sending church

over the flood

2011-11-21T03:00:00.001-06:00

"We sometimes act like we are under the flood... God is not under the flood, He is over the flood, God is over all things... If all the Christians leave this city to flee from the flood, who will be the light to Thai people left behind in darkness?" These words come from a great Thai leader and partner for LifePoint Bangkok. Our family is thrilled to be in Bangkok for a six-month assignment to help our LP Bangkok team establish a campus/sending center. Since arriving over a month ago, we have focused on adjusting to our new life and culture, spending time with the LP team, and making new friends. We have also lived under the constant threat of flooding coming from the heaviest monsoon season in Thailand in the last 50 years. The waters are beginning to recede, but only after the loss of hundreds of lives and thousands of homes. Millions of Thai people have been affected by the flooding with billions of dollars in damage to the economy. The Thai people are very resilient and already recovering from this crisis. However, many have been shaken to their core by the uncertainty of events in recent weeks. Many are still hurting and more open to the gospel than ever before. Pray that we can be used by God to reach many who are open to the good news because of this tragedy.

unstoppable influence

2011-09-28T16:02:00.000-05:00

LifePoint Church on Vimeo.

Shared a little of our story this past Sunday as we finished up the series "Unstoppable." The church is God's primary instrument for His mission in the world. God is leading LifePoint to send the Church to be the Church where there is no church. In our local community and around the world, we are pointing people to a Christ-centered life through worship, biblical community, service, influence and generosity. As we model a Christ-centered life through missional communities, we will multiply disciples, leaders and churches among the nations for God's glory.

Where is God sending your church as part of His mission in the world?

sending church roundtable

2011-09-12T16:37:00.001-05:00

LifePoint Church is hosting the sending church roundtable tonight and tomorrow along with the Upstream Collective.
You can follow live blogging and receive the latest twitter updates at #sendingchurch. Join the conversation as 22 churches come together to share ideas, best practices, and lessons learned from engaging in God's mission.

a sending church story

2011-08-23T14:23:00.001-05:00

Rick and Jeanne Schroder’s Story from LifePoint Church on Vimeo.

One family's story about their journey as part of our sending church. The Schroders recently joined our LifePoint Brussels team.

training for the sending church

2011-08-23T09:46:00.003-05:00

"So you want to be a sending church. You wish to actively engage in sharing the Gospel with members of another culture by commissioning some of your own church members to live and work among them... But you’re lost. Even though you’re sure of this vision God has clearly laid on your heart, too many unanswered questions seem to hang in a cloud above your head. What steps does your team need to take before you arrive on the field? How do you get there? What should you expect when you do? How do you communicate the Gospel once you do?"

Sending church training offered by the Upstream Collective can be a valuable resource for your church as you prepare to send a missional community (missionary team) to plant and multiply new disciples, leaders and churches in another culture. Our church is blessed to partner with Upstream for training several of our missionaries. If you are a sending church, check this out.

what missional should really look like

2011-08-10T10:53:00.001-05:00

Great interview with David Platt from Trevin Wax expounding more on Platt's book: Radical Together: Unleashing the People of God for the Purpose of God. I think Platt has communicated the most biblical application of mission / missional / missions that I currently see out there. In this interview Platt clearly and concisely answers questions / issues raised by Wax from his reading of the book. Following are excerpts of the conversation about being "missional"... but there is a lot more good stuff to be found in the interview. The full conversation can be found here .
__________

"Missional” is quite a loaded, and often misunderstood, word in many conversations today. I certainly appreciate any effort to remind us that God intends us all to make disciples wherever we live, particularly in our local context...

At the same time, the Great Commission is not just a command from Jesus to make disciples; it’s a command from Jesus to make disciples of all nations (literally, panta ta ethne, of all the people groups). This means that Jesus has commanded us to go beyond just the place where we live and the people we live among. He has commanded us to go to people groups all around the world who have little to no access to the gospel. This is at the heart of the Great Commission.

So being “missional,” in the sense of the whole of the Great Commission, is never just about making disciples among people right around us. Being “missional” according to the Great Commission involves making disciples among people far away from us (geographically and/or ethnically).

... I want to encourage those who would claim the banner of “missional” to be truly “missional.” Let’s continue to focus on making disciples among the people around us (let’s not detract from that focus!), and let’s focus on making disciples among peoples all around the world who presently have no access to the gospel. This is obedience to the Great Commission and the heart of what it means to be “missional.”

___________

I like that Platt contends for a "both/and" approach to making disciples in our own context and among the nations. Sending church to hard to reach nations is a missing piece of strategy for many western churches who call themselves "missional." Please take the time to read the full interview to get a more complete explanation. Comments welcome.

bangkok sending church

2011-07-13T10:40:00.001-05:00

I will visit our LifePoint Bangkok team this next week. I look forward to seeing what the Lord has done in and through them since moving to Bangkok last year. They have completed one year of language/cultural learning, building relational networks and laying the groundwork for establishing a LifePoint campus/sending center that will multiply indigenous Christ-centered disciples, leaders and churches for God's glory. Here is a description of our vision for LifePoint Bangkok:
___________________

LifePoint Church will be on Jesus' mission in Thailand to reveal God's glory among the nations. LifePoint Bangkok will multiply Christ-centered disciples, leaders and churches. We will help people take next steps to live out the following characteristics on their journey toward a Christ-centered life: Worship, Biblical Community, Service, Influence, and Generosity.

Bangkok, a booming mega city of over 15 million people, is the center for commerce and education for all of Southeast Asia. Hundreds of thousands of students from all over Asia come to study in Bangkok and return to influence people in their home countries as leaders and entrepreneurs. Although there is a long history of missionary work in Thailand, less than one percent of more than 65 million people know Jesus Christ as their Savior. However, because of the foundation laid by missionaries and Thai evangelical churches, there are signs of a growing church in Thailand.

LifePoint Church will come alongside Thai Christ followers and missionaries to focus on multiplying indigenous disciples, leaders and churches in Bangkok to see God’s glory revealed throughout the Buddhist world. As LifePoint missionaries acclimate to life in Bangkok, they will build relationships with people, search for persons of peace and look for where God is working to join in His plan for reaching Thailand. Through relational networks, our missionaries will disciple local Thai people in small groups to reach their family and friends.

Following God’s lead and timing, LifePoint will gather with indigenous Christ followers to establish a LifePoint campus/sending center that will provide contextually relevant environments for worship, community and discipleship. This church will not look exactly like LifePoint in the USA, but will have the DNA of pointing people to a Christ-centered life through worship, biblical community, service, influence and generosity... leading to multiplying disciples, leaders and churches in Thailand and Southeast Asia for God’s glory.

LifePoint will also partner for missionary training in Bangkok, equipping and mobilizing missionaries throughout Asia. LifePoint will play a role in sparking a "transformation movement" that will multiply radically transformed communities of Christ-followers and spread the fame of His name among neglected people groups.
________________

I am thrilled that our church will play a role in God's plan for Bangkok and the nations of Southeast Asia.

Honduras and Mexico years

2011-07-11T11:50:00.001-05:00

Christian youth movement rev

View more presentations from Tim Patterson

From Honduras years... we were privileged to play a role in this transformation movement and learned so much from the experience.

School for cross cultural training rev

View more presentations from Tim Patterson

From Mexico years... God blessed this strategy to multiply new disciples, leaders and churches among a couple of indigenous people groups.

Go... make disciples

2011-06-27T15:16:00.001-05:00

This is Discipling from The Foursquare Church on Vimeo.

Thanks to Guy Muse for pointing us to this video. Good illustration of how the church should be more about making disciples outside of our controlled environments and in the world where people live.

missional communities... frequently asked questions

2011-06-24T10:18:00.000-05:00

Great resource from the Verge Network on what missional communities look like... missional communities 7 frequently asked questions.

imagine a missional movement

2011-06-20T14:43:00.000-05:00

Good perspective coming from a mega multi-site church leader on what a missional church in the U.S. could look like. If every growing mega church in the west would struggle with this vision and make it their own, we could see a reverse of our downward spiral in North America and possibly play a vital role in discipling the nations. What do you think about Wegner's vision for the western church?

happy fathers multiply

2011-06-16T11:24:00.001-05:00

I am blessed to have a Dad that modeled for me what it looks like to be a man of character, a great husband and father, a leader, a hard worker, and a good friend. My Dad watched over me as I grew, he taught me things useful for life, gave great advice and guidance through my struggles, and encouraged me as I ventured out on my own. We don't see each other very much but we still keep in touch. Why? Because at one point in my youth he released me to be on my own, to be responsible for my own life, to start a new family and repeat this whole life cycle with them. A new generation was born and this new generation is reproducing yet another generation. Our family tree continues to grow larger with each generation. That is how we multiply... we produce a new generation and raise them to reproduce yet another generation of their own... and that life cycle continues for generations to come.

What happens when children don't grow up as they should, don't take responsibility for their own life, and don't produce a new healthy generation? Obviously, the family tree is cut short and does not grow and reproduce as intended. Multiplication happens when we produce new families that take responsibility for their own life, and are released to reproduce/raise new generations that will do the same. It is sad to see 30 and 40 year old men still living with their parents because they failed to take responsibility for their own life and produce a new family. It is sad to see grandparents who have to raise their grandchildren because parents fail to take responsibility for raising a new generation. It is even sadder to see controlling fathers who fail to raise healthy children and to release them to start families of their own.

This life illustration applies to the church and God's kingdom. It is sad to see Christ-followers who never grow up, never take responsibility to raise up new disciples of their own, and who fail to produce a new generation that could lead to multiplying the church. It is even sadder to see church leaders who do everything for their disciples, never stop spoon feeding them, never teach them how to do for themselves, and never release them to lead/teach/raise new disciples of their own.

Thanks Dad for raising me to be a man and empowering me to raise my own family. Happy Father's Day!

radical together

2011-06-15T15:38:00.000-05:00

I just finished reading Radical Together, Unleashing the People of God for the Purpose of God. The book "Radical" challenges individual Christians to give their lives away for the glory of God. "Radical Together" focuses on what the real mission is and how the church can be God's instrument to fulfill His purpose.

My favorite chapter is "The Genuis of Wrong, Building the Right Church Depends on Using All the Wrong People." In this chapter Platt states: "In Jesus' simple command to "make disciples," he has invited every one of his followers to share the life of Christ with others in a sacrificial, intentional, global effort to multiply the gospel of Christ through others. He never intended to limit this invitation to the most effective communicators, the most brilliant organizers, the most talented leaders and artists... all allegedly the right people that you and I are prone to exalt in the church. Instead, the Spirit of God has empowered every follower of Christ to accomplish the purpose of God for the glory of God in the world. This includes the so-called wrong people: those who are the least effective, least brilliant, or least talented in the church."

Platt also shines light on the real purpose of the church, why we are still here until the Lord comes for us... "This gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come" (Matthew 24:14). Platt puts it this way: "He will come when every people group has heard the gospel. For this reason he has charged his church, not just generally with getting the gospel to as many people as we can, but specifically with getting the gospel to every people group on this planet. Indeed, he is not coming back until this assignment has been accomplished."

"Radical Together" is a great equipping tool for sending churches. Platt includes small group studies that go along with each of the six chapters in the book. Personally, I liked this sequel better than the first book. I think it sharpens focus on the real mission and purpose of God and emphasizes the church as God's vehicle for His mission over individualistic mission.

be smart... learn the culture

2011-06-06T10:59:00.000-05:00

Bangkok Be Smart Guide from brett clark on Vimeo.

Our church is sending a team of 20 high school students and adults to Thailand this weekend. This video was a fun way to introduce some of the cultural differences and challenges of life in Bangkok.

This student team will work alongside our LifePoint missionaries loving on kids in an orphanage, helping with high school and university outreach, and serving in the slums. We now have six couples and two singles living in Bangkok. Most of them have finished up their first year of language study and will now begin forming small groups from their networks of relationships. As these groups grow, they will gather together to establish a campus, or sending center. LifePoint Bangkok will become our base for launching missional communities throughout Asia.

Here is a great blog post from one of our Bangkok missionaries about the importance of learning the culture... foreign to familiar.

what holds us together on the same mission

2011-06-02T09:28:00.000-05:00

¹⁸ Where there is no revelation, people cast off restraint;
but blessed is the one who heeds wisdom’s instruction.

¹⁹ Servants cannot be corrected by mere words;
though they understand, they will not respond.

(Proverbs 29:18-19, New International Version)

Proverb 29:18 is often quoted by leaders when talking about leadership. The traditional translation for this proverb uses the word "vision." This implies that leaders see something that others don't see, and have a special foreknowledge that will lead others to do what they should do, if they heed the leader's wisdom. This interpretation emphasizes the leader, and the need for people to follow the leader.

The more accurate translation of this proverb uses the word "revelation." This word implies that leaders are communicators of God's vision. When we effectively communicate God's vision, based on His word, the people we are leading are more likely to follow Him and carry out His plan. The emphasis of this interpretation is on God's revelation, His word, and the need for people to follow Him.

The next part of the proverb speaks to what happens when there is no revelation of God's will, people will "cast off restraint," meaning they will go do their own thing and not follow God's plan. Effective leadership that communicates God's vision will hold them together, lead them to go the same direction and not spin off out of control into various directions. The leader is the communicator of God's revelation. If the leader is doing a good job of communicating God's vision, the people he is leading will stay the course on God's mission.

Many stop right here with this proverb. I think the next proverb provides more context and a better understanding of how we can effectively communicate God's vision. Proverb 29:19 goes on to say, "A servant cannot be corrected by mere words; though he understands, he will not respond." Communicating God's vision involves more than "mere words," it requires action that demonstrates how to obey His revelation. Modeling what it looks like to obey God's vision completes the revelation. As the old saying goes... "practice what you preach." I would add, "preach what you practice." Kyle Goen, our leader for LifePoint Brussels, speaks to the need for models that accompany vision in his posts, "leading change in the church" and "pictures, models and vision."

I am thankful to be part of a church that is striving to follow God's revelation/vision for the nations. We are not perfect and have a long way to go. But one thing is for sure, we are following a singular vision based on God's word together as a church, and fighting off urges to stray into different directions. I will share some more about our global vision and how we are attempting to model that in future posts.

MODEL process for multiplying disciples, leaders and churches

2011-05-09T14:36:00.002-05:00

Model

View more presentations from timwpatterson

Here is a presentation outlining biblical principles for multiplying disciples. We have seen these principles work over the years in three different cultures/contexts to catalyze transformation movements. If you have trouble viewing the slides here on the blog, go to: MODEL.

missional community

2011-05-05T09:46:00.000-05:00

There will always be tension between the church gathered and the church scattered... what do you think about this?

sending church: more relational influence... less programmed evangelism

2011-05-04T15:10:00.000-05:00

We all prefer to remember success and try to forget failures. Naturally, we want to put our best foot forward and forget the times we stumbled. I have been thinking about my early years as a Christ follower and contrasting those days with later experiences. Like so many, when I surrendered my life to Christ I was on fire to do all I could to please Him and to obey His commands. This is usually a good thing, except when in the early years my misguided zeal did more harm than good. Like when I told my uncle (close to my age) that he was going to burn in hell because he was not saved! I was nine years old at the time. I had not yet learned the finer points of evangelism. But then in college I improved my approach. I went door to door in my dormitory engaging total strangers with a four point salvation plan. If they accepted the plan and prayed right then and there to receive Christ, everything was fine. If they rejected the plan, I expressed my sympathies to them that... yes... they were going to burn in hell! My success rate was not good in the early years.

Fast forward many years. My wife and I were missionaries in Honduras during the 90's. A Honduran pastor I worked with to plant a church started a ministry with youth gangs. We began a soccer league for the gangs in the neighborhood. Soon we had over a hundred youth in our soccer league. They asked a lot of questions. We naturally shared our faith. Dozens surrendered their life to Christ. We not only played soccer, we met in homes for Bible study and gathered in larger groups for corporate worship wherever we could find a place. This was the beginning of the "Christian Youth Movement." We saw hundreds of families and thousands of youth transformed by Christ. The ministry expanded to many neighborhoods all over the city, we went to large public schools, prisons and eventually saw the movement spread to several cities, not only in Honduras, but throughout Central America.

The difference between these two approaches? One approach was a programmed presentation... the other was a more natural influence through relationships. Today I am happily serving in a church that has relational influence as a key ingredient in our DNA. We are developing a model for missions that we call the sending church. We have a vision for beginning transformation movements that will multiply new disciples, leaders, churches and reveal God's glory among nations. Earlier posts about the sending church can be found on this blog in my side bar under the heading: "sending church model." Here is an outline for defining the sending church...

What is a sending church?

* A community of Christ followers (More missional communities, less individual missions)
* Sent by the Holy Spirit (More lay leaders, less professional missionaries)
* To be the hands and feet of Christ (More practical ministry, less talking and meeting)
* To engage all people with the gospel and love of Christ (More relational influence, less programmed evangelism)
* To multiply disciples among the nations for God's glory (More transformational disciples, less institutional discipleship)

This post touches on engaging people with the gospel and love of Christ through relational influence. What does more relational influence and less programmed evangelism look like?

As a sending church we want to engage people not only with good news about Christ but also with loving relationships to demonstrate His character. Relationships in a real community will attract people to Jesus much better than a programmed presentation. We relate with people in their context, incarnating the good news of Jesus, being real with them, sharing the message of Christ along with normal everyday life. This means we will enjoy meals with them, celebrate important milestones in their life, cry with them during hard times, play sports, watch movies, participate in whatever living life means for them. No, we will not participate in something that would dishonor Christ... people will know up front who we are and most will accept that. If they know that we genuinely want friendship with no strings attached... they will want to pursue a relationship. Every person is starved for meaningful relationships and community.

More to come about sending church. Comments welcome.

no matter what model you drive... just drive!

2011-05-03T06:19:00.000-05:00

I drive a '94 Nissan Pathfinder with over 235,000 miles on the odometer. Driving a car that is 17 years old can present some challenges. There are rust spots, scratches and dents. The front passenger door handle broke off in freezing weather this past winter. The air conditioner doesn't work anymore. I had to get some major repairs and maintenance done over the past few years... new tires, alignment, brake job, new alternator (twice), new fan belts, hoses, etc, etc... you get the picture. But overall this car still runs OK and can get me from point A to point B. So, I don't worry about having a nicer car, a cooler car, a newer or better car... I just drive. It is paid for and I will probably drive it until the wheels fall off (literally).

So, you are probably thinking, "I don't care what kind of car you have... what's the point? Just drive your car, or whatever car you want to drive, as long as it works for you. I am tired of hearing about your car!"

Your church is God's vehicle for making disciples among the nations. The whole debate about what model of church is best to carry out God's mission in the world is almost as ridiculous as debating what kind of car you should drive. It does not matter what kind of church will get you from point A to point B... as long as it gets you there in the context where God has sent you. We need more drivers, not newer or better models. Who will you take along on the journey? It does not matter what your church looks like as long as it gets you to multiplying disciples (passengers), leaders (drivers), and churches (vehicles) for God's glory among all nations. Just drive!

Transformation India Movement Update

2011-04-26T09:59:00.014-05:00

We experienced a great Easter weekend with our friend and partner, Biju Thomas. We worked with Biju while living in India, helping him to launch training for indigenous church planters. Since 2005 Transformation India Movement has grown from 10 church planters and 10 churches / groups with around 50 believers, to 28 church planters, 223 pastors/elders, 152 churches, 84 outreach groups and over 7,000 adult believers. Simultaneously, T.I.M. in partnership with North Carolina Baptist Men (and others) have drilled over 700 clean water wells, started around 80 primary schools that educate over 3,000 children who had no access to schools, trained hundreds of women in sewing schools to help provide for their families, provided medical care, disaster relief and in several other ways have served hundreds of communities that previously had no Christian presence/witness.

This is another great example of proclaiming AND demonstrating the reign of God in a very dark place. Many great things happening in Bihar, India... however this Indian state of over 85 million people (size of the state of Tennessee) is still less than 1/2 of one percent Christian. Please pray for and support the work of T.I.M.

proclaiming AND demonstrating the reign of God

2011-04-15T17:50:00.000-05:00

Church in a Broken World Session 1 (part 2) from Upstream on Vimeo.

From Prague Michael Frost declares that God's mission for us is to proclaim and demonstrate what the universal reign of God looks like by giving people a taste of what is to come. He describes what that might look like with a great story from Southeast Asia. I was hoping for an illustration from a western post-christian context, but if you will take the time to listen, you will not be disappointed.

The story reminded me of similar experiences with dear friends in Central America, Mexico and India. I have seen God's work of transformation in these places but have yet to hear of whole communities affected in such a way in a present day western post-christian context. Anyone out there that can point us to some examples?

Jet Set Prague Commentary on Sending Church

2011-04-14T10:43:00.000-05:00

The "Jet Set" have been in Prague for a few days and the comments/ reactions to Michael Frost and others are beginning to circulate...

"Ivan, another Czech church leader, said evangelical Christians in his part of Czech Republic have a traditional mentality that involves speaking of God’s reign, but not acting on it. People can have the tendency to separate their spiritual lives from their secular, everyday activities, and leave evangelism to clergy or the “professionals.” Ivan hopes to help change this way of thinking in his sphere of influence.

'We don’t have spiritual activity and non-spiritual activity. Whatever we do, somehow it’s connected to what we believe,” he said. “The church is not sending, actually, the church is the one that is sent.'

In addition to being co-pastor of a church, Ivan speaks to students in high schools about drugs, alcohol and sex. He said he doesn’t preach to them, but hopes to establish relationships within these communities that will afford him opportunities to share about what he believes."

Good stuff from Ivan and his church! Our church is heading in this direction as well. From sending our people into our local community to moving a community of 14 adults (and 5 kids) from our church to Bangkok, Thailand... our church is not only sending, but being sent. We are on a journey of being the church in our culture and beyond. I look forward to more dialogue coming from Prague/Budapest and learning from others what this looks like in Western Europe. We are in the midst of transitioning ten adults and ten kids to Brussels (we are almost half-way there).

Virtual Vision Trip with Upstream and Michael Frost

2011-04-11T14:08:00.000-05:00

Come along on a virtual vision trip to Prague and Budapest... join a group of pastors, church planters, and missional practitioners as they dialogue and learn about missional approaches in a western context with The Upstream Collective and missiologist and author Michael Frost. In each of the cities, Upstream is hosting a one-day conference and webinar, where Michael will teach on "Church in a Broken World.” If you would like to participate in the webinar, register free here.

I will join with other missional bloggers as an "official commentator" during this event. You can follow commentary through this blog and various media... Upstream Blog, Upstream Twitter, and Upstream Vimeo.

"I was hungry and you gave me something to eat"

2011-03-28T16:11:00.000-06:00

This update was sent to us from our missionaries in West Africa living/serving among a Mslm people group that has no viable chrchs in their area and only a few Chrtns. Their country is undergoing a food and fuel shortage due to changes in government, rapidly rising inflation, etc. The Lord laid it on their heart to share food with villages, neighbors and friends in their circles of influence. Our church helped them to do that...
__________
Just wanted to send you an update. Much rice has been given and seeds sown through distribution of scripture portions and cassette tapes. We have been praying several times this weekend and past week that God would greatly multiply what has been given. Please share with those involved in contributing how far God's love has reached through their partnership in God's work here.

50 bags - 50 kg (110 lbs) each were able to be purchased - that's over 2 TONS of rice!
5 villages received 15 bags of that - one of those villages is a new one that our friend B* has been sharing stories in on his own
Cassette tapes were given out - each contained Genesis 1-25, 1 & 2 Thessalonians, and various stories about Jesus
Scripture portions in their heart language were given

It's hard to really tell how many people were impacted, but we gave out rice (anywhere from 18 lbs to 50 lbs each) to approximately 200 families/courtyards.

An added blessing to this whole thing is the time of fellowship and discipleship that happened with B* and MC* as they helped bag and distribute the rice. Neither of them have ever seen such a demonstration of God's love....just to show God's love. It was quite amazing to them, and to us, some of the reactions of recipients. People here are just not used to such acts of kindness without some kind of string attached. Some people wouldn't even accept the gift because of their suspicions.

Many people were left speechless. Many could not thank God or us enough. Some mobbed us. And some avoided and rejected. We had our share of struggles this week as we sought to get this accomplished. But we know we've been obedient to the thing we felt God asking us to do and He has been faithful. We are trusting that He will use it in His way and His time for His glory.

We've known for a while that MC's* uncle helps many people around him as much as he can. We wanted to help him and MC's* family, too. When we left two bags of rice with him this afternoon, this is what he said with tears in his eyes. "I've always tried to take care of my family and those around me, but I've never in my life had anyone help me." Much was made of God's goodness this week.

Please pass on our sincere thanks to those who helped! And THANK YOU!
__________

Functional Universalism

2011-03-23T09:19:00.000-06:00

Great insight from David Platt concerning current debate on universalism brought on by Rob Bell's new book. "Intellectual universalism is dangerous... but functional universalism is worse... living like in the end everyone is going to be Okay."

LifePoint Bangkok Outreach Updates

2011-01-28T10:36:00.000-06:00

LifePoint Bangkok sends team to Buddhist Temple...

Video Blog #6 from brett clark on Vimeo.

LifePoint Bangkok sends team to partner with relief organization...

Clark Family Video #5 from brett clark on Vimeo.

LifePoint Bangkok returns to help with relief project...

Video Blog #7 from brett clark on Vimeo.

Radical Thanks... Radical Giving

2010-12-17T16:17:00.000-06:00

We are very thankful for what God is doing in and through LifePoint Church to disciple the nations. Our Bangkok team is doing well and about to transition into the next phase of gathering with persons of peace to begin discipling communities with a vision for multiplying disciples, leaders and churches among nations in Southeast Asia. Our first family to move to Brussels just found a place to live and begins language study soon. The rest of the Belgium team will move over this next year. We now have a campus in Seattle that will become a sending center for church planting throughout the Northwest. We are in the beginning stages of forming a team for the "largest country in East Asia" and expect opportunities to open up rapidly there. We are looking into new possibilities in Africa and continue to partner with existing missionary ministries in Latin America and South Asia. It is a great time to reflect and thank God for what He has done but also look forward to the great things He will do through our surrender and obedience.

If you are looking for a way to invest in advancing God's kingdom, please consider giving sacrificially to LifePoint's Radical Christmas Offering. May God bless us during this Christmas season so we can be a blessing to the nations.

partnerships... trick or treat?

2010-10-31T21:16:00.003-06:00

I know it is a cheesy title but I had to come up with something catchy for an October 31st post ;^} Partnerships can go either way... a tremendous blessing for the sending church and the field missionaries/ indigenous churches, or a painful experience that can do more harm than good. We are in the middle of looking at some new international partnerships that could begin this next year. LifePoint has about a dozen missionary partners at various levels and of different types. We have been asked about what we look for in a field partner... Here is a working list of criteria that we are using as we prayerfully consider new partners :

1. Character - Christ-centered?

2. Competence - Capable administration and accountability?

3. Chemistry - Core DNA similar to ours?

4. Vision is outward with focus on expanding Christ Kingdom? (Not inward focus on building their own kingdom)

5. Church culture is open and transformational? (Not closed and legalistic)

6. People are higher value than programs? (Investing in relationships, not institutions)

7. Making disciples - Christ-followers? (Not just converts)

8. Empowering leaders? (Releasing laity for ministry/mission)

9. Teaching for obedience? (Not only head-knowledge)

10. Multiplying discipling communities? (Decentralizing, sending out and reproducing)

We don't expect all partners to be a perfect match or have all of these characteristics... however, we do want to see as many of these qualities as possible when choosing to do Kingdom work alongside someone. At a partnership level we will be working under their umbrella, entrusting our people to them and investing other resources. The closer the DNA match... the better.

Also, we do not want to go to either extreme of only ministering to physical/community needs or to the other extreme of purely a "spiritual ministry"... we are looking for balance. One other factor we consider is the degree of a healthy growing evangelical presence among the people group or population where the potential partner is working... if the kingdom is already growing among that people we would question the wisdom of yet another outsider entering into the work there.

More to come on different types of partnerships.

Future of Anglo American Christianity

2010-09-29T06:37:00.006-05:00

"The decline of Christian churches in Anglo America stands well documented. Mega-churches, emerging churches and house churches represent trends that remain too small to reverse the removal of Christian thought from business ethics and social fora. MentorNet asked veteran church-multiplication advocate and trainer, George Patterson, two questions...

Question 1. “Since Anglo America currently has no verifiable, church-planting movement, what kind of churches can multiply in Anglo America?” Patterson enumerated the following ten qualities that such a movement would likely adopt or exhibit ...

Question 2. “What can old, traditional churches, missions and leaders do, in order to foster such a church-multiplication movement in Anglo America?” ..."
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See George Patterson's insights on the Future of Anglo American Christianity . Comments welcome.

we must go...

2010-08-31T05:51:00.000-05:00

'I See the Poor' Song Story from LifePoint Church on Vimeo.

I am proud of our worship leaders at LifePoint. They are demonstrating a passion for God and for His command to go make disciples of all nations. Half of the proceeds for their new worship CD, Illuminate, goes to the the Sending Church campaign.

future trends from Rankin

2010-08-16T13:32:00.002-05:00

Jerry Rankin, President Emeritus of the IMB, predicted some future trends, trials and triumphs in world affairs and missions during his final address to the IMB Board of Trustees. To read the whole transcript, you can go to his facebook notes. Here is a part of that transcript that relates to future trends for missions:
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"What is the future with regard to missions? America’s political influence will rapidly decline along with the mortgaging of its financial future. Continuing polarization of society and a fragile economy will diminish our country in its potential for sending missionaries to be replaced by Koreans, Chinese, South Asians and Latin Americans who will emerge at the forefront of fulfilling the Great Commission.

The nature of missions will radically change. There will be increasing and widespread hostility toward a Christian witness. More sophisticated governments are recognizing Americans who venture overseas with presumed humanitarian motives have unwelcome evangelistic agendas. The future missionary must come out of a marketplace ministry; credible global platforms for medical work, education, technology and business consultation must become the channels for sharing the gospel and planting churches.

The IMB will move from being a missionary-sending agency that screens and vets those worthy of sharing the gospel overseas to become a facilitator for mobilizing the vast resources and potential of Southern Baptists to reach a lost world. The adoption of recommendations for a Great Commission Resurgence is just the beginning of new incentive for a changing denominational structure and revised priorities in the future. Churches will have a heart and commitment for missions as never before; we must serve them and assist them as they send out missionaries and engage the world or be marginalized in our relevance...

There is every evidence that our economy will continue to flounder; we will continue to struggle with limited budget resources. Rather than implementing contingency cutbacks year after year, we need to relinquish the idealism of return to the glory days of unlimited growth and create a new paradigm for doing missions through mobilization of churches, partnership with national churches overseas and other evangelicals committed to the Great Commission."
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What do you think of Dr. Rankin's predictions? I highlighted the text that caught my attention.

radical

2010-07-08T13:25:00.000-05:00

Radical by David Platt from Taylor Robinson on Vimeo.

Are we obeying the Great Commission of Jesus Christ, or an American version of His command?

UpStream on Sending Church

2010-06-29T12:55:00.000-05:00

Larry McCrary posted a couple of great articles on sending church and the what and why of it. Here is a piece of what he says about it:
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"A sending church...

Confirms the gifting and calling of the missionary (and family, if married). The sending church should be a vital part of the process of a person going on the field. Who better should know the candidate or future missionary than his/her sending church?
Finds ways to prepare and equip the worker to go out.
Prays over the missionary and sends him/her out. In Acts 13 we read about the “laying on of hands.” I think this came once the church knew the Holy Spirit was sending Saul and Barnabas, and the body confirmed this calling and blessed them.
Maintains contact with the worker while on the field, even after the newness of the task wears off.
Holds the missionary accountable while he/she is on the field. I believe this accountability deals with the spiritual, character and strategic aspects of the worker.
Financially supports the worker as needed. I say this knowing some missionaries do not need much or any monetary assistance from their churches, as they work jobs in their new contexts. (For more on this, check out the Skybridge Community.) However, they still need these other aspects of support.
Finds ways to be involved in the work and strategic ministry of the missionary."

"Far too often the church has outsourced this role to mission agencies or denominational entities. However, the Great Commission was given to the church, not to sending organizations. The church should never simply hand over the missionary to its group of choice and feel like its work is done. Instead, if a sending agency is involved in a missionary’s work, the sending church should strive to have a solid relationship with that agency, in order to most effectively walk alongside the worker after he/she arrives on the field. The mission organization cannot take the place of the worker’s church."

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What do think? Should the church be the sender? Or, should the mission organization send and the church simply support? Or, should it be something in-between?

table 71

2010-06-20T07:05:00.006-05:00

Great faith and vision demonstrated by these leaders.
Could Matthew 24:14 be fulfilled in our lifetime?
Here is an update from Avery Willis :
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"The report on the 639 Unengaged UPGs with 100,000 or more pop. highlighted by Table 71 in 2005 is thrilling. So far 414 now have workers living on the ground evangelizing and starting churches; 151 are adopted but as yet they have sent no cross cultural workers & 27 are still unengaged and unadopted. If you know how to shout; now it the time! Join heaven in HALELUJAH! It is also time to pray for the 178 UUPG's over 100,000 still unengaged with workers on the ground evangelizing and starting churches. Many of these have been engaged because of Call2All and Finishing the Task conferences.

So far 43,429 baptisms have been reported, 7,591 small groups started and 7,167 churches started. There has been so much progress that we are expanding the new list to include those with 50,000 population which makes a new total of 632 unengaged, unreached people groups (including those 178 from the first list that are still unengaged) with over 50,000 population. To see more visit finishing the task (and table 71). Have you noticed that unreached is always underlined as not being in the dictionary. It tries to substitute "unrelated" or "unreacted". I guess that is a pretty good description of the unreached. They are not related to any Christian or to Christ and they can't react to a message they have never heard."
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great perspective on great commission report

2010-05-28T11:01:00.001-05:00

David Platt, pastor of the Church at Brook Hills, provides an excellent perspective on the Great Commission Task Force Report. This report recommends several changes in the SBC that will help position the convention to be more effective in obeying the Great Commission. Although I don't think the proposals go far enough, it is a move in the right direction and any change is better than none at all.
Platt released a book recently, Radical, Taking Back Your Faith From the American Dream, that will greatly influence many U.S. churches to do whatever it takes to obey Jesus' command to disciple all nations. If you are a vocational missionary serving on the edge, the book "Radical" will seem "Normal" to you. However, I believe God will use this book to move a lot of people immersed in American Christianity from self-centered ministry to God-centered mission. Worth your time to read and reflect on if we have totally abandoned everything for the sake of His glory.

not the way of the powerful

2010-05-20T16:17:00.002-05:00

"In the renewal and expansion of the church, the breakthroughs always occur on the fringe of ecclesiastical power - never at the center. In every generation, in some obscure place, God is beginning something new. That's where we need to be" (From Steve Addison's book - "Movements that Change the World").

These words comfort and challenge me during these days. Recently we received word that the IMB will not proceed with our partnership in developing a new SBC model for sending missionaries. The model is a biblical one... churches should do the sending and organizations (like the IMB) should do the facilitating. IMB would move away from being a sending institution and move toward helping churches to send their missionaries in obedience to the Great Commission. There was not enough support among the trustees to bring it to a vote. We will hope/pray that this is only a timing issue, and that the IMB will come back around to this one day soon.

To be honest, we were a little discouraged by the news. God has done miraculous things in our midst, changed our whole direction and transformed us into a sending church. LifePoint has gone through an Acts 13 type of experience, with a mission born from seasons of prayer and fasting. We were offering to go 50-50 with the IMB in financial and strategic partnership. We have been meeting with the IMB and other churches like ours for a year now, working on this new model for sending. We already have two missionary teams, one ready to go and the other close behind... and this does not include all of the vision for future missionaries, not just from our church, but from networks of churches. This was going to be the beginning of a new missionary movement among SBC churches! We were pumped! Not!

We are not deterred... we will keep following the Lord's lead and obey what He has called us to do in His way... which is almost always not the way of the powerful... "Brothers, think of what you were when you were called. Not many of you were wise by human standards; not many were influential; not many were of noble birth. But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. He chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things--and the things that are not--to nullify the things that are, so that no one may boast before him" (I Cor. 1:26-29). So, I guess we should be relieved... we need to thank the Lord that we will not have the power and financial resources of a great big denominational agency to lean on... that we will have to trust the Lord in our weakness as we obey His calling.

..."Breakthroughs always occur on the fringe of ecclesiastical power - never at the center." Whew! Thank you Lord! We will gladly be on the fringe so that we can be in the center of what You are doing!

not your ordinary american pastor

2010-05-02T09:17:00.003-05:00

I am blessed to be part of a sending church with a pastor who has a heart for the nations. We went down to Atlanta this past week to visit with our Bangkok team in training there. I have re posted Pat Hood's blog post about that visit and his thoughts on American Christianity in light of the biblical model. Worth your time to read and reflect...

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My heart has been enlarged, my hope renewed & my soul troubled after returning from a quick trip to encourage & challenge Team Bangkok as they kick off the final leg of their training in Atlanta before heading to Bangkok in a few short weeks.

We spent the afternoon in a refugee apartment complex where our team spends hours each week befriending refugees who have no American friends. They've been displaced, thousands of miles from family, friends, culture, everything they've ever known, knowing they'll most likely never return. They long to make new American friends but, sadly, many never do. The ones who do consider them to be family, as I discovered this week.

We sat in the humble apartment of a young family of four (dad, mom, 2 year old son & newborn daughter) who moved to America from Myanmar (Burma) just five months ago. They arrived with nothing... no job, no friends, no money, no language & no knowledge of what to do next, until they met Brandon & Crystal Hathcock.

Brandon & Crystal have taught them English & helped them understand American culture. The husband now has a job in the chicken factory. When it came time for the wife to give birth to their new baby daughter 5 weeks ago, Brandon & Crystal took them to the hospital & stayed with them.

As we sat in their apartment, their love for Brandon & Crystal was obvious. They trust them implicitly. Their 2 year old son would rather be with Brandon than people they've met from Myanmar. Their newborn daughter was in Crystal's arms the entire time we were there. They made it clear that Brandon & Crystal's move to Bangkok in a few short weeks will be a very sad day for them.

We left this Apartment & went a couple of buildings over to visit Tonka, Domber & their son Kumar, a Bhutanese refugee family who have also been in America for 5 months. My son, Seth, has become a part of their family. Tonka, the father, has a sister who has lived in Nashville for 18 months. They obviously hadn't seen her since they have no car & no money... until Seth brought them to Nashville a few weeks ago for a visit. He brought them by the church to meet me & they insisted on coming back by to meet me again on their way home two days later.

When we were in their home, I told them that Seth has told me much about them. They were quick to speak of their love for Seth. They trust him so much because he's taken time to build a relationship with them, earning the right to talk to this Hindu family about Jesus.

Last night, we met with the entire team in one of their apartments to challenge & encourage them. I noticed that there was a little girl eating, running through the apartment & having fun with all the team kids. It finally dawned on me that this little girl didn't belong to any of our team members. So, I asked who she was & was told she was the daughter of an Uzbekistani family next door.

My heart was enlarged & my hope renewed because this team isn't waiting until they get to Bangkok to be missionaries... they're living it right now. That part in the Bible, Luke 9:23, where Jesus says, "If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily & follow me," they've actually taken it seriously. These team members have sold out everything... they've denied themselves... They've forsaken the comforts of the American Dream so that people can hear about Jesus. They're truly living out Biblical Christianity. This is why my heart has been enlarged & my hope renewed.

At the same time, my soul is troubled because I have a question that keeps bouncing around in my mind... why are more Christians not living a life of self denial so that the fame of God can be spread to the nations? I'm not saying that God has called every Christian to quit their job, sell out & go to a foreign land, (He surely has some) but God has called every Christian to a life of self denial to support those who do go & feed the hungry & give to the poor & Honor God by making Him more important than money or possessions. The bottom line, my soul is troubled because it's clear that American Christianity doesn't really look anything like Biblical Christianity.

The New Testament believers did crazy things like sell their possessions so they could meet the needs of other Christians. Yet, most Christians in America can't "afford" to tithe or support missionaries but they can up-size their house, get a new car every few years & rack up thousands of dollars of credit card debt. This is not Biblical Christianity.

The New Testament Christians were dedicated to each other & doing life together. Yet, most Christians in America are dedicated to each other as long as they receive a benefit in return. It has become customary for Christians to change churches more than they change underwear. The huge majority of churches in America are flat lined or in decline. And, many churches that are growing are simply getting fat on members from other churches because those churches stopped scratching their itch. There are legitimate reasons to go to another church but, bottom line, the church hopping done by most American Christians prove that their more interested in self satisfaction than in living a life of self denial.

I have a deep respect for Christians who don't necessarily like or agree with the changes many churches have made in order to fulfill the great commission, but they've remained loyal & committed because they're living a life of self denial not self satisfaction.

Chinese Christians walk or ride bikes for miles to worship Jesus. I heard of a group of about 150 that traveled a couple of hundred miles to have a safe place to worship on Easter Sunday. In America we have the freedom to worship Jesus all day, every day, yet most Christians in America won't make the effort if it's raining or if they had a hard week & Sunday is the only day they can relax or little Johnny has a cold...

My soul is troubled because most American Christianity doesn't even resemble Biblical Christianity. But, I'm pumped because LifePoint is full of dedicated & loyal people who are sold out to the gospel. We're not perfect. We have a long way to go. We still sometimes cry for our desires to be met like little babies crying for a piece of candy & getting upset when they don't get it. But, I'm thankful for dedicated Christ followers who will sell everything & go to another country because there are a billion people who have never heard the gospel & for those who sacrifice to send them. I'm thankful for a church full of people who are more concerned with the fame of God than the whims or desires. I'm thankful for a church that cares more about God's principles that man's traditions. I'm thankful for a church where people don't play religious games.

If Jesus has saved your soul from an eternity in hell & given you a new life, then how can you hold anything back from Him? If we claim His sacrifice has paid the price for our sins, how can we not put Him first in our finances? If we know that Jesus is the hope of salvation to a billion people who have never heard of Him & billions more who have heard but not positively responded to the gospel, how can we be more concerned about our whims & desires than in meeting the eternal need of a lost world?

I challenge all who claim to be followers of Jesus to examine your life to see if you really are living a life of self denial. If you don't tithe and give to send the gospel around the world, then you're not living a life of basic self denial. Your money is spent on your whims & desires before it is spent on the kingdom.

Are you committed to your church or are you a critic of your church? If your concern is more about the music you like or a meeting space you want or a specific program, class or ministry than in the Word being preached, lost souls being saved & making God famous, then you're more about self satisfaction than self denial.

There are 147 million orphans in the world.... 18 million new orphans are expected this year alone in Southern Africa...

1 child dies every 5 seconds in our world from starvation & hunger related causes...

It cost, on average, $.70 (that's 70 cents) a day to support an AIDS patient & their family. Yet thousands die every day in third world countries because they simply can't get the medication that costs less than a coke in America

Over 1 billion people have never heard the gospel...

Thousands of missionaries are waiting for Christian's to give financial support for them to go on the field...

These stats are a reality because American Christians are more concerned with self satisfaction than self denial. All these issues could be totally alleviated by the affluence of America... most by the affluence of American Christians. If that doesn't cause emotional pain in your life, then your probably more worried about self satisfaction than self denial.

I challenge Christ followers to really look at the life & teachings of Jesus and ask yourself, do I look like that? Am I being made into the image of Jesus or am I making Jesus into my image? When Christians begin living a life of self denial & realize there are more important things that cars & houses & stuff, then the world will take notice & the nations will hear & lonely orphans will have homes & the empty stomachs of starving kids will be filled & millions of kids won't have to mourn the death of their sick parents.

What about you?

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andrew the duck

2010-04-22T14:54:00.008-05:00

Here is another excellent letter/article from Robert and Anne Thiessen, missionaries in Southern Mexico. Anne is daughter to George Patterson, the missiologist and author of "Train and Multiply".

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In 1935, Nobel prize winner Konrad Lorenz was standing watch over a bunch of mallard duck eggs about to hatch. When they did, he pretended to be mother duck, getting in close and quacking at them. Immediately, they bonded with the scientist, or “imprinted” as he called it, following him around everywhere as if he were their mother. You may have seen a picture of Konrad and his ducks in some psych textbook.

Some years later, missionaries like Tom and Betty Sue Brewster and Paul Hiebert began to notice that babies are not the only creatures that imprint. People arriving in a new culture do the same thing. When they first arrive, not knowing language, customs or people, they are vulnerable, impressionable, just like newborn babes or freshly hatched ducklings. They latch onto whoever first shows up and takes care of them.

This is why, as some of you know who have come on short term mission trips here, we do our best to drop you off with local families as soon as possible and ask you to use your first hours, days, and weeks, imprinting on Mexican people and their culture. We want you to bond with them, to love them.

Today I dropped Andrew off at the airport after three weeks with us. His church, Vineland Mennonite Brethren, in Ontario, has sent visitors at Easter for about six years now. Most of them stay a week, but Andrew volunteered for a longer trip. One of his leaders, Greg, who has been down many times, convinced him of the value of spending more time here, in order to “bond.”

So, Andrew came down a week before Easter, not really understanding what he was getting into. People wanted to know why he wasn’t going to be constructing church buildings, or looking after orphans. He couldn’t quite explain to skeptical friends and family the worth of this kind of “mission” trip. But he trusted Greg, and other youth who had been on previous trips, and plunged into this experience with “gusto.” In Ometepec he stayed with Ricardo and Maxi, and here in Oaxaca, with Marcelino and Antonia. Both families wrapped him in hospitality, caring for this helpless cultural babe (all 6’-3” of him). He needed them for every aspect of his day, for how to use the washroom correctly, how to get around the city, how to interact with others. Almost everything has a different angle on it here, and visitors easily feel lost and alone, even while surrounded by hundreds of very helpful people.

Some moments were hard, especially those first days. Andrew drew on his desire to live as Jesus did, persevering in faith that what we had told him was true. He did very well, quickly coming to enjoy his new families and friends, hardly needing us except for a few moments of orientation. His wasn’t the full blown “purist” approach that we prefer for long-term apprentices, but more than sufficient for experiencing many of the blessings that the Brewsters write about.

One of the more telling moments was when Ricardo turned to him while driving around, and corrected him for using the term “gringo” to refer to himself. “Gringos wouldn’t come and live in our house, and eat our food. They wouldn’t go with me to my work place and sweat and toil like we do. They would turn their noses up at how we live, at who we are. You are different. You seem to enjoy being here. You are living like us. You are not a gringo.” Andrew knew that this was what we had been talking about, even if it was hard to explain back home.

We are thankful to our many host families who continually show us and our friends what they are capable of, and for our North American visitors who, following the example of Jesus Christ (Phil. 2: 5-10), come into our world helpless and vulnerable. Some, like Andrew, might even look, trailing behind his Mexican host family, a bit like some scientists and a duck.

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Bonding to the host people/culture is a crucial first step that is often overlooked by new missionaries. We do not realize how important those first weeks and months are in a new culture. The relationships and way of life that we develop during those early days will establish the pattern we will follow for years to come. This has huge implications on our effectiveness as cross-cultural servants and accomplishing the mission of God.

Please share what you have learned from any cross-cultural bonding experiences (good or bad). If you share one of yours... I will share one of mine (smile). Here is the other article I posted from the Thiessens if you are interested... engaging community .

journey with the clarks continues

2010-04-19T12:17:00.000-05:00

Clark Family Video # 1 from brettclark1527 on Vimeo.
The Clarks are part of our Bangkok team going through training in Atlanta. Pray for their transition along with the rest of the team this summer. Bangkok will be one of the "sending centers" for LifePoint Global .

more from Rankin on cooperative giving

2010-04-08T09:29:00.005-05:00

I am so glad that someone is finally talking about the 800 pound Gorilla in the room! Check out what Dr. Rankin is saying out loud over at "Giving Churches Ownership". Here is an excerpt:
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"When it comes to applying financial resources to the Great Commission, there is little that can be done to change the current system without someone being impacted negatively. The case is made that we cannot do more until people give more and churches allocate more to the Cooperative Program. Actually, the SBC doesn’t have a good track record of designating more for missions when additional funds are available.

The restructuring in 1997 eliminated three agencies with the pretense that a streamlined structure would make more money available to missions. However, there was a net decrease in funding to the two mission boards and the Executive Committee and ERLC received the increases. The same thing happened when Guidestone relinquished its portion of CP; those funds went to ERLC, the EC and the seminaries. When funding to the Baptist World Alliance was terminated, instead of additional resources going to the mission boards, the Executive Committee created a new program of conducting conferences around the world.

Blaming individuals and churches and waiting on stewardship to improve is evading responsibility and attributing the problem to an elusive solution. The trends clearly indicate personal stewardship is diminishing and church allocations to the Cooperative Program continue to decline despite massive efforts of promotion, education and information.

I believe the solution is to create a new paradigm—something no one seems willing to talk about. I envision a system of cooperative funding that will be so compelling that churches will give priority to supporting it, and it will stir the hearts of individuals to give generously and sacrificially. There are three factors we must courageously embrace for that to happen:

1. Focus the Cooperative Program on fulfilling the mission of God.
2. Reflect integrity, transparency and efficiency in the use of CP.
3. Give churches ownership of the Cooperative Program."
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Here was my comment about the article:

"Dr. Rankin,

Thank you for speaking out. I believe you did responsibly advocate this position in a not-so-public way in the past, but did not get anywhere. Thank you for publicly saying what needs to be voiced. The SBC will continue to decline, lose influence and relevance in the advance of God’s kingdom unless radical changes are made.

I agree that the current proposal of the GCRTF does not go far enough. We are upside down as a convention and don’t want to admit it. We should not identify all CP giving as giving to missions if up to 70% is not being used for that purpose. That is not honest stewardship. Normal rates for administration of funds by agencies that facilitate a “faith-based” missionary’s support run between 8 to 12%. Seventy percent seems a little high to me."

Please go to Rankin's blog to read the rest, well worth your time. Feel free to comment.

lifepoint belgium

2010-03-24T10:24:00.009-06:00

Check out this article from The Upstream Collective on one of our sending church initiatives: A Church's Call to Belgium.

saint patrick's missionary movement

2010-03-17T12:51:00.010-06:00

Fascinating article by Dave DeVries about Who was St. Patrick... "Growing up, we celebrated St. Patrick's Day by wearing green so we wouldn't get pinched by our friends at school. Nobody ever explained to me who he was and what he did. So, this morning as we ate a "green" breakfast, I told my kids about St. Patrick. Here are three things you should know about him..." Click the above link to read the entire article, it is worth your time if you are not familiar with this story.

Here is my favorite part of the article: "Indeed, the fact that Patrick understood the people and their language, their issues, and their ways, serves as the most strategically significant single insight that was to drive the wider expansion of Celtic Christianity, and stands as perhaps our greatest single learning from this movement. There is no shortcut to understanding the people. When you understand the people, you will often know what to say and do, and how. When the people know that the Christians understand them, they infer that maybe the High God understands them too."

transformation movement update

2010-03-15T08:44:00.013-06:00

One of the more remarkable movements of God among "unreached" peoples is taking place in Bihar, north India. We had the amazing privilege of living and working there for a couple of years. We witnessed some astounding things and continue to be amazed at what God is doing since leaving nearly four years ago. One of my good Bihari friends is a network leader there and recently sent out the following progress report...
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BACKGROUND

Gospel work in Bihar began 200 years back (William Carey made a foray into Bihar). The people of Bihar were hostile to the gospel until the 1980s. There were around ten mission agencies with around 100 churches working. God stirred the hearts of the churches around the world to pray earnestly for Bihar. Missions working in Bihar also continued praying and sowing seed of the gospel. In the beginning of the 1990s, God began to move and people began to respond to the gospel. By seeing the response, mission agencies from south India started work in Bihar. They began to send more missionaries. Many Bihari Christians also received the call from the Lord to start mission organizations. By the end of the 20th century, the movement took momentum. People began responding in big numbers. Not only Dalit people groups, but also BCs and OBCs (middle in the H caste system) began to respond to the gospel. Today there are over 120 missions, with over 4000 workers actively involved in church planting. Out of 45,000 villages, over 6000 villages have Christian presence. Out of 150 unreached people groups, 25 are responding to the gospel.

PRAISE POINTS 2009

Though there is significant growth in the harvest force, sustainability of these ministries is challenged. They are highly dependent upon outside financial support. The Lord led us to address this issue. Throughout the year we organized seminars and educated leaders and church planters over this issue. Now leaders have realized that they have to explore ways of raising local finance and develop local leadership. We concluded to focus on two areas to address this issue.

1. Sustainable church planting movement strategy: We understood that house churches led by volunteers and bi-vocational church planters is sustainable. We began training leaders with this strategy. Results are very encouraging. Pastor R K in J district experienced emergence of 60 house churches in the last 18 months. Eight church planters working with J J S in N district multiplied their eight churches into 75 house churches in 2009. Pastor P K S working in G district started seven new house churches during 2009. S K and C K in B district started nine house churches during 2009. Brother B K S in D had one church since the last five years. After getting training, his church is multiplied into four churches led by believers/volunteers. B G started six house churches in 2009 in the beginning of his ministry. All of these house churches are self-sufficient.

2. Income generation training: we realized that we have to help church planters with income generation skills and tools. We provided training on workshop based micro business and agriculture based micro business. Many church planters have begun thinking and working on various micro-business. Pastor H M with his wife in P city started candle-making business and he raises 50% of his financial needs. They have started four new house churches during 2009. Pastors R K and D K in J district are actively helping their church elders to start micro businesses. They have started poultry farming, vegetable growing business, and fish farming. The goal is to help local emerging churches to become self-sufficient and to empower them to be able to support ministries financially.

Reports from 25 EBC network partner ministries in 2009:

No. of new believers: 1998

No. of baptisms: 833

No. of new house churches: 232

No. of church planters trained: 480 (belonging to 40 partner ministries)

Transformation taking place:

Many people in communities, especially men, take alcoholic drinks. It is considered evil because of poverty in the community, where people struggle for basic needs. New Christians, both youths and adults, have left drinking alcohol and believers’ families and community at large are very happy to see this change. In the context of poverty and unemployment, believers have experienced economic growth (Acts 4:34). When they become Christians, they work hard and trust the Lord for better results of their labor. God has blessed their business or agriculture. Many believers when they stop spending money on alcoholic drinks, they save a good amount of money and meet their other important needs. They have also experienced economic growth because of change in their worldview.

During discipleship training of new believers, biblical worldview replaces traditional H worldview. This results in change of their values and ultimately their behavior is changed. One such example is demand of dowry for the groom’s family from bridegroom’s family. This is considered evil in the society, yet most H and M religions practice this. Christians do not demand dowry. They exchange gifts and marriage becomes an example in the community.

Another example of transformation is taking place among terrorist groups. M language speaking districts of North Bihar are affected by the M terrorist group. Pastor B B of E L M is working in D and M districts, and has believers in their churches from M terrorist background. M language speaking districts of south Bihar are affected by the N movement. Many young people have accepted Christ from this background and many of them are leading church planting ministries. Pastor R K and Pastor A K S were N movement workers. They accepted Christ and now they are leading church planting movement in J and A districts.

Transformation is evident by giving equal importance to people belonging to other castes, or economic class. In the H religion, women are considered lower than men. Women are not given equal importance in decision-making, education, and other social areas. When they become Christians, they are taught that both women and men are created in God’s image and both have same value before God. They change their value and give due respect and honor to women in their families and the church (Gen. 1:27).

The H religious followers believe in Spirits and they practice witchcraft. When people get into physical or social problems, they go to a witch doctor for deliverance. They spend much money and possessions with the witch doctors. A great number of people are delivered from evil spirits through prayers offered by church planters and believers. This becomes a bridge to share the gospel and bring people to Christ.

People are searching after the one true God. They are not satisfied with their traditional H or M religion. The following People Groups that are responding to the gospel (Ps. 2:8) are:

Ahir/Yadav
Baniya
Bhumihar
Brahmin
Bind
Chamar
Dom
Dhobi
Halwai
Kalwar
Kahar
Kanu
Koeri
Kurmi
Lala
Mallah/Kewat
Mehtar
Musahar
Paswan/Dusadh
Pasi
Rajput
Tanti
Teli
Tamboli

Bihar is experiencing social and political transformation (1 Tim 2:1-2). The current state government led by Chief Minister Mr. Nitish Kumar, is working towards providing honest and people friendly administration. The state government is dreaming to make Bihar a developed state by 2015. Bihar is experiencing transformation in the area of roads, communication systems, electricity, medical facility, and education. Many higher educational institutions have been established. The crime rate is much reduced. People in general have a positive attitude towards development. Bihar’s development rate is 11.3. A rate of seven is considered a very good development rate. Nitish Kumar received the ‘reformer award’ for the development of Bihar.

PRAYER POINTS 2010

Please pray for ongoing house church movements. Pray for church planters to go to unreached villages among unreached people groups and start churches (Rom. 15:20; Matt. 28:18-20; Luke 10:1-11).
Please pray for new people groups to be penetrated with the gospel. Out of 150 people groups, only 25 are being reached.
Please pray for religious, social, and political strongholds to be broken. People to be brought from darkness to light.
Please pray for protection and needs of church planters and their families.
Please pray for ongoing church planting and income generation training.
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One striking lesson for me from this report:

The impact of a church planting movement should not only be measured numerically, but also by evidence of transformation in people's lives, their families and their society. What good are multiplying churches if they are not agents of transformation in their communities?

when Rankin speaks... we should listen

2010-03-09T13:47:00.003-06:00

Wow! A denominational leader finally steps up and says what no other high level leader is willing to say out loud! Please check out what Dr. Rankin is saying over at his blog about convoluted priorities. Also, check out the comment stream... Dr. Rankin is interacting with comments!

Here is a glimpse of some of what Dr. Rankin says...
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"Apparently it doesn’t matter whether we impact a lost world or accomplish anything else as long as we cooperate together. In fact, it was said that the formula for Cooperative Program allocations must not change. I now understand why for 17 years I and my staff have been meeting with the budget work group of the Executive Committee, presenting our required report on funding needs, but nothing is ever done. It is just a meaningless exercise of denominational bureaucracy.

A mighty move of God could open the world for harvest with thousands of missionaries poised to be deployed to the nations, but we could not do anything about it as Southern Baptists. More important than actually reaching a lost world is every entity getting their share. The priority is reflecting our cooperative commitment to all our programs as if everything we do is of equal value.

What our convoluted priorities are practically saying is, “It is better to let the lost multitudes never hear the gospel and go to hell, than change the way our denomination functions.” It is too bad that we have a system in which only two percent of our resources are given to reach a lost world that Jesus died to save. It is unfortunate our denomination can channel only 17 percent of Cooperative Program allocations to international missions because we have to sustain everything else we are doing. We can’t expect to cease a valid ministry, compromise programs that serve ourselves and our own churches in order to provide resources to get the gospel to those who have never heard! That, in essence, is what is being communicated."
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Well... what do you think about what Dr. Rankin is saying?

pascagoula

2010-03-08T14:56:00.014-06:00

Last week I traveled to Pascagoula down on the Gulf Coast of Mississippi to visit and encourage Ruben, one of our leaders. We sent out Ruben and his family (originally from El Salvador) last year to help a new Hispanic church there. When we first looked at this opportunity last year I was hesitant. We try to be strategic with our limited resources (people and financial) as we discern where the Lord is leading our church. We want to go to places/peoples where there are not sufficient evangelical resources to accomplish the Great Commission and they need outside help. We are sending residential missionaries to peoples that are less than one percent evangelical in West Africa, Southeast Asia and Western Europe. So, to be quite honest, I was not jumping up and down about sending Ruben to Mississippi where church buildings dot the landscape. But sometimes statistics can be misleading and our strategy redirected by the Holy Spirit's leading.

Ruben is a dynamic personality, outgoing and high energy. He does not waste time, in ten weeks an original gathering of 35 has grown to over 70 people. He has started a leader group with six couples. They are now beginning outreach groups in three other locations. What I am excited about is that most of the new people gathering are not Christ followers, yet. So far, five have decided to follow Christ and the rest are desiring what they see in the others. One newcomer says he wants to leave his life of drug addiction (and dealing) but his family (cartel) will not allow it... Two Jehovah's Witnesses are coming and said they are not going back to the JW... One man is struggling with alcohol but faithfully comes to meetings with his wife, hoping for the same transformation he sees in others. Why are Mexicans, Central Americans, Cubans, African Americans and even "Gringos" coming around? Simple... Ruben and his small band of Christ followers smother them with love. They will not allow anyone to walk in without multiple hugs and listening to their stories. They accept them as part of the church... warts and all.

Oh yes... and now the strategic part... one of the outreach groups they have started is at the Navy Shipyards in Pascagoula. Internationals from around the world come in and out of there... So far, two from that outreach have decided to follow Christ and are being discipled. Yep, I think I will leave this strategy thing to the Holy Spirit.

dna 21

2010-02-28T08:38:00.007-06:00

I am sure most reading this know of Avery Willis... author of "MasterLife", VP for IMB for about ten years, and most recently leader of the International Orality Network. He is one of those rare people who has touched countless lives, a mentor to hundreds and a catalyst for transforming thousands... maybe millions. Avery was recently diagnosed with a rare form of leukemia. He is currently undergoing treatments in Houston but continues to work from his hospital bed.

If you would like to follow Avery's progress and pray for him, you can go to caringbridge.org and sign up. Here is what Avery is working on right now: dna 21. It is a new discipleship initiative aimed at helping churches to infuse first century Christ-follower dna into 21st century living.

I hope I can continue to serve like this man when I am 75 (or as long as the Lord permits me to continue). I admire Avery's faithfulness even in the midst of personal suffering. He has set the bar very high for all of us and definitely exemplifies first century dna.

sending church update

2010-01-28T13:59:00.005-06:00

Our Bangkok team is in the Atlanta area for the next several months. Four couples (with five total children) and two singles are going through their missionary training with Global Frontier Missions. The experience has greatly impacted the team as God is using the teaching, relationships, international community and at times difficult circumstances, to mold their character and transform them inside-out. Their sending church is thrilled to be a part of this journey and poised to go with them every step of the way.

For a glimpse of what the Bangkok team is going through right now, check out some of the team member blogs at: loving bangkok... kyletanner... and to the ends of the earth.

The Jesus Model for Missions

2009-12-29T12:01:00.006-06:00

I was digging through some files from this past year and found this... Here are some good insights from a Rick Warren video... his advise for Christ-followers as they go on Jesus' mission, based on the Luke 10 passage... Below are my notes/interpretations with some comments in parenthesis that are my own commentary...

For the video go to: The Jesus Model for Missions. This is really pretty good missionary insight from a pastor's perspective. As someone who was an on-the-field international missionary for many years and now involved in missions from the stateside perspective, I am always fascinated by how these two perspectives approach the mission of God. We can definitely learn from one another and hopefully apply the best of both worlds as we obey the Great Commission together.

THE JESUS MODEL FOR MISSIONS
Rick Warren

Luke 10 passage – Sending of the 72…

1. Don’t go alone. Get a partner, go as a team.
2. Don’t depend on money. Go depending on God, create opportunities for needy to help themselves.
3. Don’t over pack. Travel light. Blend in, don’t show off wealth and abilities. Leave staff, go as a servant. (Staff – symbol of authority). Don’t go as the authority on what they need and how you can solve their problems.
4. Don’t get sidetracked, or distracted. Focus on your purpose, your specific mission.
5. Always begin with a blessing. Find the person of peace. Characteristics – Receptive and Respected (influential). How do you find PoP? Offer a blessing. If they don’t receive it, go to the next community. How do you offer a blessing – Give a look of understanding, a word of encouragement and a touch of friendship.
6. Always develop relationships. (Invest to Influence). Incarnational. Settle down in same place, don’t move around. (Paul – “I have learned to be content in whatever state I am in”). Presence principle – if you want to affect people – show up and stay – face to face. Mission is not just high tech, it is high touch. Cannot win enemies, only friends. Jesus opposite of Guru… not isolated, always at the party… accused of being friend of sinners, eating too much, drinking too much. If you have a Jesus ministry, religious leaders and legalistic people will criticize you. Relationship is church to church… Not just individual to individual. How do you remember names, say it verbally at least 4 times immediately.
7. Always adapt to local tastes. Principle of accommodation. (Receive their hospitality and make yourself vulnerable enough to need their help). Does not say eat “all” of what is set before you… never ever finish your plate! (They will give you more, if you do). Eating in other cultures, especially among the poor, is sharing your life. Brings one closer, builds bridges. Where do you need to build a bridge to be more accommodating for people who would not be caught dead in your church?
8. Always begin with healing. Principle of alleviation. Find their need, sickness, where they are hurting… everyone has felt needs, or felt hurts, or felt interest. Jesus went into every village “Preaching, Teaching, Healing”… Savior, Teacher, Healer. Spiritual domain, Education domain, Physical domain. Christ-like ministry begins and takes place through local indigenous church.
9. Always pray for more workers for the harvest. More people to obey the Great Commission. (Multiply disciples, leaders and churches).

Any observations? Comments welcome.

two views for the future of the cooperative program

2009-11-10T08:49:00.005-06:00

This article from the Georgia Baptist state paper, Two Views of the Future, provides us with two different visions for the future of the Cooperative Program. Which vision do you like better? Why? Or, maybe you have a better idea... share it.

the sending church campaign

2009-11-04T11:21:00.004-06:00

"This is not blazing a new trail... we are just trying to recover the trail, and go back to beat the weeds off the trail that was blazed in the book of Acts." This is a quote from our pastor, Pat Hood, from his message this past Sunday. LifePoint Church is entering into a very unique and exciting stewardship campaign. This campaign is different from any other because it is not about building bigger buildings... it is about building the kingdom. Our goal is to raise 1.5 million over the next two years to send ten families (30 people) as missionaries in Bangkok and Belgium. The funds will also be a resource for ministry budgets and new campuses. The vision: God's Glory among neglected peoples through transformation movements - by multiplying transformed disciples, leaders and churches - from the DNA of Christ-centered living in worship, biblical community, service, influence and generosity.

More about our long-term vision:
"LifePoint Church will focus on initiating and nurturing at least seven transformation movements among seven distinct peoples/places representative of each of the following world affinity groups: Buddhists, Non-Religious Europeans, Non-Religious Chinese, Hindus, Muslims, Tribal Poor and Non-Religious in the USA. As LifePoint Church follows God’s leading to a specific people/place among each of these affinity groups, we will discover existing missionaries and work alongside them to initiate and nurture transformation movements. LifePoint will also directly send missionaries/church planting teams to focus on multiplying disciples, leaders and churches to spark movements that will spread God’s glory."

I am amazed at what God is doing with our church. I have never seen such a unified vision and purpose from the whole church. For LifePoint Church missions is not a department in the church... LifePoint is all about being part of God's mission. If you are interested, you can check out the message from this past Sunday here.

transformation movements

2009-10-27T14:24:00.008-06:00

Perhaps no Bible story illustrates transformation better than the narrative about the demon-possessed man from the region of Gadarenes. After his encounter with Jesus the former demoniac was totally transformed. Picking up the story in Mark 5:14...

"Those tending the pigs (that the demons had entered and destroyed) ran off and reported this in the town and countryside, and the people went out to see what had happened. When they came to Jesus, they saw the man who had been possessed by the legion of demons sitting there, dressed and in his right mind... Those who had seen it told the people what had happened... As Jesus was getting into the boat, the man who had been demon-possessed begged to go with him. Jesus did not let him, but said, 'Go home to your family and tell them how much the Lord has done for you, and how He has had mercy on you.' So the man went away and began to tell in the Decapolis (the Ten Cities) how much Jesus had done for him. And all the people were amazed."

The local people were at first so frightened by what happened, that they "pleaded with Jesus to leave their region" (the Ten Cities). Later, when Jesus returns to this same region, we see people looking for him to heal their sick and also spreading the word about Jesus, despite Jesus forbidding them to do so (Mark 7:31-37). A movement was started through this transformed life and the good news spread throughout a whole region.

We see several examples of this type of movement in the life of Jesus and the missionary journeys of Paul. Jesus radically changes people and through these very same people, and the people they impact, the good news spreads rapidly leading to new disciples and new discipling communities (churches). I have personally observed in three different places where God used transformed men/women to spark a movement that multiplied disciples, leaders and churches to impact a whole region with the gospel. This type of movement by God still happens today. Each of these experiences changed me and my perspective on how we might be a part in advancing God's kingdom and fulfilling the Great Commission.

Historically God has used “Awakenings” and “Church Planting Movements” to spread the gospel and His glory among a people or place. A movement that multiplies disciples, leaders and churches for God’s glory only happens through new Christ followers who are transformed by God’s grace and power. Transformation movements begin with new communities of believers who are radically changed by Jesus Christ and are used by God as catalysts for an indigenous movement that spreads the good news among their own people. Our church is catching this vision for transformation movements. Here is a first draft summary of our vision and how we are joining God in His plan to spread His glory among nations:

LifePoint Church will follow God’s lead to plant transformed Christ followers, churches and leaders where God can use them (if He so chooses) to start a movement that will multiply and spread the fame of His name among a neglected people. There are several elements (DNA) God uses to initiate and nurture transformation movements:

1. Radically transformed Christ followers
2. Culturally appropriate communication of God’s Word
3. Corporate and personal worship, prayer and fasting
4. Modeling and multiplying of biblical community
5. Engaging the community through service and seed sowing
6. Relational influence through life on life
7. Generous giving within and without the church
8. Intentional mentoring and sending of new disciples
9. Training leaders on the job
10.Partnering with others for the spread of the gospel

The end vision is God's glory revealed among a nation/people, wherever God is sending our church. The means to that end is multiplying transformed Christ-followers, leaders and churches. That multiplication happens as we are radically changed and live a Christ-centered life on His mission (as described by the ten elements, or the DNA).

There is no formula for this and this description is not exhaustive or meant to be definitive. It is my feeble attempt at trying to capture in words what could happen when God moves in such a way that a whole people are exposed to His glory. So often we want to define and quantify something so we can maintain some measure of control or take the credit for it. I struggle on how to communicate this without coming off that way. A transformation movement transcends any methodology, church, denomination, or manufactured ministry we might come up with... So, how would you describe what God wants to do through your church to advance His kingdom and fulfill the Great Commission? Do you see anything here that could be described better or differently? Feel free to comment.

one21

2009-10-23T10:57:00.008-05:00

Dr. Bob Roberts from One21 The Movement on Vimeo.

Bob Roberts has put his finger on what is happening in our world today and how we need to rethink/retool the way we do missions. If you watch this entire video, you will get an education in how biblical missiology looks in the 21st century. Thanks to Guy Muse for pointing us to this video.

engaging community

2009-10-21T10:42:00.007-05:00

This story comes from Robert Thiessen, missionary in southern Mexico. Great example of using platforms for engaging closed communities for entry with the gospel...
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For the last half year I’ve been accompanying Roberto to Infiernillo (Little Hell, Mixtec village five hours away…) at the request of Dan and friends (Nazarenes from Oklahoma…). On one of trips, Roberto and I (tocayos…) stopped half way along, in San Vicente Lachixio, where we’d seen a sawmill working.

This Zapotec village (large indigenous group of Oaxaca, many without the Gospel…) had bought the largest Woodmizer sawmill available (great company from the US that makes all sizes of portable Bandsaw mills…) and rotates the management of it every two years to elected men from the village (widespread method of local government…). Guillermo and Justino have one more year in their term and are trying to serve their village well. As we looked the sawmill over, I realized it was missing an essential bearing that stabilizes the moving 62 HP diesel motor and band saw assembly (…), while several other bearings were seizing, wearing down an irreplaceable track on the $80,000 machine. I suggested they get in touch with me once I was back from the summer trips (TX and NC…), since I would be seeing Ray (friend from TX who used these machines in Nicaragua…) and asking for advice.

I was surprised when, in September, Guillermo and Justino showed up on my doorstep, wanting to know what I had found out. At this point I knew the job was bigger than I had originally thought, so we planned to contract a technician to come from Veracruz (at $200 a day, travel days included, of which he only gets $60...). I would accompany him to San Vicente. I would work with him to make sure the job was complete and to understand what is needed, and then I would stop on my future visits to Infiernillo to teach them how to maintain the machine themselves.

The technician, Juan, and I got out there in the still cold morning as the sun slanted in through mountain passes, lighting the drifting smoke filled with hints of morning tortillas and coffee. He had thought we could be done in a few hours; I insisted that these Indians were paying high dollars, so we needed to make darn sure the sawmill was in perfect order before we left. I’m not sure what he had planned, but as I was preparing for the trip, I threw in every tool I thought we might possibly need. His bag would have fit in a lunch pail; mine took up most of the back seat. Turns out we did need the pulley extractor, the tap and die set, the multimeter, the grinder (…). I can’t imagine how he would have accomplished the job without a lot of what I brought, but anyway, we did get the immediate job done and the whole machine set up from scratch. As we set out for Oaxaca, the moon was now peering through the passes and we didn’t get in till one in the morning.

During our long day of replacing and tuning, several of the village men came by and got acquainted. They all had a hard time figuring out why I was doing this, and in the end settled on calling me “Inge,” short for “engineer.” One fellow, Marino, a high school teacher, had been on the original oversight committee for the sawmill. (He wanted to know what was the best way to learn English, and whether I had any advice about replacing the steering gearbox on his older Nissan pickup…) Marino also wanted to know what they could do about the carpentry shop the village had invested in, now lying idle since none of them were able to use the machinery much. We talked about a couple options but left things in the air.

Surprised again, I received a phone call, in the middle of our Canadian Thanksgiving, from San Vicente. This time it was Juan, the man in charge of the carpentry shop. He’d heard from Marino about me, and now he was wondering how to sharpen the knives in the thickness planer. So, it looks like Manuel (friend, fellow team member and church leader, carpenter I’ve been training…) and I are going out this coming Thursday to see what we can do, and to see where this might go. One option we are kicking around, if they can afford to pay Manuel’s expenses, is to go once a week for a day, work with one or two of their best guys, and plan for them to be working on their own within a year.

What is this all about? Well, as you can see, all this has allowed me (and hopefully Manuel) to get to know the responsible men of a village who would never let me come in as an “evangelist.” This place, for hundreds of years now, only knows a world of forces controlled by a variety of spirits, mostly capricious, only grudgingly benevolent. They staunchly identify with the Catholic church (…) but remain largely ignorant of even basic aspects of the Good News. How can they believe if they have never heard? Their image of evangelicalism is negative, and were I to let that image stick to me, I would get no farther with them.

I suppose some people might find my method underhanded, but let me tell a little more of the story. Right from the beginning, while with Roberto, I made it clear that our motives were to share God’s blessings so that more people might know how good He really is. When I came with the technician, I thanked God before we ate our breakfast, and in conversation told the story of the Tower Of Babel and the throngs John sees in the Revelation. When they visited me in my home, we looked up who San Vicente was anyway (their patron saint…) and discussed his relevance in church history. So, even though this is fairly weird for them, they know that I am more than just an “Inge.”

San Vicente is letting me try something I’ve held up as an ideal to Mexican Christians for years. So many good Christ followers here are held back from taking the Gospel to unreached areas of Mexico because their only model is full time, paid, and confrontational evangelist/pastors. I’ve been extolling the virtues of a trade-based approach, recasting the roles of evangelist and discipler. To some extent I’ve done the carpentry thing, but this will be the first “from scratch” chance I’ve had in a long time. Manuel is excited too, and sees this fitting into his ministry of raising up missionaries from among university students (he works with Baptists throughout the country…). The missionary salary has always been a bottleneck, yet here villages pay someone six hundred dollars to come visit them. Hundreds of places like San Vicente dot southern Mexico, requiring many services besides sawmill technician. Anyone want to come down and start a Woodmizer franchise in one of the closest and most untapped markets to the US?

Pray for Manuel and for me, for San Vicente Lachixio, for the potential missionaries of Mexico, and for those God wishes to send to the many places the Gospel still needs to be heard.
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Thank you Robert for sharing your story. LifePoint Church has a team in central Mexico this week, also using platforms for engaging indigenous communities where there are no churches.

jetset vision trip blog tour

2009-09-17T08:45:00.010-05:00

I have been invited to participate as a commentator for the "Jetset Vision Trip" in Asia sponsored by the Upstream Collective and Ed Stetzer. Here is a synopsis from "Ernest Goodman" on what this tour is all about:
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"Next week, the Upstream Collective is leading its first "Jet Set Vision Trip" to Asia. We've done a couple of these already - we work with Ed Stetzer to invite pastors and planters of churches who are interested in getting directly involved in missions by actively engaging unreached people. Our goal with these trips is to help church leaders get an idea of how God might be able to use them internationally. Our hope is that a vision trip would be the beginning of an ongoing involvement. We then hope to continue in relationship with the churches to help with training, strategy development, partnership connections, church planting, and cultural translation of the gospel. We're working to stop the "outsourcing of the Great Commission."
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Where I and other "missional" bloggers come in... we will contribute with a running commentary about their experiences, what they are learning, and provide input as they post about the trip. We are being asked to "bring our experience and opinions to the table." Should be interesting, the trip runs from September 19 to 27. Hope you can join us at Ed's blog or at the Upstream blog.

transition of a great leader

2009-09-16T16:28:00.003-05:00

I don't like the word retirement. Too isolationist, like one is moving away from actively engaging life. I know that will not be the case for Dr. Jerry Rankin, who announced his "transition" today. IMB and Southern Baptists are losing a great leader, but Dr. Rankin assures us that the time is right for a new leader... Below is a paragraph taken from Dr. Rankin's report to the board of trustees.
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"Also, while not being factors precipitating this decision, there are a number of trends that confirm it is an appropriate time for new leadership to take the IMB into the next phase of its long and distinguished history. We have always been a missionary-sending agency with unlimited capacity to send and support the missionaries being called out of our Southern Baptist churches. That is no longer the case as appointments are being restricted and strategies must be changed to more effectively deploy and utilize limited numbers of personnel. The next president must deal with economic realities that will not permit us to presume upon unlimited financial resources as we have in the past. Southern Baptists are at a point of crisis in deciding whether to continue a bureaucratic legacy, supporting a comprehensive plethora of ministries and programs or focus resources on fulfilling the Great Commission. We have already initiated significant efforts in mobilizing church partners in the task of overseas missions, but we are at a crucial stage at which it is imperative that we become a different type of organization — a denominational entity that is not doing missions on behalf of Southern Baptists but is essentially serving and facilitating churches in taking responsibility for the task. But especially, it should be recognized that we stand on the verge of unprecedented opportunities to complete the task of engaging every nation, people and language with the gospel. We need a leader who can identify with the next generation, one who has credibility to mobilize Southern Baptists, creative vision to implement new strategies and faith to provide the spiritual leadership that will keep us aligned with the mission of a sovereign God."
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I am especially intrigued by Dr. Rankin's statement: ..."we are at a crucial stage at which it is imperative that we become a different type of organization — a denominational entity that is not doing missions on behalf of Southern Baptists but is essentially serving and facilitating churches in taking responsibility for the task."

I am encouraged by that statement and hope it will hold true in the months and years to come. Please leave your comments about what you think might be on the horizon for IMB and SBC missions.

journey with the Clarks

2009-09-08T09:18:00.008-05:00

Journey With The Clark's from brettclark1527 on Vimeo.

The Clark family is part of our Bangkok Team. God is moving in extraordinary ways through ordinary people. Pray for the ten adults and five kids that make up our Bangkok team as they prepare to move next year.

sending church: more practical ministry... less talking and meeting

2009-08-26T13:42:00.019-05:00

I just don't get around to "blogging" much anymore. Life is fast and when it slows down I tend to veg out... not always a good thing. Recently I heard the phrase, "Don't practice what you preach... Preach what you practice!" That hit me square between the eyes. I have been thinking about it a lot lately and attempting to make some adjustments in my life.

James tells us, "Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak (1:19)... What good is it... if a man claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such a faith save him? Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food. If one of you says to him, 'Go, I wish you well; keep warm and well fed,' but does nothing about his physical needs, what good is it? In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead (2:14-17)... Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by what I do (2:18)."

I know that many will say, "the context of that passage is within the church, brother to brother, etc... Missionaries establish the church and move on... Then it is the local church responsibility to care for their own, etc." I think that is lame. I think the real church is more open than that. I know at our church we have a lot of people that have not committed to Christ (wheat and tares together), plus we see ourselves as the church outside of where we meet (gathered and scattered).

In Matthew Jesus tells us, "...Let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven (5:16)... Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven (7:21)... The King will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.' (25:40)." Notice that Jesus called bums and convicts his brothers (see Mt. 25:31-46).

Our western way of thinking influences the way we follow Christ, do church and mission. We compartmentalize and separate the evangelism, teaching, service, fellowship, mission, etc. What would happen if we rolled it all up into one thing and only talked about what we actually did? Well, I would not have much to talk about... and I venture to say most of us would say a whole lot less. What if we met and talked while we did something together... like visit the sick or those in prison, worked on a house, cooked meals for hungry neighbors or took someone in need of clothes shopping? Don't worry, I think we would still find time to hear messages, study the Bible and sing together, but those things would no longer be our default activities.

Sending church happens as we put our faith into action... if we preach what we actually practice, somebody just might listen! Jesus made disciples on the move. As He healed, fed and met physical needs, he also preached and taught. Our church is not there, yet. I am not there, yet. But I am determined to keep moving in this direction... away from just talking and meeting... more practical serving. Why? Well, it is biblical, but also it works! Jesus said, "By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another (John 13:35)." This is the context for making disciples of all nations... remember He says, "By this all men will know..."

How does our missionary strategy line up with this? If we are missional, incarnational, relational, transformational (are there any other onal words that I am leaving out?)... we will be PRACTICAL. As we practice loving each other, all men will know we are His followers. As we serve together (not just meet and talk) showing our faith by our actions, we will make disciples who will do the same with others (monkey see monkey do).

my calling... or His?

2009-08-06T10:16:00.017-05:00

"How do we explain God’s calling only 10% of all missionaries to the Unreached People Groups? Are only ten missionaries out of every 100 hearing the Holy Spirit call them to these 10,000 Unreached People Groups still waiting to hear the Gospel? Why is that? Does not the Holy Spirit want to send missionaries to these Unreached Peoples? Is the problem the Holy Spirit or perhaps that we are not truly listening? And perhaps we are not able to really listen to God mainly because we already thought for sure God “called” us to go somewhere else based on being “led” through our short-term experience and contact with a missionary we met there in a well-evangelized country."

David Sherbrooke challenges the concept of a special "call" from God for a specific place or people. You can read the entire article at: "How New Missionaries Choose Their Country of Service, Do We Need a Change?". Or, just read below the part of the article related to missionary calling...
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There is a long standing hallowed tradition, primarily held, guarded and promoted by missionaries, that one must be “called” to serve in a certain country and to a specific kind of mission work. Kevin Howard boldly challenged this by stating: “But Scripture doesn’t teach this concept of a call for all believers, or even for most believers.” [15]

In fact, it seems that most “mission folk” are rather in awe of this mysterious call. But if we step back for a moment, and realize that the flip-side of our “calling” to missions is millions of Christians who are sure they are “not-called,” then we may want to go back and re-examine this tradition in light of Scripture.

It is a sad irony that those most devoted to missions are also often the ones most perplexed by the fact that the vast majority of Christians think missions is irrelevant. Perhaps we have helped fuel this dichotomy between the “called” and the “not-called” which is no where found in Scripture. Mission leaders, missionaries, and mission mobilizers have been trying to figure out for decades how to get more pew-sitters (who could care less about what we love most) actively involved in missions either as Senders or Goers.

We (mission folk) are sure the Great Commission is a command for all believers, not just those of us who were “called” into full-time missions service. Indeed, with all my heart I too believe this is true! But the very way we talk about our own “calling” may well be one of the prime factors fueling the masses of Christians who do not have missions anywhere on their “page,” much less, their hearts.

Many mission leaders have tried for years to show that all Christians are commanded to be involved some way in missions either as Senders or Goers. There is no third option for sidelined benchwarmers (or pew-warmers). Everyone is in the game! Yet today, most data continues to reveal the fact that, world-wide, only about 10% of those who call themselves Christians are actively involved in world evangelization. [16] Those 10%, sometimes referred to as “Great Commission Christians,” would almost all fall into the popular new category called “Senders.” (And if we dare try to calculate what percentage the 10,000 missionaries to the Unreached People Groups represent out of all 2,100,000,000 Christians in the world, then we are only talking about 0.0005%). Seemingly lost today is simple obedience to the obvious command clearly found in the Scriptures (”Go into all the world and preach the good news to all creation.” Mark 16:15 NIV) and the great need found in the world situation today (still 10,000 Unreached People Groups with few missionaries serving amongst them).

Perhaps we need to develop a better way of talking about our “calling” with more emphasis on the Scripture such as God’s command for everyone to be involved in taking the Gospel to the whole world (Matthew 28:18-20) and less talk about our own personal “calling.” Sharing how God is “guiding” us or how the Holy Spirit is “leading” both may be more Biblically based terms and certainly are applicable in the daily lives of all believers.

Some may argue at this point “well, that is just semantics, it does not really matter what words you use.” (Semantics, by the way, is the study of the meaning of words). But this is the point here, the images and meanings conjured up by the word “calling” have tremendous ramifications on both new and old missionaries alike, as well as non- missionaries. For many the meaning of the word “calling” is very powerful, almost sacred.

We feel that there is sometimes maybe more of an “Awe of the Call” to mission service rather than an actual awe of God Himself. We wonder if perhaps individualism and the pursuit of a Christianized self-actualization may also at times be cloaked in the “call” with its often high priority focus on me, my gifts, and my desires.

“Maybe Christians cloak their choices in spiritual language—“God’s calling me”—to make themselves feel better about their choice or to keep people from questioning their choice. Why not just say: “The Bible tells believers to makes disciples. Therefore, I want to go to Egypt,” or “Even though I have reservations about going to Egypt, I think they could benefit from my help as a follower of Christ”? What harm is there in approaching Christian service in that way? God is still glorified.” [17]

Most likely, the “Awe of the Call” evolved over the centuries from two key Biblical models: Isaiah’s “call” and Paul’s “call.” The following passages are perhaps those that many have used over time in attempt to “Scripturally” base the idea, and the long-held tradition, of a “calling” to missions service.

Isaiah’s Call Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?” And I said, “Here am I. Send me!” (Isaiah 6:8 NIV)

Paul’s Call ‘Now get up and stand on your feet. I have appeared to you to appoint you as a servant and as a witness of what you have seen of me and what I will show you. I will rescue you from your own people and from the Gentiles. I am sending you to them to open their eyes and turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, so that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me.’ (Acts 26:16-18 NIV)

It is rather easy to show that Isaiah’s “call” was to serve as a prophet in Israel, not as a missionary. Paul’s “call” is more likely the foundation that any missionary would love to use to Scripturally substantiate their own personal “calling.” I know I would. I am unashamed to admit, that after Jesus Himself, Paul is my hero! But some have questioned whether there really is sufficient Biblical evidence to confirm the idea of the traditional “call” to missions so popular in the jargon of missionaries.

Kevin Howard, referring to different passages than those above, wrote in EMQ in 2003:

“As we think about a calling, let’s consider the first missionary journey in Acts 13:2. It says, “And while they were ministering to the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, ‘Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them’” (NASV). The other passage that comes to mind regarding God’s call to missions is the Macedonian Call in Acts 16. Paul wanted to preach in Asia, but was forbidden by the Spirit, and a vision led him to Macedonia. Many Christians conclude that all believers must therefore have this kind of clear calling. But, can we make either of these experiences the standard for all other missionaries? If so, why? Nowhere does Scripture promise this sort of clarity when doing God’s will.” [18]

I do agree with Howard that there seems to be scant Scriptural evidence to support the long held tradition of a “calling” to missions service. But I am actually perhaps arguing against this idea of a “calling” for a different reason than Howard. (See “A Call to Missions: Is There Such a Thing?” in Evangelical Missions Quarterly, October, 2003 for more on this topic of “calling” in the Scriptures).

Few argue that the Great Commission indeed applies to all believers. Teaching all believers to obey the Great Commission is actually part of that commission (“…teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.” Matthew 28:20 NIV). Perhaps if we let go of this tradition of requiring missionaries to have a “calling” we will actually see many more Senders and Goers raised up who are motivated to “send” and “go” simply by obeying the Great Commission.

Howard’s article received some strong critique through a long letter to the editor of EMQ from a well known missionary who was “shocked and deeply disturbed” that someone questioned the idea of the “call” to missions service. [19] In this article I am not really challenging the idea of the “call” so much as the way I think it is often misused. (In fact my own “call,” more than twenty years ago is still foundational to what I am doing today.)

The general “calling” or decision to serve in career missions work perhaps needs to be differentiated from the specific “calling” to a certain country or people group. We (mission folk) tend to use the term “calling” to describe both, even if our “calling” to serve in career missions and our “calling” to serve in a specific country came many years apart from one another, as often is the case. Our focus here is on “calling” as we use that term in relation to place of service (country and people group).

Rather than fully entering into a theological debate as to whether or not the idea of a “calling” has substantial Scriptural footing (later we hope to write more on that topic), I simply would like us to think about how the traditional “call” to a specific country does not seem to be well guided by the Biblical emphasis to take the Gospel to those who have never heard. “It has always been my ambition to preach the gospel where Christ was not known, so that I would not be building on someone else’s foundation.” (Romans 15:20 NIV)

How do we explain God’s calling only 10% of all missionaries to the Unreached People Groups? Are only ten missionaries out of every 100 hearing the Holy Spirit call them to these 10,000 Unreached People Groups still waiting to hear the Gospel? Why is that? Does not the Holy Spirit want to send missionaries to these Unreached Peoples? Is the problem the Holy Spirit or perhaps that we are not truly listening? And perhaps we are not able to really listen to God mainly because we already thought for sure God “called” us to go somewhere else based on being “led” through our short-term experience and contact with a missionary we met there in a well-evangelized country.

Do we perhaps mistakenly apply the concept and especially the “timing” of when we receive our personal “call” to serve in a certain country? Thus, mission agency leaders, who are best suited to steer people to Unreached People Groups, do not suggest specific people groups because these leaders also have the same “awe” and respect for the mysterious “call” of service to a certain country. In fact, these agency leaders likely hold very dearly their own personal “call” to the country they formerly served in and are not about to tell a new missionary, even someone willing to serve anywhere, which country or people group they should serve in. That would be tantamount to breaking the long held tradition and perhaps even putting in jeopardy their own previous “calling” to the field they served in. But it does not need to.

What we are suggesting is that the “calling” to a particular Unreached People Group (and country) can just as easily take place after the mission agency assigns the new missionary to a specific people and place. This is simply a timing change. Both old and new missionaries could still gather years later and share stories about their “calling” to serve in a certain country with a specific people group.

Would not almost all mission agency leaders be thrilled if a new generation of applicants began filling in their application forms as follows: Country of Calling: ANYWHERE. People Group: ASSIGN US. If this actually began to happen, these leaders could both maintain the integrity of their own previous “calling” while also helping many new applicants discover their own “calling” through the new process of being assigned to the peoples and places no one ever writes on those lines of their application form. As it stands today, in general, most agencies simply want the missionary to go where the missionary feels “called” to go (in other words, where the missionary wants to go).

Frontiers and Pioneers are two of my favorite mission agencies. They each grew out of the Frontier Mission Movement in direct response to the shift towards Unreached People Groups. These fine agencies send missionaries only to Unreached People Groups. But if most missionary sending agencies, including Frontiers and Pioneers, still follow the traditional “awe of the call” concept, then thousands of Unreached People Groups these two agencies (and many others) would love to target will remain unreached with few if any workers while workers they recruit and send continue to amass amongst certain popular Unreached People Groups.

The long held tradition of having a “calling” to a specific country and people group before joining a mission agency may actually be thwarting many agencies original vision to get workers into as many Unreached People Groups as possible. Certainly, it seems to be thwarting Jesus original command to go to all peoples.

Why not look more at how the timing of the “calling” to a specific country and people group might come as a process in community between the sending church, candidate, and the sending agency closer to the actual time of departure to the field or even after arriving to the place of service one has been assigned? One Biblical model that seems to support a post arrival (or arrival at their post!) “calling:” The way Paul and Barnabas were sent off by the Antioch church. In fact, these two new missionaries got most of their direction to various cities, countries and peoples after they landed on the mission field!

In the church at Antioch there were prophets and teachers: Barnabas, Simeon called Niger, Lucius of Cyrene, Manaen (who had been brought up with Herod the tetrarch) and Saul. While they were worshiping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, “Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.” So after they had fasted and prayed, they placed their hands on them and sent them off. The two of them, sent on their way by the Holy Spirit, went down to Seleucia and sailed from there to Cyprus. When they arrived at Salamis, they proclaimed the word of God in the Jewish synagogues. John was with them as their helper. (Acts 13:1-5 NIV)

The way Paul and Barnabas were sent off seems to provide Biblical support to the idea of receiving one’s “calling” at the time of departure or even after arriving on the field. They had no short-term experience. Their “calling” (or sending if you look at it from the church’s point of view) involved no sense of specific countries or peoples. They were not limited by imagining God had told them years earlier to serve in a specific country. Their prime directive seemed to be that which applies to all believers, and that is to take the Gospel to the whole world. “It really is God giving the vision for the world rather than just the specific country” as the director of training at a mission agency told me.

Therefore, we propose that new missionary candidates should wait, pray and be willing to go anywhere, then receive their “call” from God closer to their departure time, just at Paul and Barnabas did, with confirmation of their “call” through specific guidance from God and the leading of the Holy Spirit while already on the field they are sent to.

The simple two part solution we are suggesting is to encourage pre-candidates not to choose a country or people group but be willing to serve anywhere while at the same time asking mission agencies to assign these new missionaries to Unreached People Groups, especially those people groups that no one ever volunteers to serve with
willing and waiting.

How many stories do we know of missionaries who were on their way to _______ (fill in the blank of any of the 141 already well evangelized countries of the world that have 60% or more church members) when they were redirected to an Unreached People Group? [20] I personally know of only one or two examples and my ministry the past 10 years and interest the last 20 has been almost exclusively with pre-candidates or future missionaries.

Yet, how many stories do we know of mission candidates who marched off to serve in countries where the church is well established? Likely, most of the missionaries we know serve there, since 90% (or more) of all missionaries are serving in the evangelized parts of the world. In Romans 15:20 Paul clearly emphasizes his desire to not work where other missionaries are already serving to ensure that he is taking the Gospel to those who have never heard. This should be our desire as well. For centuries since Paul penned this prototype “mission statement” the Church has almost completely lost this desire to not build on others work. We actually seem to prefer it.

The simple idea we are suggesting begins with asking pre-candidates, during their long years of preparation, (as well as new mission agency applicants) to wait and receive their “call” after they submit to the mission agency, and their sending church, with a willingness to be steered or guided especially to a country and an Unreached People Group that no one is volunteering for.

We feel that mission agencies and churches should ask those seriously considering long-term mission service to not decide where they want to go but rather wait and be willing to be assigned to an overlooked country and people group with few if any missionaries serving there. Actually, pre-candidates should be challenged with this concept early on, perhaps before or during their first short-term mission trip, because many decide where to go years before joining a mission agency and departing for their long-term place of service. Where to serve (meaning country and ethnic group) is perhaps the most crucial decision that missionaries, mission agencies and sending churches make.

We believe the Spirit is calling. Yet new missionaries are often not in a position to listen because of what they already “thought” God told them regarding their country of service. The Bible certainly seems to support the idea of having a willing (to do anything) obedience to God without first having all the details spelled out before a commitment is made. Surely flexibility, submission, willingness and obedience all are qualities any aspiring missionary should have. Encouraging new missionaries to have a willingness to serve anywhere is not asking them to do anything more than that which God is asking of them. Agencies and sending churches should then work together to assign these willing candidates to Unreached People Groups.
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This article revisits the question of missionary calling from a previous post at Travel Light: "special call or common command?". Thanks to Kent Jones at i go global for pointing out the Sherbrooke article. Please comment and tell us what you think.

Big Day for LifePoint Global this Friday

2009-07-07T14:38:00.008-05:00

LifePoint Global will have a big day on July 10. This coming Friday we have a short-term team of 13 leaving for Brazil. They will serve in the favelas (slums) of Sao Paulo alongside our Brazilian partners and two LifePoint Global interns, Erica and Jared. Half of our Bangkok Church Planting Team is departing on a scouting mission to Thailand. We also have a family of four moving to West Africa in partnership with IMB. On the same day our senior pastor, exec pastor, myself and leaders of other sending churches will participate in a meeting with IMB president Jerry Rankin and his senior staff. We will discuss a new way of working with non-traditional churches (sending churches) to reach the nations for God's glory.

When you pray this Friday, remember to intercede for LifePoint and their partners, as we continue to follow Jesus on His mission and spread the fame of His name together.

sending church: more lay leaders... less professional missionaries

2009-05-29T05:51:00.034-05:00

This post continues our description of what the sending church looks like today. Of course we have the best picture of sending church from the New Testament. We must continually ask ourselves, "How do we apply biblical patterns to whatever context we find ourselves in today?" This is a continuation of two previous posts: "sending church is..." and "sending church: more missional groups... less individual missions". We are using contrasts to help define the sending church.

Dream with me for a moment. What if our tribe (churches we associate with) would shift from sending individuals to sending churches to carry out God's mission among the nations? What if our denominational mission agency helped to facilitate the sending of churches rather than the sending of individual/professional missionaries? What would happen if our mission agency commissioned churches for making disciples among a people group, instead of individual/professional missionaries?

I know, I know... this would be risky, messy and many things would have to change for this to happen... but I believe it would be worth it all. I believe we would see numbers of missionaries, resources, engaged people groups and harvest grow exponentially. The greater the risk... the greater the reward.

Our denominational mission agency could use their authority and influence to challenge churches to take responsibility for being the missionary where the Holy Spirit is leading them, even as they help educate churches on global priorities. Instead of asking for more money, the agency could ask for more churches to step up and become the missionary among a people group (money follows people). The agency could assist them with practical logistics, provide for training of their missionaries, share the burden of financial support, and do whatever else necessary to facilitate the success of their mission. There are hundreds of churches out there that would jump at an opportunity like that.

The churches would be responsible for screening and selecting their people, forming the missionary teams, sending them out, sharing in the financial burden, supervising strategy, and shepherding the missionaries through their team leaders. The agency could educate and help with those aspects if some churches needed the help, but the responsibility would belong to the sending churches.

See, the mission agency should relate directly to churches, not to individuals belonging to those churches. The churches should be responsible for their people and their mission, using agency expertise as a resource to accomplish what the Holy Spirit is calling them to do.

If the sending church is sent by the Holy Spirit, there should be more lay leaders involved than professional missionaries. Some Scriptural background for this type of movement...

The Jerusalem church did a great job of reaching their own people, the Jews (Acts 2:47). But they had not obeyed Jesus' commission to "make disciples of all nations". So, God allowed them to go through a terrible persecution that forced the church to scatter and thus spread the gospel (Acts 8:1-4). God used some of those scattered believers from the great persecution to plant the church cross-culturally at Antioch (Acts 11:19-21)... there were more "lay people" involved, less professionals, (apostles stayed behind). The Jerusalem church heard about this and sent Barnabas to Antioch to follow-up (Acts 11:22-24)... Barnabas found Saul (Paul) and they stayed for a whole year teaching great numbers of people (Acts 11:25-26)... these were the "professionals" (lesser number involved).

Paul and Barnabas took John Mark along as a helper (Acts 13:5) as they were sent out by the Antioch church. Later, John Mark returned (Acts 13:13), and as a result there was a sharp disagreement over him between Paul and Barnabas that led to the formation of two missionary teams (Acts 15:36-40). Nevertheless, missionary work was accomplished through apostolic teams in community, not through lone rangers. Also, John Mark's participation demonstrates there is a role for "lay" believers in the missionary task. John Mark was not a top leader or teacher, but was part of the missionary team. Much later, Paul changed his mind about John Mark and called for his help as a valuable team member (2 Timothy 4:11). From Scriptures we observe many additions to missionary teams throughout various journeys: Silas, Timothy, Luke, Titus, Priscilla & Aquila, etc. (and I believe many unnamed). Most of these team members came from the missionary harvest fields as new Christ followers and accompanied Paul on missions to other places (international teams).

Sent by the Holy Spirit... This movement can happen through circumstances orchestrated by God, like a catastrophic event with a Jerusalem type church. Or, it can happen because of the DNA of an Antioch type church. Whatever happens to help stimulate the sending church, it is the Holy Spirit driving the movement, not a strategy from a denominational agency or a programmed approach from a local church. Notice what they were doing in Acts 13:2 before the Holy Spirit spoke to them about sending leaders on a mission(worshiping, fasting and praying).

More lay leaders... This movement requires the whole church to be involved, not just a few who are especially qualified. God scattered the whole church in Acts 8. God spoke through the whole church in Acts 13. Of course we need the "professionals," the higher level leaders. However, when these high level leaders are called out by the Holy Spirit, they are called to lead the rest of the church to go along on God's mission. Also, the higher level leaders or "professionals," are the minority. They quickly form larger teams with "lay people" to help in the task.

Less professional missionaries... This movement does not require a lot of professional leaders, but does require the best the church has to offer from their leadership ranks. There were five high level leaders mentioned in Acts 13, and the Holy Spirit spoke to the church to set apart two of them for the work He called them to do. Then the church sent them out with prayer, fasting and laying on of hands (authority) in partnership with the Holy Spirit (Acts 13:3,4).
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Recap of Sending Church definition:

What is a sending church?

* A community of Christ followers
* Sent by the Holy Spirit
* To be the hands and feet of Christ
* To engage all people with the love of Christ
* To multiply disciples among the nations for God's glory

Sending Church is

MORE... missional groups
LESS... individual missions

MORE... lay leaders
LESS... professional missionaries

MORE... practical ministry
LESS... talking and meeting

MORE... relational influence
LESS... programmed evangelism

MORE... transformational disciples
LESS... institutional discipleship
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Next sending church post will be about: Being the hands and feet of Christ... more practical ministry... less talking and meeting.

Comments Welcome.

Bangkok - Belgium - Boom!

2009-05-21T14:07:00.020-05:00

We are hanging on for the ride here at LifePoint Church. The response to the challenge of going on a church planting team to Bangkok or Belgium has been overwhelming as nearly 40 commitment cards came back to us from families, couples and singles. We have interviewed people of all ages and from many different walks of life. Many are just trying to discern what God wants them to do, others are not quite ready for this level of commitment, but there are some who are ready to begin the process for preparing to go. What is exciting for us is the fact that ALL want to give their life away for God's glory!

I have not made time to blog lately but it is not because there is nothing to say. I am trying to keep up with the rapid pace of change in our church. There is a good possibility that we may go from three vocational international missionary units to directly sending at least a dozen missionary units over the next two years. We are experiencing a massive response to the call to serve outside of church walls. Since January over 300 people in our church have participated in various local and global mission opportunities. These are people we know about, there are many others we don't know about who are serving their neighbors, volunteering with other organizations, ministering to hurting people, influencing people to pursue Christ through a variety of ways. These are exciting days for church based missions. I will try to write down some lessons learned as soon as it slows down around here... uh, it will slow down, a little, I hope.

Say Yes to Sending Church!

2009-04-20T12:14:00.017-05:00

Our pastor did a great job of communicating the vision and direction for our church yesterday. If you have not heard the message, it would be worth your time to check out the April 19 Sunday morning message at LifePointChurch.org. To get the whole picture, you will have to listen to the whole message. These are exciting days at our church... a missions pastor's dream! Over the past several years our church has moved from a "supporting church" missions model to a "partnership church" missions model and now to a "sending church" missions model. Our church is going through an Acts 13 experience and will be sending out our first Church Planting Teams to Bangkok and Belgium.

The vision was cast and the call to say YES was issued. We will have an informational meeting this Wednesday night for all who are sensing God's direction to make a three year commitment and join with a team to Bangkok or Belgium. We will follow a process to prepare the teams to go directly from our church but in partnership with mission agencies that will help facilitate and resource our going. The teams will work under the strategy and authority of the church, not the missionary agency. Our church will work closely with mission agency partners to develop a sending church model that can function with other like churches. We will work with GFM to send a team to Bangkok, and with IMB to send a team to Belgium. In both of these initiatives the vision is to begin an indigenous movement that will multiply disciples, leaders and churches for God's glory.

I will post more about the sending church model and our journey as a church in the weeks and months to come. Comments or questions are welcome.

major shift

2009-04-09T08:58:00.006-05:00

Wow, it has been over a month since I posted anything. It is not like there is nothing to write, a lot has happened over the past few months... From January to April, LifePoint has sent out nearly 200 people in our Jerusalem, Judea/Samaria and around the world. We have long-term partnerships in Brazil, South Asia, West Africa, East Asia, Mexico, and in three areas of the U.S. Until now we have followed a "partnership missions" model, where we go to work under the authority and strategy of field missionaries that we have a relationship with, or that have gone out from our church. Now we are about to shift into another level that I call the "sending church" model. From Acts 13 and following we see a picture of what this model looks like. We were going to launch this with a conference on April 25... however, due to various factors, we had to postpone the Sending Church Conference.

Instead of a conference, our pastor will lay out the vision for this next level of mission for our whole church during the Sunday morning services following Easter, on April 19. We will begin implementing this new missions model this year and next. I will wait to write more about it after April 19. By the way, the Sending Church Conference is postponed, not canceled, so we will reschedule that for next year.

return to Oaxaca

2009-03-05T11:04:00.031-06:00

Last week I was in Oaxaca, Mexico to explore a potential partnership with Global Frontier Missions to help our church train and mobilize college students in world missions. I was encouraged by GFM's passion for God and His mission among the nations. We found an affinity with them, both in spirit and strategy. It was great to make some new friends and I look forward to what God will do through this new relationship.

I took along two guys from our church, my missions intern and the college/high school student pastor. I gave them the names Nacho and Libre on this trip (from the movie filmed in Oaxaca). As we ate our way through Oaxaca, (very famous for their cuisine), I reconnected with some old friends from when we lived there. This was my first time back in five years. Most of my reunions were with Mexican friends and a few with gringos like me who continue in Oaxaca.

One of my special friends is Gaspar Chablee, one of the smartest people I know. Gaspar is the founder and director of DECEMEX, a Mexican non-profit that serves indigenous communities in Mexico through community development. His approach to mission is very holistic and transformational. Gaspar is Mayan, he married a Zapotec and had most of his children while living in the Mazateca. So, his family is quad-lingual. Here is a paraphrased synopsis of part of Gaspar's story before he started DECEMEX and worked in the sierra Mazateca as a missionary pastor several years ago...
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"I moved to the Sierra Mazateca with my wife to become the pastor of a new church. (This church was started by Mexican Baptists from the city). I came from a very traditional mind-set, so my approach was like most Baptist pastors, the focus was on preaching the word and ministering within the walls of the church building. The town priest warned me that I would not last long there as an outsider, that I would have no success, and should leave. I had no standing in the community and my small congregation was barely tolerated by the town. The church could not afford to pay me any salary, but did contribute food for my family.

One day, one of my congregation gave me the news that their baby had died, and asked me to come visit their home. I entered into the one-room house to find the grieving family surrounding the tiny body. It was evident from the worms crawling out of the baby's orifices that it was weakened by malnutrition before it died. The town was very poor in those days and my congregation was even poorer. It was at that moment that I realized I did not even know my own people. I was broken and ready to leave. My wife convinced me that God was not finished with us in that place.

The Lord led me to study books about simple reproducible technologies for community development. I discovered a whole new world. I traveled to learn from others what was working to transform communities and how we might do something like this in our community. God led me to start a small garden, and to raise some chickens and rabbits in our back yard. Then I worked alongside my church members to help them do the same in their yards. After a time, people in the town saw that we had more food, more meat and even had enough to sell in the market. They asked if we could help them to raise small animals for meat and start productive gardens. We agreed, if they would promise to help someone else do the same. After a while, many more people in the town enjoyed better nutrition and a surplus of food to sell or share.

In the meantime, over one year after we started this, one of my church members had a baby. Up to this point no baby had been born in the town that weighed over five pounds. My church member had a baby boy that weighed nearly ten pounds! Soon, word spread to everyone in the town and to all of the surrounding villages about the "giant evangelical baby"! Hundreds came from far and wide to see the giant newborn... at times there were even long lines outside of the home waiting for a glimpse of the baby. As people came to our town, they began to ask questions, and our people were able to share why we were different and the hope we have in a relationship with Christ. People returned to their villages with this news and soon after we were invited to go share the good news with them. The gospel began to spread throughout the sierra... and all because of the birth of a child."
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This story is one of many... of how a movement began and grew that expanded God's kingdom among the Mazateco people of Oaxaca. This was only a small part of God's plan, there were many other individuals, churches, organizations and communities that God used to reproduce disciples, leaders and churches among the Mazateco people. I know that this particular stream of the movement grew from four churches to over forty in that particular area. Gaspar's church grew to over 500 in a town of less than two thousand. What strikes me about this story is the unique way in which God works to accomplish His mission - to make disciples of all nations. We can never box God in... "His ways are much higher than our ways". I am reminded of how I sometimes box God in with a formulaic approach. I have found that His ways are more relational and seem to unfold more naturally according to His timing.

There is a saying in Oaxaca, "Once you eat the chapulines (grasshoppers), you will one day return to Oaxaca"... well I returned, and I hope to return again soon.

what is the sending church conference?

2009-02-16T16:16:00.002-06:00

sending church: more missional groups... less individual missions

2009-02-16T11:17:00.010-06:00

God sends His people in community to accomplish His mission, not as individuals on a personal mission. This post continues with one of the contrasts that we use to help define the sending church: more missional groups... less individual missions.

When my wife and I first surrendered to God's mission for us overseas, we were part of a traditional institutional church. Our default response was to contact the denominational agency responsible for our international missions program. We did not really look to our local church for approval or help, other than a letter of recommendation from the pastor. The church did give us a commissioning service, confirmed our calling, prayed for us and supported us through the denomination. However, it did not go beyond that... the church was not intimately involved with or directly participating in the mission we were called to do. This was not completely their fault or our bad, this is just how our system worked... it was all we knew. Later in our time on the field, our church along with several others from our association of churches sent a team of people to help with a project, but it did not go beyond that one visit.

The process has improved over the years... the denominational agency is involving churches more and more. Churches have been going on "mission trips" for many years and attempting to have more direct impact in cross-cultural missions. Many churches establish "partnerships" with vocational missionaries to hopefully have some strategic impact as part of a long-term plan (this is a good start). Some become "engaging" churches, developing and implementing missionary strategies, like vocational missionaries would do... these churches are attempting to become "the missionary" among an unengaged or neglected people group (this is what I wish all churches could do). All of these developments are very positive, returning the task of the Great Commission back to the churches instead of relinquishing the responsibility to an agency or para church group.

However, the individualistic approach of denominational missions remains strong. This is due in large part to our culture (including church culture), where we highly value individual achievement and ability. But this approach is also influenced by our system for selecting, preparing and sending our vocational missionaries. Our denomination still sends individuals on a mission assignment that is determined by the agency strategy, not taking into account any sending church or missionary team. There is a sharp contrast between the denominational sending agency approach and the more biblical pattern of sending church.

To learn more about the biblical pattern of sending church, you can go back and read: sending churches and missionary teams; and sending churches and biblical mission.

Our church is working toward becoming a sending church that will take the best of what denominational and para church agencies have to offer and partner with them to accomplish God's mission among the nations. We hope that our partnering agencies will facilitate our church to send missionary teams, or task groups, that will go out, not as individuals on a personal mission, but will be sent in community, modeling to the nations what it looks like to love one another... "By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another" (John 13:35). This will mean that we will attempt to send more than one couple to a people/place where God is leading our church... we will send a missional group that will model what church looks like from the outset of their mission. This will mean that we will quickly look for other like-minded Christ followers already present among the focus people and include them in our missional community... as Paul and his companions did so often on their missionary journeys. This will accelerate the process for discovering responsive communities among the people group, planting the gospel among them and cultivating discipling communities.

To be continued...

sending church is...

2009-02-10T13:38:00.019-06:00

You may have heard someone say something like this before... "I know what it looks like... I can't describe it... but I will know it when I see it." Well, it is kind of like that with the church on mission, the "missional" church, or as we like to call it... the "sending" church. This is the same church that Jesus addressed in the Great Commission. This is the church we see in the book of Acts... the scattered and the sent... the church that was planted, reproduced and multiplied among the nations. The sending church is expressed in many forms, but always has the same function... "to make disciples of all nations." The last post announced the launch of the sending church conference. The next several posts will define and elaborate on what a sending church looks like.

The sending church is "a community of Christ followers"... As I have mentioned before, "God’s mission was given to the church, a community of Christ followers, and not to individuals outside of that context." Generally speaking, in our western context we exalt individual achievement, personal wealth and self-actualization. In most eastern cultures they value shared achievement, familial wealth and the success of their community. I believe the biblical worldview is more of a balance between the good qualities of different cultures... but definitely leans toward functioning in community over individual preference. Jesus went on His mission in the world with a community of disciples and Paul went on his mission with a team of companions. I believe that God designed it this way from the beginning ("Let US make man in OUR image, in OUR likeness..."). God models community for us through His triune nature. All through the Bible we see that God calls His people (plural). He definitely blesses and uses individuals, but always as leaders or members of a larger community.

Along with the first part of our definition for sending church (a community of Christ followers), we give a contrast to help demonstrate what is distinctive about the sending church (in comparison with the institutional church). The first contrast: "the sending church is... more missional groups... less individual missions."

When my wife and I first surrendered to God's mission for us overseas, we were part of a traditional institutional church. Our default response was to contact the denominational agency responsible for our international missions program....

I don't want this to get too long, so I will continue this in the next post...

the sending church conference

2009-02-04T14:44:00.028-06:00

The Sending Church Conference is more than a conference... it is a practical dialogue for those who truly want to be part of what God is doing in the world.

This is LifePoint's first attempt at a church-wide conference where we invite other churches and individuals from outside of our immediate community. I am really pleased that our first major conference is about how we can practically join God on His mission in the world. I am thankful that this is the heartbeat of our church.

This will be a one-day conference on Saturday, April 25. We will have several break-outs led by staff and lay leaders on how to implement different aspects of a sending church strategy. We will have two main sessions led by our senior pastor, Pat Hood. I am really pumped up about our special guest speaker for the third main session - Ed Stetzer.

Come join us, we would love to dialogue with you about "sending the church to be the church where there is no church."

What is a sending church?

* A community of Christ followers
* Sent by the Holy Spirit
* To be the hands and feet of Christ
* To engage all people with the love of Christ
* To multiply disciples among the nations for God's glory

Sending Church is

MORE... missional groups
LESS... individual missions

MORE... lay leaders
LESS... professional missionaries

MORE... practical ministry
LESS... talking and meeting

MORE... relational influence
LESS... programmed evangelism

MORE... transformational disciples
LESS... institutional discipleship

good word from atheist

2009-01-20T14:39:00.011-06:00

I know you must be shocked that I posted something two days in a row. This video really moved, convicted and motivated me, all at the same time. If you have five minutes to watch, it is worth your time. Thanks to "Dexter" over at Geonosis for pointing out this video, and thanks to Penn of Penn and Teller for sharing this story.

southern baptists fight decline

2009-01-19T11:25:00.010-06:00

Our church, LifePoint, was mentioned in a local newspaper article recently... to find the part about our church, you will have to read all the way down to the end of the article, under the heading, "There Is Good News". Read about it here... Southern Baptists fight decline.

okay... there are more than 12 ways...

2009-01-16T12:31:00.008-06:00

This post continues our look at the different ways God sends His people on His mission. Originally, I intended to write twelve posts, each about a different way that we can be part of God’s mission. I was going to follow the “twelve days of Christmas” theme and take about 12 days to do so right around the Christmas season… HA! At the rate I am going, instead of taking twelve days, it looks like it will take 12 months to follow that plan! So, I end it here with these final thoughts… The vocational missionary living full-time on a cross-cultural mission field is on one end of the continuum, dedicating their life to God’s mission among a neglected people. On the other end of the spectrum is the short-term volunteer who is passing through for just a short time but can be a catalyst for change among a people. There are various types of ambassadors for Christ all along the continuum of involvement in God’s mission (many more than 12 types). All have a part in the mission and are sent by God through the body Christ.

God’s mission was given to the church, a community of Christ followers, and not to individuals outside of that context. The “sending church” is responsible for supporting, or “holding the ropes” for our full-time vocational missionaries. However, we often forget that the whole body of Christ is on mission along with the individuals who show “apostolic gifting”. In the New Testament we find apostolic teams going to other cultures to plant the seeds of the new indigenous church among a neglected people. Following the initial planting, others were sent to cultivate the new churches until they could mature, reproduce and multiply.

Paul said in I Corinthians 3:5-9: “What then is Apollos? What is Paul? Servants through whom you believed, as the Lord assigned to each. I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth. So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth. He who plants and he who waters are one, (body of Christ) and each will receive his wages according to his labor. For we are God’s fellow workers. You are God’s field, God’s building.”

There are many different roles to play on God’s mission for the members of the body of Christ. We find in the New Testament the Paul/Barnabas types, the John Mark/Luke types, the Timothy/Titus types, etc. We see pastoral church leaders like Peter had a part in God’s plan for the nations, even though he did not stay gone from home for very long (Acts 10). We observe lay leaders like Phillip had tremendous catalytic impact on the spread of the gospel among other cultures and nations (Acts 8). We also see that there was a network of connections between the churches of different nations (Acts 15, II Corinthians 8 & 9, etc.).

In today’s church, much is made about the financial resources needed for the church to obey the Great Commission. Therefore, the thinking is that most of the church should stay home and support the missionaries. Economics are important, but we often forget that material resources follow people resources. If we send/receive people, other needs will be met. Sending churches of the New Testament had no choice in the matter. They could not send the material support apart from people. They sent people like Epaphroditus to meet those concrete needs of vocational missionaries like Paul.

Paul said to the church at Philippi: “Indeed I have all and abound. I am full, having received from Epaphroditus the things sent from you...” (Phil. 4:18a). Before that, Paul said: “Yet I considered it necessary to send to you (return to you) Epaphroditus, my brother, fellow worker, and fellow soldier, but your messenger and the one who ministered to my need...” (Phil. 2:25).

Paul acknowledged Epaphroditus' value in very strong terms, “my brother, fellow worker, fellow soldier”. The big E was a vital part of Paul's missionary ministry. He worked alongside Paul and was used by God to minister to Paul. However, he was a short-term volunteer. He returned to his sending church. Paul acknowledged to the Philippian church that E was, “my fellow soldier, but YOUR MESSENGER”.

Today, we have missionary institutions and Para church ministries that have supplanted the sending church as the primary instruments God uses for His mission. The churches have allowed this to happen over time, neglecting to fully obey the Great Commission and becoming complacent about their vital role in God’s mission. Vocational missionaries are guilty as well, neglecting to equip the church for the work of mission (Eph. 4:11-12), and going on mission alone without taking the body of Christ along to fulfill their role.

Our church is working toward a “sending church” model… attempting to “send the whole church to the whole world”… “sending the church to be the church where there is no church”. I will post more about this in the months to come.

glocal identity - LifePoint church

2009-01-12T14:05:00.011-06:00

Our church is moving from a local identity to a glocal (local & global) identity. Part of the process for that move is a name change. You can learn more about it here.

This has been an interesting journey for our church. I appreciate the way that our people have embraced the change and are enthusiastic about our part in God's mission among the nations. We have great staff, church leaders and wonderful unity as a church. I like the attitude of our people - "we do not have it all figured out, but this is the direction that we know the Lord is leading." The primary reason for going in this direction is to obey Jesus' Great Commission. I believe this is an important step toward what God is planning to do through our church.

twelve ways - number 2

2008-12-27T11:10:00.010-06:00

Christmas celebrates the incarnation of Christ… “He became flesh and made His dwelling among us, we have seen His glory…” (John 1:14). Today the church represents Christ to the world by making disciples, spreading the good news and reflecting His glory among all nations. In this post we continue exploring twelve ways the church can bring Christmas to the world. The previous post mentions the vocational missionary as the most excellent way the church sends representatives to expand God’s kingdom among neglected peoples. The vocational missionary lives among the people and becomes a model for what it looks like to follow Christ. The vocational missionary plants and cultivates the new church in another culture and then moves on so that the indigenous church will take full responsibility for expanding God’s kingdom among their own people.

On the other end of the continuum of different representatives from the sending church is the “short-term volunteer”. This is someone who is “passing through” and used by God to be a catalyst for the spread of the gospel. Many believe today’s phenomenon of volunteerism is a trend in missions and not a biblical model for the sending church to fulfill God’s mission among the nations. However, we can find examples of short-term representatives on mission in the New Testament. In Acts 8 we see that because of a great persecution against the church in Jerusalem, “they were all scattered throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria, except the apostles… Now those who were scattered went preaching the word.” In this case the “vocational missionaries” stayed home, while the “laymen” scattered throughout other regions to spread the gospel. We know this was a cross-cultural mission because they went to Samaria.

Later in Acts 11:19-21, Scripture tells us, “Now those who were scattered because of the persecution that arose… traveled as far as Phoenicia and Cyprus and Antioch, speaking the word to no one but Jews. But there were some of them, men of Cyprus and Cyrene, who on coming to Antioch spoke to the Hellenists (Greek-speaking non-Jews) also, preaching the Lord Jesus. And the hand of the Lord was with them, and a great number who believed turned to the Lord.” Again, we see that ordinary Christ followers (who we would call laymen) spread the message among people of other cultures and planted the seeds that would become the church among those other nations.

When the apostles in Jerusalem failed to fully obey Jesus’ last command to make disciples of all nations, God allowed a great persecution to force the church to spread the message of Christ among other nations (peoples). It was no accident that the whole church was sent by God to accomplish His mission and not just the professionals. Today we see this same pattern occurring among sending churches on God’s mission to the nations. We do not have a great persecution in the west, but there are other forces, (like economic globalization), that are forcing/facilitating the church to scatter among the nations. There is a “lay-driven” movement, not only in the U.S. but also coming from other countries in the southern and eastern hemispheres, that is quickly surpassing the west as God’s primary instrument for sending missionaries.

For most churches there are just two options for obeying the Great Commission. You are either a short-term volunteer, or a vocational missionary. Actually, there are many different roles that Christ followers can play while on God’s mission to the nations. In the days ahead we will look at several other ways to serve on God's mission, that fall in between the roles of volunteer and vocational missionary.

twelve ways of Christmas

2008-12-08T11:01:00.017-06:00

Most know about the "twelve days of Christmas", celebrated by Christians around the world... and the song (and it's meaning?) associated with this centuries old tradition. Over the next few weeks I will post twelve ways that the church can bring Christmas to neglected peoples around the world.

Christmas celebrates the incarnation of Christ... "The Word became flesh and made His dwelling among us..." (John 1:14). Jesus tells His disciples (His church), "As the Father has sent me, I am sending you" (John 20:21). Jesus was "the Word", or "the Message" in the flesh... His very person, His life, death and resurrection, was the Message. In the same way He sent His followers... to not only proclaim the message, but also to be the message.

Perhaps the best example we have for this today is the vocational missionary. This is someone who has surrendered to live as a Christ follower among a people of a different culture. People separated from God not only need to hear the gospel, they need to see and experience the message through the life of someone totally surrendered to Christ. They need a model, a pattern of what it looks like to follow Christ. As they follow that same pattern, their life transforms and influences their own people to follow Christ. Eventually, the vocational missionary (the outsider) moves on to another neglected people, while the new Christ followers (among the insiders) continue to pattern a Christ-like life among their own people, multiplying the church and expanding God's kingdom.

Our church is currently sending two families serving as vocational missionaries among neglected peoples in Brazil and India. We are grateful for the AMO team and for SAM and his team. We have another family preparing to go live among this people. Like a "partridge in a pear tree" these precious families have made their dwelling in a place where we hope to see a great harvest. This is the first way the church brings Christmas to the world. We will explore more ways in the weeks to come.

An Obama Nation - Good for the Kingdom?

2008-11-05T13:50:00.028-06:00

Today we are witnesses of an historic event that few believed would happen in our lifetime. This presidential election has captured the attention of the world and is seen in a very positive light by other nations. World leaders, normally reserved and diplomatic in their public statements, were enthusiastically praising Barack Obama (and America) for the outcome of this election... see "Much of the World Applauds Obama". I do not agree with most of Obama's policies, and definitely disagree with his philosophy of government, but I do see this development as an opportunity for God's kingdom to advance around the world. Allow me to explain...

First, we are confident that this turn of events is part of God's sovereign plan for the nations. Nothing happens without God's permission and purpose. Scripture reminds us: "From one man He made every nation of men, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and He determined the times set for them and the exact places where they should live. God did this so that men would seek Him and perhaps reach out for Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us" (Acts 17:26,27). God has a plan for people to seek Him, reach out for Him and find Him. It involves establishing nations that inhabit the whole earth, predetermined times set for them, and exact places where they should live. This plan includes who will be in authority over these nations. All of this works together under God's control so that people will come to know Him.

Also in I Timothy 2:1-3, Scripture tells us: "I urge, then, first of all, that requests, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for everyone - for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness. This is good, and pleases God our Saviour, who wants all men to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth." God is sovereign over the times, people and places, however, He also assigns our part in His plan... to intercede on behalf of those in authority and give thanks for them, live in peace and godliness... because He "wants all men to be saved and know the truth."

God's purpose for the nations, their times (events), places, circumstances, authorities, etc. is very clear... so that "people will seek Him, reach out for Him and find Him." Also, our part is very clear... we intercede on their behalf, live in peace and godliness, so that... all men might be saved (not all will be) and all know the truth (all should at least know the truth).

Many Christians (not all are Christ followers) are upset by the outcome of this election. Frankly, I am not. Maybe now, the church will begin to wake up to the fact that we do not live in a "Christian nation". Perhaps more churches will cease to focus on how our government will legislate solutions and start looking to God for the answers. Maybe. God never meant for human governments to help us find the answers to life's most difficult issues. He meant for the church to be salt and light, serve those in prison, feed and clothe the hungry, heal the sick, shelter the homeless, and make disciples of all nations. Now that the world sees our country in a more positive light... this could be an unprecedented opportunity for us to participate in God's plan to advance His kingdom among the nations.

church on the go... for the long haul

2008-10-09T18:32:00.006-05:00

This is a very busy season for our church. I am packing tonight to depart for South Asia tomorrow. We had teams in Seattle and Arizona this past weekend. There is a high school student team in East Kentucky this week... on what I call a missions education adventure. (Missions education works differently now-a-days). A team is in East Asia right now (with our senior and exec. pastors leading). Another team is leaving for Mexico this weekend. Later this month we have a team going to Brazil.

While all of this is very exciting for our church, what excites me even more is the long-term strategy behind all of this going. We go on short-term trips to engage unreached and/or neglected peoples for the long haul. We are building platforms where any Christ follower can participate in God's mission, using their everyday skills/talents/gifts to contribute to a larger strategy that will help catalyze transformation movements among neglected and unreached people groups. We are sending church... the whole church... along with vocational missionaries. I believe this is what Jesus wanted from the church all along. It was never an individual mission, it was (and is) a comission for the whole body of Christ.

We have a long way to go... making mistakes... learning from them... rubbing off on each other (that is discipleship)... engaging people with the gospel... seeing lives transformed and experiencing change in our own lives. Each of us has a small but significant role in God's great work among the nations. We may never see the significance of our contribution, but nevertheless, it is there for God's greater purpose... which is way beyond our tiny vision.

So, we go on these short trips because each one is one step... one step closer to whatever God is planning to do with us, through us, and among a people that need Him. Some of us get to stay longer... but all of us are on the same journey for the long haul.

change on the horizon

2008-09-19T09:51:00.008-05:00

We have been hearing that a big change was coming for the IMB. Now we have the first public announcements concerning the change. During the most recent IMB trustee meeting Dr. Rankin said:

“In 1997 we made some radical changes in our organization and strategy to accommodate growth in our missionary force. In these 10 years, we have seen more than a thousand people groups gain access to the Gospel for the first time and church-planting movements accelerate. But this is not the same world it was 10 years ago. We cannot presume that the methods and structure of the past will be relevant and effective in the future. Our world is changing and we must continue to change with it.”

So true. One thing that no one can accuse the IMB of... not continuing to change methods and structures with the times and doing their part to help Christ followers obey the Great Commission. The changes are proposed by a joint trustee-staff task force. They will be implemented over the next year, or so. Here is the basic outline for the upcoming changes:
___________________________________________

"The basic task of our missionaries, reaching the lost and engaging unreached people groups with the Gospel, will not change. Field personnel already work in teams, focusing on specific people groups, population segments or urban areas. These teams will continue to be grouped in clusters. Clusters will be the basic field component for guiding and implementing strategies.

The most significant change is organizing clusters into “global affinity groups” that represent a commonality of language, culture and ethnicity. The affinity groups will focus on people groups no matter where they are based geographically outside the United States. Each affinity group will be led by a global strategist with the responsibility of resourcing and training missionary teams and clusters in effective strategy.

The administrative needs of field personnel will be served by geographically based support teams representing financial management, business services, personnel services and mobilization assistance.

The refocused vision statement — Our vision is a multitude from every language, people, tribe and nation knowing and worshipping our Lord Jesus Christ — places the desired outcome ahead of the organization’s role in reaching it.

Likewise, the revised mission statement — Our mission is to make disciples of all peoples in fulfillment of the Great Commission — reflects that the Great Commission is the responsibility of the local church and refocuses the efforts of the agency on assisting churches to fulfill that responsibility.

In the core values, trustees reaffirmed the IMB’s commitment to the lordship of Jesus Christ and to God’s inerrant Word, while shifting the role of the agency from a primary focus on sending missionaries to one that serves the churches in their involvement in the Great Commission and the sending of missionaries. They also reinforced a continuing commitment to partner with Baptists and other Christians around the world to bring all peoples to faith in Jesus Christ."
___________________________________________

The points that peak my interest are:

"...the Great Commission is the responsibility of the local church and refocuses the efforts of the agency on assisting churches to fulfill that responsibility."

and

"...shifting the role of the agency from a primary focus on sending missionaries to one that serves the churches in their involvement in the Great Commission and the sending of missionaries."

If you have been reading this blog for very long, you know that these are issues very near and dear to my heart. If the IMB is serious about this, it could spark a missionary movement in many of our churches, and help restore the church's role as the primary instrument for God's mission in the world. So, we will see...

I know there must be a lot of maneuvering going on behind the scenes for "the firm" to come to this decision for change. I know there are negatives and positives to the changes that will come. If any readers can share some insights, you are welcome to comment.

turbo training

2008-08-19T15:35:00.017-05:00

Four of us went to "turbo training" last week at Northwood church, where Bob Roberts is pastor. Bob is author of Glocalization, second in a trilogy of books about how the church should be engaging the world (fourth book coming soon). Following is an outline of some of my notes from the conference...
_________________________________________________________________

Bob Roberts, Pastor of Northwood - "Developing a Kingdom Mindset"

-Kingdom in... Kingdom out... should come as natural as breathing
-Don't start with the church... focus on engaging the society for transformation
-Starts with... Holy Spirit - Disciples - Society - Transformation - Church
-Life is a sacred whole... no separation between "sacred" and "secular"
-Transformation occurs through simultaneous "Interactive Relationship with God" - "Glocal Engagement" - "Community Development"

Omar Reyes, Northwood Glocal Impact Director - "Biblical Kingdom Thinking"

-Four Ways to Address Problems
1) Don't worry about it
2) Traditional inside the box thinking
3) Focus on just one small part of the problem
4) Reframe the whole situation by leveraging a new paradigm
Example - new wine skins for new wine

-Four Shifts toward New Paradigm
1) The church is the missionary
2) How does the church engage society
3) Assess church members based on vocation, train and deploy
4) Engage domains of society (natural infrastructures)
Churches result from transformed disciples engaging society

Bob Roberts - "Global Mindsets"

-Great Commission - Make Disciples - All Nations
-Abraham received a commission to be a blessing to all nations
He was the ultimate disciple... Revelation from God - Obedience - Worship
(Left an altar of personal worship wherever he went)
He engaged nations - Israel became a picture of what God wants for all nations
-Acts 17 is the Great Commission in action where they were accused of "turning the world upside down"

Hubs - How U.S. thinks of globalization, with everything originating from them and relating directly back to them...
True Globalization - A world-wide network where every point sends and receives with multiple points

Brian Hook, Director of Vision 360 - "City Collaboration & Church Planting"

-It's not about being a church planter, it is about being a community catalyst

-Four ways to be an agent for transformation in a community
1) Learn - Go through process of preparation within a sending church
2) Lead - Engage leaders of the city/community/churches
3) Leverage - Use gifts, resources, wisdom, access of leaders to get things done
4) Link - Network leaders, churches, businesses, schools, government, etc.
Kingdom resources are out there to be found - in the community, not the church (resources are in the harvest)

Rick McKinley, Pastor of Imago Dei Community in Portland, Oregon - "Imago Dei Story - Four Shifts"

-Four Shifts in how we "do" church
1) From teaching the "how to" to motivating the "want to"
2) From being a "coming" church to being a "going" church - process for that:
Expose - Experience - Engage
3) From "protection" against the world to "proclamation" with the world
4) From "relevance" to the culture to "influence" with the culture
"Allow Scripture to interpret your life"
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Some of my favorite quotes from the conference:
"You can ask questions now... but no comments... we are not here to listen to your opinion" (Bob Roberts)
"There are worse things than being fired" (Rick McKinley)

Overall, a worthy event and reconfirmed some things the Lord is showing our church. If you have any questions about the outline from my notes, please comment.

dare u to move

2008-08-07T08:45:00.006-05:00

Our church will be promoting missions this month. The video is a trailer, or commercial for the upcoming emphasis. I know, it's silly... but it sure was a lot of fun! It is a joy to work with this great staff, we get along quite well and work as a team. I am encouraged by the direction our church is moving.

Mobilizing the whole church to be on God's mission is a real challenge. Here in the U.S. most Christ followers think of missions as a project, something that we do in our spare time to serve the community, or a trip that we take to another country to help the less fortunate. So, how do we help our people to practically join in what God is doing, to discover their part in His mission? To start, we are trying to communicate that missions is more than just taking a trip. Each member of the body of Christ has a role to play, and that role could be any number of options in between the two extremes of praying and giving, and being a vocational missionary. Our "global initiatives" brochure describes 10 different roles our people can play as part of God's mission among our focus people groups:
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global | i

transforming life • community • world

God is moving today as never before, transforming nations from the inside out, and you can become part of His global initiative. You can impact people’s lives through simple acts of service, sharing about your relationship with Jesus, and partnering with indigenous Christ followers to transform their own communities. As we experience God’s grace through serving a global community, we discover God is changing us, and that we can play an important role in His transformation strategy for the world.

Through global initiatives, you become an agent for change in another culture. You will be a catalyst for God’s transformation movement, something that only God can do to multiply disciples, leaders, and churches and expand His kingdom for His glory.

You can be involved in multiple ways:

• prayer and advocacy • Intercede on behalf of a people through communicating with missionaries, passing on stories, mobilizing prayer and support for an initiative.
• volunteer support ministry • Offer your skills for organizing, recruiting, fund-raising, media, etc., to help support the success of a global initiative.
• short-term service trips • Go on a week-long trip to serve alongside partners and accomplish a piece of the strategy for a transformation movement.
• core team member • Become part of a leadership team that helps to develop and implement the strategy for a transformation movement.
• local community service • Discover local pockets of people from the culture that your initiative engages and look for ways to serve their community.
• business as mission • Use your professional skills to help establish micro-business and community development projects.
• study abroad • If you are a student, use opportunities to study overseas, connect with missionaries and help with their strategies to transform a nation.
• global | i internship • Live overseas for two to four months and be mentored by a field missionary as you help work toward a transformation movement.
• long-term field volunteer • If you are retired, or at a place in your career that you can take some extended time off, volunteer to live on the field for a few weeks or months to use your skills for community development and micro business projects.
• field missionary • God may be calling you to vocational missions. Our church confirms and sends long-term missionaries for strategic partnerships.
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There are other ways to be involved in God's mission, but this will get our people started in their search for how God wants to send them on His mission in the world. Please comment about any other ideas of how to mobilize the whole church to be on God's mission.

upstream collective

2008-08-04T15:16:00.019-05:00

Last week we hosted a meeting with leaders from the upstream collective. This is a new initiative for mobilizing the church to engage the peoples of Western Europe. One of our trainers, or facilitators, was "Ernest Goodman", author of the blog "missions misunderstood".
Ernest took his hat off and turned around so we could talk face to face! It was a fruitful meeting and we learned some interesting things. We will continue looking for those God is calling out from our church to focus on Western Europe. We will walk alongside them as we discover our part in God's plan there. Following is an outline for some of the notes that I took during our about europe meeting...
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West Europe – Catholic Church irrelevant, religion dying out among Europeans...

Immigrant population where evangelical Christianity growing...

Return to Nationalism - a reaction to growing immigrant population...

Opportunity among immigrants from closed countries...

Post Christian culture – not a generational issue...

Environments for engagement – natural environments for conversations, sharing meals, Internet communities...

European Worldview –

“What a Scumbag!” Response to someone who is “too successful”... for someone to get wealthy, someone else must suffer... sense of equality is upset...

Do you vote? – “No, I refuse to perpetuate the myth of democratic consensus and “majority rule.” Suspicion of authority because of history of corruption...

Greatest threat? – Terrorism, Environmental issues, Capitalism, HIV, Religious conflict... All of the Above... especially capitalism...

Ministries most appreciated in Europe? – Backyard Bible Clubs, Feed the homeless, Provide Education, Charity Fund-raisers... None of the above!

Identify yourself? - Christian, Catholic, Atheist, Agnostic, Spiritually Seeking... All of the Above!

Contradictions within their worldview – not a problem...

Rejection of anything organized and imposed...

Most personal? – Your Spiritual Life! Sex Life… no problem, can talk about that!
Can talk about finances, family issues... but spiritual life is too personal...

Meaning of Life – to find happiness… everything else doesn’t matter as much...

Which is true? The existence of God, The Bible, U.S. Moon Landing, WW II, Gravity... None of the Above!

The Internet – way to get to know people before you go... way to meet people... friend networks (not dating)... activity partners... (tennis, biking, etc.) set up stuff to do together before arrival...

Relational opportunities... different from service/event oriented ministry...

Current SBC system - Professional missionaries outsourced to do missions... need to return to more church based missions... sending churches working together on mission... missional churches...

Return to book of Acts – What are some ways the church can send their people?

“Let your theology inform your practice in missions”

The Sending Church –

Biblical Structure
Gifts
Support
Accountability
Creativity
Connection
Continuity

Missiology -

Ethnolinguistic People Groups
Indigenous Principles
Lay Leadership
Location Independence
Biblical Essentials
Personal Relationships
Be An Interesting Person

Bridges already exist and need to try to make the most of those... thru online networks... Seek... Connect... Go... Create “third space” or “third interest” for engagement on neutral ground...

Ideas for relational ministry -

Set up a website about that place/people...

Prayercasts (ipod) about the place/people...

Publish a Book (Blurb.com) about the place/people...

On-line engagement...

Long-term missionary platforms -

Multinational companies – international jobs

Start a small business or work as self-employed

Study Abroad

Exchange Students

Rent Apartment for rotating individuals/teams

English Teacher (if get contract – can apply for visa)
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We received a document on "Models for Missional Engagement in Europe" which points to various ways Europeans are being reached. If anyone is interested, I will send it to you. Please leave any comments about your experience in Europe and how we might learn from that.

more important than being right

2008-07-24T09:32:00.013-05:00

What could be more important than being right? When we are convinced that we have the right answers and insist that everyone else agrees with our point of view... or else...? Jesus had to deal with people like that... the religious professionals of His day. Jesus had this to say about those religious professionals that insisted everyone keep their man-made rules (or be cut off):

"So you must obey them and do everything they tell you. But do not do what they do, for they do not practice what they preach. They tie up heavy loads and put them on men's shoulders, but they themselves are not willing to lift a finger to move them... Everything they do is done for men to see... they love the place of honor... and the most important seats... Woe to you, (religious professionals), you hypocrites! You shut the kingdom of heaven in men's faces... You yourselves do not enter, nor will you let those enter who are trying to... Woe to you, (religious professionals), you hypocrites! You travel over land and sea to win a single convert, and when he becomes one, you make him twice as much a son of hell as you are." (Excerpts and paraphrase from Matthew 23).

There is nothing wrong with being a 'religious professional'... whether we are a vocational pastor, denominational leader, or professional missionary... God gives leaders to His church. The problem is when we insist we are 'right' even to the point of cutting off a part of the body of Christ or hindering those who would enter God's kingdom.

My prayer (as one of those 'religious professionals') is that I would never do anything (especially extra-biblical things) that would become a stumbling block to someone entering God's kingdom, or that would hinder God's kingdom expansion on earth. Lord, help me not to insist on my 'right' point of view, rather help me to submit to You and serve others.

sending churches and missionary institutions

2008-07-14T12:03:00.003-05:00

As the influence and resources of institutional mission agencies decline in the west, newer sending/missional churches are stepping up to take responsibility for discipling the nations. Western missionary institutions must make radical changes if they hope to avoid irrelevance and continue to have influence with new and transitioning missional churches. A new paradigm for cooperation must emerge between sending churches and missionary institutions. In this post, we propose a way forward for SBC churches and institutions to make adjustments in the midst of a new global context for mission. We must do this not only because of cultural transitions in the west, but also in light of biblical foundations, (see two previous posts), on which to reconstruct and make adjustments to the current SBC denominational model for mission that will result in effective obedience to the Great Commission.

If the western church, (and SBC), hope to play a vital role in global mission in the future, we must recover a biblical model for mission with “Antioch” type churches (sending churches) as the primary instrument for missionary ministry. As George Patterson states in “Disciple the Nations”…

“What is a sending church? Help your church to take real responsibility for the missionary task. A sending church as a body looks at ripe but neglected fields and prepares for the task of harvesting. It shares this responsibility with any mission agency involved. Becoming a sending church does not mean it becomes or replaces the mission agency (although for some churches and fields this has proven viable).”

More from Patterson about sending churches…

“We separate persons with apostolic (‘sent one’) gifting in the power of the Holy Spirit from the mother church, as the Antioch church did. They prayed, fasted and laid hands on Paul and Barnabas as a carefully chosen, experienced nucleus for the team; Mark went along as their helper (Acts 13:1-5). These men formed the core of a cross-cultural church planting task group that others joined on the field. They went only to unevangelized, unchurched fields, as Romans 15:20-21 urges. Commissioned this way by a sending church (or churches), workers go authorized and empowered by God to reproduce discipling communities.”

The current reality for SBC churches is that we have designated institutions as our agents for driving missionary efforts, while the churches take a backseat. We cannot ignore this reality and must take some drastic steps to get churches back in front and involve them as the driving force for fulfilling the Great Commission. This will happen over time anyway, as institutions gradually lose influence and dollars with each new generation. Missional churches are not looking to institutions for help. They do not need the institutions, as much as the institutions need them. Non-missional churches will eventually go one of two ways… die off, or transition to become a missional church. Missional churches today continue to shift away from, or ignore institutions, and move toward a different missionary model (whether it is good or bad). For that reason, SBC institutions must take the initiative to offer an alternative for mission that is church driven, if they hope to continue as a relevant part of God’s mission in the future. Following are some changes that could move us forward with a more biblical, relevant and effective SBC model for mission.

1. More mobilizing church based mission, less implementing institutional based mission

More mobilizing… less implementing… The Great Commission was given to the church. If we believe that, let’s try to follow it. This will require our missionary agencies to proactively engage missional churches, to recruit, prepare and mobilize them as the missionary. Instead of the institution doing mission on behalf of the churches, the agency must move even more in the direction of helping sending churches directly implement strategic and effective mission. Missionary agencies must major on mobilization and minor on implementation.

2. More channeling missionary teams, less sending individual missionaries

More channeling… less sending… In theory, the churches are sending the missionaries, but in reality missionary organizations have become the senders as most churches pray, pay and stay out of the way. Agencies emphasize the individual’s call over the church’s commission. What if the missionary agency did less sending of individuals and became the channel for more churches to be the missionary among neglected people groups? Missionary agencies are vital in helping churches discover the where, what and how of mission. Churches are crucial in determining the who and when.

3. More equipping “lay” missionaries, less employing “professional” missionaries

More equipping… less employing… The agencies are experienced and know how… so it is easier to leave the churches behind and just do it. The problem with this is that God desires His church to do so much more to fulfill His purpose among the nations. In many churches, we talk about the role of pastors or professional leaders as equipping the saints for the work of the ministry. Why can’t the major role of professional missionaries (modern apostles) be to equip the churches for the work of mission? We would see accelerated progress toward fulfilling the Great Commission if we equipped the larger body of Christ instead of relying on a smaller pool of professionals to do the job for us.

4. More empowering churches on mission, less supporting institutional bureaucracy

More empowering… less supporting… Institutions arise from the need to maintain the legacy of a timeless cause. The problem is that if these institutions don’t maintain a culture of change, over time they outlive their usefulness to that cause. This applies to churches as institutions, as well as to missionary agencies. The missionary agency’s meaning should not change, but their method should undergo constant re-evaluation and modification in light of biblical principles and God’s current activity in the world. If missionary institutions fail to serve as valuable partners to missional churches, they will eventually lose their relevance and become obsolete.

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Please leave your comments for discussion.

sending churches and biblical mission

2008-06-30T22:20:00.018-05:00

Evangelical churches and institutions actively involved in God’s global mission among the nations find themselves in the midst of a huge paradigm shift. The change actually occurred over the past several years, however, we are often slow to recognize what God is doing and make necessary adjustments to His ways. While the institutional church in the west finds itself in decline, or at least plateaued, the church in the eastern and southern hemispheres continues to explode with growth and expansion. Globalizing economic forces decrease the need for western resources and diminish western influence among churches in developing countries. God is moving in unprecedented ways among nations where historically there was very little Christian presence. How can evangelical Christ followers from the west move forward to participate in what God is doing globally and avoid being left behind?

As the influence and resources of institutional mission agencies decline in the west, sending churches from all sides must step up and take on their God ordained responsibility for discipling the nations. Western missionary institutions must make radical changes if they hope to avoid irrelevance and continue to have influence with new and transitioning missional churches.

In the last post we looked at George Patterson’s biblical pattern for God's mission citing material concerning the sending church (Antioch) and church based missionary teams (Luke). To move forward and participate in God’s mission today, we must turn back to Scripture and rediscover God’s ways. The following is more teaching from George Patterson’s biblical model for mission.

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SCAFFOLD - (Focusing Efforts on the New Church)...

"In a foreign field, we serve as temporary scaffolding; the real edifice Christ is building is the new national church (Matthew 16:18; Ephesians 2:19-22). Those who have a low view of the potential of the church multiply programs, mission bases and institutions instead of churches. They strive to edify their coworkers more than they do the emerging church. They take potential leaders out of a new church to train them to work with para-church agencies. They strengthen the scaffolding but in the process weaken — sometimes destroy — an infant church.

A worker with a high view of the potential of the church will help it to produce its own leaders. He counts on the spiritual gifts God has promised it to carry on its own ministry, grow and multiply with its own God-given power. Paul and his companions served as temporary scaffolding in Acts chapters 13-21. They planted the seed, watered the new growth, then left the new congregations in the hands of newly appointed Galatian elders and moved on to other ripe fields.

This scaffold mentality opposes the deadly permanence of many mission institutions and projects. Keeping God’s work under foreign control always hinders an indigenous (national) church’s normal growth and reproduction."

BARNABAS - (Detecting Gifting for Cross-cultural Work)...

"We detect, train and send those who, like Barnabas in Acts 13:1-3, demonstrate the gift of the ‘sent one’ (literally, apostle). Barnabas, although not one of the original Twelve, was an ‘apostle’ (Acts 14:3-4). This gift gives us itchy feet; once we get to the field we use other spiritual gifts such as evangelism, helps, compassion or teaching. Pastoral gifting, on the other hand, ties one to the flock, preferably permanently, that God has given him to tend.

Barnabas and Paul displayed apostolic gifting. Paul had a broad vision for many nations. He could not remember whom he baptized in Corinth; his heart was not tied to that one congregation. One whose primary gifting was pastoral, however, would have remembered whom he baptized in Corinth — and probably would still have been there! If a church reproduces a daughter church, one with apostolic gifting would go with it; but one with pastoral gifting would stay with the mother church and help it reproduce by training and sending others.

God promises to give to churches those who will have this ‘sent one’ gift in Ephesians 4:11-12. Unless a congregation is very new and small, it can be sure that it has such gifted people. It should detect them, train them, send them and hold them accountable for starting daughter and granddaughter churches, etc. A church fails to detect these modern apostles, if it looks only for the traditional missionary stereotype; for example, we must not overlook the Aquilla type tentmaker businessmen."

TITUS - (Multinational Church Planting Task Groups)...

"We Include persons on a mission task group who are culturally close to the people. Paul included the Greek, Titus, in his apostolic band as they traveled where Greek culture prevailed (2 Corinthians 7:5-6; Titus 1:5). This assures more effective evangelism.

We cannot bridge the gap between a different culture and ourselves simply by studying its anthropological data. A better bridge requires coworkers of that culture or of one similar enough to be perceived as insiders. If outsiders do the evangelism alone, it can delay the birth of culturally relevant, reproducing churches by an entire generation.

The problem may not be our lack of adapting to the culture; the crucial point is how the people perceive the new church. If a foreigner leads it, the church appears foreign, no matter how well he has adapted. Bring in culturally close ministers temporarily to start the evangelism. They will more readily reach the more serious men. Once the heads of families know Christ they will accept a person of a different culture to disciple them behind the scenes."
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Next post I will propose a way forward for sending churches and missionary institutions to make adjustments in the midst of a new global context for mission. In this post and the one before, I presented part of the biblical foundation (not exhaustive) on which to reconstruct and make adjustments to our current SBC denominational model for mission. Please leave your comments on how you might disagree with George Patterson's model for mission... and why.

sending churches and missionary teams

2008-06-16T21:42:00.008-05:00

The following passages concerning sending churches and missionary teams are taken from the appendix of Come, Let Us Disciple the Nations by George Patterson. I think Patterson (no relation to me) has a great biblical model for mission. As the influence and resources of institutional mission agencies decline, sending churches must step up and take on their God ordained responsibility for discipling the nations. George Patterson reminds us what that could look like as we follow a more biblical pattern for God's mission...

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ANTIOCH - (Sending Churches and Church-Based Missionary Teams)...

"We separate persons with apostolic (‘sent one’) gifting in the power of the Holy Spirit from the mother church, as the Antioch church did. They prayed, fasted and laid hands on Paul and Barnabas as a carefully chosen, experienced nucleus for the team; Mark went along as their helper (Acts 13:1-5). These men formed the core of a cross-cultural church planting task group that others joined on the field. They went only to unevangelized, unchurched fields, as Romans 15:20-21 urges. Commissioned this way by a sending church (or churches), workers go authorized and empowered by God to reproduce discipling communities.

The apostles ('sent ones') also returned to their sending church and reported what God had done (Acts 14:26-28). Regular communication with one’s home church and supporting churches is essential. Let the church know that you consider your ministry to be an extension of the home church; the churches you plant are daughter churches of the home church.

What is a sending church? Help your church to take real responsibility for the missionary task. A sending church as a body looks at ripe but neglected fields and prepares for the task of harvesting. It shares this responsibility with any mission agency involved. Becoming a sending church does not mean it becomes or replaces the mission agency (although for some churches and fields this has proven viable).

A sending church will:
-recognize those who have missionary gifting,
-authorize and prepare them in the power of the Holy Spirit to go and do what God has commanded among unevangelized peoples.
-support them with prayer, finances or other services.

When commissioning a worker for a mission, a church should give him a letter stating the kind of gift-based ministry for which he received commissioning, and (if known) among what people he is to work. They should discuss these aims with any cooperating agency before sending a new worker to the field. This often saves both new and experienced missionaries much grief. Do not leave such matters up to the new workers. Their wishes are too easily overridden by a field director who would place them where he sees the greatest problems, rather than where they have been commissioned to work.

If a sending church does not have enough persons called to a specific field to form a task group nucleus, it may form a partnership with sister churches. They should gather additional missionary task group members (when possible) who are culturally closer to the people being discipled, to evangelize more effectively, as the apostle Paul did with Timothy, in Acts 16:1-3.

Wise field supervisors help new personnel to do this, by cooperating closely with the sending churches and other organizations. A mission agency usually oversees their fieldwork, but the primary responsibility remains with the sending church to reach neglected people groups, as our Lord commanded. The missionary task group from Antioch returned to the church to which they were accountable and gave their report (Acts 14:25-28).

While relationships on a missionary task group are important, sometimes missionaries work too hard and too long on the relationships on a cross-cultural church planting team. This can cause frustration to set in because the job of starting the new church keeps lagging behind. The workers end up having to start two ‘churches,’ one for expatriates (the expatriate team), and another for nationals. In this case the team becomes a foreign entity when it should rather comprise a majority of nationals with only one or two expatriates. When Paul and Barnabas could not agree on policy they separated and formed two task groups, which is often better than leaving some missionaries feeling bruised (Acts 15:36-41). In Scripture we do not find permanent missionary teams, only temporary task groups."

LUKE - (Missionary Teamwork)...

"Wise missionaries serve together with others as a balanced task group, just as Luke joined Paul and his companions to serve as a team. Luke worked closely with Paul in his later journeys (he used the pronoun ‘we’ for Paul’s group when he wrote the book of Acts (16:10; 20:6; 27:1; 28:16). Western individualism seriously hampers missionary effectiveness. Missionaries are often sent out individually by their organizations, and are commissioned as individuals rather than as a cohesive task group as we find in Acts. They may meet with their so-called ‘team’ only once a year!

We need the 'one another' interaction and loving, Spirit-empowered harmonization of Gifts demonstrated in the New Testament. Jesus never worked in the ministry alone, nor did His apostles. No one person has all the spiritual gifts needed to develop strong churches and all the needed ministries. Working alone leads to burnout, bad decisions, imbalance and immorality.

Your missionary task group may consist entirely of national workers except for yourself. Effective task groups sometimes link missionaries from two or three nations. The group that went to Caesarea included ministers from two churches: Peter from Jerusalem and six brothers from Joppa (Acts 11:12). The missionary task group from the Antioch church included Paul, Barnabas and Mark, all from the same church; others from several nations joined them later on (Acts 13:2-5; 15:32-34).

People with the following spiritual gifts should be on a missionary task group (one person may have several gifts).
· Evangelism
· Leadership
· Teaching
· Compassion (especially in fields with much poverty or painful circumstances).
· Healing (especially in pioneer fields with much disease and sparse medical help).
· Pastor (a foreigner should not pastor a church but train pastors, model pastoral skills).
· Other gifts for needs or opportunities specific to the field."

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Please comment on how you agree/disagree with this model for mission. More to come in future posts about how we can move forward in an ever changing environment for global missions.

how Christ followers engage a flat world

2008-05-29T15:22:00.016-05:00

For anyone interested in how the face of global missions is changing in light of globalization... and how the missional church is engaging the world in this new context... I recommend Bob Robert's book on the subject: Glocalization: How Followers of Jesus Engage the New Flat World. This is actually the second book in a trilogy by Roberts. All three books come from what he has learned through his mission and church planting experiences as pastor of Northwood Church. I think we need to sit up and pay attention to someone whose church is number 3 on the list for multiplying churches in the U.S. (100 church plants and counting). More about this in future posts.

stories from south asia

2008-05-15T11:49:00.007-05:00

Our church sent a short-term team to South Asia last month... the same area where my wife and I lived. They worked alongside field missionaries from our church doing gospel sowing in villages with no Christian presence. In this particular area there is still an estimated 40,000 villages with no Christian presence. The overall population is around 90 million with less than one tenth of one percent claiming to be evangelical Christian. This area is one of the great neglected harvest fields in the world. God is moving there in incredible ways. Following are a couple of stories from our team...

From Christy-
"I was most moved by the courage of one man that we encountered on this trip. We had shared our testimonies and told the story of Christ to a large extended family. There was a great-grandfather, his two sons, their five children and all those children's families. There were around 40 people gathered in one house. One of the men sat glued to our every word. When the family was invited to accept Christ, this 30-something man looked to his 60-year-old father. His father shook his head no. However, after a minute, this man stood up and asked how to follow Christ. The missionary took another five minutes to explain again to the man that he was giving up the Hindu religion and choosing to follow Christ alone. While the whole family watched and listened, the man loudly proclaimed, “Yes, I want to give up the Hindu gods and follow Christ alone!” The missionary led him in prayer as he gave his life to Christ. I have never seen such courage. Before this event, this man’s nephew was the only follower of Christ in this family. The nephew had been beaten by his father and grandfather many times as they tried to drive Christ out of him. This man, even after having seen these beatings in the past, had the courage to stand alone in front of his entire family and give his life to Christ."

From Barbara-
"On our way to the villages, we came to a major road that was blocked. We had to make a detour in order to go to a village to check on a well for which an American church had provided funds. We made it to the village, and the well was working fine (once the handle was secured from a village woman who wanted her wages paid for work she had completed―$2.50). Our team met with the village elders. We had chai and cookies. Several ladies and children were very interested in what was happening in the outer room. One of my team members and I asked the interpreter if we could talk with these ladies. We went into their room and shared our story and His story with them. Over the course of a half hour, two women accepted Christ as their one and only God. What an honor it was to share with them this life-changing story!

As we left this village, our leader asked that we pray for divine appointments for the rest of the day. We started driving back on our detoured road. Several miles down the road, our interpreter said, “Let’s stop here!” We stopped and got out of our vehicle in an area that had a hut by the side of the road. We drew a crowd instantly. Chairs were set up, and the five of us sat down with a man who appeared to be in a higher caste than the other people in the village. We found out quickly that he was actually from a neighboring village. He was traveling home on his bicycle, and the tire just happened to go flat. He was getting it fixed at the bicycle fix-it shop right where we had stopped! The man let us share stories, and after several minutes of great conversation it appeared that this young man was not interested in our God. Because we did not see any openness to our message, we decided to leave. To our surprise, he asked us to come to his village and share. We accepted his invitation. Before leaving we asked the surrounding crowd of villagers if we could come back to their village that evening to share our stories with them. They graciously agreed to let us come back. Because the higher caste man had invited us to his village, the door was open for us to return to their village that evening.

We took this man to his village. He asked us into his home, where several family members willingly listened to our stories and His story. Three men accepted Christ as their one and only God. We did not have Bibles to leave with them, so we asked if we could return later in the day. We returned two hours later with Bibles. When we arrived, a crowd of villagers was waiting. The majority of them were the elders of the village. They all wanted to hear the stories we had shared earlier in the day. This time six more men asked Christ to be their one and only God.

We still had to stop by the village that we had made the arrangements with earlier that day. It was dark and we were tired, but we knew these people were expecting us. Around 200 people crowded around the circle we had made and watched our skit, our stories, and His story. Again, in the front of the crowd were the older men of the village. When the plan of salvation was shared, seven men asked Christ to be their one and only God.

When we had said our goodbyes and got in the car to return, we all were beyond words. Our leader said there would be follow-up by the interpreters and their disciples in the weeks to come. But he also said that even though he had been experiencing a ripe harvest in this area, he had never seen the work of the Holy Spirit in such a way as he had on this day.

Later that night as I was preparing for bed and reminiscing about the day we had, I checked on the time it was in America at the beginning of this day. A realization hit me like nothing had before. Back in America, Wednesday morning is Tuesday night. Every Tuesday night for the past three years, I have assisted with the Voices of Freedom choir, an inmate choir at the Tennessee Prison for Women, a maximum security prison in Nashville, Tennessee. Forty to fifty women attend choir practice each Tuesday night. On this night (Wednesday morning in South Asia) 50 inmates were lifting up prayers to heaven that the Holy Spirit would do a work in South Asia on this day. What a story I had to report back to them! They were able to see evidence that they can still be used by God, even while in prison, and have the influence through prayer to impact the lives of people on the other side of the world."

europe bound

2008-05-01T15:26:00.007-05:00

I will be in Western Europe this next week with five others from my church. This is our first exploratory trip to help determine if God is calling our church to join His work there. It will be a different kind of experience for me, since my years on the field have been in under developed countries, and for the most part working among responsive people groups. We will receive a crash course and try to learn as much as possible. Pray for us to make the right connections and get on the right path to discover our part in God's plan for West Europe. The task is daunting... check out what some are saying about Europe (from gospelcom.net and EMQ)...

"Europe remains perhaps the most overlooked mission field in the world today. Even the General Secretary of the World Council of Churches admitted, in a recent address to the WCC’s Commission on Faith and Order, that Europe has become “a continent full of people who have never heard of the faith.” He said, “In many places today we can no longer assume the religious, much less Christian, awareness which existed 20 years ago” (Polzer 2004b).

Meanwhile, Bernard Lewis, a leading scholar of Islam and the Near East predicts that Europe is “likely to become part of the Western Arab world” by the end of this century. Lewis argues that “several factors, such as the strong and growing presence of Turks in Germany, Arabs in France and Pakistanis in the United Kingdom” indicate that “the European population will have Muslim majorities by the end of the 21st century” (Polzer 2004a).

Numerous European countries, according to Operation World, already have smaller evangelical populations than do some Muslim countries (Johnstone and Mandryk, 2001). For example, Poland has a 0.2% evangelical population and Spain has 0.4%, compared with Saudi Arabia’s 0.8% and Indonesia’s 4.0% evangelical population." (End Quote).

Our hosts tell us that the great majority of evangelicals in the country we will visit are immigrants (mostly from Latin American and African countries). The people born and raised there are hard soil. Please remember us in your prayers this next week.

oldie but a goodie - disciple the nations

2008-04-27T21:13:00.023-05:00

Here is the link to a site where you can download an interactive program for missions training: disciple the nations. I used this training tool several years ago, it is in English and targets "lay" people in the U.S. You need PC, does not work on MAC. Just follow instructions and you should be able to install with no problem. This training program comes from George Patterson, author of "Train and Multiply"... here is the description:

"Come, Let Us Disciple the Nations"

"An interactive, electronic novel suitable for self-instruction and as a textbook in a basic mission course. Follow the fast-paced story of a small congregation that launched new churches... in its own community, next, in a culturally-similar community, after that, in a culturally-distant people group, and finally, in a land hostile to Christians.

As you read the text and view the 300+ images, you must answer questions posed by the characters. Your answers determine the outcome of each episode, whether success, failure, prison or worse. The story consists of actual events known to the author that have occurred in various church-planting efforts around the globe. The programme contains more than 300 pictures and sound clips."

This is an excellent resource for "lay" missionaries.

George Patterson also has a site for menu mentoring materials to be used with church planters and house church shepherds: paul-timothy.net. Also check out: mentor and multiply. All free stuff and very useful guidance for mentors of leaders.

scattering for God's glory

2008-04-21T10:51:00.015-05:00

"Then they said, 'Come, let us build ourselves a city, with a tower that reaches to the heavens, so that we may make a name for ourselves and not be scattered over the face of the whole earth" (Gen. 11:4). Yesterday in our small group we discussed the story of the tower of Babel. We discovered some interesting applications for God's mission. Some things God showed me from this discussion...

It was God's plan from the beginning that His people scatter throughout the earth... He commanded Adam, "Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it" (Gen. 1:28). He commanded Noah's family, "Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth. (Gen. 9:1). Then we come to the story of the kingdom of Babylon. People were settling in the great plain of Shinar (instead of scattering throughout the earth). They decided to do three things there:

1. "Come, let us build ourselves a city..." The people decided that they would build a community to serve their own purposes, instead of building God's kingdom.

2. "...with a tower that reaches to the heavens..." The people decided that they would use their own means to worship God, instead of obeying God's command.

3. "...so that we may make a name for ourselves..." The people decided that they would make a name for themselves in that place, instead of spreading God's fame throughout the earth.

We know from the story that God intervened by confusing their language and scattering them over all the earth to accomplish His purpose (Gen. 11:7,8). We see a parallel to this story in the book of Acts. When the church at Jerusalem was not obeying God's command (the Great Commission), God allowed a great persecution to scatter His people to accomplish His will (Acts 8:1-4).

The lesson for God's people... we should place as much importance on scattering as we do gathering. We really don't see much emphasis in Scripture on the gathering of God's people until on that day when "...a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language..." surrounds the throne to worship the Lamb of God (Rev. 7:9).

sending bret and susie / church in brazil

2008-04-16T14:41:00.016-05:00

As our church follows Christ around the world, God is calling some of our people to go as full-time field missionaries. Bret and Susie Cox are preparing to move to Brazil this summer. Bret is a project manager for a construction company. Susie is the receptionist here at our church. Bret has great leadership and organizational skills, and Susie is great with people. Together they make quite a dynamic team. We are thrilled to see how God is leading them to be an extension of our church and provide full-time presence in our Brazil initiative.

Bret and Susie have led short-term teams to Brazil for the past three years. During that time God was preparing them for a greater role in His work there. They will serve alongside Pete and Jodi, our missionary partners in Brazil, focusing on people living in the "favelas" (marginal communities) of Sao Paulo (over 2 million people live in 1,800 favelas). The vision is to see an indigenous movement multiplying disciples who will spread the gospel of Christ, transform whole communities, and expand beyond Brazil to impact other nations. The people of the favelas move to the city looking for a better life, but instead find suffering and hopelessness. Although various Christian churches and organizations surround the favelas, there is no viable reproducing kingdom movement among the people living in these communities. There are some traditional/denominational churches, but most are struggling to engage lost people and are not reproducing disciples, leaders and churches. Bret and Susie will be involved in a strategy to plant open churches that will interact with their communities, engaging and serving the lost, instead of isolating themselves from people outside the body of Christ.

In my visit there last year, I observed a contrast between how the traditional church and what some call the "third space" church, was engaging their community. I saw a Baptist church building in one of the large well established favelas on the verge of becoming a legal community (as opposed to a squatter community). The building had a fence around it, windows were broken out (probably from rocks thrown at it), it was all locked up and obviously open only when they held worship services there. Down the street we entered into a community center (belonged to the favela), people came in and out freely, we experienced a worship service there, but also observed that many other types of activities took place at that location. It was a place where people could interact with one another. This neutral space provides opportunity for Christ followers to serve the community through a variety of ministries and engage people in a way that would never happen in a typical worship service. I also observed that most of the people live in two room houses (shacks) that are very cramped and do not provide adequate space to gather for meaningful interaction. Third spaces (or neutral spaces) allow them to engage one another as they work together to accomplish a common goal. In the midst of this activity Christ reveals Himself through His people, and His kingdom expands.

I learned some things from this experience that I hope will help our church to be more effective in our church planting movement strategies. I have seen many strategies for church planting movements that look good on paper... However, if the type of churches we see emerging from our strategies are not engaging the culture and influencing the society around them, we will not see a movement. In other words, the church should be the means and not the end. The end is God's glory... His kingdom come. We should not worry so much about the model of church... it will take all kinds! House churches, Third space churches, Mega churches, etc. Whatever form the church takes to expand His kingdom among a people is not what we should be focusing on. We need to focus on making/reproducing disciples/leaders, and Christ will build/multiply His church as we obey His command to do so.

Well, sorry for chasing another rabbit... Back to Bret and Susie... We are excited about the approach in Brazil. Our missionaries will help us develop vocational and life skills training, train/mentor indigenous leaders, and help us build a base for sending missionaries from Brazil. By the way, we already have a young Brazilian leader sensing God's call to go to Africa. We hope to send Brazilians to work with our missionaries that we are sending to West Africa, and other 10/40 window initiatives. Now, how cool is that?!

Bret and Susie sold their house recently. They are preparing for the move this summer, raising support, taking care of a number of details, and saying good-byes. God is confirming His will for them through a variety of experiences. Bret shared this story with me a couple of days ago:

"After I gave my company notice of our move, I sent out letters to about 50 different people who have influenced or blessed me over the years. I explained what we were doing and thanked them for their friendship. One man from another city who is part of my business network called me after receiving the letter. He said, 'Bret, I don't know what to say... I am 50 years old... I am not saved... I want what you have.'"

Bret was able to lead this man to Christ. What a great beginning! Bret and Susie, this is a new exciting part of your journey on God's mission... We are with you and looking forward to what God will do through your life in Brazil.

excess baggage - sinner's prayer

2008-04-08T13:14:00.011-05:00

"Don't think you have to put on a fund-raising campaign before you start. You don't need a lot of equipment. You are the equipment, and all you need to keep that going is three meals a day. Travel light." (Matthew 10:9,10 - The Message).

One of the reasons I started a blog was to dialog about how the church can be missional and do mission more effectively. My church desires to be a sending church and to help all Christ followers obey the Great Commission. I call this blog "travel light" because there is a lot of "excess baggage" that many Christ followers carry on their missionary journey, and my hope is that we can shed some of it so that we can be more effective on God's mission. Excess baggage can be anything from our faith tradition that weighs us down, becomes an obstacle to expanding God's kingdom, and keeps us from effectively obeying the Great Commission.

One of the excess pieces that some carry is the method for evangelism that uses the "sinner's prayer". What may work in one culture at one point in time, does not necessarily work in another culture and in a different era. The following is a post taken from a church planting forum hosted by Guy Muse. I believe Daniel from Brazil does a great job explaining why the sinner's prayer is not an appropriate method and may even become an obstacle to expanding God's kingdom...

"I enjoyed reading our colleagues post `Resting Upon False Positives´ very much. On our team ´hit and run´ evangelism and church planting have been an issue for us for more than a few years. I appreciate Ken speaking about this and wanted to add one example and some of my own thoughts.

I met a young man here where I live (southern Brazil) 6 years ago and when he found out that I was a missionary he unleashed a load of anger on me for several minutes. During this time he told me how ´you´ evangelicals had lied to him just like the Catholic Church because `You all said that if I prayed the prayer of the evangelicals my life would change but I prayed it and nothing changed! You are liars!´ Now, you and I would agree that salvation is more than praying a prayer and this man clearly did not understand what he was doing. We would also agree that the present state he is in is worse than before because he was unwilling to listen to anything that I could say. I was discredited in his mind.

The issue at hand is that here in the culture prayer is used as a type of incantation. People offer these ´prayers´ to the dead and to spirits in order to gain favor. For this reason we have to be very careful that the person we are asking to follow Christ does not presume that we are simply asking him to pray a prayer, which from his/perspective, is little more than evangelical voodoo (my words not his). Here they will pray anything if they think it will help. Knowing this then we cannot be ignorant any longer. If we continue to prescribe to the ´sinners prayer´ as THE method to enter into the family of God we will continue to create confusion, frustration, and even anger and the latter state of the person will be worse than the first. In our context as well praying the ´sinners prayer´ also lends to the idea that they do a ´work´ to gain their salvation rather than to the idea of Ephesians 2:8-9. Again, this is because prayer is used to gain favors.

In Scripture there is no one method of becoming a follower of Christ. Some simply heard the message and believed (Acts 8: The Ethiopian) showing this in their willingness to be baptized. Others, like Zacchaeus, showed the Lord that they were different by their actions. But all were repentant. Without repentance we are in serious trouble. The story of the religious leader and the tax collector points this out very well (Luke 18) and it is confirmed in Romans 10:9-10.

I think that learning the world view of the people is vital. What does the culture believe about prayer? Who do they pray to on a daily and weekly basis? Is prayer treated among your people as a type of magical incantation? A type of talisman that is uttered over some object or place of attributed spiritual power? I know we have heard a lot about world view studies but they are for the intention of understanding what our people believe about specific aspects. It helps us to understand both bridges and barriers. In our situation praying a prayer for the purpose of declaring a person as ´saved´ is a barrier. We have seen a distinct difference in those who were told to pray the ´sinners prayer´ and those who accepted the gospel. The difficult part, for me, is waiting upon the point of salvation. For me, I define this as the time when the person understands who Jesus is and what he did and is repentant. With all of the baggage that the people have it takes some personal discipleship and rooting out of beliefs to get the person to accept a Biblical worldview. I have seen people born again while reading the Word, singing praise songs, even sitting around a table fellowshipping, as well as during a prayer (though not specifically the ´sinners prayer´). So, I don’t see how a prayer guarantees salvation any more than owning a Bible does. This leads me to ask why do we hold to this method as the prescribed way of declaring someone as saved? Is this for them or is it for us?" - Daniel, Novo Hamburgo, RS, Brazil (End of Quote).

I don't know about you, but what Daniel says here really resonates with me. I think what he is saying can also apply to our context right here in the U.S.A. I believe it is one of the reasons we are seeing less real harvest in the U.S.A. and probably less real results than we think we have abroad among other nations. My response to Daniel was:

"I have had similar experiences... where people simply declare they are Christ followers when the Holy Spirit prompts them to in the midst of studying the word or during a conversation... not when they say a "sinner's prayer". I just can't find this "sinner's prayer" in Scripture. We are commanded to make disciples, not to lead people to repeat a prayer. It is almost like we are manufacturing an experience that can only happen through the work of the Holy Spirit... in God's time and place. And as you say, we are playing into ritual behavior from their pagan religion.

Yes, I believe the actual entry of the Spirit into a person happens instantaneously, but we have no control over when that happens... "we can only lead a horse to water, we cannot make him drink." That is why the salvation experience is both an event and a process.

So, what to do? As we go sharing God's story and our story... we should still invite people to follow Christ. If they say yes... we should continue to disciple them but leave it to the Holy Spirit to lead to the point of public declaration." (End of Quote).

I am not saying that the sinner's prayer can no longer work in a given situation. What I am saying is that we must be careful not to manufacture something that only the Holy Spirit can do. What do you think?

impressions from the east and p.o.u.c.h.

2008-03-27T15:08:00.010-06:00

We returned from East Asia this past Sunday night. We departed from our far eastern city on Sunday afternoon at 4 PM on a 13 and 1/2 hour flight, and arrived at 5:30 PM on "the same" Sunday afternoon here in the U.S. We got back home to Nashville around 9 PM. We experienced two Easter sunrises on the same day! The country we visited was very controlled and orderly... unlike where we lived in South Asia (very wild and chaotic). We had email and internet browser access for the first couple of hours after arrival, and then they blocked it. The only thing that worked for the rest of our time there was Skype, so we could video chat with our families, but not email! Weird! We were told to be careful about what we said, since our communications could be monitored.

We stayed in a nice new guest house that a local offered to set up and rent for visitors like us. Our hosts use a variety of platforms to serve others and relate to the people. One of these is a bakery where the handicapped can work, earn some income and help pay the bills. They also have access to public schools, orphanages, hospitals and other public venues where they serve and build relationships. A new h.c. network is getting started through these connections. A door is open for us to help with platforms and train new followers/leaders. Looks like we have yet another challenge to take on, and are very grateful to be part of what God is doing in East Asia.

One impression I got from various interviews... the vast majority of followers there (at least in the area where we stayed) are not intentionally starting participatory hse chrchs... that is... what we in the west understand as the h.c. "pouch" model. (Remember that p.o.u.c.h. stands for: a chrch where every member participates, obeys, is unpaid, is part of a cell structure, and meets in houses. Rather, I have observed that hse chrchs in the far east are natural outcomes of organic disciple making, and are limited in size only by space and their need to stay under the radar. They are forced to confine themselves to that model because they are forbidden to openly wrshp in public. Otherwise, the majority would prefer to meet in larger groups and in larger venues. Once a group outgrows the place they meet, they split to start two new hse chrchs. One hse chrch can have up to around 40 bptzd adults (not counting children). So, the majority are not following the pouch model that originated in the east and that we hear so much about... but yet, they are growing at a much faster rate than we are in the west.

This is true in South Asia as well, where we observe hse chrchs can also grow to 40 or more bptzd members. Why? I think one reason is that the model or structure of a chrch is not as important to growth and reproduction as the spiritual DNA of it's members. We are commanded to make disciples, not start a certain type or model of chrch. The truly indigenous chrch will take it's own form under the direction of the H.S. and guided by Scripture, not by our models or systems of organization. The truly indigenous chrch will be a naturally reproducing organism and not a planned manufactured organization. As transformed lives share life with others through every day relationships, they naturally reproduce followers, and the body grows and reproduces in whatever forms are necessary. When we impose outside organization or structure instead of allowing that to naturally develop, we will most likely impede reproduction and multiplication.

Don't misinterpret what I am saying, the hse chrchs will start small and use some of the same principles that we get from the pouch chrch model. However, they will not remain small if they have the right spiritual DNA, and will naturally start new groups as they outgrow their natural environment (with new indigenous leadership taking the lead). That is why we see all types or models of chrch among peoples or places where the good news has spread. The pouch model helps us think about how it will look in the beginning for a newly planted chrch. But we need to remember that is when the chrch is in it's infancy. If it is a healthy body, it will outgrow the pouch structure. Pouch is a tool for chrch starting, not a model for a mature chrch with indigenous leaders that emerge from within. Eventually, a healthy body will produce leaders (unpaid or paid) who will reproduce new chrchs.

Any thoughts, observations or input for discussion? You are welcome to comment.

going east

2008-03-13T12:11:00.014-06:00

I am off to visit East Asia and will be back on-line in about ten days. There will be seven of us going.

Pray that we will:

-Be spiritually prepared
-Have a humble spirit
-Serve people at every opportunity
-Discern people's intent
-Discover cpm persons of peace
-Share our story/ His story
-Build relationships
-Take the first step in obeying His plan for us in East Asia.

visitor from south asia

2008-03-11T10:38:00.005-06:00

Today one of my friends from South Asia is arriving for a visit. He is touring the U.S. to spend some time with various churches and individuals that partner with his ministry. When we moved to our city in South Asia, "BJ" was one of the national missionaries that we met, and one that we consider a good friend. When we first met, BJ had already lived in "the north" for 15 years. He was restarting his ministry in our city, and was very open to our training. One thing I like about BJ is his character. He is a humble servant leader. I also appreciate his discipleship skills. He understands that unless we make disciples that are true Christ followers... becoming like Jesus, we will not see any lasting fruit for the kingdom. One of the ways BJ goes about doing this... he invites leaders that emerge from the harvest to come live for one month in his ministry center. They will host 12 to 15 disciples at a time, who live, study and serve together 24/7. Then they commission them to go back to their communities to do the same with others. BJ has witnessed hundreds of new baptisms and dozens of new simple churches started since the beginning of this training two and a half years ago. I believe this is only the start, I see this mushrooming into a movement as BJ continues to equip and empower other leaders.

I look forward to our time together over the next couple of days. We will learn from each other, encourage one another, and strengthen our resolve to see God's glory spread across South Asia and the world.

are all apept gifts at work in your context?

2008-03-06T08:55:00.011-06:00

Guy Muse on his church planting forum recently posted an article about leadership gifts. His questions are about how the APEPT gifts of the church are functioning today. Here is what Guy says:

"I would assume most of us reading have come to some kind of understanding of the Eph. 4:11-12 passage where apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, and teachers have been given to the church.

Is this five-fold function really working in your context? Who are the APEPT in your church planting work and ministry? Are there individuals whom you can point to and say they are functioning in an apostolic, prophetic, evangelistic role?

If you can identify them, do they function as part of the city-wide church, or do you see them as gifts given primarily to each local assembly?

If these are intended for the local church context, should we expect all the churches to have identifiable apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, and teachers in their midst?

If it is not a reality, and all we can identify are pastors and teachers that function, does this have any impact upon the work from your experience?

If (as some say) there are no Acts-type apostles and prophets today, who covers the apostolic and prophetic functions that these filled in the early church?

Please feel free to jump in at any point above and share with us your understanding. I continue to personally feel that we are short-changing ourselves and the work by not addressing this issue more seriously."

Here is my response:

I see this happening today in several forms... house church networks, cell churches, churches with cells and variations of these. I don't think we need to get stressed about recognizing official positions or structures for APEPT leaders in these various models of church, but should rejoice when we see God's gift of people functioning in these roles and encourage them as we observe that happening.

Being on the front lines and beginning stages of church planting, we sometimes forget what it looks like after churches start multiplying and growing in number. Here are some general stages of development I observe as nations/people groups are evangelized through church planting movements:

A. In the beginning of a movement where there is very little or no evangelical Christian presence, small groups/house churches reproduce and multiply to spread the gospel. There will be certain individuals that God will use mightily to stimulate and nurture this initial stage of development. Here the apostolic and prophetic functions are dominant.

B. As the gospel is spread far and wide through small reproducible groups/house churches, there will be church development that will produce larger congregations. Some small groups/house churches will die, some will remain small but network with others, some will combine with others to create larger congregations. Another type of leader emerges in this stage to train others and deepen the maturity of the
churches. Here the evangelistic, pastoral and teaching functions are dominant.

C. Some of the congregations will develop into mega churches with cell groups. During this stage believers will access mass media to saturate regions with the gospel. Christian sub-cultures will develop, but the gospel will not reach into every segment. Sophisticated and well-groomed leadership characterize this stage of development. Here the pastoral and teaching functions will dominate.

Now, this does not mean that each leadership function is not present in each stage of development. It only means there will be functions in the body of Christ that will dominate according to the phase of kingdom expansion. These are lay observations and broad generalizations. So, please don't take this as scholarly research.

What do you think?

the world was not worthy of them

2008-03-04T09:47:00.007-06:00

It was the first night of our "Sacred Gathering" last month when our church first heard the news about the abduction of Cyd and Muhammad. We prayed for them during those days of fasting, and continued to pray until we heard the news of unconfirmed reports that they were killed. Our prayers now go up for the families of these precious people who offered their lives to serve others. You can go to their company website to learn more...Asian Rural Life Development Foundation. "The world was not worthy of them" (Hebrews 11:38).

We praise the Lord for the three couples in our church that confirmed their surrender to full-time international missions during our Sacred Gathering. In more recent days I have noticed many others taking a first step to obeying God's command to make disciples among the nations by committing to a short-term trip. Our church is going to some difficult places, and yet we have ordinary Christ followers stepping up to the challenge. Others are not going to far away places, but investing in people's lives here at home and making disciples. Our pastor just shared with us that our church had 2100 people in attendance this past Sunday and had 2100 people in small groups off campus and on campus (1000 adults off campus). Many are coming to know the Lord through relationships in these small groups. I am grateful to be in a church that is growing this way in their community and is also part of expanding God's kingdom around the world.

missionary or global Christ follower?

2008-02-20T15:26:00.022-06:00

I am still processing things the Lord showed me during our Sacred Gathering last week. Based on the long-term impact of the first gathering four years ago, I am sure this three day prayer and fasting experience will influence our church for months and years to come. We are already seeing some immediate results... this past week three couples confirmed their surrender to full-time missions overseas. Several young people indicated that they sense God is leading them to international missions. Praise the Lord! Our vision for the world continues to expand and our focus on catalyzing kingdom movements continues to sharpen as we follow Jesus here and around the globe.

One of the things that I am still processing (and trying to figure out how to communicate) is the concept of every believer being a global Christ follower and not limiting obedience to the Great Commission to professional missionaries. The Lord used our guest facilitator to challenge our thinking concerning how we participate in God's mission. It is not a new concept, everyone knows about the missional church movement thing... however, most of the time what we believe about this does not coincide with what we communicate and practice. I have not seen many "missional churches" that are effectively multiplying disciples, leaders and churches and therefore having a real impact in expanding God's kingdom. I see a lot of "missions lite", consumer churches that are in it for themselves even as they "serve" their community and world. Sorry if that sounds harsh... I don't want to be judgmental... I am honestly struggling with how we should be on God's mission, not following our agenda, and at the same time include every believer.

Traditional churches and Christian institutions have created a false dichotomy between the sacred and the secular. We tend to compartmentalize areas of our life into nice neat categories... when we ought to look at all areas of our life as a sacred whole. The traditional thinking concerning sacred and secular goes something like this:

"At church (and maybe sometimes at home) I worship God, practice Christian disciplines, mature, and serve Christ. At my job, or at school, I live in the real world. My work or studies in the world have nothing to do with my religious life at church. At work I have to make a living, or at school I must concentrate on preparing for my career. My relationships with people in those places are separate from my church life. It is the pastor's job (or paid ministers) to reach those outside of the church and to minister to people in the church. Pastors and other ministers have a special call. Not just any Christian is qualified for or called to ministry. I can pray for and support my pastor as he ministers."

Sounds familiar, right? Okay... now let's apply this type of traditional thinking to what many of us do with the mission of God:

"Outside the reach of my immediate community or city is where they do missions... when they cross over into another place and/or culture to reach people for Christ on a mission. In my community among my own people I am supposed to do evangelism. Every Christ follower should do evangelism but not everyone can be a missionary. That job is reserved for those called by God for that task. If they are called to a place or people within our country, they are home missionaries. If they are called to a place or people outside of our country, they are foreign missionaries. Not everyone is called by God for missions. The missionary task is specialized and requires distinct skills, qualifications and a separate calling from God. I can pray, give and go on a mission trip to support the missionaries."

Now, let me make it clear what I am not saying here... I am not saying that there are no distinct gifts/functions in the church and in kingdom work. I affirm that God gives the church... apostles (sent ones/missionaries), pastors, teachers, etc. to function in certain leadership/equipping roles in the body of Christ. They are distinct leadership functions, but not exclusive positions. Every Christ follower in the church can be a minister and a missionary, but is not necessarily in a leadership/equipping role.

I am saying that many times we communicate a false dichotomy between the ministry of the church and the mission of God... just like our tendency to separate our sacred life in the church from our secular life in the world. This compartmentalized thinking has created a chasm between the church and the "mission field". This thinking has produced mission enterprises independent of the church. The leadership and equipping role of the church for missions has been usurped by missionary organizations that admit they are not the church, but they are better equipped to implement the missions task. Originally these organizations may have been formed and tasked with the mission of the church, but over the years they grew apart until the missionary agencies took the mission of God as their exclusive domain. Then there are the missionary organizations that were formed independently of the church but are funded by individuals and churches. These agencies are even more distant from the church and in reality have become church for their members. As a result, most churches just pray, pay and stay out of the way. The thinking is: "My life here within my church community has nothing to do with the missionary domain... that is separate and requires a specialized calling." Most missionaries on the field feel disconnected from their church or churches. They are thinking: "My church back home does not have a clue! If they only knew what real missions was all about...".

I don't believe this faulty concept and disconnect was what Jesus intended when He gave us the Great Commission. Jesus wanted His followers, His church, to think of life as a sacred whole... to think globally! Jesus did not want His followers/church to be limited by ministerial or territorial domains. Their ministry was 24/7 in their community and their mission was for the whole world simultaneously... in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and the uttermost. The church was reproducing... global Christ followers! When the church was slow to obey the Great Commission, the Lord moved them out by allowing persecution to scatter them... until the church began to intentionally obey the Great Commission.

Yes, the church should still send missionaries... but because there is so much baggage with that term "missionary", maybe we need to communicate this differently now. Maybe we need some new way to communicate that the mission of God includes every Christ follower. I don't have it figured out, maybe you can suggest some new vocabulary to help communicate this concept. What do you think?

wanted: cpm men of peace - part 2

2008-02-18T14:44:00.034-06:00

Ordinary men of peace will help start churches. CPM Men of Peace will be used by God to start a movement. How do you discover the Church Planting Movement Man of Peace? God still works today as He did during biblical times. God comes to individuals and tells them what He is about to do to reveal His glory among the nations (Noah, Abraham, Moses, Gideon, Elijah, Peter, Paul, etc.). The CPM - MoP has a passionate desire to see his people saved and God is already speaking to him about this............... Kevin Greeson, author of The Camel, provides guidelines for discovering the CPM-MoP in his PowerPoint, "Zero to One and Beyond"...

Characteristics of the CPM – MoP:

-Bold and Confident
-Willing to die for the cause
-Serious minded
-Thinks big picture
-Says, “My People”
-First generation believer still dealing with flaws – a “sinner”
-Misunderstood by traditional Christians and his own people
-Able to motivate others
-Does not need financial support
-Not a good pastor, has a missionary mind-set

If the FBI uses the following means to find the "Ten Most Wanted"... should we not use everything at our disposal to discover CPM - MoPs for our people group?

“FBI’s Ten Most Wanted List”

-Mass Media
-Nation-wide networking with local law enforcement
-11,000 field agents
-Top FBI agents consumed with finding top ten
-$3.6 billion budget
-16,000 support staff
-Undercover agents

Hindrances for finding the CPM - MOP:

-Your Platform – protect it, don’t lose your visa.
-You do not want to offend anyone by being pushy.
-You think that you are a rookie and should hold back.
-Afraid of jealousy from other team members because you found a person of peace and they have been working in-country for several years.
-You make friendships that turn out to NOT be person of peace. These friendships take all of your time. You cannot walk away like the disciples did.
-You do not believe that the Holy Spirit is actually out there working.
-You become frustrated after sharing with 20 persons who end up not being the person of peace.
-Ministry... Something inside tells you that if you minister to someone and heal their hurt, then this is just as good as finding a person of peace.
-I’m new, let me first get to know my territory, then I can find the person of peace. (Jesus sent them into a new place. They did not take the time to map out the area. Being new is actually to your advantage, it is easier to walk away when you don’t see God working).
-Not using nationals to help you find the person of peace. Duh... They know the language and culture.

God is using Strategy Coordinator types to be instrumental in finding the CPM - MOP. The SC is a person who takes responsibility and is accountable for designing and implementing strategies to initiate and nurture CPMs among a specific people group or population segment. Other designations:

-Redistribution agent
-Catalyst that speeds up a reaction
-Bridge between Christian resources and the needs of the UPGs
-Nurtures the vision of the CPM
-Advocate for the UPG
-Best Practice junky

Considering the rate of population growth of the world, the role of an SC appears to be a part of God’s plan for reaching the nations.

Other Key Ingredients for Finding the CPM-MoP:

-Go where he is (CPM-MoPers don’t fall out of heaven, they come up from hell)
-You have to be loud enough for him to hear you (deal with your security level)
-You have to speak his language (contextualization)
-Insiders can find CPM-MoP faster than you can (mobilize nationals)
-God already knows where the CPM-MoP is, use spiritual eyes to see (stay connected to God).

Once you find a CPM-MoP:

-Don't support him and make him dependent
-Don't bring him into the Christian foreigner’s fold
-Don't introduce him to non-reproducible tools

-Do help him with travel and minimal one-time expenses
-Be a servant to him
-Keep his fire hot
-Provide Bibles
-Keep him looking to the edge
-Introduce him to reproducible tools and methods.