle that Jesus taught - "the worker is worthy of his wages" (Lk. 10:7)

The leaders of the cohorts will be investing deeply in the members of their cohorts to make this a high quality learning experience. (In fact, one of our cohorts will be made up entirely of master's level graduate students at ACU. That's how good the training will be!) We believe the Kingdom principle is a reciprocal investment (God determining the amount) into the lives of those leaders.

John

For more on this subject see my commentary on 1 Cor. 9:1-14 at http://www.lk10resources.com/uploads/1/4/3/5/1435936/financing_apostles.pdf

apprenticeships (3)

I want to introduce you to Tim Pynes today.

Tim will be leading the third Apprenticeship cohort. I want to focus on Tim because he brings a strong value for coaching to the whole LK10 Community. In addition to being on the Board of Directors of LK10, he has been a leadership coach for many years.

In all three cohorts, each member will be on an individual coaching call twice a month. This flows out of our fundamental belief which is stated by Tony Stoltzfus this way, "God initiates change in our lives - He has a change agenda for us, and is always speaking and always arranging circumstances to bring it to our attention." Coaches help us pay attention to these things that God is initiating.

The Tim's cohort is almost full. If you are still considering the Apprenticeship, you should email Tim right away. timpynes@gmail.com

If we run out of room before you get in, we apologize. And, we want you to know that there will be another opportunity in January. In addition, I'll be reporting in this blog what we are learning in the Apprenticeships this fall.

John

10:2b Story (Part Three)

Great comment from Carolyn Spence (Clovis, NM) in response to Mike Deaton's interview in yesterday's post:

OK, agreed! We need the opportunity to see it practised. My mother (89 years young) cried to experience the very tiny taste of our gathering in Clovis with MRT members from Albuquerque and Colorado saying, "now I see what you mean"... If you are going to spread a virus, personal physical contact works best... Carolyn

Today, we have an interview with JoEtta Deaton. She tells a similar story. To paraphrase: "By visiting some of the house churches in Brighton (CO), I experienced a whole different paradigm of church. What I saw was church that flowed out of listening to Jesus. This was transformational and I want to begin to try this out when we go back to Virginia".

(JW: This is the third of seven LK10 Practices. Church = a spiritual family focused on listening to Jesus.)

Now, listen to JoEtta tell the story in her own words below. Share with us your response to what she has to say.

John

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

Healing flows from listening

More and more we are seeing regional or citywide gatherings of house churches. This last weekend (May 21 - 22), many house churches from Denver came together for a wonderful time of worship, fellowship and teaching. On Friday night there was a time of ministry and one of the men experienced a rather dramatic physical healing. On Saturday morning he told what God had done. See below for that story.

The C02 Virus Spreads to Australia

I (Tim) recently received a very encouraging email from a woman in Australia named Maree. In the email, she she shared some of her own journey with practicing C02 and how impactful this experience has been for her and her new friend, Sharon. I asked Maree if I could share her email with all of you and she gave me permission.

Hi Tim,
I'm responding to your blog post from April 5th about telling stories.
I've been watching the emergence of C02 with interest, reading the blogs and checking out the LK10, House2House and simple church websites since about July of last year when I decided (and was led) to leave my traditional Sunday Church.

Since then I've had a pretty incredible awakening and many, many stories to tell of God's great love and kindness to me during this "detox "phase.

I kept praying "What should I be doing??? Should I start something???

To which the reply came "I am building my church."
OK Lord, but I must have to do something????
"I am building my church."

So I relaxed and started C02 by myself, I'm pretty good at having conversations with myself !

I earnestly wanted to hear Gods voice. One day after a rave from me about wanting to hear his voice, "How can I be sure?" "How will I know it's you, etc. etc.,I heard very clearly, "YOU HEAR WELL ....JUST BELIEVE."

Well how AMAZING is that! It completely shifted my mindset and belief. Heaps of stuff has happened and I feel so empowered, motivated, humble and privileged to be on this new trajectory and journey with my Lord.

Interestingly, every time I've gone onto the LK10 site a little voice has told me "You're not a church planter, what are you doing signing up here, this is not for people like you, what do you know about church planting."
Recently I heard another voice tell me, "You Daughter will be a church planter, 2 by 2."

Any way it's several months down the track, I recently met Sharon, we were camped next to each other at a Easter Music Festival. I was telling her and her husband Jim about C02 and before I could finish she jumped out of her camp chair grabbed my hand, shook it, and said "I'll do it with you!"

So for the past 3 weeks we have been C02'ing even though we are about 1,000 km's apart. We have both been incredibly blessed and excited about what God is doing. Sharon and Jim have had a church at home for a couple of years.

We want to start a blog and we would like permission to use the C02 videos, etc. We would like to put it in an Aussie context and generate some "local" interest. I have yet to sign up for LK10, I will do it soon but in the meantime I thought I would share a bit of my story. Sharon has some great stories too, and together we are very thankful to you guys and our Lord for this amazing, simple idea that is so fresh and uplifting .

We look forward to the days ahead, hearing God's voice and seeing his Kingdom Come!

Cheers,
Maree
P.S I am going to attend the annual conference in Dallas, a side trip for me from a holiday with my 3 sisters. I'm very excited.

What a great story, thanks for sharing it Maree. How about you? Know of a story that "must be told?"

If so, drop me an email at Lk10andc02@gmail.com

C02: Transformational or Hokey?

In this Part 2 of a conversation with Tim Morris, we continue our conversation about the impact that practicing C02 has had in his life.

We discuss the simple nature of the two practices and consider whether C02 is really transformational or if it is "hokey."

What are your thoughts about C02? How has practicing these two simple practices impacted you?

Share your experience and your thoughts in the comments below.

C02 & The Potential for Inner Healing

A major part of the power of practicing C02 is that we get to connect with both God and others at a deep level and in doing so, we are inevitably changed. In this regard, C02 is a transformational practice or discipline. As we listen to the Lord, He might tell us to do something - to be "missional" - or He might tell us to do nothing; to cease striving and to be still. For many of you, however, I would suspect that as you have practiced C02, you have begun to hear the Lord speaking words directly to you, about you. Words that reflect how the Father sees you, and how the Father loves you and how He delights in you. Words that any child would expect to hear from the perfect parent.

Recently, I (Tim Pynes) sat down at a local diner here in Denver to have a conversation with Tim Morris (pictured), a local house church leader, and to hear about the transformational power that God has begun to manifest in his life as a result of practicing C02. In the following audio recording (Part 1 of 2) you will hear Tim begin to share of how God has begun to heal some of the deep wounds of his heart as he has listened deeply and regularly to the Lord and as he has begun to connect with other men at a heart level using SASHET.