It’s not a novel idea at all, but it is a mindset we could grow in especially in the United States.  We have a lot of large churches where we check off our religion time cards and then get about the business of personal development and success strategries.   Imagine an over-haul on how we look at the local church in the United States in particular.  Imagine a perspective that gets us extra local so-to-speak, gets us appreciating the actual individuals and families in our bodies of believers, and gets us doing life-on-life ministry for one another and the lost.

A dear brother and mentor of mine has been working on organizing a group of men to care for one another once a week.  It’s not an accountability group so much.  It’s not a support group so much.  It’s very much like what I’ve been involved with up in Tuolumne County, an open invite context where men are stirring one another up in their relationships with the Lord and pressing in to know Jesus Christ and make Him known throughout the community.  If men will once again follow the Lord, imagine the turn-around in our culture.  Women tend to be the spiritual ones in our families.  Imagine if men would see this and be challenged to lead and stand and love and serve in our country and around the globe.  God calls us to be humble and supple followers of the Redeemer.

Lord, please work in us!  Shape us to follow with whole hearts and to lead and love as You have called us to from church to church, essentially forming local churches inside of local churches, poolings of beleivers in small enough contexts so that genuine growth and impact happens!

Your Gospel changes everything for us.  Thank You for Jesus’ death for us and for the Spirit’s empowering of our lives to serve and find joy in so doing.

In His friendship,

– Torrey