The M Blog

Rad Zdero's 'Top Ten' reasons for planting house churches

2009-11-08T08:50:00.011-05:00

Rad Zdero's top ten reasons for starting house churches...

1. Biblical – This was the normative New Testament pattern established by Jesus and the apostles and perpetuated by the early church of the first three centuries and in subsequent renewal, reform and revival movements throughout history. (Acts 2:46, 5:42, 20:20)

2. Exponential - To reach a growing world, we need to multiply, not just add. Current house church movements worldwide are outstripping more traditional church planting and church growth efforts.

3. Effective – The most effective method of evangelism is not growing existing churches, but planting new ones. House churches are the most easily reproducible form of church, and hence, are the most obvious choice for church planting.

4. Natural – House churches become part of the local community and easily tap into relationship connections, thereby more readily taking on an indigenous flavour.

5. People-Focused – They focus on relationships and the development of people spiritually, not on executing programs or projects.

6. Efficient – They are more mobile, flexible, and adaptable than conventional churches, especially in areas characterized by persecution and poverty.

7. Equal Opportunity – Because of their small, intimate and participatory nature, all believers have the opportunity to exercise their spiritual gifts during church meetings, and not just professional clergy or key leaders.

8. Unbounded – They are not limited by church buildings. Whatever use buildings may or may not have, history shows that they are not necessary for rapid church planting movements to start; in fact, they may be a hindrance. Although church buildings are not evil by any means, nor are homes in any way magical, the practical release of time, energy and money away from building maintenance, and into evangelism and discipleship, should cause us to rethink current practices.

9. Inexpensive – They are less expensive than traditional church, because no expensive buildings, programs, or professional clergy are required.

10. Immediate – It can start now, right in your living room. There is no need to wait for a gym to be rented or for a building program to be completed to begin a new church or for a full-time pastor to be hired.

This 'sect of the devil' known as Baptists

2009-11-04T17:37:00.008-05:00

This past weekend the Ecuador Baptist Convention met in Cañar, Ecuador for their annual meeting. With dozens of churches represented from all over the country, few present likely realized just how significant this meeting in this place actually was.

I don´t remember exactly the year, but back in the early 70´s Cañar and the surrounding area was a stronghold against the Gospel. There were no known believers living in the region at the time.

As a fifteen or sixteen year old teen, I accompanied my dad and another missionary from Cuenca in what was to be the first known effort to attempt to reach this county seat city with the Gospel.

My dad had a large circus tent which he set up just outside of the city. During the day we would go through the streets and with a loud speaker attached to the car roof, announce the evening meetings.

People would throw at our passing car whatever handy pieces of garbage they could find. By their shouts and insults it was quite clear we were not welcome in Cañar.

The local priest handed out pamphlets all over town warning his parishioners of this 'sect of the Devil known as Baptists'. Any one caught attending the meetings would be excommunicated. It seemed to me like a hopeless venture to even attempt to have any kind of meetings in Cañar.

However, back in that period of time there was little to do in the cold Andean evenings. My dad's strategy was simple:

--Bright lights at the tent site, accompanied by loud speakers blaring lively Latin American Gospel songs to attract people inside the tent. Inevitably the tent's presence attracted a host of popcorn, cigarette and candy vendors, along with other local fast food delicacies roasting over charcoal fires around the perimeter of the tent!

--The meetings usually began with 3-4 short Gospel choruses. It was my job to stand on the makeshift stage and play my electric guitar for the out-of-tune congregational singing. I was always glad when that part was over.

--The main attraction, though, was when the lights were turned down, and the 16 mm evangelistic "Life of Christ" films where shown.

The desire to view these films, with Jesus speaking Spanish, proved to be more enticing than their fear of being excommunicated! Every evening as the sun set, people would quietly slip in under the cover of dark and take a seat to watch the miracles of Christ, hear Jesus' words, and see Him die on the cross, rise from the grave, and ascend to Heaven.

--After the film, the bright lights were again turned on, and before people could begin a mass exit, a short 10-minute Gospel message and invitation was shared by my dad or the other missionary.

I remember, night after night, the tent would fill to watch the evening's film. Most even stayed around to listen to the short Evangelistic message. But fear of the consequences of taking a stand for Christ, was like asking someone to turn their backs on hundreds of years of tradition, their family, their religion, their identity as Cañaris.

NO ONE in Cañar came forward during any of the invitations to give their lives to Christ.

After many evenings of meetings, the final night arrived. Once again the songs were sung, the film was shown, the message was preached, and the invitation given.

As long as I live, I will never forget what happened next. Almost as if preplanned, a group of about a dozen Cañaris men locked arms in a long human chain, and together came forward as a group. Through a designated spokesperson they announced they were giving their lives to Jesus Christ!

That dark, cold, windy night the light came to Cañar and the rest is history.

This past weekend I wondered how many Baptists in attendance at the annual meeting of the Ecuador Baptist Convention were probably aware of all the history that has taken place in and around Cañar and Tambo over the past 40 years. I was there at the birth of the church in Cañar. It is something I will never forget.

The Trip

2009-11-02T16:58:00.004-05:00

This past month, October 2-20, Linda and I made a trip to Spain and Turkey. The main reason was to attend the Antioch Gathering Part 1, and Part 2 as blogged on previously.

But there was a lot more to the trip than described in these two posts. Since my wife Linda has already done a good job in describing the trip on her blog A Foreign Life, I will refer to her posts and photos to look through according to your interest.

Madrid where we spent a short two days with our friends the Dixons. Our Madrid photos can be seen here.

Sunday afternoon, Susie dropped us off at the bus stop in Madrid and we went by land to the Granada portion of our trip to visit with our friends the Irwins. Besides the joy of seeing them again, we were able to fill a life time dream of seeing Alhambra. As for all our Granada pics, click here.

From Granada we flew to Barcelona where we stayed with our good friend Chachi from Guayaquil who recently married a Catalán and currently lives just outside of Barcelona with daughter Andrea and husband. See photos here.

After too short of a time in Barcelona we flew back to Madrid and boarded a Turkish Air flight to Antakya (Antioch) in far eastern Turkey. Here we spent seven incredible days. You can read Linda's account of them here and here. Our photos of this time can be viewed here. After viewing our photos, you might also enjoy these superb photos taken by a fellow participant in the gathering.

From Antioch we returned to Istanbul where we were able to see our friends Pete and Allison and their kids, and take in a few of the "must see" sights in this amazing and ancient city.

As you view all of Linda's photos, there are good descriptions which will help to describe the trip and a taste of what we experienced.

Thanks for reading and viewing! Any comments, questions, etc. are welcome.

How to get our churches interested again in missions

2009-11-01T15:03:00.000-05:00

I think Richard Ross is onto something in the article he writes below for Baptist Press...

------------------------
FIRST-PERSON: The path to a missions resurgence
By Richard Ross

FORT WORTH, Texas (BP)--Real men eat rare steaks cut from the grizzly bear they killed with a hunting knife. And, they think the only real sports are those that routinely result in crushed vertebra and ripped ACLs. Real men played football in high school and now they think that is the only sport that matters. They are certain that kicking a soccer ball into a net is a sissy sport, not worthy of their TV time.

But all of that begins to change when the real man's son shows an interest in soccer. It doesn't take long before he starts telling the guys at coffee break about the new soccer trophy sitting on his mantle. Suddenly the dad finds himself online, learning all the intricacies of the player positions and strategies. When his son makes the traveling team, the dad cancels important meetings to help the coach on the trip. And without blinking an eye he pays $500 for a summer soccer camp that will give his son a leg up on the other players.

Why would a real man give this much attention to sport he doesn't like? Because it is important to his daughter or son. And why would a parent who has dozed through years of missions challenges suddenly become vitally interested? The answer is the same -- because it has become important to a son or daughter.

I dream of a day when God's people will call out and send out almost all students to spend a summer, semester, or year in front-line missions, within a year or so of high school graduation.

God seems to be orchestrating a cultural shift to make this practical. An increasing number of secular and Christian universities are granting admission to recent high school graduates but not requiring them to register for classes for one year. They use the term "GAP year" to describe this period where students are allowed to do something immersive before beginning university studies.

For Christian students, that could mean going to the hard places internationally, nationally or even locally. Parents will never see missions the same after they get the e-mail that says, "Daddy, I held a baby while she died last night. I cried a long time because this is so needless. If believers just sent a little money, we could dig a water well and the dying would stop." Or, "All the people crowding around our van wanted Bibles. But I ran out before most got one. I do not understand why Christians don't live more simply so they could give more."

For the life of me I do not know why some theologically confused people in Utah would be the only ones to prepare and send out all their sons and daughters on an adventure that will shape their lives.

The Great Commission Task Force and then the Southern Baptist Convention must weave together many elements to achieve a true resurgence in missions. But sending our own children to the front lines can capture the hearts of churches in ways few other things can.

-- Richard Ross is professor of student ministry at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Fort Worth, Texas.

Is church oversight essential for baptism?

2009-10-29T06:14:00.000-05:00

David Miller, writing for SBC Voices asks a very pertinent question: Is church oversight essential for baptism?

See if you agree with his biblical analysis and interpretation...

The question at hand is whether the local church is the only appropriate place for a valid, biblically-correct baptism to take place. Is a baptism that is performed outside the authority of a local church to be considered valid or invalid? I will not argue that baptism should never be performed under the direction of a local church. I will argue that local church oversight, while normal, is not necessary to the performance of a valid baptism.

Baptists have use “confessions” to describe our doctrine through the years. I will admit that those confessions support church oversight, in general. But we Baptists honor history; we are not bound by it. We are guided by what the Bible says. And I will argue that the Bible does not support the idea that baptism is only valid under local church supervision.

The Narratives of Acts

Acts has eight instances of baptism. In Acts 2:41, 3000 converts are baptized after Peter’s sermon. There was no established church at that moment. In fact, this event was the establishment of the church, so there is little evidence here. In Acts 8:12-13, Philip preaches in Samaria after fleeing Jerusalem’s persecution. He baptizes those who believe. He sought approval of no local church to perform those baptisms. Again, in Acts 8:37-40, Philip meets the Ethiopian Eunuch and leads him to Christ. The eunuch asks, “What prevents me from being baptized?” If local church authority was essential, Philip should have responded, “I’ve got to get approval from the church.”

The evidence gets stronger in Acts 9:18, because there was an established church in Damascus. Ananias is directed to go and speak to Saul, who is converted. Saul is baptized immediately, without any approval of the disciples of Damascus. Acts 10 is even clearer. Peter is directed by God to visit Cornelius, a gentile. He is baptized immediately upon his conversion. There is no local church for him to be baptized into. In fact, Peter had to defend the decision in the Jerusalem church after the fact. He only sought approval after the fact. He baptized first, then got approval later.

In Acts 16:14-15, Paul baptizes Lydia soon after his arrival in Philippi. There is no local church into which to baptize her. Later, when Paul leads the Philippian jailer to faith, there is a local church, but Paul does not get their approval before baptizing him. The baptism of John’s disciples in Acts 19:3-5 gives little evidence in this argument.

It is tricky making points from narrative. However, the eight instances of baptism in Acts consistently demonstrate no local oversight. That is evidence that must be explained by those who demand church oversight as essential. Dismissing the evidence as “narrative” is not enough.

Evidence from the Epistles

Epistolary evidence explains narrative experiences. So, what do the epistles say? There are six references in the epistles about baptism (it can be tricky to differentiate water baptism from Spirit baptism). None of them give any support to local church oversight. In fact, they argue against it.

Romans 6:1-4 tells us that those who were “baptized into Christ” were buried with him into death and raised to walk a new life. In 1 Corinthians 1:10-17 uses baptism to discuss the divisions in the Corinthian church. 1 Corinthians 12:12-13 states that Christians were all baptized into one body. Paul and his associates were not baptized into the Corinthian church, so it can hardly be argued that he is speaking of their baptism into the local Corinthian church. Galatians 3:27 says that those who were “baptized into Christ” have put on Christ. Ephesians 4:7 says that there is “one baptism” as there is one Lord and one faith. 1 Peter 3:21 refers to the meaning of baptism as an expression of cleared conscience through the resurrection of Christ.

The key point is the phrase that is used in Romans 6 and Galatians 3, and in similar form in 1 Corinthians 12. We are “baptized into Christ.” Never does it say, “baptized into the church” or describe baptism as an initiation into a local church. It seems that baptism was an expression of a person’s salvation experience in Christ which immediately followed conversion. Local church oversight and involvement began immediately after baptism in the New Testament.

The Great Commission

Those who argue for local church oversight often base their argument in Matthew 28:18-20, the Great Commission. Jesus said that we were to “make disciples” by both baptizing them and teaching them to obey everything Christ spoke. They maintain that the Great Commission gives oversight of baptism and discipleship to the local church. However, that is a hermeneutical stretch. This passage is given to the apostles and all the disciples – the universal Body of Christ (another debate topic entirely). No local church existed yet when the passage was spoken.

In conclusion, the view that all valid baptisms must be performed under local church oversight may be argued from historic confessions, but not from scripture. There is no support for it in the narratives of Acts. The epistles describe baptism as “into Christ” and do not support it either. Only a forced reading of the Great Commission supports the idea. It is clear to me that baptism is an expression of faith in Christ that is properly experienced under the guidance of the body of Christ, but local church oversight is not essential to the performance of a valid baptism.

So what do you think? Is church oversight essential for baptism? Do you agree or disagree with David?

The Antioch Gathering (Part 2)

2009-10-27T16:27:00.001-05:00

"I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; and whatever you bind on earth shall have been bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall have been loosed in heaven...Truly I say to you, whatever you bind on earth shall have been bound in heaven; and whatever you loose on earth shall have been loosed in heaven. Again I say to you, that if two of you agree on earth about anything that they may ask, it shall be done for them by My Father who is in heaven. For where two or three have gathered together in My name, I am there in their midst." (Mat 16:19, 18:18-20)

More themes which came out during the Antioch Gathering, October 10-17, 2009

The Kingdom is a country with its own rules and government and values. To be a Kingdom citizen we must understand that our first loyalties are to that Kingdom. If we want to see the Kingdom of God come, we must see the kingdom of me/we go. Self, our nationalities, and our denominational/organizational loyalties are in effect competing kingdoms

the exhortation to return to our "first love" (Song of Solomon chapter 2, Rev. 2:1-7) we must love HIM first and foremost, not "the work" or elevate Kingdom above relationship with the King

urgency is key, yet we must wait for the Spirit and not run around in endless fruitless efforts to bring in the Kingdom on our own terms and understanding

the importance of NT groupings of numbers and symbols 3, 12, 72, 120 as relates to structuring, strategy and impact

Seek FIRST HIS KINGDOM by simplifying everything, including our lifestyles... surrendering our agendas and goals to those of the King, discriminating between what is Kingdom and what is non-Kingdom

Jerusalem. From Jerusalem something will take place very soon that is so big, and is something that initiates in Antioch. Antioch is the last stretch of the "silk road" which ends in Jerusalem. How the "Back to Jerusalem" movement ties in with Antioch, the silk road, and the fulfilling of the Great Commission in our lifetime.

repentance from our man made ways of doing Kingdom business and a return to seeking the Spirit's guidance and direction before moving a finger, even if the "wait" is longer than we like

commission people into missions as fathers-sons, not as mission agencies

God is doing something new. Yesterday's manna is no good for today. Beware of taking a frame out of God's movie and blowing it up thinking THIS IS WHAT GOD IS DOING at the expense of missing the frames which follow in God's ever moving and quickly advancing film of the ages

Tarsus: death first for effective ministry. Paul spent eleven years of obscurity in Tarsus before the Spirit was able to use him.

Interestingly, the most tense moments of the gathering centered around a day trip to Tarsus, the place where Paul "died" to self. About half the group wanted to skip the trip and stay together in prayer Ala Acts 1 where the 120 were instructed to "wait for the Spirit" which came in Acts 2. The rest of us (including me) were looking forward to the trip to Tarsus. In the end it was decided that those making the trip were just as led of the Lord as those wanting to stay and remain in prayer, and that both groups had something to contribute to the whole of what God was trying to show us. For me personally the Tarsus trip was a highlight of our time which I hope to share in greater detail at a later date.

The Antioch Gathering

2009-10-24T08:38:00.015-05:00

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." Then, when they had fasted and prayed and laid their hands on them, they sent them away. So, being sent out by the Holy Spirit, they went down to Seleucia and from there they sailed to Cyprus. (Act 13:2-4)

October 9-17 of this year, 72 brothers and sisters in Christ, representing 18 nations of the world gathered in the ancient port town of Seleucia, just outside of Antakya (ancient Antioch of Syria). From the window of our bedroom, we could throw a rock and hit the wall you see above where Paul and Barnabas departed for Cyprus on the first of their missionary journeys.

The gathering was like no other meeting Linda and I ever attended. There was no set schedule, no assigned speakers, no morning devotionals, no singing, and no hot water! Due to the lack of space in the small ocean side club where we all stayed, the rooms were shared. Linda and I climbed a steep ladder to sleep in the bedroom "loft" while another couple from Texas slept on the bed below us, with yet another brother from California sleeping on the small couch between us!

The food was typical Turkish "delight" with daily breakfasts of tomatoes, cucumbers, olives, and a dry salty yogurt cheese with plenty of flat chewy Arabic bread. I found I liked drinking 20 glasses of of strong Turkish tea everyday (which was great in keeping us alert during the long prayer and prophecy sessions!) Linda especially loved all the different ways eggplant was prepared and served, and we couldn't get enough of the wonderful and abundant baklava which we bought in the nearby town of Samandag and ate way too much of while there!

While the gathering might have been considered a "who's who" of the organic/simple global house church movement, along with several from the front lines of CPMs going on in various parts of the world, I was struck by the absolute egolessness of our time together. The only celebrity present and acknowledged was the Lord Jesus Christ.

In fact one of the reasons of the gathering was to repent of our false self-importance, and our failed man-made ways of attempting to do God's Kingdom business our way instead of His way. The greatest hindrance for the Great Commission being fulfilled in our life times has nothing to do with existing political governments, economic woes, or any of the major dominating global religions. The problem is us/me/I. We are the "cork" in the bottle restraining God's power from being spiritually released upon the nations. Over and over the theme of humility and dying to self were discussed as key ingredients needed for God's spiritual power to be released upon the nations.

I guess at this point it would be helpful to explain what did take place since there were no speakers, schedule, etc. Basically, the Antioch gathering was to listen to the Holy Spirit and what He has to say about reaching the nations. Long periods were spent individually in prayer and seeking the Lord. Then we would gather to share collectively what each was sensing from the Lord.

After prolonged times of prayer and waiting upon the Lord, prophetic words in the form of Scriptures, symbols, visions, dreams, and impressions were shared. These prophetic words were evaluated and openly discussed in I Cor. 14:29-33 style.

Several themes began to emerge as the days went by. What follows are from my own notes, and not necessarily what others present discerned.

God's will is revealed corporately rather than individually. Individuals may have a piece of the puzzle, but it is only when all the parts are put together that we understand God's big picture of what He is up to...together we have the key and are the key to lock/unlock the secrets of the Kingdom

intentionality in resurrecting true Kingdom building through restoring the Biblical role of apostles and prophets...praying to God to reveal to us with whom to have these A/P relationships..."The impossible is possible when apostles and prophets are properly functioning."

learning to speak behind the masks people wear and publicly display and learning to trust one another far more than we presently do

the meek inherit the earth...someone voiced it this way, "A humble person wants someone else to prosper at their own expense."

Jesus is calling us to a new level of intimacy; from servants, to friends, and to becoming His chosen Bride

rather than operating individually in our spiritual giftings, we need to "marry" our different giftings in cooperative ventures

the needed working/relational partnership between apostles and prophets (we even went through a symbolic marriage ceremony where the apostolic and prophetic were joined again spiritually as key ingredients for seeing the nations come to Jesus)

the absolute need for us to move away from our own empires and personal kingdom building, and return to a grandfathering-fathering-sons-and grandsons vision of doing Kingdom work...fathers need to "get over" their own importance and start focusing on the successes of their sons

church 3.0 (1.0 first-century church, 2.0 Constantine to the present, 3.0 the wineskin that will be used to gather in the final great global harvest already unleashed)

restoring the "Antioch" model of missions as primary instead of the stagnant "Jerusalem" model that prevails in Christendom today

understanding that Jesus is about something new in today's world that is global in nature, we are in a new phase of church history. Those who do not "get it" will not be part of what God is doing and will fade from relevance

not, who am I in God's Kingdom; but who are WE. The idea of embracing accountability

a return to Kingdom principles as a way of understanding the current "glocal apostolic reformation of the Ekklesia and its implications towards a reformation of life and a global housechurchbased missional platform"

This last one may be a bit hard to understand unless familiar with Wolfgang Simson's "Starfish" vision and manifesto writings. During our time together at Antioch, Wolfgang released to the Body of Christ his "Starfish Manifesto" something he has worked on for the past 3-years, putting into language the outworking of what so many of us have sensed is lacking in our lifestyles as professed followers of Christ (a copy of his much shorter and summarized version entitled "Starfish Vison" can be downloaded here.)

In summary, there was simply too much heard and experienced that we are still only beginning to digest. For Linda and myself, it was a very holy time of reconsecrating and renewing our vows to the King. Much of what took place was too spiritually intimate and holy to voice in public. In many ways the experience was a steep learning curve to realize how far we have drifted from NT ways and Kingdom values.

In the coming days, I hope to share some of our pictures and some further reflections on this amazing Antioch gathering. Between us, Linda and I took close to 1800 digital photos! of our 3-week trip to Spain and Turkey. But don't worry, we will only subject you to the best 1600 of them! :)

Bob Roberts - One21 "Must see video"

2009-10-21T06:35:00.004-05:00

First century missions in the 21st century.

Dr. Bob Roberts from One21 The Movement on Vimeo.

What is our missionary role in the cities of Latin America?

2009-10-19T06:20:00.000-05:00

What if, for some reason, we suddenly had to pull out of all the major cities in the Americas? No more missionaries in Bogotá, San José, Lima, Asunción, Sao Paolo, BA...would it really make any difference? Would we really be missed? So why are we still in the cities? Why are most of our missionary personnel still in places like Caracas, Santiago, Mexico City, Quito, Guatemala City?

I have a few thoughts about the roles we missionaries play in the cities of Latin America where the Gospel has already taken root. If we use the analogy of the missionary task to that of a field being planted, the farmer first plows the ground, plants the seed, waters the seed, pulls the weeds, and eventually harvests his crop.

Those missionaries who came before us did an excellent job in plowing the hard ground, planting the Gospel seed, and watering the seed through a host of ministries, institutions and programs.

But I would argue that those initial three phases now belong primarily to the national church and are no longer our tasks as missionaries.

In many parts of Latin America the work is mature. The national church is effectively carrying out these roles as effectively--or better in many cases--than we foreign missionaries were able to do.

So, what then is the missionary task that justifies our presence in the major cities of Latin America?

I propose that our missionary role and presence in the cities is validated by the extent of our engagement in the later phases of "weeding" and in many places "bringing in the harvest."

How do I define "weeding?" Weeds are what compete with the sowed grain and negatively impact bringing in a bumper crop. After two decades in Guayaquil I can name those weeds that are most hurting us: discouragement, distractions, divisions (the 3 D's of the Devil.) The missionary task, as I understand it is to be a prophetic voice "weeding out" the 3 D's of the Devil. There are probably other "weeds" out there, but these three seem universal in harvest fields. Our role is to help identify in the churches, ministries, institutions, and conventions, the weeds which are choking out the harvest which God wants to bring in.

Nobody likes to pull weeds. But what happens to a crop if nobody hoes weeds? All the hard previous labor will fall short of its potential. The thieving weeds will ruin a harvest! How weed pulling is played out will surely vary from city to city and region to region, but it must be addressed.

The other final phase is to bring home the harvest.

I see in this missionary phase the task as primarily an administrative, logistical role of coordinating, training, mobilizing, motivating, and inspiring people. We can't possibly bring home the harvest by ourselves. To finish the task, the Lord of the Harvest is going to have to touch many hearts. Our part is to be an instrument that He uses as a mouthpiece, a voice, the go-between to get people from point-A to point-B where the harvest is taking place.

We are the ones who need to thoroughly understand concepts like partnering, networking, mobilizing, how people communicate today, and understanding today's generations and cultural values to harness that energy to bring in the harvest the Lord has been preparing for decades in the cities of Latin America.

So, what do you think? Should we still be giving our missionary time to plowing, planting, watering, as well as to weeding and harvesting? Would you add/subtract anything to the above? Again, I am speaking more in the context of the missionary task, not as what we the Church should be engaged in. Till Christ returns, the church should be out there making disciples of the nations. But where do we engage our priorities as missionaries? That is the question.

Demonization

2009-10-16T06:03:00.000-05:00

I read Seth Godin's blog everyday. Recently he wrote this entry which I cannot stop thinking about.

The closer you get to someone, something, some brand, some organization... the harder it is to demonize it, objectify it or hate it.

So, if you want to not be hated, open up. Let people in. Engage. Interact.

So true. Them--our perceived "enemies"--are really not so bad once we make a move closer to them. Sit down together. Share our hearts. Maybe Seth is just reminding us of something Jesus taught his disciples over and over again...love one another. Sometimes to love we must be the one to make the move to engage and let others in. We generally have more in common with people than the differences that keep us apart.

What is my role as a missionary?

2009-10-13T05:44:00.000-05:00

I will not attempt to speak for my colleagues and fellow missionaries around the world. What I seek to describe is how I understand my own calling/role/function as a missionary.

Through the years, missionaries have served the Lord in many capacities. Church planters, physicians, administrators, Bible translators, pilots, social workers, educators, evangelists, are only a few of the many roles and tasks taken on by missionaries around the world.

In our own 20+ years on the field we have served as a consultant, seminary professor, counselor, media missionary, administrator, Minister of Music, and as a church planting catalyst.

"Church Planter" is really not an accurate descriptor of my role as a missionary. I have never planted a single church. However we have functioned in a catalytic role to see over 250 churches planted over the past years. To me there is a critical difference between being a "church planter" and a "church planting catalyst."

If I set out to plant a church, with the help of the Lord, I might be able to plant one or two new churches per year. If, however, I refrain from actually planting a church and give myself instead to a catalytic function of training, mentoring, and coaching 50 others to plant churches, there will be anywhere from 20 to 30, and possibly even 50 churches planted. One church, or fifty. Which will make a greater impact upon lostness?

Using the words of Ori Brafman and Rod Beckstrom in their provocative book, "The Starfish and the Spider", a catalyst is "any element or compound that initiates a reaction without fusing into that reaction..." They go on to explain, "Take nitrogen and hydrogen...put them in a container, close the lid, come back a day later, and...nothing will have happened. But add ordinary iron to the equation and you'll get ammonia...The thing is ammonia doesn't have any iron in it--it's made solely of hydrogen and nitrogen. The iron in this equation remains unchanged: it just facilitates the bonding of hydrogen and nitrogen in a certain way..."

This sums up so well what I feel my role/function is as a missionary. The authors clarify that in organizations, a catalyst is the person who does the initiating but then fades away into the background. A catalyst gets things going and then cedes control to the members. "The catalyst is an inspirational figure who spurs others to action...A catalyst is like the architect of a house: he's essential to the long-term structural integrity, but he doesn't move in." (pg.92-94) That is exactly what I feel my role is as a missionary--to spur others to action, and then get out of the way and allow God to work through their lives.

In our experience, outreach groups and new churches do not form by themselves in a vacuum. A human catalyst is needed if one is to see fruitful ministry. If you simply gather a bunch of people in the same room, not much is likely to happen of consequence. But add a CP catalyst and soon you have people talking and planning about planting churches.

While being careful to not make blanket statements that apply to everyone everywhere, I feel we need to have more of a catalytic mindset as missionaries. In our desire to impact lostness, too many of us are trying to do the work of "starting a church" when what we need to be doing is acting as a catalyst. A catalyst who can be used of the Lord to ignite dozens of fellow believers to step out in faith to carry out the Great Commission.

To do and teach

2009-10-10T05:15:00.000-05:00

This past week our team began a process of reevaluating who we are as a team, our purpose, role, mission, and what God is trying to say to us in regards to restructuring for greater effectiveness in the ministry He has given.

We decided to go back to the book of Acts for instruction. Every week we go through a chapter of ACTS, and verse by verse glean what is there for us to learn.

On Saturday morning we began with Acts 1:1

The first account I composed, Theophilus, about all that Jesus began to do and teach...

In all the versions we had the Biblical order appears first, to do; and second, and teach. We found this significant and a confirmation of what we have been trying to do for several years. It is more important to first DO something before trying to TEACH others. Doing comes before teaching. Wasn't that Jesus' way?

However, most of us come from an opposite teach-do approach to learning. We are first encouraged to attend conferences, read books, take notes, watch videos, and sit in classrooms where we are taught about a lost world, evangelism, discipleship, church planting, etc. After the instruction time is up, we learners are expected to go out and DO what we were taught. In our experience, 9 times out of 10 this doesn't work. Nine of the ten will never follow through on what they were taught.

Over the years we have tried very hard to implement a church planting "do-teach" methodology.

To learn how to swim, the best way is not by sitting through class lectures, or by watching instructional swim videos. The best way is get those wanting to learn how to swim into the water ASAP. Once in the water, panic sets in at realizing "I don't know how to swim!" After this initial panic experience they are more than ready for lesson #1: KICK, KICK, KICK!

Back in the water we go to practice our kicking. We model for them in the water how to kick. They watch us kick, and then we watch them kick. After a while, we get out of the water and talk about kicking. We might even assign a book on kicking, give a chat on kicking, or show a video. But now the experience of what is being taught will be much meaningful and practical.

The same holds true for those we hope will go out and plant churches. Church planting is not a classroom, conference, video watching activity. It is getting plantees out there with real people in the water. When they come back with real life questions, they are more than ready to be taught. But we teach to improve or build upon what the plantees are already doing.

In Luke 10 Jesus sends out the 70 with a few guiding instructions. As they obeyed and did what was commanded, Jesus was able to pray, "I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven...I praise you, Father...because you have hidden these things from the wise and learned, and revealed them to little children..."

As we learn to first DO what Jesus said, we earn the right to TEACH others and have them listen to our message and instruction.

Simplify

2009-10-07T05:58:00.000-05:00

The lack of a clear defined purpose for why God has us in Ecuador is clearly one of the major hindrances I see in our overall work and ministry. There is simply too much going on. Too many irons in the fire. Too many distractions. We desperately need to simplify. Focus and act on less to accomplish more.

I am more convinced one of Satan's major strategies is to distract us from the few things that are really important. As Jesus says in Luke 10, "Martha, Martha...you are worried and upset about many things, but only one thing is needed. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her."

What is the "one thing" needed that Jesus tells Martha? I think it is simply that very little of the "stuff" that we are distracted with is all that important. The one thing we need to make sure we are doing is to "seek first his kingdom and his righteousness..." Cut out all the clutter in our lives that is detracting from obeying this command. Define what "seeking first his kingdom" means and then do it.

How do we implement this commandment of Jesus in our daily lives?

God is showing us is that we don't have to respond or act upon all that is directed our way. Just because someone throws us the ball, doesn't mean we have to catch it.

To me it means simplify. Reduce. Unclutter our lives. Define what is really important and focus on doing well fewer things. Prioritize where our time is being spent.

If the enemy can somehow keep us on the move, filling our days with endless trivial tasks, we won't have time, energy, or focus for those Kingdom matters that really count.

What do you think of the above? What is God showing you these days?

The future of missions organizations

2009-10-04T05:39:00.000-05:00

With the recent announced retirement of IMB President, Jerry Rankin, more than ever the future of denominational/institutional missions organizations is being redefined. I found the following thoughts by Bob Roberts, Jr. insightful. What do you see as the future of missions organizations like the Southern Baptist International Mission Board, SIM, YWAM, CCC, etc. as we know them today?

...................................

There has never been a time, or as conducive an environment, for mission agencies and institutions to engage the world like there is today. If it happens, mission agencies and institutions are going to have to:

1. see themselves as connectors of the whole body of Christ to the whole world.

2. release control or lose any control at all because people aren't going to sit around and wait.

3. train not just local culture and practices to a missionary but global culture and practices.

4. redefine how missionaries work, what they do and how they operate.

5. be a revolving door not just of sending western missionaries but of "global" missionaries from every society.

6. be a receiving entity for missionaries coming to America who feel called to work here . . .

7. value local churches and laymen beyond just seeing them as cows to milk for their institution (I'm convinced the key to raising funds is not asking for money but partnering and doing things together--there will be more money than they could ever imagine.

8. view themselves not as funders of people who want to be vocational missionaries but partners "gospel" seed planters of the kingdom throughout the world.

...People are going to work with people that are willing to work together and ignore those who aren't willing to partner. The days of a huge bureaucracy telling a church that is funding it what it can and can't do are numbered. Getting a bunch of young guys in a room and telling them "we want to hear from you" won't cut it. Getting a bunch of youngsters with a radical "newlight" missionary--saying there's a city, now take it, and the skies the limit. You empower them all, you infuse enthusiasm, and you learn from one another.

Words of appreciation for Dr. Rankin

2009-10-01T22:31:00.000-05:00

Erich Bridges is one of my all-time favorite IMB staff writers. When he recently wrote his Note to the boss: Thank you about Jerry Rankin's announced retirement, I found myself identifying with his words of appreciation.

-------------------
9/17/2009

Dear Jerry Rankin,

I knew this day would come, but I wasn’t looking forward to it.

You’re retiring next summer as president of IMB (International Mission Board). When you made the announcement to our trustees, I thought back to the days leading up to your election 16 years ago.

At the time, you were a missionary and mission administrator who’d been in Asia for 23 years. By your own admission, you were quite happy on the field where God had called you — and you weren’t all that excited about dealing with Southern Baptist bureaucracy and politics back home.

You said you felt “inadequate to the task.” You were reluctant to take on the gargantuan job of leading the largest evangelical missionary-sending agency during “a peak of controversy regarding control of leadership roles among Southern Baptist Convention entities.”

You weren’t the only one with doubts. The convention was still reeling from years of painful struggle over its theology and identity. Your distinguished predecessor, R. Keith Parks, had crossed swords with multiple critics while leading the mission board toward new strategies to reach the world with the Gospel.

I can’t speak for other folks, but some of us grizzled reporter types in the old IMB newsroom thought you were going to get taken apart limb from limb in the first year.

It didn’t quite turn out that way. I think we all underestimated you.

You’ve led us through some tough times, to be sure. You’ve taken your share of criticism — some of it fair, some of it misguided and wrong. I’ve grumbled myself a few times.

Today, though, I want to thank you for stepping up and taking the heat, even when it hurt. For spending countless nights away from home in dodgy airplanes and dingy Third World airports. For attending innumerable meetings. For preaching thousands of mission messages to churches at home. And for walking beside thousands of missionaries and Christian servants in some of the darkest places on earth.

More than that, thank you for being a disciplined and visionary leader from day one.

I’ve never heard you speak to an audience or congregation without using these three words: “a lost world.” Not once. I got tired of hearing it — until I realized it wasn’t a phrase but a consuming passion within you. The fact that so many millions of people have yet to hear the name of Jesus Christ actually breaks your heart. I want it to break mine.

By far the biggest challenges IMB missionaries and staff have faced during your tenure have involved not convention politics or economic difficulties but the “main thing”: How do we reach a lost world with the saving Gospel of Jesus Christ? As a leader, you have never taken your eye off that all-important task, given to us by the Lord Himself in Matthew 28:19: “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations …”

All nations, not just the ones that are open, friendly or willing to grant missionary visas. And not just all “nations” as we understand them in the political sense, but all peoples — in all their staggering cultural, ethnic and linguistic variety. That is how God sees the world, and He wants all the peoples of the world to worship Him in spirit and truth.

The magnitude of that command led you to become not a denominational bureaucrat but a revolutionary. As a field missionary who started out in an earlier era, you first had to revolutionize your own thinking about missions. You embraced new strategies you once questioned and aggressively spread them throughout a global enterprise.

You declared that the International Mission Board would no longer talk about reaching the whole world while sending missionaries only to part of it. Rather, we would mobilize Southern Baptists and other Great Commission-minded Christians to do whatever it takes to plant churches among every unreached, unevangelized and unengaged people group.

In a day when people demand hands-on involvement, you declared we would move beyond simply sending missionaries. Instead, we would make local Southern Baptist churches — regardless of their size — full strategic partners in the task of global missions. That is their biblical role, after all, something often forgotten in the age of professional missions.

It’s not always easy working with a revolutionary — especially one who advocates continuous revolution in pursuit of a grand vision. You have initiated two major IMB reorganizations (the latest is still unfolding) and many smaller ones during your tenure. Missionary and staff assignments have changed and changed again. Strongly held beliefs about mission methods have been repeatedly challenged. Comfort zones have been abolished.

And you’re still pushing and prodding us to take the next step.

Has it been worth all the blood, sweat and tears? As an occasionally queasy rider on the “Rankin Express” for the past 16 years, I say yes.

A large, traditional mission board now embraces new and even experimental strategies to impact lostness. An organization once known for going it alone now aggressively pursues mission partners overseas and church partners at home. I’m not exactly objective, but in an era suspicious of all institutions, I honestly believe IMB is more relevant than ever to people who seriously want to reach the nations.

You helped get us to this point, Jerry. Where your continuous energy comes from, I don’t know. Deep prayer, I suspect, and powerful coffee.

Thank you for being passionate and not just talking about it. Thank you for taking spiritual warfare seriously. Thank you for being obsessed — in a holy way — with a lost world.

When a reporter asked about your legacy a few years back, you responded: “I would like to be able to say, ‘We can no longer identify a people group that doesn’t have access to the Gospel.’ To me, that’s the essence of what we’re about.”

We’re not there yet, Jerry. But we’re a lot closer than we were 16 years ago.

---------------------
Another good write-up is by fellow missionary "Strider" Honor to whom honor is due. Thanks for these good words Strider.

A few personal notes and prayer requests

2009-09-30T08:20:00.001-05:00

Today, Wednesday, Sept. 30 is my wife Linda's birthday. If you'd like to drop her a note you can do so by leaving her a note on her blog A Foreign Life. Thank you for praying for her. I am most blessed to have such a special lady as my wife!

Thursday, Oct. 1, Linda and I will be headed off to Asia (October 1-20) for a worldwide gathering of missionaries and church planters to: 1) repent of our man-made strategies and definitions for missions, 2) to hear God together on how He wants us to mission/network together, and 3) based on the results of what we hear God say, to repent and reform and be in line with the revelation He gives. Sounds like a unique kind of gathering, wouldn't you say?

*Pray for Linda and I to be in tune with the Lord to what He has to say to us during our trip. Pray for our safety in travel, health during the trip, and making all the connections we have to make in getting there!

*Pray for our Anna as she goes to Quito to be with my sister Gail Smallwood and family during the three weeks that we will be gone.

*Pray for our son Joshua in Seguin, TX. His birthday is October 1 and will be turning 18 this year. Pray that God would continue to be at work in his life and in his heart to conform him to the image of Jesus. Pray also for my mom and dad to have the stamina and energy to keep up with a teenage grandson always on the go!

*Pray for our continued safety. This past week we had two accidents while on the road. One was on the way home Saturday evening from the new church being planted in Vernaza. While no one was hurt, our car is in pretty bad shape.

Thank you for your faithful praying. One of my favorite quotes is "Things happen when we pray, that don't happen when we don't pray."

What would you do differently if you could start all over today?

2009-09-28T05:50:00.000-05:00

For the past five years I have moderated an email church planting forum. Most of the participants are IMB-SBC missionaries engaged in planting simple churches throughout Latin America.

The first cpf entry on Sept. 24, 2004 was a question posed to the forum by a fellow missionay who asked:

1) What would you do differently if you were starting LA IGLESIA EN TU CASA (The Church In Your House) today? 2) What suggestions would you give to people that try something similar in a large metro area?

The response I sent in to the forum five years ago is pretty much the same answer I would give today...

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

At least four things come to mind...

1) Even though we worked hard at simplifying, I believe what we did was too complicated and over most people's heads (as evidenced by what is actually practiced today in most of those first house churches which were planted.) Just because something is said or taught, does not mean it is caught. I would model more, and talk less. Spend more time actually doing what it is we would like to see happening, and spend less time trying to explain things.

2) Maybe compromise a bit more on our own personal ecclesiology convictions so as to be able to work with a greater number of our more traditional Baptist churches. Yes, there are a lot of differences in the way we approach the Great Commission, but there should be more we have in common than differences. We have got to figure out a way to "package" what we are doing so that it is acceptable to our churches and national leadership.

3) Spend more one-on-one time with the individual servant leaders. While we have always given lip-service to the importance of this, the truth is we do very little in this area. It is easier to say come to such-and-such a meeting, than it is to go out to where these guys live, drink a glass of Tropical with them, and enter their world for a while, helping them where they are struggling. And closely related...

4) Spend more time with those first house churches to make sure the new groups were practicing the right things so that they would be able to survive and move in the direction of multiplication. It is a lot of fun to report large numbers of new groups being started, but the truth of the matter is we tend to let it go at that and do not do the harder work of seeing them through those crucial first 4-6 months. We might see fewer new church plants in the beginning doing it this way, but in the long run the numbers will come if we do it right!

How does a medical mission trip fit into simple church model?

2009-09-25T21:57:00.003-05:00

In response to my previous two posts of the FBC-Lewisville medical team, a reader sent me the following questions. I appreciate his asking. One of the reasons I blog is to bring practical and relevant mission, and church planting issues to a broader audience. By answering, it also allows me to shed a bit more light on the exciting things God continues to do here in Ecuador.

-------------------------

How does a medical mission trip fit into the framework of the simple church / house church model? Is a new assembly of 30+ not already a little bit larger than the ideal simple church?

Planting house/simple churches is not our reason for being here. Making disciples of the nations is. Having said that, I personally believe 'making disciples' is best accomplished in small house/simple gatherings. However, I believe just about any kind of NT Christian church is better than no church at all! Such is the case for the area where the medical team ministered last week. We were invited by a traditional church to come help them with their vision of planting churches in the 160 surrounding communities. The inviting church would definitely be described as "traditional" in their ecclesiology. The new church plant will more than likely also be traditional. While there were 30+ in the first meeting of the new church, from experience I can almost guarantee this number will fall to the 8-15 range within a couple of weeks.

Also, is the pastor of the mother church a seminary trained, "professional" pastor, or a lay pastor? Does this new church have a professional pastor or will it be led by lay pastors?

This new church plant is a 3rd generation church plant from the mother church. Yes, the pastor of the mother church is a seminary trained "professional" pastor (one of my seminary students years ago.) The second generation pastor directly involved with the new church plant is an unordained, non-seminary trained "lay pastor." The brother who will be leading the newly planted church is also a "lay pastor" with no formal training.

And PTL for 70+ professions! How was the gospel presented? Many North American gospel presentations share a series of propositional truths. Was storying integrated into the gospel presentations? If so how?

The Gospel was presented differently by each of those sharing. Usually the format is along the lines of sharing one's personal testimony in abbreviated form. This is followed by a few questions to the listener seeking to understand their standing with the Lord. The bulk of the sharing was done with a few key evangelistic verses--call them "propositional truths." And, no, storying was not used.

The Coast of Ecuador is what we would call a harvest field. The Gospel was planted here over 100 years ago. There have been many before us who broke the hard ground, plowed, planted, watered, pulled weeds, etc. Today it is our privilege to harvest what those saints before us worked for so long.

If you caught the numbers shared in the original report of 232 people seen, and 77 professions of faith, that is 33% response rate of those hearing the Gospel presented (1 out of 3.) We are in truth a ripe field ready to be harvested! When the fruit is ripe like this, it doesn't take a lot of fancy methodology, or slick presentations of the Gospel to get one's message across. People are open and receptive to the Good News, and it doesn't take much convincing for them to say "yes" to the love of Jesus.

Having said this, though, I personally do not put much weight into how many pray the sinners prayer to "receive Christ". It is easy to do, and many here will do so out of a sense of not wanting to offend, or will do so to please the person taking the time to share with them. What really counts is when they decide to be baptized. We have a saying, "Baptism does not save, but until they are baptized they are probably not saved."

For us the key is the discipleship process. Within 48 hours of someone expressing an interest in following Christ, we do our best to set up a meeting with them to begin discipling the interested new believer or seeker (as is usually the case.) To learn more about our approach to discipleship click here.

Feel free to interact with the above questions yourself, or with anything I write. I enjoy dialog and discussion about how we might better implement measures to bring in the harvest the Lord is giving us here in Ecuador.

Ecuador Medical Team

2009-09-23T08:30:00.003-05:00

Scenes from last week's medical team from FBC-Lewisville in Salitre County.

My favorite North Carolina church

2009-09-20T15:00:00.004-05:00

FBC-Lewisville is my new favorite church in North Carolina! This past week a medical team of eight came down to help us plant a new church in Vernaza (Salitre County) as part of the Guayas Cantones for Christ project.

It was our joy to have Les Puryear and his wife Debbie stay in our home. Les is pastor of the church, well-known blogger, and advocate for "small church." During the week Dr. Mark Bardou and his team of nurses Veda, Amy, and Cindy saw and treated 232 patients. Mark's wife, Jane, fitted reading glasses for another 100+. Tara helped coordinate those arriving to be seen by el doctor. Les, along with a team of national youth, shared the Gospel with each person seen by the medical team. In all there were 77 professions of faith. With these new believers, a new church has been planted in Vernaza.

Some might question whether or not a church can truly be planted in only two days time. But many factors were already set into motion long before the Lewisville medical team arrived on the scene this past week.

--For many years prayer has been showered upon Guayas Province (which includes Salitre) by great numbers of local believers on a daily basis. For this trip there were over 1000 people specifically praying.

--Missions minded people. Instead of people being content to hang out in ongoing local church programs, or saying "I can't do this" or "I don't have time for this", people have the spirit of "can I come help and be part of this too?" It is amazing the number of believers, both Stateside and locally, wanting to serve if given a chance. We must be proactive and invite them to join with us in what God is doing to reach the nations.

--Visionary Acts 1:8 leaders such as Carlos Goya, pastor of the Salitre Baptist Church, who even though they are only a new church plant themselves started two years ago, have already grown to over 200 and are intent upon reaching the remaining 160 communities in their Judea (Vernanza is one of those 160 communities in Salitre county.)

--Having clearly defined "persons of peace" such as Luis Ramirez and his family open up their home (actually an hacienda) as a meeting place for the new community church. Luis is a respected local figure. Out of his own resources Luis is providing the space for the new church plant and will likely provide most (if not all) the needed materials for discipleship, Bibles, chairs, etc.

--Intentional church planting. Having the intent of not just 'preaching the Gospel' but planting a church with those hearing the Gospel message. So much of our evangelistic efforts are wasted by not having the clear intention of planting a church with those being exposed to the Gospel.

--Partnering with like-minded brethren. In this case "the team" consisted of a large assortment of local youth from several different churches, the Lewisville eight, three different national churches (Israel BC in Guayaquil, Israel BC in Samborondon, Israel BC in Salitre), several members of our Guayas Mestizo Team, and even a young lady (Gaby) from an Assemblies of God church who translated for Les!

God has given us all the resources we need to take the Gospel to the ends of the earth. It is up to us to identify the resources He has entrusted, fit the pieces together, proclaim the Gospel by word (preaching) and deed (eg. medical teams) and add to that a hefty portion of faith and perseverance. The result? A church plant.

Thanks Les, Debbie, Mark, Jane, Amy, Cindy, Veda, Barbara, Linda, Anna Victoria, Julieta, Gaby, Marcos, Rene, Kimberly, Carlos, Luis, Annie, Carolina, Delia, Connie, Ana Mari, Connie, Bryan, the ladies who cooked for us, and those who opened their homes for the Lewisville team. ALL OF YOU DID A GREAT JOB!

While we do not yet have photos up of the trip, if interested, please click on one of the following YouTube videos for images of past work in the area where we were this last week.

Christ has no body now but yours (Ecuador flood relief)

Salitre baptisms

---------------------------------
UPDATE: 8pm - Just returned from the first meeting of the new church plant in Vernaza. There were 31 present and one new lady visiting accepted the Lord.

Missional Renaissance by Reggie McNeal

2009-09-14T14:22:00.000-05:00

Open Reggie McNeal's new book Missional Renaissance: Changing the Scorecard for the Church to any random page and find enough there to camp out in thought for a couple of hours.

If missional has been one of those fuzzy buzz-word terms that you keep hearing but don't know exactly what everyone is talking about, this book will more than clear up the matter for you like it did for me.

Reggie explains in the Introduction, "Missional will require that you make three shifts, both in your thinking and in your behavior:

From internal to external in terms of ministry focus
From program development to people development in terms of core activity
From church-based to kingdom-based in terms of leadership agenda"

He goes on to explain these shifts are not destinations but compass settings for moving you from doing church as "primarily a refuge, conservator, and institutional activity in a post-Christendom culture to being a risky, missionary, organic force in the increasingly pre-Christian world..."

These shifts will necessitate a new scorecard from that of the typical church way of measuring how many, how often, and how much. The new scorecard needs to find ways of measuring external focused ministry, people development efforts, and a kingdom-oriented leadership agenda.

There is so much packed into the 188 pages that it is hard to know where to jump in. Like I said previously, one can open the book to just about any random page and find plenty to chew on. To illustrate my point, a few moments ago I flipped open the book and put my finger on page 45:

[An] airport is a place of connection, not a destination. Its job is to help people get somewhere else. An airport-centric world of travel would be dull and frustrating, no matter how nice the airport is. When the church thinks it's the destination, it also confuses the scorecard. It thinks that if people are hovering around and in the church, the church is winning. The truth is, when that's the case, the church is really keeping people from...their real destination...The church is a connector, linking people to the kingdom life that God has for them. Substituting church activity as the preferred life expression is as weird as believing that airports are more interesting than the destinations they serve.

While I sensed that the book was targeted mainly towards the more traditional/institutional type churches, there is plenty within its pages to challenge all of us. I guess what most attracted me about this book is its subtitle: "Changing the Scorecard for the Church." What kinds of things does a missional church measure?

Page 117 gives only one of many lists, but will give the reader an idea of the huge shift Reggie is trying to get people to understand:

Number of people reporting improved marriages over time
Number of people reporting improved friendships over time
Number of people being mentored
Number of people serving as mentors
Number of people able to articulate life mission
Number of people serving other people in some venue
Number of people practicing intentional blessing strategy for those around them
Number of people growing in financial giving to kingdom causes

There are pages of these kinds of "new scorecards" covering areas like leadership, finances, calendar, facilities, technology, people, prayer. To begin to implement even 5% of the kinds of changes suggested would completely transform the church as we currently know her.

If you decide to read this book, I recommend getting yourself a yellow highlighter to mark all the passages you will want to remember. Here are a few of my favorites all coming from pages 54-57:

--Jesus followers believe that the way they demonstrate love and service will intrigue people to pursue getting to know the God who inspires such service.

--Our acts of service and love, not our oratorical brilliance and institutional success, will intrigue people with our message.

--Jesus followers live the truth; they don't just study it.

--The missionary church is made up of missionaries, who are playing the big game every day. They live their lives with the idea that they are on a mission trip.

--On mission trips, people focus on the work of God around them, alert to the Spirit's prompting, usually serving people in very tangible ways, often in ways that involve some sacrifice or even discomfort.

--Life on mission is more intentional and more integrated.

There are hundreds more just like these to begin to challenge the way we think about ourselves and our mission here on earth.

In summary, this is a book well worth reading for anyone focused upon being a follower of Jesus and seeking first His Kingdom. As Reggie puts it, "In a kingdom-oriented worldview, the target of God's redemptive love is the world, not the church (For God so loved the world, Jesus said; not 'for God so loved the church') This means that God is always at work in the world, not just in the church, prosecuting his redemptive mission."

Jesus' way; or our way

2009-09-11T12:19:00.000-05:00

In Luke 10, Jesus sets out clear, step-by-step instructions for the 70 disciples to obey in reaching out to "every town and place where He was about to go." If Jesus himself trained, taught, and instructed his disciples in the way He knew would work, why 2000 years later, do we think we can improve upon His methods?

Jesus instructed his disciples, "PRAY to the Lord of the Harvest to send out workers into His harvest..." (10:2)

We have improved upon this instruction by, 1) substituting 'praying to the Lord of the Harvest' for TALKING about the need for praying, 2) forget about praying, what needs to be done is massive recruitment--get out there and do what has to be done to get people involved, mobilize the masses into training seminars at the largest convention centers in town and invite in the biggest names that will draw the crowds.

Jesus instructed his disciples, "GO, I'm sending you out like lambs among wolves..." (10:3)

We have improved upon Jesus' words by substituting His command to go for something much more convenient for us: COME! Come to our church...meeting...revival...youth group...evangelistic crusade...ladies brunch...sports event...spiritual emphasis...Bible study...etc.

Going out to where the lost are and entering their world is always a lot messier than sitting around hoping and praying they will somehow come to us and whatever event we have planned for them. While I can give a couple of hours for an event at church, I certainly don't have the same couple of hours to go out of my way to seek out those in need. I might be seen associating myself with non-desirables in places not known as appropriate Christian hang-outs.

Jesus instructed his disciples, "DON'T CARRY a money-bag, traveling bag, or sandals..." (10:4)

Since we have never really understood exactly what Jesus was trying to say with this obscure command, we have simply ignored it and done just the opposite. We believe it is not possible to do the Lord's work unless we have a large money bag, and having all the necessary implements in our traveling bag for the journey (cars, land, building, salaries, literature, support packages, furnishings, sounds system, musical instruments, laptop, PowerPoint, video projector, etc.) And certainly let's not forget the importance of the having the latest fashion in sandals and attire and other necessary personal implements for the task. After all, we want to make a good impression on those we are trying to reach!

Jesus instructed his disciples, "DON'T GREET ANYONE along the road..." (10:4)

Jesus obviously didn't understand the importance of greetings in our present day cultures. How is one ever to gain access into "their world" unless we spend a lot of time greeting and building relationships? So, once again we seek to improve (ignore) another outdated command of our Lord and actually spend enormous chunks of time and plan whole evangelistic strategies that never get beyond anything other than "greeting" and nurturing a few relationships. We do ladies teas, let's meet the neighbors, go to ball games together, find someone to drink coffee with, etc. While all these may be good activities, the problem is that we seldom move beyond the "greeting stage" to the remaining instructions of Christ as given in Luke 10:1-9. Jesus knows how easily we are distracted, so He warns us upfront to not greet anyone, or do anything else that will distract us from the important mission we are on.

Jesus instructed his disciples, "SAY 'PEACE to this household' and if a son of peace is there your peace will rest on him..." (10:5)

'Say peace to this household'? What is that all about? The best way to win a community, town, or city is to get out there in vast numbers and knock on as many doors as possible. When they open the door, invite them to your church, and maybe even preach the Gospel and let them know this might be the very last chance they will ever have for salvation. If they refuse, leave them a Gospel tract, and a bunch of literature from your church and be sure to pray for them before leaving.

Jesus instructed his disciples, "REMAIN IN THE SAME HOUSE, eating and drinking what they offer..." (10:7)

Remain in the same house? Just that one house? You've got to be kidding! The more houses you visit, the more contacts you will have, the greater the number of positive results. You wouldn't want to dare risk everything on just one household. There is a high chance things will not work out and then you will be left with nothing. Plus, what's the big deal with wasting time by eating and drinking with people? Does eating and drinking accomplish anything of eternal value? Don't think so...

Jesus instructed his disciples, "EAT THE THINGS set before you..." (10:8)

It's like Jesus foreknew we would have trouble with understanding the importance of the eating/drinking part, so He said it TWICE to make sure we would get it. But the fact is we have yet to grasp the importance of eating and drinking with people BEFORE trying to proclaim the 'Good News" to them. What's important is getting down to business and sharing the Gospel with lost folks. We eat and drink with our fellow Christians, not with pagans!

Jesus instructed his disciples, "HEAL THE SICK who are there..." (10:9)

Well this one is easy to ignore because we all know that only the Pentecostals and the Charismatics are the ones into the healing stuff. We certainly can side-step this sticky one. We wouldn't want to actually involve ourselves in any controversial issues like healing the sick (might lose our jobs over it!) After all, most of us are cessationists and no longer believe these extraordinary gifts of the Spirit are valid today. We have the Bible and that's all we need. So, basically we are off the hook on this one. Next...

Jesus instructed his disciples, "TELL THEM, 'The kingdom of God has come near you..." (10:9)

Well FINALLY Jesus gets around to telling us to do what really matters--the 'main thing'-- which is declaring, preaching, teaching the Gospel message of the Kingdom to these lost people. Let's just cut to the chase and skip all the other stuff. It is time to get down to the important business of witnessing and sharing the Gospel. We are free to skip over the parts of Jesus instructions we don't like or understand. Wasn't his main thrust obviously this last point? We will certainly try to obey this part, but the rest is up for debate and interpretation--in other words, not much of importance in all those instructions preceding this final one.

Is it any wonder that after 2000 years we still haven't finished the task given us by Christ? We think we have a better way of doing things. We have the new, improved version, and yet continuously scratch our heads and wonder why things aren't working out the way they are supposed to?

Where two or three are gathered

2009-09-10T07:32:00.000-05:00

Excellent read from Acquire Wisdom by Galen Currah, Edward Aw and George Patterson.

Jesus promised: “Where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I among them.” (Matt. 18:20) If you mentor those who multiply new gatherings and those who shepherd them, then you understand the importance of this basic unit of the living Body of Christ on earth. You can help your trainees plan, form and multiply many tiny gatherings as part of a bigger congregation.

What they can do

Little gatherings of two, three or more, prove entire capable of fulfilling many, biblical requirements of an authentic body. However little gatherings may be, they can:

* experience the Presence of Christ
* obey, together, all Jesus’ basic commandments (believe, baptize, love, pray, share, praise, commune, give, make disciples…)
* exercise spiritual gifts (evangelize, prophesy, exhort, teach, show mercy…)
* edify one another with loving interaction, practicing the biblical “one another” commands
* persevere through time, trials and persecution
* reproduce by adding members and forming new gatherings

Other advantages

The littlest of gatherings enjoy certain strengths and advantages that prove difficult for bigger congregations. Consider these:

* quick growth, easily doubling in only a few day’s time
* starting and thriving without budgets, benches, bells, banners
* a married couple worshiping with their children or servants
* easily moving location according to needs or convenience
* quickly learning from mistakes and make needed changes
* providing discipleship for seekers and new believers
* opportunity for new leaders to gain experience
* avoiding being bullied by oppressive laws and hostile authorities

Two or three of whom?

The New Testament provides examples of many small gatherings, some of them consisting, at least temporarily, of two or three individuals. These include one individual sharing with another (a couple from Emmaus), newly-saved households (a Philippian jailor), home-based gatherings (Lydia’s house), apostolic teams (Paul and Silas), those praying for restoration (Matt. 18:19-20), training leaders (Priscilla and Aquila with Apollos). Thus, the two or three may consist of individuals, evangelists, married couples, heads of households, team mates, military personnel, students on campus, friends at coffeehouses, and so forth.

Basic unit of all growth

A silent reality of all social groups, including congregations, missionary bands, house gatherings and discipleship groups, is that they grow mostly in units of two or three. That is, every one or two believers finds another; every one or two couples seeks a third; every one or two shepherds seeks to train up a new one.

Shepherds, missionaries and trainers can enhance groups, both quantitatively in numbers and qualitatively in maturity, by paying attention to this basic pattern. Of course, this is not a matter of mathematical precision, but of simply working together on a micro-level to win folk to Christ and to disciple them in a normal, effective and reproductive way.

1 + 1 = 2

2 + 1 = 3

3 + 1 = 2 + 2

2 + 2 + 1 = 3 + 2

3 + 2 + 1 = 2 + 2 + 2

et cetera

Every believer seeks to win a friend, every couple finds another couple, and every shepherd appoints an apprentice. Next, every two friends win a third, or every two couples seek a third couple, every two shepherds appoint a third. Each of these “triads” seeks another individual, another couple, another shepherd, until they are four and can become two pairs of individuals, two pairs of couples, two pairs of shepherds. Thereafter, every pair, again, seeks another.

A tactic for reproduction

You can help your mentees plan to match every believer or believing couple with another believer or believing couple, for purposes of mutual encouragement. Such matching can happen during cellular or congregational gatherings, or between gatherings. Instruct every pair to pray and ask God to bring them a third believer or couple. The three will then pray and ask God to bring a fourth. When the fourth has come, these will form a new pair of two individuals or two couples who will pray and ask God for a third believer or a third couple.

Each of you mentors should pray and ask God for an apprentice mentor, and the two of you should pray and ask God for another apprentice mentor, then a fourth. Soon you will be two pairs of mentors, praying and asking God for yet another. This will continue until the Lord Jesus be revealed from heaven with power and glory.

Is preaching really the best way to get our message across?

2009-09-08T05:30:00.000-05:00

I just returned from a three-day pastor's conference in central Ecuador. It was an excellent time of seeing many old friends and hearing some great teaching and preaching from my Ecuadorian Baptist brethren. However, as I sat through hour after hour of one preacher after another, I could not help but think about a recent Alan Knox post where he quotes from an article entitled It's Better to Preach to Your Pet than Sit Through Sermons.

As Andrew points out, most of us tend to retain only 5% of what we hear in a lecture-type sermon/message. Yet for some reason this style is the most common form used.

Here is Andrew's graphic of how much is retained from various learning methods:
If there are more effective ways of communicating our message, why do we continue to favor the least effective forms? As pointed out in Andrew's graphic, other styles of teaching and learning are better suited for a higher retention rate.

Would you not agree that this study is an important consideration for those of us involved in making disciples? Preaching the Gospel? Teaching others? What are the implications? What must change in the way we "do church" to be more effective communicators of the truths of God's Word and building up one another in the Body of Christ?

Simple churches need simple plans

2009-09-04T10:17:00.000-05:00

What are some of the things you sense God is leading you to undertake this year? Our small band of simple churches has determined to stick to our five-year plan of working towards seeing 500,000 come to know the Lord here on the coast of Ecuador.

Simple churches need a simple plan of action.

There are four things we are constantly focusing upon to accomplish this task:

1) Praying the Lord of the Harvest to send laborers.

This one is interesting because continually we see God answering this prayer request. I could share scores of examples, but will give you a recent one: Upon joining with other believers for a day of prayer for our city, a pastor came up to me and shared that he wanted to sit down and talk with me about small groups. On the spot I invited him and his wife to join us for lunch the following week. After the meal we began to share our hearts. One thing led to another and before they left the house we set up a time to begin training in his church. After only a few weeks they now have opened 3-4 new house churches (their goal is five by year's end!) If Jesus himself commanded us to pray the Lord of the Harvest for laborers, it is because it is a prayer he wants to answer!

2) Every church plant a church every year.

Can you imagine what would happen if every one of our churches simply reproduced itself once per year? How hard can this be, and yet year after year our churches get involved in all kinds of programs and another year goes by without planting new works. Our team feels that we need to use all our influence, every opportunity given us to get across to our pastors, churches, leaders to start new works. We aren't talking about planting hundreds of churches; just start ONE this year. Multiplication will take care of itself if we will do our part of working towards one new church plant each.

3) Every believer winning/discipling four others to Christ in a year's time.

Part of the difficulty we encounter here in Guayaquil is fierce competition from many good and noble emphasis going on all the time. There is a continuous stream of programs, conferences, concerts, etc. All these are good, but they have a way of terribly distracting us from the "main thing." What our team is saying to our people is FOCUS ON ONE THING and that is winning four people to the Lord this year and discipling them so that they become reproducing disciples themselves. Like #2 above, if we will do this faithfully, multiplication will get us to our goal of 500,000 in less than five years.

4) Repeat the above until we reach our goal of 500,000.

We feel the need to concentrate on a few things and do a few things well. We are trying not to be reactionary to what comes along, but be pro-active in a few things. Focus on the above three goals, repeat them over and over, and leave the results up to God.

What kinds of things is the Lord impressing upon you, or your ministry this year?