Releasing People From Their Bondage

Jan. 21, 2021.Routine and status quo are powerful things in human behavior. They create habits, and these habits quickly become unquestioned. We seamlessly engage in thoughts and deeds today just because we did them yesterday. But every once in a while, something new is needed, and the assumptions of yesterday are not sufficient. Can we learn to recognize and make room for these moments?#JesusStories: One day Jesus went to a synagogue on the Sabbath (Luke 13:10-17). While he was teaching his eyes caught a woman nearby who was permanently bent over so that she couldn't even look up. Jesus stopped teaching, called her over to him, and healed her. Immediately she stood up straight and started to glorify God. But the ruler of the synagogue was upset because Jesus had "worked" on the Sabbath. He made his position clear that there are six other days in the week to do this sort of thing, but on the Sabbath, only teaching and worshipful things were to be done. Jesus had to confront this leader as a hypocrite because he would water his animals on a Sabbath but was willing to deny this woman freedom from an 18-year oppression that was ruling and ruining her life. This synagogue leader had become so focused on his religious duties for God that he had forgotten to work with God in the moment. Sound familiar? Unfortunately, Christian leaders all around us have been doing church so routinely that they have forgotten what their church practices are supposed to be doing - releasing people from their bondage.Thirty-some years ago I was standing before my church teaching a Bible study when a man walked up and stood right in front of me. I knew who he was; this mans wife had attended our church for years and I had met him once during a home visit. Frankly, I was surprised he was at our church that day. He was very critical of his wife's Christianity, and in fact was an "onry ole cuss". But now he stood five feet in front of my podium while I was trying to speak. I finally had to acknowledge him and asked if he needed anything. He said, "I've been watching the news...and the bombs that are dropping in Iran this week...and I think it is time for me to get right with God." Whoa! This is one of those moments a preacher lives for, right? But I remember pausing before I answered him. After all, I had prepared for hours on that teaching, and he was interrupting me before I even got to point two. His divine moment was cutting in on my prepared spiritual service. Now I'm glad to report that I was able to snap out of it, stop teaching, and lead that man to Jesus right in front of everyone. But I still remember that halting feeling; doing church had momentarily gotten in the way of restoring this man. Has the routines of doing church ever disrupted you from your real calling? We need to pause and remember that the God-Family is in the rescue business, and SO ARE WE!#DinnerChurchQuotes: "If Israel failed to honor the Lord (Deut. 6:4-9; 8) and care for the oppressed (Exod. 23:1-9), their land would be taken from them. Indeed, this is the most striking characteristic of Biblical Justice." -Ron Sider.#PracticalStuff: Can you help us grow this weekly conversation? If there is a church leader or family members in your orbit that you believe would be benefited by this blog and subsequent comments, please invite them to join. I sense that a great harvest is approaching at tidal wave speeds, and I want many, many, many Jesus Tables ready to respond. Would you please forward this to a couple people today? And invite them to sign-up?Blessings & Boldness,Verlon

Invest In The Kingdom

Jan. 14, 2021.If these recent months of national turmoil have done anything, they have challenged some of our idols, and caused the Church to re-evaluate our mission. It seems that a growing number of leaders are now desiring something deeper than producing Sunday church gatherings. Is the Lord speaking to you about taking a more vital role in the inbreaking Kingdom of God? #JesusStories: Luke 12:31ff captures a clarifying encouragement from Jesus, in which his followers who are like a little flock of sheep should not be afraid, because it is the Fathers great happiness to give us the Kingdom. But how do we receive such a gift? And what is our role to help download this Kingdom onto the earth? Jesus answers this in vs. 33 by telling us to ‘invest in the Kingdom’. And by investing he meant actual money, and directing money to “those in need.” Interesting. Giving to the poor is how we invest in the inbreaking Kingdom of God. Many in the body of Christ probably need to spend some time meditating on this instruction. Richard Stearn reports that the average US Christian gives 2% of their income to the Kingdom, and most of that is to help with the organizational costs of their local church. Don't get me wrong, paying for our local congregations is important. But I think you’d agree it is something different than what Jesus was talking about; giving to the needy invests in the Kingdom at a high-level. Jesus then ended this interchange with perhaps the deepest point of all: “For wherever your treasure is, there the desires of your heart will be also.” This is big, because everyone who invests in the Kingdom by giving to the poor actually rewires the desires of their heart to match the God-Family. And that can never be a bad thing. #DinnerChurchQuotes: In AD 362, the Roman Emperor Julian complained that his people needed to match the virtue of the Christians, “who support not only their poor, but our poor as well.” -Chuck Lawless#PracticalStuff: Dinner Churches are not expensive. They cost $300 per week for an average table congregation of 75 people. Accordingly, it only takes a core team who is willing to give a tithe to start one. And in time, as the new congregation learns to trust Jesus as their provider, they join in. The historic tithe is still the best funding plan available - 2000 years and counting. 

Back On Track

January 7, 2021Yesterday was another tumultuous day in our nation. I had hoped that 2021 would somehow be more peaceful, but it looks like it's picking up right where 2020 left off - more protests, more lockdowns, and more instability. And yet the body of Christ does walk to the cadence of culture; we take our cues from the inbreaking Kingdom of God.#JesusStories: Mark 9: 33ff captures an all-to-human moment with the disciples. They were arguing about which of them would be the greatest. In response, Jesus' brought a child into the midst of their talking circle and told them to become a servant to everyone, even a  child. This was perhaps the equivalent of Jesus walking into a modern-day church office and demoting the Senior Pastor to a Childrens Pastor. (And no, I do not see Childrens Pastors as less important than Senior Pastors). The disciples had wandered off the path of Christian leadership, and Jesus got them back on track by reminding them of their 'servant of all' calling.We too, sometimes wander off the path of solid Christian leadership. In self-reflection, over these past months there have been numerous times when I've heard or seen  something on the news that made a spirit of hate rise up in me. I wish I were more spiritual than that, but no. Over and again I have felt a dark desire to "set somebody straight" for their fool-headed political perspectives. I am glad I do not have a FB account or it would have been too easy to spew a diatribe of my self-righteous words. Even though I have not gone public with my disgust, I've still had to deal with an ugly spirit coursing through my veins; I've wandered off the path of Christian leadership during those hate-fests. It is interesting however, how quickly my soul has been restored once I remember the servant of all calling - even for those who had previously been the subjects of my distain. The uprising kingdom of darkness traffics in hate and division; the inbreaking Kingdom of God traffics in servanthood and unity. When our souls are filled with the latter, we know our Christian leadership is back on track!#DinnerChurchQuotes: "The whole Bible in six sentences: OT = They tried to kill us! We survived! Let’s eat! NT = I love you! I forgive you! Let's eat!" - Leonard Sweet#PracticalStuff: It has been my practice to start most mornings early, sitting with Melodee, a cup of coffee in hand, and talking to Jesus. Some years ago I realized that my image of church and the prayer altar was controlling my image of prayer during these morning times. And all-to-often there was a feeling of resistance to talk with Jesus only because it was 6am and I wasn't yet in the mood to go to church. But after we starting recovering the historic Jesus Table, my morning image began to change to a breakfast table. Interestingly, my resistance to talk with Jesus started to fade; meeting Jesus at a breakfast table always sounds better than going to church, especially at 6am. What is your devotional image? Our  'prayer-setting-image' matters. As you take the first steps into 2021, you might want to try meeting Jesus for breakfast.

An Extravagant Invitation

Dec 17, 2020.Here we are one week prior to Christmas, and I am so glad I understand what the season truly means. You and I have been invited by heaven to the Fathers table, and we have taken our place at that table. And what a life-changing privilege it has been. Yes? The Lord sought us, invited us, and we said "yes". I am intrigued however, that not all invitations are the same.#JesusStories: Among the Incarnation accounts, I love the bit about the shepherds found in Luke 2. These nomad sheep-tenders represented the lowest rung on the social ladder of early Palestine; they spent their nights sleeping in the fields with their sheep. Yet on the night Jesus was born, heaven orchestrated a spectacular invite to "them" performed by glowing angels speaking in prose and song. WOW! The contrast between lowliness and glory is breathtaking. And as expected, this invite resulted in the shepherds making their way to the side of the newborn Messiah. And when they got there, they did not walk into a palace or high-end Inn, it was an animal cave on the edge of town - a place chosen so they would not feel uncomfortable or upstaged. It appears God went out of His way to make this invitation perfect for them, even to the discomfort of the first family. Now it is true that much later, wealthy nobles found a place at the side of the Christ Child too, but their invite was not the same as the shepherds. For the lowly, God pursued them in a most marvelous way and literally swept them to the side of the infant Jesus; for the others, God posted a star and left the door open for them to find their way. So all were welcomed, but the poor were given an invitation of extravagance.What does this mean to the leaders of Jesus' Church through the ages? In rich America, it serves as a confrontation against any form of elitism. Many Christian leaders have missed-the-mark by envisioning their churches filled with impressive people, while overlooking the lower-third who live in the shadow of their steeples. This is exactly the opposite of the message that flows from the shepherds grand invite story, isn't it? Further, it is exactly the opposite of the people Jesus pursued first during his ministry - the sick, the poor, the sinner, and the isolated at all levels of the social ladder. Could the American Church ever learn to reserve our most extravagant invitations for those left-behind and over-looked?#DinnerChurchQuotes: "Those who abandon everything in order to seek God know well that He is the God of the poor." -Thomas Merton#PracticalStuff: This is the season to remember that the Divine Invite holds particular power for challenged groups. So here is the idea-of-the-week: 1)Call a holiday huddle with your core team and remember where your dinner churchs' calling lies. 2)Then read the Luke 2:8-16, followed by Mt. 25:34-40. 3)End by leading them in a prayer of recommitment to set a table for the isolated knowing full-well that Jesus Himself will sit down with them.Blessings & Boldness,Verlon

Stalls, Setbacks & Side-Steps

Dec. 10, 2020.I hate pauses. For people who are progress oriented, having to slow down feels like a death sentence. And yet, an honest perusal of our lives will assuradely reveal many stalls, setbacks & side-steps. It usually takes most of us decades of walking with Jesus to realize there is something very holy going on during these slow-downs.#JesusStories: One of the undeniable themes of the original incarnation story is bad-timing and back-steps. Luke 2 records that Mary was forced to take a required trip to Josephs' ancestral home for governmental record-keeping while she was nine-months pregnant. And if that weren't inconvenient enough, the only accommodations were a cave-like animal shelter. And it was there that she went into labor, gave birth, and laid the Christ-child in a feeding trough. Are you kidding me? Then Matthew 2 tells that after Jesus was born, Joseph was visited by an angel who told them to flee in the night to Egypt to avoid Herod's jealous wrath. And then after they fled, all the remaining Jewish male babies were put to death. That was a grievous back-lash. It was years later before Joseph would be informed in a dream that it was safe to return home to Nazareth. In Mark 1, when it was finally time for Jesus to begin his ministry, he was instead swept off to the wilderness for forty days to face-off with Satan. FINALLY, in John 2 we see the wedding at Cana where Jesus' ministry of miracles began. But before that wondrous day, there were A LOT of pauses, half-starts, and push-backs. Is that the best that could be procured for the Messiah and the launch of the greatest rescue story of all time?Truthfully, as a life-long project achiever, I do not understand this long list of set-backs in the Messiah story. Nor do I understand pauses and intersections when they occur in my life and leadership. Do you? However, after sixty-plus years of being disappointed by God's pauses, I have come to the conclusion that there must be something holy going on here. If the first incarnation story needed all those earthly set-backs before the heavenly mysteries (stars, angel choirs, divine dreams), then perhaps our lives and ministries need the pauses too. Can we be good with that?#DinnerChurchQuotes: "The incarnational model leads to little Jesuses, walking across all boundaries to be in every nook and cranny of society." -David Fitch#PracticalStuff: Several of our pastors are reporting that miracles and healings and preaching impact is still happening at their sidewalk Dinner Churches. Covid aside, Jesus is still showing up around these buffet lines and doing his thing. Perhaps it would be misguided to assume that we will regain our traction once we get back indoors. It appears that Jesus isn't waiting.Blessings & Boldness,Verlon  

God Births

Dec. 3, 2020.Our Lord is actively birthing new things upon the earth every single day. Given that, we must learn to see them, sense them, and help usher them in. However, it is a difficult thing for us to move at the speed of God and flow with His Ways. We are limited beings living in a fallen world, so how can we get in sync with the Divine? Let’s look at the incarnation story through different eyes. #JesusStories: In Matthew 1, Mary became pregnant by the Holy Spirit and Joseph understandably assumed she had been unfaithful to him. But he was a good man and did not want to shame her publicly, so he decided to quietly end the engagement and walk away. But that night, an angel showed up and explained to Joseph that Mary had not been unfaithful, but was actually pregnant by the Holy Spirit. So Joseph woke up, took Mary to be his wife, and entered into a surreal story of divine proportions. And of course, you know the rest. But what if the incarnation was more than Jesus’ coming-to-earth story? What if it was intended to be repeated in some way millions of times in the lives of Christ followers through the ages?  This story, like so many others in scripture, reveals a pattern of how God intervenes upon the earth: He starts small, uses unexplainable elements, and enlists people to boldly help birth his intervention plans. While God certainly works differently from time to time, he clearly loves this particular pattern. At the very least, we shouldn’t be surprised if this pattern shows up in our lives and leadership. But how can we become bold partners for God during divine interventions? The answer is this: we must see a divine hand to assist in a divine birth. For Mary and Joseph, they both received a visit from an angel. That encounter gave them a glimpse into the God-world, and that glimpse emboldened them to engage in an impossible plan. Though it was illogical, they did it. Though it brought stress and turmoil into their lives, they did it. Though it took a long time to develop, they stayed with it. But it was that angels’ visit that emboldened them. Somehow, we need something similar to inspire our courage and enable us to help usher divine interventions into our families, our ministries, and our cities. But, angel visitations are rare, so how might we be invited to see beyond the veil into the God-world? Honestly, I do not know - that is a Jesus thing. But I do know that divine births are real. And divine glimpses that emboldens us into action are real too. Perhaps the real question is: Are we willing to become involved in an unexplainable ‘Divine Birth’ story in our time? #DinnerChurchQuotes: “It is all too possible to emphasize spiritual truth, yet miss Christ - who is Himself the embodiment and incarnation of all these things.” -Frank Viola#PracticalStuff: There is great value in 'showing up', far more than we realize. Dinner Churches are very good at embracing isolated people, and these people in particular are deeply impacted when Jesus' people come to eat with them - especially during the bad weather, Thanksgiving Day, Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, and New Years. Numerous times our team has heard, “I cannot believe you guys are here today. You are the real deal.” So here is my coaching tip: Would you take a look at your upcoming holiday calendar, and if you were planning on cancelling holiday Dinners, would you reconsider? After all, this is the time of year when we remember Immanence (God here), and Emmanuel (God with us). And there is no one more positioned than Dinner Churches to model the "show-up" Jesus.Blessings & Boldness,Verlon   

Roots!

Nov 19, 2020.We live in a transitory period in human history. Since the birth of the Industrial Revolution, nuclear families and individuals have branched out to 'make their own way'. That was a significant departure from the agrarian ideal where multi-generational families worked their farms together throughout the span of their lives. That was a day of roots; this is a day of isolation. In point of fact, these past one-hundred years in Western Culture is the first time in human history where family disconnectedness is considered normal. Hmmm.#JesusStories: I love how the Gospel of Matthew begins. Never-mind the fact that Matthew was trained to establish a person's family-line for tax-collection purposes, these opening verses provide a rich understanding that Jesus came from someone - many someone's. Abraham begot Isaac, Isaac begot Jacob.... Boaz.... Solomon... Josiah... Zerubbabel... and so on for twenty-eight generations. Jesus not only had a heavenly heritage, he also had deep roots upon this earth; he had a thick and rich human heritage. God made numerous promises to Jesus' ancestors: they experienced miracles, they made difficult choices of faith during difficult seasons of temptations, and they both failed and persevered. Altogether, these family stories created a certain seedbed for Jesus to be planted into. Jesus might have been sent for the World, but he was born into a particular family line. And that means something.What it means for us, is that when we are born again, we are born into the same family Jesus had, and in an instant we have a rich earthly legacy. To be honest, we are too quick to assume that we have been born into the family of God, when in fact we were also born into a particular earthly family-line. The Jews are not the only ones with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in their pedigree - we have been adopted into that same blessed family too. The promises God made to Abraham, the blessings God poured upon Isaac, and the dreams God showered upon Jacob are all flowing down the family heritage right into our lives too. And that is only highlighting three of our earthly fathers; there are many more on whom God cascaded His favor. Jesus worked hard at introducing himself as the 'son of man' for a reason; he wanted us to be connected to the long God-story right here on earth, not just the God-story occurring in Heaven. Something wonderful happens in our faith and leadership when we not only embrace him as 'son of God' but also embrace him as 'son of man'. We start receiving the life-flow from his earthly roots, and we start expecting those big OT stories to start showing up in our lives. After all, parting seas, divine dreams in deserts, and being surrounded by chariots of fire are just the kinds of things that happen to our family. Those are our roots! Those are your roots!#DinnerChurchQuotes:

• Augustine initially believed that charismatic gifts had died out in the church. But he changed his mind after keeping records in Hippo for two years: "I realized how many miracles were occurring in our own day; already we have nearly 70 attested miracles." -Augustine (Full quote via Michael Green).
• "In Israel, in order to be a realist you must believe in miracles. Anyone who does not believe in miracles is not a realist." -David Ben-Gurion (Israel's Prime Minister 1955-1963)

#PracticalStuff: Huddles matter! If you have been sent to open a Jesus Table, then the Lord will surely call forth a core team to help you shepherd that new congregation. We have found nothing that keeps a core team of shepherds pulling together any better than weekly huddles. There, you can keep hearts inspired by praying together, keep leadership developing by doing book read-throughs, and keep table-side skills growing by discussing weekly experiences. Jesus will give you the team, but you have a role in developing that team. Huddles Matter!Blessings & Boldness,Verlon

Comfortable With Authority

Nov. 12, 2020.Many American Christians see themselves as humble citizens of the Kingdom of God. And while humility holds certain theological merit, there is another truth associated with our  authority that needs to be embraced too. I have noticed that the average Christian becomes nervous when it is suggested that they've been given authority to change things here on the earth. Thankfully, we aren't the only disciples throughout church history that have been concerned about that.#JesusStories: There is an interesting exchange recorded in Luke 10 where the disciples returned to Jesus after being sent out two-by-two with the assignment to do what they had seen Jesus do numerous times. They healed the sick and preached about the Kingdom of God with great effect. But what surprised them most was their ability to make demons flee by using Jesus' Name. The Lord's reply is worth sober meditation; he told them something we all need to hear afresh today: "I saw Satan fall from heaven like lightening! Look, I have given you authority over all the power of the enemy." Did you hear that? Jesus' disciples (including us) have been given authority over the enemy. Do you believe that? I would propose that most present-day disciples have not embraced the authority Jesus wants to give them. We all know the horror stories of leaders who have used spiritual authority to abuse and control others, and we want no part of that. But what do we do with the scriptural fact that Jesus wants us to hold significant authority over the uprising kingdom of darkness? (BTW - this is not the only verse that suggests such authority. See Matt. 16, Mark 13, Mark 16, Luke 19, John 14, and John 20 for more evidence). Scripturally, it is clear that Jesus wants us to join in the Christ-tradition of 'destroying the works of the devil' (1 Jn. 3). This is our heritage; this is our calling. At some point, every disciple must choose to become comfortable with the authority that Jesus is actually trying to hand them.#DinnerChurchQuotes:

• "We underestimate how much spiritual authority we have when we pray in accordance with the will of God." - Mark Batterson.
• "Our ability to live like Jesus is the basis of spiritual authority." - Alan Hirsch

#PracticalStuff: Ask the Lord to give you at least one person to pray for each evening at Dinner Church when you walk in. Then don't be surprised when during a conversation you feel a stirring in your heart to do so. Boldly act on it! In this way your ability to pray healing prayers will grow, and so will your healing stories.Blessings & Boldness,Verlon

The Healing Touch

Nov 5, 2020.What is the American Church known for? I'm sure there are different answers from different regions and regarding different denominations, but there is one identifier shared by most of us - the American Church is about Bible teaching. This is why we were considered 'non-essential' during the pandemic, and were shut down along with schools, colleges, and other teaching-based institutions. But what was Jesus known for?#JesusStories: I'm remembering two particular stories in the gospel of Mark. In chapter five a woman who was suffering with a chronic bleeding problem decided to press through the crowd and touch the edge of Jesus' robe as he walked by. When she did, she was instantly  healed. Then in chapter six, hoards of people brought all manner of sick and maimed people to Jesus and asked to touch the edge of his robe. And again, all who touched him were healed. That woman changed everything; she revealed a new understanding of healing; she started a movement. Prior to that woman's healing, it was assumed that Jesus would need to touch someone as an act of his decision for them to be healed. But now it was apparent that healing flowed from Jesus when people touch him. THAT WAS BIG! Suddenly healing was within sick people's grasp too. That knowledge was so electrifying that within the space of one gospel chapter it reverberated throughout the crowd and out into the countryside. Throngs of sick people came asking to touch Jesus' robe too. And He let them! And the same healing that flowed into the woman now flowed into them! The thing that is often missed is what these two stories reveal about the nature of healing. Healing is not as much a divine decision as an ever-present reality. Healing flowed from Jesus even when he was not releasing it, because Jesus is the Healer in whom healing virtue resides. As it turns out, the healing touch might not only be about 'him touching us', but also about 'us touching him'. When Jesus is present, healing is present. When we set an Agape Table, Jesus and his healing virtue will be present at that table. Get used to it.#DinnerChurchQuotes: "The church is called to stand at the crossroads where the world feels pain; we must be willing to embrace inconvenient task of taking the healing of Jesus to the pain of the world." -NT Wright#PracticalStuff: We just received word that the American Bible Society is going to print a #JesusStories Bible for us. This bible project will be designed with a secular audience in mind and will include Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, and Acts. The first printing will be coming out on Easter 2021. We are desiring to give a copy to every person Jesus has gathered to our dinner churches. Might you consider the same? If you are interested in receiving some copies on first order, let us know in the comment field below. These will cost around $5 per bible, and there are some grants available for those who need it. Talk to me!Blessings & Boldness,Verlon

The Family Biz...

Oct 29, 2020.We live in a day when there are so many Christian groups doing so many Christian things that it's hard to discern Christianity's MAIN THING. Is it worship? Is it teaching the scriptures? Is it providing a place for believers to meet and grow? Is it to build beautiful campuses that impresses the townspeople? Actually, the life of Jesus cut right through all the religious noise of his day - right from the beginning.#JesusStories: Luke 2 captures a wonderful moment when the boy Jesus demonstrated unusual clarity of eternal things. His parents were returning home after making their annual trip to Jerusalem for the Passover feast. Mary thought the 12 year-old Jesus was riding in the caravan with dad, Joseph thought he was traveling with mom, when actually they had left their boy behind. So in a nervous frenzy they returned to Jerusalem to find Jesus in the Temple discussing mature topics with the temple teachers - who were very impressed by-the-way. When Mary saw him, her pent-up anxiety spilled all over the boy - as any mother would do. Jesus' response was very unexpected: "Did you not know that I must be about My Father's business?" Verse 50 records that they were baffled and did not understand what he was talking about.I'm afraid many church leaders today are similarly mystified; they just don't understand how invested Jesus still is - in The Father's Business. And recent translations of scripture don't help. They have replaced the word 'business' with the word 'house' in this story. I know that every house in that culture had a family business and the terms house and business could be interchangeable. But imagining God's world as a household rather than a family business has not served us well. In recent decades convenience and comfort have become the assumption of the Church, whereas intercession and sacrifice was the assumption in ages past. We have really needed the reminder that every church is supposed to be engaged in the Family Business. And according to Jesus' parable about leaving the 99 behind to go save the one lost lamb, it's clear that the God Family is in the 'rescue business'. May the 12 year-old Jesus steer all of us back into the FAMILY BIZ.#DinnerChurchQuotes: "The disciples inability to comprehend the significance of Jesus’ meal strategy is symbolic of their failure to understand his entire mission." -L.E. Klosinski#PracticalStuff: A buffet table loaded with food is the best metaphor of the gospel we can use today; there was a reason why Jesus spent so much time around food with lost people. Do you need some help getting started with meal prep? The Dinner Church Handbook (available on this website) has 13 menu's in the back that are impressive, inexpensive, big-group-able, and can be prepared by a hack cook in a lousy kitchen.Blessings & Boldness,Verlon

Let It Flow!

Oct 22, 2020.Public speaking is a fearful thing for many people. In truth, many ministers are not as comfortable with it as they appear. This becomes especially true when we are called to break away from prepared teachings and speak extemporaneously. And yet, there are times when the gospel will ask that very thing from us.#JesusStories: In Mark 13, Jesus revealed a time when such great turmoil and persecution would come upon Christians that leaders would find themselves having to defend the Church before courts and governmental leaders. Of course, this happened initially in the book of Acts and later some forty years after the death and resurrection of Christ with the fall of the Temple in Jerusalem. However, some of the words of Jesus in this chapter seem to point to a future event - perhaps what is unfolding in our lifetime. Wars, famines, earthquakes, families turning against each other, and hatred of the Christ-followers are among Jesus' descriptions of a time to come. These things are occurring with greater regularity now than they did in A.D. 70, to be sure. But true to divine form, Jesus made it clear that these seasons of turmoil were also times for the inbreaking Kingdom to advance largely. In verses 9-10 he stated, "But this will be your opportunity to tell them about me. For the Good News must first be preached to all nations." This is a huge insight into the God Family; they charge forward at the exact moment earthly enemies of the Church look invincible. And they direct us, the representatives of Jesus upon the earth, to be the sharp point of the spear by standing up with authoritative speaking and empowered preaching during these seasons. But, this kind of speaking is different than our training - it is more about the 'unction of the Spirit' and less about the 'preparation of the pastor'. Some preachers during the Great Awakening used to talk about their sermons like this, "Read yourself full, pray yourself hot, and let yourself blow." That always makes me laugh, but it was their way of 'flowing with the Spirit'. And there must be something important here, because Jesus Himself said in verse 11, "Don't worry in advance about what to say, Just say what God tells you at that time, for it is not you who will be speaking, but the Holy Spirit." Wow! We all could probably grow in our ability to 'let it flow'. After all, when we speak - we are supposed to be speaking for God. And all the more as we see the day approaching.#DinnerChurchQuotes: Every faith community we have opened includes some form of a table. -Ray O' Leary (Pastor of a church in Dallas TX  with 7 monastic gatherings)#PracticalStuff: In these days of Covid when most Dinner Churches are meeting outside on the sidewalks, there is a potent silver lining - the public gets to see the Church doing church. While it was more comfortable to be indoors, we were also less visible. Setting up canopy tents side-by-side: with buffet tables filled with great food in hot chaffing dishes in one, worship musicians and pastors doing their work from another, and guests gathered and eating in yet other pop-ups. With winter weather approaching, these tents not only shields the rain, but they are cheap, quick to set up, and provide a great picture of Jesus' Church for all passer-by's. Oh the power of a canopy tent!Blessings & Boldness,Verlon

Jesus' Family

Oct 15, 2020.Sometimes we get confused about what it means to be in the family of God. We come by this confusion naturally; it is an understandable occurrence in this 'age of reason' in which we live. Thankfully, our Lord clarifies it for us:#JesusStories: Luke 8 tells of a day Jesus was speaking to the crowd, and his mother and brothers came to check on him. However, they couldn't get to Jesus because the crowd was pressing in on him. So they sent word to Jesus that they were in the crowd and wanted to see him. What Jesus did next was surprising; he used the opportunity to make a HUGE point. He said, "My mother and My brothers are these who hear the word of God and do it." After making his point, I'm sure Jesus made his way toward his family, though Luke did not include it.This was early on in Jesus' ministry, and already he was calling for people to rearrange their schedules around his words. Many today would think this reveals Jesus' authority to expect obedience. However, there was something else going on. In the world of the Hebrews, there was no separation between a thought and a deed. In other words, no one would talk of a thought until the corresponding deed was visible. This idea still stands today in the right-of-passage tradition for a 12-year old Jewish male called the Bar Mitzvah. Interestingly, the word mitzvah means 'a prayer in the form of a deed'. In our Greek-based culture, this is an odd idea. Either someone is praying or they are doing a deed; prayers and deeds are separate ideas. But in the Hebrew understanding they are fused as two sides of the same coin. So when Jesus was telling the people to "act on it", he was was punctuating that the new inbreaking kingdom teaching was SO TRUE, that he and his disciple-family would align their behaviors to whatever was needed to advance it. In other words, they were putting their money and their time where their mouth was. And these ones repeating the kingdom--advancing behaviors were the ones Jesus called family. Wow!This is a significant challenge today. True to our Greek roots we have carved out a state of salvation that has little corresponding actions. Now don't get me wrong, I fully believe that anyone who even calls on the name of the Lord will be saved! And those individuals are immediately adopted into the family of God. So this is not a conversation about who will be in heaven; it is a conversation about who will be able to work with Jesus in bringing the kingdom of heaven upon the earth. Receiving salvation does not require works, but advancing the kingdom of Christ does. Most Christians today are being directed to be 'students of the scriptures' rather than 're-enact the works of Jesus'. Eleven percent of the gospel verses were written while Jesus was with the marginalized; eight percent of the verses captured Jesus doing healings and miracles. Is your time in the word of God leading you to be with the poor? To pray for healings and miracles? To re-enact the behaviors of Jesus we see repeated over and over again in the gospels? I propose that we need a new definition of Christlikeness - one based on what Jesus did with his time, rather than one based on the scriptures we've studied and verses we've memorized. But to the ones working hard to advance the kingdom of heaven in the likeness of Jesus, He was quick to call them family.#DinnerChurchQuotes: "Sorry, we are not going to fix the world with speeches from platforms; we must embrace the relational work of gathering around tables." -Dan white Blessings & Boldness,Verlon

Knock Over Some Tables

Oct 8, 2020.Present-day Christian sensibilities suggest that we should be calm, serene, peaceful and measured leaders at all times. Interesting. Especially against the backdrop that Jesus did not always act that way.#JesusStories: John 2 and Matthew 21 both record Jesus knocking over the moneychangers tables on the front porch of the temple in Jerusalem. These recordings were not different witnesses of the same event - they were two different occurrences altogether. John's version happened right after the wedding in Cana at the beginning of Jesus' ministry, while Matthews story happened right after the Triumphal Entry when Jesus came riding into the city on a colt. In John's account, the disciples remembered the prophecy that passion for God's house would consume the Messiah (Ps. 69:9). The fact that Jesus did this twice makes it very clear that he did not approve of the scam in which the priests declared the peoples sacrificial doves as unclean, and then forcing them to go back out to the vendors on the front porch to buy a "clean" sacrifice at an exorbitant price - after which the sellers and the priests split the profit.Jesus' table-tipping and whip-making behaviors seem brutish to us at first glance, but it was actually a defense of the poor. Many having traveled to Jerusalem for the annual sacrifice had little money left after their journey to afford the approved and up-priced turtledoves. It forced them to use their needed food and travel money to be able to make a sacrifice before the Lord for the sake of their family. And all of this to line the pockets of the priests. Jesus simply could not let this stand. This is not the last time that religious systems would clutter the path of salvation - it happens today too. Denominational formation that begins with well-meaning organizational structures often devolve into cluttering the path between sinner and Savior. Everything from closed communion to confession-heavy 'sinners prayers' to legalistic teaching to the way some unpack 'penal-substitution' can be guilty of this. We need to ponder the path we are creating for lost people in our towns to walk toward Christ. In this day, it is easier to forge man-made requirements for salvation than we can imagine - requirements that Jesus Himself would not ask. There is a reason why only one percent of US churches are effective at leading the secular population to Jesus - we have cluttered the path with our doctrines, our dogma's, and our teachings that sound good to us Judeo's, but that our Lord would not impose on the New Gentiles who live in our neighborhoods. When we see these encroachments on the path of Salvation, someone needs to hear the prophetic call: "The voice of one crying in the wilderness, prepare the way of the Lord; make straight a highway for our God" (Is. 40:3). Pushing hurdles out of the way of sinners with great passion is a significant part of what it means to be Christlike. And it is an ongoing need in this waning chapter of The Day of Salvation. I believe we need an army of Christian Leaders who are so passionate about evangelism that they are willing to knock over some of the tables of our church traditions to make a way for the lost, the least, and the left-behind.#DinnerChurchQuotes: The attention given in the Gospels to meals is an embodiment of Jesus' acceptance of outcasts. The visual art about Jesus from the pre-Constantinian period reveal that two of the most crucial elements of that way of life were 'shared meals' and 'healed lives'. -Julian HillsMay the Lord Bless your Bold Leadership,Verlon 

Called To The Impossible

Oct 1, 2020.It is human nature to desire a comfortable path for our lives and ministries. And sometimes we find seasons when the challenges are few and the budget always balances. But there is a reoccurring theme in the life of Christ that calls to us - that bids us to advance the kingdom of God at all costs and against all odds.#JesusStories: Matt. 19 records a young man coming to Jesus and asking what he must do to have eternal life. Jesus directed him to consider his adherence to the core commandments, to which the man replied he lived up to them all. Then Jesus said, "go sell your possessions, give the money to the poor, and come follow me." To that offer, the man walked away sad because he was very rich. Jesus then turned to his disciples and told them how difficult it is for the rich to enter the kingdom of heaven. The disciples were astonished and asked who in the world could be saved? Jesus looked at them intently and said, "Humanly speaking, it is impossible. But with God everything is possible."This first thing I notice in this story is that the young man was seeking eternal life, when Jesus was inviting him to help usher forth the inbreaking kingdom of God. The disciples weren't much better -  they were wondering who could be saved when Jesus was looking to an advancing mission. This is undoubtedly why Jesus "looked at them intently" - to corral their attention to his deeper call. This is still a problem today; many are seeking for salvation when Jesus is seeking to give them a vital role in ushering the kingdom of light into darkened hearts. But to take on such a role requires us to lay down our shallow spiritual desires and open up our lives to be spent on something big. However, taking on a vital role to advance the inbreaking kingdom of light against the uprising kingdom of darkness is not something mere humans can do. Jesus called these engagements impossible. This work can only done by divine strength. In other words, we must learn to become dependent upon the Spirit of the Lord that has already taken up residency inside of us. This is the reason Jesus asked the young man to let go of his dependency upon a bank account; that young man needed to learn dependency upon the Lord if he were to arise and do the impossible alongside Jesus. In wealthy America, we need to embrace a deeper version of dependency too. By the Spirit flowing out from within us we replicate the works of Christ (Eph. 2:10). And by that same Spirit we destroy the works of the devil (1 Jn 3:8). In these ways we advance the inbreaking Kingdom of God against the uprising kingdom of darkness. If we are going to follow Jesus - get ready to do the impossible. Oh by-the-way, a great place to watch this happen and help this happen is at a Dinner Church. Look no further than a Jesus table to start extending the borders of the Kingdom.#DinnerChurchQuotes: The enemies purpose is to distract us to a lower level of living until we die. -Michael SlaughterBlessings and Boldness,Verlon 

Motivated By Mercy

Sept 24, 2020.It's oft times difficult to understand the attitudes and behaviors of people who walk a different road than we do. And walking a mile in someone else's shoes is a very difficult axiom to actually practice. This story helps...#JesusStories: In Matt. 18 Jesus tells a parable of a king who confronted a man from his realm who owed him 300 million dollars (in todays value). The man fell to his knees and begged for more time to pay the debt. The king felt for the mans situation and rather than placing him in debtors prison, let him go free. Upon leaving the kings court the man found someone who owed him a few thousand dollars and demanded immediate repayment. That debtor fell to his knees and begged for more time, but that request was not accepted and he was thrown into debtors prison. This is the human condition; we all need great mercy and yet we struggle to offer small mercy to others. This is especially true when those around us needing our mercy are too different from us. Back to Jesus parable, I would suggest that any man owing millions is likely an upperclass businessman, while any man owing small amounts is probably a wage earner. They were from different worlds. Before we distance ourselves from this story, a moment of honesty is needed here. How often have you seen someone holding a sign on a corner and whispered to yourself, "Wouldn't it be easier if you just got a job?" Or when hearing of someone shoplifting, did you feel a slight disgust? It is hard at those moments to understand the conditions that motivate desperate and resourceless people. Even Solomon prayed that he never be so poor that he would be tempted to steal. (Prov. 30:9). We need some divine help if we are going to hold this issue rightly.The Eastern Church has something to teach us on this front; one of their oldest congregational prayers is the Kyrie Eleison which means "Lord have Mercy." Something quite profound occurs when we learn to lean into the deep mercy of Christ on a consistent basis. Though some Reformation-Era theologies have obscured this truth, it can be recovered through practicing the 'Merciful Christ' prayer. As Jesus parable suggests, his mercy for us is 300M immeasurable; the more we live in the assumption of immense mercy, the more we become practiced in offering it to others. My father-in-law used to practice mercy with this saying, "be kind to people; everyone is fighting a battle." In Christ's immeasurable mercy we find our strength, and with that same mercy we strengthen others.#DinnerChurchQuotes: "The first command of God in the garden is 'eat freely’; the last command in Revelation is ‘drink freely’; everything in between is a table where we eat with God and each other." -Leonard SweetBlessings & Boldness, Verlon  

Regaining Our Missional Traction

Sept 17, 2020.We often assume that gospel stories are the entry level materials of faith - often reserved for children and first believers. This would be wrong. I propose that the greatest instruction for church leaders are held in Jesus' words. We might want to look at them again through leadership eyes.#JesusStories: Luke 4 records a day when Jesus walked into a synagogue and asked if they would permit him to do the reading that day from the prophet Isaiah. While all eyes were upon him, he read this prophecy, "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because He has anointed Me to preach the good news to the poor; He has sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to set at liberty all who are oppressed; to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord." Then after a long pause while everyones eyes were fixed upon him, he said, "Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing." Wow, I would have love to have been there. This was no normal day at synagogue. It was the formal announcement of something new happening on earth - what Paul called 'The Day of Salvation'. Jesus made it clear in that moment what the world should expect from him going forward. Isaiah's forecasted list would now become the repeating 'Works' that Jesus would use to birth the inbreaking Kingdom of God upon the earth. I am taken this morning with the line "preach the good news to the poor." Most preaching today in America is done to the middle and upperclass people who have been listening to scriptural teaching every week for decades. The lower-third of our population is seldom included. Sad but true. Preaching has become an art-form for the 'already gathered' to the exclusion of the 'not yets'. But Isaiah predicted, and Jesus affirmed that preaching to the 'not-yets' and the isolated would be a cornerstone of his regular activity. When John's disciples were sent to ask Jesus if he was really the Messiah, he sent them back to report that the poor are being preached to; that was the only evidence John would need. This is potent information for Christian leaders today. An unexplainable anointing begins to flow upon any ministry and church that finds a way, any way, to preach the good news to the poor and the 'not yets' - it changes everything in that church. Here is the truth of it: We too can walk in a new anointing, preach powerfully to the poor, heal those who are broken in all kinds of ways, rescue our neighbors from the strongman's oppressions, and to make the announcement that there is no time like the present to receive Jesus' strength in your life. I honestly wonder if recommitting to these 'Works of Christ' is the fastest way for any leader, any ministry, or any church to regain their traction?#DinnerChurchQuotes: "To oppose the gospel of Jesus is like hitting jello with a sledge hammer - it splatters all over the walls in four directions." -The Anonymous Theologian. (Note: Dinner Churches thrive in the splattering gospel - especially after evil has done its worst to suppress, repress, and oppress)Blessings upon your work for the frontlines of the Gospel,Verlon.

An Inner Voice

Sept 10, 2020

#JesusStories: In Matt. 7, Jesus told a story about a person who built their house on sand, and in the day of storm that house came down with a "great crash". He went on to say that anyone who builds their life upon human ideas & perspectives is building on sand. Conversely, anyone who builds their life upon Christ’s words and perspectives would be building upon rock. 

This is a foundational gospel story, because it leads us to consider where we draw our knowledge from. The academic word for this is “epistemology”. Everyone is born with two streams of information flowing into them: their experiences & others experiences. But, when we invite Jesus to live in us, a third epistemology is born - the voice of Christ. It is a good thing to ask ourselves the question, “How much time am I downloading information each day from other people’s perspectives? And how much am I downloading the voice of Christ/Wisdom/Peace/Strength/Good Works?” Feasting on everyone else’s words & starving ourselves from Christ’s words sets up a crumbling & crashing future. May Jesus’ words become LOUD in you today!                                                                                                                             

#DinnerChurchQuotes: "I want the holiness of the Eucharist to spill out beyond the church walls and onto the streets, sidewalks, backyards, dining rooms, tables, and into the hands of grubby people like you and me." -Shauna Niequist 

-Verlon

The Unwanted Step-Child of Missiology

Missiology is the equal blend of theology and sociology. However, most church leaders went to seminary to become theologians not sociologists. So it is not unreasonable that most would prefer to focus on theology to the exclusion of sociology. However, this oversight has caused us to drift toward the ditch of being so heavenly minded that we are of no earthly good. Now don’t get me wrong, we are of great good to Christians, but because of sociological inattention we are almost invisible to the unchurched. One only needs to look at the eighty-five percent of churches that are stalled and declining, and the 96 church closures each week to see that we are ineffective in reaching new and unchurched populations at our gatherings. The church in America does not have a theological problem, but we do have a sociological problem. And as long as we continue to understand our declines through theological lenses, we will continue to misdiagnose our situation, and will continue to consider solutions like “more prayer”, “more moving of the Spirit”, and “better worship.” While these things are all wonderful and I believe in and practice them all, they are not the reason for our declines.Jesus told an interesting parable that I find is misunderstood all across the land – the parable of the wineskins. In Jesus story he made it clear that new wine cannot be put in old wine bottles, because when the wine expands it will break the skins and spill the wine. While most understand the principle, we need to meditate on what the wineskins represents. The pressure that forced Jesus to tell this story was that he was doing things with his disciples that ignored the inflated rules of Judaism. When the Pharisees confronted him on it, he explained that a new wine was coming, and that new wine would need to be housed in a different structure than the 613 rules and ways of Judaism. Jesus’ point? When new wine pours out of heaven, a different sociological structure would be needed to house that new wine. Thus, Jesus was developing a new wineskin (way of functioning) to handle the new wine (the inbreaking Kingdom). Wow.In this day, the Lord is pouring out many new wines upon the church. However, if we insist that all of that wine be forced into our religious organizational patterns and our worship gathering approaches, it is likely that those sociological structures will burst and the new wine will spill. I wonder how much new wine has been spilled in church board rooms where defenders of the status quo have insisted that a new proposed church-plant be merged into their present ways of doing church? Until leaders are willing to create new sociological structure for new missional ideas, they will continue to miss the point of Jesus’ new wine and new wineskins parable.Fresh Expressions is based on the missiological theory of ReMissioning. Simply stated, ReMissioning means doing church for people who don’t do church, and in a way that fits their sociology, and not any traditional sociologies. The Gospel is the same, but everything else might be very different. The way your church is doing church is the result of years and layers of sociological adaptations. In other words, you liked your way into the way you do church now. It is far less theological than you think, and far more sociological than you’ve probably considered.The missiological discipline of ReMissioning forces us to build new wineskins for any new wine that is being poured out for a new people. And these new wineskins are different sociological constructs that fits an unreached people. In fact, if churched people like a new church plant vision, it might be the greatest indicator that it is destined for failure because it is based on churched sociologies rather than new wineskins. Just because we felt Jesus in sacred spaces on Sunday mornings while the organ was playing doesn’t mean the unchurched will feel Jesus that way. In fact, if they did feel Jesus that way, they would have probably already have joined our Sunday morning gatherings. But they haven’t. That should say something to us; it should say they need a form of church that allows them to feel the divine invite of Christ in a way that is true to their sociology. If there is no organ, is it still church? If there is no 30-minute sermon, is it still church? And if there is no sanctuary or formal communion, is it still church? The answer might surprise you. If the gospel is being shared, if people are being pointed to Christ, and if they are being shaped in the likeness of Christ, then yes, Yes, and YES…it is a church, irregardless of its format. Welcome to the world of ReMissioning. And may the Spirit give us new sociologies of church to house new wine for new people.-Verlon

Hosting a dinner for your community against the backdrop of Christian history

For many homes, dinnertime has been revisioned as TV time. Somehow, we have lost the power of the dinner table to shape society. Even the church has lost how powerful a dinner table can be, especially when it comes to reaching unchurched people. With the majority of churches and Christians lagging in confidence when it comes to sharing their faith, perhaps now is the time to remember the power of a Jesus table. If you are proposing having your church do a community dinner soon, you are proposing a great thing. Below are a few tips for hosting a Jesus table.

Embracing the Dinner Table History

Jesus spent a lot of His time around tables. In fact, J. Crossan suggests that to watch a day in the life of Jesus would be to watch him mostly healing and eating. Other scholars, like Christine Pohl agree, and points out that Jesus’ supper times were a consistent and prominent part of His mission. That is a powerful insight. It doesn’t take long to see in the Gospels how many times Jesus reclined at dinner tables with scurrilous people, so much so that in Luke 7:34 he garnered the reputation of being a glutton, a drunkard, and a friend of sinners. But this was part of our Lord’s divine strategy to download the kingdom of God onto the earth and into the hearts of the irreligious. Christine Pohl goes on to say that these dinners were intended by Jesus to be an invitation to faith. In this way Jesus embedded the gospel into the dinner table sociology. This is the spiritual reason the church grew from hundreds to millions while it was using the dinner table theology. This is our history and our heritage. So, any group that is preparing a dinner table in the likeness of Christ is actually preparing a colorful vision of the Gospel.

Hosting tip #1: Serve the food in a way that reveals the abundance and generosity of the gospel; and expect people to be drawn to Christ.

Invite the Unlikely

The warmth of Christ in our hearts gives us a wonderful sense of fellowship. So warm is that feeling that some never wants to leave their Christian friends to reach the unchurched. It is a very good thing that the people who invited you and me into the God-Family did not think that way. Every church must be reminded from time to time to include people who have little to offer back. This is actually supposed to be at the heart of Christian food events. In Luke 14:12-14 Jesus instructed the hearers not to invite people for a banquet who can return the favor, but instead invite those who cannot pay you back. We see such an important interchange in Luke 19:5 where Jesus saw Zacchaeus up in a tree and invited himself over for dinner. There are a couple key things to note from this story: First, not all isolated people are poor; and Second, as they ate together Zacchaeus opened up his heart and changed his life. This is the power of a table when Jesus is sitting at it; that is also the power of a table when Jesus’ people are sitting at it.

Hosting tip #2: Invite some people to your dinner who are not likely to be invited to other tables; and eat with them rather than serving them.

When Jesus Shows Up

Jesus loved the dinner table. This is something the Early Church understood that we have not. In fact, the Early Church held that Jesus might even show up in a physical form during their dinners, like he did to the guys on the road to Emmaus and the disciples behind locked doors in an upper chamber. Those events and more created a sense among the Early Church that He might just do it again. Some of those Agape Feast events went so far as to set an empty chair for Him. That anticipation lasted clear until long after the Constantinian turn. And in fact, I propose that is what drove the formation of the doctrine of transubstantiation.The American church needs to recover the idea that Christ will actually show up if we set up a Jesus table. Many Christ followers give learned assent to the theology of Omnipresence, but do not grasp the promise of an increased presence at a Jesus table. What will actually happen in any room, which is being hosted by Christ followers, is on a far higher level than food and fellowship – it is a divine invite to come and have dinner with Jesus. Let us stop and consider how compelling of an offer that is. To have dinner with Jesus is to have dinner with the Healer, the Comforter, the Savior, and the Provider. In short, a Jesus table is a portal between the house of God and the house of man. And that is no small opportunity.

Hosting tip #3: Expect Jesus to show up and do some unexplainable things for your guests; He would not miss it for the world.

Conclusion

A Jesus dinner table is a powerful thing. Not only is it the ultimate image of inclusion in God’s generous family, but it is also an invitation to restart our lives while eating with Christ and Christ’s people. Properly understood, we can change the world with a dinner table.Revelation 3:20 reveals a picture of Jesus knocking on the door of peoples lives, and whoever opens that door will find that our Lord still wants to simply have dinner with them. That is heartbeat of a Jesus table; that is the divine spark that will be present in your banquet room. Have your group set an abundant table; invite the unlikely, sit to eat with them, and Jesus will show up. After all, your dinner is actually His dinner.

Jesus’ Dinner Table

We live in a day that holds deep assumptions about the way church is done. We assume exclusive religious spaces, teaching-centric gatherings, congregational liturgies, and musical worship experiences. The reformers gave us these ideas of church five hundred years ago, and we have become serious disciples of their ways. Interestingly, this approach is not found in the scriptures, nor is it how church was done for the first three hundred years of Christianity.

An Overlooked Piece of Christian History

The apostolic era practiced church primarily around dinner tables. Whether it was the house churches introduced in the Book of Acts, or the Agape’ churches introduced in the Epistles, they were both done around tables of food at dinnertime. The dinner table setting of the first Christians is usually overlooked in today’s theological discussions, but its implications are very deep and worthy of serious reflection.Jesus himself used the dinner table and dinnertime throughout his ministry. J. Crossen states that if one were to watch a day in the life of Jesus, they would mostly see him healing and eating. Jesus performed much of his salvific work from a dinner table; many of the parables were told from a dinner table; numerous kingdom metaphors assumed a dinner table. It is not a mystery then why the Acts house churches and the Gentile Agape’ churches functioned around dinner tables; they were given that pattern by Jesus himself.During the Last Supper, Jesus took an annual dinner event and turned it into a vision for doing church by telling his disciples to now start doing this “whenever” they met, to continue to gather the poor and the stranger to their table, and “remember him” instead of remembering the rescue event from Egypt. In so doing, Jesus embedded the gospel into the dinner table sociology, and his disciples obviously caught that vision. The gospel found a comfortable home at the dinner table and at dinnertimes. The familial setting of the dinnertime table made it easy to gather people to the family of God. During the three hundred years when Christian gatherings were Dinner Churches, the church grew from 20,000 to over 20 million. In other words, many sinners met their Savior over tables of food.

Our Sociological Problem

There is something winsome about inviting people to dinner that cannot be paralleled by inviting people to a teaching event. Leaders of the reformation era that we inhabit, truly needs to meditate upon what we are actually asking the unchurched population to come to? Then follow up that meditation with another – would inviting their neighbors to dinner be more compelling? In fact, take a moment right now and imagine you are inviting one of your secular neighbors to come to a worship gathering with you. Now imagine you are inviting that same neighbor to come over for dinner with your family. Which invite do you think they would garner the most likely “yes”? For people who have an understanding of church in their background, or people who have a primed interest in Christianity, the proclamation-event would be considered. But for people with no church sociology in their background and have low interest in the Christian message, a proclamation event holds little appeal. With this in mind, I propose that the American church has a sociological problem. There is nothing wrong with our gospel, but our way of doing church does not match the sociological realities of the seculars who now dominate the almost every zip code across our nation. And yet, the church is called to lead seculars to Jesus. We cannot just focus on the Judeo’s (those who already understand church sociology), we must do church for the Seculars too.Jesus told an interesting parable about what to do with “new wine”. He stated that new wine required “new wineskins”, because to put new wine in old wineskins would burst the skins and spill the wine. I see this parable being lived out across the land. New outreach ideas are filled with an assumption that the new people will soon be brought to their Sunday morning worship gatherings. And when they refuse to come, the church is disappointed and stops the outreach. In other words, the wineskin is broken and the new wine is spilled. Church after church is trying to create new wine, but are unquestionably trying to put it in the same bottle they are used to, rather than a new sociological construct (a new form of church) that better fits the sociology of the new people. Some churches have even gotten into an endless loop of looking for an effective outreach that will merge well with their Sunday proclamation-event. And they have never stopped to consider that their proclamation-event is what needs to be changed, rather than looking for the more effective outreach. The sociological construct that the reformers gave us has been great for many of us, but it simply does not match the sociological realities of those we are called to reach that populate our cities.Dinner With Sinners:There is a very interesting verse in Revelation 3:20 that reveals an ongoing desire of our Lord for us to consider:“Behold I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice andopens the door, I will come in to him and DINE with him, and he with Me.”If these poetic words mean anything, it suggests that Jesus still wants to have dinner with sinners. It is clear in the New Testament that Jesus loved having sinners, publicans, tax-collectors, and the like at his table. In fact, that habit brought more than a little controversy from the religious class. But he wasn’t dissuaded; he continued to be “a friend of sinners”(Luke 7:34) and welcome them at his table. And interestingly, he still wants to have dinner with sinners. The only question remaining is, “who is going to set his table?” Could it be, that setting a table for sinners, seculars, and strangers to have dinner with Jesus might be one of the great callings of the church? What if when Jesus was telling Peter to “feed his sheep”, he wasn’t speaking metaphorically, but was actually directing him to a physical table?All of these questions, verses, and more is what informs the Dinner Church movement. And true to the reformation era, groups that decide work with Jesus at one of his dinner tables find their rooms filling up with strangers, sinners, the poor and the new Gentiles (Seculars). Let me say it one more time: Jesus still wants to have dinner with sinners.