I got this question from someone recently regarding communion in the relational church and thought others might appreciate a bit of focus on this as well…

I’m working with a friend on a book about communion. His opening line in that book is, “For the first 300 years in the history of the life of the church no one ever conceived of sharing the Lord’s Table at any place other than the household dinning room table.” And he is a Methodist Pastor that believes in all that high church stuff!

Amazing, isn’t it? We can’t conceive of being served anywhere but in a ‘service,’ the early believers couldn’t imagine serving it anywhere but in a home around a table. Some think a shared meal with other believers is the Lord’s Table, not a cup of juice or bread. Some incorporate the cup and bread into the regular meal. That’s what Sara and I enjoy doing. Sometimes our home group will share it together and some time we just do it when believers have joined us for a meal and evening of fellowship.I’ve even had it at an Outback Restaurant once. I had stopped at the restaurant to meet some folks who wanted to talk with me about their own journey. As the ten of us got situated around the table our host asked the waitress to bring us a glass of red wine and a dinner roll, and we broke the bread and shared the cup before we ordered from the menu. It was so simple and helped us fix Jesus as the center of our evening and the conversation.

And when we celebrate his presence as his people, I enjoy seeing it a bit like a toast. We don’t need formal prayers or a specific liturgy. A brief prayer sanctifying our hearts to him and focusing on the meaning he invested in those elements in the first serving with his disciples is more than enough. Then I like it when someone lifts the cup, and says something that honors the one whom our souls love. Such as, “To the King of the Ages, in gratefulness for his work in us…”

Yesterday Aimee, our new granddaughter came over with her parents to visit. I got to feed her some supplement from a bottle and then she fell asleep on my shoulder (at left) for two and a half hours while I watched the Green Bay football game. What a special time! My heart was so filled with joy just to be near Aimee and watch her breathe, smirk and rest. She had one hand on my chest and the other around my side.

he’s pretty helpless, you know. She really can’t do a thing for herself and must depend on those around her to take care of her. Jesus encouraged us to the same kind of relationship with his Father. You don’t need to be anxious for anything because he will take care of you. Wouldn’t it be great to trust that? I’m learning to, even when he doesn’t ‘take care’ of me the way I want to be taken care of.

hile a group of us were together last week praying for my writing and travel schedule, one of the brothers prayed about this. He spoke of Aimee and her complete helplessness and prayed we would learn how to be helpless in the hands of our Father too. As he prayed I thought not only of how helpless Aimee is, but how much I delight at every thought of her. And then I wondered if God held that same delight for me. Theologically, I know God delights over us. Zechariah said so, but I’ve never seen his delight for me quite as real as my delight for Aimee before that moment.

t reminded me my reading in Song of Songs a few weeks ago. As the bridegroom delights over his lover, I wondered if that mirrors Jesus’ delight in his church. I know how I feel when I’ve been gone from Sara for a few days, and the ache in my heart just to be near her again and hold her in my arms. Could this be how God feels about me? The conclusion I’ve come to his delight is at least what I feel for Sara or for Aimee. His delight could be a billion times greater, with him being God and all, and having more love in his heart than I can possibly fathom.

And if I really knew he delighted in me like that, wouldn’t it be so much easier to rest in his certain arms, even in the places where I’m most broken and helpless? I want Jesus to make that more real in me with each passing day, and I pray the same for you too!

A friend from DC sent me this link today. I had never heard this song before, but as I listened to it this morning, my heart has been drawn to Jesus in a wonderful way and I have been more inspired to follow him wherever he leads. Here is the song, In Christ Alone.

The content of this link is a soldier in Iraq who listens to this every day. In his context it is incredibly appropriate. But so in mine today, and in yours. Wherever you are at risk today, be inspired in this reality. You are not alone. Your life is in the certain hands of an incredible Savior.

Enjoying a Moment in God’s Presence with IN CHRIST ALONE Read More »

For those who don’t know yet, a new issue of BodyLife, has just been posted at Lifestream.org. I like to bookmark a place on the blog so that others can interact on it as well. I don’t claim to have the definitive answers on any of these things, but I hope by writing about them it stimulates thought and conversation that draws us closer to Jesus and his work in the world. So feel free to struggle with its content if you like and let’s see what we all can learn.

The lead article in this issue is entitled The Church That Jesus Builds and is designed to help people on the search to discover the value of New Testament body life and encourage that undeniable hunger to find real relationships with others on the journey of being transformed into his likeness. Here’ is an excerpt:

This came across my desk today. I love it! What a reminder to keep ‘pressing on’ and not to settle down at any stage of the journey. This is an excerpt from The Journey by Robert Burnell:

What’s on the way can get in the way when it becomes the destination instead of a piece of the journey. This might be a good time to read Philippians 3:9-14 again.

You can read the rest of the story, as they say, by reading The Journey. What an inspirational story! The last paragraph is worth it all:

I usually take this space to encourage others who are on this incredible journey of living deeply in God’s life and learn to share that relationally with others. I want to use it today for a bit of personal reflection and to ask for your prayers.

As many of you know I’ve stayed a bit closer to home this fall, feeling like God wanted me to step back from the busyness and complications that this journey has become. I had no idea what he had in mind, but having never had the desire to travel I found it an easy obedience. Any day I don’t drive through LA traffic or have to endure an airport security line is a good one. As 2004 draws do an end so does our tenth year at Lifestream. During that time I’ve had the joy of spending time with brothers and sisters all over the world in various stages of this journey—from just seeing the light at the beginning of the tunnel, to those walking in maturity and grace that has taught me so much.

It has been incredible season. My relationship with God has been strengthened and deepened in ways I could not have imagined. He has freshly introduced me to living in his rest, which I didn’t even know I’d lost in all the travel and trying to maintain three websites. He has also been expanding the borders of my freedom in kicking out some old fences that have long constrained me on this journey. I am so grateful. If you want to hear more of that process, listen to our Teaching of the Month which was recorded this past Sunday and expresses my heart in more detail.

It has also been a time to lay at the Lord’s feet these things we call Lifestream and BridgeBuilders to see what his pleasure would be with both of them in days ahead. And while I hoped this season would also lead to some fresh direction for my life vocationally, it has led to far less. It seems Father is inviting me more and more to walk in the simplicity of each day, pursuing the passion he puts on my heart and watching as his work unfolds. Instead of coming away with a fresh vision for Lifestream or BridgeBuilders I come away knowing that those are only tools in his hands. He is not asking me to build up those things, but to stay flexible in him and only use them in ways that will help others live this journey as well.

And in some time this past weekend with those brothers and sisters who share these things with me most directly, Jess only affirmed that we are to aggressively give our lives away to help people know the Father as he really is and to equip them to live as his church in this age. He wants us even freer to follow wherever he leads and to be more dependent on his provision in the going. To that end we felt he asked us to release He Loves Me as a free PDF download so that its message can travel around the world unrestrained and people can have access to it free of charge.

We have also put 84 hours of my audio teaching in mp3 format into a new Lifestream SuperDisc so that people can have access to those resources for only $25.00 plus shipping. We hope that will help equip and inspire many to sort out with Father how he is asking them to live in him and share that life with others.

It also means I will pick up traveling again in the New Year. Books and CDs can only take people so far. Taking the time to help people more personally in small groups and in one-on-one encounters are the most significant way Jesus modeled for us to pass this life on to others. As much as God has used others to expand my heart and encourage my life in him, I want to continue to do that for others. I’m not sure how all of this will sort out. I sense there are some new doors around the corner that I can’t even conceive today. I am completely at rest knowing that he will make them clear in his time.

It’s amazing how God has already confirmed these things through a number of other people, including some from overseas who are delighted to have access to He Loves Me. We have no idea how God will provide for these things, but he has demonstrated his faithfulness to do so over these last ten years. Sara and I do covet your prayers, however, for the clarity of Father’s direction and the courage to follow him wherever he leads us. That is also our prayer for you.

A good friend from near Dublin sent me some reflections on the closing of Dublin’s most famous coffee house, Bewleys. Among the recollections of special times there with his Dad and even with an older brother in Christ who helped disciple him, was this paragraph:

I loved the line “from Bewleys to martyrdom, not for the tragedy it evokes but how the simplest expressions of fellowship can lead us to the greatest depths of his life. Simple fellowship borne of hearts on a common journey can have the most profound impacts on our journey.

Some days it comes together very nicely. I began a fresh read through Philippians today, again in The Message, and came across an interesting point in chapter one. “There’s far more to this life than trusting in Christ. There’s also suffering for him. And the suffering is as much a gift as the trusting.” Is this not an amazing view of suffering? How can it be as much a gift as those moments when he wins our trust?

To live that way one has to have his or her eye set far beyond our temporal comfort or convenience. It has to be set so deeply in God, that we recognize in those moments of extremity that God is all we have, and having him we have far more than enough. Paul just didn’t talk that way he lived it.

A few moments later I was reading in That They May All Be One, Even as We Are One, an outstanding transcript of some talks T. Austin-Sparks gave at the end of his journey to some believers in the Philippines. Here’s what I read this morning:

When Paul wrote this letter to the Philippians, he wrote it from prison. As we have said, he was waiting for the sentence of death. He was no longer able to travel about the world preaching. He was no longer able to visit his beloved people in all parts of the world. A lot of his friends had left him. There was not much that he could do in a public way now. All that is at an end. So that it was not the churches and it was not the works; it was the Lord Jesus. Paul’s life was not just his work. It was not just his traveling about all over the world preaching. When all those things were taken away, he says, ‘I am still going on.’

‘This one thing I do, I press on. Take away my work, I am going on with the Lord. Take away my friends, I am going on with the Lord. Take away my liberty, I am still going on with the Lord.’

How great a Lord he must be!

So what else is there? In overwhelming joy and debilitating pain, let us go on with the Lord. When God provides tons of incredible fellowship, or none, let us go on with the Lord. Whether we are in times of refreshing or times of intense struggle, let us go on with the Lord. When we have lots of opportunity to share his life or none at all, let us go on with the Lord.

Even in the face of certain death, Paul found no greater joy than his longing to know the Lord and even admitted that it was far better for him to finally see him face-to-face than to continue to live on in this age. When the Lord Jesus becomes our sole reason for being, there is only life in him today, and greater life in him to come.

For those in the US, I hope you had a great Thanksgiving weekend. This one was special with our new granddaughter. We got in lots of family time in. It has been so good to be home over such a long stretch. It is something I haven’t had the pleasure of doing for many years.

I found myself in Psalm 19 over the weekend, reading in The Message when I came across this verse:

I love the freshness of a new morning and love it most starting it with Father and a slate wiped clean by the cleansing stream of his forgiveness. I like unwrapping days like Christmas presents from a close friend, with the delight of seeing what this one will bring to pass. I am always anxious to see how he will make himself known, not only in those moments I’m surprised by joy but also in those moments where God appears in the midst of my pain and trials. It’s an amazing thing that we get to taste his mercies brand new every morning.

But what really hit me in this verse was David’s description of stupid sins, and then describes one I have known all to well in my spiritual journey—“…thinking I can take over your work.” I laughed out loud when I read it. I’ve never noticed it called a stupid sin before, but it certainly is. This sin doesn’t prey on our intentional indulgences. It preys on our forgetfulness. It makes us plunge headlong into something God has begun in our life thinking we know enough now to take it over on our own. My biggest messes have come from Wayne taking over some wonderful thing God has begun, thinking I can do God a favor by taking it on from here.

Oh, for the grace each day to recognize the difference between God’s work and mine—to simply do what he has asked me to do and watch his purpose unfold, rather than assume I know and try to do for myself that which only God can do. I think the greatest deterrent to people walking this journey is the overestimation of our own capabilities. We’re seduced by Ben Franklin’s dictum, that “God helps those who help themselves.” I’m always amazed and a bit disappointed that he lets me take over so easily. And like a young child with a new gadget he thinks he already knows how to use, I usually end up breaking it. And like a tender Father, he finds a way to mend my mess and give me a fresh start.

Father, save me today from the stupid sin of thinking I can take over your work. Let me simply live freely in you today and simply respond as you desire to that which you’ve already begun in my life.

I got this desperate plea to a recent blog about a conversation with someone on my article Why I Don’t Go to Church Anymore.

MaryAnn, my heart goes out to you. I know you’re in a tough spot and I don’t have near the details or firsthand knowledge to know how to advise you specifically, but I can give you some things to think through:

• God wouldn’t put this passion on your heart and let you see what you see if he did not have a way to lead you through this to greater freedom. Get alone somewhere and lay it all at his feet. Ask him to show you what to do and when to do it and watch him make it clear to you as situations unfold. Don’t look for others to tell you what to do, but for him to lead you step by step.


• The reason we often aren’t honest with people is because we’re afraid—of their reaction, of the consequences, or the position they hold in our lives. This isn’t easy, but Paul said the only way we will grow up as the body is to speak the truth lovingly to each other. The reason people keep doing the stupid things they do in God’s name is because people are afraid to speak out and usually only do so when the anger builds up enough that they have no choice. This rarely yields the fruit of the kingdom. Better to do it when love for the person overcomes our fear, rather than our anger at feeling trapped. It’s amazing what being honest with our hearts will do to put us on paths we never considered before and even limit our options so we can more clearly follow Jesus. The path to follow him is often painful. He warned us it would be and that some of our closest friends wouldn’t understand. But the freedom to be true to ourselves and what he is doing in us is one of the greatest freedoms he offers.


• I applaud your desire to walk with your husband through this. Keep talking and praying and see what God does to make your hearts one. Don’t push him, but also let him know that this is a critical issue going on in your life and you’re hopeful that you will be able to find a way through this together. Too many spouses end up on different journeys here because they don’t know how to invite the other along without manipulating them. You do want to go together as much as you both are able through these things and even stay where he is a bit longer until God makes it clear as well. There is grace for these things.


• I know you see these issues of church life as black and white. I do too! But when I talk about them with others who don’t see what I see, that kind of language puts them on the defensive and closes the door to effective communication. Even about things I’m most certain about I’ll say something like, “I know I could be nuts here, but this is what I think Jesus is asking me to do;” or “I’m feeling called to something a bit different here.” That way they get to listen to what I’m saying and consider it without feeling that I’ve taken a superior position and judging them. Only in very rare instances of God’s direct leading, will I make a definitive statement of right and wrong because in the end I know that hardens more hearts than it softens. I don’t want to harden any hearts God isn’t hardening. I know people can’t see the incredible freedom that Christ has made available to us until they see it. I can live it, without making them do so as well, or feeling judged by my actions.

I don’t know if that helps, Mary Ann, but I know God is big enough to sort these things out in you and lead you in his path. And to that end you have my prayers.