This ​Week's Teaching | SRQ Meetup | Prayer Requests

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If you believe that statement is false, you have believed something other than the biblical witness. And yet, due to the prevalence of teaching that suffering is never God's will, many are not prepared to endure hardship. As followers of Christ we should expect it. It's part of the gospel message. It's what Jesus taught.

Now, this doesn't mean we shouldn't pray for healing or deliverance when we suffer. There's a time to remind each other that God heals and God delivers. I have benefitted from such reminders. But I also have what I believe is a prophetic burden to "strengthen and encourage the disciples to remain true to the faith," even in hardship. 

In this week's teaching I simply read the scriptures that speak to suffering. Follow along in your Bibles as you listen.

I hope it's clear: This isn't to discourage anyone from praying for healing or deliverance. Not at all. But my heart is to encourage and strengthen you so that when you face trials, you won't lose heart. And if you face persecution you won't kick and scream at it, but will instead be able to give a witness to the hope you have.

The Spirit does seem to be saying that hardship is coming. I don't really know what that will look like. I just think that most western Christians are not prepared for it. And I believe that what we're doing with X242 is helping to prepare for it.

I talked with a pastor friend yesterday who pastors in a conventional setting, and he reminded me what he said two years ago when I was discerning God's call to plant this network of microchurches. He believes hardship is coming. And he is glad to know that the network X242 is creating will be able to receive them when the above ground systems are no longer sympathetic to public gatherings.

Make what you will of that. Perhaps God will give the Church a time of peace in the United States. We pray for peace. But this statement is still true: "We must go through many hardships to enter the kingdom of God."

Be strong. Be encouraged. Be ready.

Interest in the X242 network is growing. Some inquiries are from people who are already meeting. Others are starting to discern their first steps in planting a microchurch. Pray for strength of conviction and determination in those who lead, and are feeling called to lead. This week, specifically pray for those in the following areas:

• Sarasota, Florida
• Ocala, Florida
• Kansas City, Kansas
  
• Yoder, Kansas
• Beaverton, Oregon
• Molalla, Oregon
• Harrisonburg, Virginia
• Milwaukee, Wisconsin

And if I might ask for prayer the same way Paul did in Colossians 4:2-4, "Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful. And pray for us, too, that God may open a door for our message, so that we may proclaim the mystery of Christ, for which I am in chains. Pray that I may proclaim it clearly, as I should." This is my heart.

Amen.

This Week's Teaching | Prayer Requests

When the Bible talks about “sound doctrine,” most people think that means "correct theology." But sound doctrine is actually more about how we live than what we think.

Perhaps that feels like a forced distinction. What we think affects how we live. Of course it does. But I think it’s a necessary distinction — that is, if we’re to restore ourselves to a simpler faith.

The word “doctrine” just means “the teachings.” It can be the doctrines of a religious group, or of a political group, or of any group that has a common understanding that they gather around.

When we talk about the doctrines of the Church, it includes traditions and theological understandings — neither of which are inherently bad, both of which contain much good. But the foundational doctrines of the Church are simply the teachings of Jesus, as taught by his apostles.

If our only doctrine was what Jesus taught, that would be enough. That conviction is at the core of this “simpler church” model we’re following. When we “devote ourselves to the teachings of the apostles,” it is because we are following the teachings of Jesus.

We are followers of the Way of Jesus, as taught by the apostles, so we study the scriptures written by those apostles. And in those scriptures we read that elders (pastors, overseers) should “teach what is appropriate to sound doctrine.”

I think most of us hear that as “teach theology.” And some of us are so energized by it that, in our zeal, we take charge of the conversation with fancy words to describe complex and abstract thoughts. Honestly, I love that God has created some of us with a knack for understanding complex thoughts, synthesizing different concepts, and boiling them down into a common language for our common good. But just as honestly, it’s overwhelming when people quarrel about words and meanings of words. It’s actually a sin. It doesn’t produce good fruit.

But, as we study the scriptures, we see that “sound doctrine” is less about what we think, and more about what we do. To teach sound doctrine is to remind and encourage people to live temperate lives, worthy of respect, being self-controlled, loving, kind, pure, reverent, etc., living in ways that are consistent with the teachings of Jesus. Amen.

Once we’ve prioritized that, it’s fine to have complex thoughts, and to develop theological understandings. Of course it is. It can even be helpful. But only if, ahead of that, we are following Jesus in how we live, not just thinking about it.

As I explore this further in this week’s teaching, I start off with two statements:

1. "Sound doctrine is not the teachings about Jesus, it's the teachings of Jesus."
2. "Sound doctrine isn't about accepting propositional statements, it's about accepting God's rule and reign over your life."

I trust you’ll find 20 minutes when you can watch prayerfully and consider what it means for your life and faith.

Please be praying for God to open a door for ministry in areas where there has been interest in our simpler way of being church, represented by stars in the above map.

• Some of the stars represent microchurches that are actively meeting, and are connecting with us relationally.
• Other stars represent inquiries where people feel called to start a microchurch and are in the discernment process.
• Other stars represent conversations that are supportive and sympathetic to the need for microchurches in their area.

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When Paul writes to others from his missionary journeys, he talks about some places where “a great door has been opened for effective ministry.” It seems that God is starting to open such a door with regard to our X242 ministry. Please pray for wisdom and discernment that we would make the most of every opportunity in each of the above areas.

Amen!

This Week's Teaching | Prayer Requests

Last week I taught on how God heals us spiritually. Where we’re lame, he heals us so we can walk. But we do need to walk, and that takes effort.

The healing is on him. The walking is on us.

Today many people live as if being in the Faith should require no real effort on their part. Some even feel like any effort at all somehow nullifies grace. As a result, they remain stuck in old ways, and never mature. “I thought God was supposed to save me!?” And their disillusionment becomes entrenched along with their sins.

I think most of us wouldn’t actually say it’s wrong to put in the effort. But we also live with a sense that God is supposed to fix our sin nature so that we no longer struggle with sin. And so, rather than working hard at it dying to self by resisting the sins of the flesh, we just wait to be released from it—and then we wonder why we aren’t fixed.

When Peter wrote his second letter, he twice used the phrase, “make every effort.”

1. First he said, “Make every effort to add to your faith.” And then he listed seven qualities that we apparently add by putting in the effort: goodness, knowledge, self-control, perseverance, godliness, mutual affection, and love. And he said that, if we keep growing and growing in those qualities, they will keep us from “being ineffective and unproductive” in our faith.
2. Then he said that doing so will give us an assurance that we are actually saved, and a daily witness that we will receive our reward: “Therefore, make every effort to confirm your calling and election. For if you do these things, you will never stumble, and you will receive a rich welcome into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.”

Of course, we all do stumble — especially if we put little effort into adding these qualities to our faith. But to whatever degree we do put in the effort, we stumble less. This is the apostle’s witness, it is my witness, and it is the witness of the Church throughout the centuries.

I hope you’ll take 20 minutes to watch this week’s video where I develop these thoughts further. And as you watch, reflect on whether and where you need to put in more effort. Of course, it all starts with what Peter calls participating in the divine nature. And that’s where the teaching starts.

Be encouraged!

1. New Microchurches. Pray that our network with its “one faith, four devotions, and two loves” would be effective at connecting with disconnected and disillusioned believers, and helping them find a vital faith community. Pray for a microchurch outside of Kansas City, KS that recently reached out to us. Continue to pray for the people looking to plant outside of Portland, OR. And now add Ocala, FL to your list as someone there is actively discerning how and when to start.
   
2. Hurricane Ian. Continue to pray for the people of Southwest Florida who have been displaced and traumatized by Hurricane Ian. And pray for us that we would have wisdom and resources to help. We are currently considering several needs that have been presented to us. Most of it is such a scope that it seems overwhelming, but we look to start with those closest to us and work out from there. Your donations to X242 fund that as your prayers help direct us in it.
   
3. Healing. Continue to pray for those with cancer: one man’s mother whose cancer is growing, and another person’s business partner who is undergoing chemo. 
   
4. New Disciples. Continue to pray for those who are meeting with various microchurches and considering the faith. Pray that their hearts would be opened to Jesus as we open the scriptures together each week.

If you have any prayer requests, please reply to this email. God is faithful!

Amen.

This Week's Teaching | Prayer Requests

Recently two of our churches were studying in Acts 4, where Peter and John healed a man who had been born lame.

As I considered it, I was given faith for how it might apply to people who seem to have been “born again lame.” I know that’s not a real thing, but we’ve all known people who have come to faith in Christ, but have never learned to walk victoriously in him. (And no doubt we’ve all experienced our own version of feeling lame at living out our faith.)

The Gospels and Acts are filled with stories of God healing people. God heals. He can and he does. Sometimes he heals the physical body now, and for a time. But there is an ultimate healing that awaits each of us through our death and resurrection! Scripture tells us that our transformed bodies will be glorious, unlike anything any of us has ever seen! This is our real joy and eternal hope, even if for a time our bodies wear out.

Now, it’s also true that God heals us spiritually. Anyone who calls out to him in faith will be given his Holy Spirit, and thereby renewed. It’s like being resurrected or reborn, as we lay down our lives, dying to self, and then becoming alive to him.

Sometimes a person calls out to Jesus and it’s like they spiritually jump to their feet and dance around shouting Hallelujah! Other times it’s more like someone else recognizes their need along with a seed of faith, or a glimmer of hope. And then, in faith, they reach out and take the person by the hand to help them into the faith—to help them stand up victoriously in Christ. Both are well worn stories amplified in the praises of God’s people.

My sense is that some of us probably feel like we were born again lame. Others of us are probably carrying the heartfelt burden of people we care about who have difficulty walking with Christ faithfully.

Whichever position you find yourself in, please watch this week’s teaching with this in mind: God may be calling you to receive your spiritual healing by taking someone’s hand. And he may be calling you to heal someone else spiritually by taking their hand.

I’ll teach next week about how we learn to walk, but it starts with standing to our feet. I believe God still heals, and he wants to heal all who are still spiritually lame.

Please watch prayerfully.

• New Microchurches. This week I enjoyed a conversation with a couple of men from Estacada, Oregon who are trying to discern their involvement in starting an X242 microchurch in their area. Others are actively considering the same in their own cities. Pray that God would lead each of us clearly.
  
• Himalayas. Last week we gave $1,290 to a pastor in the Himalayas who will use the money to purchase coats and carry them up into the remote mountain villages this December. He’ll hand them out to poor children where Christ is not known. Pray that they are encouraged by our love, and that they’ll open their hearts to the love of Christ as they hear this foreign gospel.
  
• Hurricane Ian. Pray for the people of Southwest Florida who have been displaced and traumatized by Hurricane Ian. This connects directly to the churches in our Sarasota network. Pray for peace and stamina. Pray for discernment about how best we can help them.
  
• Healing. Pray for a Sarasota man and his wife who have been caring for his elderly parents, whose mother’s cancer is growing. Pray for someone else’s business partner who has cancer, that the chemo would serve God’s purpose in bringing her to complete healing.
  
• New Disciples. Pray for people who are meeting with various microchurches and considering the faith. One couple states clearly that they are not believers, but feel drawn to the group. They have some health concerns as well. Another man is pursuing something more than the religious tradition he was brought up in. Pray fervently that their hearts, along with ours, would be open to the hope of the Gospel and filled with joy and conviction as we open the scriptures together each week.

If you have any prayer requests, please comment below. God is faithful!

Amen.

This Week's Teaching | Where the Money Goes | Fulfilling Our Mission

​Much love and prayers for everyone here in the Sarasota area impacted by Hurricane Ian. And many thanks to those not directly impacted. Your prayers and concerns are felt.

It sounds like most of us lost power. Some of us were displaced by flooding. Over one hundred people lost their lives. It’s a sad and anxious time for many. And yet many of us live with a sense of gratitude for how well we fared.

When God answers some prayers and doesn’t answer others, it causes tension for me. Canned "faith" answers seem insensitive. But faith does speak a thoughtful word that encourages us if we embrace it. Follow the link below for this week’s teaching where I develop the thought further.

A week or two before Hurricane Ian, someone asked me what the money given to X242 goes for. She couched it with all sorts of disclaimers that she wasn’t challenging or criticizing anyone. She just didn’t know. And I was thankful that she asked. And especially now, as we make our network available to collect and distribute help.

Paul wrote in 2 Corinthians 8:20-21, “We want to avoid any criticism of the way we administer this liberal gift. For we are taking pains to do what is right, not only in the eyes of the Lord but also in the eyes of man.”

Likewise, our pledge is to keep operating expenses low and live within our means so that we can be generous toward those in need. And we make such financial decisions by elder consensus.

It’s a good question: If we’re doing church without a paid staff or facilities, why collect money at all?

The short answer is, to help people, and to keep X242 running so that we can help people. That includes supporting our meetups, and providing information and guidance to people who want to start or find a microchurch. We also have the potential to help other ministries that do things we can’t. But mostly it goes to “benevolence” which means showing mercy, being kind, doing good, etc. We “love God with all we are, and love our neighbors with all we have.”

Giving an Account
Our administrative expenses average just $70 a month. After that’s covered, all other donations are available for direct program expenses such as benevolence, meetups, training, and occasional one-time expenses like equipment.

In the ten months since we opened a bank account we have received $21,942 in donations, and distributed $13,484 as follows:

Program Costs: $10,651

• Benevolence $8,541
• Meetups $1,970
• Training & Discipleship $140

Administrative Costs: $2,833

• Equipment $2,182
• Liability Insurance $252
• Communications $247
• Corporation Fees $70
• Resources $62
• Banking $20

We recently helped a family get their one car out of the shop. This week, we’re purchasing winter coats for 75 poor children high up in the Himalayas. And in the weeks to come we will no doubt help people recover from the hurricane, even as a couple of us have already taken food and gas into North Port. This is love, and it’s pure joy to carry other people’s burdens together.

In fact, that’s our mission — not just doing church in a simpler way, but “loving God with all we are, and loving our neighbors with all we have.” My prayer is that in so doing, we are a light in the dark for people who need it. And I’m asking you to agree with me in prayer and generosity toward that end, however God leads you.

If you know anyone who is in need, please let me know by responding to this email, so that we can discern how best to help them.

Much Love,