How Is Your Face Today?

“I was walking to work this week,”  Emma shared, “and everyone just looked sad.  There were a lot of people out, but everyone just looked down.  Then all of a sudden this guy bounds around the corner finishing a morning jog, with such exuberance on his face and lets out  joyous exclamation of accomplishment.  I first thought ‘how could running ever produce such joy,’ but then I found myself asking, ‘I wonder what my face is expressing?’”

It was a great, and quite profound, observation that was shared at a Fellowship gathering a while back.   What do our faces express?  As the church, are we expressing joy and exuberance?  It reminded me of a passage from Eugene Peterson in A Long Obedience in the same Direction in which he quotes a friend:

For if a pastor is not in touch with joy, it will be difficult to teach or preach convincingly that the news is good.  If you do not convey joy in your demeanor and gestures and speech, you will not be an authentic witness for Jesus Christ.  

I think that it is safe to say that this goes for more than just pastors, but for all who would claim to be followers of Jesus.  So how about you, how is your face today?

3 Words That Change The World

I was recently meditating on the three words “moved with compassion” that described Jesus’ response to a man with a skin disease who came for healing.  As I tried to deeply ponder these words I was struck by this thought, “what must it have been like for Jesus?”

Colossians 1:16 tells us that

...everything was created by Him,
in heaven and on earth,
the visible and the invisible,
whether thrones or dominions
or rulers or authorities—
all things have been created through Him and for Him.

So, as Jesus encountered this ailing man he was directly confronted by the effects of the fall that had so devastatingly ravaged and perverted His beautiful creation.  This man, who was lovingly fashioned to bear His very own image, now such a distorted broken reflection.  How heartbreaking to see what had befallen that which was created with such love and attention.  But this man, though broken and distorted by sin, was an image bearer none the less, and Jesus still having a heart for His creation is moved to compassion.  In his healing, we get a glimpse of compassion that leads to justice, and a foretaste of the final restoration that is to come because of the compassion of Jesus.

3 Basics of Community Discipleship

Our goal for the Hamilton Fellowships is to grow a network of interdependent Fellowships that make disciples, in community and on mission.  As we build community we must be making disciples, that is after all, our commission from Jesus himself.  The two, however, community and discipleship, inform one another; they go together.

If you are familiar with Jeff Venderstelt and Soma, or of Neil Cole, then you will recognize some similarities with their ideas.  These are not new observations, however, some appearing in an article first published 1941 by Dr. W. Maxfield Garrott entitled How Jesus Trained Leaders.  The point being that the methods trace back to Jesus, and we can seek to incorporate them, to model our discipleship, after his.

As we learn about doing discipleship in community here are three basics ideas we have found helpful:

1)  Community with God

This might seem obvious, but it cannot be overlooked.  Consider how often Jesus withdrew by Himself to spend time in direct communion with the Father.   Call it a "Quiet Time," "Personal Devotion Time" or whatever, learning to take time alone to read scripture and pray is essential to discipleship.  And it does not have to be rocket science.  I love the acronym my colleague Paul Johnson shares on the Disciple Maker App (look for it in the App Store under Disciple Maker Stages) that he created and curates.  He offers S.O.A.P as a guide for devotional times and journaling: S-scripture, O-observation (what is the nugget of truth, or what jumps out to you), A-application (what do you need to do to make this real in your life) P-pray (use the scripture and you application as a basis for your prayer time).  Simple.  Straight forward.  I love it.

2) Community with Two or Three

Though Jesus spent much time with the twelve, there was even a smaller group with whom He shared more personal and private moments.  Consider the Transfiguration or the Garden of Gethsemane.  In each case it is Peter, James and John that accompany Jesus.  With two or three, confidentiality and accountability can be strong and there are practical considerations of flexibility for scheduling etc.  Relationally, it is far more likely to really get to know someone, to encourage and challenge each other in a smaller context.

3)  Community with 12

It is important to note that when calling His first disciples, Jesus called twelve and put them in community.  It is this group with whom He did the bulk of organized training while also living everyday life together for three years.  It was my friend Mike Hampton who first helped me see the diversity within this group.  By today's standards, and especially from a modern Western context, the group does not seem diverse at all, but when one considers that zealots and tax collectors were sharing meals together, one can only imagine how awkward those first dinners must have been!  This size of group is large enough for diversity but still small enough for intimacy and deeper relationships through which to live out together the things that are learned.  Below is a short video in which Ed Stetzer and Eric Geiger share some thoughts on why groups matter.

Why Groups Matter

Whether, like for us within The Hamilton Fellowships, these groups are the larger church context, or you are a part of a much larger congregation, time in a group of about 10-20 is a very special and important investment. 

So there you have it, 3 Basics of Community Discipleship.  Who are some people in your life that you could start to gather with?

3 Keys to Build Community

There is a lot of talk and discussion about creating community these days.  I have come to appreciate Mike Breen and the folks at 3DM and there discussion of "oikos"-Family.  Similarly, I recently heard Jeff Vanderstelt of Soma ask if, when the world thought about the church, was the first metaphore that came to mind, Family.  Building community is a core principle of what we, at The Hamilton Fellowships do as well and so we were recently reflecting on what it means for our Fellowships, our Community, to be family.  After working through this idea together, here are three keys to build community family, that I came away with:

1) Eat Together
I recently received a beautiful birthday card from a group of Chinese students who have been connecting with one of our Fellowships and in it they thanked me for a number of different opportunities for community that they have experienced while hanging out with us.  In particular, they thanked us for all the different foods that they have been able to try.  I laughed.  We share a meal each week as we gather with our Fellowship, but we try to keep it fairly simple.  The point is the time together, sharing and conversations- the deep fellowship- that happens over food.  For international students I suppose it is a bit exotic, (to be honest my favourite times are when they bring the food!), but the relationships that are formed over a meal together probably contributes more than the food to their positive experiences.  Lets face it, families eat together and so if we want to be family then we need to do the same.  Keep it simple, do it potluck and have everyone help with the dishes.  It is well worth the effort.

2)  Play Together
One key difference between co-workers and family is that family are the ones that you go home to and plan your weekends or vacation.  When it comes time to play, we often play with family.  An hour or two together at an organized engagement is great, but not really enough to say that we are family.  When people are choosing to spend their down time together, then maybe we can say that we are family.  We try to create some opportunities for people to hang out together, sometimes in pace of a Fellowship, and often outside of our regular weekly meetings.  It can be as simple as a board game night where we open our home and anyone who is free brings a snack and a friend.  Even more important, however, are the times when one family is going to do something and casually invites another family or individual to join them.  These unstructured, organic connections say a lot about family.

3)  Teach One Another
Think about how much you learned, both formally and informally, from your mom or dad, grandparents or maybe a special aunt or uncle.   There is an organic discipleship that happens in family as we learn to speak, ride a bike or to cook the famous family recipe.  There are natural mentor relationships that can happen within family.  Organic and Natural, however, still require intentionality.  How are we mentoring and teaching others in our "family."  As a parent, I love the idea of my children learning by watching, engaging and spending time with other mature adults who care for them. 

How can you limit this to just three?!?  I want to add praying together (if we are talking specifically spiritual communities), and working together (Alan Hirsh has great thoughts about "Communitas" in Forgotten Ways) BUT I will hold myself back and open it up to you.  These are three keys that we identified, what others would you add to the list?

Of Subways and Sub Zeros

I currently sit in a train car returning to Hamilton from The Big Smoke, Toronto, and it has dawned on me that last month I was riding subways in both Los Angeles and New Tork City.  They were quick, short trips to help family members, but none the less that is still pretty cool!  

As we enter March, I am back here in Canada and we are experiencing one of the coldest weeks on record.  Isn't spring coming?!?  Sitting on the train this morning I realize that although this year is the coldest I can remember, for the last three years the beginning of March has greeted  us with its own kind of coldness. Two years ago my Grandmother passed away and the very next day my oldest son ended up in hospital.  The following year my son was missing when March arrived, and this year we enter March with my father in hospital.  March has been particularily dark these past few years.  Even so, there are still great moments of light and joy and it is especially important in times like these to mark them. 

My dad came through what was a very large, intrusive and challenging surgery with flying colours.  Although the recovery will be trying and lengthy, he has done amazingly well thus far and shows every indication that he should make a full return to health.  

Our Fellowship @ Locke has welcomed a few new people and I am enjoying meeting with a number of them for further discipleship.  We are currently leading the Fellowship through an annual look at our vision verse and refocusing on (or learning for the first time), our core principles.

I am also excited for our Fellowship @ Fifty in Stoney Creek as I have been working with a key leader to develop and introduce a more intentional mission strategy.  I am looking forward to Michael leading our group through the initial stages this week.  

So March has been a bit of a let down these past few years.  This year in particular it is uncomfortably freezing.  None the less, there are bright spots and moments to celebrate.  Perhaps spring is on the way, maybe just around the corner at the next subway stop.

A Cab in LA

"Thank you very much for the conversation" the cabi said, "and I will be sure to look into what you shared! Thank you again."  

We exited the cab, entered the building, headed to the third floor and took a seat in the waiting room.  We would then wait another two hours for our meeting.  It was a bit strange as our meeting had been pushed up an hour, but did not actually begin until an hour after the original scheduled time.  I think perhaps that the reason for the schedule change was actually the cab ride itself.  

I was in LA with my daughter for some meetings.  We headed to the lobby to call a cab but when we reached the lobby there was one that just happened to be waiting already, having just dropped off another guest.  We got in the cab and were greated by a very friendly cabi of South Asian descent.  We began to chat first about family, then specifically children, and seeing as my daughter was with me, about school.  I mentioned that we homeschooled which always leads to why, which leads to my son's illness in 2008 and our decision to try it for a year while we went through all the unknowns.  This of course leads to conversations about how he is now and as I was sharing the details, the difficulty or his tumour, the amazing team of surgeons etc. I felt compelled to also bear witness to how we saw God work.  I simply mentioned that there was a lot of prayer and that we are so thankful for how we saw God answer our prayers as He worked in and through the surgeons and beyond.  The cabi then asked about our religion to which I shared that we were followers of Jesus.  I asked him in return and he shared that he was Muslim.  

He shared his opinion that our two religions where the closet related out of the world religions.  It was here that I was thankful with my time spent with my friend Mike Hampton who has been a missionary to Muslim background peoples.  I was able to speak of the things that the Koran says about Jesus.  We spoke of the third Sura and the affirming of the Virgin birth amoung other things.  He shared with me that in order to be a faithful Muslim, he had to believe in Jesus but that, and I love the way he put this, we took it one step further.  What he meant, of course, is that more than just a prophet, we believe Jesus was the divine, one and only Son of God.  I imagine that we would also disagree about the details and significance of the death and resurrection of Jesus.  These, of course, are fundamental differences with eternal life and death significance and thus our faith systems, although having some touchpoints, are not actually the same at all.  Again, I remebered a story that my friend Mike had shared with me.  I told my new friend that I had not come to faith until I was 19, and that I don't take the teachings for granted.  I have looked at the teachings of different faiths in my searching.  I mentioned learning that the Koran refers to Jesus as the "Kalimah Allah," meaning "Word or Message of God" while calling Mohammed the "Messanger." I asked myself what was more important the message or messanger.  I came to the conclusion that the message was more important and that lead me to specifically spend time with the words of Jesus that are in the gospels.  As I shared this last thought, we arrived at our destination.

Thank you very much for the conversation" the cabi said, "and I will be sure to look into what you shared! Thank you again."  

Update Tuesday-we're gonna be on TV!!

Hey everyone,

Just a quick update this week to let you know that we are going to be on TV tomorrow morning!  If you get Global Television then have a look for us on 100 Huntley Street, 9:30am EST.  We are going to be interviewed about our Beer Store Church.  Kim, T.J. and I will be doing our best to represent!  

This is actually a continuation of a story that I shared a while back that lead to a feature about us in the local paper.  A lady came by one morning while we were gathering on the street corner outside of the Beer Store to ask what we were doing.  She was so taken by the idea that, unbenounced to us,  she called the paper.  The paper came and did a story that was then seen by the folks who do 100 Huntley St. They then invited us to the show tomorrow.  

Of course, in the midst of getting ready for tomorrow, sickness has hit our house this week.  Please join us in praying for healing and for the interview, that we would make much of Jesus.