I've been enjoying reading some posts on Jim Wright's blog recently. One post that really blessed me was "Finding Ekklesia" and another was "Organic Dead Ends". The thing I really like about Jim's writing is that he is completely honest. He gives the reader permission to be who Jesus wants us to be. His writing is the shot in the arm that I have needed.
A few weeks ago I was feeling all depressed and guilty about "not going to church" after having spent two months in church services while back in Canada. I feel some of this guilt lifting after reading Jim's posts. Why? Well because the posts are about simply living as an authentic Christian. Jim describes this as simply reproducing the life that Jesus has put in us.
In Jim's post "Finding Ekklesia" he warns against people seeking others for the purpose of sharing their hurts from the institutional church. Rather he encourages people to seek genuine fellowship by simply being hospitable. That is either inviting people for meals to your own home or visiting people in their homes. In the midst of this it is possible to share the life that Jesus gives us with one another. From this genuine Ekklesia should develop.
The great thing is that is exactly what my wife and I are already doing. The thing is, most of the time we are actually doing this with non-believers. Of course we are sharing the life of Jesus in us with them. We are hopeful that in time life will reproduce in these friends of ours. It has changed my perspective a little. I have been brought up with the attitude that if I don't have enough fellowship with Christians that I will find myself in trouble. But in time, I am sure these friends will be a huge blessing. We already find our time with them an encouragement often anyway. It will just be special to hear the things they have to teach us as they hear the Holy Spirit talking to them.
A few weeks ago I was feeling all depressed and guilty about "not going to church" after having spent two months in church services while back in Canada. I feel some of this guilt lifting after reading Jim's posts. Why? Well because the posts are about simply living as an authentic Christian. Jim describes this as simply reproducing the life that Jesus has put in us.
In Jim's post "Finding Ekklesia" he warns against people seeking others for the purpose of sharing their hurts from the institutional church. Rather he encourages people to seek genuine fellowship by simply being hospitable. That is either inviting people for meals to your own home or visiting people in their homes. In the midst of this it is possible to share the life that Jesus gives us with one another. From this genuine Ekklesia should develop.
The great thing is that is exactly what my wife and I are already doing. The thing is, most of the time we are actually doing this with non-believers. Of course we are sharing the life of Jesus in us with them. We are hopeful that in time life will reproduce in these friends of ours. It has changed my perspective a little. I have been brought up with the attitude that if I don't have enough fellowship with Christians that I will find myself in trouble. But in time, I am sure these friends will be a huge blessing. We already find our time with them an encouragement often anyway. It will just be special to hear the things they have to teach us as they hear the Holy Spirit talking to them.
2 comments:
That advice would be more meaningful if Jim Wright didn't have a history of being excommunicated from his last local church and his blog wasn't full of attacks on his last two local churches and now he's starting to work in the organic community with the same pattern.
Hello,
Would you please consider removing the links above to Crossroad Junction? Sadly, while the article itself is innocuous, that site is rife with slander, gossip and attacks of the worst possible kind by a man who has a history of excommunication for those reasons in his past from national organizations (the Moral Majority), his last local church and most recently more than 30 known leaders and authors in the Organic Church movement. Most recently he’s promoted the accusations of a man who claims to have an earned PhD from UCLA which the registrar’s office denies. Jim apparently failed to do due diligence in this and simply passed on gossip and hearsay of the worst possible kind against others.
More information can be found if needed at crossroadjunctionwatch.com or you may contact me by email. Thanks for your consideration. I’m hoping that you wont want to be connected with this sort of slander by connecting to it and lending the strength of your blog and reputation to such a man.
Bart Breen
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