The story of Yeshua Groups, TBC...

This may surprise you, but I don't just direct Holy Language Institute. I also direct Yeshua Groups, a network of groups that get together to tell the stories of Scripture and talk about them "campfire style". That doesn't mean literal bonfires, although it could include one. "Campfire style" means how we humans naturally relate - we talk freely, laugh, eat, and have fun. This story begins with my own struggles and ends with the emergence of our network.

I already shared with you a little of my family's background, that my Dad and Grandpa were both pastors and that I grew up in a very strong believing home. What I didn't tell you is that by my mid-teens I was getting bored. Sermons sounded like the same rehashed stuff. We weren't doing much to change the world. And I'm kind of ADD and have a hard time sitting still and being quiet, which is mostly what you're supposed to do at church. Two things saved my faith. One was my discovery of Judaism, which I already told you about. The other was that I got involved with the house church movement.

My father was an ordained minister but he was also interested in less institutional expressions of Christianity. As far back as I can remember I too felt a deep drawing to the simplicity of the early church. Then, when I was 16, I read a book about "cell church" that offered me the red pill. I realized there were other ways of doing church than what I'd experienced and made the decision to strike out on the path less taken. I stopped going to church, and together with some kindred souls began to discover what it meant to be the church 24/7. For the next decade we experienced the freedom, authenticity, and challenges of what's often called house/organic/simple church in Christian circles or chavurah if you're Jewish.

Fast forward to my early thirties. I was leading a Messianic congregation and found myself in a crisis. We weren't making new disciples and that really bothered me because wasn't that the mission? Two quotes haunted me. One was that "your system is perfectly designed to give you the results you're getting". The other was the definition of insanity as "doing the same thing and expecting different results." I spent the next year intensively studying past and present movements that were actually making disciples. Then I blew up my congregation. I moved us from traditional Saturday morning services to getting together in each other's homes and at the park to tell the stories of Scripture, talk about them, and eat. I also started a "Jesus & Wings" group at the Belly Up Pub where I hosted spiritual conversations starting with a story from the Gospels.

The people who started showing up reminded me of the parable about the lost sheep - non-religious neighbours, local kids who had literally never heard of Jesus, church dropouts, my MMA training partners. And some of them were going from 0 to 1, like from no relationship with God to that first step. We were beginning to actually make disciples and my dream was coming true. I was such a relief to find a way to help people find their way spiritually without having to come across as a weird religious person or try to get them to go to church services. And it was refreshing, too! Getting together in homes or at the park or pub, telling the stories of Scripture and talking about them and then eating and hanging out, it all came so naturally and gave us the space we needed to be ourselves and let each gathering turn out differently.

I'm sure you can see why I carry these parts of my journey so close to my heart. For one thing, they were beautiful. For another, I paid a high price for them. But even more importantly, they saved my faith and enabled me to make a positive difference in the lives of other people. It was like they kept the fire burning in my own heart and showed me how to pass the flame on to others. Which is why I chose this picture! And before you correct me for not putting rocks around my fire, everything was damp so it was fine. I'm no greenhorn.

I didn't even get to Yeshua Groups yet but this story's getting a little long so I'll tell you the second half in the next post. I want to hear about you, too. What does my story spark in you? Please tell me about your thoughts and experiences.