What's Your Mission?

Relevant mission events for you and your church!

2012-02-20T09:16:00.000-08:00

Hi all,

It's a long time since I last posted a blog and I really wanted to challenge all reading to invest a couple of days getting up-skilled and gaining knowledge in missions. 'Your Mission' are putting on two excellent days for training and we would love for you to be there. The Mission Academy Day is £10, bring a packed lunch and you can book here www.yourmission.org.uk/academyregistration.htm.

Mission Academy Day- May 26th- Mattersey Hall (£10).

This is an event for all Christians to get a better understanding of missions today and how to get involved. On the day we have 4 excellent practitioners (one a missionary with Wycliffe) teaching on the following topics:

Session 1

· The Great Commission - What is the Great Commission?

· The World Today – What are the trends, statistics in the world?

Session 2

· Short-Term Mission – What makes a good short-term mission?

· Long-Term Mission – How to begin the missionary journey

Session 3

· Local Church – What makes a glocal, missional church?

· Influencing Society – How can Christians change the world?

Session 4

· Unreached People Groups – What is the challenge of unreached people?

· Hosting Short-Term Teams – What makes an excellent short-term mission?

Session 5

· The Call of God – What does the Bible say about the call of God?

· Finding the Call of God – How does the call of God work in practice?

Mission Co-ordinator's Day- September 8th- The Hub Christian Community, Rotherham (£5)

This is a special event for anyone who is a mission secretary or co-ordinator in their local church. This day will involve excellent teaching from practitioners on missions and how to make global mission a focus in local church. The topics are as follows:

Developing a strategy for mission
Organising a short-term mission
Identifying, Inspiring and training Embryonic Missionaries
Supporting Long Term Missionaries
Re-entry Issues

We would love to see you with us for this day, please visit www.yourmission.org.uk/forumregistration.htm

What are you believing for in 2012?

2012-01-08T07:45:00.000-08:00

Welcome everyone to my blog for 2012.

I pray 2012 is a wonderful year for you of blessing and provision.

Fulfilment is a great word! How many of us are totally fulfilled in life and living to our potential?

Here are a few things to do as a follower of Christ which will really help you to be more fulfilled.

* Put the Kingdom of God and His righteousness first (in heart, soul, mind, strength)
* Write down your vision and work toward it. You need to know what you are aiming for in God and in life.
* Live missionally- that means living with the intention of making Christ known here and to the ends of the earth in the way that we live, pray, where we place our finances and our attitude.
* Have positive input into your life (read the Bible more, pray, have good friends, read good books and view positive things on TV or internet)
* Plan to get more informed on the state of world missions, get a copy of the latest Operation World or visit the Joshua Project on the internet.
* Determine to pray for unreached/ least reached people groups.
* Why not go on a short-term mission
* Develop a daily devotional habit

I hope this helps someone, I would be very glad of feedback.

The world is yet to see

2011-12-08T14:11:00.000-08:00

Loved teaching the Mattersey Hall students. I thank God for the opportunity and honour of teaching these wonderful Christians about missions and relationships.

Missional Church- More thoughts

2011-12-03T13:41:00.000-08:00

I've been reading 'Breakout' by Mark Stibbe and Andrew Williams.

A fantastic book. This book tells of how to do 'missional church'. It's almost like reading the book of Acts in the way that God led these two Anglican ministers to transform their church.

The book is well worth a read and has further inspired me that God has placed in every believer a task/ tasks to achieve for Him and also a passion for a certain place in the Great Commission. This book shows how Godly leadership can facilitate this.

What's Your Dream, part 2

2011-10-21T04:35:00.001-07:00

Align Your Dream with God’s Dream

As a follower of Christ, you need to become acutely aware of what is on God’s heart at this moment in time. As I read the Bible it becomes very clear that God’s heart is for people all over the world to know Him and experience a relationship with Him through His Son Jesus Christ. God desperately desires that people know and believe that Jesus paid the price for their sin on the cross. As you read on I want to challenge you as a follower of Jesus to align yourself with a dream from God’s heart; that all people know Jesus and have eternal life. My challenge to you is to give yourself to seeing this achieved on the earth in your lifetime. The good news is you don’t have to become a traditional missionary to do this but you will have to make a conscious decision to become aware and pray for the needs of the world and take practical steps to achieve your part in God’s dream and plan.

Your part in God’s dream and desire will differ from the next person. One may be called to serve God with an unreached tribe in the Philippines and another may be called to make millions in business to contribute to mission. Another person may be called to be an apostle, prophet, evangelist, pastor or teacher in order to build up the church to serve God better in the world. Yet another may be called to bring the kingdom of God into the world of politics or education. Note the word ‘called’. Your calling is aligned to your dream! I believe each one of us is called to serve God in some capacity.

It must be said here that we need to lay down our own personal selfish ambitions and live for God inspired dreams. I could quickly list off ten great ambitions that I could have if my faith were to fly out of the window. I would love to cruise the world, own a BMW, own a house in LA, become a millionaire, travel first class everywhere I go, build my own dream home, have a swimming pool, own a private jet, wear designer clothes and eat in Michelin Star restaurants. All of these things are not wrong, but they are very wrong if I make them the main aim and goal for my life. The heart of dreaming God’s dreams is putting Him first in everything and laying down our desires. In Romans 12:1 we are encouraged to be ‘living sacrifices’; that means that we die to our own desires and live for what God would have us live for.

If you align your dream with God’s dream then you will achieve great fulfilment in your life. You will be truly blessed as you live for something much bigger than yourself. This may require a shift in mindset. Many of us were taught to leave the spreading of the gospel to the experts, give to the church and get a good job. It is not wrong to be in secular work. I really believe God needs ambassadors in all walks of life. Start to see yourself as part of God’s huge plan and purpose for the world. Ask God to help you to see yourself as an ambassador of Christ as you pursue the dream. See your God given dream as more than just a dream; see it as your mission, your role in bringing the kingdom of God to people. This is where life gets really exciting!

What's Your Dream?

2011-10-21T04:34:00.000-07:00

Each of us has desires in our heart, things we would love to accomplish. Maybe you have a dream to become an author or an artist. You could have a deep desire to be a preacher or to one day set up an orphanage on the other side of the world. When we have fully given our lives to Christ, the desires of our heart align with God’s desires for us. We often dream God’s dreams for us without even knowing it. In Psalm 37:3-5 it says ‘Take delight in the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart’. When we are truly in a good place with God and we are delighting in Him and when He is our number one priority, then we start to see our dreams come true.

Let’s take a closer look at your dreams. What is it that you would love to see happen in your lifetime? If you could really achieve anything, what would it be? What inspires you? Who inspires you? When we answer these questions we then begin to tap into the real ‘desires of our heart’, the very desires that God longs to fulfil.

One thing that grieves me is when I hear people saying that they do not enjoy their career. A great amount of most people’s adult life is spent in the workplace and it is distressing to think that so many people are unhappy in their job. Many stay in an unhappy work situation because it is safe and pays the bills.

It is unfortunate that many people are locked into a ‘safe’ world where their real desires and dreams will never come true. That ‘safe’ place then becomes a prison and a place of confinement. Some of the most inspiring people I have met are those who are willing to follow their dreams. They are people who take positive steps into their desired future. I want to make a note here that these people are not ‘chasing fantasies’ they are individuals who truly follow their God inspired dreams. Proverbs 12:11 says ‘Those who work their land will have abundant food, but those who chase fantasies have no sense’. Following a God given dream will take hard work. It will mean that you will have to ‘work the land’. Proverbs 28:19 states that those who chase fantasies will have their ‘fill of poverty’. It is very important that we discern the difference between a fantasy and a God given dream and desire. As you read on my hope is that your focus becomes clear and you get a real revelation of the dreams that God has placed inside your heart.

Normal Evangelism

2011-10-10T07:32:00.001-07:00

When we think about evangelists we tend to think about powerful characters who can command an audience and achieve great results in God.

We are all called to do the work of an evangelist and share our story with the world around us.

It's not that hard when we step into the empowerment of the Holy Spirit.

Wherever you are today, ask God for opportunities to talk about Him to people in your world.

Missional Church! What makes a Church Missional?

2011-10-04T07:24:00.000-07:00

I really thank God that the church we are involved in is indeed missional!

Here are some basic thoughts on Missional Church as I try to get my head around it.

There is a huge spectrum of what mission looks like at a local church level. Below are some of the scenarios you often find in churches who are totally involved in missions, partly involved and not at all engaged.

Total Involvement

A church with mission at the heart is a church who see mission as the DNA and structure around which the church is built.

· This kind of church will usually include people in leadership who are apostolic or evangelistic in gifting and equip the whole church to be missional in their thinking and practice.

· A majority of church activities are ‘outreach’ based and focus on winning people to Jesus.

· The giving of such churches to missions is often outstanding and there is a general sense of excitement and motivation in the congregation.

· There is a structure and expectation to support those who are wanting to be involved in long term mission service or set up local mission initiatives.

· This kind of church would have a well structured mission programme and most likely have several short-term mission trips taking place every year.

· This church would value mission right from the locality to the ends of the earth. They educate their congregation on unreached people groups and encourage all to get involved in giving and praying and going on mission.

Some Involvement

· This church is concerned with keeping the membership happy and so cater to the desires of those who are in the church rather than outreaching into the community and the world.

· There is some involvement in missions in terms of their giving to missions projects around the world and they may also run some outreach style activities but more on a sporadic basis.

· Missions activity and evangelism is encouraged but there is no formal structure to enable this to happen.

A Little/ No Involvement

· This kind of church has long since ceased to do any form of outreach or evangelism into the community.

· It is more focused on maintaining the status quo. Such churches do not attract the younger generation.

· If you asked the congregation whether they believe in evangelism they would whole heartedly agree and yet they do not know how to reach out to their community let alone the world. Such churches are often led by pastor/ teacher leaders in gifting who personally have no vision for outreach.

· This kind of church may give to missionaries when they are on itinerary.

How can local churches be more missional?

The Leader Needs to be Mission minded

A well known saying by John Maxwell is that ‘everything rises and falls on leadership’. Great leaders have the potential to influence and enthuse their followers. Any church which is going to have a missional emphasis will definitely have a leader who is passionate about seeing a lost world won to Christ. Such leaders are innovative and active individuals who draw others into the task of the Great Commission.

The church will reflect its leader. If the leader is very pastoral and nurturing then the church will attract people who need care and attention. The church may also be full of nurturing types of people. If you have a church which is led by a very evangelistic or apostolic person, you will find a church enthused to do evangelism and outreach. If the leader has a passion for Israel, this too will be reflected in the church. For a church to be truly missional, the leader has to be mission minded and know how to equip and channel missional activity in the

church.

The leader needs to be ‘releasing’ in nature. This means that they are more involved in the advancement of the Kingdom of God rather than holding onto gifted or talented individuals in the church- should those individuals wish to serve God in another capacity or context. The leader needs to also balance ‘releasing’ with ‘shepherding’ and protecting the congregation as they go about serving God.

The Vision of the Church Must be Missional

I believe it is wise for every church to have a vision statement. This needs to be prayerfully thought through. For a church to be truly missional the vision statement should reflect this emphasis and then the activities of the church should centre around this. My view is that a missional church should have ‘discipleship of all nations’ as an agenda.

A church leader we know stated that a missional church is ‘A church that pushes boundaries to reach people, breaks down barriers to minster the gospel to them, and builds bridges to connect them to God and the Church!’ This would be a great vision statement for a church to take on board.

The Church Must be Taught on Missions

The church congregation need to be taught about missions. I wonder how many Christians truly understand the Great Commission and placing God’s plan for the world as a top priority in their life.

Churches need to be taught about the significance of Matthew 28:18-20, Acts 1:8 and other Great Commission scriptures. Christians need to know that God wants to use each person in His great master plan to reach the nations with the gospel. Such teaching and emphasis must be prioritised throughout the year.

The church need to be educated on global issues and unreached people groups with a focus on how we need to love all races in the world.

The Church Need Equipping and Encouraging to Get Involved in Mission.

Beyond teaching is the whole emphasis of training. Churches need to be trained and equipped to get involved in missions. There needs to be well thought through plans and opportunities for every church member to be equipped to reach others. Churches need to encourage those who have faith to share their faith with others. It is a good idea for churches to invite visiting evangelists to come and share thoughts and ideas on how to reach others with the gospel and opportunities to invite the un-churched to evangelistic meetings.

There also needs to be space and opportunities for individuals in the church to set up projects in order to raise money for mission and get further involved in missions work at home and abroad.

Thinking about the persecuted church

2011-10-03T06:56:00.000-07:00

I have been deeply moved by the plight of Pastor Yousef Nadarkhani who is sentenced to death because he is a Christian. There are other false charges against him as well.

Let us pray for those who are in prison for their faith. God can move mountains!
____________________________________________________________________________________

Today I've been talking to a friend on the phone who is passionate for mission, I thought to myself, if only all churches had one or two people in them who were so passionate- this nation would be changed. Let us get on fire for God and seek His Kingdom with all our hearts.

The Lectures- Here are the topics we're covering at Mattersey Hall in the Introduction to Missions course!

2011-09-27T08:13:00.000-07:00

Lecture 1: What is Mission? Focusing on the ‘Great Commission’ and Acts 1:8.

Lecture 2: Evangelism in Mission.

Lecture 3: Social Action in Mission.

Lecture 4: Short -Term Mission.

Lecture 5: Long Term Mission

Lecture 6: Mission in the local church.

Lecture 7: The Call of God/Finding your mission.

Lecture 8: Mission in the Workplace.

Lecture 9: Partnership in Mission.

I so look forward to lecturing at Mattersey Hall Bible College. It is a small window of time in which to really impart something to the next generation of leaders.

I'm praying that this year we will experience the presence of God in the lecture room as well as stretch our understanding of missions. In short- I was born for this.

Ten steps to becoming a missional you!

2011-09-21T08:29:00.000-07:00

1) Read Matthew 28:18-20 and Acts 1:8 - digest them and think about them!

¹⁸ Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. ¹⁹ Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, ²⁰ and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age. Matthew 28:18-20

⁸ But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” Acts 1:8

2) Think about your giving- how much do you give to missions? Do you spend more on a mobile phone contract than you do on mission?

3) Find out some information about unreached people groups, start to pray for them. See www.joshuaproject.net

4) Get hold of the latest 'Operation World' see http://www.operationworld.org- read about nations and people groups and then pray!

5) Message someone who is involved in missions using e mail or Facebook (use wisdom depending on which nation they are in)

6) Remember you are salt and light wherever you are! Ask God to give you great opportunities to share his love in your world.

7) Share your faith. Ask God for an opportunity to share your faith with someone this week.

8) Put your faith in action- do some random acts of kindness and generosity!

9) Put God at the centre of your life and start to live your dream!

10) Open your eyes to the issues affecting our society today and ask God what you need to do about it. First step is to pray!

Books to Read

2011-09-20T07:14:00.000-07:00

It's really important to keep up to date with what is going on in missions around the world and current thought and practice in missions.

I'm currently reading 'The Missional Leader' by A. F. Roxburgh and F.Romanuk. I hope to do a review on some of the books I have read.

It is important to be a life long learner and not get stagnant in our Christian walk.

Shocking stats!

2011-09-17T05:56:00.001-07:00

Have a look at the following statistics and thank God for how blessed you are!

If we could reduce the world's population to a village of precisely 100 people, with all existing human ratios remaining the same, the demographics would look something like this: The village would have 60 Asians, 14 Africans, 12 Europeans, 8 Latin Americans, 5 from the USA and Canada, and 1 from the South Pacific. 51 would be male, 49 would be female. 82 would be non-white; 18 white. 67 would be non-Christian; 33 would be Christian. 80 would live in substandard housing. 67 would be unable to read. 50 would be malnourished and 1 dying of starvation. 33 would be without access to a safe water supply. 39 would lack access to improved sanitation. 24 would not have any electricity (And of the 76 that do have electricity, most would only use it for light at night.). 7 people would have access to the internet. 1 would have a college education. 1 would have HIV. 2 would be near birth; 1 near death. 5 would control 32% of the entire world's wealth; all 5 would be US citizens. 33 would be receiving --and attempting to live on-- only 3% of the income of "the village".^{^[i]}

[i] http://www.familycare.org/special-interest/if-the-world-were-a-village-of-100-people/ found 8/9/2011

Sample of First Chapter of my book 'What's Your Mission?'

2011-09-16T08:54:00.000-07:00

Fulfillment

The word ‘fulfillment’ is important to consider when looking at the dreams God has placed in your heart. The Collins dictionary states that to ‘fulfill’ is to ‘achieve one’s potential’.[i] When I think about potential I immediately picture a fast car parked in the driveway. Unless someone gets into the car, turns the key and takes the vehicle out onto the open road, its potential is still there but it is not fulfilling its potential. To really see the potential speed of a vehicle you would need to take it off the thirty mile an hour roads in the town and onto a test track. So many people are like a fast car parked in the driveway. They are not going anywhere and their potential remains untapped. Others are only travelling thirty miles an hour because the environment they are in limits their performance. I long to see Christians operating to their full potential and in order to do this they need to be positioned in the right environment.

The achievement of your potential is linked with your dreams. Your dreams and fulfilling them are all connected with the way God has made you and his purposes for you. God is committed to you achieving your potential in life. Psalm 138:8 states ‘The Lord will fulfill his purpose for me; your love, O Lord, endures forever- do not abandon the works of your hands.’ God has a purpose for you and a plan for your life, we are made by God’s hands for a specific reason.

In Psalm 139 we find David talking of how God ‘knit’ him together while he was in the womb and how ‘all the days ordained’ for his life had been written down. The intricacies of your personality, your gifts, talents and dreams were all planned by God from before you were born. Jeremiah was called to be a prophet to the nations and this call was on his life before he ever took his first breath. Ephesians 2:10 states, ‘For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.’ God has prepared great adventures for each of us to walk into and these were on his mind as you were being formed in the womb!

What is your mission today?

2011-09-16T01:36:00.000-07:00

Hi there,

Just a short challenge from me, whatever you are doing today, choose to live for Christ and be salt and light. Being salt and light is an interactive process, it involves action- speaking light, being light... you are Christ's ambassador wherever you are.

You have a sphere of influence, people that only you can reach. Ask God to open your eyes today to those who need encouragement, prayer and hope. Expect great things!

photo by Renjith Krishnan/ Freedigitalphotos.net

The Introduction of the Book!

2011-09-15T07:42:00.001-07:00

Have you ever thought about what you would do with your life if time or money were no object? Have you ever pondered on the meaning of your life and how you can be most fulfilled as a human being? These questions linger in the mind of so many. How can we escape the mediocrity and treadmill of life? How do we live a powerful life full of purpose and fulfillment?

Jesus said in John 10:10 ‘I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.’ This ‘fullness of life’ includes eternal life and yet it also encompasses a dynamic and fulfilled life while we are on the earth. Jesus had a mission, that his followers experience true fulfillment and joy in their life. He desires that we enter into all He has for us in this life. The fullness of life Jesus is talking about comes out of a dynamic relationship with Him and it develops when we follow His plan for our lives.

In this book I want to talk about the mission of your life and the reason you have been born. I believe that when Christians align themselves with God’s heart to reach people with the good news of Jesus Christ and when they truly show compassion and care to fellow human beings they touch the very heart of God. Living out the will of God for our lives causes us to enter a new sphere of purpose and fulfillment. This is where the real journey begins. Life never ceases to become exciting when we truly seek to live for God.

If you, like the many, are feeling that you are not achieving your purpose and potential this book is for you! I pray that reading this book will play a significant part in you finding your God given destiny.

Writing a New Book

2011-09-15T05:43:00.000-07:00

Dear all,

Thank you for joining me on this blog site. I really do want to inspire people for missions and I trust that this site will be of inspiration.

At the moment I am writing a book. Here are the titles for the chapters.

Chapter 1: What is Your Dream?

Chapter 2: What are You Good at?

Chapter 3: When God Calls

Chapter 4: What the Bible Says about Mission

Chapter 5: Your Place in Mission

Chapter 6: Mission in the Workplace

Chapter 7: Becoming a Big Thinking Global Christian

This book will provoke Christians into thinking about missions and how the Great Commission is relevant to every follower of Christ. The book considers the reader’s God given dreams, ambitions, talents and the call of God on their lives. It focuses on outworking mission in the church, workplace and in our everyday lives. The overarching theme is finding fulfillment in following your God given heart’s desires and how true fulfillment is found when we focus our lives on what God is passionate about.

Please message me if you have any comments about this. I would love to hear from you!

What is Your Mission?

2011-09-15T04:48:00.000-07:00

Hi there,

Hope you are having a great day. This blog is to encourage all Christ followers to think about and become missional to their core.

My hope is that you will visit this site from time to time and be inspired by the posts.

We would love for you to visit our website www.yourmission.org.uk

There are mission and training options on the site.

Be blessed today!

Rachel