Walking around the Sargakoti

The rains which hadn't shown their face for over 5 months came to Pokhara while we were here on our second day. This is a taste of what it's like walking around the valley when you can see the mountains. People have spent thousands of thousands of dollars to come and see these mountains over the last half year with little success. Although Diana and I didn't come to see the mountains (we live on some nice ones) , they showed themselves after our second day for one morning only.

On our way to a detox clinic we help in Nepal!

It's a rough taxi trip!

When you can't hold or control it!

When the church is so liquid, you can't hold it in your hand (control), then it's liquid. When it goes where you don't want it to go, seeps into all the cracks, and where Jesus is truly shepherding His Sheep ~ it's liquid. Breaking free from an institutionalized practice doesn't mean abandoning meetings, it only means that your vision of the Bride expands and there's more to church that four walls and a program. As matter of fact it will probably multiply your meetings. They just won't always be sanctioned or scheduled. When "priesthood of believers" is more than a theological statement ~ stuff begins to happen.

KH

Just a man with lots of flys!

We were traveling to the far side of the valley today when we started going though a series of alley ways. At one particular place, I looked out the window to the sidewalk and saw a man who looked to be about 35 or 40 laying on the sidewalk covered with fly's. Diana said, "Is he dead?" It was the third I'd seen today and it wasn't yet 11:00 a.m.

If you have clean water, a safe home, potential for a job, clean food, and toilet ~ you are blessed. The vast majority of the world lives on less than $2 per day. Don't believe the illusion.

P.S. We had a great time last evening and this morning sharing with a brother from the Philippines who also has a love for the "liquid church."

KH

To Sabadote

This meat market is off limits!

Local Meat Market - Nepal

Truth ~ what is it?

"Most men occasionally stumble over the truth, but most pick themselves up and continue on as if nothing happened." Winston Churchhill

Geography of Thought

Diana has been reading this book, and it compares why Asians and Westerners think differently and why. So she notices things. Although the following video looks like chaos, it's not. Because East Asians are more adaptable to continuous change and see themselves as part of things happening around them, they can adapt to constantly changing traffic patterns without interruptions. Westerners would go berserk, shoot someone, scream, or have road-rage because of individualism. People get to be different!!!

Does The Following Quote Remind You Of Anything?

"The body is a vehicle for longevity, while the spirits are for immortality. Therefore, spirit is the master of the body, just as a Lord is master of his kingdom. Make virtue complete, make the heart calm, blow to spirit and disease will flee." (Wen-tzu Classic 45-200 B.C.)

In Search Of A Liquid Church

I read the phrase liquid church some time ago and never forgot it. It conveys the idea that Kingdom precedes form when it comes to serving God. It asserts that structures are created as they serve the Good News. This is radically unique because we as people tend to solidify our creations - especially church forms. We like to freeze-frame some special time in history and say “this is it.” But liquids invade
space. They fill up cracks and make relevant unused areas. They are not fixed and rigid like the round peg in a round hole program. Instead, they are viscous, plastic, moldable, fluid, and powerful. I like that!!

It’s the kind of church I continue to look and pray for in Asia. I like the innovators who invade cultures
and present a relevant Jesus to their own nationalities. I don’t care much for the “you gotta look like this crowd” or you’re not right. Nope, that one doesn’t float my boat. When we travel and look for ministry opportunities, we’re not looking for people who want to build their own Kingdom (although many seem to lean this way). Nor are we looking to present a Westernized Good News that turns Jesus into a commodity to be consumed and shares the same liturgy with the folks at First Baptist or First Presbyterian. We are looking for the message that fills the spaces and gaps. We’re searching for the men and women who have decided to inhabit their apologetics in powerful and innovative ways rather than spending their lives trying to explain a doctrinal statement. We want to see those who are living out the love of the Master for the pure joy of that alone. Barnabas looks for men and women who are “intentionally spiritual” and NOT in ministry for money. Besides, church takes so many forms, and people spend so much time validating their own form it’s absurd. Here’s an example we just experienced.

This past weekend we had the wonderful experience of spending time with our kids in Lynchburg. On Sunday we went to a service two hours from Lynchburg with our son, James. It was a great service and we enjoyed just sitting with our boy. We also enjoyed lively praise and free worship and these folks were very serious about their praise time. The pastor gave a good word and it was very edifying. The folks were friendly, prayed for us, welcomed us, and blessed us. We had a good time. But the blunt of the message was explaining to the congregation that their form of worship was the Biblical form (many scriptures, but primarily King David dancing before the ark) and why building a new 7.5 million dollar structure was necessary. It was a good message if you were looking for validations. But for anyone who didn’t like
that form of worship ~ it would have been troublesome. (Footnote~ I would gladly go back to this place, the fellowship, worship and love were genuine ~ and we would gladly worship in the new 7.5 million structure)

Now Diana and I attend a small fellowship whose name includes the phrase “for Biblical Worship” and their meeting doesn’t look like the one just mentioned. We have friends meeting in homes who believe they are Biblical. We have friends who focus on the Reformation era and they believe they are Biblical.
We have friends that prefer to practice SILENCE AND PRAYERFUL MEDITATION and they believe they are worshiping correctly. Whose form is right? Answer ~ It’s not that any one form is right. As a matter of fact, it’s not about form at all. It’s about Kingdom and Kingdom is everything, not methods of meeting.
Here’s a great quote:
“There is nothing so secular that it cannot be sacred, and that is one of the deepest messages of the incarnation.” Madeleine L’Engle, Walking on Water)

We should decide that God can use any form and any person, and that He is completely capable of handling His work without our control or freeze-framing. We should see Him working in many different people and places using a variety of gifts and talents that differ from our own in order to extol Him. Want to pray in accord with us on our trip to Asia? Then pray that we meet and encourage the brothers and sisterswho have liquid perspectives. Be flexible and create some space ~ see what God will do. k.h.