I am just back from Africa and have had no time for a new post... but I wanted to pass on this article from Katie Driver's blog "Backseat Driver" (that was also reprinted at CMA Resources). She has done a beautiful job of describing the adventure of organic church..

The Journey of Discovery, by Katie Driver

I have a lot of conversations with people who are struggling with the blind adventure of the simple, organic and missional church life.
I hear things like; " I don't really know what to do!", "I wish someone could show me how this works!", "I tried that/that, and it didn't work so what's wrong?", "What is this supposed to look like?", "Is there a manual or something I can follow?", "Can you give me a blueprint to work from so I know what I'm supposed to do?"

I empathize with these questions. These are real struggles from hearts that want to "do it right" and have been trained to follow models, leaders, organizations, and manuals so that what they do is "successful" and "correct". I resist the tendency, which is so easy for me, to tell them what to do. Instead, we start talking about what they are learning in the process, what their goals are for living this organic simple life in Christ, what the Scriptures say we should esteem, and that it is okay to try different things and even fail a few times in the process.

God is certainly capable to get us where we need to be, when we need to be there, with all that we need in the process. The bottom line is; He is faithful.
Have you ever heard that saying of on "a need to know basis" ? I think that fits well with His leading of us. He takes us one step at a time. He gives us what we need to know and understand when we need it to lead us forward in faith. He also lets us struggle.

Most of us don't want to hear that we learn best by what we struggle with and figure out on our own. We also don't like to hear that failure is a better teacher than our successes. In fact, I recently read a medical study that concluded that we actually grow more brain cells when we fail! How's that for "organically" rewarding our failures? What incredible Grace!

I believe, God is taking us each on our own wonderful, unique and unmapped "Journey's of Discovery". That is what the journey west, of the explorers Lewis and Clark's into the then unknown, was called.

For those of us who admit to being " a Trekkie", you'll be familiar with the saying; "of boldly going where no man has gone before". I like to use the Star Trek motto to illustrate what the journey in the lifestyle of simple, organic, missional church is like. No manuals, no maps to follow, no clear guidelines and directions (yet,... just give it a few more years and the experts will have the '5 steps to simple church success' available soon at your local bookstore....sorry, my cynicism again).

We do have some great folks out there who are sharing their own journeys of what they are learning and experiencing. Giving us some understanding of what this whole simple lifestyle is all about. Lewis and Clark types who, are on the "Journey of Discovery", just like the rest of us, but are a little further along on their expedition and keeping great journals.

Tom and I have been doing something different this summer. We have been taking short three or four day "mini" vacations on the motorcycle, but we've been doing it in a totally new way from how we have done it before.

In past years we have had a general plan to our vacations. Not completely, but we would have an idea of where we were going, where the scenic spots were, where the camping areas and the places available to us for lodging, eating, getting gas, etc would be. We would, once in a while, drive off the planned course and see what we could discover, but that was the exception. Most of the time we just followed the mapped course we'd laid out together in the kitchen over a couple of nights.
In these vacation expeditions we'd also have a definite goal and agenda of what we wanted to see, experience and accomplish. We don't have the name "driver" for nothing, and some days the only goal seemed to be how many miles we could push through in a day!

This summer however, has been different.

Instead of loading up the car and luggage carrier with all our necessities for camping, our suitcases full of "stuff" that we'd maybe use, coolers packed with food and drink, we packed small bags that fit into the limited spaces on the motorcycle. Usually not more than a change of clothes, our rain gear, a couple bottles of water, basic toiletries, a bible and extra jacket. We'd take along a map, but only for the sake of getting us back on track if we got disoriented and lost out on the back roads of Minnesota and Wisconsin.

We load up and take off in a matter of minutes (verses hours), heading out of the city, in the general direction we wanted to go. We would find some road unknown to us and take it, just to see where it would lead. Often times it would lead to some great and awesome place that we would never of found on our own. Sometimes we would find ourselves at a dead end, where we would have to turn around and go back a bit until we found another road and take that for a while. We found some incredible places and experiences that made us look forward to what new things we'd discover tomorrow! We felt alive and revived. Resulting in thankfulness for all that we saw God bless our journey with each day. A beautiful road, a person to encourage or pray for, finding new friends in towns we'd never of known, creating memories and special times of enjoying life together in the goodness of God. It was simple (unencumbered and portable), organic (let's see what unfolds naturally in the process) and missional (what other lives can we bring some aspect of the nature of Christ to today in our encounters).

When Lewis and Clark made their journey into the western wilderness some two hundred years ago, they went not knowing what they would encounter with each day and decision of direction. Sometimes, the river they travelled just took them along it's natural path and when that was no longer possible, they found their way through mountain passes and vast prairies with sometimes the help of those native to the area. They recorded information, observations and drew pictures of what they were discovering and wrote it in journals for those who would be following in the future. Even though this would be the beginning of the westward movement of settlement, each of the pioneers soon to head west on that journey still had to discover, on their own with just a few journal notes of information and helps, the path to where they would eventually settle.

Tom and I driving along this summer on the unknown back roads of MN and WI, not knowing where we would eventually end up that night was exciting, rewarding, adventurous, fun, a bit unnerving, tiring and stressful at times. All of the above and more! I wouldn't give up one moment of it.

The simple organic and missional church life gives us no GPS, maps and instructional directions. Instead, we have the Holy Spirit to lead and guide us in the direction we are to go. We get to learn how to follow Him in a dependent and intimate way. When He says; this is the way, we go that way. We learn to have ears that hear. We learn to discover, on our own with Him, the unique adventure that Jesus has planned for us to experience more of Him and what He has in store of us while we walk this side of heaven. To know Him, and walk daily in an intimacy that is fresh, alive, exciting and dependent. We have the ultimate "journal", the Word, that has all that we need pertaining to life and godliness. We have the journals of others on similar journey's that can encourage and aid us, but in the end, we find our own Journey of Discovery with the Author of it all!

In the vernacular of motorcycle trekking............."enjoy the ride"!

From Katie Driver's Blog, Backseat Driver

My daughter-in-law sent me the following email regarding simple church and her ten-year-old son, Skyler.  I thought y'all would appreciate her experience and thoughts:

As a mom on this untraditional journey, I gotta tell ya...I am always struggling with the guilt (I know, no surprise there!) of not "doing" enough church stuff for my kids. I think stupid things like "are my kids really going to know enough about who God is and being a part of the body by not being in a 'church'?".  I know, of course, that going to a building on Sunday assures NOTHING regarding these two things.  Then I think more legitimate thoughts like, "Moving around a lot makes it more difficult to connect with believers immediately, how can I encourage this connection for my kids?" I'm instantly reminded that the Holy Spirit is much more powerful than an institution at bringing connections.  Then, I think very interesting thoughts like, "Is my faith big enough to inspire a true relationship with Christ in my kids?" (Without the crutch of the institution, I am forced to actually live the life...I don't always like this!)  And then, I am reminded of probably the most rational idea in all of this, that really it isn't up to me to "make" my kids believers.  Surely, I have a giant influence on how they view religion and God, but ultimately, I (AND institutions, for that matter) are completely powerless to convert anyone.  The practice of family church always brings me to that...trusting God...not trying to make things happen...waiting on the Holy Spirit...and how seriously needy I am. 

So with all that in mind, I was pleasantly suprised by Skyler at family church yesterday.  Mitch said it's time for church.  Skyler left for a minute and then came back.  He sat down on the couch and said, "I can't think of anything."  We were a little confused; "What do you mean?" we asked.  Somewhat pensive, he replied, "I can't think of anything to do for church."  We told him that he didn't have to do anything, of course. 

What struck me is that, he assumes that he will contribute to "church" whenever we gather.  How cool is that!  I am not saying that he wouldn't be learning valuable things in traditional church, of course.  You know I love "church" in whatever format, but how cool is it that he has the foundational belief that when he does participate he is willing to participate actively in the meeting. I don't think he would have gleaned that so much from another format.  Needless to say, I was reminded to trust, trust, trust...God continues to teach my babies even in the midst of my chaos, failures, and in the simplicity.

I will undoubetdly be blogging a bit less over the next several weeks because of our travels in Africa.  You can read more about what we are doing here and here if you are so inclined.  If you want a full download of our travel tales, you will be able to find them here.  Otherwise, I will still try to fit a post or two in right here as usual.

I see a tremendous opportunity ahead for simple churches to impact our world through their use of finances.

The question, in simple/house church circles, is often “What about money?” meaning, is there a “right way” for money to be given, collected, or made use of?  Is tithing a valid scriptural principle or is it an Old Testament principle that has been mis-appropriated by the church in an attempt to keep the organizational systems and buildings supported?

I would like to suggest that tithing, in so many ways, misses the mark.  First of all, it often fosters a legalistic (even superstitious) way of thinking: “If I give God this specific amount, I will have His blessing; if I don’t, then I won’t.”

On the other hand (this is important), I also think that tithing puts a limit on giving because it misses the real principle we find in Scripture: generosity.  In other words, theoretically, if we followed the principles of Scripture and listened to Jesus (i.e Luke 14:33) most of us would give more than a tithe as a regular part of our Jesus-following life.

Now, let’s take this out of the theoretical for a moment.  My friend, Brian Hogan, in his missionary work in Mongolia (recounted in his wonderful book, “There’s a Sheep in My Bathtub), describes how the new Christians in this movement were taught generosity rather than tithing.  The result was a net giving that far exceeded the typical tithe and a tremendous missionary impact on other regions as a result of their giving!

So, here is where I see an explosive possibility!

First, suppose “simple-church folk” began moving out of the limitations of tithing and into the dynamic realm of generosity.  Imagine the release of finances this would bring. 

Second, imagine all of these resources being channeled into workers (missionaries, regional facilitators of movements) and to meet the needs of the poor.  I happen to believe that both of these areas are important and scriptural, but will not debate this at the moment.  My point is this: In the USA alone, over 72 billion dollars goes to religious institutions mostly for clergy salaries and buildings. 

I am not going to condemn this preferring, instead, to focus on getting the log out of my own eye and determining what I can do.  I simply want to suggest that if we can sustain a movement without buildings and unnecessary staff, and add a new level of generosity, we have tremendous potential to use finances in a way that can change our world spiritually (deploying missionaries and workers where they are most needed) and physically (alleviating a good percentage of the world’s greatest poverty).

One final note.  When I speak of “poverty,” I want to remind us that there is “true” poverty in the world.  By that I mean (for example) that there are 27,000 children who die unnecessarily every day from causes related directly to poverty (i.e. no safe drinking water, no sanitation, malnutrition, or parents unable to afford medical treatment).  We often think that poverty is an issue too big to tackle, but there is actually a great deal that we can do to alleviate the most deadly faces of need.

I am wondering if simple, Jesus-followers might be able to have a significant impact on some of these critical issues of our time!

A friend of mine, Daniel, has been emailing me about the struggle he is having in his own mind (aided by some traditional-minded friends) as he attempts to walk out a more organic, Jesus-following lifestyle.

With the handful of families we are developing a relationship with, we are being told that we should put a name to what we are doing and call it something and that we need to think about leadership structure etc, etc. We are told that our church should look like this or that.

It feels like there are two paths to go down. One path is called church and it makes you want to have a meeting, set up structures and a church name and define who is in and who is out…

A friend who has planted a church phoned me the other day and basically told me that unless I make what we are doing like every other form of Church (get a name, write a big vision document and see who is in and out) then what we are doing will fritter out and accomplish nothing…

Everyone around us is looking to what kind of meeting we are having and how many people come to it. We are sick of meetings and longing to share our lives with people......So it is hard not to slip into the meeting=success idea and get discouraged.

So where we are at is looking to share and love people. We open our home at every opportunity and it is all about sharing our lives with people…  We are planting the gospel and believing that Jesus will grow the church…

All we want to do is follow the Spirit's direction, live by the word of God, and love people. We are always asked about how many people come to our meeting on a Sunday! It kind of doesn't register because we are asking ourselves the question, "Lord who do you want us to share our lives with?”  Discipleship means sharing your life with people - not an hour here or there while we sit and sing songs with our eyes closed. 

Yes we believe in the church, leadership, and the fivefold ministry but how we get there is not as simple as just appointing, planning and programming. I told one friend, during a conversation, that I wasn't really too bothered about seeing who is a leader as we just want to help people be obedient to Jesus. I told him I believed that my heart (and more importantly God's heart) to see leaders raised up will be realized as people grow in their obedience to Jesus not as a result of our plans or programs. 

It feels like I want to totally let go of trying to build something and just do what we love - build up people. But everyone is saying that we need to have meetings and structures… The Spirit is saying build people, pour yourself out into people, and love people…

Today I feel encouraged again because I genuinely think that Jesus would be doing what we are doing. And that is all we seek - not a big church - just to be doing what we see the Father is doing every day...