The Church as Family
Is the church just an institution with shared doctrine and weekly services, or is it primarily a family that shares life together under the practical headship of Jesus? Helping Brad and Wayne probe that question this week are two brothers from Ireland who were on The God Journey back in April of 2006 in a podcast entitled, Laying it All Down in Ireland. Collin Langran (left) and David Rice (right) have been part of a thriving community of brothers and sisters in Dublin and regions south who have for more than 30 years simply learned to live as God's people together, sharing life and caring for one another without the traditional congregational structures to manage that life. Their conversation shows how the church can experience life as a family as each believer learns to listen and follow the Head, and grow in loving and caring for each other through the twists and turns of life in this world.
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Love the Irish!!! Sweet program guys. Very encouraging to me personally. Just the statement “I will build my church”. That God is bigger than our failures. To follow Him personally and with others is such a beautiful thing to experience. I feel incredibly blessed at the moment with our ragtag bunch of Okies living loved in Okie land. Such a pleasure to hear the “fellowship” going on in your retreat. Thanks for sharing this with us.
Well, I’m slightly disapointed, Collin didn’t sing one of his Irish songs. Where are the great principles ? You gotta sing man ! And he could get a worldwide audience, maybe be picked up for “Ireland got talent” who knows…
Love these guys anyway.
This was food for the soul. If Collin and David get a ‘God nudge’ to come up to Belfast Northern Ireland we’d love to connect with them. 🙂
I can only get 2 minutes of the program to load and play. Help!!!
I’m sorry Michelle, for the problem you are having. I suspect the file is being truncated by your ISP. Try downloading the dial-up version. It is a smaller file. Or, you ca listen to it on-line using the java tool. I hope that works out. I’m not sure why your computer is cutting away after only downloading part of the file. The whole file is there…
One of the richest sessions you’ve done. I am definitely going to listen through it again. Wayne Interestingly enough I have just finished a book that covers some of the ground you probably are referring to when you were talking about the charismatic renewal, some of it a bit troubling. The life however that was being sought and found, of Christ walking tangibly in the gatherings, I get that part (and want more). The night before your podcast finally got posted I was asking Father for discernment. So how amazed was I when you started articulating exactly what I was trying to formulate in my own mind. Thanks for the perspective and thanks for sharing about obeying the proddings to go to the meadow. Blessings
I’m walkin’ around bare-foot because me socks got blessed off!
Thank you so much for recording this one. Good food for The Journey!
Slointe!
I had the same trouble as Michelle early on but I tried back several hours later and it finished downloading. With the podcast going up late, the server may have gotten overwhelmed at certain times with everyone trying to download all at once.
Anyway, if you haven’t gotten it yet, you might want to try again. It’s definitely one you don’t want to miss 🙂
Food for the journey. I really enjoyed the stero effect of one side of thr conversation back and forth.
I couldn’t help but feel like I knew these sweet Irishmen, then I realized- it’s Jesus that I recognize. I really felt a mixture of things- one, how very far off the mark I am so much of the time. Evidenced by my defensiveness of others who are stumbling out of yet another massacre in one of the thousands of little kingdoms. I easily give grace to those falling out of some assembly without a thought for those still “plodding” along.
Yet when I consider my own journey through that system of religion it takes all the wind of self-righteousness out of my sails. I can relax, Christ is building His church! I do not have a corner on the truth, and as much as I miss the comfort of rules and the company of peers that tell each other we are right, I’d choose this wild and uncertain ride with God any day! I pray He continues to give us eyes to see Him and grace to walk in the promise that we have no need that any man should teach us, because the Spirit of God will lead us into Truth.
I really enjoyed this podcast. Even though I do not personally know these 2 men….I felt I knew them very much…and of course that is only possible through the Holy Spirit. Thank you for sharing!
Especially like the way they responded to the criticism of “lack of structure”. “Family” has plenty of structure. So does a “corporation”, but it doesn’t strike me as familial.
Tom
I am so delighted to have found this website!!! I know many beloved who will be SO blessed to hear about your podcasts too! Many of us have been seeking for deeper relationship with our Lord and with one another for years. We started our Christian journey in the structured home fellowship, and moved on to spending many years in various institutional church buildings, and now we have “come home” to learn to truly live as family.
What a blessing to hear David and Collin once again, after meeting them in Ashford, County Wicklow, in the summer of 2007 for the Festival of Friends gathering. I’m a little further away now, back in the USA, but I am so encouraged to hear of God’s continued movement in and among the sweet Irish families we met there.
Through this site I regained my old friends in Dublin. Were grateful. Spent some weeks with the Rice´s in 1971-1972. Wonderful to hear about the ways the Lord made them go further. The site was really a blessing to me.
It is so wonderful to listen to these pod-casts thanks for making them available, started with the new ones and now moving into the older podcasts. Just listened to the Church as family, that’s what i am trusting to experience with our friends.David and Collin gives me real hope
So glad I listened to this podcast this morning. Even though it is not a “recent” discussion, it was just what I needed.
The discussion about the fear of ‘not doing it right’ really hit me and even though Papa has dealt with me about this over the years, this morning was even more healing. He told me “You cannot fail” and I heard it with my heart. I heard and felt it in my heart!!
Thank you so much brothers. I got a big hug from Papa today through you.