Sara and I are home from New Zealand after two incredible weeks traveling throughout the country and meeting with brothers and sisters. (Oh yes, Sara got to see penguins too!) If you haven’t read the blogs of our conversations and the incredible story of a group of in Fairlie, you might want to read up below.

We were blessed by the number of believers we found thriving outside the box. Many were former leaders in the congregations they attended—pastors, elders, deacons and the like. Some left at God’s leading to find him outside the religious institutions of the day, others were left out when the groups they were part of embraced priorities they could no longer follow. Some walked out alone, others with brothers and sisters who shared their passion. All experienced rejection from other well-intentioned believers that they couldn’t possibly be following God if they didn’t end up committed to a local congregation.

These are supposed to whither up and die without attending a regular service or being under the ‘covering’ of an institution. Remarkably, however, they not only thrive outside but have come to see that their time fulfilling religious obligations actually robbed them of the relationship with God they desired most.

Our two-week trip crystallized some observations I’ve had about similar folks I’ve met all over the world:

• Most didn’t leave the system because of hurt (though the process is often painful), but because God kept leading them toward something deeper and more spiritually vital. All weren’t failures in the system. Most were incredibly successful in it, but over time found conflict between the spiritual life they wanted and what they had to do to feed the system.
• People inside the system often seem to be less gracious to those outside than those outside are to those inside. Most folks thriving outside traditional congregations don’t look down on those who participate in them as lesser brothers or sisters. They will encourage others to draw life from Jesus wherever he leads them. However, those inside often accuse those who are not committed to such institutions as independent, rebellious and unsubmitted, when that is rarely true.
• An important part of the journey seems to be in laying down our reputations, former friendships and ministry dreams to follow God where he asks us to go. Others may not understand. It has cost many their income and security, but I’ve not met too many who ever regretted it.
• Those who live free of regular institutions seem to have more in depth fellowship with other Christians than those who wear themselves out with religious activities that rarely include the opportunity for real, honest and open fellowship.
• People thriving in Jesus outside of the religious systems are the easiest folks to fellowship with. There is an instant camaraderie, compassion and willingness to live their lives openly with other brothers or sisters.

Two of the brothers we met with in New Zealand have done a fair amount of writing and we are blessed to help make those available to you. Jack Gray (right) has allowed us to post three of his booklets that encourage people to live outside the bondage of religious obligation and embrace the fullness of his life. I think you’ll find his insights to be of great encouragement and help to you no matter where God is leading you to fellowship with others.

John Beaumont (left) has just released a new book entitled, A God-Filled Nobody, which Lifestream will help distribute in the states. Click on the link above to find a description, excerpts and order information. He felt called to tell his life’s story as an encouragement to other brothers and sisters who also desire to know God as he is.

There is nothing more important than all of us following God as best we sense him leading us and find exactly how he is placing us in the body and not simply going through the motions with a status quo that doesn’t serve all of God’s kids.

We are finally back in the states, catching up on book orders and email and trying to get over a severe case of jet lag.
On our last day in New Zealand, we headed back into Christchurch to spend some brief moments with John and Mary Beaumont. They filled in a few wonderful details of the Fairlie story. They said after the disposed of the building (see previous blog), they found some amazing doors open in the community. One man from the village was talking to one of the former leaders. He said, “I feel like I can really talk to you now.”

By removing the baggage from the gospel that had alienated so many people they found a new openness to share the Gospel with others. Is it no wonder that Jesus didn’t build anything to join, require any religious activities, or load people down with burdens. Instead he took heavy burdens off people and simply invited them into a relationship with his incredible Father.

One last quip from John Beaumont. He was quoting something he’d read years ago in one of Charles Spurgeon’s writings from the 1800s. He said for some people to talk in public is so intimidating that it is a huge cross for them. There are others for whom being silent is a huge cross for them to bear. Both should take up their cross!

Early next week I’ll have details on ordering John’s book and I’ll also include some writings from Jack Gray. It’s great to be home. Blessings on you all!

Let me tell you an incredible story!

Fairlie is a small farming village in the center of New Zealand’s South Island. For the last two years I had heard about some believers whom God led to give up the religious structure they had become part of to live as the body of Christ together in this region of the world. It was 1986 and some of its leaders felt like God was asking them to give up the structures that constrained their life together, which included not only the institution but also the building where they met. After weeks of praying together and considering this leading, the people unanimously agreed that this is what God was saying to them.

They agreed to lay it all down and let God lead them. The building they used was quite old and after donating all the furnishings that were worth anything to the denomination’s district they were leaving, the offered the building to the fire brigade to burn as a training exercise. (I told you this was an incredible story!)

The neighbors objected, however, to torching the large structure so close to their homes, so in the end they had to dismantle it. They took some of the remaining furnishings, like the offering bags, out to the country and burnt them. Then one day some of the brothers descended on the building with chain saws. As they walked in that day to the main meeting room they asked where they should begin. They all looked at each other and in the same moment said,, “The pulpit!” With relish the sawed it in half, kept going across the stage and eventually dismantled the entire building and hauled it away to the trash heap.

Sara and I laughed and shook our heads in awe as we heard that story on Tuesday night while meeting with about two dozen or more of these people. They had not done these things frivolously or in rage at ‘the system.’ They had simply felt those things were an offense to God and he wanted them to destroy them. They never said anyone else should do the same, they simply went on and learned how to be the body of Christ without all the trappings of institutionalism.

In the nearly twenty years since they have thrived in God’s life together as his people in this community. It has not been easy, nor has it been without challenge, but many of them talked of how their relationship with God really began to grow when they removed the crutch the institution had become. Not having everything planned out for them anymore, they had to listen to God and do the things he put on their heart. Now they are people who live at peace with God, in fellowship with each other and available to unbelievers in ways they never had when they were so busy maintaining their structure. Even the children from those days have continued on with the simplicity of living in God and loving each other in the process. What joyful simplicity and what an incredible life they’ve gone on to share together!

They are also affectionately known in these parts as ‘that lot.’ The whole community knows about the congregation that dismantled its building and stopped meeting every week on a regular basis. They also know they have lived on as passionate believers. Without all the machinery to maintain, they have been more available to help care for the families and neighbors.

“I tell you the truth, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds. The man who loves his life will lose it, while the man who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life.” John 12:24-25

As long as we hold tightly to the things we think we must preserve, we’ll miss the incredible doors God would put before us every day as we simply live in him and follow his ways. True life is found in giving up, not in holding on, as we follow wherever God leads us.

One last bit from my conversation in Christchurch with Sara, John and Mary Beaumont, and David and Nina Rice:

More from my conversation in Christchurch with Sara, John and Mary Beaumont, and David and Nina Rice:

More from my conversation in Christchurch with Sara, John and Mary Beaumont, and David and Nina Rice:

Now that’s a thought…

More from my conversation in Christchurch with Sara, John and Mary Beaumont, and David and Nina Rice:

We spent the weekend with John and Mary Beaumont, two native Kiwi’s who have traveled the world encouraging brothers and sisters to live deeply in the life of Christ and are now settling down back at home in their senior years. It has been an amazing time sharing lessons from the journey and celebrating the wonderful things that God has done in our lives. John saw through the illusion of religious systems a long time ago and has helped others learn to thrive in God’s life without the baggage of religion.

John recently put his life story in print in a book called, “A God-Filled Nobody.” He is nuts about all of us learning to live freely and fully in the life of Jesus. I’m bringing some copies home with me for New Zealand and we’ll make them available through Lifestream for $12.00 each. I know his story will be an inspiration to many of you. I’ll write more abut it and include some excerpts when I get home.

For now, let me summarize some of our discussions together. It was filled with rich conversation sometimes exploding in gut-busting laughter and at others in awe of God—his work and his wisdom. I appreciate so much the life and testimony of this older brother and sister and the warmth with which they shared his lives and home with us. Over the next few postings I’m going to share with you some insights I gleaned from our time together. Here’s the first:

These are the kinds of conversations that I’ll get to chew on for some time to come. Today we leave Christchurch to head further south and inland to Fairlie. We’ll be living alongside the mountain range that was used for the Misty Mountains in the film trilogy “The Lord of the Rings.”

At left you’ll see the Thursday evening sunset we witnessed on a beach west of Wellington. Since then we have journeyed south, first by Ferry across the Cook Straight through a giant pod of dolphins to the South Island. From there we drove by car across some amazing countryside and then along the coastline down to Christchurch. We will weekend here and then head inland to Faerlie for the remainder of our stay. Sara and I fly home on Thursday.

One of the constant themes of our fellowship throughout New Zealand has been the wonderful things that God has done as people simply followed their heart instead of listening to the detractors and naysayers. We heard a lengthy story by a woman whose father had abandoned her and her siblings to alcohol and a mother who had been so overwhelmed with her small children she turned them over to an orphanage and vanished. Decades of anger however yielded to the Lord’s working and she told of the way God had led her to reconciliation with her father when he was dying and with her mother when she was 70. Each time a specific direction in her heart and the willingness to follow it opened doors she had never imagined t

We also talked to another woman who had made some incredible decisions not to use some incredible material to advance her own name or websites. When I asked her why she hadn’t more clearly linked her name to it, she said that it just didn’t feel right.

We also met a group of people who had recently been pushed out of a fellowship they had helped to plant because they began to ask questions about tithing, leadership and covering that made their long-time colleagues reject them as rebellious and spread gossip about them over a wide array of past friendships. Even though they have been castigated for it they have followed their heart instead of giving in to the pressure and manipulation of others.

God does incredible things in folks who simply follow their hearts. Unfortunately our religious systems rather than teaching people how to follow what God puts on their heart, actually teach them not to. Those who lead them talk about the heart being desperately wicked and that they need confirmation from their leaders before stepping out. Unfortunately, however, what God often puts on our hearts will not fit easily into human systems, and those who lead them will rarely be able to affirm what God has asked them to do. By teaching people not to trust what Father puts on their heart, they rob them of the adventure that will help them know him better and lead them to some incredible experiences.

“Don’t you think God would show that to us if it were true?” I’ve heard of that question asked a lot when people sense God leading them in a direction their so-called leaders don’t like. It creates the false notion that people following their heart are arrogant people and lack humility. But God wants us to learn how to follow his leadings in our heart, even if others do not agree. It doesn’t mean we’re always right, but that we will learn in the following. Yes, I know people who constantly write God’s name on their own agenda, but that simply becomes known in time. The early apostles taught believers to ‘believe what they hear’ and not allow anyone else, even them, to undermine the leading of their conscience.

It’s a wonderful lesson for us all. Follow your heart and don’t worry about making mistakes, because God can use those as well. And remember, those who know Father will encourage you to listen to him, not discourage you in their attempts to get you to follow them.

We’ve moved south over the past few days from Auckland into Wellington. (That’s Sara and I at left standing on an overlook above Wellington Harbor.) We traveled through the volcanic regions of the North Island stopping to see a few geysers and volcanoes as well as fitting with people who are living this marvelous journey of growing to know him.

At one house we stopped at some of the people were reminiscing about a mutual friend from New Zealand who had passed away not long ago. They talked about how he had served others practically as well as inspiring them spiritually. One lady commented, “To know Alan was to know God.”

Can you imagine anything greater that could be said of anyone? Jesus wants to take shape in us in such a way that when others get near us they get a glimpse into the very nature of God. That’s obviously a work he has to do in us, but it is one he loves to do.

We had an evening with 30 or so people in Palmerston North on Tuesday evening. What a joy to meet so many people, many of them in their senior years, willing to question the status quo in their desire to know the Living God. We shared all that God is doing the world over to invite people away from the bondage of institutionalism so that we can freely know and live in Christ. We were blessed and inspired by the folks we met there.

On Wednesday we arrived in Wellington and are staying at the home of Mike and Lynette who host. Unveiling.org and Austin-Sparks.net. We’ve had an amazing time fellowshipping with such like-hearted followers of Father and sharing the lessons he has taught us on this journey. We also got to tour all over Wellington. It is an incredible city, built on the hillsides overlooking a massive harbor. Today we catch a ferry to cross over to the South Island and will arrive in Christchurch by Friday evening.