cOnFeREnCe oN oRgAnIc cHuRcH...

Now I'll get more serious about the weekend...
it was good to see many familiar faces I haven´t seen for a long time...and when I say familiar faces I'm not only saying that I know the faces, but that I do know the people and feel like family with some of them...
There were also a lot of them I didn't know, and it was nice to see many more leaders from different parts of the country who are coming to join together as part of The Body of God in this nation...
Paulo Pascoal, with his wife Rute here in the picture were some of the familiar faces I enjoyed seeing... Paulo is the guy behind all this...
well, I do believe God put all this in his heart and chose him to this hard task... to try to get pastors and leaders from different denominations to grasp one single vision for this country (still a specific bubble within christianity, but it´s a step forward considering the history of church in Portugal)... the vision is old and simple : that every portuguese or foreigner in this land should be loved and have access to the teachings of Jesus through those who follow Him.
The expressions used were more like, "planting churches", "reaching out to all peoples", have a "church available to all people", etc... but you know what I mean, right ?!! I just don't like this "churchy language"... in the end, it´s all a matter of translation, as long as it´s not imperial or dominating...

For me it is already hard to understand certain kinds of expressions, but I enjoyed what I heard... things that need to be listened to...

The main speaker was Ngwiza Mkandla from Zimbabwe, and it was good... I think he challenged a lot of those who were there...
the subjects were "Transformed leaders", "Transformed Church", "Transformed city/society", "Transformed nation"... I would add "Transformed structures" and "Transformed mindsets" as well, but that would probably be too big a step ahead for this time here in Portugal...

I would also change some expressions he used like "planting churches" for "making disciples",and others like that, but I could understand what he meant... I guess that's the "language" most of those people better grasp as well... and it would be a waste of time to brainstorm about words and preconceptions... 

I didn't really agree with something he said that the DNA of the church is the "leader", because I believe it is Jesus, or Love... that's possibly why so many churches fail...they are looking at the wrong model... 

he presented a really high standard for what a leader should be, and I totally agree with that, but we can never forget we are humans and we'll always fail...leaders are not supposed to be super-heros or stand in pedestals, leaders should be standing next to those s/he serves as equal with a specific function... God gives leadership gifts to help us all to grow together...

I got what he meant, and it was good what he came to say...there was nothing really new for me, but he spoke a lot of truths that needed to be spoken...and hopefully heard

here some highlights I took from my notes :
- we can't lead people to a place we never been ourselves
- leaders are to serve and not boss around
- the motive to serve should be Love and not a "job" we are to perform...
- to change a nation we need to change our mindset...
- we need to give space to the young people and not hold on to the "throne" forever ...
- we need to know what's going on in the world, and not only live in "our christian bubbles"...
- he spoke about other basic things like sacrifice, obedience, submission (all pastors should be pastored), have foundations in the Word of God and prayer, doing it by the power of the Spirit and not by our own strength, listening to the prophetic voices, identifying strongholds, giving glory to God only, etc...

It was nice to see in the last session how many people responded to the call of making a commitment with God to see the sovereignty of Justice, Love and Peace to come in this nation, and of course, in the world...

I also enjoyed the seminars about loving the migrant people in our country and also the one about ending poverty in an holistic way...


the seminar on "Organic Church" was also good and surprising to me ...
around 100 people were there... Nuno Soares started with a good power point presentation about the little "history" behind the concept of organic church, and also trying to get to some sort of undefined definition of what is that all about... I know it sounds confusing and unclear, but that's what "organic church " is about too... it was cool and I think it was clear enough for those who were listening...
I also spoke something more personal out of my little journey and my bit of experience ... but still, no definitions or conclusions... I don't really remember all that I said because I have to confess I didn't prepare anything beforehand... I did threw some questions and points in the air like : 

"what is Church?"; 

 and thoughts like "we are to teach Jesus´s teachings and live as close to them as we are able, and not to "plant churches", Jesus never mentioned that ";

 "many feel lost and understandably don't fit in "institutional" expressions of church...  that's why new expressions of the Body of God are emerging... and thank God for that

I tried to make clear from the beginning that we are not speaking about "ORGANIC CHURCH" versus "INSTITUTIONAL CHURCH"... We are "the church", those who are being Light in this world, in its different expressions... (it would have been much to say that it´s beyond Christianity, but that would be too much for most to take in )...

I said that I considered that moment a positive sign, as it shows this kind of expression is being accepted as part of the Body...
I also mentioned that if our goal is multiplication, we need to keep it simple ( as Jesus did ), so "church" cannot be so complicated , right ?!

We had a few interventions and it was good to clarify a few things...
Before we finished I had something else coming to my mind, and I said:
" we will fail... I hope you will be there to help us stand up and to support us... we're just trying"

And I do mean this... we're just walking in a new ground, simply obeying to what God is putting in our hearts... we are walking paths the "church" never dared to walk before, for fear of what others may think, or fear of "God´s judgement", or fear of the judgement of their own denominations, or fear of "being wrong", or any other fear... we should know that "where there is fear, there is no Love", and Love is God.

in the end I was surprised to see how many people came to thank me and hug me 

I appreciated that, and that's what I believe it needs to happen, the old embracing the new...

WE NEED REAL UNITY, WHICH COMES FROM THE SPIRIT OF GOD, AND NOT BY OUR OWN STRENGTH OR EFFORT... not even by our own feelings or desires, because we know it's not easy sometimes to deal with others who think, behave and are so different from us... But we are to be peace makers and live in reconciliation with all human beings, specially those whom we call brothers and sisters in the same house...
I know in practice it is not easy at all, but guess what, that's part of being church right? and often when there is a change of mindsets, or any kind of change, there is hurt and pain... there are misunderstandings sometimes...and there is a place for forgiveness...

I guess we need to understand something when we refer to "organic church" and "institutional church" , or whatever expressions we're using... we are not fighting against each other, we might be confronting or deconstructing concepts or things that became "normal" but are not really biblical... but it's never about people... we might be raising questions about "church 's" identity, but never questioning people's identity ...

There might be a time when we go in different directions, and that is ok too... Jesus said " those who are not against me, are for me", when the disciples wanted to reprehend another group who were casting demons out of people in his name... There will be expressions we never even dream of, and not all will agree with one another, yet, The Spirit will be at work in all.

We don't need to agree with everything the others do, knowing that the basic foundations of our faith are the same, but hey, God doesn't agree with everything we do either, yet, God chooses to work with us...