Dear friends and supporters,
We celebrate the marriage of Colleen and Dylan who married on January 23rd, a beautiful day. We thank Colleen for the life and love she has brought to the Whitehouse and look forward to the ways Dylan and Colleen will continue to share themselves in our little community.
In running with the theme, we celebrate the engagement of Ben and Carly! 3 weddings thus far, 4 engagements and a baby! Not a bad effort in our short existence as the Whitehouse community!
We welcome Jules into the community who has brought a brilliant energy and honesty into the house as well as Colin, Paula and little Riley. The Loves have always been part of the heart of soul of the Whitehouse and now they have taken the bold step of immersing themselves entirely in the community by living in the house. They inspire us with their willingness to do the things that other people write-off as impractical or unrealistic and bless us with their incredible gifts, passion and humour.
We farewell Pip who has taken up an exciting job in Pt Lincoln, grieving her absence but delighting in the God-given tasks that lay before her.
We miss and pray for Sam and Kelsey who following their wedding have set off for Germany as a part of Sam's studies.
And we thank God for the way He keeps meeting our needs and filling us with a strange hope.
At the moment we're spending some time focusing on the three major themes of our DNA as a house, Community, Mission and Discipleship. It's been heartwarming to see the way people have taken on board such leadership in different areas from overseeing finance and property matters to overseeing mission initiatives. Everyone contributes something essential to the life of the house and it's exciting to reflect on some of the things that are brewing in our midst. If you'd like to come and be a part of things at all, we welcome people along to our Sunday gatherings at the Whitehouse (they run from 11am until we're so hungry that we can't concentrate any more). We're looking at having a monthly structure that looks something like the following:
Week 1 - TEAR group (The TEAR Group represents the Whitehouse Community’s commitment to social justice issues as we partner closely with TEAR.)
Week 2 - Small groups (A week set aside to encourage prayerful nurture and accountability.)
Week 3 - Teaching (A week of teaching to ensure that the life of the house is infused with the depth and meaning encountered in the scriptures.)
Week 4 - Story Sharing and Commissioning (Story sharing and commissioning helps individuals to become known in community, celebrating their gifts and hopes and helps us to remember what God has done in and through us as we look to the future.)
If you're of the praying persuasion:
There's some rumblings and some conversations about the possibility of working towards having a sister community in the Adelaide Hills, hopefully up and running by the end of the year. It'd be great comfort for all of us who hate having to turn people away in need. Pray for vision, people who hear the call to be involved and a suitable property!
Pray for our young people who are transitioning into independent living, that they'd feel equipped and good living options would become available.
Pray for more funding options as we continue to dig deep to pay the rent.
Thank God for the way he's provided above and beyond with people and resources, we've seen such wonderful commitment, daring and imagination placed on the hearts and minds of the people living in the house who continue to make the house what it is, but always spur each other on so that it can become more.
Tuesday, January 26, 2010
Sunday, December 6, 2009
Romero's Prayer
Oscar A Romero, Archbishop of San Salvador in El Salvador, who was assassinated on March 24, 1980, prayed:
It helps now and then to step back and take the long view.
The kingdom is not only beyond our efforts,
It is even beyond our vision.
We accomplish in our lifetime only a tiny fraction of the magnificent enterprise that is God’s work.
Nothing we do is complete.
Which is another way of saying that the kingdom of God lies beyond us.
No statement says all that should be said.
No prayer fully expresses our faith.
No confession brings perfection.
No pastoral visit brings wholeness.
No program accomplishes the church’s mission.
No set of goals and objectives includes everything.
This is what we are about.
We plant the seeds that one day will grow.
We water seeds already planted knowing that they hold future promise.
We lay foundations that will need further development.
We provide yeast that produces effects far beyond our capability.
We cannot do everything.
And there is a sense of liberation in realising that this enables us to do something.
And to do it very well.
It may be incomplete – but it is a beginning.
A step along the way.
An opportunity for the Lord’s grace to enter and to do the rest.
We may never see the results, but that is the difference between the master builder and the apprentice.
We are apprentices not master builders.
We are ministers not messiahs.
We are prophets of a future that is not our own.
Holy Spirit come.
Amen
It helps now and then to step back and take the long view.
The kingdom is not only beyond our efforts,
It is even beyond our vision.
We accomplish in our lifetime only a tiny fraction of the magnificent enterprise that is God’s work.
Nothing we do is complete.
Which is another way of saying that the kingdom of God lies beyond us.
No statement says all that should be said.
No prayer fully expresses our faith.
No confession brings perfection.
No pastoral visit brings wholeness.
No program accomplishes the church’s mission.
No set of goals and objectives includes everything.
This is what we are about.
We plant the seeds that one day will grow.
We water seeds already planted knowing that they hold future promise.
We lay foundations that will need further development.
We provide yeast that produces effects far beyond our capability.
We cannot do everything.
And there is a sense of liberation in realising that this enables us to do something.
And to do it very well.
It may be incomplete – but it is a beginning.
A step along the way.
An opportunity for the Lord’s grace to enter and to do the rest.
We may never see the results, but that is the difference between the master builder and the apprentice.
We are apprentices not master builders.
We are ministers not messiahs.
We are prophets of a future that is not our own.
Holy Spirit come.
Amen
Sunday, November 1, 2009
A Full Life in the Emptiest of Places
Today we reflected on our communities.
We lamented that neighbours are too often strangers who live near us,
And that it's sad when we have to pay people to help us.
We found it strange to think that we live in a culture that maintains such high walls between ourselves and our neighbours, wants so little of God or church, and yet longs so sincerely to be famous, to be known, to have significance.
And yet we also sensed a greater hope,
In which life streams forth from the church,
To the streets, to peoples homes
Into the lives of lonely, disconnected people.
And though we may have secretly thought that no change was possible,
God reminded us who He is,
That the very soil beneath our feet can be changed,
Transformed, restored
If we'll only dig our roots deep into Him.
A salt bush has a capacity to tolerate the most barren of environments
Environments suffering so much degradation from human irresponsibility
And there, in the midst of the lifelessness, it plays a part in rehabilitation
Restoration
And things are changed
All we thought we knew, gives way to the new.
Isaiah 58
9-12"If you get rid of unfair practices,
quit blaming victims,
quit gossiping about other people's sins,
If you are generous with the hungry
and start giving yourselves to the down-and-out,
Your lives will begin to glow in the darkness,
your shadowed lives will be bathed in sunlight.
I will always show you where to go.
I'll give you a full life in the emptiest of places—
firm muscles, strong bones.
You'll be like a well-watered garden,
a gurgling spring that never runs dry.
You'll use the old rubble of past lives to build anew,
rebuild the foundations from out of your past.
You'll be known as those who can fix anything,
restore old ruins, rebuild and renovate,
make the community livable again.
We lamented that neighbours are too often strangers who live near us,
And that it's sad when we have to pay people to help us.
We found it strange to think that we live in a culture that maintains such high walls between ourselves and our neighbours, wants so little of God or church, and yet longs so sincerely to be famous, to be known, to have significance.
And yet we also sensed a greater hope,
In which life streams forth from the church,
To the streets, to peoples homes
Into the lives of lonely, disconnected people.
And though we may have secretly thought that no change was possible,
God reminded us who He is,
That the very soil beneath our feet can be changed,
Transformed, restored
If we'll only dig our roots deep into Him.
A salt bush has a capacity to tolerate the most barren of environments
Environments suffering so much degradation from human irresponsibility
And there, in the midst of the lifelessness, it plays a part in rehabilitation
Restoration
And things are changed
All we thought we knew, gives way to the new.
Isaiah 58
9-12"If you get rid of unfair practices,
quit blaming victims,
quit gossiping about other people's sins,
If you are generous with the hungry
and start giving yourselves to the down-and-out,
Your lives will begin to glow in the darkness,
your shadowed lives will be bathed in sunlight.
I will always show you where to go.
I'll give you a full life in the emptiest of places—
firm muscles, strong bones.
You'll be like a well-watered garden,
a gurgling spring that never runs dry.
You'll use the old rubble of past lives to build anew,
rebuild the foundations from out of your past.
You'll be known as those who can fix anything,
restore old ruins, rebuild and renovate,
make the community livable again.
Tuesday, August 18, 2009
Series One Finale
Television shows guarantee a cliffhanger at the end of a series, with tantalising promises of drama, intrigue and joy. Welcome to the finale of White House Community Season One.
Series one has seen the birth of a community united by a greater purpose, sustained by respect and fun and energised by beautiful hopes and promises. What a joy it's been to see stirring and dreaming turn into reality.
We have learnt that if you dare to do the ridiculous, God will do the impossible.
We have recognised that we ought to be more afraid of our faith being irrelevant and meaningless than the fact that the risks we take might blow up in our face.
We have been stirred by the challenge to ensure that listening is accompanied by action - on God's terms, not our own, but for our own sakes, for plans of good men and women will never be good enough; they will never be big enough, wonderful enough - they will always be restricted by common sense and apparent circumstances. God-plans are not subject to such limitations.
We have discovered that you can pray for as many different things as you like but it is simple faith in the goodness of God that is the greatest thing that you can be given.
And so, as we enter the final stages of season one we welcome new faces - new permanent house mates, new young people. We farewell old house mates, temporary visitors and prepare for new life and celebrate fresh love. We seek to hold on to the amazing things we have come to learn together and ask God that we would continue to be challenged, animated and guided by the radical impulse of his Holy Spirit.
Pray that season 2 would be just as life-giving.
Series one has seen the birth of a community united by a greater purpose, sustained by respect and fun and energised by beautiful hopes and promises. What a joy it's been to see stirring and dreaming turn into reality.
We have learnt that if you dare to do the ridiculous, God will do the impossible.
We have recognised that we ought to be more afraid of our faith being irrelevant and meaningless than the fact that the risks we take might blow up in our face.
We have been stirred by the challenge to ensure that listening is accompanied by action - on God's terms, not our own, but for our own sakes, for plans of good men and women will never be good enough; they will never be big enough, wonderful enough - they will always be restricted by common sense and apparent circumstances. God-plans are not subject to such limitations.
We have discovered that you can pray for as many different things as you like but it is simple faith in the goodness of God that is the greatest thing that you can be given.
And so, as we enter the final stages of season one we welcome new faces - new permanent house mates, new young people. We farewell old house mates, temporary visitors and prepare for new life and celebrate fresh love. We seek to hold on to the amazing things we have come to learn together and ask God that we would continue to be challenged, animated and guided by the radical impulse of his Holy Spirit.
Pray that season 2 would be just as life-giving.
Tuesday, June 30, 2009
BLESSED ARE THE MERCIFUL, FOR THEY WILL BE SHOWN MERCY
Lord you have wired mercy into our being!
We know intuitively not to harm, whoever we are, wherever we come from.
But even this, this is only the tip of the iceberg.
You ask that we would not only be harmless,
but that we would treat others as we would like to be treated.
As those who love to be blessed we join as one to be a blessing.
As those who love mercy, help us to be merciful to others.
Remind us Lord, that we have life because of your own merciful choice.
May we live out our gratitude, loving others as we have been loved.
Help us to feel what others feel Lord to such an extent that our actions are no longer left "un-checked"
May our judgments be tempered with mercy and empathy.
May we delight in letting people off the hook,
giving people ourselves rather than our animosity.
Because when we come to you your hands are not tightly clenched and ready to strike,
they extend kindness, generosity and support.
Your arms remain open.
Make us like you, more and more.
Amen.
We know intuitively not to harm, whoever we are, wherever we come from.
But even this, this is only the tip of the iceberg.
You ask that we would not only be harmless,
but that we would treat others as we would like to be treated.
As those who love to be blessed we join as one to be a blessing.
As those who love mercy, help us to be merciful to others.
Remind us Lord, that we have life because of your own merciful choice.
May we live out our gratitude, loving others as we have been loved.
Help us to feel what others feel Lord to such an extent that our actions are no longer left "un-checked"
May our judgments be tempered with mercy and empathy.
May we delight in letting people off the hook,
giving people ourselves rather than our animosity.
Because when we come to you your hands are not tightly clenched and ready to strike,
they extend kindness, generosity and support.
Your arms remain open.
Make us like you, more and more.
Amen.
Thursday, June 25, 2009
Tuesday, June 23, 2009
BLESSED ARE THOSE WHO HUNGER AND THIRST FOR RIGHTEOUSNESS
Lord our appetites leave a lot to be desired.
Create a new hunger within us Jesus, a new thirst,
a taste for seeing the world as it ought to be.
Redeem our desires Lord, shape them with your love.
Help us to love justice,
to long for the deliverance of those exploited,
and liberation for those caught up in cycles of violence.
More than that, help us to love people in such a way that we reach out and embrace.
May just communities that include the powerless and loveless spring up.
May we gather for worthy causes,
may this be our zeal, our obsession.
Ruling over people brings no revolution.
May we come together not for our own strength or benefit,
but to lay down our lives in our commitment to those who are pushed to the margins.
May we join in the plight of others,
May we refuse to remain idle.
Hold us to our prayers Jesus, amen.
Create a new hunger within us Jesus, a new thirst,
a taste for seeing the world as it ought to be.
Redeem our desires Lord, shape them with your love.
Help us to love justice,
to long for the deliverance of those exploited,
and liberation for those caught up in cycles of violence.
More than that, help us to love people in such a way that we reach out and embrace.
May just communities that include the powerless and loveless spring up.
May we gather for worthy causes,
may this be our zeal, our obsession.
Ruling over people brings no revolution.
May we come together not for our own strength or benefit,
but to lay down our lives in our commitment to those who are pushed to the margins.
May we join in the plight of others,
May we refuse to remain idle.
Hold us to our prayers Jesus, amen.
Monday, June 15, 2009
Sunday, June 14, 2009
BLESSED ARE THE MEEK
Lord we act as those completely at the mercy of our passions, our hurts, as if our path is dictated by what happens to us and around us.
We get hurt and then we hurt others.
And we get stuck in this game of who can hurt who the most.
But there is no force, control, or coercion in your nature.
You don't conquer through violence and domination.
You come with an unconquerable love that has the capacity to withstand the greatest degrees of unlove and hostility.
You redefine our ideas of justice.
What is just? What is right?
We learn that cycles of hurt and pain do not make the world a better place.
You challenge us to be angry, but respond in a different way, a higher way, your way.
Teach us forgiveness, help us to show restraint.
Let us in on a strength we barely even understand.
Help us to treat others as we would like them to treat us - especially when they're treating us so poorly.
And may we not stand by when others are being profoundly harmed when we have the capacity to do something about that.
Shape us Lord, Amen.
We get hurt and then we hurt others.
And we get stuck in this game of who can hurt who the most.
But there is no force, control, or coercion in your nature.
You don't conquer through violence and domination.
You come with an unconquerable love that has the capacity to withstand the greatest degrees of unlove and hostility.
You redefine our ideas of justice.
What is just? What is right?
We learn that cycles of hurt and pain do not make the world a better place.
You challenge us to be angry, but respond in a different way, a higher way, your way.
Teach us forgiveness, help us to show restraint.
Let us in on a strength we barely even understand.
Help us to treat others as we would like them to treat us - especially when they're treating us so poorly.
And may we not stand by when others are being profoundly harmed when we have the capacity to do something about that.
Shape us Lord, Amen.
Tuesday, June 9, 2009
COMMUNITY MEANS EVERY PERSON PARTICIPATING IN THE LIFE OF THE HOUSE
By now the house has a bit of a life of its own as we have settled into some natural rhythms and practices. We meet on a set night to discuss house matters and make decisions together. We gather each Sunday for reflection and prayer. We each have our nights where we make sure we're home to spend time with the young people in our care and share dinner with them. Having said that there's been a lot that has gone into getting the initiative off the ground and even now there are key areas to not only keep on top of but to see that we keep growing in these areas, using our God-given skills, innovation and imagination. We see these each of these areas as a shared responsibility but we're currently working towards matching people up with roles to oversee as part of the house. We see the following as important areas to maintain and develop:
Community care - ensuring that as a community we're looking out for each other, that we are making space for rest and fun and closer relationships.
Finance and property - making sure that money is coming in and out in an appropriate manner, that the house itself is being looked after properly and our relationship with the real estate agents is being nurtured.
Mission initiatives - being committed to using our gifts and passions to go and bless people and places that God calls us to.
Discipleship - ensuring that we are growing in our faith, letting go of things that don't belong, learning to hear from God more and more
Youth Support - making sure that the young people in our care are supported, safe and feeling at home as they work towards independent living.
Networking and partnerships - building important relationships with those who can strengthen and empower the vision of the house.
Hospitality - creating a genuinely inviting space for people in our homes, in our lives with food, drink, laughter, kindness and celebration.
We make decisions prayerfully and thoughtfully together. We recognise that autonomy creates a satisfied minority at odds with a dissatisfied majority whereas democracy creates a satisfied majority at odds with a dissatisfied minority. We believe that it is only through consensus and every one participating in the decisions of the house that true community can be created. No individual runs the shop. This seems to us to be the best possible environment for encouraging creativity and imagination, initiative and innovation, nurturing and unleashing gifts and passions, taking responsibility and developing leadership.
Pray that we'd continue to love and serve each other in the house in all the areas that we need to attend to, that God would give us inspiration and energy and that as we make decisions together we'd do so in the most loving and faithful ways.
Community care - ensuring that as a community we're looking out for each other, that we are making space for rest and fun and closer relationships.
Finance and property - making sure that money is coming in and out in an appropriate manner, that the house itself is being looked after properly and our relationship with the real estate agents is being nurtured.
Mission initiatives - being committed to using our gifts and passions to go and bless people and places that God calls us to.
Discipleship - ensuring that we are growing in our faith, letting go of things that don't belong, learning to hear from God more and more
Youth Support - making sure that the young people in our care are supported, safe and feeling at home as they work towards independent living.
Networking and partnerships - building important relationships with those who can strengthen and empower the vision of the house.
Hospitality - creating a genuinely inviting space for people in our homes, in our lives with food, drink, laughter, kindness and celebration.
We make decisions prayerfully and thoughtfully together. We recognise that autonomy creates a satisfied minority at odds with a dissatisfied majority whereas democracy creates a satisfied majority at odds with a dissatisfied minority. We believe that it is only through consensus and every one participating in the decisions of the house that true community can be created. No individual runs the shop. This seems to us to be the best possible environment for encouraging creativity and imagination, initiative and innovation, nurturing and unleashing gifts and passions, taking responsibility and developing leadership.
Pray that we'd continue to love and serve each other in the house in all the areas that we need to attend to, that God would give us inspiration and energy and that as we make decisions together we'd do so in the most loving and faithful ways.
Sunday, June 7, 2009
BLESSED ARE THOSE WHO MOURN
It would be easy, Lord, to not think about the way things really are.
To live in our little worlds,
Worlds that are safe, protected, affluent.
Surely those who are ignorant are blessed?
Not according to you.
You sound a wake-up call to all those with ears to hear,
Eyes that see,
Hearts that feel.
And your Spirit moves in us, stirring our hearts so that ours might beat in time with yours.
And in the process Lord we feel this discontent, a restlessness.
It's so much harder to accept the present state of affairs.
We become aware of human suffering and we can no longer remain as we are.
As we identify with you we identify with the marginalized, distressed, disabled, and disadvantaged.
Jesus help us to cry out, lament and wail prophetically,
To mourn without being crushed,
And to find hope and see you at work.
Comfort those who have lost much.
Come Lord Jesus, may your Spirit bring life in abundance.
Amen.
To live in our little worlds,
Worlds that are safe, protected, affluent.
Surely those who are ignorant are blessed?
Not according to you.
You sound a wake-up call to all those with ears to hear,
Eyes that see,
Hearts that feel.
And your Spirit moves in us, stirring our hearts so that ours might beat in time with yours.
And in the process Lord we feel this discontent, a restlessness.
It's so much harder to accept the present state of affairs.
We become aware of human suffering and we can no longer remain as we are.
As we identify with you we identify with the marginalized, distressed, disabled, and disadvantaged.
Jesus help us to cry out, lament and wail prophetically,
To mourn without being crushed,
And to find hope and see you at work.
Comfort those who have lost much.
Come Lord Jesus, may your Spirit bring life in abundance.
Amen.
Sunday, May 31, 2009
BLESSED ARE THE POOR OR POOR IN SPIRIT
Jesus you dare us to imagine.
You invite us to imagine a world in which it is not status or riches that we place our trust in,
A world that doesn't play favourites.
And you challenge us Lord,
You plead that we'd endeavor to see the distance between ourselves and the poor become less and less.
With our hearts exposed by the company we keep and the things we pour our best energy into, you challenge us to a richer way.
You ask us to become poor 'in spirit'.
So may our comfortable existence be tampered with,
Our safe distance trampled on.
Lord grab us by the hand and take us wherever you're going,
To whomever you want us to meet,
Because following you is where we gain real treasure in this world.
And you want to show us where to find life, life to the full.
It might just be in the last place we'd expect to find it.
Teach us humility Lord. Help us to love more.
Amen.
You invite us to imagine a world in which it is not status or riches that we place our trust in,
A world that doesn't play favourites.
And you challenge us Lord,
You plead that we'd endeavor to see the distance between ourselves and the poor become less and less.
With our hearts exposed by the company we keep and the things we pour our best energy into, you challenge us to a richer way.
You ask us to become poor 'in spirit'.
So may our comfortable existence be tampered with,
Our safe distance trampled on.
Lord grab us by the hand and take us wherever you're going,
To whomever you want us to meet,
Because following you is where we gain real treasure in this world.
And you want to show us where to find life, life to the full.
It might just be in the last place we'd expect to find it.
Teach us humility Lord. Help us to love more.
Amen.
Friday, May 29, 2009
Blessed Are They
On a hillside outside the town, this new Teacher from Nazareth has drawn quite a crowd. He doesn't look much, but he speaks authoritatively, in simple but poetic cadences that make his words easy to remember. But it's not his delivery that silences the crowd. It's his crazy, illogical, counter-intuitive, hope-filled message.Come join us as we journey through the 'Be-Attitudes' each Sunday, 11am-12.30pm, over the next 8 weeks starting on the 31st of May. If you are interested in coming along, we would love to hear from you: Contact Jesse - mrjessesize@hotmail.com. The 8 weeks look like they will culminate in a contemplative-mountainous-beatitudes-picnic-bushwalk... tentative details:
"I'll tell you who's fortunate," he says. "The really lucky ones are not the rich, the conquerors, the religious elites, the people with power and land and everything going for them. It's you - you who are poor and sad and at the bottom of the heap. You, who realy want to do what God requires, who care about others and stand up for what's right. You're the ones who make God smile."
Lyn Jackson
Sunday 26 July, 11am @ Morialta Conservation Park
What better way to journey through the be-attitudes than in open space on a mountain trek (in the mode that Jesus delivered the original 'sermon on the mount'!)
Bless.
Wednesday, May 27, 2009
House Update
Dear friends and supporters of the White House,
It’s been a while! We’ve been busy. A brief update:
· Our forty days in the wilderness are up, how quickly time slips by. We’ve allowed this to be a time of finding our feet, a time of discernment, a time to be shaped. There have been some things to let go of, things to hold on to. We emerge focused on Jesus’ risky, engaged, passionate and personal way of being human.
· We have our first young person moving in this Friday which is great, almost a relief. You feel a little uncomfortable talking about what you’re doing when what you’re currently doing doesn’t involve any young people! Please pray that she’d settle in nicely and feel really at home.
· Sunday gatherings have been great. We had a commissioning service of sorts last Sunday which was really encouraging, we had lots of folk praying for us individually and corporately giving us a strong sense that we’re entering into a new chapter together as a house. We’re working through the beatitudes over the next eight weeks, can’t wait. Feel free to come along any Sunday, 11am at the house.
· We have our fundraiser this Thursday night at the Capri Theatre (141 Goodwood Rd). Come along and watch "The Boy in The Striped Pyjamas" at 6:30pm, $15 at the door. Come join us back at the house after (9pm-ish) to have a tour and hear a bit more about what we’re doing if you like (83 Quinlan Ave, Pasadena).
· We have a new house mate also moving in on Friday, keep Colleen in your prayers also, she’s a real answer to prayer and we’re really excited to have her be a part of things. It's been amazing seeing relationships develop in the house, everyone is so caring, i really love living with everyone in the house, they're great people.
In terms of practical needs, couches, fridges/freezers/frozen meals are our best friends, but prayer is even better. God has been incredibly faithful in answering all our prayers, it’s hard to get our heads around to be honest, but more importantly it shapes our hearts each and every time giving us a wonderful sense of gratitude and purpose. Please keep us in your prayers, especially as we begin the next chapter with young people in our midst!
Thanks for all your beautiful support,
God bless.
Jesse
It’s been a while! We’ve been busy. A brief update:
· Our forty days in the wilderness are up, how quickly time slips by. We’ve allowed this to be a time of finding our feet, a time of discernment, a time to be shaped. There have been some things to let go of, things to hold on to. We emerge focused on Jesus’ risky, engaged, passionate and personal way of being human.
· We have our first young person moving in this Friday which is great, almost a relief. You feel a little uncomfortable talking about what you’re doing when what you’re currently doing doesn’t involve any young people! Please pray that she’d settle in nicely and feel really at home.
· Sunday gatherings have been great. We had a commissioning service of sorts last Sunday which was really encouraging, we had lots of folk praying for us individually and corporately giving us a strong sense that we’re entering into a new chapter together as a house. We’re working through the beatitudes over the next eight weeks, can’t wait. Feel free to come along any Sunday, 11am at the house.
· We have our fundraiser this Thursday night at the Capri Theatre (141 Goodwood Rd). Come along and watch "The Boy in The Striped Pyjamas" at 6:30pm, $15 at the door. Come join us back at the house after (9pm-ish) to have a tour and hear a bit more about what we’re doing if you like (83 Quinlan Ave, Pasadena).
· We have a new house mate also moving in on Friday, keep Colleen in your prayers also, she’s a real answer to prayer and we’re really excited to have her be a part of things. It's been amazing seeing relationships develop in the house, everyone is so caring, i really love living with everyone in the house, they're great people.
In terms of practical needs, couches, fridges/freezers/frozen meals are our best friends, but prayer is even better. God has been incredibly faithful in answering all our prayers, it’s hard to get our heads around to be honest, but more importantly it shapes our hearts each and every time giving us a wonderful sense of gratitude and purpose. Please keep us in your prayers, especially as we begin the next chapter with young people in our midst!
Thanks for all your beautiful support,
God bless.
Jesse
Monday, May 18, 2009
COMMUNITY MEANS RESPECT FOR THE UNITY AND DIVERSITY OF PEOPLE IN A GROUP
Often with great curiosity people ask me what it is that holds the group together. They want to know what it is that will enable us to stick together and care for young people in the house over the long haul. Sometimes people will ask straight out if this is a ‘Christian thing' – and who knows exactly what people mean when they say something like that - but I hope on some level it’s a broader recognition that followers of Jesus are to seek meaningful connections with those who are disadvantaged in society. What holds us together is a shared hope in the dream that God has for this world, a hope that leaves us restless about the notion of sitting back and doing nothing at all. And for us to be able to do anything at all we need to come together. Partly we are bound together through the recognition that we need each other, that we are incomplete in and of ourselves and only truly reflect the image of God when we are in relationship with others.
As we share life together we recognise the importance of:
As we share life together we recognise the importance of:
- Having a common goal/ethos – as a group we’re guided by a common purpose and identity that shapes the way we operate and ensures that we don’t drift too far from what we know to be good and true. We seek to follow Jesus at all costs and lay down our counter-agendas.
- The willingness to co-exist – commitment is crucial, when withdrawing from community remains an ever present option we adopt a real willingness to hang in there when things get rough.
- Diversity in Unity – while we place a high importance on protecting the unity of the group, within that unity must be a genuine freedom to be different.
- Equality – despite our differences - our gifts, experiences, resources and so on - we're all in the same boat, eat at the same table. This critiques our efforts to establish hierarchy or pecking order.
Sunday, May 10, 2009
Wilderness Time (Luke 4:1-13)
In a world that puts forward an array of lifeless promises,
A world that values might and power,
And seems to be satisfied with cheap thrills,
You offer another way.
A way that makes sense of who we are as human beings,
Even if everything we hear in society seems to suggest otherwise.
But you show us the way.
You are the way.
Deliver us from the temptation to build a life around things,
Things that take more than they give,
Free us from lives dedicated to futile offerings that have no lasting significance.
Deliver us from the temptation to offer concern without compassion,
Welfare without care,
Aid divorced from love, trust, relationship, sacrifice.
Jesus, deliver us from the temptation to reduce our life of faith to another form of escapism,
A mere reprieve from the ordinary.
May we part company with popularity, prestige and party tricks.
Yours is a way of sacrificial love,
A risky, engaged, passionate and personal way of being human.
Your way is life.
You are life.
Amen.
A world that values might and power,
And seems to be satisfied with cheap thrills,
You offer another way.
A way that makes sense of who we are as human beings,
Even if everything we hear in society seems to suggest otherwise.
But you show us the way.
You are the way.
Deliver us from the temptation to build a life around things,
Things that take more than they give,
Free us from lives dedicated to futile offerings that have no lasting significance.
Deliver us from the temptation to offer concern without compassion,
Welfare without care,
Aid divorced from love, trust, relationship, sacrifice.
Jesus, deliver us from the temptation to reduce our life of faith to another form of escapism,
A mere reprieve from the ordinary.
May we part company with popularity, prestige and party tricks.
Yours is a way of sacrificial love,
A risky, engaged, passionate and personal way of being human.
Your way is life.
You are life.
Amen.
Tuesday, May 5, 2009
COMMUNITY MEANS HAVING A SENSE OF RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE WELFARE OF EACH PERSON IN THE GROUP
“Those who love community destroy community, those who love people build community” (Bonhoeffer)From the beginning we recognised that for all the ways things could blow up in our collective faces, if we managed to draw nearer to God in our walk with him then it would all be worth it. It was apparent to us that the group exists to help people grow as people. For all the grand visions we have it is people that matter. If people are becoming burnt-out, over-burdened casualties of some greater mission then we have missed the point. So part of what community means to us is that individuals are cared for, looked out for, and that we have a sense of responsibility for each other. We think of the story of the lost sheep in Luke 15 where Jesus hints at God's concern for the individual even at the expense of the broader community. People matter. Some of the things we seek to make central to our life in the house are:
- Grace - Freedom to disappoint, to let down, to follow God at all costs
- Connectedness – seeking and creating genuine relationships. Only when people are actually remembered,acknowledged and recognised as people do they feel part of a group.
- Authenticity – having openness, honesty, grace, providing a place where people can be heard
- Blessing – encouraging and lifting each other up, letting our words be gift
- Rest and play - enjoying each others company and ensuring that the community does not become all-consuming, exhausting or wearisome
Sunday, May 3, 2009
God's Kingdom is Here (Mark 1:14-20)
Jesus you come with a radical kingdom invitation, a radical welcome.
You don't restrict your invitation to those who have ticked all the right boxes, those who are worthy, the elite - not by the world's standards anyhow.
You redefine and rename. You transform. You add new meaning and life.
You call those with ears to hear, eyes to see, those hungry for a new way of being human.
Those restless and longing for change delight in your kingdom call, people disenfranchised with lives dictated by greed, comfort, security, fear, alienation and so on...
You search for actors willing to audition for parts in the kingdom - God's drama being staged here and now.
A way of righteousness and justice,
A way of peace,
A way of joy.
Lord may we be those who drop our nets immediately - our agendas, our fears, our excuses - and instead pick up your agenda as we follow you wherever you lead us.
May we delight and long for your kingdom.
Give us kingdom eyes and kingdom hopes.
May we in some sense be your kingdom, together offering both a challenge and invitation to all that you love deeply, to all who hear your call.
In Jesus' name, amen.
You don't restrict your invitation to those who have ticked all the right boxes, those who are worthy, the elite - not by the world's standards anyhow.
You redefine and rename. You transform. You add new meaning and life.
You call those with ears to hear, eyes to see, those hungry for a new way of being human.
Those restless and longing for change delight in your kingdom call, people disenfranchised with lives dictated by greed, comfort, security, fear, alienation and so on...
You search for actors willing to audition for parts in the kingdom - God's drama being staged here and now.
A way of righteousness and justice,
A way of peace,
A way of joy.
Lord may we be those who drop our nets immediately - our agendas, our fears, our excuses - and instead pick up your agenda as we follow you wherever you lead us.
May we delight and long for your kingdom.
Give us kingdom eyes and kingdom hopes.
May we in some sense be your kingdom, together offering both a challenge and invitation to all that you love deeply, to all who hear your call.
In Jesus' name, amen.
Wednesday, April 29, 2009
COMMUNITY MEANS CREATING A SAFE SPACE
Something we've been doing a lot together over the last four months or so is exploring what community means to us, the type of community we sense God is calling us into. And though this is something that we will no doubt have a far greater appreciation of over time, here's the start of some reflections that we feel are central to who we are and what we're about.
COMMUNITY AS A SAFE PLACE
The key we feel is respect, eyes that recognise the image of God in all people. Pray that we'd see ourselves and others through the eyes of God (like in the Rabbi's Gift).
COMMUNITY AS A SAFE PLACE
- A place where hostility is confronted and turned into hospitality
- Creating a free space where the stranger can enter and become a friend instead of an enemy
- Hospitality is not a subtle invitation to adopt the lifestyle of the host, but the gift of a chance for the guest to find their own - offering space where change can take place
- The cost of our friendship is not people’s souls
The key we feel is respect, eyes that recognise the image of God in all people. Pray that we'd see ourselves and others through the eyes of God (like in the Rabbi's Gift).
Tuesday, April 28, 2009
THE RABBI'S GIFT
The story concerns a monastery that had fallen upon hard times. Once a great order, as a result of waves of antimonastic persecution in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries and the rise of secularism in the nineteenth, all its branch houses were lost and it had become decimated to the extent that there were only five monks left in the decaying mother house: the abbot and four others, all over seventy in age. Clearly it was a dying order.
In the deep woods surrounding the monastery there was a little hut that a rabbi from a nearby town occasionally used for a hermitage. Through their many years of prayer and contemplation the old monks had become a bit psychic, so they could always sense when the rabbi was in his hermitage. "The rabbi is in the woods, the rabbi is in the woods again " they would whisper to each other. As he agonized over the imminent death of his order, it occurred to the abbot at one such time to visit the hermitage and ask the rabbi if by some possible chance he could offer any advice that might save the monastery.
The rabbi welcomed the abbot at his hut. But when the abbot explained the purpose of his visit, the rabbi could only commiserate with him. "I know how it is," he exclaimed. "The spirit has gone out of the people. It is the same in my town. Almost no one comes to the synagogue anymore." So the old abbot and the old rabbi wept together. Then they read parts of the Torah and quietly spoke of deep things. The time came when the abbot had to leave. They embraced each other. "It has been a wonderful thing that we should meet after all these years, "the abbot said, "but I have still failed in my purpose for coming here. Is there nothing you can tell me, no piece of advice you can give me that would help me save my dying order?"
"No, I am sorry," the rabbi responded. "I have no advice to give. The only thing I can tell you is that the Messiah is one of you."
When the abbot returned to the monastery his fellow monks gathered around him to ask, "Well what did the rabbi say?" "He couldn't help," the abbot answered. "We just wept and read the Torah together. The only thing he did say, just as I was leaving --it was something cryptic-- was that the Messiah is one of us. I don't know what he meant."
In the days and weeks and months that followed, the old monks pondered this and wondered whether there was any possible significance to the rabbi's words. The Messiah is one of us? Could he possibly have meant one of us monks here at the monastery? If that's the case, which one? Do you suppose he meant the abbot? Yes, if he meant anyone, he probably meant Father Abbot. He has been our leader for more than a generation. On the other hand, he might have meant Brother Thomas. Certainly Brother Thomas is a holy man. Everyone knows that Thomas is a man of light. Certainly he could not have meant Brother Elred! Elred gets crotchety at times. But come to think of it, even though he is a thorn in people's sides, when you look back on it, Elred is virtually always right. Often very right. Maybe the rabbi did mean Brother Elred. But surely not Brother Phillip. Phillip is so passive, a real nobody. But then, almost mysteriously, he has a gift for somehow always being there when you need him. He just magically appears by your side. Maybe Phillip is the Messiah. Of course the rabbi didn't mean me. He couldn't possibly have meant me. I'm just an ordinary person. Yet supposing he did? Suppose I am the Messiah? O God, not me. I couldn't be that much for You, could I?
As they contemplated in this manner, the old monks began to treat each other with extraordinary respect on the off chance that one among them might be the Messiah. And on the off off chance that each monk himself might be the Messiah, they began to treat themselves with extraordinary respect.
Because the forest in which it was situated was beautiful, it so happened that people still occasionally came to visit the monastery to picnic on its tiny lawn, to wander along some of its paths, even now and then to go into the dilapidated chapel to meditate. As they did so, without even being conscious of it, they sensed the aura of extraordinary respect that now began to surround the five old monks and seemed to radiate out from them and permeate the atmosphere of the place. There was something strangely attractive, even compelling, about it. Hardly knowing why, they began to come back to the monastery more frequently to picnic, to play, to pray. They began to bring their friends to show them this special place. And their friends brought their friends.
Then it happened that some of the younger men who came to visit the monastery started to talk more and more with the old monks. After a while one asked if he could join them. Then another. And another. So within a few years the monastery had once again become a thriving order and, thanks to the rabbi's gift, a vibrant center of light and spirituality in the realm.
You can find this story in M. Scott Peck's book The Different Drum: Community Making and Peace
In the deep woods surrounding the monastery there was a little hut that a rabbi from a nearby town occasionally used for a hermitage. Through their many years of prayer and contemplation the old monks had become a bit psychic, so they could always sense when the rabbi was in his hermitage. "The rabbi is in the woods, the rabbi is in the woods again " they would whisper to each other. As he agonized over the imminent death of his order, it occurred to the abbot at one such time to visit the hermitage and ask the rabbi if by some possible chance he could offer any advice that might save the monastery.
The rabbi welcomed the abbot at his hut. But when the abbot explained the purpose of his visit, the rabbi could only commiserate with him. "I know how it is," he exclaimed. "The spirit has gone out of the people. It is the same in my town. Almost no one comes to the synagogue anymore." So the old abbot and the old rabbi wept together. Then they read parts of the Torah and quietly spoke of deep things. The time came when the abbot had to leave. They embraced each other. "It has been a wonderful thing that we should meet after all these years, "the abbot said, "but I have still failed in my purpose for coming here. Is there nothing you can tell me, no piece of advice you can give me that would help me save my dying order?"
"No, I am sorry," the rabbi responded. "I have no advice to give. The only thing I can tell you is that the Messiah is one of you."
When the abbot returned to the monastery his fellow monks gathered around him to ask, "Well what did the rabbi say?" "He couldn't help," the abbot answered. "We just wept and read the Torah together. The only thing he did say, just as I was leaving --it was something cryptic-- was that the Messiah is one of us. I don't know what he meant."
In the days and weeks and months that followed, the old monks pondered this and wondered whether there was any possible significance to the rabbi's words. The Messiah is one of us? Could he possibly have meant one of us monks here at the monastery? If that's the case, which one? Do you suppose he meant the abbot? Yes, if he meant anyone, he probably meant Father Abbot. He has been our leader for more than a generation. On the other hand, he might have meant Brother Thomas. Certainly Brother Thomas is a holy man. Everyone knows that Thomas is a man of light. Certainly he could not have meant Brother Elred! Elred gets crotchety at times. But come to think of it, even though he is a thorn in people's sides, when you look back on it, Elred is virtually always right. Often very right. Maybe the rabbi did mean Brother Elred. But surely not Brother Phillip. Phillip is so passive, a real nobody. But then, almost mysteriously, he has a gift for somehow always being there when you need him. He just magically appears by your side. Maybe Phillip is the Messiah. Of course the rabbi didn't mean me. He couldn't possibly have meant me. I'm just an ordinary person. Yet supposing he did? Suppose I am the Messiah? O God, not me. I couldn't be that much for You, could I?
As they contemplated in this manner, the old monks began to treat each other with extraordinary respect on the off chance that one among them might be the Messiah. And on the off off chance that each monk himself might be the Messiah, they began to treat themselves with extraordinary respect.
Because the forest in which it was situated was beautiful, it so happened that people still occasionally came to visit the monastery to picnic on its tiny lawn, to wander along some of its paths, even now and then to go into the dilapidated chapel to meditate. As they did so, without even being conscious of it, they sensed the aura of extraordinary respect that now began to surround the five old monks and seemed to radiate out from them and permeate the atmosphere of the place. There was something strangely attractive, even compelling, about it. Hardly knowing why, they began to come back to the monastery more frequently to picnic, to play, to pray. They began to bring their friends to show them this special place. And their friends brought their friends.
Then it happened that some of the younger men who came to visit the monastery started to talk more and more with the old monks. After a while one asked if he could join them. Then another. And another. So within a few years the monastery had once again become a thriving order and, thanks to the rabbi's gift, a vibrant center of light and spirituality in the realm.
You can find this story in M. Scott Peck's book The Different Drum: Community Making and Peace
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