New Course offered: "The Family Blessing"

Registration is now open for a new session of our Foundations One Course.  For information about this Course and how to register, see the right column.

In addition, we are excited to offer, for the first time, a new Course called "The Family Blessing"which will be led by one of our LK10 Coaches, Tim Pynes. The mission of LK10 is to see "a vibrant family of Jesus within easy reach of every region and people group".  This Course is an important resource towards that objective.  ("The Family Blessing" applies LK10 practices specifically in a family context whereas "Foundations One" has a broader focus.)

For information about the course and how to register, see below...


The Family Blessing - Part 1

I (Tim Pynes) was in Israel over the summer and one night, in Tel Aviv, I witnessed an amazing scene in the restaurant at the hotel where we were staying. It was Friday evening and the hotel restaurant was packed with hundreds of people of all kinds. After going through the buffet line and sitting down at a table to eat, I noticed a family of Orthodox Jews stand up at their table near me and begin to pray. As I watched them, the mother of the family pulled a shawl over her head and lit a candle. In that moment, it occurred to me that the sun had just set and the sabbath had begun. I turned in my chair and saw that there were Jewish families interspersed throughout the hotel restaurant who were standing at their tables and also beginning the shabbat meal ritual. These Jewish families seemed unaware and unconcerned with the mealtime chatter happening at tables all around them as Muslim and non-Jewish families carried on eating and celebrating dinner together.

I focused my attention on one young boy at a table near mine (he was a red-haired, Orthodox Jewish child with the long curled locks hanging down on either side of his face who appeared to be around 9 or ten years old) and watched him as he stood at attention with his family, focusing his gaze first on his mother as she spoke, and then on his father. As I watched this young boy and his family continue the shabbat meal ritual, I was reminded of this scene from the movie, Fiddler on the Roof.




The powerful and moving scene I witnessed that night in Tel Aviv and this scene from Fiddler on the Roof cause me to consider and ponder such thoughts as:

• Imagine growing up in a home where at least once a week your parents took turns to look you squarely in the eyes and speak words of love and blessing over you.
• Imagine growing up in a home where at least once a week you got to observe your parents speaking words of love and blessing to one another.
• Imagine growing up in a home where at least once a week, you connected on a heart level with your parents and your siblings.
• Imagine growing up in a home where the stories of God’s goodness - stories that naturally overflowed from having a vibrant, personal & intimate relationship with God - were shared at the dinner table on a regular basis.

I want to explore these thoughts - and many others like them - and I want to reclaim the home as the center for spiritual growth and development. I long to see vibrant families of Jesus scattered throughout the world; families who are connected with the heart of God and who are being the Church wherever they go, wherever they are. Because of this, I have created a 6-week course titled, "The Family Blessing: Reclaiming the Home as the Center for Spiritual Training". The focus of this course will be on helping you to reclaim your home as a center for spiritual training. By instituting a weekly family blessing time, you will help to cultivate one anothers spiritual life and develop a more intimate relationship with God. You will learn to create a weekly space in the natural rhythm of your family’s life where you connect with one another and with God at a heart level and learn to see one anothers design and glory and call it forth.

Here are the details for the class:

• The class is 6-weeks long and begins on January 23rd and ends on March 2nd.
• The class is limited to 15 people. The first 15 people to register get in. Once 15 people have registered, we will close registration and create a waiting list.
• The cost of the course is $100 per person or $150 for couples.
• Every week on Monday, you will be emailed a workbook with your assignment for that week.
• Also, there will be three 1-hour conference calls provided for you over the length of the course where you can connect with your classmates, ask questions, discuss what you are learning, etc.
• In addition, you will be provided two 45-minute coaching sessions during the length of the course.

Registration opens today, January 9th and ends at 5 p.m. MT on Friday, January 20th or once the class has 15 participants, whichever comes first.

You can register for this course at http://familyblessing.eventbrite.com

If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to contact me: timpynes@gmail.com

"My 6 yr old is learning how to hear the Holy Spirit."

Apprenticeship Rhythms One and Two: Weekly Learning Assignments and CO2 (or CO3)

Here's another wonderful report of a household (with young children) functioning as a church.

John

"(The assignments in) Week 7 was awesome! We use sashet here at home with our 6 year old boy and 2 year old girl. Helps them identify emotions and helps them feel like we hear them and their heart. My 6 yr old is learning how to hear the Holy Spirit. Looking forward to this week's assignments and learnings."

Eight year old: "God will never talk to me!"

The Luke Ten Community is committed to restoring the church to the home. Part of what this means is that family members learn how to pay attention to and talk about their hearts. (Did that happen in the family you grew up in?) And, then, it also means learning how to hear God's voice. We believe that children can hear God just as well as adults can.

Yesterday you read the story of how this way of thinking about church is being worked out with a mother and her 16 year old daughter. Today, in the video below, I want you to hear a wonderful story about Desi Starr's 8 year old son.

Imagine what would happen if this way of being church began to spread.

Our motto: Transforming cities one household at a time.

John

CO2 - The Hyatt Family (3)

There's lots of talk these days about "the missional church". The thinking is that the church needs to stop being so inwardly focused and become concerned about the needs of the world. We are told that this is accomplished by exhorting believers to change their focus and become more concerned about the lost and needy.

In the short video below, Sean tells a story that illustrates the alternative approach that LK10 takes towards becoming missional. Being missional is certainly a good thing. But, how this comes about is the critical element.

We believe that Jesus followers become more missional not by focusing on mission and trying harder but rather by focusing on listening to God. In other words, mission is not the starting place but rather the by-product of hearing God's voice. This kind of mission is natural, spontaneous and joyful.

So, two questions to ponder as you watch the video...

1. Imagine if there were hundreds (or thousands) of households in your city who were doing what the Hyatts are doing. What kind of learning would be going on in the hearts and minds of the children in those families? Doesn't this kind of "Christian education" beat what goes on in most Sunday School classes?

2. And, imagine the cumulative effect of hundreds (or thousands) of small family-centered "mission projects". How would that impact your city or region?

Your thoughts?

John

CO2 - The Hyatt Family (2)

In today's short video below (3 minutes), Sean explains two things that might seem impossible to those of us who have spent our entire lives in traditional church.

First, he explains how he has trained his two boys (aged 7 and 10) to facilitate the family's daily CO2 (CO5!) time.

(Observation: children and teens often "get" CO2 more easily and more quickly than adults who have been in the current religious "system" for years.)

Second, he tells a story that illustrates that worship flows spontaneously out of listening.

(Observation: Simple church (CO2) is built on the belief that Jesus is really present when we meet in His name and that He is a great "worship leader". Worship is no longer something that we have to "make happen". It emerges naturally out of listening to Jesus.)

Love to hear your comments about the video below.

John