Glocalnet Blog

THE THREE BIGGEST HIGHS OF CHURCH PLANTING FOLLOWED BY THE THREE BIGGEST LOWS!

2012-05-21T16:51:03Z

Most people have the idea that when you start a church it’s either all up or all down - that simply isn’t how it works. You should always be able to draw a line through the ups and downs and track up - even if just a little - but in the middle- there are incredible highs and lows that come along. If you don’t understand those and prepare for them, you can really make some bad decisions based on how exceptionally “good” or “bad” things are.

The biggest high for a church planter is right after God has called you to start a church - telling your first “non-family” friend what God has called you to do. The sky is the limit. Nothing has been done - it’s a dream, it’s a potential - it’s hard to knock a dream and potential. You keep sharing . . . . until . . . . the biggest low comes, the first person you respect who tells you you shouldn’t start a church because of gifting or opinion. We’ve all been there - my Dad who loves God, actually discouraged me from starting NorthWood, I’d been talking to several really large churches about being a senior pastor and why should I start a church when I could go to a ready made church of thousands? You have to recognize God’s call enough, and it be clear enough - that regardless of what someone says - you listen, but you still move forward. Now you’re getting closer to ready to start - not because others agree with you, but because they don’t and yet you know God’s call. That doesn’t mean you shouldn’t listen to assessment, etc., - it means God calls people to start massive churches globally - who their primary criteria for doing it was and is that God called them. There wasn’t any assessment process!

Your second highest day is when you go public for the first time in a worship service! Hopefully you’ve already engaged your city, hopefully you’ve started cells in the city - now you’re ready for your first corporate gathering. You do a mass mailer, you invite ever stray dog you can - and you have a crowd and it’s a lot bigger than you expect! You’re the next Mark Driscoll or Darin Patrick - everybody is singing your praises! Then comes next Sunday - . . . . you have only half the people come back . . . and you worry . . . will another half leave this week? My biggest challenge to planters is helping them not get too excited the first week - and too depressed the second week!

The third highest day in the plant is your first baptismal service! This is why you started that church - to see people follow Jesus and now you have hard core proof - baptisms! You’re on your way now. A month later, you have your first staff conflict - it is probably with your best friend because they were the only person you could talk into going with you to plant your church! It may be a moral problem, a leadership issue, it may be a competency issue - but you have to deal with it - and you fear. . . . What will people think? Who’s side will they take? How do I deal with this fairly and biblically . . . . It’s at this point many a pastor honestly leaves the ministry - they ignore the problem, it grows, and it ultimately kills the church.

So how do you avoid this?? Here’s some lessons Rick Warren taught me early on as a young church planter that has helped me survive the ups and downs. . . . I don’t know they’re in a lecture, but he taught me all of these . . . .

1. Be in it for the long haul. If you are in it for the long haul, you make decisions based on the long haul, not the short haul. The decisions will be harder but better and you will survive and so will the church.

2. Have faith. Everything you need is available and in the right amount at the right time. Don’t define your church by the season you find it in - know a church has different seasons.

3. Stay positive and don’t envy. If you get negative, it doesn’t affect just you, but others as well. In addition, if you’re upset about where you are and you begin to envy others, you won’t see that unique way that God has made you.

4. Know what your purpose is and stick to it. This is HUGE. Several churches started the same time we started NorthWood, only one is still going - each got side tracked on some new way of doing church or conference. Though I’m grateful for Rick Warren, my goal was to never be Saddleback Jr., but to learn from Saddleback. I tell our planters all the time, “If you leave here and plant a church just like Northwood - you’ve failed it big time - what is God calling you uniquely to do?”

5. Keep things simple. Don’t try to do a lot of stuff, just focus on engaging your city and cells. Just because some other church has a lot of programs and ministries doesn’t mean you should have them - do a few things and do them very well.

6. There’s one thing Rick never taught me, but a man named Leonard Ravenhill taught me growing up - he went to my Dad’s church - pray, pray, and then pray some more. There is NO substitute for being on your face before God. Praying may not grow your church, and it may - but I promise you this, it will grow you in your walk with God. It’ll make you into a person you would not be otherwise. To this day, even coming off knee surgery - my favorite time of the day is early in the morning in God’s word and on my face before him. I’d be scared not to pray. Rock on lil’ bro’s - we get up and we all get down - and we all have the same Father!

PALESTINIANS - KURDS - PASHTO - HAZARA - THERE HAS TO BE A BETTER WAY!

2012-05-11T17:08:56Z

How do you determine nation-states and land disputes among tribes and nations? I wonder how many times the lines have been drawn globally to make nations, only for one nation to create itself within another nation (like the United States with Native American Indians). No conflict on earth reflects this like the Palestinian-Israeli crisis. But they are not alone - the Kurds of northern Iraq, Turkey, & Iran, the Pashto that are in Pakistan and Afghanistan. Many of these modern conflicts were created by the maps drawn by exiting colonial powers - particularly the British.

Sometimes when lines were drawn - they were deliberately drawn across tribal and racial lines in order to prevent one group from running over another or sadly to create conflict enough so that the exiting power could still have access to resources in a particular nation.

There will never be complete resolution of these issues. With a connected world and migration like never before, there has to be new ways of governance and representation outside of creating new nations or there will be continual war. It becomes all very complex - for example there are more Indians, Pakistani’s, Bangali’s in Qatar and the UAE than Arabs. They are exported labor. Do they have rights, should they have representation in Qatar? I have no doubt, there are conflicts simmering beneath the surface that if the world would be proactive in addressing would prevent a lot of war and make sure that basic human rights are not ignored.

The answer is in Wikipedia! This article is about the political concept. FEDERALISM - - Federalism is a political concept in which a group of members are bound together by covenant (Latin: foedus, covenant) with a governing representative head. The term “federalism” is also used to describe a system of the government in which sovereignty is constitutionally divided between a central governing authority and constituent political units (like states or provinces). Federalism is a system based upon democratic rules and institutions in which the power to govern is shared between national and provincial/state governments, creating what is often called a federation. Proponents are often called federalists.
In Europe, “federalist” is sometimes used to describe those who favor a common federal government, with distributed power at regional, national and supranational levels. Most European federalists want this development to continue within the European Union. European federalism originated in post-war Europe; one of the more important initiatives was Winston Churchill’s speech in Zurich in 1946.[1]

I saw this at work in northern Iraq with the Kurds - BUT everyone fears it is a ticking time bomb. If the Kurds are given self-rule in Iraq, then what will Turkey do with it’s Kurds? What would Iran do? Yet, in that part of the world there are 30 million Kurds dispersed across the world in 5 nations. In this concept there is a federal government that has representatives from all the areas, tribes, sects, etc., but areas have self-rule based on a voted upon constitution based on a plural society. This is what the idea behind the U.S. government is with states.

THIS IS DEMOCRACY! It allows tribalism not to destroy a nation, but neither does it allow a nation to destroy a tribe or people group. It’s based on the concept of covenant theology that the Jews had - 12 tribes coming together to make a nation. No doubt it wasn’t perfect, in the Hebrew Scriptures the Kingdom of Israel split into 2 nations, and no one knows what tribes they are a part of. If it worked with 12 tribes - why can’t it work with two?

Our worst was was our civil war - we lost more men in that war than all the wars combined in the 20th century. Most cultures are better at killing their own, than they are another. Thus, genocide. The world is in desperate need of global thinkers and leaders that can call not just a nation to justice, but the world and nationS to justice. Come on you 20 somethings - you can do it - and some of us will help you! 35 and above see a world based on old rules, institutions, for a new 21st century - it will never work. Sorry for the mess we made . . . . 20 somethings - according to Strauss & Howe, you are the hero generation - LEAD!!!

WHAT IRAQI’S WANT - OBERSERVATIONS

2012-05-08T08:30:03Z

If you’re interested – you can follow me on twitter @bobrobertsjr and see some pictures and tweet while I was in Iraq – but I’m at Heathrow in London and have some time and thought I’d blog a little bit about what I saw and what I experienced. Having been in war zones and devastated areas from natural disasters – it was nothing like I expected. There was a lot of hustle and bustle and commerce going on. It didn’t feel like a war torn region. Yes, you could see the bullet holes and other vestiges of war – but it felt like a place on the move. The infrastructure is present – roads, communications, trade, electricity, and water, etc., Yes, each place had it’s own back-up generator, but who doesn’t in the world? People were also incredibly friendly – smiling everywhere you go, talking to you.

Iraq should be optimistic about it’s future. Few places have the kinds of things that Iraq does. It’s natural resources – oil and other – and natural gas is over the top some saying much more than Saudi Arabia. The topography of the land is breathtaking – it has deserts as you would expect – but not the mountains and green and rivers and springs that I saw – I never realized how beautiful it was. The history is rich – from Ur of Chaldees where Abraham came from, to Nineveh, Babylon, and Basra. The people are it’s greatest resource – industrious, warm, and passionate about desiring a better future.

I met with government leaders, religious leaders, tribal leaders, and business leaders. What stood out was what they wanted – it was the same thing we all want . . . .

They want FREEDOM. They talked a lot about rule of law in order to protect them so they never have a dictator again or a government that bull dozes over the people. They are not optimistic they will get it – but they want it. They haven’t governed themselves before – so there is “political immaturity” and ignorance that is a real challenge for them on how to build coalitions and teams to accomplish objectives and see that rights are maintained. They want to raise their families safe and prosperous. Both Shia’s and Sunni’s hate the current violence and each group says the same thing – that it’s a minority in both communities that does the terrorism on the other. Since Iraqi’s have lived in fear, and in the closet not ever saying anything for fear of reprisal from Saddam, it’s understandable they are hesitant to confront their own tribes trouble makers as they should – but they will have to if they want peace. They have a mindset of a beaten down people they will have to overcome – it’s understandable. A culture like this leads to the nuance and innuendo in communication for fear of being mis-interpreted which leads to a lack of transparency and trust that is critical for the building of a society.

They want FAITH. There is religious persecution for Christians – but it comes from the same people who persecute other religions as well – even other Muslim groups. I did not see the Iraqi’s as extreme Muslim fundamentalist – no doubt there are some. From Sheiks, to Imam’s and Ayatollah’s – I was told again and again – they DO NOT WANT EXTREMIST DRIVING THEIR FAITH. The problem is, some countries, and some of their neighbors in particular have a vested interest in what happens in Iraq – therefore they use religious extremist to keep things stirred up and destabilized so they work their will on them. The intelligentsia of the country realizes this. I’VE NEVER HAD MUSLIMS TALK TO ME SO MUCH ABOUT JESUS AND THEIR LOVE HIM LIKE I DID THERE. This has left me pleasantly surprised, a little confused, and having to reflect on this. They are not “Christian “ but they love and try to live by the teachings of Jesus.

They want a FUTURE. They have EVERYTHING IT TAKES to build a healthy society. Their biggest problem is tribalism, both in terms of people and religion. They need to form a nation – and at this point they’re tribes. If they don’t figure this out – they will not survive. For the Iraqi’s – it is not a CLASH OF CIVILIZATIONS that is their chief challenge – but a CLASH WITHIN A CIVILIZATION that could undermine one of the oldest civilizations in the world. They need help – I’m not sure anyone can help them. It’s not about money, resources, or any of that – it’s about their “will” to live together. I have a very good friend from London named Anas Altikriti. Though Iraqi he was born and raised in London. I love hanging out with him and talking faith and global affairs. He once told me if I lived in London he’d love living next door to me – we’d talk all night and have fun. He’s the kind of leader Iraq needs – one that gets pluralism. Everyone wants the kinds of freedoms America has – but they want to live in a monocultural society. The reason America is great and will remain great will be tied to how well we love and accept others – be they Italians, Catholics, Jews, Muslims, and Mexicans. Without rule of law, and a justice system to enforce, and the will of people to demand it – no nation in the world today will survive. The whole world is on the move – migration is happening like never before. Iraq has a chance to deal with this up front – DO IT IRAQ – Your families and your cities are too valuable a thing God has entrusted you with to be devastated and destroyed by tribalism – get around the same drum and beat it as loud as you can.

THE ABSENT YET SOON PRESENT CHURCH

2012-04-30T23:55:44Z

In the present/past the church has been present in worship, politics, morality, religion . . . but absent in other conversations and contexts that have the ability to spread the good news of Jesus like never before, but that is changing . . .

The church has done missions - but hasn’t done global. We get missiology - but so little of globalization. Without realizing it, and then in ignorance celebrating it - we are viewed by the rest of the world as religious colonialist that promote, expand, celebrate a “western religion” ignorant to cultures, tribes, and nuance. YET, I have been so excited in what I have seen in this emerging young generation. They say the millennials are the “first globals” - they don’t remember a time they weren’t on the internet. Corporate funding and selective sending of a few to serve billions doesn’t mean collaboration - it can mean denial and refusal to accept a new world which limits the spread of the gospel. In the past, we in the West have celebrated tribal responses to the gospel - but that is insufficient for a global order.

The church has done “ministry” or even been “missional”, but has not brought about reconciliation and restoration. In my era and culture, the present/past church made salvation about the person - ignoring that God not only wanted to change people - but cities and infrastructures as well. You see this in all the justice issues, millennials are engaged in from human trafficking to micro-finance to doing social media campaigns against dictators - and they do this with all the evangelistic fervor that you could imagine.

The church has done theology by tribes, once you join the tribe you accept it verbatim as the leaders of the tribes dictate. That no longer exists. I was in a country with a young Assembly of God, a young Baptist, a young Methodist - and they all shared the same theology on the Holy Spirit. Tribes were not seen as determining belief as much as they were funding and networking. The soon and emerging church is asking questions like never before and exploring options - and while this may frighten some, and no doubt will lead to some excesses - it will also lead to deep thinking and new understanding of God that we haven’t had since Calvin & Luther.

In the present/past church it was always about the movement first and the person second. In the present/future church it is about the person being authentic in faith as credibility to doing ministry then from that. Credibility isn’t being seen in the ministry that is produced as much as it’s seen as the Gospel being present in the life of the person who sees it.

I’m excited when I’m at places like Exponential and other gatherings of planters because the conversation is incredibly hopeful for the future. The question we must ask is, do we want the church to continue to emerge and morph in unique ways in the 21st century - or do we want to bind it to a world that no longer exists?

20 Years of Multiplying Churches

2012-04-25T10:44:23Z

20 years worth of lessons on multiplying churches out of Northwood -

It hit me this week while being here at Exponential – it’s been 20 years since we helped start our first church. It was Bear Valley Community Church and Sam Carmack was the pastor. I often pass the church in our community. It has grown and done well. There are a lot of things I’ve learned – and even changed in my thinking since then. Northwood has over 20 churches directly in its own target area – most are 2 to 4 miles from where our campus is, and we’ve started another 160 across the country.

First, money isn’t the key – it’s even a hindrance. I know of three times, where huge amounts of money were put into a church prior to its launch to insure it would grow. It never did. What is true of global church planting is true of American church planting – money actually gets in the way of growth. Money becomes the answer and the key – and it never is. If you have faith, you never lack funds. You may not have all you want, but you will have all you need. The past two years we’ve been able to plant over 20 churches a year – if we had an old funding model, it would never work.

Second, there is nothing more difficult than planting a church for someone who isn’t called or gifted – you must be honest and tell some people no. We tell singers they can’t sing in a worship team if they can’t – as painful as that is. We must also do the same with planters. I’ve watched guys get the spot because they had a “position” that got them there or they had “money” or they knew “someone” – and that is always a mistake. I learned early on, you have to say no sometimes. It doesn’t mean that person doesn’t have a great ministry ahead – just that they may not be a planter. This is where assessment, prayer, and evaluation are critical.

Third, what that new church does early on, sets its path for years to come. Historically, there has been so much focus on the church as a worship service, and traditional ministries that have to be started, that you can mindlessly start a church. Sure, you think about marketing, production, worship services – but you can fail to think deeply about the unique call of the church God has called you to. How to make disciples, what is the ministry going to look like, how are you going to engage with your city and the world – these are key questions that are frankly more critical than the Sunday event.

Fourth, not that many churches really multiply. Church planting movements are driven by churches. In the West we relegate it to denominations, networks, etc., but rarely see it as a church driven thing. There are a few churches that in time will do some, but the key is to help a church early on start to multiply. Ed Stetzer once was studying churches that multiply and creating a list of the top churches that do that. He told me, it was really sad how few churches a church had to start to be on that list.

Fifth, church planters jump around in ideology more than any other group in the church. When I started Northwood, there were several other churches that started as well in our area. Most didn’t make it. Not because there weren’t people –but often they would jump to whatever fad was coming through at the time be it worship, seeker, theology, or dress! Without a clear call of where you are going and security in that call, you’ll get off path fairly easy and follow the masses, which is generally a dangerous thing, and the church never develops.

Sixth, it takes a few years to get an orchard growing. At first I saw churches, now I get to see an orchard and hear stories all the time of how those churches are doing. Honestly, I hear more from churches we plant when there is a problem and they need help. Recently, many of them are engaging the world in fairly significant ways and places – so that has kept me busy. It’s exciting to see those churches grow and engage their cities and the world. I was at the Vision360 booth at the Exponential Conference in Orlando yesterday and walking around, several guys I’ve worked with over the past few years came up to me and told me their stories. I asked one of the, “Man, you’ve knocked it out of the park – you’ve already planted – what are you doing here? “ He looked at me and grinned, “Looking for church planters for us to help plant!” That made my day. I have no doubt, the church will continue on.

Seventh, walk in faith in the Kingdom and be filled with the Holy Spirit. The Kingdom is the context of the church – the foundation, the model, transformation and mobilization. Don’t fear the Holy Spirit. If there is anything you need for power, for growth, for transformation, for holiness – it’s the Holy Spirit. I’m sad when people wait late in life to discover the Holy Spirit – they and their church miss out on so much. Discover and walk early on in the power and fullness of the Holy Spirit. The Kingdom is your context – know and live the Kingdom – the Sermon on the Mount – but be filled with the Spirit – the only way you can live it.

CHURCH PLANTING DNA - YOU HAVE NO CONTROL OVER IT - OR DO YOU?

2012-04-24T14:30:40Z

There is NOTHING MORE IMPORTANT than having the right DNA for a new church plant. There is ABSOLUTELY NOTHING YOU CAN DO ABOUT IT EITHER! DNA doesn’t come from you, it comes from the parent – Jesus is the head of the Church and so he puts it within us. The challenge for us is not having the right DNA, but the challenge is how we see it encompassing and defining all that we do in the ministry. Hirsch in Forgotten Ways is as good as it gets with the Apostolic DNA – all of those 5 parts must be present. If those 5 (apostle, prophet, evangelist, pastor, teacher – not so much offices as ministries) are functioning – your church will grow, be healthy, and do everything it needs to do. Furthermore, the unique things each church does will grow out of that DNA – so some churches will be big others small, some different characteristics – but all from the same head – Jesus Christ.

Having said that, there are some behaviors that will help you dramatically develop that DNA quicker and in a healthier way. It takes behaviors that lead to proper function. First, you pull up, then crawl, then walk, then run – it’s a process – you never start running first. Here are some things NorthWood & Vision360 tells its planters are critical behaviors to do in the first year of its life. If these behaviors are present – we’ve found churches will be healthy and grow and complete. If they aren’t present, they become add-ons down the line separate from the church as a whole.

BEHAVIOR #1 Disciple people in cells, and, Church Planter, your cell is the first one. The first cell is the planter discipling his leaders. Even in teaching them how to lead a cell, you are training your future cell or small group leaders how they are going to train others. Don’t do something twice. Write your manual for raising leaders as you go. I look for leaders that are people magnets. I look for leaders that can inspire and encourage. I don’t look for the great “Bible Teacher” to lead a cell. It, sadly, often becomes about their teaching and not taking people where they are. I was with a planter who was sharing with me how he’s had 200 salvations his first year and has baptized 100 of them. He’s growing fast and didn’t know what to do next. I told him, “Your number one job is to raise up 20 leaders immediately that can in turn disciple all those people that you’re bringing in or you will plateau.” In your cells, or small groups, people are pastored, evangelism takes place during the week and they’re brought to the cell, you teach them the Word of God – and you grow.

BEHAVIOR #2 Help a new church start. Multiplication is the key to apostolic ministry. You don’t have all the money you need – but you should give what you can. What you have is encouragement and counsel to provide. It’s critical to be able to do that. Churches plant churches. If the DNA is set early – you will always plant and your people will think it’s normal. I’m so proud of Kevin Cox at Heartland Church in Dallas – they are 4 years old – and have started 5 churches and don’t even run 200 yet. This is how DNA is set and is the stuff of movements. Movements are always about the replication of small units – not huge ones.

BEHAVIOR #3 Pick a place in the world to adopt and begin to work there. Pioneering is key to the apostolic ministry. The first year, you pray for the place, you tell your people stories about the place. You take up offerings for the place and you and a leader from the church go to the place. You inventory people by the vocations to see who can volunteer for a week or two the second year and go there and use their jobs. Once again – it isn’t much – but it’s not ignoring the direct command of Christ to fulfill the Great Commission. You do not have the option to wait, ignore, or pay someone else to do what God calls all of us to do. When this is planted in a smaller church, what they do as they get larger in engaging nations is so much more massive than what most churches are doing today- I’ve seen this first hand at NorthWood and other churches we started in the US where we are helping them engage.

BEHAVIOR #4 Pray, pray, pray, and then pray some more. The most critical thing many new church planters have to do is to learn to hear God’s voice. You don’t get that apart from prayer. Some people call this, the prophetic. This is where divine intersections happen as people and opportunity and ministry all converge. This goes beyond our ministry plan to divine encounters and unique opportunities. I’m convinced, if you know how to hear God’s voice – even if you don’t know what to do or you are ignorant in an area – God will make the right things happen in order to fulfill his plan. I’m living proof. This is where we get in over our heads, and God moves because we act in faith even though we don’t know all we need to know. Hear God. Have Courage. Move forward.

THE #1 QUALIFICATION FOR BEING A CHURCH PLANTER

2012-04-23T10:30:48Z

When we train our church planters, I begin by telling them the number one requirement for being a church planter. They’ve generally had some level of assessment. They first do an on-line assessment to make sure the gifts, talents, abilities, etc., are all in line. Later there will be a more thorough assessment. But the primary requirement for me isn’t always found in an assessment. It’s what Paul, Peter, John, and Jesus said – “IMITATE ME.” I discovered this in a very profound way early on when I became obsessed with the Sermon on the Mount and the whole concept of the Kingdom of God. It’s what was taught and what was expected to come - and there was a lifestyle that went with it. It was also being lived, which definitely required the Holy Spirit.

Until a church planter can rise up a group of disciples and say “imitate me” or stand before a congregation and say “imitate me” they have no business planting a church. In the Scriptures the primary qualification of leadership in a church is integrity and intimacy with Christ. All the other stuff is good and sometimes necessary - but without integrity and intimacy - you will be as one of my mentors told a group of us “a shooting star destined to be a falling star.”

I did not say be perfect - no one is. I did not say they won’t make mistakes - they will. But do they handle them in a Christ-like and biblical way. I did not say they will not struggle in life, marriage, and work - everyone does. But there must be a consistency of character and integrity that provides a model or pattern for others to see what it looks like for someone to follow Jesus.

What makes church planting so hard is that it’s a young man’s sport - and the problem is you aren’t just starting a church, you’re starting a family, a life, even to some degree your “life work” or career if you will - and all of those have challenges, difficulties, etc. I’ve also discovered that in your 20’s, you simply try to get out on your own, and whatever was tough growing up, you ignore it - only to be confronted by those demons once you’re on your own. Then in your 30’s, when you have the wife, the kids, the church, etc., you can wind up feeling like it was less than you expected it to be - even though your church may be growing.

There is no substitute for integrity and intimacy in following Jesus. The greatest compliment someone can pay you is not for them to say, “Wow he’s an incredible preacher.” Or, “Man has that guy planted an awesome church.” Or, “Look at how you’ve grown that church.” Those things are obviously nice, but the greatest thing someone can say to you is, “I want to know Jesus like that guy does.”

Father, I pray for every young pastor and church planter at Exponential this week in Orlando. Among all the hype, stories, and unmastered desires for success, may there be a passion to first know you in a deep and intimate way. May there be a passion for holiness so that they first grow internally so as their church grows externally it will not be short-lived but long term. May they also have a passion not just to start a church, but to multiply the church out of all they do.

TO THE GLOBAL CHURCH ON GOOD FRIDAY . . . . FROM THE U.S. WE ARE WITH YOU AND YOU ARE WITH US

2012-04-06T12:15:13Z

Ephesians teaches us that there are 3 dimensions of church - sadly people take one of these three and make it the whole church - but it takes all three to be the church. First, is the cell, the house, the basic church made up of a community of Jesus followers where you operate as the body of Christ in a small group of 3 two 15. Second, the congregation or the city church, where those cells gather to worship and mobilize the body to engage the city and the world. Third, the global, universal or “catholic” (which is more than the Roman Catholic church - it means universal church). Most people today argue over which form is best the cell or congregation and never even think of the global. Today - we think of you and you matter to us. Many of you cannot worship freely or openly but Christ lives within you - you are his temple - the temple has been rebuilt - and it is within you as Jesus said.

We are grateful for your courage - you challenge us not be shy about our faith, you often pay with your blood, we only pay at most with inconvenience or someone making making fun of us.

We are grateful for your movement - please help us. You are growing and exploding like no other time in the history of Christianity. You have covered the face of the earth and your churches multiply like crazy. Come to us, help us, teach us, “evangelize” us - we need it. Don’t come for your own tribe that has moved here, come for the Anglo, the African American, and the Latino - we need your help.

We are grateful for your character, humility, and integrity. You have not succumbed - most of you - to Christian superstardom - please don’t. We have set up idols within our own faith of money, success, and strategy,

We are grateful for your fresh insights to Scripture, theology, and what a truly global faith looks like. You must forgive us, though we travel, we rarely see the world, we see our tribe and our work - and that’s about it. Because of your global context, fresh eyes on the Scriptures, and passionate commitment to the Gospel, you see things we never have.

So, to the Messianic Church of Israel - I know it is difficult for you to acknowledge Yeshua as the Messiah and even harder as God incarnate - you have paid a price - and we are with you. We are grateful to you.

To the Palestinian evangelical church - and all Palestinian Christians - the first Christians - we know that today, though you have lived for centuries in the birthplace of Jesus - you will not be allowed to visit the Holy Sites. You haven’t been allowed to for years. You have many struggles where you are - yet you remain faithful and refuse to give up. Forgive us in the West when we allow speculative theology to isolate us from one another when we’ve been commanded by Jesus to love one another and this is how people will know we are his.

To Arab Jesus followers - some of you are in lands where you are not permitted to worship. You worship with your family, in your homes, and other places. We love you deeply and we are so grateful for how God is moving among you and how you see Jesus in ways we have not. Some of you face jail, beheading, torture, exile, poverty . . . . for one reason - you love Jesus, and you stay where you are, because you love your people. . . . we are with you. Forgive us when we confuse western culture and western forms of practicing following Jesus and impose those on you and make your burden heavier.

To Jesus followers in communist nations - you have paid a dear and bloody price to follow Jesus. Your faithfulness has brought about more openness in these countries - you are the ones who have taught us the meaning of “house” church. I have seen your faces, shared your pain. I’m sorry for the way the Western Church has mixed global political views with the Gospel and made it very difficult for you. We often see things more through American eyes than we do Kingdom of God eyes.

To the persecuted church - be it from another religion or government or people group - we love you. I pray for you often. When I stand and speak at my church or anywhere else - I don’t forget you. I picture your situation and circumstance in jail or facing execution and I pray for you. I pray against mob rule. I pray against “Pilates” - men that know what they should do, but love power more. Forgive us for trivializing the Gospel to a spectator religion based upon consumerism, comfort, and man centeredness.

I pray for those of you - over the face of the earth today, that have left your countries to go to another country or place to serve (there are more of you outside the US that do this than inside the US now) in the name of Jesus. Be wise, be strategic, be loving, be servants, be honest, be obedient - you are not the first to do this, you will not be the last - it is not up to you, it is up to God - you are merely a light thrower.

Jack, Kim, Eddie, Dion, Hua, Jossy, Robert, Quan, Paul, Victor, Hussan, Samsueng, Lin, Joseph . . . . I love you all and I am with you as you are with me.

I believe In Kevin Brown - Why you should consider Planting with Northwood/360

2012-03-29T12:50:51Z

Back in April of 2011 I was preparing for the launch of The Perfecting Church in our hometown of Sicklerville, NJ – just 20 minutes east of Philadelphia, when I stumbled across Bob Roberts, Jr’s Glocal net site. I couldn’t believe all of the confirmation and encouragement I received that night as I devoured the Glocal net and NorthWood web site content. What started as an evening of research, looking for unique ways churches were communicating there vision and mission, turned into one of the most important relationships The Perfecting Church has today. What we saw through prayer and planning was already a reality at NorthWood. We knew through prayer and discussion that the church had to be more than local in it’s existence; we believed the church should be serving and impacting the community; we knew cell groups would be the life-line of the church; and we wanted to plant other churches like crazy. The only problem was we had very few if any examples of that here in our region.

God’s providence is so amazing! From that first night of stumbling across the site Glocal net became a favorite on my browser. On June 28th, 2011 Brian Hook posted on Bob’s site as a guest blogger and it read: “I want to invite you to a select training opportunity this Fall sponsored by NorthWood Church. The training is a special cohort experience where church planters can learn from some of the best practitioners in church planting without a long term “onsite” training commitment.” Well needless to say I was on the phone with Alecia Ashworth the next day and a week later I had been invited to attend.

Today The Perfecting Church is 37 weeks old. We had our largest Sunday gathering last Sunday with 624 people in attendance. We have seen 216 people give their lives to Christ. We have 12 active cell groups throughout the Philadelphia-Southern NJ area and we served over 4 tons of groceries to our community this month. Both of our neighboring Mayors know us and consider us a partner for reaching and serving the community. I just travelled with Pastor Bob and Nikki Roberts and Pastor Matthew Robertson in March to London and the Middle East and we have adopted Bethlehem as our Glocal neighbor. We are preparing to take our first service trip this year with 10 people from our church. I speak to Brian Hook and Omar Reyes at least once a month and find them to be an invaluable resource of wisdom and encouragement.

The Perfecting Church is forever indebted and grateful to know Pastor Bob, Nikki Roberts and their team. We look forward to touching the world with you before our Lord’s return. perfect God. perfecting people.

Pastor Kevin Brown

Jill Roberts - Significance in Serving

2012-03-28T12:44:18Z

http://jillsintransit.blogspot.com

This is Jill Roberts blogging about serving and doing body life in an apartment complex - it’s dang good! Enjoy . . . . Above is the link to her blog.

Life.s Lover Right Here.

Tuesday, March 27, 2012
Significance In Serving
I have always had an ambitious and possibly unachievable approach toward community development, and I am beginning to understand why. My outlook has shifted from numbers and quantity to significance. An individual may not be able to execute a movement on their own, but I think there is great value in individual relationships contributing to transformation. I have learned so many lessons around this concept in the past year, primarily through gaining an inside look into our service at Garden Gate and Ladera Palms.

Verronica is my dear friend who lives at Garden Gate. We have prayed together, served together, laughed together. She had been considering the opportunity to start a small group at Garden Gate around the same time that my cell was ready to multiply. Together we prayed about a seemingly open door to start a cell and felt that God confirmed this opportunity that he had placed before us. Verronica visited our cell and connected with several people in the group. I was so happy to hear that they all spent time together while I was in Vietnam! Our new cell begins in Veronica’s home at Garden Gate next Monday. I have a deep sense that God is going to use our group, to grow our group, to multiply our group and invite transformation into the community. This is not a program, it’s not an event, it is an opportunity to develop genuine relationships. I’m bothered by the reality that words like “outreach” and “service” carry a somewhat draining connotation in our culture. These words mean something completely different when relationships are formed and we genuinely see each other as brothers and sisters. In the Kingdom of God, there is no mentality of “us” and “them”. When we attempt to serve through our resources alone, we reject an opportunity to share the true love of Christ that connects people to each other. It is so important to me to serve alongside the people that we have been called to serve. Next month at Garden Gate, residents will be doing their spring cleaning, and they will bring donated items to the clubroom to “swap” with each other. Then they will bring additional donations to a charitable organization. What a great opportunity they have to bless and serve each other!

I’ve observed a similar dynamic through our to service to refugee populations at Ladera Palms Apartments in Fort Worth. We have had many opportunities to interact with children and families in this community through engagements of all kinds. The most poignant stories are those that come from individual and significant relationships that are formed between volunteers and refugee families. The spirit comes in when a volunteer’s identity changes to a friend, a brother, or a sister. It is no longer a mere commitment or service opportunity. I am anticipating more cells and families to catch on to the great reward that comes from “adopting” these refugee families that are new to America. Our cell has done it, and we have had a blast! Whether we attend birthday parties, bring them to church, or just have tea in their home, they are always so welcoming and loving toward us.

The opportunity to serve is truly God’s gift to us. We were designed for relationships, and to be in community with one another. When we run after this opportunity he blesses us through relationships in ways greater than we could have imagined.

Politorbis - Swiss Foreign Ministry Section on Religious Dimensions of Conflicts

2012-03-27T12:21:20Z

Religion in Conflict Transformation: Connecting Evangelical Christians and Conservative Muslims
Interfaith dialogue: In part one of this three-part podcast series, Bob Roberts, founder and senior pastor of the NorthWood Church in Keller, Texas, discusses the limits of inter religious dialogue. Instead of connecting religious moderates, he proposes to bring conservatives of different faiths together in multifaith, joint social activities in order to build mutual understanding. This series on Religion in Conflict Transformation is linked to the publication of a special issue of “Politorbis” that was guest edited by the Mediation Support Team of the Center for Security Studies, ETH Zurich.

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Earlier this month I was in London speaking at the 300 Leaders Conference. Here’s a link to see what I do when I’m not with you.

From London it was to Bethlehem to speak at the Christ at the Checkpoint Conference on Faith in the 21st Century.

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Here’s a new program called Storify that was used to record our experiences in Brazil.

An “Apostalic” Pastor that Defies Apostalic - Mario Vega of El Salvador

2012-03-22T13:40:31Z

I’ve hung out the past week with Mario Vega. Mario has a “little” church of 75,000 to 90,000 depending on who you talk to - I’m not sure he’s even sure. They do have 9,000 cells in their church and every cell has between six and 15. His church in San Salvador is one of the largest in the world. There are things that separate his cell church and his church from other churches that I’ve seen. Can God grow a church without a “charismatic personality”? There is good news - YES! It is rare - but possible. I’m with just such a man this week. I would put him as an ISTJ on the Myers-Briggs if I were a betting man. Not a profile known for church growth.

First, is the man himself. He’s quiet - even when you get to know him - he’s quiet. Once you get to know him, he doesn’t talk more, but he does smile more. He takes kidding real good - and does have fun. You’d have to know his life story to understand why. He has written books, they’re all in Spanish - for now - and growing up as a sick and weakly child he avoided others and read books.

Second, he’s the pragmatist I see in other cell church pastors - but more. He’s a heavy duty theologian. He is both reformed and charismatic - I can’t wait to connect him and Terry. When I asked him what he does for fun he said, “read deep European theologians.” I wasn’t familiar with all the authors he listed - I knew one or two. He reads history and politics and theology. Ask him the number reason his church has grown, he’ll tell you passion.

Third, he doesn’t just see his church - he sees society and how it all fits together. He gave one of the most brilliant talks I’ve ever heard in my life on “politics and faith.” I’ve asked him to get it to me to send it to some people - it’s that good. He is deeply involved in “politics” as to where our values and morals connect - but pushes hard to avoid “party” politics so you aren’t politicized. You should be prophet to all parties - not a driver of a single party. He gets domains. The mayor of San Salvador goes to his church. He has had run-ins with leaders in the country because he’s reached out to the gangs there and has seen incredible results. He gets the city and society.

Fourth, holiness matters to him a lot. He overcame his own drug addiction and he stepped into a church where the pastor had a moral crisis. He embodies holiness and humility for me like no other leader I’ve ever seen. He isn’t where he is because of his charisma or the pushing of his agenda. He is a man, whom, when you are around him, you sense the presence of God. This is refreshing to me. No agenda’s. No arrogance. Just Jesus. Nikki describes him as “it’s not about him, it’s all about the kingdom.” He’s a gentle and strong man at the same time. “He’s a true picture of meekness” Nikki also just yelled out to me.

I must say, so far in Brazil, there is a level of humility in general among the pastors that I simply don’t see in the States. Maybe that’s why they have a movement and for the moment we’re still all “wannabes”.

Evangelicals and Muslims: Experts Urge Both to Shed Fear, Build Mutual Respect

2012-03-19T12:57:20Z

Part 2 of the article from the Christian Post, includes quotes from Bob Roberts telling about what NorthWood Church is doing to bridge the gap.

Why I Believe in the Cell Church

2012-03-18T17:59:15Z

I’ve had an incredible time being with people from all over Brazil and particularly in the Amazon region of Brazil this past week. Tonight I preach for a Presbyterian church to a few thousand people on the topic of Brazilians and the Great Commission. Several things have struck me the past few days. For the past two years our church has been transitioning to a cell church model - and I love it. Some of the benefits became clear this week as I was visiting with so many pastors. It isn’t unusual to see a church here with several hundred to several thousand cells in a single congregation. They are beginning to engage the city and talk about what it means for them as Brazilians to tackle the world with the Gospel. Here’s what I love about the cell church that I’m seeing and that I’m experiencing - but let me note, we at NorthWood still have a ways to go - but we are getting there and are far beyond the point of turning back. We now have over 115 cells and growing.

1. It impacts worship on Sunday like you wouldn’t believe. The past several months our Sunday morning worship has been powerful consistently. In the cell you focus on being the body of Christ and experiencing the gifts. When that happens, people become more open to the Spirit and there is a new vigor in worship. It shows up on Sundays.

2. It connects all forms of church to a single entity - the cell. Call it the “house church” or the “organic” church or whatever you want. The reality is that all three expressions of the church must be present. Cell - City - Global. Most churches focus on the city aspect of a congregation - but without the cell all you have is a Sunday event - without the world you cannot be defined properly as a church. The global church defines the local church - if it doesn’t, then you have a renegade, isolated, self-centered church.

3. I love the cooperation between cell churches. Here in Manaus I’ve been speaking at a conference organized by Presbyterians and Pentecostals - with a huge contingency of Baptist. There is something about experiencing the presence of Christ in a cell that goes far beyond tribes, traditions, or non-essential theology.

4. Cells can engage the city like nothing else. It becomes the carrier of the disciples that want to engage. Cells can be started in the domains of society to serve the city and world. Cells become the backbone of “mission” and engagement.

5. It is the best way in the world to make a disciple. Since our definition is “hear and obey” not “learn, grow, and go” - everyone can be a disciple and it’s based on obedience - not how many books have you outlined, Scriptures memorized, or classes you’ve been through. It’s really based on life.

6. I love it because it’s what you see God doing all over the world. The largest growing churches globally have the smallest churches within them, cells, and have a massive capacity to engage their city and the world. When I see the global church doing this - and the Western Church not - because it’s not culturally conducive - I wonder what culture drives our church. I’m not doing cell church in America because it’s the best way to grow a church - I’m doing it because it is what God is doing globally and I don’t want to miss out on that. Rick Warren taught me years ago to make long term decisions for the church - not short term. I want to be in on God’s global movement.

7. I love the cell church because the whole premise is built around the body of Christ meeting and Jesus being the head and believing that his presence is real and we can hear from him together.

I have missed my cell the past two weeks and will miss it another two weeks. I love you guys - but you don’t need me - Jesus is with you - listen to him, love him, obey him, be that agent of reconciliation - and get ready those three of you who feel called to start very special kinds of cells from one for those who are struggling in their marriages, to hunting and fishing, to men - we are the body of Christ!

Article Featuring NorthWood Church in Christian Post

2012-03-15T19:59:47Z

Today’s Christian Post article Evangelicals and Muslims: Few Churches Overcome Fear to Build Relationships tells about what NorthWood Church is doing to bridge relationships between Christians and Muslims.