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

CO2: From theory to real life

We've been discussing the theory of "churches of two". Today, I want you to hear a real story of transformation and healing.

Pictured to your right is Tim Morris, a graduate of Denver Seminary and a house church leader here in Denver. Recently, Tim Pynes had a conversation with Tim (Morris) about how God has used the rhythms of the CO2 to bring deep healing in his life. Go here to hear the podcast: http://storiesfromtherevolution.blogspot.com/2010/04/c02-potential-for-inner-healing.html

What do you learn from this story that gives you a clearer understanding of the CO2 rhythms? What questions does the story provoke for you?

John

CO2s and discipleship (4)

As I mentioned yesterday, the value of a "church of two" is that it makes listening to God our "prime directive". And, that listening is both the source and goal of disciplemaking. Here are a few implications...

1. CO2s major in modeling. This is always the starting point in making disciples. In this case, my disciple gets to hear on a daily basis what I'm hearing from the Lord. Chadd calls this: "Trying to live a centered life in the sight/presence of others over a long stretch of time." Paul says: "Those things you have seen in me..." (Phil. 4:9)

2. CO2s adapt to the person and the season. This simple tool is equally powerful with brand new disciples or seasoned believers. God speaks to each person according to their God-given design and according to the season of growth they are in. He (not I) knows exactly what they need at this point in their lives.

3. CO2s turn concerns into conversation. "I'm concerned that we are not spending enough time in the Bible" "Well, let's ask the Lord what He wants us to do about that." "I'm concerned that we are not being very missional." "Well, let's ask the Lord what He wants us to do about that." "I'm concerned about this ongoing problem/sin in my life." "Well, let's ask the Lord what He wants us to do about that." You get the picture. CO2s continually direct us back to the Source. Everything flows from there - spiritual disciplines, missional living, community, etc.

4. CO2s create dependency - on Jesus. My daily question to my CO2 partners is: "So, what are you hearing from the Lord?" As Chadd said: Knowing and living as if I know that I am not their answer--that Jesus is their answer.

5. CO2s are transformational. Transformation is never guaranteed. But, by keeping our focus on the heart - my heart, your heart and God's heart - the opportunity for deep and significant change is maximized.

6. CO2s are viral. They are both simple and sticky. Sneeze-able. We've already seen multiplication to four generations in several cases. (See the "Four Generation" posts.) I expect we will see many more stories like this over the next year.

Back to Noah's original questions: "My question is - how is CO2 similar to and different from what we would call "Discipleship"? My growing conviction is that the two rhythms of a CO2 are both the source and goal of discipleship.

Is there a "step 2" for CO2 that leads to discipleship of some kind?" When we start with the CO2 rhythms, the Lord then leads us to a multitude of exquisitely designed "step 2s" (and 3s and 4s and 5s and...). What is fun is to be part of a community that is telling stories about the stunning beauty of His hand-crafted and unique discipleship "program" for each one of us!

Your comments?

John

Your comments

Yesterday's post and video is a good place to pause for a moment to engage with our MRT Community. Here are a couple of early comments about that video...

From Noah Cremisino (who is just arriving in New Zealand)...

I am getting SO PUMPED watching this!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! This is what we've been praying for!! ....I actually see and feel life transformation... not just talk and theory, but actual ACTION and PASSION. The Kingdom of God will not grow without the transformative and active power of the Spirit of God PULSING through the veins of His followers.Make us ALIVE, Father!! Let us radiate you passion so that others would see you and know you as their Creator and Restorer!Would love to see and hear more!


From Chris Jefferies (England)...

Thoughts and feelings (about the video)? Just - WOW!!! :-)My main thought was, 'Enthusiasm - for Jesus'. We should all be like those students. If we're not, why not? He's the same Lord of Lords and King of Kings. I'm going to show this video to as many people as I can.


From John White (Colorado)...

Some nameless person who understood the power of story simply captured on video what God was doing and shared it with the rest of us. So, have you bought your video camera yet?


Go here to watch the video if you haven't already and then read through the comments. What is the Lord saying to us as church planters through this video?

Here's the link http://regionalrevolutionaries.blogspot.com/2010/04/small-groups-vs-house-churches-2.html

John

House of peace in Chicago

See below for a story from Mark Willis about a house of peace in Chicago. I think we need as many stories like this as possible. Each time we read one it helps us get a little clearer about what to look for and what to pray for.

One of the things that come to my mind as I read this story is "I wonder how many thousands of Tim and Kims there are in traditional churches who could start one of these "vibrant families of Jesus" with just a little help.

In the Comment section, tell us what strikes you about this house of peace. What similarities do you see with Gerardo and Carola? And, see if you have any thoughts about Mark's question at the end.

John


I wanted to spend my 5 minutes talking about a house church in our network we visited yesterday. We've met with them several times before, and it is always encouraging to see how God is using them to display his Family in simple and profound ways.

Tim and Kim are a couple that have followed Christ full-on for over 22 years together. They were a part of several unhealthy church hierarchical structures, and eventually found themselves opening up their home for people to worship and seek the Lord together. They have adopted two children from China, and though they have day jobs, they see their jobs as servant to their true vocation - nurturing healthy families of Jesus.

The children in this church are involved, just like the parents are. One couple in the community is going through some rough times, and they've gracefully found ways to provide sanctuary for the couple to work out their disagreements and find reconciliation....even as they firmly address stubbornness and sin that are obstacles to the relationship. They've called their entire church family to bring their neighbors and the poor and anyone else to join them for meals and worship in their house... In short - they've been released by God as hosts of this house church to spend all their energies on developing disciples and communities that reflect the image of Jesus Christ.

We don't know exactly what it means to "not go around from house to house" with this couple - they are definitely well on their journey and don't seem to need an outside force coming in to tell them about God's Kingdom. However - I found myself wanting to stay around with these folks simply because there was a mutual attraction to God's Kingdom which seemed so near to me that it could have been right across the dinner table. You don't want to leave when the Kingdom is so near its palpable in the air.

10:2b Prayer - From South Carolina to Colorado

MRT Friends,

Almost eight years ago, my friend, Kenny Moore and I were having breakfast together and we were talking about our mutual passion to see "a vibrant family of Jesus" within easy reach of every person in Colorado. Our conversation began to settle on Luke 10. And, then on verse 2 of chapter 10. And, then on the second half of that verse.

Therefore, beseech the Lord of the Harvest to send forth workers into His harvest.

That morning, light bulbs began to turn on. If we could only do one thing towards the goal of saturation church planting in Colorado, praying this prayer would certainly be that one thing. Kenny and I made a commitment that morning to pray what we later called "the 10:2b prayer" for Colorado every day for seven days and see what we learned. Who knew all that would come from that small step! (To read more of the story, go to http://lk10.com/practices-and-patterns/the-102b-prayer/ )

Today, many of us in Colorado (and many in other places around the world) are praying that prayer daily for the our particular part of the harvest field. In the video below, you will see one of the recent answers to that prayer. It's an amazing God story of three young men in South Carolina who felt that God had called them to move to Pueblo, Colorado (2-3 hours south of Denver) to plant organic churches. As far as they knew, they would be the first to plant organic churches anywhere in Colorado! :-) Then, through a magazine article they got connected with us and we were able to spend an afternoon together a couple of weeks ago.

So, take a look at the video and tell us your thoughts. Also, it seems to me that our MRT Community should be a repository of 10:2b stories. So, let us know what you have learned as you have prayed this prayer and the answers you've seen in your part of the "field". (BTW - still waiting for a 5 minute video story from one of you all!)

John

PS. Subscription to The Abilene MRT Experiment blog that I mentioned a few days ago is by invitation only. If you are interested, contact Ron Longwell at rlongwell@mac.com

Mutual learning

Fellow storytellers,

The comment below from Chadd Schroeder in Mexico strikes me as a great example of a "community of practice" at work. That is, a context where all of us, as church planters, are learning from each other. (Chadd has always impressed me as both a great learner and a great teacher!)

In a sense, there several lessons in Chadd's comment. First, that videos are a great way to tell stories. Second, stories are a great way to change the culture. Third, that videos are amazingly easy to make these days. Fourth, that our MRT Community is a great place to share useful videos (either ones that we make or ones that we find).

Right now in the "Tags" section of our MRT site there are two videos listed. (And, I, the least techie of all of you, made them both.) I'm looking forward to story telling videos about vibrant families of Jesus from you all! (Under 5 minutes please.)

John


From Chadd...


One of the things that keeps coming to my mind as I watch the videos is that video interviews seem to communicate so effectively, contagiously and in multifaceted ways that written material is not able to do. I'm thinking of Mexicans and the obstacles to the viral spread of the kingdom here. I sense God wants me to experiment more in this area. Hmm...

CO2 showing early signs of spreading in the UK

Fellow Researchers,

In simple terms, a MRT is a way for two or more people to pay attention apostolically. And, to notice and share with our MRT "community of practice" the stories that emerge. These stories may be large or small but something inside you says, "This is important".

Here's an example of one of these stories...

Chris Jefferies attends the House2House Conference last September. Chris becomes "infected" with the CO2 (church of two) virus. Chris returns to Cambridgeshire, UK and others begin to be "infected" with the same virus. Observation: The CO2 virus seems to be "sneezeable".

First Five. I've asked you to consider spending the first five minutes each day of your Internet time investing in our MRT Experiment. You should have about 4 minutes left. So, here's your assignment today. Go to Chris' blog and read what he's written about the spread of the CO2 virus. Then, come back here and share your observations. http://jesus.scilla.org.uk/2010/02/news-co2-is-spreading-like-virus.html

By the way, I'm delighted that Chris and his friend, Sean Diviney, have joined the MRT Experiment. That makes 12 teams in 12 cities/regions. The MRT concept is also showing signs of being "sneezeable". Hmmm... sounds like another story to pay attention to.

John

PS. The picture above is of the N5H1 virus (bird flu). "If H5N1 viruses gain the ability for efficient and sustained transmission among humans, an influenza pandemic could result." -Center for Disease Control

MRT Introduction: Denver

Fellow MRTers,

I suspect that most of us are familiar with the Ivan Illich quote to the effect that the way you change culture is by telling an alternate story. At the heart of the MRT Experiment is a deep desire to see church culture transformed in order that the church might once again become transformational in the world. And, one of our most important "tools" in this transformational process will be the story.

This means that we must first become skilled at noticing the important "alternate" stories around us. Then, we find ways to collect those stories. With modern technology we have an unprecedented ability to do just that. Below, you will see a short video Introduction to the Denver MRT that I (the oldest and certainly the least "techie" of anyone in this group!) made with my iPhone. Hey - if I can learn to do this, any of you can also.

Once we have collected the story, we can then be a storyteller. And, with the Internet, these stories can spread around the world in a way that is again unprecedented.

So, one definition of the MRT Experiment is "a community of apostolic storytellers". (And, the MRT Experiment is itself one of the important "alternate stories".)

John