altar building

THE PRACTICE OF ALTAR BUILDING

Building a Jesus WORLD: The Practice of Altar Building

A New Kind of Spiritual Gathering

Imagine a weekly gathering where people come together not primarily to talk about their struggles, nor simply to discuss ideas, but to build something with Jesus.

This is the idea behind a weekly 40-minute Zoom meeting called “Witting Jesus WORLD Building.”

The meeting is loosely structured like an AA meeting:

  1. 5–10 minute opening reading that sets the frame, expectations, and traditions.
  2. Open share time, where participants speak about what Jesus is building in their lives.

When someone shares, they rhythmically introduce themselves in a way similar to AA:

“Greg, Witting Jesus WORLD Builder.”

The heart of the meeting is not therapy, testimony, or discussion. The heart of the meeting is construction.

Participants gather to share the progress Jesus is making—with their cooperation—in building their personal Jesus WORLD.

The Core Challenge: Avoiding the “Therapy Drift”

After the first meeting, one thing became clear.

When people gather to talk about their relationship with Jesus, the conversation naturally drifts toward:

  • emotional processing
  • life struggles
  • personal stories

These are important, but they easily turn the meeting into a therapy circle.

The intention of the meeting, however, is different.

It is to cultivate a mindset of building.

Instead of sharing only what someone is feeling or experiencing, participants are encouraged to ask:

“What is Jesus building here?”

Even when the insight is personal or abstract, the goal is to move toward something identifiable and constructible.

The Shift: From Experiences to Buildable Things

The key shift in the meeting culture is this:

Instead of sharing experiences, participants share buildable things emerging from those experiences.

A helpful analogy comes from the technology world.

In tech, people build:

  • apps
  • modules
  • templates
  • systems
  • reusable components

Similarly, the meeting explores the idea that spiritual life can generate shareable spiritual constructs.

Early language for these constructs included ideas like:

  • Apps
  • Modules
  • Templates
  • Scenes
  • Protocols

Even the playful idea of JFTs — Jesus Fungible Tokens emerged as a way to describe small spiritual units that could be shared and replicated.

The goal is that when someone shares, listeners might think:

“I’d like to include that in my Jesus WORLD.”

Just as someone might install an app on their phone.

For example:

Instead of saying:

“Jesus has been teaching me gratitude.”

Someone might say:

“Jesus and I built a Morning Bread practice where I break bread each morning and ask Him one question before eating.”

Now the idea has structure.
It becomes something portable.

A Better Name for the Building Block: The Altar

While technological language like “apps” can be helpful, it also feels somewhat mechanical.

A deeper, more fitting word emerged:

Altar

Throughout scripture, people built altars wherever they encountered God.

  • Abraham built altars.
  • Isaac built altars.
  • Jacob built altars.
  • Moses built altars.

Altars marked places where God acted.

They were physical markers of divine encounter.

In the context of Jesus WORLD building, the idea becomes:

The fundamental building block of a Jesus WORLD is an Altar.

What Is an Altar?

In this framework:

An Altar is a place where a person intentionally meets Jesus and something happens.

An altar may be:

  • physical
  • symbolic
  • ritual
  • conversational
  • situational

But it always has structure.

A Jesus WORLD can therefore be imagined as:

A landscape filled with altars.

Each altar becomes a node of relationship with Jesus.

The Basic Structure of an Altar

Altars can be described using a few simple components.

1. The Place

Where the altar exists.

Examples:

  • kitchen table
  • walking trail
  • car commute
  • journal
  • bedside chair
  • work desk

2. The Action

What happens there.

Examples:

  • breaking bread
  • asking Jesus a question
  • silent listening
  • confession
  • gratitude
  • prayer for others

3. The Object (optional)

Physical or symbolic elements.

Examples:

  • bread
  • candle
  • stone
  • cup
  • notebook

4. The Pattern

The repeatable rule of the altar.

Example:

“Before eating breakfast, I ask Jesus what He wants to build today.”

Examples of Altars

The Bread Altar

Place: Kitchen table
Object: Bread
Pattern: Break bread and ask Jesus a question before eating.

Share example:

“Greg, Witting Jesus WORLD Builder.
Jesus and I started building a Bread Altar in my kitchen this week.”

The Commute Altar

Place: Car
Pattern: First five minutes of the drive belong to Jesus.

Share example:

“Jesus and I built a Commute Altar where the first five minutes of driving are silent listening.”

The Anger Altar

Place: Moments of conflict
Pattern: Pause and ask Jesus before responding.

Share example:

“Jesus and I are building an Anger Altar where I stop and ask Him how to respond.”

The Morning Silence Altar

Place: Bedside or kitchen chair
Pattern: Three minutes of silence before checking the phone.

Why “Altar” Works So Well

Using the word altar solves several important challenges.

It gives the practice:

Spiritual depth

Altars are ancient, biblical, and sacred.

Embodiment

Altars are places and practices, not just ideas.

Structure

They have boundaries and patterns.

Shareability

Someone can hear about an altar and decide:

“I want that altar in my Jesus WORLD.”

The Culture of the Meeting

The meeting gradually develops a culture centered around a simple question:

“What altar is Jesus building in your world?”

Even when someone shares a personal struggle, the conversation can gently move toward construction:

“What altar might Jesus be building there?”

In this way, personal experiences become raw material for spiritual architecture.

Layers of Construction

Over time, the structure becomes clearer.

Level 1 — Altars

The fundamental unit.

Level 2 — Altar Components

Objects, actions, and patterns.

Level 3 — Altar Networks

Groups of altars forming rhythms.

Example morning network:

  • Silence Altar
  • Bread Altar
  • Listening Altar

Level 4 — Jesus WORLD

The full landscape of altars forming a life with Jesus.

What the Shares Sound Like

A typical share might sound like this:

“Greg, Witting Jesus WORLD Builder.

This week Jesus and I started building a Small Silence Altar in my mornings.
It’s just three minutes of silence before I check my phone.”

Or:

“Jesus helped me build a Forgiveness Altar in my marriage this week.”

Or:

“I’m experimenting with a Pause Before Email Altar where I ask Jesus one question before replying.”

These shares are simple, concrete, and buildable.

The Long-Term Vision

Over time, the community may create an expanding library of altars.

Examples might include:

  • Morning Silence Altar
  • Bread Altar
  • Commute Altar
  • Gratitude Stone Altar
  • Listening Walk Altar
  • Email Pause Altar
  • Forgiveness Altar
  • Work Desk Altar

Each one represents a small technology of relationship with Jesus.

Participants can adopt, adapt, and expand them within their own Jesus WORLD.

A Gathering of Altar Builders

The meeting ultimately becomes something quite unique:

A group of people gathering weekly to witness the altars Jesus is building in their worlds.

Instead of simply discussing faith, they are architects of lived relationship.

They are builders of landscapes of encounter.

And each week they come together and say, in rhythm:

“Greg, Witting Jesus WORLD Builder.”

Then they share what Jesus is building next. 🌱

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