Ed Stetzer

Thursday Is for Thinkers: Jack Lumanog, Transformational Small Churches, & Bivo Ministry

2010-09-02T13:35:52Z

Thanks to Dan Cruver for his post last week on Small Churches and Adoption.

Next week, Artie Davis from Cornerstone Community Church (Orangeburg, SC) and the Comb Network.

Today's post comes from Jack Lumanog, as a part of our series focusing on Transformational Small Churches. Jack is pastor of Christ the King Anglican Church in Lansing, MI. He serves in the Anglican Mission in the Americas as the Clergy Formation Advisor overseeing candidates in the process of ordination for the Heart of North America Region. His website is here.

Jack is writing today about an issue that many pastors of small churches must deal with -- bivocational ministry.

Bi-vocational ministry. You will not likely see this touted as a way to plant churches at your next conference. It's probably not going to be presented as a method of church growth. However, for a segment of congregations in the Kingdom, this is how ministries are started and sustained. Either for a season or indefinitely in the life of that local church.

I have served as a bi-vocational Pastor for 16 years now. I have served as an itinerant evangelist while working at a radio station and in advertising and serving as an Interim Pastor and now as a Senior Pastor.

Here I will present some things to watch for as it relates to bi-vocational ministry: bitterness, boundaries and burnout.

Bitterness
As if ministry wasn't hard enough, adding the bi-vocational component to it is even harder. No one (except for Jesus and your spouse) will fully know all of the work involved in bi-vocational ministry. A lot of the work and accompanying stress has to do with balancing all of your responsibilities as a bi-vocational Pastor - to your church and to your other job. If we are not careful, a lot of the unseen work and stress can turn into bitterness. This must be something that you are aware of and make a matter of prayer. Another source of bitterness can sometimes be how we are viewed by fellow Pastors. You may not get taken seriously by other members of the ministerial alliance because you are not a "real pastor" - and that's OK! We forget that St. Paul the tentmaker was a bi-vocational minister, too.

Boundaries
Whether you are bi-vocational in ministry or not, it is so important to have boundaries. For example, my day off from both my publishing work and my ministry is Saturday (the newspaper is open Monday through Friday and Sunday is a day for worship and church work). I must work extremely hard to guard Saturday as a day off for myself and my family. That means everything for Sunday worship must be completed no later than Friday.

One of the biggest downsides has to be vacation time as it is has proven to be a precious commodity. For example, I have to take time off from my publishing job in order to gear up for Easter and Christmas, to attend denominational meetings or large pastoral services that involve a lot of prep work like a wedding or a funeral.

Time off from both jobs - at the same time! - is absolutely essential. A lesson I learned the hard way which brings me to my last point...

Burnout
In my first year and a half of my ministry, I ran and ran and ran with no attention to pace. I was beginning my new ministry as Pastor, welcomed a baby girl to our family, settled from a move from Kansas City to Lansing, Michigan and established a field office for the publishing company I work for. Typical hours in that first year and a half would easily clock in at least 80 per week.

About a year and a half into my first call, I experienced a profound burnout. The good news is that I recovered (though I know myself well enough that I am prone to a relapse) with the help of godly counsel from family and ministry colleagues. The bad news is that the burnout was entirely preventable. I highly recommend the book Leading on Empty by Dr. Wayne Cordeiro. Whether you find yourself in the midst of burnout or just want practical strategies on preventing burnout, this book by Dr. Cordeiro will be a blessing to you. This was an extremely helpful resource for me and my wife during a very difficult time in my life and ministry.

Blessings
Currently, my other work in the publishing industry provides much needed health insurance for myself and my family. My other job is a grace by underwriting office and housing expenses that come with establishing a new church. My particular situation as a bi-vocational Pastor is ideal because I get to office my church and publishing work in the same location. It's convenient for me - and I get to keep office hours which is convenient for my parishioners as I'm reachable. No one has to wait for me to get "off duty" from my other job before I can be their Pastor.

God has been so good to our church. The church was in existence for two years prior to my arrival in January 2007 as their Pastor. Our lowest attendance on a Sunday was 12 in my first year and our highest so far has been 96 this year. Along the way, we have seen decisions to receive Christ, administered Baptisms, welcomed new covenant members, marriages restored, celebrated weddings and have been available for funerals. God raised up our church and He has shown Himself to be faithful!

Don't forget to join us for our all-day webcast of The Exchange coming up on September 7, where we will talk more about Transformational Small Churches.

Kevin Ezell Nominated as President of North American Mission Board: A Great Leader with a Heart for and Track Record in Church Planting

2010-09-01T16:33:03Z

There has been some exciting news and discussion in my denomination, the Southern Baptist Convention. It was released yesterday that Kevin Ezell has been nominated as the next president of the North American Mission Board for the SBC.

I usually post my SBC commentary at our SEBTS blog, Between the Times since I know that many of my readers are not SBC. But, when the largest protestant denomination has a candidate for the largest North American focused mission agency, it is worth your attention, inside or outside of my denominational family.

I first met Kevin Ezell on an airplane more than ten years ago-- and it turned into a church planting partnership.

I was taking a group of seminary students to Philadelphia for form a church planting team, planting several churches in that city as part of what would be called, "The Philadelphia Project."

One of them was Aaron Harvie. As we got onto the plane, there was a young guy sitting in Aaron's seat. After some joking around, we discovered that the seat-stealer was a pastor from Louisville named Kevin Ezell.

Aaron tells me that I encouraged him to talk to Kevin and hit him up to help sponsor this Philadelphia church plant. He did. Aaron, now senior pastor of that very church plant (Riverside Community Church) told me last night:

From the beginning Kevin was a Godsend. I don't know if you remember but I first met him on the airplane when you led us for that first trip to Philly. God brought confirmation through Kevin that He was indeed calling us to plant in Philly. He supported us from the beginning. He specifically through Highview gave us 1000.00 per month for 4 years! He also sent Jimmy Scroggins with 100 junior-highers who handed out over 14,000 door-hangers inviting people to our first preview service. They came back several years later to serve us again with a mission team. Kevin was there for me personally as a mentor and someone who I could always call. He had me preach in his church and had his people shower me with support! He was always on my side with encouragement and accountability. I had to report to Kevin on a yearly basis in the early years to him and his staff. That was nerve racking but it made me take what I was doing very seriously. In the years, he has invited me to go on his staff retreats and he is always calling and checking in. He is a friend and mentor of the best kind! He believes so much in what we are doing that he still sends me money to invest in other church plants. He believes in what God is doing here in Philly.

Kevin has a heart for church planting and has led out from his local church. He has served as pastor of Highview Baptist Church in Louisville, Kentucky, since 1996. In his time there, Highview has grown to have six campuses in two states and three counties. It is also exciting to see their commitment to missions, from the city of Louisville to around the world. Of special interest, given his nomination to NAMB, is their commitment to church planting. They partner with church planters across the nation, and have recently been close partners with six church plants stretching from Atlanta to New York City to Boise, Idaho. The church takes several National Church Planting Trips every year so that their members can support and assist church planters around the country.

I was able to contact a couple of pastors and church planters to get their reaction to the news. I have shared them over at Between the Times.

Yesterday, I had the chance to talk with Kevin for a few minutes and to ask him some key questions about his vision for NAMB:

Ed Stetzer: Why would you want to be president of the North American Mission Board?

Kevin Ezell: Great question. I want to see Southern Baptist resources used more effectively and to plant churches across North America. I want to see NAMB become something that Southern Baptists are proud of. I want to see it be something that is effective, helping invest in churches. I want to see churches plant churches, and for NAMB to have its right place in that. NAMB doesn't plant churches, churches plant churches. NAMB has good people working within a broken system. We're going to fix the system and continue to get good people.

Secondly, I am 100% behind the Great Commission Resurgence. I'm thankful for what they did. They've teed the ball up for NAMB to make some legitimate changes here. Now it's time to go back and to build some bridges with the states too. You cannot make the changes at the right pace without the states being on board.

ES: At the Pastors' Conference, you modeled methodological diversity and gospel centeredness. Is that a passion for you, and how is that going to be evident in your work at NAMB?

KE: I think you have to hold hands with the 28-year-olds, and you have to hold hands with the 68-year-olds, and help them see we can work together for the Kingdom's sake. It's not about an individual kingdom but the overall Kingdom. I think we have to come up with some very basic fundamentals we can all agree on, and the main one is that we stay evangelistically focused and outwardly focused, and not just trying to service or maintenance ourselves.

The Baptist Faith and Message is key - the problem is when you start going on and adding preferences to that list that exclude people from either extreme.

ES: What would you say to church planters? What do church planters need to know about what is going to be coming from the North American Mission Board?

KE: I realize that the North American Mission Board is not looked to as a resource by church planters. All I ask from church planters is to give me a chance and to give NAMB a chance again. We're by no means in first, second, or third place. But I do not think it's too late to come from behind and to be a winner at this. We are going to be about building the greatest church planting network in the world. We have the resources to do it, but we're not doing it.

I am excited about Kevin and will be praying with and for our NAMB trustees as they consider him for this role. Thanks to the search committee for their diligent work and efforts.

Transformational Small Churches: Guest Post from Christian Phuoc-lanh Phan

2010-09-01T01:49:00Z

We are just one week away from the all-day webcast of The Exchange on September 7, focusing on Transformational Small Churches. I have been happy to feature several posts from myself and guest bloggers in the past few weeks on this subject, and this week will be largely devoted to the topic as we lead up to the big day.

Today's guest blogger is Dr. Christian Phuoc-lanh Phan, Lead Pastor of Agape Baptist Church in Renton, WA. Christian is also the author of "Vietnamese Americans: Understanding Vietnamese People In The United States 1975-2010" by Xulon Press.

Small Churches Can Do Great Things

Little strength can do great things for Christ's Kingdom (Rev 3:8). Nothing can limit small churches to bear great fruits. The secret for their success is that they have kept Christ's word and have not denied Christ's name. They lay themselves on the King of kings who has the royal key. What He opens no one can shut, and what He shuts no one can open (Rev. 3:7).

Many Vietnamese refugees and immigrants during their settlement process were influenced by American Christians. Many small Southern Baptist churches had made a significant impact in helping and sharing the gospel of Christ to Vietnamese people. Over 150 Vietnamese Baptist Missions and Churches have been established in the United States during last 35 years since the end of the Vietnam War.

Our Small Congregation

In March 2003, I moved to Washington from Maryland and served as a lead pastor of a Vietnamese Mission of Calvary Baptist Church in Renton, Washington. At the same time, the Renton Highland area was being developed. Many Vietnamese American young couples moved to this new developing area. By God's grace and strength, the mission was established as Agape Baptist Church in October 2004. Calvary Baptist Church had many language congregations: English, Korean, Sign, Spanish, and Vietnamese sharing its facility. I encouraged the Vietnamese Congregation to purchase a facility. In December 2007, God opened a door for us to have a building to worship at 13220 SE 156th Ave, Renton, WA 98059. Taking time to train our local church leaders, joyfully, they can lead our local church without their lead pastor. They allow me traveling to help other churches in the U.S and across countries frequently.

Our Methods for Vietnam

Since 2006, we joined a church planting movement to plant new churches in Vietnam, which has a population of more than 85 million. We have supported our church planters, Pastor Thanh Nguyen, Pastor Tuan Duong, Pastor Tam Tang and Pastor Tung Ton, to establish 34 Agape Baptist congregations in Vietnam.

Partnership. Our church partners with other organizations of Vietnamese National Baptist Fellowship in the U.S such as Vietnam Mission Board (VMB) in expanding our church planting strategy and Vietnamese Baptist Theological School (VBTS) in training our church leaders. The VBTS have established four centers in Ca-mau, Sai-gon, Da-nang and Ha-noi to train hundreds of pastors and lay leaders in ministry and biblical studies. I currently serve as a vice president of the school.

Relationship. We build a loving relationship with our leaders from a far Vietnam. We listen to their needs, dreams, feelings, visions, struggles, problems, issues and many more. I have used Skype.com as an effective vehicle to train, teach and prayer with leaders in Vietnam. With Skype Video conference, I don't have to worry about persecutions that may occur to me by teaching in Vietnam. We also help each center to have one laptop and one projector.

Leadership. We focus on leaders. Strong leaders can lead strong congregations. Everything we do we do for and through leaders and we show our respect for them as well.

Ownership. Our leaders are completely to take responsibility for their ministries and freely exercise their authority.

Our English Speaking Group

Vietnamese people moving into the United States from Vietnam are similar to the flow of water from rivers to an ocean. The river water changes its taste as it reaches the river mouth. Once cubit foot of sea water evaporates about 2.2 pounds of salt, but one cubic foot of fresh water from Lake Michigan contains only one one-hundredth (0.01) of a pound of salt or about one sixth of an ounce.

The first-generation Vietnamese Americans are like river water. They were growing up in Vietnam mainly influenced by Confucianism, which gives parents a lot of authority over their children. The second-generation Vietnamese Americans are like ocean water. They are growing in the United States practicing individualism. Over the past 35 years in the United States, Vietnamese Americans have been divided into four different generations. (1) The first-generation Vietnamese Americans: The River Water, (2) the 1.5-generation Vietnamese Americans: The River Mouth Water, (3) the second-generation Vietnamese Americans: The Ocean Water, (4) the third-generation Vietnamese Americans: The Coming Water. The generation gaps among Vietnamese churches are great.

In recognizing differences among generations in our church community, we value our English-speaking group. I am a 1.5-generation Vietnamese American. My role is as a bridge between the first and the second generation Vietnamese Americans.

A•ga•pi•ans |ä-gä-pē-ənz| Noun

1. A group of Christians of a church called Agape in Renton, WA, united in fellowship in the love of one Lord, one faith, one hope : The Agapians have services every Friday at 7 p.m. and they're super cool!

vision: to empower lives to live for Jesus in Spirit and in Truth.

mission: to know God's truth in our mind and to live God's love in our life.

2. Any follower of Christ sharing similar beliefs of the Agapians(1).

Christ's Ambassadors, doers of the word, learning to do good : Agapians are compelled by the love of Christ, living for Him and in Him as a new creation.

Jesusians, of those who believe and have received Him, children of God.

those who strive to love God and love others as Jesus did, seeing it in and through themselves to do so.

3. From Greek αγάπη agápē 'unconditional love.'

Our Commitment

By God's grace, our church wants to bear more fruit for Christ's Kingdom. I personally have a vision to establish a Christian university in Vietnam. I know this is God's will for my family and we are seeking God's timing. "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me" (Philippians 4:13). Please pray for us and we would love to pray for you too!

And the Winner Is . . .

2010-08-31T20:56:03Z

Well, the votes seem to be in, and the favorites are numbers six and nine. There were so many great choices, but those received the most votes.

I have decided that instead of having a winner and a runner-up, I will find opportunity to use both of them. Both will be contacted soon to receive copies of Comeback Churches and Transformational Church.

Number six was contributed by Les Lanphere of http://crosschurch.net. He designed and blogs at http://regenerated.us and his personal site is http://killerrobotninja.com.

Number nine was contributed by Christopher Wurpts.

Thanks for your help, everyone.

Small Church Week Graphic

2010-08-31T17:31:28Z

In just the last two hours there has been great response to my request for a graphic for this week's focus on Transformational Small Churches. We can only choose one, but here are some of my favorites. I thought I would put them out and see what people thought. Look them over and vote for your favorite.

CHOICE ONE:

CHOICE TWO:

CHOICE THREE:

CHOICE FOUR:

CHOICE FIVE:

CHOICE SIX:

CHOICE SEVEN:

CHOICE EIGHT:

CHOICE NINE:

CHOICE TEN:

CHOICE ELEVEN:

CHOICE TWELVE:

CHOICE THIRTEEN:

CHOICE FOURTEEN:

CHOICE FIFTEEN:

CHOICE SIXTEEN:

Help Us Make a Graphic for Small Church Week

2010-08-31T15:12:38Z

We are kicking off "small church week," starting later today. I'll have guest bloggers, interviews, & posts geared toward the majority of churches-- those that are small.

We decided to kick off with a graphic-- and then realized we did not have one! So, I am calling out to the blog world for some help. Here the details:

]]> The winner get a free copy of Comeback Churches and Transformational Church. The runner up gets one or the other. Both get a mention and a thanks on the blog and, if you are a graphic designer who wants to link back to your work, we will include it.

Be creative, how how God is at work in these churches, and help us create one that will communicate what we are doing this week (and plan to do every year).

Feel free to link to your creations in the comment thread. Also, be sure to email them to research@lifeway.com. Finally, submission to us means that we receive and retain ownership and use.

We will use the graphic this week leading up to our big all-day free webcast on Tuesday, Sept. 8. Click here for details.

Here are some other examples of other banner graphics we use:

Calling for Contextualization Part 6: Loving and Hating the World

2010-08-30T21:18:10Z

What do you think of when you hear the phrase "the world?" Does it elicit a positive or negative response?

The Scripture has a lot to say on the subject of "the world" that, on a cursory reading, can seem contradictory. Consider, for example, what the Apostle John says. In John 3:16 he wrote: "For God so loved the world..." But then in 1 John 2:15 he wrote: "Do not love the world or the things that belong to the world. If anyone loves the world, love for the Father is not in Him." He records Jesus' words in John 12:47, "For I did not come to judge the world but to save the world," but relates Jesus' admonition in 15:19, "If you were of the world, the world would love its own. Yet because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you."

It seems like poor John can't seem to make up his mind about "the world," and whether we should love it or hate it.

Of course, John wasn't confused. The Scripture draws a distinction between the people of the world and the fallen system of ideas that work in rebellion against God. In that sense, we are to both love and hate the world (Prov. 8:13). Part of what that means is living in the world (being present and active where God has sent us) but not being of the world (being influenced by and accepting a system profoundly opposed to God). Many Christians, however, are so fearful of being of the world that they completely isolate themselves from anything in the world. Under the banner of "separation," they've gone underground and disappeared from sight. That's not how we are supposed to live as citizens of God's kingdom - and it denies the missional nature of the church.

Perhaps a change of terms will help clarify the issue for us. For a moment, let's use "the people of earth" for "the world" (where we live) and the phrase "the attitude that rejects God's love, law and leading" for "the world" (its fallen system). Now, let's paraphrase: "Be among the people of earth (in the world), but not of the attitude that rejects God's love, law and leading (of the world)." This simple contrast should bring a great deal of clarity to a potentially confusing line of thought. Now read John 3:16 to say, "For God so loved the people of earth..." and 1 John 2, "Love not the attitude that rejects God's love, law and leading, nor the things that take priority over God's love, law and leading. If anyone loves the attitude that rejects God's love, law and leading, the love of the Father is not in him." It becomes apparent that John and other New Testament writers are dealing with two separate matters: a place of residence and the people God loves, and a condition of the heart that opposes God.

The Bible specifically tells us to live with "worldly" people. That's exactly what always got Jesus in trouble - hanging out with drunkards, sinners, prostitutes ... you know, the "bad" people. Paul emphasized the same point to the church at Corinth. The church had become confused about some things the apostle had taught earlier. In reaction, they began to disassociate with the world (people) around them. But Paul wanted them to understand that the solution to their problems - and they had lots of them - was not withdrawal from the people around them:

I wrote to you in a letter not to associate with sexually immoral people - by no means referring to this world's immoral people, or to the greedy and swindlers, or to idolaters; otherwise you would have to leave the world. But I am writing you not to associate with anyone who bears the name of brother who is sexually immoral or greedy, an idolater or a reviler, a drunkard or a swindler. Do not even eat with such a person 1 Corinthians 5:9-11

Paul's words make two things very clear. First, he has absolutely no intention to separate Christians from non-Christians. To him, the concept was laughable because it would negate the whole reason Christians live in the world. Second, someone who claims the name of Christ must be held to an incredibly high standard. If such a person forgets where his or her loyalty lies and adopts an attitude contrary to God's love, law, and leadership, faithful followers of Christ are to disassociate themselves from that person. They must choose. (This, incidentally, is the forgotten part of the biblical doctrine of separation. We are not instructed to separate from the lost, but from church members who live out and indulge in their deep depravity, until such time they give evidence of repentance.)

Some of us will choose to not participate in any of the world's systems, and opt for insulating ourselves in a self-made Christian bubble, a life constructed so that we can live out our days without ever even bumping into someone who doesn't believe or live as we do. Safely detached from the spiritual lepers outside, we can glory in Christian preschool through graduate school, Christian music, Christian romance novels, Christian leadership books, and even Christian Halloween candy. Thank God for those Christian Yellow Pages. The only thing we will not have is the personal influence of the gospel in the lives of those who do not know Christ. It's difficult to make disciples of people we won't even talk to. In a perverse twist of our Lord's expectation, many Christians find themselves of the world by means of some kind of pseudo-sacred imitation, but not in it.

It is easy for us to continue missing the mark on both of these implications. Often our lives as Christ-followers look no different from the system of the world. We too often settle for a truncated holiness that has a shiny gloss of Christian spirituality, but is for the most part inoffensive to the world, while overlooking greed, arrogance, and injustice. John described the world's system - the attitude that rejects God's love, law, and leading - very clearly. After he implored us not to love that attitude in 1 John 2:15, he continues (paraphrasing): "For all that is in the people of the earth (the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes and the boastful pride of life) is not from the Father, but is from the attitude that rejects God's love, law and leading." Verse 17 then confirms the eternal contrast: "The attitude that rejects God's love, law, and leading is passing away, with its lusts; but the one who does the will of God abides forever."

But in this "world vs. world" dichotomy, we find a subtlety that often blinds Christians. On the average Sunday morning, there is as much of the world in the church's building as there is in the world outside it. Why? Because "worldliness" does not reside in Tennessee, Canada, or Russia, i.e., the earth; it resides in human hearts and attitudes - in both believers and non-believers the world over. That is why separation from the world is not a matter of avoiding people, but a constant warring within ourselves against the attitude that would see us reject the love, law, and leadership of God over our lives.

As the sent church of God, we must love the people who live on this earth with the love of Christ, expressed in words and deeds, while hating the broken and sinful systems of the world that war against the Kingdom of God.

This becomes an important distinction in regards to contextualization, the focus of this series (see parts one, owo, three, and four and five). Contextualization reminds us that we genuinely need to be IN the world while not being OF the world.

I express it as being: biblically faithful, culturally relevant, counter-culture communities for the Kingdom. Or, for this conversation, we are:

-biblically faithful (driven by scripture)
-culturally relevant (living in and among the world with people in cultures)
-counter-culture communities (not being of the world's system, values, or morality)
-for the Kingdom.

As it turns out, John wasn't confused at all - but the church often is.

Please feel free to weigh in, give your opinion, and discuss how the church is called to be in and not of the world-- and how that relates to contextual ministry. And, as always, if there is your first time here, you might want to review the comment policy.

The Church at Indian Lake

2010-08-30T21:05:02Z

I had the privilege of preaching for The Church at Indian Lake on Sunday, August 22. I used to be in the habit of blogging about my church visits but have not done so in a while. But, since I am beginning a stretch of ministry at Clearview Church, while my friend Mark Marshall recovers from heart surgery, I thought it might be a good thing to do.

The Church at Indian Lake is at a great location with a great facility.

They have an interesting history. It was started as a Baptist church that wanted to have a seeker / contemporary ministry. It actually was a split off of Long Hollow Church, where I preached through July. (I have written about them here.) The irony is that Long Hollow (the church from which The Church at Indian Lake split to be a seeker / contemporary church) is now a very contemporary and seeker-friendly church -- and the largest in the region and one of the fastest growing in the country.

Their web page describes it this way:

In September 1996 New Community Church started at Beech High School in Hendersonville. After seven years of worship at the high school, New Community moved into a brand new, state of the art building they called "The Hope Center" in 2003. Eventually, the church became known as The Hope Center Fellowship.

But, that is not the end of the story. During their interim time, the church was served by a professor at Southeastern University, an Assemblies of God school in Lakeland, FL. And, it increasingly became a more charismatic church.

At that time, there was a church plant in the area named Sumner Life Church. (I actually had heard about the church plant when I moved to town in 2007, but I did not know anything about either church until a few weeks ago.)

The Church at Indian Lake web page explains:

In February 2008, the church hired local church planter Aaron Allison as Lead Pastor. Aaron's church plant called Sumner Life merged with The Hope Center Fellowship to become a new church called The Church at Indian Lake.

So, now it is a non-denominational church that describes itself as:

The Church at Indian Lake is a contemporary, Spirit-empowered church located in Hendersonville. It's a place where adults, teens, and children can discover God in a relaxed and welcoming atmosphere. It's a place to be refreshed, refocused, and reconnected through the message of Jesus Christ.

It is also now listed as an Assemblies of God church on the AG website.

Now, I must say, I have never preached at a church that switched from one denomination to another. It's a fascinating story.

But, back to the service-- hopefully you can steal some ideas.

When you come in to the church, they do what welcoming churches do-- there is a clear place of welcome (labeled accordingly):

They also have gone to great length to be sure their children's ministry is safe and well organized, including a well-done registration area

With clearly labeled classrooms...

(If you like the theme, you can go here to get more info.)

The worship was contemporary and excellent.

During one of the songs, they opened the Lord's Supper table and people could come up and take the bread and the cup. They do a full communion service once a month and then people can take communion each week at several stations around the facility.

I thought this was a good idea for churches that want to offer the Lord's Supper each week (an increasing practice I think). I think about 1/3 of the people came to receive the elements.

They ended the service with a prayer time with people standing up front if you would like to pray with them. It was not so much an "invitation" in the service as it was an invitation to come up after the service.

Fun Friday: You Supply the Caption

2010-08-27T19:37:43Z

I have a bit of an odd tradition with Rick Warren. As you can see, we like a "you supply the caption." (And, here is a non-Rick Warren version from my time at Mars Hill Church Seattle.)

Well, several of my co-workers have already mocked me because of a recent picture from this story.

Be nice, be funny, and the winner gets a free copy of my new book, Viral Churches, co-authored with Warren Bird (and with a foreword by Rick Warren, no less).

So, you supply the caption. I chose the winner based on how loudly I laugh. ;-)

If your comment is not funny, it will be deleted (making fun of me is welcomed and expected, though).

And angry reformed people should move along... nothing to see here. Move along...

*** Update: Yes, that really is Rick Warren in the comment stream. Uh oh. ;-) ***

Thursday Is for Thinkers: Dan Cruver on Small Churches and Adoption

2010-08-26T19:24:19Z

Thanks to Ray Ortlund for last week's post on Small Churches Planting Churches.

Next week will be a week full of guest posts from Monday through Friday as we lead up to the September 7 webcast of The Exchange. I am excited about this event and hope that you can join us, either in person or on the web.

In keeping with that theme, our post for the Thursday Is for Thinkers series will be contributed by Jack Lumanog, the Clergy Formation Advisor for the Anglican Mission in the Americas.

Today's post comes from Dan Cruver. Dan is Director of Together for Adoption. According to their mission statement, "Together for Adoption exists to mobilize the church to care for orphans by providing gospel-centered resources that explore our adoption in Christ and its profound implications for the global orphan crisis."

Just like Ray Ortlund discussed last week with respect to church planting, small churches often assume that due to limited resources, they have little to offer when it comes to tasks that seem as daunting as orphan care. But as Dan explains, this is an area in which all churches, regardless of size, can engage missionally.

Here is Dan's article:

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Small Churches Doing Orphan Care

One of our desires at Together for Adoption is to facilitate serious, Spirit-led dialogue about how churches, whether they are large or small, can intentionally, strategically, and organically unite their missional engagement in the world with the mandate to care for orphans (James 1:27). Whatever the size of your church, orphan care can and should be an integral part of its missional engagement. One reason God visited us in our affliction and poverty (Exodus 4:31; Psalm 8:4 ; Hebrews 2:6; 2 Corinthians 8:9) is so that we would be free to visit orphans in theirs (James 1:27). There is a profound relationship between what God has done for his people and what we, in connection with what God has done for us, do for orphans.
I once heard a church-planting organization say that it tells its church plants not to get involved in orphan care because orphan care is a distraction from the church's mission, especially when the church is small or not yet well established. To be fair, I think I understand what they mean. But I would have a difficult time making that statement in front of "James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ." I just do not think that James would let a statement like that go unchallenged. If the practice of true religion necessarily involves caring for orphans in their affliction, then it seems to me that orphan care must be an integral part of what the church is and does missionally, no matter the size of the church. Can you think of a better visible testimony to a watching world of what God has done for us in Christ than caring for orphans in their need and helplessness?

Over the past couple years I have been very encouraged by the fact that many church leaders see orphan care not as a missional add-on but as a vital aspect of what the church is to be and do missionally. Pastors are recognizing that if God has made orphan care a key component of the church's functional DNA (James 1:27), it will have an impact upon the church's practice. No longer is the-orphan-care-part of the church's spiritual DNA lying dormant. God is at work to awaken it.

If we are not careful, though, we may be tempted to think that orphan care is the work of larger churches. "After all," we may think, "large churches have the institutional infrastructure and resources necessary to successfully engage in this type of ministry." But if you look at what God is doing in the evangelical orphan care movement, you will quickly discover that large churches are not the only churches that God is awakening to the orphan care mandate. Just as God is not a respecter of persons, he's also not a respecter of church size when it comes to orphan care.

I have actually found that smaller churches are often more effective in caring for orphans before a watching world than larger churches are. In larger churches orphan care can simply become one ministry among many, many others. But in smaller churches orphan care is much more easily seen as an essential part of who they are and what they do. It's not as easily obscured by a forest of other ministries. As a result, smaller churches have the opportunity to lead the way by more visibly demonstrating that orphan care is not a missional add-on.

For example, Austin New Church's orphan care ministry really took off when it had only 150 people attending each week. They had a dozen families commit to adopt and an additional 18 people go through foster care training. That's a significant percentage of its people! Since then they have established an adoption fund and have teams of people who are raising money, running marathons for orphaned children, and partnering with other churches both locally and globally to bring hope to orphans. Pastor Brandon Hatmaker has done a great job of leading his people in this essential area of ministry. A pastor in another church in Austin told me that Brandon's church is very influential in Austin's orphan care movement.

Northpoint, another smaller church in Austin, Texas, is actively involved in orphan care ministry as well. Mick and Tracy Hooper, members at Northpoint, said that their church launched MOSAIC (their adoption | foster | orphan care ministry) this past February, right after their church plant turned a year old. Their pastor, Buck Giebelhaus, is committed to MOSAIC being an integral part of Northpoint's culture, and, as a result, Northpoint now participates in World Orphans' Church-to-Church Partnerships as covenant partners with Fountain of Life Church of Juja, Kenya (Fountain of Life has a small family-style orphan care home on the church property). Not only is Northpoint addressing the material needs of Kenya's orphans, they are also addressing their spiritual needs. Northpoint's orphan care ministry is an essential and visible aspect of its missional engagement.

Lakewood Christian (McAlester, OK) is another smaller church that participates in World Orphans' Church-to-Church Partnerships. They are active partners with a church in Haiti that has taken in children who were orphaned after the earthquake. With Lakewood's help, this Haitian church has provided homes within their own congregation for 20 orphaned children. They also provide these children's education, one meal per day, and basic medical care.

Berea Baptist Church is a small church in Augusta, Georgia that is actively involved in the ministry of adoption. Through the services of The ABBA Fund, Berea has provided over $10,000 toward adoption fees for members of its congregation. Several members of their church are also part of a larger group in Augusta that is working to bring Covenant Care Adoptions (from Macon, GA) to the Augusta area. They anticipate that their church will play a significant part in this work in the coming year.

If your church is small, let me encourage you to see your church's size as a serious strength in fulfilling the orphan mandate. Your church has the opportunity to more visibly demonstrate what it means for God in Christ to come to those who are without hope in this world (Ephesians 2:12-13, 19). Let me also encourage you to consider joining us at our upcoming October 1-2 national conference where we will consider "The Gospel, the Church, and the Global Orphan Crisis."

Transformational Small Churches: Jim Thomas on Global Thinking in a Grain Bin World

2010-08-25T13:02:54Z

I am getting excited about the all-day webcast of The Exchange on September 7. Here's another pastor that I asked to write a guest post about being a Transformational Small Church. Today's guest blogger is Jim Thomas.

Jim Thomas is originally from Detroit and Chicago and has pastored the same rural church in Northwest Iowa, Holly Springs Bible Fellowship, since 1992. After finding few resources on small churches, he started gathering helps and materials for small and rural churches and has hosted smallchurch.com since 1996.

He weighs in here:

]]> Global Thinking in a Grain Bin World

Rural churches often have difficulty embracing a global mindset. Most rural ministries are composed of people who have a "settler" mentality. They have decided to settle into their community and focus on putting down deep roots. This is great for the longevity of rural ministries and the reason that some of them seem to live forever. But as followers of Christ, we are commissioned to take the gospel into the whole world. This is a command, even for a rural ministry.

Over the last 18 years I have observed that a church can develop a global worldview. In a rural setting, I watched a 50-year-old lady, who had never before been on a plane, travel with us to Papua New Guinea. People have called me when something happens on the other side of the world, because we know of missionaries in the area, and they want me to make sure everyone is safe. It has been a long journey to get to that point, but one that has become a central aspect of who we are as a church.

Rural people have an inner "pioneer" spirit. While most rural people have"settler" mindsets, there is also a small pioneer, independent spirit that exists. That is the spirit that made them leave their original place and settle into a new place. You see that spirit when they look at a new piece of equipment and end up being the first one in the area to use tracks instead of wheels on their tractors.

I have also observed a survival mindset that exists. The idea is that "we will do whatever is necessary to help us survive." When pushed up against a wall, they respond and often in masse. They pride themselves on being independent and figuring out a way to survive.

They also have a servant mindset. This mentality comes into play when someone is in trouble in their community. In the middle of harvest, others will all gather to harvest someone's crop if they suddenly became ill. They will drive a tractor two miles in a snowstorm to dig out a neighbor so that neighbor can get to work.

Often church leaders battle these rural attitudes instead of channeling them in a healthy direction. If I, as a Pastor, try to make a major change in the ministry, often the "settler" emerges. He informs me, "That is not the way we do it." He is quickly joined by the "survivor" who insists that we will lose people if we make these changes. At this point, a large group of people come to their aid and "serve" them, encouraging their agenda. The end result is often disastrous for the leadership, the pastor, and his family.

However, these attitudes are also the key to thinking globally in a rural world. They have a desire to see smaller struggling ministries "make it". The missionary who is struggling in a difficult place can touch the heartstrings of a rural person. They understand the hardships of loneliness and isolation. They can be taught how hard it is for that family to survive in a difficult environment. If a pastor aggressively keeps reminders of missionaries and ministries in front of the congregation, they start to see missionaries as "one of them". The servant mentality then starts to take over and they want to do everything possible to help them survive - even at great personal cost.

In our small church of 100-plus people, we have taken 26 different people on foreign mission trips in the last six years. We have taken two trips to help island missionaries in Papua New Guinea. In 2007, we pioneered an effort to serve island missionaries at their annual conference. Since that effort, they have had a different group serve them every year. In 2009 we worked with a mountain village in Jamaica which pioneered a joint venture between the mountain village of Harmons, a bauxite mining company, and a local mission's organization. We helped erect greenhouses that have produced a new way of life for the people and opportunities for the mission group. Thinking globally is now a natural process in our congregation.

In our ministry, these mindsets are incredible assets to thinking globally. The question we get asked the most is, what can we do for our missionaries? This year we reached a milestone when one of our single ladies left Iowa and spent a year teaching in Suriname, South America. Needless to say, it was another tipping point in further developing our global mindset in our grain bin world.

Leadership Book Interview: Surprised by Grace with Tullian Tchividjian

2010-08-24T16:36:05Z

My friend Tullian Tchividjian is the Senior Pastor of Coral Ridge Presbyterian Church in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, and a visiting professor of theology at Reformed Theological Seminary. He blogs at The Gospel Coalition site here.

Tullian is named after Tertullian, who, oddly enough, was the topic of Sunday lunch conversation this week. Tullian is becoming more widely known, and for good reason. He is a solid thinker, strong communicator, and passionate for the gospel.

If you are coming by to discuss yesterday's blog on contextualization, you might appreciated Tullian's article on the subject or his message at Advance 10.

Also, this Sunday was a big day at their church as they merged their two services. Tullians writes about that here (it's worth your time to go and read it before reading our interview). I listened to his message on the subject last week, where he exhorted believers to be missional and not tribal.

His newest book, Surprised by Grace, is all about the story of Jonah, which means it's all about the grace of God and his gospel triumphing over idols. Some of you didn't see that coming, which is part of the reason why Tullian wrote the book. Our brother was kind enough to answer a few questions about the book and his ministry, and he will be on the blog today answering questions in the comments.

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You say at the beginning of the book that this book started off as a series of sermons that you preached during the most difficult time in your life. Tell us about that.

When Coral Ridge and New City merged I decided to preach through the book of Jonah specifically because the story primarily highlights the idolatry of religious people--and I knew that in order for this merger to work, everyone inside the church was going to have to come to terms with those things they were holding on to more dearly than God. People from both churches were going to have to give things up that they, in many cases, had come to depend on more than Jesus. They had allowed traditions and cultural preferences and musical styles to define who they were. And I kept saying over and over that Jesus plus nothing equals everything and everything minus Jesus equals nothing. Even though this was painful for all of us (we were all being called on by God to die), some people simply couldn't let go of certain things--trappings--that became for them a source of identity. These people made their objections known and tried to have me removed as the pastor of Coral Ridge. When they failed, they left to start their own church. You see, it's easy to identify the idols outside the church. It's much more difficult--and dangerous--to identify the idols inside the church. The greatest threat, in fact, to gospel advancement (as the story of Jonah shows) is not the idolatry outside the church but the idolatry inside the church.

Calling these idols out (including my own) made the transition difficult. But these sermons proved to be a functional lifeline for me because of what I learned about God's amazing, sustaining, pursuing grace. I learned that God's capacity to clean things up is infinitely greater than our human capacity to mess things up. I learned about the "stubbornness" of God to accomplish his will, regardless of how hard we may try and thwart it. In fact, as I reflect on that painful season of my life now, I can honestly say that I am genuinely thankful for all the ache I experienced. For, it was during this trying time that God helped me recognize the practical relevance of the gospel--that everything I need and long for, in Christ, I already possess.

You make the point at the beginning that the gospel is just as much for Christians as it is for Non-Christians. What do you mean?

Most Christians assume that the gospel is something non-Christians must believe in order to be saved, but after we believe it, we advance to deeper theological waters. The truth is, however, that once God rescues sinners, his plan isn't to steer them beyond the gospel but to move them more deeply into it. After all, the only antidote to sin is the gospel--and since Christians remain sinners even after they're converted, the gospel must be the medicine a Christian takes every day. Paul calls the gospel "the power of God unto salvation," and contrary to what some have concluded, he didn't simply mean the "power of God unto conversion." The gospel remains the power of God unto salvation until we are glorified. We need God's rescue every day and in every way because we are, in the words of John Calvin, "partly unbelievers until we die." In other words, the gospel does not simply ignite the Christian life; it's the fuel that keeps Christians going and growing every day. If we are powered by anything smaller than the gospel, we will quickly run out of steam.

For instance, the gospel tells us that when we are united to Christ, we don't need to spend our lives trying to earn the approval, acceptance, or affection of those around us because Jesus has already earned God's approval, acceptance, and affection for us. Preaching this gospel to yourself everyday enables you to see that because Jesus was strong for you, you're free to be weak; because Jesus won for you, you're free to lose. And when you're free to lose, it enables you to live a life of unbounded courage, sacrifice, and generosity. The gospel tells me that in Christ, my identity is secure which frees me to give everything I have because in Christ I have everything I need. It's freeing to realize that because of the gospel I don't have anything to prove or protect. Gospel-centered people are those who love giving up their place for others, not guarding in their place from others, because their value and worth is found in Christ, not their place. It was the gospel alone that enabled Paul to say, "To live is Christ; to die is gain."

Why would you choose the story of Jonah to get this point across?

For me, it was through probing the story of Jonah that I came face-to-face with the fact that the gospel is not just for non-Christians but also for Christians. Jonah is a storied presentation of the gospel, a story of sin and grace, of desperation and deliverance. It reveals the fact that while you and I are great sinners, God is a great Savior, and that while our sin reaches far, his grace reaches farther. It's a story that shows how God is in the business of relentlessly pursuing rebels (a label that ultimately applies to us all) and that he comes after us not to angrily strip away our freedom but to affectionately strip away our slavery to self so we might become truly free.

What is the pressing need in the church today that this book addresses?

I really believe the most pressing need in the church today is to rediscover the gospel. There's a lot of talk about the gospel these days but there's also a lot of evidence showing that we're still not getting it. If the gospel is ever going to reach people outside the church and change people inside the church, it's going to have to be distinguished from moralism because moralism is what most people inside and outside the church think Christianity is all about. Many people reject Christianity because the church has given them the impression that it's all about rules, standards, good behavior, and cleaning yourself up. Moralism assumes that we're decent people who need good examples. The gospel assumes that we're mangled sinners who need a merciful Savior. The reason moralism is so dangerous is because it inoculates people from the gospel by giving them something of "the real thing"--behavioral change, external conformity, and so on--ensuring that they miss out on the true gospel all together. As I say in Surprised by Grace, the gospel doesn't first make bad people good; it makes dead people live.

How are things going at Coral Ridge now?

Incredible! God has launched a gospel riot at Coral Ridge. We are replanting Coral Ridge around a holistic understanding of the gospel that's having a profound effect on people. There's a unity and togetherness and joy that, according to some who have been here for a long time, never existed before. Because of its political activism, Coral Ridge had become widely known for what it was against much more than what it was for. And I vowed to change that. I wanted the city of Ft. Lauderdale (my hometown) to know that we were going to become a church in the city for the city. I made it very clear from the outset that we were going to be a church that rolled up our sleeves and got our hands dirty in service to our city. I said that if our ministry was not attracting the same kinds of people that Jesus attracted than we were not preaching the same message that Jesus preached. The people are buying into that big time and as a result they are being changed and transformed. The church is growing. I've never seen the transforming work of the gospel happen so quickly and tangibly as I have over the last 8 months or so. God is doing something special here and we have both the responsibility and privilege to steward what he's given us in bold and courageous ways. We want to see God's kingdom come "on earth as it is in heaven"--we want to spread the fame of Christ--and we are willing to do whatever God tells us to do in order for that to happen. We are dreaming and operating as if ceilings don't exist!

You should order Tullian's book, Surprised by Grace. While you're waiting for it to arrive check out his blog over at The Gospel Coalition website. But first, you can jump into the comments and talk Tullian today.

News Release: The Exchange All-Day Webcast

2010-08-24T12:04:50Z

LifeWay sent this press release out yesterday, letting everyone know about the all-day webcast of The Exchange, focusing on "Transformational Small Churches." Check it out and be sure to join us!

Here is the release:

]]> NASHVILLE, Tenn., 8/23/10 - Join Ed Stetzer, LifeWay Research director and "The Exchange" host, and LifeWay President Thom Rainer for a free live webcast devoted to "Transformational Small Churches."

The special, extended edition of "The Exchange" will take place from 10 a.m.-4 p.m. (CDT) Sept. 7. Pastors and church staff are invited to participate via computer or to be part of the studio audience as Ed Stetzer and Thom Rainer discuss how small churches can apply elements revealed through LifeWay's "Transformational Church" initiative. Topics include vibrant leadership, relational intentionality, worship, and mission.

In addition to Stetzer and Rainer, an interdenominational panel of experts will discuss how small churches are making a biblical impact in the lives of their members and in their communities. The panelists will include David Gould, pastor of First Wesleyan Church, Nashville, Tenn.; Jason Whitehurst, pastor of Music City Assembly of God, Nashville, Tenn.; German Castro, pastor of El Shaddai Christian Church, Brentwood, Tenn.; John Racioppa, pastor of Westmoreland First Baptist Church, Westmoreland, Tenn.; Brian Bullard, pastor of Community Fellowship Baptist Church, Covington, Ga.; and Lynn Harper, pastor of Promised Land Missionary Baptist Church, Dallas.

A limited number of studio audience seats are available for $10 each, which includes lunch. Presenters and panelists will be answering questions submitted by participants throughout the day. Onsite participants interested in asking questions should bring a laptop as all question submissions will occur through a chat feature or Twitter.

To register, please visit LifeWay.com/TheExchange and click the "Register online" button. There is no charge or pre-registration necessary for webcast participants. The event will be available live at LifeWay.com/TheExchange at 10 a.m. on Sept. 7.

Event details:

Date: Tuesday, Sept. 7, 2010

Time: 10 a.m.-4 p.m. (Onsite check-in begins at 9 a.m., and the online discussion group will open at 9:40 a.m.)

Cost: Studio guest - $10 per person (includes lunch); webcast viewer - Free

Location: LifeWay Christian Resources offices in downtown Nashville (One LifeWay Plaza, Nashville, TN 37234)

Calling for Contextualization, Part 5: Indigenization

2010-08-23T14:51:20Z

If there were such a thing as a Hall of Fame for '80s movies, Back to the Future would have to be there. Michael J. Fox is in his heyday, wearing his iconic red, puffy vest, riding his skateboard through town, carrying the role of Marty McFly beautifully. In one of the film's most memorable scenes, Marty is playing electric guitar at his parent's 1955 "Enchantment Under the Sea" dance. What starts as a crowd-pleasing, "Johnny B. Goode," ends in a confusing climax when Marty rips into an intense guitar solo straight from 1985. The 1955 crowd just can't relate to the music of the 80's, and Marty awkwardly leaves the stage.

In a very small (and humorous) way, the "Enchantment Under the Sea" scene exemplifies the challenge of creating an indigenous expression in a foreign environment--sometimes our expressions just don't fit.

]]> It's more commonly a challenge in a cross-cultural context, but it can be a challenge anywhere that we are seeking to faithfully represent Christ in context. If what we do seems foreign, the end result can actually be confusing. In some places, changing the length of your hair, switching your political party affiliation, or changing what you wear is so required to join a Christian community that such things become synthesized with the gospel. In other words, if every Christian you know dresses the same way (and it is different than everyone else in culture) it is easy to conclude that to become a Christian one must change his or her clothes.

As I've said on several occasions in this series, we contextualize because we desire clear gospel communication. Our desire is that the eternal and unchanging gospel can birth and shape a church that fits in its context (in some ways) and does not fit (in many others). That church can become indigenous in its environment, where it can root down and grow in its natural habitat, just as we would describe an indigenous plant in botany terms.

We should hope to see and work to create indigenous expressions of gospel-centered, mission-shaped churches. And contextualization is part of the process that moves us toward indigenization. As I have said earlier, the work of contextualization creates tension. Without contextualization, we end up with an unintelligible gospel. Without ongoing contextualization, we end up living out cultural forms and believing that they are the gospel.

Everyone who crosses a culture as a missionary knows this to be true. But, regrettably, we often forbid North American churches from doing the very thing to require international missionaries to do--to consider their culture, its idols and bridges, and seek to contextualize our church to that setting.

Thus, one would expect that a biblically faithful indigenous church would look different in Senegal and Singapore. However, one must also expect an indigenous church to look different in Seattle and Savannah. Indigenous churches look different from location to location. Further, they look different from generation to generation (if your church is over 100 years old, no matter how much you have tried to not change, you have changed to better relate in your context). Faithful indigenous churches take their teaching from the unchanging biblical text while engaged and participating in the ever-changing cultural milieu.

This is not a new idea (and I certainly did not discover it). The practice has been going on since the church was birthed. The terminology was developed as missiology became a more formalized discipline. Thus, in 1938, the International Missionary Council would affirm that:

An indigenous church, young or old, in the East or in the West, is a church which, rooted in obedience to Christ, spontaneously uses forms of thought and modes of action natural and familiar in its own environment. Such a church arises in response to Christ's own call. The younger churches will not be unmindful of the experiences and teachings which the older churches have recorded in their confessions and liturgy. But every younger church will seek further to bear witness to the same Gospel with new tongues...

This means we hold fast to the unchanging truth of God, respecting the approaches to biblically-driven mission in the past, while evaluating what must be done in these new cultures and contexts with the same truth and God-given directives.

Allen Tippet would further explain in the 1969:

When the indigenous people of a community think of the Lord as their own, not a foreign Christ; when they do things as unto the Lord, meeting the cultural needs around them, worshipping in patterns they understand; when their congregations function in participation in a body which is structurally indigenous; then you have an indigenous church.

So, on the one hand this leaves no room for a chronological snobbery that believes, "Everyone who was before me, who used those now-dated techniques, were idiots." For two thousand years God has used many different expressions at different times to reach people with His unchanging truth.

On the other hand, it discourages us from calling old methods sacred. We should be careful not to believe that we can try and go back to a particular era and implement the techniques that worked in the past, expecting the same results today. In the 1950s Sunday School enrollment campaigns through bus ministries were wonderful tools that God used. Ultimately, however, the reason that there are no churches running busses today is because bus ministry, as a tool, has not engaged the cultural milieu we find ourselves in today. It should be obvious at this point but we still often miss the point. We do not need cookie cutter churches that are identical in all their forms and ministries, but we do need churches that universally bear the stamp of the gospel, the image of Jesus, the beauty of holiness, and the mission given to her by God in their unique contexts.

I was recently speaking to a pastor who planted a church in an up-and-coming, artsy district of Mississippi. When asked what some of his greatest difficulties were, he pointed to the fact that culturally speaking, in Mississippi (among Anglos, at least), to become a Christian means that one becomes a Republican. Situations like this lead people to think they understand what it means to follow Christ and wind up rejecting him for the wrong reasons.

This is just one of the reasons why we must remove all the cultural barriers that we can so that men and women can be honestly confronted with the stark reality of a bloody cross and an empty tomb. There will always be the stumbling block of the cross (and we should never seek to remove that), but indigenous churches seek to remove unnecessary barriers along the way. If not, we become, to quote Dean Gilliland from his book, The Word Among Us, "So attached [are you] to your conventional ways of practicing and teaching the faith that you veil his truth and power from those who are trying to see it through very different eyes."

So we find churches in a delicate balance of needing to go "back to the future," in certain approaches without conceding the Truths of the Gospel that often not well-received. Indigenous churches need to take root, however. We need biblically faithful Korean churches in a Korean community. We need biblically faithful emerging post-modern churches in post-modern communities (or in post-post-modern communities). I could go on and on.

We need churches that are biblically faithful, counter-cultural communities that reflect their setting where appropriate. When churches have the marks of a biblical church and simultaneously become indigenous in healthy soil, God is glorified and the mission of God is advanced.

If you haven't gotten a chance, be sure to read Parts One, Two, Three, and Four of this series.

Free Viral Churches Seminar in NYC Area

2010-08-22T17:58:35Z

I just added a new event in the NY area. Well, it is actually not that new-- I had been planting to speak at a denominational meeting up there for a while. However, we decided to add a church planting event, open to folks of all denominations, the next day.

Multiply! September 28, 2010

The Multiply! Conference asks what would it look like if a multiplication movement swept the Northeast?

The morning session (8am-12:30pm) is open to all, and will feature a muti-denominational presentation & discussion from Viral Churches. I will be sharing about what a church multiplication movement looks like and what it will take to see one in North America, particularly in the Northeast.

Everyone is also welcome to the afternoon session, but the conversation will be geared more toward church multiplication movements in the SBC denominational context.

This is a FREE event. However, your registration is greatly appreciated so that we may accommodate your meal needs well. And, if you are among the first 100 registered, you get a free copy of the Viral Churches book.

To register email Kathy at kaubrey@bcnysbc.org. You can download the brochure for more information here.

See you there...