Advent & Anticipation – Catching the VTribe Spirit

Posted on December 17, 2014January 7, 2015 by Andy Wood

Here’s an update and a reflection from our National Team Leaders, David and Anita Ruis:

Hey VTribe,

Over the last several months there has been significant dialogue across our movement, in local, regional and virtual settings. We have a great deal to ponder and to pray through as we all re-imagine what we should look like heading into 2015. The interaction has been vibrant and the resulting input invaluable. Our future is ripe with challenge, but anticipation about where we are heading is palpable as we see a fresh sense of collaboration, community and common vision spring up from coast to coast.

Something is up – for real.

Advent has been defined as “the coming or arrival, especially of something extremely important.” and this sense of anticipation is alive, not only because of the liturgical calendar, but because the Spirit is measurably at work within our tribe. As Eleanor Mumford so winsomely quoted C.S. Lewis at our EnLive gathering in the summer, “Aslan is on the move!”

Gordie Lagore and David recently attended he Evangelical Fellowship of Canada’s National Leaders gathering in Toronto. Geoff Tunnicliffe, the head of the World Evangelical Association and fellow Canadian, gave a fascinating presentation about what is trending from a global vantage point within communities of faith across the world.

Three of the key things that he identified shaping the current trajectory of where the Spirit is working among followers of Jesus are:

a growing integration of faith with business, media and government – seeing the kingdom beyond the walls of the church in entrepreneurial innovation
changing dynamics within “inter-christian” relationships – most particularly between Protestants and Catholics
engagement in “peace building” and (social) justice initiatives in not just project based efforts, but in addressing systemic issues through policy engagement

We were thrilled to hear this articulated, for many within our Vineyard family have already been engaged in exploring these types of initiatives.

Fresh innovation and a ground swell of people engaging entrepreneurially, thinking about “business as mission” has been developing across our tribe. From our Christ Church crew in Vancouver, under Naomi Lippett’s oversight, to the Epic Community in Calgary with Merlin Bartel and our ice-cream shack in Halifax, the last years have seen many Canadian Vineyardites exploring the integration of faith and business. Terry Black’s cutting edge work in film of the Cambridge Vineyard, and the Berry’s in Annapolis, NS cultivation of art and music, are just a couple of examples of the VTribe exploring faith and culture beyond the walls of the institution. The last years of posturing ourselves for “out of the box” thinking and seeing the community of faith as much more than a Sunday meeting has given us a good head start in some of things the Lord is doing in this time.

Something’s up.

Over the last several months, many within our family have experienced a fresh measure of God’s restoration and healing. remarkable! Right across denominational lines, our Vineyard community has been experiencing a re-connect with the church at large, people returning to our local expressions of faith and a general sense of relational healing. Many have expressed their excitement about our national Vineyard’s growing comradery again with the US Vineyard and the Global Vineyard Community. John and Eleanor Mumford being with us in Kitchener, as well as at our BC Regional gathering has had a significant impact. David has participated with John and Carol Arnott in several initiatives this past year as well, which has been so kingdom, so right and so healing on many levels given our Canadian Vineyard’s unique story with renewal. Next August the Ruis’ and the Arnott’s will be involved together in a gathering in Ottawa with the Catholic church – who would’ve thought? Such is the mysterious workings of the Spirit as He glorifies Christ in His church. As Wimber once said, “love the whole church”, a call that seems to be re-awakened in this time.

Something’s up.

Justice. Enough said. One thing deep in our Canadian Vineyard’s dna has been peace keeping and social justice. From our earliest years of the Langley Vineyard serving Jackie Pullinger’s emerging work in Hong Kong, to the Jacob’s Well and Strathcona crew in Vancouver, to East Van’s work in Lower Post, to the Winnipeg Centre Vineyard’s moving into the North End of Winnipeg and the current School of Justice, to the Esser’s and the Sarnia Vineyard fighting for justice within the civic nightmare of by-laws and zoning that marginalize the poor, to Beth Wood’s engagement within NAIIT and labour on behalf of our First Nations and her work in Brazil – far too many more initiatives than we can mention here – we have been faithful. But we’ve only begun, and there is a fresh surge of faith to see us engage with the margins in even more and better ways.

Something’s up.

So – Merry Christmas! Walk into this Advent Season and the New Year with anticipation for what is coming in ’15. Here’s to a fresh encounter with Jesus as He calls us into the next chapter of the story He is writing with us as we continue to discover how to live out our common language, common liturgy and common call together. Let the kingdom come.

Here’s to the journey,
David and Anita Ruis
National Team Leaders

Outer Circle – a journey towards Jesus

Posted on December 2, 2014December 2, 2014 by Andy Wood

Right now in kid’s church, they are learning about God’s Big Story. They are learning how sin entered the world, and completely distorted a perfect, and in fact “very good” creation. More than distorting it, sin has really messed things up and if left unchallenged leads to death and total destruction. Adam and Eve, who once walked openly with God, now hid from him, their Father. They once walked in complete openness and vulnerability – after sin, they hid themselves from each other. Even the earth itself seemed to reel with the effects of this rebellion.

However, God immediately hatched a plan of redemption and restoration (you can read Gen 3:15 for the first glimpse of a plan). He wouldn’t allow sin to have the final say in his creation. Jesus, as our children are learning, is God’s response to sin. Our journey as followers and imitators of Jesus, is towards Christ-likeness. It’s really a journey back to the beginning. We were created in God’s very image, sin distorted that image, and Christ came to make a way for us to live into that again. To walk and talk once again with God our loving creator.

In a big sense, this is what the Outer Circle is all about. It’s our attempt to create just enough structure while leaving room for plenty of flexibility to help us on our journey towards being like Jesus. It’s the task of discipleship. It’s the joy and the work of submitting our wills, habits, desires, our very lives to God, who takes them and forms us into the likeness of his son.

If you are interested in joining the Outer Circle process, now is the time, but you have to commit to the process. Read more about it here or pick up a copy of the Outer Circle manual at the info table.

If you are currently in a Triad, now is the time to make your plan for the coming year.

The first Outer Circle gathering of the new year is Saturday, January 17 at 5:30pm. At this time all Triads need to be formed and everyone needs to have gone through their own discernment process.

Prayer Challenge – Day 1 (an introduction)

Posted on November 2, 2014November 24, 2014 by Andy Wood

The vision is to see everyone in WCV walk in a daily awareness and anticipation of God’s presence, and to see that awareness and reality spill out to those around them. We’ll start with a 30-day challenge: Pray 3 times a day for 30 days.

When we set aside time, seek God’s heart, and get a sense of his vision for our lives, our communities and our neighbourhoods, big things can happen. That’s what happened for Daniel. His prayer life set the stage for some life-saving miracles.

For us, there may not be physical lions waiting to devour us, but the call to pray is no less urgent today than it was in Daniel’s time and our lions can be just as deadly. We believe God will do amazing things among us as we devote ourselves to him in this way, together. When his children turn their hearts and attention towards him, he will respond (it’s a promise).

There are three movements of prayer that we’re inviting you to consider during these 30 days.

3 Times a Day – MORNING, DAYTIME & EVENING

Morning:

The morning is full of promise for the day ahead. It’s about looking forward into the future. In the morning ask God what his vision is for you today. What would he like to say to you, show you, and invite you to participate in? Throughout the prayer challenge, we will offer suggestions about what to pray for or think about. But feel free to set it up in a way that works for you.

“I pray that the eyes of my heart be enlightened to know the hope of my calling.” Ephesians 1:19

Daytime:

The day is all about the present and living out the vision you received in the morning. This is when we put flesh to our prayers – the “walking it out” part of prayer. Throughout your day, look for signs of what God spoke in the morning, and/or answers to your morning’s prayers. You may want to be very practical and set an alarm at a particular time during the day to pray. There may also be some kind of action that you’ll need to engage in or there may be some kind of prayer that you’ll need to pray. Whatever it is, make it specific.

“The eyes of the Lord move back and forth across the earth, searching for those whose hearts are truly his, so that he may strongly support them.” 2 Chronicles 16:9

Evening:

The evening is about reflection. After it’s all said and done, look back in gratitude. Thank God for, not only his presence with you today, but for what he showed you, what he spoke to you, how he revealed himself to you. Maybe you have a sense of completion, perhaps something is birthing in you that will take years to come to fruition. Whatever the case, you’re a day closer now. Keep faithful, keep at it, be thankful, write it down – and rest.

“Whatever was true, fitting, extraordinary, pure, beautiful, won my respect” Philippians 4

“Write it down on tablets.”

This is what God told Habakkuk to do with his prayers. Something happens when we put our prayers and prayerful thoughts into writing. Consider keeping some kind of journal for these 30 days. We all need a record to refer to. Most of our memories are short, especially when it comes to prayer. So, whether you’re inclined towards pen & paper, painting a picture, a magazine collage, some other kind of creative (or non-creative) reflection, or an actual tablet, make sure you do something. You won’t be disappointed. For today, let’s simply ask God to reveal himself to us over the course of this 30-Day Prayer Challenge!