Can you be in more than one MRT?

Can you be in more than one MRT?

Peg Batcheller's comments below illustrates the answer to that question quite well. I'm pretty sure Peg didn't set out to start four MRTs. What she did was pay attention to what God was doing around her. (Did anyone know that New Mexico was going to be a hot bed of apostolic activity?!!)

I'm going to have more to say about this tomorrow. But, today I want you to enjoy what Peg has written below and share your observations with us in the comments.

John

It seems God has put me in a position of having or starting multiple MRTs that all look differently.

1. Richard (Hijar) & I pray, SASHET, and discuss our regions of New Mexico and SE Colorado various times through out the week, but are deciding to be more 'intentional' about it the next 3 months. We mostly 'meet' over the phone. (JW: Peg and Richard are planning to be married this fall. So, this might be an example of apostolic dating!)

2. Carolyn (Spence) lives in Clovis, NM, about 4 hours away. She is new to MRT, but has such a burning desire to see new churches started in her region, that it will be difficult to NOT meet with her. We will skype, pray, and listen to the Lord regularly, when she gets back to town. She has friends who are well equipped to start 3 new house churches, but didn't know how to do that until we recently sat together and asked God to put things into place.

3. There are about 7 of us throughout New Mexico and SE Colorado who have started audio skype calls on the weekends. We all represent different towns or cities, even a Wycliffe Translator from Finland who has recently joined us. Our times of prayer and discussion have been great, and God is refreshing our hearts with a larger vision for the state of NM, and beyond. There are about 30 of us leaders meeting in Ruidoso, NM, this weekend to meet each other face to face, pray together, and ask the Lord what His plan is for the state. We plan to have a joint retreat later in the fall when we can invite simple churches to gather all in one place. We sense a real "knitting and netting" of believers that will change the culture here in the SW. I would never have imagined it would look like this, but God is going before us, showing us what HE wants. We're praying that as we grow, the harvest will have a place to find a healthy spiritual home in any part of the state.

4. Nick & Ramona & I will meet spontaneously and regularly to pray for Albuquerque and God's heart for our city. Nick has already demonstrated his heart in helping others start simple churches, and is planning to meet with various ones in the city to encourage and strengthen the body. He is a great gift to me in the work here.

I appreciate partnering with all of you in MRT. John, I'm glad you mentioned that they will all look a bit different, but I know God has the same end result in mind.... that we send laborers into the harvest, to reap and bring in the harvest. What exciting times we live in!

More from north Denver

Yesterday, I told you about a new MRT that has formed in the north part of Denver (centered in Brighton, CO) with Hobby Chapin and Robbie James. This is the third MRT in Denver. (Can you picture the day when there are dozens of MRTs in your city?)

The video below helps us imagine what the future might be like ...

1. It's a monthly regional gathering of house churches in north Denver that flows from Hobby and Robbie's MRT. Seven house churches are represented in this video. (Can you imagine dozens of regular gatherings like this in your city?)

2. It's a gathering that centers on listening to the Lord. In particular, notice how singing and worship is flowing from listening. (Can you imagine a growing multitude of believers in your city who are experiencing the reality of all of life flowing from listening to God? Worship, community, study, mission, etc.)

3. It's Hobby's first video! (Can you imagine a day when we have a huge library of powerful videos that help us picture every aspect of organic church life? That tell an "alternate story" about what church can be?)

Your thoughts?

John

New MRT in Brighton, CO

Hobby Chapin is a church planter centered in Brighton, Colorado (north of Denver). He has been an important part of our Denver MRT for several months and recently felt the Lord leading him to start another MRT in Brighton with a fellow church planter, Robbie James. (I know... Hobby and Robbie!)

Here's Hobby's story...

Last month we started meeting as an MRT. We meet on Sunday nights from 9:30 to 11:30. We alternate between our homes and function out of our basements. We begin by checking in and prayerfully drawing out what is happening in our hearts. We have both had some heart issues concerning our families and our identities as apostolic leaders.

We have been doing some leveling early on to say where do we think we are going. We have made a list of the things we think will be on the horizon to address. I type up a summary each week. I listen before our MRT to see what God wants to talk with us about. After our check in, we both throw out a few things we think the Lord has for us to discuss. We put them on paper and expose them. Then we take some time to be quiet and listen together about the specific thing the Lord wants to say. When we break silence we both share what we heard and draw out what we think God is giving to us. So far we have talked a lot about households, the supernatural work of God, apostolic leadership, stages of equipping, and how to facilitate a group toward being in the presence of God and hearing from Him.

We have a vision to equip our leaders toward MRT. For the moment we feel like we need to invest with one another as a closed group. In a short time we have taken good steps toward building a foundation on which we can work together. We are in a time of narrowing our focus. The MRT has been a blessing for synergy. It has also been a blessing for our friendship. We are great friends and love one another deeply and value very much our opportunity to walk alongside one another in ministry.

What do you see in this MRT that encourages you? What do you learn from what Hobby and Robbie are doing?

John

MRT Introduction: Aurora (Colorado)

MRT Friends,

I hesitated to put two posts about the Denver area back to back (see yesterday's) but I decided to go ahead for two reasons.

First, because I want you to see the potential of MRTs multiplying within a particular city or region. I don't want to have one MRT in Denver. I want a hundred. Within the City of Denver there are 52 distinct neighborhoods. And, there are probably 20 or more suburbs like Aurora in the Metropolitan Area. How about an MRT in every one! Can you picture that where you are?

Second, I want you to see again how easy it is to do an interview like this. (Remember, if I can do it... anyone can!) As I had coffee with Sean this morning (Thursday), I was listening for stories. As a "mad scientist", I'm always on the alert for what God is up to, for alternative stories. And, with my trusty iPhone, I'm ready to "collect" them at any time.

Your observations about these comments and about the video below?

John

PS Some of you (like me) have an email service that blocks the actual video. You will need to go to our site to see it and to make comments.