I have recently been reading about missional communities. Eddie Gibbs, Mike Breen and Alan Hirsch and many others have been blogging about it, writing about it and doing it through their networks and people.
Here is a great video by Alan Hirsch explaining biblical principles that create, shape and develop missional communities. I am hoping to discuss, develop and implement these principles within the DNA of our student communities at St Thomas Crookes.
Check it out…
I found this video and thought is was very interesting. Any thoughts?
Why do we (churchforstudents) encourage people to be accountable and how can you start up an accountability group?
I hope to, in some small way, answer these two questions.
Accountability often gets mentioned in all realms of life, from the governance of a country to personal development.
The great philosopher and theologian Wikipedia says this…
‘Accountability stems from late Latin accomtare (to account), a prefixed form of computare (to calculate), which in turn derived from putare (to reckon).’
The online dictionary refers to words such as ‘liable, or answerable’.
Sometimes this ‘accountability’ fails, which we have recently witnessed on a global level…banks lending too much money, MP’s expenses and journalists bending the rules for their own pleasure. We also constantly witness this on a personal level…a friend fails to meet up with you after agreeing a time and location, cluster members not turning up to a mission event or meal, relationships breaking down through a lack of communication, employees not doing what they said they would do. We are all accountable to someone for something.
Ok…so this is great, Ben! I understand that we are all accountable for paying our bills, abiding by the country’s laws, turning up to arranged meetings and handing in essays on time. But what on earth does accountability have anything to do with my church life, cluster stuff, ‘spiritual life’?
The best way to understand the importance of Christian Accountability is to recognise this…
We are citizens of the United Kingdom (UK). Our government, the people that we have put into power, create laws and structures that we live by. Some laws and structures are forced (e.g. driving regulation) and some are just enforced due to social etiquette (i.e. queuing). However, as Christians, we believe that we are in the world but not of the world (Romans 12). This doesn’t mean that we do not abide by the laws of the world but we must realise that we are also a part of God’s Kingdom. We are citizens of God’s reign. So, just as there are laws and structures in the UK, there are also laws and structures in God’s Kingdom (which we can read about in the Bible).
Now, some of you will say, “but Ben, remember that we are saved by grace (Ephesians 2:8)”…I agree! We are not bound by the rules that the people of Israel added to the Laws from God to Moses (Exodus 20). However, we are called by God to lay down our lives, to pick up our cross and follow Him (Mark 8:34-35). Basically this means that we have a responsibility to live for Jesus, to make Him known. For this to happen we need to lay down some of the things in our lives that hold us back from intimacy with Jesus. Some of these things have been enforced on us by the world (money, sex and power) but we have fallen for them and allow them to control our lives.
So…
One way in which we can change is by being a God shaped community (church)… looking out for each other (Galatians 6:1-2)…encouraging each other (1 Thessalonians 5:11)…and challenging our habits that stop us from intimacy with God.
Accountability is a way in which we can discover more about being a citizen of the one true Kingdom. Accountability will involve some effort on your part and from other Christians.
I believe four key ingredients are involved in good accountability…trust, honesty, perseverance, and a willingness to change.
From my own experience, good accountability is a product of the recognition that Jesus is the great Savior and we don’t always get life right, even though we want to.
I would encourage you to fall more in LOVE with Jesus and to begin looking at how you might begin or continue (with more perseverance) accountability.
Four simple things that you can do to begin the Accountability group…
*Single sex is a must and a group of three, in my experience is better…six ears are better than four!
Don’t just meet once but meet weekly or monthly, whatever best suits you as a group. Keep the focus of what you are about, and keep disciplined in meeting and challenging one another. You might not see the change overnight but in time the change will happen and you will begin to see more of Jesus in your life and those around you.
Have a go. Have fun. Be honest. Get it wrong sometimes. But give it a go!
NOTE: Accountability Material will be available on the churchforstudents website SOON. We hope these materials will aid you in your discussions and point you to some useful tools that will help you see change in your life.
I have just started reading Crazy Love by Francis Chan. I am already half-way through and I am certainly inspired to read on. I wasn’t going to purchase this book because Chan has become a bit of a christian celebrity (which I dislike) but I am glad that did.
I recommend all to read this book and go DEEPER with God.
This summer I had the privilege of attending three conferences…Focus (Holy Trinity B conference), New Wine North and Momentum. What an inspirational summer it has been!
Throughout the course of attending these incredible events God highlighted three key things that I desire to put into practice in my personal life. These three key things are…
GOD + Prayer + Community
Over the next three weeks I will be writing about each of the key things. I hope my random thoughts will help you as you seek to live the life that God has gifted you with.
So here it goes!
GOD…
‘In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth’ (Gen 1:1)
The past two months in Ben’s world has been mental! Here is a list to sum up my last eight weeks…
As you can see…mental!
I got to a point in those eight weeks when all I wanted to do was collapse and do what I wanted rather than run around the country for different people. Doing things for others. Serving at events that I might not have gone to if I was planning MY holidays. This sounds very selfish but that’s how I felt at times.
However, throughout those eight weeks GOD kept interrupting my moaning and groaning with this message…
“It’s all about ME, not you Ben”
He has a point!
In the beginning it wasn’t me, it wasn’t you but it was all about GOD. He created the heavens and the stars. He created man and woman. He breathed LIFE into us and was well pleased.
Every message I have heard this summer, every worship session I have engaged in, every discussion I have had with work colleagues, friends and family has pointed to one message…
IT’S ALL ABOUT GOD.
Maybe you feel drained, tired, wanting your way, wanting church to be moulded around you, wanting the latest gadget, wanting the perfect partner, wanting a small group that suits you, your needs, your desires. Well…I have a challenge for you…
You can’t have it your way. You can’t strive for what you want because you will never be satisfied. You will never find a church that has everything you want because it is not about you. It’s about God!
Challenging to hear, but worth it.
Make God your number one this year. Start each day asking God what he wants you to do. Ask God where he wants you to serve. Ask God what he wants you to buy. Plan your holidays around where God wants you to go. Before you attend a church gathering or event, why not ask God whom he wants you to bless? When your walking to lectures, ask God whom he wants you to speak to. JUST ASK HIM and OBEY!
How do we know we are hearing God’s voice, direction and guidance? Easy…we build a relationship with him. How do you do that? Easy…read your bible and attend a church community that points to God and does what he says. Get closer to God. Love God. Read about Him. Pray. Worship. Redirect your life around His desires.
If God says something to you it will always be in line with what the Bible says. If you don’t know your Bible then ask someone to help you. Read it with a friend or a bunch of your mates. Join a small group. Get involved in School of Theology. Sign up to an online bible in a year (HTB has a great one, which I follow every day).
He desires to know us. He wants to love us. He wants to share the secrets of his heart for His world. Are you willing to listen and get involved?
Serving God is one of the most amazing things to do. Yes it will give you life; a sense of purpose because serving God, lifting him high, declaring his Kingdom is what we were created to do.
IT’S ALL ABOUT GOD
Next week I will write a little something about PRAYER and the power that it holds!
I found this great Blog on the Worship Central Website. It talks about our worship being costly. Please don’t read this with a single mindset of Sunday services, large Christian gatherings or even Christian festivals but with a view for your small group, cluster, mid-size community. Have a read and see what you think.
I am currently writing a talk entitled ‘Relational Ministry’ for a festival called Alive, based in Suffolk. I am really excited about what God is going to do with and through those that attend. For many, conferences and festivals tend to be a time of inspiration, challenge and encountering God afresh, ready again to GO and make disciples.
This talk has been a tough one to prepare, it’s a subject that is close to my heart and the fundamental foundation of the Christian faith. At the beginning God, the God of love, created us for and out of relationship:
‘Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, in our likeness’ (Gen 1:26)
In Genesis we find that man and woman have decided that they want to walk in their own way rather than the way that God had prepared for them. Both become aware of who they are…naked and ashamed. They begin to question their identity…the one that is formed from the likeness of God. So they hide. They hide from their creator. And God does something incredible:
‘Then man and his wife heard the sound of the Lord God as he was walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and they hid from the Lord God among the trees of the garden. But the Lord God called to the man…’Where are you?’ (Gen 3:8-9)
Where are you? Where are you? Where are YOU?
This God, the God of the universe, the God that created us out of dust, breathed his life into us, pursues us endlessly with this question…’Where are you?”
A few books later (in the Bible) we encounter this God again in the form of Jesus Christ. His mission was to declare God’s Kingdom, set the captives free, bring life to those that had lost all hope. Again He calls out to us and invites us into a relationship…”Come, follow me” (John 1:37-39; Matt 4:18-20; Mark 1:16-18).
Throughout the Old Testament and New Testament God pursues humankind. This pursuit continues today as He calls us by name…to let go of our pride, to love ourselves rather than being ashamed of who God has created us to be and to love others just as he loved us.
In my talk at Alive I will focus on four things:
1. The LOVE that pursues 2. The pursuit of God 3. The pursuit of others
4. Pursuing with others
I look forward to developing these thoughts at Alive and seeing what God does as we rediscover Him.
(note: once I return from Alive I will continue this discussion on Relational Ministry)
