Colworth (CU) - Gone back to fishing

I had volunteered to bring something for today's meeting and decided to use John 8 as I'd already made notes on it for the Scilla Blog. There, I've been sharing a thought from a chapter of John each day.

I explained how some verses of John 8 had jumped out at me as I read the chapter, and how a quick inspection had identified nine ways in which the Father does something for the Son. There is some repetition of these points, but there are nine unique thoughts. Looking at them further they fell naturally into three groups of three. These groups deal with the Father's position in relation to the Son, the communication between Father and Son, and the Father's approval of the Son. You can see the detail from the original blog post.

After I'd shared these details, Dud suggested reading the chapter through. This was an interesting exercise as it put things into context and made the Lord's interaction with the Jewish authorities seem very real. His words would have been rather arrogant if anyone else had spoken them. Nonetheless, coming from him it's just the plain truth!

We discussed the chapter. One of the thoughts we had was that many people at the time struggled to understand what Yahshua meant by some of the things he said. This was especially true before the Holy Spirit began to work in the believers from Pentecost onwards. (Acts 2:1-4)

Aby pointed out that after the crucifixion, Peter and the other disciples went back to fishing. John 21:1-3. Although the Lord had told them, 'I will make you fishers of men', they were at a loss as to what to do next. They so much needed encouragement at that time, and Yahshua appeared on the beach with some grilled fish and gave them just the challenges and encouragement that they needed.

We thought about Saul's conversion on the Damascus road (Acts 9:1-19). If Saul had been present he would have agreed with the Jewish authorities during the discussion in John 8. Later he was a prime persecutor of the church. But then everything changed and the renewed Paul was mightily used in spreading the early church through the Greek world.

We also had the thought that often we don't wait for the Lord to show us what to do. We should do! It's always better than heading off to do our own thing in our own way.

We finished with prayer before heading back to work.

John 9 - A man born blind

< John 8 | Index | John 10 >

Ah, John 9, one of my favourite chapters! First I'm going to explain about the so-called Messianic Miracles, then you'll see why I like the chapter.

The rabbis in Yahshua's day had constructed a lot of rules which were designed to ring-fence the Law. Although miracles were not unknown in Israel, the Pharisees had specified three Messianic Miracles that nobody but the Messiah would be able to perform. These were healing a Jewish leper, casting out a dumb demon, and healing someone blind from birth. If someone performed these miracles there was a specified procedure for checking if he was the Messiah. First he must be observed at work, then he must be interrogated. Remember, none of this is in the Law given by Moses, it's just rabbinic teaching accumulated over the centuries.

Notice in verse 1 how Yahshua and the disciples see this man, blind from birth. Perhaps they had a conversation with him or with people who knew him. They had a discussion about the case after the disciples asked why the man was blind. And then the Lord made mud and put it on the blind man's eyes (which would have counted as working on Shabbat according to rabbinic tradition) and told him to go and wash.

Do you see how, in verses 8 to 12, the people who knew the man and his history want to know how he could now see? This was a Messianic Miracle and they knew it! And in verse 13 they take the man to the Pharisees who can't agree amongst themselves over this extraordinary event. They quizzed the man, they quizzed his parents, then they quizzed the man again and got more than they bargained for! (verses 30-33)

What they would have done next would be to observe Yahshua very carefully for a while, and then interrogate him. This is not the only Messianic Miracle he performed, he did all three. Notice that later, Yahshua himself pointed to the miracles when he says, 'The miracles I do in my Father's name speak for me.' (John 10:25) And he mentions the miracles again in John 10:32 and 38.

Now can you see why I love this passage? It has hidden within it things that would have been obvious to Greek or Aramaic speaking Jews in Jesus day. These are some of the things Saul would have taught before he became Paul on the Damascus Road and they are details that speak loudly to modern Jews about the veracity of the gospel accounts as historical documents.

< John 8 | Index | John 10 >

John 8 - Things the Father does for the Son

< John 7 | Index | John 9 >

John 8 is mostly a record of a conversation between Yahshua and groups of scribes and Pharisees. It's a rather lopsided exchange with lengthy explanations from him, in response to short questions and statements from them.

There is a great deal here for us to investigate and digest. So let's look at just one small aspect, the remarks Yahshua makes that highlight what the Father does for him. There are nine of these, we'll deal with them in three logical groups (not in the order they are given in the chapter).

As we look at these remarks, notice how they are true of all healthy parent/offspring relationships. In other words they are true for fathers towards their sons and daughters, and for mothers towards their sons and daughters. Since everyone reading this must be a father, mother, son, or daughter (and in many cases two of those things) everything Yahshua says about his Father can be applied to our own lives too. Think about that as you read.

The first group is about the Father's position in relation to the Son

• The Father sent him (verse 16) - Our children grow up and we send them out into the world to live their own lives. And although the Word was with the Almighty even before creation, he was sent into the world. And once here in bodily form he had to be born, feed on milk, wean, grow, learn to speak and walk, learn a trade, and prepare for his adult life. He was sent into the world to live as Elohim with us (Emmanu-El).
• The Father stands with him (verse 16) - How could he not stand with his Son? Everywhere the Son goes, the Father is too, they are inseparable (except for that awful time at the Place of the Skull). That is why Yahshua could say to the disciples, 'If you have seen me, you have seen the Father.'
• The Father is with him, he doesn't leave him alone (verse 29) - This is similar to the last point, yet subtly different. Standing is a passive thing, but when we are with someone we are not necessarily passive. I am certain that the Father and the Son are in constant conversation. And I know the conversation didn't stop while the Son was here on the earth. (See the next group of remarks.) Also, the Father's heart is for the Son.

The second group of remarks describes the Father's communication with the Son in more detail

• The Father speaks to him (verse 26) - This is the conversation mentioned above. A constant flow of sharing.
• The Father teaches him (verse 28) - Not only is there a conversation going on, but part of it is in some sense instructional. Yahshua often said that he only did what he saw the Father do.
• The Father shows him things (verse 38) - There's great joy in a parent showing things to a child. This is a pleasure all parents should experience, and something all children should enjoy. It remains true even when the child is an adult. The same pleasure and enjoyment are shared between the Father and the Son.

The third group is about the Father's approval of the Son

• The Father is pleased by the things his Son does (verse 29) - We all know the joy of being pleased with a child's achievements or knowing that a parent is pleased with us.
• The Father is his witness and testifies for him (verse 18) - What better or more reliable witness can a person have than their own parent? What a tragedy it is when a parent will not testify on behalf of their own child!
• The Father glorifies him (verse 54) - And in the end, the Father's purpose is to glorify the Son. This is one of those facts the Bible shares with us that shows the Father and the Son are co-equal. If the Father had precedence over all he would surely not glorify another, not even the Son. The Father crowns his Son with glory after glory.

< John 7 | Index | John 9 >

John 7 - Organism or organisation?

< John 6 | Index | John 8 >

Now we get to the root of things. John 7 describes how Yahshua goes up to Jerusalem for the Feast of Tabernacles (an autumnal feast). It seems he remains there right through to the winter. At the Passover he will die and three days later he will rise again. Even in the autumn he is clearly aware the authorities are planning to kill him. He travels and arrives incognito (verse 10).

Halfway through the feast he went to the Temple and started teaching, amazing the scribes and Pharisees by his knowledge (verses 14-15). Slowly it dawned on people that this really was the man the authorities had wanted to kill. But because he was teaching openly and they'd done nothing to him, the crowd began to wonder if the authorities were now convinced he was the Messiah. (verses 25-26).

They believed that when the Messiah came, nobody would know where he came from. Yahshua was known to come from Nazareth in Galilee, so this ruled him out. Knowing what they were thinking he said, 'Yes, you know where I'm from. But the One who sent me is true. You don't know him, but I know him because I am from him and he sent me.' (verses 27-29) They knew where he was from (Nazareth) yet they didn't know where he was from (heaven). We are all too capable of making similar mistakes. In very many cases, church is run as a earthly organisation, not a heavenly organism. Our rules tend to be about structures, Father's rules are always about life. What a contrast!

Chapter 7 of John reveals the Son living according to everything the Father shows him in the moment. And it also shows religious authority trying to impose 'correct' structure and behaviour. As Yahshua told them clearly, 'My teaching is not my own. It comes from him who sent me.' (verse 16)

And they tried to arrest him but no-one took hold of him. Four times in the space of a few seconds he has used the phrase 'I am'. That is almost certainly what enraged them. They tried to take him, but the crowd was dense, many had put their faith in him and nobody in the crowd would take hold of him and hand him over. How infuriating!

'I am' might sound like an inoffensive phrase, but it sounds very similar to the name of the Most High, Yahweh or Jehovah. It was probably pronounced something like 'Yah-Veh'. To the Jewish authorities it was an affront of the worst kind, he had uttered the name of the Most High, the name that must not be spoken except once a year by the High Priest inside the Holy of Holies. This was an outrage. To this day devout Jews say 'Ha-Shem' instead of 'Yah-Veh'. Ha-Shem simply means 'the Name'. To see this outrage in action again later, read John 8:58-59, John 18:4-6 and Mark 14:61-64 (if the name was uttered in his presence, the High Priest was required to tear his robes).

The important thing for us to understand is that earthly rules don't apply to Yahshua because he comes from the Father. He does not live according to the world but according to heaven. He was not playing by the rules laid down by the Jewish authorities, he was playing by the rules laid down by his Father. Suppose that a rugby team and a cricket team decided to play a match. Would it work? No! It would be chaos, everyone would be confused. Even the referee and the umpire would be at a total loss.

We, as Yahshua's followers, have to play by his rules, not by the world's rules. This has a massive impact on our daily lives (or at least, it should). Church is a living organism (the body, the Bride) not an organisation. Christ died so that we might have life - not structure! He gave us one way, love, not law. He came to make us free, not so that we could tie one another down with dos and don'ts. A living rose can grow and reproduce with no effort on our part, a paper rose cannot. Praise him!

< John 6 | Index | John 8 >

Eaton Ford (day) - Purgatory?

Roger mentioned the 'Ship of Fools' website and recommended the 'Purgatory' discussion. I took a look at this after the meeting but didn't have time to explore it thoroughly. However, I was much more interested to learn that Roger and Ruth have been trying Church of Two (CO2) and glad that they seem to be enjoying it and finding it useful.

The three of us (Paul, Roger and I) ran through CO2 together. One of the things that was much on our minds, of course, was the recent earthquake in Haiti.

I agreed to send some CO2 literature to both Roger and Paul to help them understand the process better and also to pass on to others they may be interested in teaching it to.

We prayed for some of our friends and spent some time chatting, finishing off with a very fine chip shop meal.

Organic Church - What is it? What isn't it?

A discussion about the meaning of the term 'organic church' has broken out online and I thought it would be useful to summarise it here and provide links to some of the sources. We use various phrases to describe the nature of the life we lead and the meetings we have. House church, small church, gathering, organic church, home group, cell, small group are all terms I've seen or heard. There are probably others.

Whatever term we use, most of us are probably thinking of a life that is Christ centred and involves meeting with others who have the same focus. Additionally we may (or may not) be thinking in terms of a movement.

Taken together, the items below cover this debate pretty well. If you have time to read only one, read Frank Viola's contribution. It's a great statement and analysis and I agree with every word. Thanks Frank!

If you are aware of other items we could add to this list send the link as a comment and I'll add it in if it seems useful.

Chris Jefferies blog post - This was published before the discussion began, but it covers aspects of movements that are relevant to the debate.

Mark Galli's article - The debate began with this article in Christianity Today. Mark sees organic church as another movement that will eventually crash like other movements in church history.

Neil Cole's response - Neil explains that, for him, it's not about success or failure but about being Christ-centred every day.

Bill Heroman's blog post - Bill's humourous response suggests that death is part of life. He has a good point.

Chris Jefferies blog post - This item tries to draw further attention to the debate, and particularly to Neil's response.

Frank Viola's response - Here Frank provides a cogent and well-written definition of what is and is not organic church.

Mike Morrell's comments - Mike provides some comments on the discussion so far, adding more thoughts on the way.

Mike posts again - Some more of his own thoughts and experiences on organic church.

Related material

Henry Drummond - Writing in the late 19th century, Henry Drummond is best known today for his essay on love, The Greatest Thing in the World. But he wrote other works too. One of these, Natural Law in the Spiritual World identifies some of the striking parallels between the natural world and the spiritual world. You can read the whole thing online, but regarding organic spiritual life see especially the chapter on Growth.

Theodore Austin-Sparks - Possibly the originator of the term 'organic church'. See these items in particular.

Other relevant authors - Watchman Nee, Dietrich Bonhoeffer (Communio Sanctorum, Letters and Papers from Prison)