There are three books that I have read recently which, as a Christian serving the Lord outside the usual organised-church system, I found particularly stimulating. (Before I go any further, I should point out only the first of the three books has been written by an “outsider” like myself! The other two have been written by people who are very much part of the mainline church scene. Nevertheless, I am convinced that the story each of them tells could be a huge inspiration to readers of this website. At the same time, I am also… read more →
I would like to begin with an APOLOGY to all those who, in the past, have looked at this website from time to time, and have noticed that I haven’t actually put anything new on it for some considerable time. In one way, that doesn’t matter, because the site is not intended to be a weekly or monthly ‘blog’, but a ‘library’ of articles that might be encouraging or helpful to Christians serving the Lord outside the Institutional Church. However, people rightly expect a library (even an internet one) to make reasonably regular additions to… read more →
Five weeks ago, I put a report on this website about how a small group of Christians, on one of the islands in the Pacific nation of Vanuatu, had been affected by the deadly cyclone “Pam”. A week later, I was able to explain that a fund, accessible online, had been set up in New Zealand, whereby these brothers and sisters of ours could be helped. (If you don’t know what I’m talking about, it’s all in the two short articles below. The second of those two articles was, of course, written first – so… read more →
(If you haven’t already read the details of the Request below, you had better read it first, or you won’t really understand what I am now saying!) The situation of the small group of Christians I wrote about a week ago is now known. Tanna was the nearest island to the epicentre of the cyclone – the “eye of the storm”! Adam flew there as soon as that was possible. He reports that his ‘Christian Family’ out there were all physically unharmed, though still in shock. All the houses in the village have been totally… read more →
Some years ago, I related, on this website, a series of incidents that had happened on a remote island in the Pacific. The story actually began in New Zealand when a couple of “out-of-traditional-church” Christians (Graham and Shirley) befriended a migrant worker (George) from one of the Pacific islands. The simple friendship eventually led to the islander becoming a Christian, and later to the invention and installation of a water-pump by Graham and Shirley’s son Adam – a development that hugely helped George’s village. In time, the United Nations became interested, and were so impressed… read more →
I haven’t contributed anything new to this website for quite a while. This is because – all along – I have been determined never to write “for the sake of writing”, but only to put something online if it has been laid powerfully on my heart. Over the past week however, the sense of “really having something to say to my fellow out-of-traditional-church Christians”, has returned to me. Five words, spoken by Jesus, have gripped my spirit: “Take my yoke upon you”. (Matthew 11:29.) Those words caught my attention when I first became a Christian,… read more →
Last weekend (as I write) was what is commonly called “Easter Weekend”. On the Saturday morning, there suddenly came to my mind a “message” that was centred on the events between Jesus’ Crucifixion and His Resurrection. I wrote the “message” down, after which Mavis and I felt it right to send it to about two dozen of our close Christian friends (mainly, but not exclusively, outside the traditional church scene). We were quite taken aback by the response. A surprising number of the people to whom we sent the message e-mailed back to say that,… read more →
A few months ago, I was asked to make some comments on a question that was being asked by a group of believers who had withdrawn from the “Institutional-Church Scene”, and were wondering what to do next. They asked: “What SHAPE should a local church have?” Whenever I have been prompted and inspired to make comments on a question, I have put my thoughts on this website. So far, I have submitted two articles on the subject of the “Shape”. What follows here is a third train-of-thought that I believe to be very relevant. (It… read more →
When a group of believers – even a very small group – get together to talk about forming, in their area, a new “Called-Out Group” (the literal translation of “Ecclesia” or “Church”), I notice that they usually assume that some kind of “worship services” will be an essential part of their future together. I HAVE SLOWLY, BUT SURELY, COME TO THE CONCLUSION, OVER MANY YEARS, THAT NEW GROUPS SHOULD STEER COMPLETELY CLEAR OF INTRODUCING “WORSHIP SERVICES” INTO THE CHURCH-FAMILY LIFESTYLE THAT I WROTE ABOUT IN THE PREVIOUS ARTICLE. I KNOW THIS IS A HIGHLY CONTROVERSIAL… read more →
Recently, my attention has been called to a number of groups of Christians who have been discussing – in connection with the future of their own particular group – the above question. Someone, from one of these groups asked me if I have any comments to make on the subject. My first reaction was to say: “You don’t need to know what shape your local group-of-believers should take. A local church should never be a human creation. It should be the creation of Jesus, the Builder of the Church. It is not necessary, or even… read more →
The other day, I was pondering the parallels between Physical Fitness and Spiritual Fitness. (Such parallels are hinted at, several times, in the New Testament.) With regard to straightforward Physical Fitness, the first thought that came to me was the very obvious one that there are two keys to success in that area: 1) Taking the right kind of exercise and 2) Eating the right kind of food. It is not essential, of course, for exercise to be formal and organised (e.g. in a gym); it can be informal, and in the normal course of… read more →
Some of you may remember that, back in February 2012, I wrote an account on this website of a remarkable development – both practically and spiritually – that took place on one of the islands in the Pacific. The whole thing had been triggered-off by simple “Cross-my-Path Care” on the part of a Christian family in New Zealand who, like many of my readers, serve the Lord outside the “Organised Church”. I explained that UNICEF had eventually become interested in the practical side of what had happened – the installation of a proper water supply… read more →
About a year ago, I related a series of incidents that had happened on a remote island in the Pacific. It was a story of how rich blessing, physically – mentally, socially and spiritually – had developed, quite outside the usual church structures, as one family had responded to the leading of the Spirit. Now I have another such development to report to you – this time from a remote corner of Kenya. This particular “report” has been written by a friend of mine in Ireland: David Rice. (David did all the practical and technical… read more →
Over the past few weeks, I have been reading through the Psalms. About a week ago, I reached Psalm 44, and I felt it exactly described the situation of a number of different people I have been in touch with recently. It’s a song of disappointment – a ballad of dashed hopes. It starts off on quite a positive note, recalling how, both in the distant past and in the more immediate past, God had frequently delivered His People from difficulty and defeat. In verse 9, however, the tone changes: “But now, you have rejected… read more →
Just over a month ago, I wrote an article on this website about Jesus’ expressed desire that his followers should very definitely be disciples. (If you haven’t read the article already, you’ll find it immediately below this one, on this Home Page.) Among other points that I made, I claimed that any kind of ‘Evangelism’ in which Christians engage should aim at winning people who would have a serious lifelong commitment to walking daily with the Lord, to learning from Him and to doing what He says – rather than simply aiming at making ‘converts’,… read more →
Recently, I woke up in the middle of the night with a single word from the New Testament more or less “flashing in lights” in my mind. It was the word DISCIPLE. I realised immediately that “disciple” was not a word I have used very much, in my thinking, or my conversation, or my writing – and yet it is a word that was quite often on the lips of Jesus. It dawned on me that it was a biblical word I had been neglecting. How (I asked myself) would I define the term “disciple… read more →
You may remember the story I reported a few months ago, under the title “A Story that should Strengthen You in your Chosen Lifestyle”, where I told what had happened to a New Zealand “out-of-organised-church” family, when they befriended a migrant worker (George) from one of the Pacific islands. Well, as a result of family members actually going to the island
For those of us who are now serving the Lord outside the Organised Church, listening for God’s voice, as He speaks to us through the Holy Spirit, is rightly considered very important – on a par with heeding the guidance He gives us through the Bible. We have turned our backs on a lifestyle where, among other reservations that we had, we felt that far too much of our service was prompted and directed by church programmes.
Just before Christmas, Mavis and I received a letter from friends in New Zealand. It recounted a series of happenings which both of us found very interesting and very encouraging, and we think it is worth passing on to our fellow “out-of-traditional-church” Christians. The letter came from a couple in their mid-sixties – Graham and Shirley – who have followed the Lord outside the ‘Organised Church’ for twenty years. In the seaside town in which they live, they are part of a small family-style group of believers, numbering just eight people.
Every now and then I have a conversation – face-to-face, by e-mail, or by phone – with individuals who have been in “Church Leadership” (perhaps for many years), but who have now left the Institutional Church, out of a positive conviction that that is not God’s “way ahead” for them. Sometimes, however, in such conversations, I sense what I would describe as “a tinge of regret – for lost opportunities”. These good people have once had some kind of specific teaching
