The Butterfly Virus

I met with a buddy of mine in Orlando last week and he said something as we were finishing that has been stuck in my mind ever since then. I figured if I blogged about it maybe it would get stuck in cyberspace and out of my mind. He said something to the effect of discipling was like an infection. I've been captured ever since.

What an amazing concept, discipling (leading others to follow Jesus) is like an infection. I think he said something about a staph infection, but I'm going in a slightly different direction. While I was in my shower one morning this week (which is one of my favorite places to talk with God) this idea was still nagging at me and I decided to call it the Butterfly Virus.

Think about it. Somewhere in your past you came in contact with someone who had been transformed by the power of God and it so infected you that your life has been changed and will never again be the same. We are new creatures emerging from our old, dead cocoons after being infected by this virus. And we are highly contagious. This transformation from the old to the new, like a caterpillar to a butterfly, is so captivating and unbelievable that anyone who gets close enough to someone going through it will catch this virus themselves.

So if this virus is so contagious, why don't we see thousands upon thousands of people transforming before our eyes as they begin to follow Jesus? I think it is because we get stuck in the cocoon. For whatever reason, we don't fully emerge as new creatures. We get stuck somewhere between the old and the new (and that's a whole 'nother blog). It is only when we have the Life of Jesus within us and a lifestyle of following Jesus that we emerge from our cocoons and infect others with this Butterfly Virus. But if that happens...

If that happens, we could have an epidemic on our hands. People all around being transformed by the Life of Jesus and infecting others with the same virus that infected them. Awesome! Finally, there is a virus out there that we don't have to be afraid of catching or passing on! So go ahead, spread the virus.
Blessings,
Shiloh

Love God. Love Others. Live Sent.

Have you ever heard the saying that the sum of the parts is greater than the whole? I've been thinking about this a lot lately and in the context of the Church I think this is absolutely true. Each of us as individuals have our talents, abilities, and giftings, but it is only when each of us contributes to the whole that something magical happens and the whole becomes greater than the sum of its parts. I think that is one of the most amazing things about the Church.

You can see this idea come to life in another way. Look at wikipedia. At first glance it is a pretty normal encyclopedia website, but with one huge difference. Anyone can add input to the discussion. If you are an "expert" on a subject, or even if you just have information that no one else has posted yet, you can add your voice and information to the collective whole. No one person knows all of the information posted on wikipedia, but anyone has access to all of the information posted there.

Our unique experiences, giftings, and expertise are blended together to form something incredible. That is a picture of the Church. Unfortunately sometimes our local expressions of the church don't look anything like that. Many of our local churches look very homogoneous (vanilla in simpler terms). I'm not even talking about race here, although that could be another discussion. What I'm talking about is the idea of sameness. I think it is usually very subtle, but most of the local churches that I know want all of their members to be the same: in their beliefs, in their approach to worship, in their attendance and service, even in their dress. I'm all for unity within the church, but sameness doesn't equal unity.

We see an incredible picture of unity in Revelation when we read that people from every nation, tribe, and tongue will gather together to worship the Lamb. Do you think that all of those people worship the same way, or agree on every point of doctrine, or dress the same way right now? No chance! They will be united in their love for and worship of the King, not in the way they think, act, look, speak, or dress.

All that to say that we need to review what is really important and essential to the DNA of Christ's Church. His Church will have His DNA. So what is His DNA? I think it can be summarized by three commands that Jesus gave to us. He told us the greatest commandment was to love God with everything within us, and the second commandment was to love others that way as well (see Matthew 22:36-40). Just before He left the earth He gave another command with all of His authority, to go and make disciples (see Matthew 28:18-20). He sent us, just as His Father sent Him. Love God. Love Others. Live Sent. That is Christ's DNA. If we are His followers, it should be our DNA as well.

Everything we do in a local church should reflect that DNA. Our budgets, our gatherings, our programs, our calendars, our ________________. Everything. Will that lead to sameness? I doubt it, but it will lead to unity. Think about your home church. Is your church showing the DNA of Christ's Church? Does your budget and calendar and bulletin reflect Christ's DNA? What about your own life? Does your schedule and checkbook reflect Christ's DNA? If we are honest with ourselves, we have a lot of work to do. So let's get started. Begin today. Love God. Love Others. Live Sent. Pass it on. Spread the virus of Christ's DNA. You'll be glad you did.

Blessings,
Shiloh

Advent-ure

Advent may not be something new to you, but for a bunch of different reasons, it is new to me. I wasn't raised in church and then as an adult the churches that I attended didn't celebrate Advent. I heard the word here and there, but for the most part I really didn't know much about it until just recently. Now that I know more I have to say I think Advent is really cool.

I don't want to spoil the surprise for you if you aren't familiar with it, but I want to share with you a couple of the Advent adventures that I'm having this year. First of all my wife and I decided to participate in Advent by inviting our neighbors to our house for weekly celebrations. We kicked things off last night and will continue on Sunday evenings until Christmas. Some of my adult neighbors participated in Advent as children so they are more familiar with it than I am. We lit the first candle and read some Scripture and prayed together and talked about the meaning of Advent and all of the symbolism invovled. Along with the adults we had eight kids (ages 10 and under) so we had some great discussion of what everything means and why we do this and why we do that. One little guy doesn't really know the difference between Jesus Christ and Santa Claus so we had a good time of sorting through the mess of what Christmas has become. My prayer is that each of us in my neighborhood would really know the difference by the time Christmas comes this year.

Secondly, a friend of mine in Miami introduced me to a concept called the Advent Conspiracy. Have you ever seen a video that makes you want to stand up and clap, or to shout out loud? That's what I felt like when I saw the video that promotes what Advent Conspiracy is all about. If you have a few minutes of down time over these next few days, please visit www.AdventConspiracy.org and check out this idea. Watch the video, it is awesome! If nothing else read this slogan and really pray about what it means to you.

Christmas can [still] change the world. This year, Give Presence.

May you be richly blessed by the Presence of the King as you give your presence to others.
Blessings,
Shiloh

Status Report

I sent this out to my prayer support team, but I wanted to add it here as well so that anyone could read where the Fellowship Project currently stands and what is on the horizon.

1. Two families from two separate local churches have now completed the 2x2 Training and while they are still a bit unsure of where to go from here, they are completely devoted to hearing from the Lord and "Bringing Life to People" wherever they go. They are investing themselves into the lives of people who need Jesus and are sharing principles of the training with other believers in their home churches.
2. During this cycle of training, and again during the evaluation time it became evident that there are some changes needed to the structure of the 2x2 Training to enhance it and allow the people going through it more opportunities to really "catch" the ideas and principles that we are learning. As a result, the next cycle of training will look a bit different and will probably be extended by a few more weeks. The next cycle of 2x2 Training will probably begin in January 2009 and I am already talking with about a dozen people who are very interested in going through the next cycle.
3. I have been working on putting the meat of the 2x2 Training into a written format. It's not so much a manual as it is a workbook. The first draft is almost complete and should be ready by the end of the year. Once it is complete, it will be available for local churches and individuals to use as the Lord leads. I am really excited about this because I have recently had a good number of discussions with pastors and leaders that have followers of Jesus that want to live missionally, but need guidance and training and this tool can help.
4. New opportunities for partnering with local churches have opened up recently. I am in the process of working with ReproducingChurches.com to establish a local gathering of pastors, church planters and other believers who want to gather together monthly for prayer, encouragment, and challenging each other to live missionally and to lead others to do the same.
5. I have recently connected to a local church that is "one church of smaller house churches that meet during the week to grow together in living the way of Jesus." They are a church plant that is still working to completely find its identity and there are many opportunities for us to help each other. I can offer training to their leaders that will equip them to reproduce believers, disciple them, and release them to establish new house churches as a part of their greater community. They offer me an opportunity to see first hand what their church looks like, to see what struggles they are having, and to point those going through the 2x2 Training to another example of how churches can reproduce.
6. A partnership with churches and church planters in Gainesville is on the horizon. Specifically, things are in progress to start a new work on the campus of the University of Florida. I'm not sure how involved I will be with this ministry, but I am very excited about everything I have heard about it so far. Hopefully sometime early next year there will be couples from five to eight local churches that will be trained to plant themselves among the students at UF with the intention of seeing a movement of students coming to faith and walking with Jesus over the next few years. Awesome!
7. I've been in discussion with another local church in NE Marion County about hosting a Fellowship Project Forum in early January. The plan is to have sessions on a Friday evening and Saturday morning and other churches are welcome to attend. More details to come.
8. We are having Advent Celebrations with our neighbors every Sunday leading up to Christmas starting on Nov. 30. Please keep this in your prayers, and pray specifically that my neighbors would find the gift of faith in Jesus this Christmas season.

I'm super-excited about what the Lord is doing and what He is going to do. May you find riches in the love of the King and find warmth in His embrace.

Blessings,

Shiloh

Pray Like a Muslim

Hey I stumbled across this blog post and it resonates with me so much that I had to post it here as well. I hope the Spirit speaks to you through this man's story.
Shiloh

Take it like a Man by Rick Spruill
Muslims

Posted November 8, 2008 at http://www.independentmail.com/blogs/take-it-man/2008/nov/08/take_it_man/

This evening after watching Clemson get so far behind the Seminoles it no longer mattered, I headed over to Target for some bibs for Ella.

Nothing spectacular. Just a random Saturday evening errand.

Little did I know I was in for a sight that very nearly knocked my flip-flops off.

As I was leaving the Target/Lowe’s ginormous parking lot area, I noticed a small man, curled up on a towel on the driver’s side of his small car.

At first, I thought the man was sick, or perhaps even injured. Or, perhaps he’d dropped his car keys and was groping around in the fading light in search of them. Pulling closer, I realized this small man was not sick, injured, or searching for his car keys.

He was praying.

He was facing east. It was dusk. And, he was praying.

Obviously, the man was muslim. The towel was his prayer mat.

He was following the muslim ritual of evening prayer, facing Mecca, before the sun fell below the horizon.

It was undoubtedly the fourth of five prayers this man will pray today before he turns in for the night. Muslims pray at first light, at noon, in the early afternoon, at dusk, and once again after full darkness.

As I sat in my car and watched him, I noticed he paid no attention to anyone, or anything else. Cars passed, gawkers gawked, and this simple man prayed until his prayer was done.

I was at Target to buy bibs. And, he had obviously been at Target to buy something, too. But, when the time came, he stopped dead in his tracks to pray.

I was just hoping to get home in time to watch Alabama finish off LSU.

As a Christian, I do not agree with the theology behind Islam; however, as a man of faith, I cannot help but respect this man’s discipline, purpose, and total disregard for what other’s might have thought of him.

He was going to pray. Location, circumstance, and outward appearances made no difference to him.

I guess you could say that it had a profound impact on me.

I hesitate to raise my hand during worship. Don’t wanna look stupid.

If I dropped to me knees in the Target parking lot and began pleading for the souls of my lost family members, I bet my wife would call 9-1-1 thinking I’d had a stroke. Yet, this man’s wife sat quietly in the passenger’s seat. She was not the least bit surprised her husband was stopping everything to pray.

I guess what I’m getting at is that, while I do not envy this man’s belief system, I’m somewhat envious of how much he is sold out to it.

And I struggle to come to grips with the fact that, while this man believes he must work his way to heaven, I am freed by the work my Savior has already done. And yet, it’s that man who is willing to act out his faith in the parking lot of Target.

What would happen if I stopped in my tracks in the parking lot of Target, fell to my face, and prayed for the guy here in my apartment complex whom I know is searching for the Truth?
God help me. I’m worried about what people think and how it might look. And my friends are dying spiritually.

Lord, help me. My knees are weak. My priorities are completely whack.

What's your aroma?

I have had an old thought buzzing around in my mind over the past few days so I figured I'd try to put it down in this blog and see if that will clear it up some. Did you know that you have an aroma? Now some of you may have a literal aroma that those sitting next to you can really smell, but that's not what I'm talking about. I'm talking about the "smell" of your life and personality that others see and hear. Some of us have very pleasant aromas like flowers, or freshly baked cookies, or a sweet perfume and others have an aroma like a skunk that just sticks to you and you can't get it off.

The point is this, if we are followers of Jesus we may actually have more than one aroma. We may have the aroma of Christ and our own personal aroma as well. We need to agree with John the Baptist and pray that our aroma would decrease and Christ's aroma would increase in our lives. When people see you and hear you and interact with you, are they smelling your aroma, or the aroma of Christ?

Paul said to the believers in Corinth, "But thanks be to God, who always leads us in triumphal procession in Christ and through us spreads everywhere the fragrance of the knowledge of him. For we are to God the aroma of Christ among those who are being saved and those who are perishing. To the one we are the smell of death; to the other, the fragrance of life. And who is equal to such a task?" Paul encouraged believers to become the fragrance of Jesus to those around them. That didn't always mean that people would enjoy that aroma. To some you can smell just like that skunk, but let it be because you are carrying the aroma of Christ and not because you really smell like a skunk.

All through the Old Testament offerings and sacrifices were made and God was pleased with the aroma of the offerings. Paul encouraged the believers in Rome to, "offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God - this is your spiritual act of worship." May our living sacrifices of daily dying to ourselves and allowing Jesus to live His life in us and through us be a fragrant aroma, pleasing to the Lord each day.
Blessings,
Shiloh

One Another

Have you ever wondered why there are so many references to "one another" in the Scriptures? Maybe you relate better to others than I do. I am generally an introvert and like isolation and independence, but this week the Lord has really shown me how important it is to be connected to one another, especially the one anothers in the body of Christ.

It is so easy to get discouraged, or to be lazy, or to be tempted when we isolate ourselves from others. I've had kind of a tough week. To be honest I've had a tough month or more. Some of it I have brought on myself, but much of it has been totally out of my control. I don't know if it has been just the difficulties of life on earth, or if it has been spiritual warfare directed at me and my family. But I PRAISE GOD in the midst of all of these struggles because I know that He is here with me, and I also know that I feel His presence and hear His words when I am with others who share my love for Him.

I have been so encouraged by people this week. Friends that I know are praying for me and expecting me to be in prayer for them. Teachers that have struggled through life's pains for much longer than I have, and yet still smile and have a peace that surpasses understanding. And strangers that have I a bond and connection to that is so strong it seems like we've known each other for years. It is in weeks like this one that I know why there are so many "one anothers" in Scripture.

Thank you for your prayers for me and my family. Thank you for your prayers for the Fellowship Project and those wrapped up in this faith experiment. Thank you for your encouragement. Thank you for your presence, in my life and in the life of others. Thank you for being the body of Christ and allowing His healing presence to flood into the people and places that you visit each day. May God continue to fill you with His presence and that you too would feel the encouragement of the Lord as you meet with one another.
Blessings,
Shiloh