Prevenience in Albuquerque

The email below from Peg Batcheller illustrates prevenience - God motivating this woman to call Peg.

This lady believed that if their house church "leader" left that the church could no longer function. (Sounds like traditional church thinking!) I love that Peg and Richard have been captured by a whole different way of thinking and are teaching it to many. The new paradigm is that every believer is truly a priest and that every household is a church. And, from those households, the Kingdom begins to flow into every neighborhood.

Way to go, Peg! We pray that the Lord will motivate many more calls just like this one.

Tell us your story of God taking the initiative.

John

I received a call from a woman who has been in a house church setting with a few others for the past few years. Their "leader" had to move out of town, so they were wondering if there were other HCs they could 'join' to continue receiving teaching. When I shared my heart about each household becoming a 'vital family of Jesus within close access of each neighborhood', she came alive again with a refreshed hope of revitalizing her group of friends. We'll be getting together soon, and I'm sure God will do a new and refreshing work in their circle of friends. Coincidentally, my ex-husband & I attended their house church gathering about 6 years ago, and she remembers me. It will be interesting to see how God has worked in my life over the years, and to see how God has been preparing them as well.

Prevenience in New Zealand

The Lord's prevenience is revealed in many areas. Preparing people of peace who are receptive to the message before we are aware of them. Providing the resources we need before we know we need them. See below for a story from Noah Cremisino of God moving to assemble a church planting team in surprising and unexpected ways before Noah even knew there was a need.

Tell us a story of how you are seeing God work preveniently in your location. And, take a minute to beseech the Lord of the Harvest to thrust out more harvest workers in ChristChurch, NZ.

John

This may be a story of a pre-prevenience given the context of the question, but I think it applies.

As my wife and I prepared to move from Denver to NZ to join the Father in what He's already doing here (with simple church in mind) we felt that God did not intend to send us alone. A team of wonderful people had come together around us (2 different couples) and it seemed as though God had orchestrated things quite nicely.

As time went by, however, it became clear to us and both of the couples that they weren't actually meant to come along - at least not at this point in the journey. And, thus, in a matter of a few months, we were back to being "teamless".

This was not meant to be a deterrent, we didn't sense that it was, but it definitely left us asking God why he'd given us the sense that we were not to go alone.

Skipping along.

To keep it short and sweet - we arrived in NZ in March and within 2 months God answered our questions and fulfilled His promise (about us not going alone). Through the often mind-boggling web of connections we ended up meeting a young couple (same as us) who God had brought to the exact same city as us with almost identical visions of planting house churches and joining the Father in His prevenient plans for the city.

This couple came from South Africa as "tent-making missionaries" to New Zealand, just a year and a half before we did. The "coincidences" are too many to list here - but it's obvious that God has been planning His work here in Christchurch for much longer than any of us could comprehend.

It's an absolute JOY to be on mission with the Father. I can't, for the life of me, understand why anyone would want to do it any other way. He leads and He fulfills. We just obey and watch incredible things take shape all around us.

Prevenience and church planting

Prevenience applies to every area of our lives and that includes church planting which is the focus of the Luke Ten Community and the MRT Experiment.

How freeing this is! Our God is an apostolic God. He is always in the process of birthing new "vibrant families of Jesus" before (which is the meaning of the word "prevenient") we show up. Our job is not to "make it happen" when it comes to church planting. Rather, we get to join Him in this wonderful process of new birth!

No where is more clear than in Acts 10. On one level, we could say that Peter planted a church in the home of Cornelius. However, on a deeper level, we see that God was working preveniently before Peter ever thinks about planting a church. No doubt God has been at work in the life of this military officer for some time as he is described as a "God fearer". Then, God sends an angel to tell him to send for Peter. Then, the Spirit speaks to Peter in the middle of a vision and tells him to go with the men sent from Cornelius. Talk about God taking the initiative!

So, where have you seen God's prevenience in planting churches in your region? It may not be as dramatic as with Cornelius but where are you seeing God take the initiative? Where are "divine connections" occurring? Where are you discovering "people of peace"? Where do you see God at work planting churches?

John

Tim Pynes on coaching

I wanted you to hear from my friend, Tim Pynes, directly about coaching. He is one of the best I've experienced and I encourage you to email him to schedule a free session.

Tim's address: timpynes@gmail.com

John

Prevenience and coaching (3)

So, how do we actually implement the "prevenience principle" in our lives and ministries?

A great starting place is learning to ask "the prevenience questions".

Make-it-happen questions are: "What do we do? How can we get things going again."

Prevenience questions are: "What has God been doing here? What traces of grace can I discern in this life? What history of love can I read in the group? What has God set in motion that I can get in on?" Peterson, The Contemplative Pastor, p. 70.

The prevenience questions are at the core of an MRT. An MRT is simply two or more people with a heart for church planting in a particular region. They meet together once a week to listen to God to see what He is setting in motion. And, to see how they can get in on that.

The prevenience questions are also at the core of coaching. Coaching is simply one person helping another to pay close attention to what God is saying and doing in the life of that person.

Have you seen any evidence of God's prevenience this week?

John

PS. To read more about how an understanding of prevenience shapes how we do house church, go to http://www.lk10resources.com/uploads/1/4/3/5/1435936/prevenience_gods_initiative.pdf

Prevenience and coaching (2)

More from Eugene Peterson on the concept of prevenience:

(An understanding of this important word leads to) "... a disciplined, determined conviction that everything (and I mean, precisely, everything) we do is a response to God's first work, his initiating act. We learn to be attentive to the divine action already in process so that the previously unheard word of God is heard, the previously unattended act of God is noticed. The Contemplative Pastor, p. 69

Some implications...

1. Attention to prevenience is learned. It's a whole way of seeing life that is different from much of what I learned early on in church and seminary. This kind of attention is learned (like everything else) through practice and repetition.

2. Coaching is a great aid in learning this kind of attentiveness. A coach is someone who comes along side of me to help me listen. They help me, not by telling me things, but by asking questions that I might not have thought of and by helping me stay present in the listening process. (There are times for "telling" or "mentoring" but there are also times for just "asking" and "listening".) (BTW, have you emailed Tim Pynes yet to schedule a session with him?)

3. Prevenience is central to church planting. Birthing new house churches is not something that we initiate. God is the one who is already at work in creating a "house of peace" (Lk. 10:5-6). Our part is to be attentive to His prevenient work. This totally changes how we think about church planting. As my friend, Kenny, says, "God does the heavy lifting." I like that!

Other implications that you see?

John

Prevenience and coaching (1)

Prevenience is a word that changed my life and ministry.

Much of my early training centered around what I now call "make it happen ministry". See the need. Set a goal. Develop a plan. Implement the plan. Make it happen. Evaluate. Repeat.

Eugene Peterson in The Contemplative Pastor introduced me to a whole different way of thinking and living and ministering. Talk about a paradigm shift! Here's what he wrote...

In running the church, I seize the initiative. I take charge. I take responsibility for motivation and recruitment, for showing the way, for getting things started. If I don't, things drift. I am aware of the tendency to apathy, the human susceptibility to indolence, and I use my leadership position to counter it. (JW: Sounds like "make it happen ministry" to me!)

(The alternative) is a cultivated awareness that God has already seized the initiative. The traditional doctrine defining this truth is prevenience: God everywhere and always seizing the initiative. He gets things going. He had and continues to have the first word. Prevenience is the conviction that God has been working diligently, redemptively, and strategically before I appeared on the scene, before I was aware there was something here for me to do. (p. 69)

Prevenience. It changes everything.

And, it is the starting point for our discussion of coaching. More tomorrow about this.

John

PS Know any "make it happen ministry" people, who might be ready to hear about "prevenience"? Anyone you need to forward this post to?