The freedom we have here in the United States to worship Jesus is one we seldom think about. We take for granted the freedom to gather almost anywhere we want to, at any time, to sing, pray, and speak about Jesus. But that freedom is one not available to many Christians around the world. They literally place their lives on the line when they worship.

Open Doors has started an initiative called “The 5 Minute Challenge,” where those of us with the freedom of worship pray for those who don’t. The challenge is to devote 5 short minutes a week to pray for those in countries without freedom of worship. Each week you receive an email focusing on one country where freedom is non-existent. By the end of the year, you will have prayed for all 50 country on Open Doors’ World Watch List.

Watch the video below for the challenge and then visit this page to sign up.

(Thanks to Ron Edmondson for the link!)

This post Freedom: A Prayer Challenge originated at robwestbrook.com. See more like this at robwestbrook.com - adventures of a mississippi church planter.

Like everyone else I go through seasons where I doubt myself and my effectiveness. When you have a public ministry you constantly have people in your ear saying things like…

I wish you preached more like this…

I wish…

Pete then continues by revealing some of his most recent struggles with insecurity. His post gives some insight into what many in the ministry are struggling with; the struggle of never quite measuring up to expectations. Those of others and those of ourselves.

Take a look at honesty from a man knee deep in ministry. He speaks for many of us with similar struggles.

Link: Voices in My Head

This post Struggling with Those Voices originated at robwestbrook.com. See more like this at robwestbrook.com - adventures of a mississippi church planter.

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She’s talking about the church being in the world, but not of it. Pretty good stuff.

This post Be In It but Not Of It originated at robwestbrook.com. See more like this at robwestbrook.com - adventures of a mississippi church planter.

He recently posted a blog article: “Church Planting is NOT the Mission,” part of his ReThinking Church group of posts. Here’s a line from the post:

… if we count the establishing or planting of a church as the final goal, we miss the heart of Jesus and the example of the Apostle Paul in the book of Acts.

He goes on to address some of the problems caused when planting a church is the final goal. He also generously supplies Scripture to point to the true final goal. Terry is very insightful. If you’re a church planter, or considering that direction, you should read Terry’s post. In fact, you should read everything Terry has, starting with this one.

Link: Church Planting is NOT the Mission – terryivy.com
Link: ReThinking Church Blog Series – terryivy.com

This post Church Planting is NOT the Mission originated at robwestbrook.com. See more like this at robwestbrook.com - adventures of a mississippi church planter.

Link: 10 Words of Hope When the Dream is Dying

This post Shared Link – Words of Hope originated at robwestbrook.com. See more like this at robwestbrook.com - adventures of a mississippi church planter.

Thanks to Church Mag for the link!

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A couple of secrets Ron shares:

• Many senior pastors fear the possibility of failing in their role, so they thrive on the encouragement and prayers of others.
• Our spouse is sometimes the loneliest person in the church and often feels extreme pressure to live up to unrealistic expectations.

See the rest at Ron’s blog. Here’s the link:
10 Secrets of Many Senior Pastors

This post Link Share: Senior Pastor’s 10 Secrets originated at robwestbrook.com. See more like this at robwestbrook.com - adventures of a mississippi church planter.

Thanks for the link, Todd Rhodes.

This post Preacher, Who Are You? originated at robwestbrook.com. See more like this at robwestbrook.com - adventures of a mississippi church planter.

Link: 7 Ways Satan Tries to Destroy a Church – Ron Edmondson

This post Link Share: 7 Ways Satan Tries to Destroy a Church originated at robwestbrook.com. See more like this at robwestbrook.com - adventures of a mississippi church planter.