Freedom To Abandon Expectations [Unconference Testimony]

One beautiful thing about the Unconference was seeing so many people get set free.

Some were set free from expectations of success. Others were set free from their fears. Still others were set free from the pain caused by being rejected by their Christian brothers and sisters.

Time and again I saw people rejoicing because they had just realized that the thing they thought was holding them back was an illusion.

One conversation I had with a brother at the event was about how he had realized that he wasn't a failure after all.

He thought he must not have been called or gifted to start a house church because once, a few years ago, he had tried to get one going with a few friends. It lasted for a while, but then it fell apart. He had always assumed that it ended because he wasn't gifted enough, or smart enough, to keep it alive.

But at the conference we had talked about how the life cycle of a house church doesn't have to be infinity to be successful.

In fact, if we're honest, every house church will eventually end. How long it lasts isn't an indication of how spiritual everyone involved might be. Sometimes the Lord may call a group together for a short season and a specific purpose before He reconnects them all somewhere else.

The scriptures tell us that the Lord puts the parts of the Body together, just as He wants them to be. [see 1 Cor. 12:18]

We're also told that it's Jesus who builds His church - not us. So, if He wants to assemble a Body together for a short time, that's up to Him to decide - and it's not a reflection on the ability of those involved.

This little detail set my friend free that night. He suddenly realized that he could easily start another group without any fear of failure or any expectation of longevity.

Every living thing has a life span. Some things live a long time. Some organisms have shorter life spans than others. This doesn't mean the organism isn't alive, or that it's not valuable or without purpose.

It's up to Jesus to decide how long a group is together. Our job is to be obedient to Him and to learn how to allow Him to lead us whenever we gather in His name.

It doesn't have to be so complicated.

Just gather with others in His Name and invite His presence to lead you.

It can be in your home, or in a coffee shop, or under a tree.

It doesn't have to be every week at the same time. It doesn't have to be the same people every time. It can be a time of worship, or prayer, or encouragement.

Just find one other person who loves Jesus and ask them if they want to meet with you to experience more of Him.

Let's lower the bar on ekklesia and raise the bar on loving Jesus.

-kg

SERVING THOSE WHO SERVE [Unconference Testimony]

One beautiful story that needs to be told about the Unconference actually happened after the event itself was all over.

On Sunday evening a handful of us met for dinner at a local Shoney’s restaurant for one last opportunity to squeeze another drop of fellowship with one another.

But that wasn’t the only reason we met there. We actually had another agenda that night: We were there to bless someone’s socks off.

Richard Jacobson had suggested that we all do our best to be an example of Christ to our server by putting our money where our mouth is.

His point – and it’s a good one – is that Christians often take over a table (or several of them) at a restaurant, and they stay for three hours and they are often rude and they talk about Jesus, but then they leave a really bad tip. If you know anyone who works in a restaurant they’ll confirm this. It’s widely known that Christians are typically the worst customers to serve.  

What a horrible witness, right?

So, our goal was to reverse all of that on Sunday night.

Before we arrived, Richard had taken the liberty to call the manager of the Shoney’s and clue him into our plan. The manager assigned Melanie to serve us. [That’s her in the red shirt in the picture above and her manager is next to her].

Earlier this same day, a church group had come in and ordered about $70 worth of food. After only about 15 minutes of waiting - and just as their food was ready to serve - they decided to leave; meaning the restaurant had to throw out the food and Melanie lost a nice tip.

Our group didn’t hide the fact that we were Christians, which at first made Melanie nervous. But, as we learned later, she was surprised at how well-behaved we were.

After we had eaten and talked as much as we could with one another, it was time to go. Several of the women in our group cleaned off the tables, stacked the plates and saved Melanie the trouble.

As Henry Hon and Richard Jacobson were paying their bill, Melanie met them at the register. They asked her about Jesus. She said she wasn’t sure if Jesus was real or not. So, Henry told her she could just ask Him to show her.

By the time it everyone paid their checks, Melanie ended up with more than $200 in tips. A few people had even given us cash to boost the tip, even though they couldn’t come to the dinner.

As you might expect, Melanie was blown away and started to cry. Richard gave her a hug and told her that Jesus really did love her.

So, tonight, please say a prayer for Melanie. Ask the Lord Jesus to reveal Himself to her in a powerful and unmistakable way. She’s a young mom who’s trying her best to provide a good life for her family.

And the next time you are out to eat with a group of Christian friends, do your best to bless those who serve you and ask them if they know the Lord, or at the very minimum please do your best to make sure they don’t doubt that those who love Jesus also love them, too.

Let’s change the world. Let’s be the love of Christ to people around us.

That’s what we’re here for.

Peace,

kg

3 THINGS HOLDING BACK THE FLOOD

I was sleeping soundly after our first Friday evening session at the Unconference in Nashville when I awakened from a dream.

In the dream I saw myself speaking at the conference - something I was scheduled to do first thing on Saturday morning - but instead of speaking about how we should untangle our faith from politics I heard myself speaking about another topic.

I laid there in the bed, located in the basement of Steve and Ernie Simms' house in Nashville and looked up at the sea of glow-in-the-dark stars which were glued to the ceiling above me.

A glance at my phone said it was 3:10 a.m.

There was no doubt in my mind that the Lord wanted me to speak about this new topic. I quickly rolled out of bed and got on my knees to pray about what I'd seen.

After a few moments I felt a very strong urge to write down the message so I wouldn't forget it.

What I had heard was simply this: There are 3 things holding back the flood.

I knew this was a specific message for the people who were with us for the Unconference. The night before had been filled with expectation and I had sensed a strong sense of hunger for experiencing the kind of ekklesia where Jesus is the Head and the people operate as fully-functional members of the Body of Christ.

But, now, the Lord was highlighting three specific barriers that were holding back this flood of the Lord's anointing and presence.

After writing it all down I was too wired to sleep so I picked up my iPod and checked my messages.

As I was responding to a post on Facebook my cell phone buzzed to let me know I was receiving a text. "Who was texting me at 3 a.m.?" I wondered.

It was Richard Jacobson. His text read: "What are you doing up at 3 a.m.?"

I texted back to let him know that the Lord had given me a new message for our morning session. He said that he had also received a new direction for the Lord for his sessions too.

By the time the morning session started I was anxious to share what the Lord had given me.

I started things off by inviting the young girl up who had the vision from the night before about the giant fire hose being lowered down to us and gushing spouts of living water over all of us.

After she finished, I let everyone know that my session was not going to be about faith and politics but about 3 things that were holding back the flood.

Here's what I shared:

Many of you here have been hurt by your brothers and sisters in the Church. The Lord sees your pain. He knows how much it hurts when they slander you, and when they shun you for seeking to experience the ekklesia and practice the Headship of Christ. He understands and validates your suffering.

But, you need to forgive them. You need to let it go. The Lord cannot put something new into your hands if you haven't let go of your pain. He can't move you forward until you allow Him to heal your wounds.

Give this hurt to Jesus. Let Him heal you. Let Him show you how to love your brothers and sisters.

Pray for them. Pray a blessing over them. Pray for their marriage. Pray a blessing over their ministry. Pray for their finances to increase. Pray for their children. Pray the Lord's favor over them. Not because you feel it, but because the Lord has commanded you to bless those who curse you and do good to those who mistreat you.

At first it will only be words, but as you continue to pray for them, the Lord will soften and change your heart and eventually you will mean every word of what you are asking, and that's when you'll know you have surrendered your pain to Him.

Some of you are waiting for permission. You're not sure you're qualified to start a church in your home. You're afraid you don't have the authority to do this.

But the Lord says, you are already licensed and ordained into the ministry of the Gospel of Christ by the Holy Spirit of the Living God.

If you are sensing His calling to go and do this - go and do this! He will be with you all the way.

You are called. You are chosen. You are qualified.

Do not wait to be equipped before you step out. As you step out, you will be equipped.

You've been waiting for the guru to arrive and show you what to do. But the Lord says, the expert you are waiting for is within you! You have the Lord Jesus Christ living inside of you.

Go. Just go, knowing that He will never leave you, nor forsake you.

Finally, there are some of you who are waiting for a road map. You're ready and willing to go, but you're waiting for someone to navigate every step that may come your way.

The Lord says that you are pioneers. Where you are going there is no map.

The map you are looking for will be drawn as you go and others who come behind you will follow the trail that you have cut for them along the way.

Cut the path. Blaze the trail.

Remember: The Lord loves to do extraordinary things through ordinary people. Every "hero" of the faith in the Bible was a weak, flawed, broken person. This is why the Lord touched them and did magnificent things through them; because He knew they could never take credit for the great things He would do in their weakness.

As Paul told us, "We have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us." [2 Cor. 4:7]

Many of you came here today because you thought this was a conference. But this is not a conference, it's a launching pad. The Lord wants to fill you up and send you out.

The countdown has already started.

**

So, this is how we started things off on Saturday morning. It only got more awesome from there.

More testimonies to follow.

-kg

THE UNCONFERENCE: UPDATE

The Unconference event in Nashville was just awesome. 

Unfortunately, it's nearly impossible to explain exactly how awesome, because there are so many little stories that I can't just tell you one of them to explain it.

So, instead, over the next few days I will try to share a few of those stories here.

In general, there were about 80 people there from all over - Ohio, Missouri, Minnesota, Virginia, California - and of course from Tennessee. 

My co-hosts were Richard Jacobson and Steve Simms. Both are amazing guys. 

I knew Richard really well and he continued to bless me as I got to meet him in person after knowing him online for like 5 years. [But I feel like I've known him my whole life]. 

Steve was a practical stranger to me, but I stayed with him and his wife and they were both solid gold. Just amazing hearts and humble, kind, loving people.

Overall, I had a half dozen conversations with people who pulled me aside to thank me for my books, and who quoted specific blog articles I had written [some of them 9 years ago!] and thanked me for helping them to learn, or grow in their faith. That was really so encouraging to me.

Our goal with this event was to allow the Holy Spirit to lead and take us off the map if He wanted to - and He really did!

On Friday evening, Steve Simms shared an unbelievable story: A few years ago he had run across a book - quite by accident - of "Street Names in Nashville and Their Origins". Curious, he picked it up and searched for the origin of "Berry Street" [where his church meets, and also where our Unconference was being hosted].

To his surprise, he learned that the street had been named for Berry McFerrin, a Methodist minister from the 1800's. 

But that's not all. He then looked and found a biography of this man and there found this testimony about a time in his life when Mr. Berry McFerrin had attended youth meetings and was inspired by their similarities to those in Acts:

“The meetings were greatly blessed.  We read the Scriptures, we sang, we prayed, we spoke often one to another, and the Lord listened and heard.  Here I heard much of Christian experience, and learned to understand the wants of others.  Here I learned to give words of exhortation and comfort, and here I learned to appreciate the trials and temptations connected with the life of a Christian.  Fifty years have passed and the precious seasons that I enjoyed then are still fresh in my memory.  I regard class meetings as among the greatest providential means of grace ever instituted in the church.  They did much to keep me in the path, and gave me many encouragements through hearing the experience of older and wiser Christians than myself.  Class meeting is about the best theological school ever organized.  It was a sad day when it declined in the church; and I hope and pray the time may come when it will be revived in the church.”

But, the book reveals, Mr. McFerrin never lived to rediscover that experience again. However, his prayer was answered nearly 200 years later when the Berry Street Worship Center was built...across the street from where he once lived and prayed that prayer!

So, after hearing this story, Steve led us all outside and across the street to the park where his house had once stood. There, we all held hands and stood in a circle to thank the Lord for answering this prayer.

As we stood there praying, a young girl of about 16 saw a vision of a massive fire hose coming out of the sky and flooding the ground with water which gushed in all directions. She shared about how it was so strong it felt as if it would have knocked her down if she hadn't been holding hands with others in our prayer circle.

That next morning I was supposed to be sharing in the first session about my book "Jesus Untangled" and the need to untangle faith and politics. 

But the night before, around 3am, the Lord woke me up and told me there were 3 things holding back the flood for many people at the Unconference. [More on this later]

I had the whole thing laid out for me. So, I got out of bed, got on my knees and thanked the Lord for this new direction. Then I wrote it all down. After that, I couldn't sleep, so I checked my messages and posted a few things on Facebook.

Almost immediately, I received a text from Richard Jacobson asking me why I was awake at 3am. I told him what had happened with the dream and he said the Lord had awakened him and given him a new message to share in his session, too!

That next morning I took us off the map and shared what the Lord had given me to say. 

I spoke for about 20 minutes and then I invited people to come up and confirm if this was for them. 

Soon, many of the people started to come up and confess that at least one of those 3 things were holding them back and keeping them from experiencing more of the Lord in their personal life and in their church life. 

That's only what the Lord did before lunch on Saturday.

It was an amazing weekend. 

We're already planning to do it again next year.

More to come...

Peace,

kg