The leaders of my Wednesday night class at church are Jon and Kathy Mowry. Each are knee deep in Christian work. At the bottom of the paper they gave out the first day of class is written this sentence. "Hospitality is one of the hardest and most profoundly transformational Christian practices." Hardest? Hardest!
Both authors, Pohl and Schaeffer, agree there is a reality to consider in the realm of hospitality. Pohl talks about the issues of safety that comes with strangers in your home, the complexity of raising a family in front of others, and when it takes longer for people to move on than originally thought.
Schaeffer expounds, "It has not been an exciting succession of 'success.' There have been sicknesses, accidents, depressions, discouragement, frustrations and exhaustion. There has been a succession of difficulties which arise from having little money, a succession of temptations to give up, to call it too much, to say we have had enough and that we want to have a 'normal life like other people.' There have been what we feel sure are direct attacks of Satan to stop us, to make us give up."
She continues, "If you read what the Bible says about living by 'faith', read in Hebrews the 11th chapter, and the first four verses of the 12th. It is not an account of easy lives and a succession of 'high points.' To say the least, there is a variety of things to be experienced. It is far from a soft life (p.226)."
On the positive side Pohl highlights that each guest brings a gift to the hospitality table. Workers in the places she interviewed often told stories of how the guest helped the workers through their sharing of encouragement and life experiences. These moments helped make the hard ones worth it.
The Mowry experience points out that people with money no longer rely on hospitality. Today it is no longer an issue of life and death. But, could it, could it, mean the difference in the life or death of someone's spiritual life?
1 Timothy 3:2 tells us that hospitality was even a requirement for leadership in the early church. It is rubber to the road Christianity. Is it on your resume?
Tuesday, July 23, 2013
Sunday, July 14, 2013
L'Abri
As I said before my interest was drawn to L'Abri because of my background, and it is similar, though on a much smaller scale, to what we have seen God do in our home. Here are some insights I gained from the L'Abri Fellowship that one day could be applied in this ministry.
According to Schaeffer, "We have established our purpose as this: 'To show forth by demonstration, in our life and work, the existence of God.' We have in other words decided to live on the basis of prayer in several realms, so that we might demonstrate to any who care to look the existence of God. We have set forth to live by prayer in these four specific realms:
1. We make our financial and material needs known to God alone, in prayer, rather than sending out pleas for money. We believe that He can put it into the minds of people of His choice the share they should have in the work.
2. We pray that God will bring the people of His choice to us, and keep all others away. There are no advertising leaflets, and this book is the first to be written about the work.
3. We pray that God will plan the work, and unfold His plan to us (guiding us, leading us) day by day, rather than planning the future in some clever or efficient way in committee meetings.
4. We pray that God will send the workers of His choice to us rather than pleading for workers in the usual channels (p. 16)."
Who were the L'Abri guests, and what did they do? The guests were students, professionals and even some families. They varied in ages from early teens to sixties. Spiritual growth came through one-on-one conversations, reading, listening to lectures in person and on tape, and in Schaeffer's words "half the day is spent entering into the practical work in a family setting (p. 15)."
The way I see it guests helped the ministry function and grow while they received from the ministry personally. That is brilliant. It is a two way street - receiving and giving all at once.
When our author answered the question of how this was all financed she said, "The factual human answer is that gifts come in from many different places, and are placed in a general fund out of which rents, mortgage payments and electric bills are paid, and the housekeepers are given money for food. No one asks anybody to give money, however. No pleas are made to human beings or organizations, and no pledges are asked for. Guests and helpers at L'Abri do not pay anything, and all expenses for them are met out of the general fund (p.15)."
That is faith, with a capitol F, to trust God for all income. They originally when to Switzerland as missionaries for a particular denomination. When they felt God leading them to start L'Abri they resigned that position, i.e. no regular paycheck, and trusted Him with everything - food, shelter, even care for strangers in your home, and all of this in a foreign country. WOW.
I wondered how one would be prepared to enter into a work like this before she gave this insight about her husband. Mrs. Schaeffer writes that "God has given him an education in addition to unfolding a work (p.227)."
"We believe the people who have come, have come for help they themselves needed. However, we believe God can do two things at once. (A masterpiece of understatement!) In this case I am certain He brought people for their own sakes but also brought a variety of people as a training-ground and as a means of developing, in the arena of live conservations, that which Fran (her husband) is giving in his apologetic today (p. 226-227)." (FYI. He became a highly requested speaker about their work.)
How comforting that is to me. We don't have to know it all before we begin. They allowed God to unfold a plan, and He equipped them along the way.
I love the way she summaries their story at the beginning of the book. "The story which follows is one in which the author has attempted to show the reality that God exists, and that He is the One who has, time after time, answered prayer in the midst of well-nigh impossible circumstances to bring about something out of nothing (p. 17)."
Oh, Father, bring something out of nothing here in Nashville, Tennessee, with the Coppedge six.
- Insight 1: You need a deliberate and vibrant prayer life.
According to Schaeffer, "We have established our purpose as this: 'To show forth by demonstration, in our life and work, the existence of God.' We have in other words decided to live on the basis of prayer in several realms, so that we might demonstrate to any who care to look the existence of God. We have set forth to live by prayer in these four specific realms:
1. We make our financial and material needs known to God alone, in prayer, rather than sending out pleas for money. We believe that He can put it into the minds of people of His choice the share they should have in the work.
2. We pray that God will bring the people of His choice to us, and keep all others away. There are no advertising leaflets, and this book is the first to be written about the work.
3. We pray that God will plan the work, and unfold His plan to us (guiding us, leading us) day by day, rather than planning the future in some clever or efficient way in committee meetings.
4. We pray that God will send the workers of His choice to us rather than pleading for workers in the usual channels (p. 16)."
- Insight 2: A balance between study and work makes for a successful Christian and ministry.
Who were the L'Abri guests, and what did they do? The guests were students, professionals and even some families. They varied in ages from early teens to sixties. Spiritual growth came through one-on-one conversations, reading, listening to lectures in person and on tape, and in Schaeffer's words "half the day is spent entering into the practical work in a family setting (p. 15)."
The way I see it guests helped the ministry function and grow while they received from the ministry personally. That is brilliant. It is a two way street - receiving and giving all at once.
- Insight 3: God is provider, with a capitol P. Provider!
When our author answered the question of how this was all financed she said, "The factual human answer is that gifts come in from many different places, and are placed in a general fund out of which rents, mortgage payments and electric bills are paid, and the housekeepers are given money for food. No one asks anybody to give money, however. No pleas are made to human beings or organizations, and no pledges are asked for. Guests and helpers at L'Abri do not pay anything, and all expenses for them are met out of the general fund (p.15)."
That is faith, with a capitol F, to trust God for all income. They originally when to Switzerland as missionaries for a particular denomination. When they felt God leading them to start L'Abri they resigned that position, i.e. no regular paycheck, and trusted Him with everything - food, shelter, even care for strangers in your home, and all of this in a foreign country. WOW.
- Insight 4: He equips uniquely for His purpose.
I wondered how one would be prepared to enter into a work like this before she gave this insight about her husband. Mrs. Schaeffer writes that "God has given him an education in addition to unfolding a work (p.227)."
"We believe the people who have come, have come for help they themselves needed. However, we believe God can do two things at once. (A masterpiece of understatement!) In this case I am certain He brought people for their own sakes but also brought a variety of people as a training-ground and as a means of developing, in the arena of live conservations, that which Fran (her husband) is giving in his apologetic today (p. 226-227)." (FYI. He became a highly requested speaker about their work.)
How comforting that is to me. We don't have to know it all before we begin. They allowed God to unfold a plan, and He equipped them along the way.
I love the way she summaries their story at the beginning of the book. "The story which follows is one in which the author has attempted to show the reality that God exists, and that He is the One who has, time after time, answered prayer in the midst of well-nigh impossible circumstances to bring about something out of nothing (p. 17)."
Oh, Father, bring something out of nothing here in Nashville, Tennessee, with the Coppedge six.
Saturday, July 6, 2013
Christian Hospitality
Sadly, there is no Nashville Napkin this month. I contacted someone but have yet to receive a response. I will continue working on it for you. So, drum roll please, we are going to dive into a series of entries on Christian hospitality.
I am not talking about entertaining but about the hospitality we see practiced in the Bible. Christians took shelter with other Christians when they traveled about. Organizations like hotels and hospitals originated out of the practice of hospitality shown by Christians.
Often hospitality meant the difference between life and death in that culture. Just think about the hospitality shown by Abraham in Genesis 18 and Lot in just the next chapter. Today, we have many more options for shelter; however, hospitality in our culture can still have a huge impact on the vigor of our spiritual lives.
When I felt that the Lord was leading me away from the choir at church, my director asked me what do you think the Lord is calling you to. I did not have an answer. That was back in December. Now, I have a answer. He has replaced my Wednesday night choir practice with a class on hospitality.
We are reading books on Christian hospitality. The first was Making Room: Recovering Hospitality as a Christian Tradition by Christine Pohl. It is a survey book looking back at the pattern of hospitality in the Bible and in historical practice plus our modern variances of the principle.
My favorite statement in the whole book was that through this research the author hoped to add credibility to what some have been doing intuitively in their homes for years. The other critical factor she brings up is that people need to be home to host hospitality. We are, oh so, busy today.
Yet, some have made the decision to open their homes as a means to help others. And, oh so, many years ago, I benefited from an in-home ministry. A retired couple hosted a weekly covered dish supper in their home. We listened to a brief teaching, worshiped, and then had time for personal ministry. They also offered individual counseling in their home as a team. I grew so much spiritually under that mentoring relationship.
One of the ministries Pohl highlighted in her book interested me. This lead to reading book number two, L'Abri by Edith Schaeffer. It chronicles the building of a ministry in Switzerland by an American family beginning in the late 1950s. L'Abri is the French word for shelter. The family chose to live by faith to show that God is real. Their home was open to "any in need of spiritual help - especially those seeking the answers to basic philosophical problems ... (p.13)."
She describes what God did like this. "A family of six, two of them sick children, move into a beat up chalet in a tiny mountain village without even a living room ... and pray that God will send them the people to talk to! (p.227)" And that he did. In eleven years the work grew to include a complex of chalets, a chapel and locations in other countries.
How does this apply to C Square Ministries, Inc.? Read on next week.
I am not talking about entertaining but about the hospitality we see practiced in the Bible. Christians took shelter with other Christians when they traveled about. Organizations like hotels and hospitals originated out of the practice of hospitality shown by Christians.
Often hospitality meant the difference between life and death in that culture. Just think about the hospitality shown by Abraham in Genesis 18 and Lot in just the next chapter. Today, we have many more options for shelter; however, hospitality in our culture can still have a huge impact on the vigor of our spiritual lives.
When I felt that the Lord was leading me away from the choir at church, my director asked me what do you think the Lord is calling you to. I did not have an answer. That was back in December. Now, I have a answer. He has replaced my Wednesday night choir practice with a class on hospitality.
We are reading books on Christian hospitality. The first was Making Room: Recovering Hospitality as a Christian Tradition by Christine Pohl. It is a survey book looking back at the pattern of hospitality in the Bible and in historical practice plus our modern variances of the principle.
My favorite statement in the whole book was that through this research the author hoped to add credibility to what some have been doing intuitively in their homes for years. The other critical factor she brings up is that people need to be home to host hospitality. We are, oh so, busy today.
Yet, some have made the decision to open their homes as a means to help others. And, oh so, many years ago, I benefited from an in-home ministry. A retired couple hosted a weekly covered dish supper in their home. We listened to a brief teaching, worshiped, and then had time for personal ministry. They also offered individual counseling in their home as a team. I grew so much spiritually under that mentoring relationship.
One of the ministries Pohl highlighted in her book interested me. This lead to reading book number two, L'Abri by Edith Schaeffer. It chronicles the building of a ministry in Switzerland by an American family beginning in the late 1950s. L'Abri is the French word for shelter. The family chose to live by faith to show that God is real. Their home was open to "any in need of spiritual help - especially those seeking the answers to basic philosophical problems ... (p.13)."
She describes what God did like this. "A family of six, two of them sick children, move into a beat up chalet in a tiny mountain village without even a living room ... and pray that God will send them the people to talk to! (p.227)" And that he did. In eleven years the work grew to include a complex of chalets, a chapel and locations in other countries.
How does this apply to C Square Ministries, Inc.? Read on next week.
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