Won't you be my neighbor?

We have been talking about being missional neighbors quite a bit recently. Maybe due in part to the fact that we are helping with a church re-plant.

Either through our pastor or others, we have come across some helpful material focusing on hospitality and becoming missional neighbors. Instead of restating what others have said, in a more grammatically correct form at that, I will point you to the sources.

1. A few ideas on how to interact with your neighbors from the Missional Church Network.

2. A blog post by a husband and wife covering the topic of hospitality.

3. The book "A Meal with Jesus - Discovering Grace, Community, & Mission around the Table" by Tim Chester. See here for a better and complete review of the book.

I haven't finished the above book but I would highly recommend it for reading. I would also recommend including it in every wedding gift you give. Young married couples should start building a hospitality vision from the get-go. This book will certainly help point the way.

This book challenges Christians to not think "if" but "when" concerning hospitality. It is something we should all be doing.

I like what Chester says at the end of the introduction.

"True, it's not always easy - it involves people invading your space or going to places where you don't fee comfortable. But it's not complicated. If you share a meal three or four times a week and you have a passion for Jesus, then you will be building up the Christian community and reaching out in mission."

Here are two quotes that I found helpful, especially when we are with the Prison Fellowship families.

"Involvement with people, especially  the marginalized, begins with a profound grasp of God's grace. Often our instincts are to keep our distance. But the Son of God ate with them. He's not embarrassed by them. He lets them kiss his feet. He's the friend of riffraff, traitors, the unrespectable drunks, druggies, prostitutes, the mentally ill, the broken, and the needy (homosexuals should be here as well) - people whose lives are a mess."

And in case we are sitting on that lovely pedestal...

"Involvement with people, especially the marginalized, must begin with a sense of God's grace. But not just God's grace to them, but his grace to me. I need to be melted and broken by grace."

We (I) need to remember that we have been rescued out of the very same mess all the above are still in.

And to finish some good old stats from Chester's (quoting someone else) book.

- There has been a 33% decrease in families eating together over the last three decades.  And more than half of those families are watching television as they eat together.
- Over the same period there's been a 45% decline in entertaining friends.
- In the typical American household, the average number of dinners eaten together is three per week, with the average length of dinner being 20 minutes.


 "Sharing a meal is not the only way to build relationships, but it is number one on the list."

Tomorrow I'll mention our recent attempts to share meals with neighbors, a Red Snapper dinner and thoughts for future meals.

Waste Not

Just read this article this.  Brandon and I had a little discussion several months ago about food production. Brandon thought that if we suddenly had to grow our own food a lot of people around here might go hungry. One of his thoughts was that there isn't enough free land around Melbourne (maybe we were still living in Geelong at this point, don't remember) to grow the food this city would need. I thought that perhaps if we didn't waste as much food or land we might be able to grow the food needed. This is all hypothetical and just another brain exercise/debate that he and I often like to take part in.

But honestly, we really do not use space very well in this city.  All those nature strips you drive by could turn into great gardens. Instead of having paper bark and red gum trees why not plant fruit trees instead? We don't even think to use our roofs or vertical space.


And honestly I do throw food away. According to the above article I throw away this much...

Per capita, Europeans and North Americans waste between 95 and 115 kilograms of food. Sub-Saharan Africa, South Asia and Southeast Asia ( I seriously doubt Australia is a food saving nation. We should be alongside the EU and the US) waste much, much less – between 6 and 11 kilograms per person.  The takeaway? The developed world wastes 10 times more food than the developing one.

And this all leads me to the bread ministry we have going on at the McKinnon church. It was started about a year ago by one of the families at church. I can't recall all the details about how it started. But anyway here is what this family picks up every Friday night. This is just from one bakery on one night. This bakery gets rid of bread every night. There are hundreds of bakeries all over Melbourne. Now I suppose in this case the waste of the bakery (due to their business slogan promising a full store even at closing!) is helping those who are in need. But I just wonder how many bakeries on how many nights end up putting it all in the rubbish?

By Sunday morning there are usually only a couple bags left. Through this ministry contacts have been made with the community in McKinnon, the local AA group that meets at the church, and a few other folk.  We are thankful for the bread ministry God has given us. The opportunity to provide food for the body as well as for the soul.


Waste not.

Sunday Evenings

As of right now we don't have evenings services at McKinnon. This is a bit strange for myself and Brandon who have grown up going to morning and evening services. The change has been useful, it has allowed us to visit a few other churches in the evening as well as contemplate how our Sunday evenings should be spent.

I think everyone should visit another church where they know no one, even better make it a church outside of their own denomination.
We visited a Reformed Baptist church about 20 minutes south of us. The service was relaxed to say the least. Couches replaced pews and the band the A capella singing we are used to. In between the couches were coffee tables where glass bowls filled with lollies sat. Thankfully I saw the lollies before the kids and thumped a Bible over the top of a bowl. I think most parents would understand my reaction to the site of the candy bowl. A big bowl of lollies and sitting quietly during worship do not mix. Especially for Gideon. After the service we all gathered around a table of food. There was a dedication that evening so supper was served afterwards. It took about 20 minutes before anyone came up and introduced themselves. He turned out to be a uni student. That was it, a male uni student came and talked to us for about 30 minutes. No one else. Thank you uni student for relieving some of the awkwardness.

Visiting this other church has reminded me of our own visitors and how they may feel.  I have again realized the importance of unity within the greater church. There are many Christians in our city of Melbourne attending various churches. It is good to know one another.

There are a few churches around us with sad news. One church was recently the headline of the local paper. It seems they have decided to close their doors and sell the building. There were only twelve members attending. Another one that our McKinnon church has ties with is down to less then six people showing up on Sunday morning. They are meeting this Sunday to talk about the future. Last year our McKinnon church only had eleven members. Hearing the news of these churches continues to press on me the importance of praying for our McKinnon.  I do not know what God has in store for our little church. I am praying that God would allow us to flourish in this city of closing church doors.

House hunting take two

House #2 Huntingdale

Cons-

• Price was over 400/wk.
• No dishwasher
• Built in wardrobes in only one bedroom
• The other two bedrooms were tiny!
• Not very close to train station

Pros-

• Has a bungalow out back - No heat but a space heater would warm it up quickly.
• Two living areas
• Smallish backyard but fenced in
• Close to park

House #3 Huntingdale

Too small all around, not interested.

House #4 Glen Iris

Too bad all of you couldn't come with us for this one. This house has awesome character.

Pros -

• Old wood work
• The bath tub facet was shaped like a fish (Brandon says it was a Tiger hmmmmmm). The water spouted out of the fish's mouth
• Little led light windows
• A lovely little reading nook
• Four bedrooms
• New stove
• The tram line runs by on the street out front.
• A huge back and front yard
• Close to park
• Close to train station and trams

Cons- hold on to your seat for these : -)

• The only heat in the house was a fireplace in the lounge
• No built in robes...at all
• The toilet was outside of the house
• The toilet did not have a light in it
• No dishwasher, big surprise there
• No gardening in the yard for at least the past year
• The flower boxes out front were rotting off the windows
• Spooky pet tombstone in the back yard of a pet "Bill" that died in 1959
• All this for $450/week

I would love to live in this house...if it had true heating. We were talking about how great it would be to pay $300-350/wk and fix the house up. It could be a beautiful house if someone actually took the time to fix it up. We might give them a call and see what they think. I seriously doubt that they will be interested.

House #5 Oakleigh South

I quite like this house and we will probably turn in an application.

Pros-

• 3 bedrooms (all with built in robes) + study
• 2 living areas
• Hardwood floors
• Just painted
• Lots of closet space
• Under $400/wk
• Entire property fenced in. So the kids can play in the front and back yard
• Park a block away

Cons-

• No dishwasher
• Our washing machine is too big for the space allotted
• Our fridge is too big as well
• Train station about 3kms away

House hunting

House #1

Cons -

• By a busy street - as in, if you step off the curb you will be hit by a 60kph piece of metal/plastic.
• All the outdoor buildings were dilapidated.
• Majoring gardening need to applied to the yard. My fingers were a little excited about the prospect. Thus you will find this under the 'Pro' section as well.
• Our fridge would not fit in the kitchen. It is too tall. We would have to buy a midget fridge. I am not fond of midget fridges due to the rather large amount of food we consume.
• Only one bedroom had a BIW (built in wardrobe) and of course that was the biggest room.

Pros -

• Just painted
• Hardwood floor just cleaned and sealed
• Lots of gardening to do
• Nice sized yard, which included a "secret garden". Or a hang out for all the local poisonous snakes.

We did not apply for it. The road issue was too great. I do not want two dimensional kids.

This Saturday we are looking at two more houses. Then another one the following Tuesday.

McKinnon Update

Yesterday the McKinnon church voted on calling a full-time minister to their pulpit. I wish I could say that there was a satisfying outcome. Unfortunately nothing has been decided due to no single name receiving 70% of the votes. We go back to praying that some decision will be made. We also begin to pack. We are searching for a house now but do not know when we will find one that works. It is best that we are packed and ready to go.

Something will be decided on eventually.

With or without a full-time pastor we have decided to continue on,  with the Lord. Perhaps having a full-time minister is a comfort we are not meant to have right now? After all there are many groups of Christians lacking proper church buildings and full-time ministers. Over the past few weeks a sense of urgency has been growing within us. There are things to be done. People that we would like to spend more time with but can't due to being so far away. Ultimately, we have connections with people who are hurting and lost, who need to hear about Jesus Christ. We are humbling praying that God might use us for his purposes when we move up there.

So yes,  we are still feeling a bit frustrated, confused, and weary (weary of comforts getting in the way).  Time to go read a few Psalms.

Psalms 121: 1-2
I lift my eyes to the hills, where does my help come from?
My help comes from the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth.

Psalm 127: 1-2
Unless the Lord builds the house, those who build it labor in vain.
Unless the Lord watches over the city, the watchman stays awake in vain.

Psalm 131
O Lord, my heart is not lifted up; my eyes are not raised too high;
I do not occupy myself with things too great and too marvelous for me. But I have calmed and quieted my soul, like a weaned child with its mother; like a weaned child is my soul within me.
O Israel, hope in the Lord from this time forth and forevermore.

Hebrews 11: 8 - 10

I have been meditating on these verses a lot over the last few weeks.  I don't think I will be able to write this in a way that truly represents my thoughts. Excuse my bumbling hands and limited vocabulary.

A few weeks ago I read this

Heb. 11: 8-10

8. By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to a place that he was to receive as an inheritance. And he went out, not knowing where he was going.
9. By faith he went to live in a land of promise, as in a foreign land, living in tents with Isaac and Jacob, heirs with him of the same promise.
10. For he was looking forward to the city that has foundations, whose designer and builder is God.

Have you ever had a "aha!" moment? I did when I read those verses. It was so real to me, I could honestly say "I know what you mean Abraham. I want a foundation too."

I believe these verses sum up the last few years of our life. Granted we did not move to Australia to receive our inheritance. We will be getting ours when we arrive in heaven. The travel though I can understand, obeying when called to go, the not knowing, the foreign land, the "tents." (tents = house sitting and rental houses)

When I read this I was still struggling with the decision of not buying this house. Home ownership is so ingrained in Western society. Our decision has made us feel a bit like trout heading up stream. The western world sees a house as part of the retirement security. I was wrestling with this question, "how are we going to be ready for retirement if we don't own a house." Do what we can without stressing. God will provide as he did for Abraham. Like Abraham our true retirement is in heaven.

The last verse was so soothing to me. Here was someone else that longed for a foundation! We at least get to live in houses, Abraham was traveling around in tents. It is easy to head into the realm of self- pity. You can constantly be asking yourself, why me? Sometimes the lesson takes a little bit longer to sink in. Perhaps like Abraham the only foundation belonging to us will be the one built by God and found when we reach heaven. I can say now that I am OK with that. As long as we can rent a house a bit warmer than the one we are in now, all is well :-)

From Matthew Henry's commentary on Hebrews

3. The supports of Abraham's faith (v. 10): He looked for a city that hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God. Observe here, (1.) The description given of heaven: it is a city, a regular society, well established, well defended, and well supplied: it is a city that hath foundations, even the immutable purposes and almighty power of God, the infinite merits and mediation of the Lord Jesus Christ, the promises of an everlasting covenant, its own purity, and the perfection of its inhabitants: and it is a city whose builder and maker is God. He contrived the model; he accordingly made it, and he has laid open a new and living way into it, and prepared it for his people; he puts them into possession of it, prefers them in it, and is himself the substance and felicity of it. (2.) Observe the due regard that Abraham had to this heavenly city: he looked for it; he believed there was such a state; he waited for it, and in the mean time he conversed in it by faith; he had exalted and rejoicing hopes, that in God's time and way he should be brought safely to it. (3.) The influence this had upon his present conversation: it was a support to him under all the trials of his sojourning state, helped him patiently to bear all the inconveniences of it, and actively to discharge all the duties of it, persevering therein unto the end.

Two other thoughts from this passage.

1. To value once more the hardships we go through. In my experience they lead to a personal identification with specific Scripture passages.

2. Again, I can truly say God's word is living and active. Writings thousands of years old are still relevant to my life in 2010. I can personally identify with a male nomad walking through the Sinai peninsula thousands of years ago. How strange, cool, and awesome is that?

Decision

We have decided not to buy the house.

Which means we have decided to move to McKinnon.

Does anyone else want to come with us? You are more than welcome.

I am sad that it won't work out to buy this house and live in McKinnon at the same time. It would have been nice to know that we owned some plot of land somewhere. Jolene was talking the other day about wanting to plant an apple tree and paint her room. Both of which we cannot do in a rental house. Well, maybe we can negotiate with the landlords on the apple tree.

I am also sad about soccer. It was exciting to think about the prospects of playing at a higher level once in Melbourne. I had a look around and that will not be possible due to the fact that all the teams play on Sunday. There are some indoor mixed teams that play during the week. Brandon and I have talked about how we could play on the same team. We would make that our date night. Just between you and me, I prefer outdoor.

It is going to be hard to move. We will be leaving family for the second time.

This all may sound a bit negative. I suppose I am just trying to say that this has not been an easy decision and that there will be things we miss because of the move.

We feel God calling us to McKinnon. We are excited about being up there on a regular basis. We are looking forward to encouraging the congregation and working alongside them to grow God's church in a concrete jungle.

Change is difficult. I am thankful that we can get strength from our Lord. Our own is not sufficient.

2 Cor. 12 9-10
But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me.
That is why, for Christ's sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

McKinnon update

     I think the last time I wrote about McKinnon we were praying for another family to move up there with us. We had just been approached by the McKinnon session to consider the move. After talking to others and spending time in prayer we decided that it was best to wait for at least one other family. We realized how valuable support can be, especially since most of our family is in the States. So McKinnon was set on the "back burner" so to speak.  We were still praying and waiting to see what God might do.

We then began praying about the purchase of the house we are currently renting. God provided and it looked liked we would be buying the house in the beginning of May.
Everything seemed to be settled.

About a month ago we found out that McKinnon was thinking of calling a full time pastor. As of this past Sunday, when the AGM (Annual General Meeting) was held, those whispers have been confirmed. The recommendation as of now is to call a full time pastor into position by 2011, at the latest mid-2011. McKinnon is now being seen as a church plant or revitalization project by the presbytery.

This changes things for us. The pastor could potentially be the second family we have been praying for. I say potentially because a pastor has not yet been called and the call has not yet been accepted. On top of a pastor + family a new family from South Africa has been attending for the past several weeks. And on top of that, there is a single lady who is being encouraged to attend McKinnon. So if it is the Lord's will there could be two families plus a young adult that are added to the congregation. This is more than we were praying for. God is good.

Of course, as you may have guessed this puts questions into our heads as to what we should do about this house. Our three month waiting period, to prove we have savings, ends in the beginning of May. How does this all fit together with McKinnon?

One idea we are praying about is to buy this house, live in it for a year, and then rent it out if we were to move to McKinnon. Brandon and a friend need to sit down and crunch some numbers to see if this is possible. McKinnon and the surrounding suburbs are unfortunately expensive when buying a house. Unless God provides like he did for George Muller it will not be possible for us to buy over there. Rent is also more expensive than in Geelong. It may not be wise financially to own as well as rent if moving over there. The strain could be too great. We are wrestling with the possibility of giving up on our desire to own this house so that we can move to McKinnon.

There are many items on our prayer list. Frustratingly so many seem to concern money. In the words of a ninja character from Naruto, money "is such a drag." Maybe we should buy a teepee. They are easy to transport and require small amounts of space. I suppose though it might be a bit hard to have fellowship group in one.

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Side note-

Why move there? Some of you may be asking this. Before we moved to Australia we had a desire to be involved in a church plant or small congregation. Interestingly enough, McKinnon was where we wanted to move when coming to Australia. We were advised, wise counsel is a blessing, to move to Geelong so that we would have some support while we acclimated to the new living conditions. Now we are back to considering a move to that area of Melbourne.

Really the issue in all of this is the need for workers. Every church needs them and there always seems to be a lack of supply. It is all about the Trellis and the Vine (a book our session is reading at the moment). The church, small and large, needs workers.  They are needed in the trellis, supporting the vine by doing tasks, and in the vine, working with people to promote the spread of the gospel. God laid this on our hearts while we were still at university. We need to be praying that he does so with others. There is such a great need just here in Australia, let alone the rest of the world. There need to be people who are willing to go. Now, I realize not everyone can do this. Some people need to stay back and support the home congregations. We should at least ask ourselves the question.