From The Outside Looking In

A Time for Everything

2012-02-20T06:00:00.000-05:00

For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven:

Ecclesiastes 3:1

This poem in Ecclesiastes 3:1-8, "A Time for Everything," has come as much encouragement to me recently as I have been dealing with different issues with other believers. Specifically as I focus on 5b, which says, there is a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing.

Although I will not go into the specifics of the situation here as I do not feel like that is either biblical or appropriate, I will say that I have recently been reminded that there is a time for everything and that it could come at any moment from anyone. Life is complex and it easy to get so caught up in what we are doing that we are surprised or taken back when certain events take place.

This passage has helped me to remember that at all times to expect the unexpected, but within that it has reminded me to look to Christ for strength within one of my spiritual gifts of discernment. Facing issues and having conflict in life is easy because we are still two sinners even within the most godly friendships or relationships, but having the discernment to know what action is most appropriate within that conflict is the difficulty.

Ultimately showing our dependence and need for Christ and his wisdom is the best action taken and allowing the Holy Spirit to change you or the other party within a given situation. Be open to admitting that you may be the one at fault and humble when approaching others about a conflict.

So is there a situation, decision, or conflict that you have been ignoring for sometime that you know it is time to embrace? Remember that there is a time and season for everything and perhaps today it is time for you to embrace it!

Church Multiplication with A Pioneer

2012-02-17T06:00:00.000-05:00

The following video is an interview of former missionary, author and professor at Western Seminary, George Patterson being interviewed by George Robinson of Southeastern Seminary on issues regarding church multiplication, discipleship and education. This interview is special to me both because of my indebtedness to the work of one who has gone ahead of me in George Patterson and sitting under George Robinson during my time in seminary. The video is close to 45 minutes long, but it is well worth your time if you can listen to the entire thing as you are learning from a pioneer of church multiplication.

Jealousy Within the Body of Christ

2012-02-15T06:00:00.000-05:00

And when those hired about the eleventh hour came, each of them received a denarius. Now when those hired first came, they thought they would receive more, but each of them also received a denarius. And on receiving it they grumbled at the master of the house, saying, ‘These last worked only one hour, and you have made them equal to us who have borne the burden of the day and the scorching heat.’ But he replied to one of them, ‘Friend, I am doing you no wrong. Did you not agree with me for a denarius? Take what belongs to you and go. I choose to give to this last worker as I give to you. Am I not allowed to do what I choose with what belongs to me? Or do you begrudge my generosity?’ So the last will be first, and the first last.”

(Matthew 20:9-16 ESV)

Most of us read the parable of the "Laborers in the Vineyard" in Matthew 20 and keep on reading as if we would not be like the first laborers and complain about the wages we received. The truth is that most of us if we are really honest are just like the laborers that were hired first. We think that we deserve more because we have put in more work. That is truly a man centered way of thinking that we all fall into.

Yes, this is a parable, but this parable is a picture of what the kingdom of heaven is like. As we see in verse 16 the last will be first, and the first last, which we as man do not like. This attitude of jealousy is often seen as God is blessing another church within our city. We quickly become accusatory towards this church and instead of thinking that it is God who is blessing we start to talk about how they are too seeker friendly, too charismatic, all about the money, etc. There may even be some truths to those accusing marks, but often time these come out of mouths way too early.

We also see this jealousy with others within any organization or business, especially Christian based ones. We tend to carry the attitude that if we have been with any certain group any amount of time longer that we should be the ones raised upon a petal stool, but we are quick to forget that the kingdom of heaven is vastly different than the way that man has organized their own structures.

We see a warning here to the early followers of Jesus' that they are not to despise those that came later or think of themselves as better because they are not. Unfortunately we all tend to forget this warning in this parable and fall into the entitlement trap of our culture. We are exactly like the first laborers and we need to stop! If we are honest with ourselves we have all been there but I must be honest again that I am tired of experiencing it from others. Be thankful for what God has blessed you with and what he has blessed others with and remember that you may have been first but the first will be last, and what you think you deserve may in actuality go to someone else. I will leave you with a challenging question, are you still going to praise God if he chooses to bless someone else where you think that you should have been blessed?

What Should We Teach About Creation?

2012-02-13T06:30:00.000-05:00

I recently had a conversation with a couple of my colleagues that revolved around Creation and our views based on what the Bible says. This short clip below of John Piper on "What should we teach about Creation?" captures the essence of this conversation well. My two colleagues who I love dearly both held to a more six literal day creation, whereas I, like Piper, am more comfortable with John Sailhamer's view. His view is that all creation happened to prepare the land for man.

As Piper says in the video, "In verse 1, 'In the beginning he made the heavens and the earth,' he makes everything. And then you go day by day and he's preparing the land. He's not bringing new things into existence; he's preparing the land and causing things to grow and separating out water and earth. And then, when it's all set and prepared, he creates and puts man there."

"So that has the advantage of saying that the earth is billions of years old if it wants to be—whatever science says it is, it is—but man is young, and he was good and he sinned. He was a real historical person, because Romans 5 says so, and so does the rest of the Bible."

Four Fields Church Planting Training

2012-02-10T06:00:00.000-05:00

I wanted to take a brief moment to share the diagram of the Four Fields , which has become considered one of the best training methods around the globe to see Church Planting Movements started. It may look simplistic at first view, but it is a method that comes straight from the Bible and in many ways what we need to return to in Church Planting is a simple model that is reproducible. I both have the privilege of using this training method in church planting and I get to serve under the people who developed the Four Fields. And in case you are wondering it is not only for church planting internationally as there is a man in rural NC that has been able to start 60+ house groups with this exact method. For the entire training manual of the latest Four Fields click on the above link.

Are You Listening to God?

2012-02-08T06:00:00.000-05:00

This past Sunday my family and I visited Grace Church and if I had to guess it is not often that White Westerners visit there. So as in most places where I am, I stand out for my height, skin color, and large beard. Only this time I stood out even more because I had my 11 month old hanging off the front of me in one of those carriers. Yes, I am manly enough to wear my son on the front of me so back off, :).

Upon arrival the service had already started, but I immediately was greeted by the pastor who then asked me if I would like to share something. I had forgotten on the way to church that this will more than likely happen every time I visit a church so I should if nothing else have something prepared to say. I was also under the impression that he meant immediately share something so I thanked him for the offer and told him that I would love to share next week.

He then proceeds to sit me on stage right next to him because I have a baby attached to the front of me. I truly appreciated the gesture of my Christian brother, but I felt a little awkward as the congregation of about 50 are all sitting on the floor and here I am, first time visitor, sitting at the front of the church on the little platform in a chair, next to the pastor.

Either way sitting there I wasn't sure if I was sharing that Sunday or not so I started to think of some of my go to passages, my favorite Bible verse, something...anything. In the midst of singing I started to realize that in the week leading up to attending this church that I had been so busy setting up our new house that I don't feel like I had really even been listening to whether or not the Spirit of God had spoken to me. Yes, I was daily in the Word, but thinking back over the week I believe I had done it more out of thinking it was my duty than to truly spend time with my Heavenly Father.

So there I am a seminary trained international church planter in one of the least reached areas of the world and I told the guy that I had nothing to share but maybe next week. I had a brief moment where I thought what in the world am I even doing here on the other side of the world?

In that moment God taught me what he had probably been trying to teach me all week, to stop, trust him, and really spend time with him to hear what he is trying to say to me.

So lesson learned and in regards to sharing next week, I learned that I am next weeks featured guest speaker so now instead of sharing a brief testimony I have the opportunity to preach at Grace Church in one of the least reached areas of the world. My plan, preach Jesus, make much of him and less of me!

Let No One Despise Youthful Obedience

2012-02-06T06:00:00.000-05:00

Let no one despise you for your youth, but set the believers an example in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith, in purity. Until I come, devote yourself to the public reading of Scripture, to exhortation, to teaching.

1 Timothy 4:12-13

This past weekend Cam Newton was named the Pepsi NFL Rookie of the year and rightfully so as he set numerous records this season as a rookie. But I remember as the Panthers, my NFL team, were considering drafting Newton before the start of the season there was all kinds of negative talk about him, his playing style, etc. Even after shutting up most of his critics in week one there still managed to be lingering skepticism on this rookie quarterback.

I want to say that I am happy for my team and for Cam Newton for consistently going out there every week and giving it his all, which resulted in his critics shutting up based on his actual performance not his expected one. As a young star, Newton showed up and he showed up big.

As I was celebrating this award for my team's quarterback, I began to reflect on how going into ministry, especially at a young age, can often be the same type of experience that Newton experienced. Publicly surrendering my life to the ministry at the age of thirteen caused me to turn to the above passage in Timothy often as many people questioned how a boy of thirteen could be called into ministry at such a young age.

Although I am now 26, I am still a young leader and often hear the same doubts that I have heard for the last thirteen years. Commonly they sound like, "You are going to do what? And you want to go where? I mean you are young, but you have a wife and child now, why would you want to do that?"

Yes, the situations are a little different and sure the paychecks are a very different, but still Newton is an example of a young guy who though was despised by many gave them an example that would not allow them to despise him any longer.

My point is that I am here to do the same thing because if God is the one who called me to do something, He will glorify himself through my obedience to set an example for the believers in lifestyle and my devotion to teaching God's Word will leave my critics with nothing to despise, but themselves. My goal as a church planter is to be obedient, proclaim the gospel, disciple believers, and form churches that plant churches.

Key Issue - Did Jesus Rise from the Dead?

2012-02-03T06:00:00.000-05:00

If Jesus rose from the dead, then you have to accept all that he said; if he didn't rise from the dead, then why worry about any of what he said? The issue on which everything hangs is not whether or not you like his teaching but whether or not he rose from the dead. -Tim Keller

The above quote by Tim Keller reminded me of a conversation that I had recently with one of my cousins who was raised Catholic and if anything is a nominal Catholic now as an adult. This conversation basically revolved around the above quote in whether or not Jesus rose from the dead and that is what everything revolves around and hangs on in Christianity.

Our conversation basically came to a point in which we had discussed the distinguishing differences between every other world religion and Christianity, discussed some of the different tribes or sects of Christianity, including Catholicism, and what it is that makes it true and different then the rest. Our twenty minute conversation revolved around the man Jesus Christ, his life, death, and resurrection. We already agreed that nobody can deny that there was a historical man named Jesus or that he was killed on a cross, but that what really makes the difference is the claim of a resurrection.

Being nominal Catholic there is a lot that she doesn't understand because she was never taught solid truth. So in the midst of our conversation she turned to me and said, "So basically if Jesus rose from the dead then the claims to Christianity would have to be true?" My response, exactly, it isn't whether or not you like his teachings, but that if he rose from the dead you have to accept all that he said as truth.

You see the only concept that she had ever been taught was a religious one in the sense that everything hung on her own behavior or that she would at least have confession with a priest when she had done wrong things so that they could be forgiven. She found exactly what she should have found, an endless cycle of meaningless confessions, by some man who cannot forgive or intermediate on your behalf for forgiveness. As with most Catholics I know this led to nominalism.

I wish I could tell you that she fully saw her need for the Savior Jesus Christ that day, but she didn't, not yet anyway. Everything was so seemingly new for her that she needs time to let it all set in from the religious baggage that she like many of us carry.

So to quote Tim Keller, I say to you as I said to my cousin, "If Jesus rose from the dead, then you have to accept all that he said; if he didn't rise from the dead, then why worry about any of what he said?"

The Other Unreached People Group

2012-02-01T06:00:00.000-05:00

An article came out last month in World Magazine on "The Other Unreached People Group," referring to what they call the 10/30 Window. The article talks about how most of us have heard of the 10/40 Window, the area that I currently live in, which is home to the largest unreached people groups-and the poorest and most spiritually impoverished-in the world; but not many of us have heard of the 10/30 Window. The 10/30 Window as Eric Larson and Jonathan Taylor of Global Youth and Family Ministries refer to it, is in their own words, "both geographic and generational and is made up of 2.4 billion of the world's population between the ages of 10-30." Of this people group, Taylor says, "the largest unreached people group in human history, larger than the 100 largest geographically defined unreached people groups combined."

Due to many forms of media such as Facebook and Youtube, "this emerging global youth culture is said to have more in common with each other than they do with the adults of their own culture." This is something that I have observed heavily as I moved across the world just one month ago. I am living in a culture where the people that fall into the 10/30 Window look vastly different from those older than them in their own culture. Many within that younger generation, which happens to be my generation, look very similar to the same age group from my city of Raleigh back in the States. This is an area that I have often wrestled with in strategies to reach both old and young alike within one culture. Basically how to be contextual without secluding one segment of the population. Traditionally the thought in missions was to reach the old and the younger will follow, but I am not so sure that the rule applies as it once did with the shift of the younger generation.

I am not saying in anyway that I only want to reach this younger generation because I also live amongst the 10/40 Window, but I think that our strategies for reaching the 10/30 Window and their parents will likely look different; while both can be gospel focused. As Dr. Danny Akin said of this 10/30 Window, "I think it has significance for how we strategize missions in the days ahead. There must be a laser beam focus on the young in terms of evangelism and discipleship. We must prioritize time, energy, and resources to reach this massive unreached people group with the gospel of Jesus Christ."

This is one unreached people group that we all have the opportunity to impact with the gospel in whatever context we live. I would make a case for why youth ministries are important in the life of a church based on this article, but I will save that post for another time as the article should speak for itself. The question is are you up for giving away your time, energy, and resources in order to see the 10/30 Window reached with gospel? I know I am and I am excited to see what God will do right here amongst the younger generation in S. Asia.

Advice for International Church Planters

2012-01-30T05:30:00.000-05:00

I have been on the ground for one month now in S. Asia. And although it may seem early on to share any practical advice for those considering planting internationally, I wanted to share the ten most helpful pieces of advice given to me by others through the assessment process, leaving, and now arriving on the field.

Ten Pieces of Advice for International Church Planters:

1. Talk about Jesus the first time that you meet someone. -Numerous

2. You aren't necessarily going because you love the people, but because God loves the people. -Sam James

3. If you get off the plane and all that arrives with you is your Bible, then you have all you need to plant a successful church. -George Robinson

4. Build accountability into your life from the start. -Numerous

5. Unreached people groups are Unreached for a reason, it is our job to discover that reason and get passed it. -Robert Nosker

6. Go as a learner not just a knower. -George Robinson

7. Don't be afraid of failure, but be afraid of succeeding at things that don't matter. -William Carey

8. The moment you want to shut yourself in the house to escape the culture is the exact moment you need to force yourself out into the culture. -George Robinson

9. Do everything in two hour increments as not to get overwhelmed. -Curt Alan

10. Consider it a successful day when you are able to accomplish one thing on your list. -Craig Harris

How Soon Do You Mention Jesus in Conversation?

2012-01-27T08:53:00.000-05:00

So this week my family moved into our new house in an area of the city that is experiencing a lot of growth, which I see as a very strategic spot to be located in order to build relationships, proclaim the gospel, and see lives changed.

We have already had the opportunity to spend some time with our neighbors the two days we have been getting the house set up and we quickly learned of their many gods that they worship.The idea of a god naturally comes up in conversation here as the majority of people in our city are Hindu and have many gods. We made an observation about our neighbors house, which was a glass room located on the second floor, which we learned is basically set aside as their prayer room where they worship their gods. We quickly shared that we too pray, but that we have the one God who came to be the Savior of all mankind in Jesus Christ.

Although the conversation did not go much further than that, it was a start, and I believe the right one. Often we meet people and tell them about everything that is important in our lives, but fail to mention the one area that should be the most important. Especially in the context in which I am now in, if you do not mention anything about Jesus until weeks into a relationship with someone they will question if he is really all that important to you. And can you really blame them?

As the praise song we used to sing in my youth group says, "You (Jesus) are my all in all..." If this is true then we should express that with everything in our lives not as if he is an after thought if we have time in the day. So it's about a relationship not a religion as the recent video gone viral proclaims, then we should start acting like that relationship is the most important one in our lives above all.

Faith Without Works is Dead

2012-01-25T05:30:00.000-05:00

So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.

James 2:17

It seems today that we hear a lot of talk about being missional in our community. And I am one of those young leaders who talks about loving the people, the community, and the city that you live in; where you use every opportunity to be on mission and leverage the gospel into peoples lives.

But I also realize that talk is cheap and that boasting about being missional does not in itself make one missional. My fear is that in today's young evangelical crowd it is more of a cool hipster trend to talk about being missional than actually being on mission, but hopefully I am wrong on this one.

Either way, to heed the warning of James in 2:17, I have an opportunity coming up to be missional in my new community and I don't want my faith to be dead because of a missed opportunity. Recently moving to S. Asia I didn't think much about how to be missional once finding a home. I assumed that I would just move in and wait until I learned a little more of the language and culture, but then James really spoke to me in this passage.

So this week we move into our new home and once getting settled we plan on having a party to celebrate moving into our new place where we invite all of the neighbors. The plan is to serve the best food and drink that are culturally appropriate as a way to set the foundation for gospel-centered conversations with our neighbors.

It is safe to assume that most of my neighbors are Hindus, which means that at the heart of their homes is a shrine dedicated to the honor and worship of their gods. So throwing a house warming party will be an awesome opportunity for my family to talk about Jesus and present the gospel in word and deed right away.

So my question for you, is your faith dead? What opportunities are you missing right now to show your faith and make much of Jesus? Perhaps it is as simple as having a party at your place to get to know your neighbors to start that foundation of gospel-centerdness.

Documentary: It's A Girl!

2012-01-23T06:00:00.000-05:00

This documentary, It's A Girl, reveals a dark aspect of the context in which I am currently living, where girls are not wanted. Many times if a baby girl is not killed then they are abandoned, often times leading into a life of trafficking. My wife Andrea has already had been exploring opportunities to minister to the women and the children in the redlight district part of our city to give these women the love of Christ and a hope for their future.

I encourage you to watch this documentary for awareness purposes, but also to intercede on behalf of the girls in this part of the world, which often have no hope of any.

The Scriptures Come To Life

2012-01-18T05:17:00.000-05:00

If you live within a four hour drive of Raleigh there is an upcoming conference that you will not want to miss, discussing the Scriptures Coming to Life. The conference is the weekend of February 3-4, 2012 and features highly respected teachers and scholars: Daniel Akin, D.A. Carson, Tony Merida, and Tullian Tchividjian.

The following topics will be discussed:

In what way is the Bible "the true story of the whole world?"
Why should I trust the Bible?
What are some tools to help me read the more difficult passages in the Bible?
Why does the Bible matter for my college classes, future vocation, and liesure preferences?

For more details check out the 20/20 Collegiate Conference website.

Little Light of Mine...

2012-01-16T06:30:00.000-05:00

The words to the song, "This little light of mine," have much more meaning to me now than they ever have before. A few nights ago I decided to go out to the local market to purchase some fruit even though it was getting dark outside. Still being very new to the area I didn't think much about light or if they'd even be open.

Upon getting to the main street and start of the market I saw that many of the vegetable vendors were closed up so instead of potentially wasting my time I decided to return home, but another route. Quickly my trip home turned into me being lost. I wasn't extremely lost because I knew that I was in the right vicinity, but lost enough that I wasn't exactly sure how to get home.

So I decided to take a side street thinking that it would take me towards home, which it did not, and it was much longer than I thought. As I made my way down the street there were fewer and fewer lights, but more and more people. Not only people, but also many bicycle taxis, motorcycles, and cars. Many of which have no lights, but they keep on driving past you as if it is the middle of the day. It was quite the experience and pretty scary at times.

Needless to say I eventually got my bearings about me and found my way home. But on my walk home, once I knew I was on the right road, I started to be impressed heavily about the darkness that surrounded me. Yes, it was physically dark, with glimpses of light here and there, but the spiritual darkness reigned heavy around me.

I suddenly remembered why it is that I came here because these people have no light. Most of them are on a path to darkness that leads to nowhere. The long physical road that I had taken represents a long spiritual road that most of them have been on in search of a deeper meaning in life, in search of truth. And I may be only one person, but God has given me that light that they are in search of and I am here to proclaim to them the love of Jesus so that they may find their way to truth through the only man that can give them truth.

I Can Change...vs. Gospel Change

2012-01-13T06:30:00.001-05:00

I was catching up on sports the other day on ESPN when I came across an article on Manny Ramirez, who abruptly retired from baseball last year after a second violation of baseball's performance-enhancing drug rules. I am actually not much of a baseball fan, but the article caught my attention because it discussed Ramirez wanting to re-enter baseball because he felt as if he could now be a role model.

He was quoted in the article saying, "I want to show people that Manny can change, that he can do the right thing."

Now I in no way intend to judge the sport of baseball, their rules, or whether or not a team indeed reinstates the player. In fact I agree with Ramirez for wanting to finish his career in baseball in a different way, so for that I respect his decision to leave a better legacy.

So Manny thinks that he can change and do the right thing. Well perhaps he can for a season or two until he retires again. I do believe that he can follow the rules of baseball for that amount of time. But Manny changing and doing the right thing long-term will not happen on his own strength, but only through recognizing his need and dependency on the man Jesus Christ.

Just like Manny Ramirez believes that he can change to do the right thing, many Christians inherently believe the same thing. They may not always say it, but if you have a deep conversation with them it will come out. For many people that you sit right next to every week in church believe that if they try harder that they will become a better person and indeed go to heaven. What ends up happening is if the gospel has never saturated their life then they are really turning to self for change.

We have all been there at one time and we all know how the story goes. I will try harder at not doing x, y, or z or at doing x,y, or z and within time we fail. We pick ourselves back up and try harder. This is a never ending cycle that only the gospel trumps.

Religion says, I can change on my own; but the Gospel says you can be changed in and through Jesus Christ. Instead of trying harder to change on our own, we need to try harder at listening to the spirit of God, and listen to what he is calling us to do. We will never be able to change and do the right thing on our own, but the good news is that Jesus has already made a way that we can change in himself.

Christian Agnostics = Religious Ones?

2012-01-12T22:57:00.000-05:00

By now you have all seen this video unless you are living under a rock. I am currently in S. Asia and saw it just about as soon as it was posted. I re-posted the video and I am not saying that I agree with everything in the video, but I do agree that it is all about Jesus and that he wins over religion.

I have seen a mixed reaction to the video, mostly supportive, especially from my grace driven charismatic friends. But the reaction that surprised me most came from my self-proclaimed "Christian agnostic" friends who now apparently have a problem with Jesus > Religion. My take, maybe they are the religious ones.

Finding Favor

2012-01-11T06:30:00.000-05:00

Then the king said to me, “What are you requesting?” So I prayed to the God of heaven. And I said to the king, “If it pleases the king, and if your servant has found favor in your sight, that you send me to Judah, to the city of my fathers' graves, that I may rebuild it.”

Nehemiah 2:4-5

Although not always talked about much in the church, the concept of finding favor is seen throughout the Bible. Nehemiah here is a prime example of someone who was seeking favor in a situation, prayed to God for it, and we see him receive it.

Why do you think that Nehemiah received favor? Something tells me that it had a lot to do with his faith because the more favor you receive, the more faith it will require on your part. Nehemiah showed that he had faith here in making the requests to the king in the first place and you can see that he placed a high priority on prayer as he did so before the requests and much more earlier in 1:4.

Maybe there is something in your own life right now that you are seeking favor for, but you aren't certain about the situation. It is key to remember that favor equals opportunity, but that does not always guarantee comfort or the desired outcome.

We all have things in our lives that we are seeking to find favor. Our culture dictates to look to ourselves in order to find favor, but the truth is that only true favor come through Jesus. Jesus opens doors and opportunities that otherwise we would never have and when true favor is found it is done so in a way that all honor and glory points to him.

So pray and seek favor and sit back and watch what happens!

Biblical Manhood and Womanhood

2012-01-09T06:30:00.000-05:00

This week I came across this 15 minute discussion on "How Manhood and Womanhood Are Different" via John Piper interviewing Darrin Patrick, who also released the book Church Planter: The Man, the Message, the Mission in 2010. This short video gets at the cultural epidemic of manhood and womanhood in our culture and how the church specifically can respond going forward.

The video outlines the absence of men in our culture and its implications and then gives clear definitions of manhood and womanhood. Some may think that the church has nothing to do with this epidemic, but there are specific things that the church can do to help the situation and define biblically what a man should be and do.

Our culture is very confused as to the roles of men and women and has attempted, quite successfully, at mixing the two, and unfortunately the church is not far behind the culture. But in Jesus both manhood and womanhood are completed in the way that they were meant to be as discussed in the above video.

Obedience to Jesus for His Glory Not Yours

2012-01-05T06:30:00.000-05:00

Not to us, O Lord, not to us, but to your name be the glory, because of your love and faithfulness.

Psalm 115:1

I was recently attending a seminar where the speaker mentioned obedience to Jesus for his gory not for our own. Hearing it I thought of course we obey Jesus for his glory and not ours, but upon further thought I realized that in many ways we can allow the glory to go to us as we become elevated and self-absorbed in what we are doing.

A prime example in my own life is moving to church plant in S. Asia. I did not grow up wanting to move here, nor have I had the desire to move here very long. But I knew at this point in my life it would be disobedience not to move here for this season as God has called me to this part of the world. The reality is that I am not here because I love the people or the culture, but because God loves the people.

So initially all of the glory went to Jesus completely for his glory, but there were times as I got further in the process and journey of getting here that being elevated by others often felt like some of the glory was coming to me and my family like we were some sort of heroes before even doing anything. To be transparent there was a fleshy side of me that liked this, that appreciated the elevation, seeing my picture on a card as a church planter.

But upon leaving and arriving in my new culture just a few short days ago all of that went away. Suddenly I realized I am essentially a nobody, there are no more cheering crowds, and in a sense I am broken because I already realize the deep dependency that I have on God that I had often forgotten in the weeks, months, and years of planning to get here.

I believe that this is a good place to be in order to show my dependency on God for everything; something that we easily forget in the US. And I write all of that to say that my sincere prayer upon this journey is that the glory would not go to me or my family, but that everything that is done and accomplished here would be to the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ because of his love and faithfulness in our lives.

Everything Rises and Falls on Leadership

2012-01-03T06:30:00.000-05:00

On my plane ride to S. Asia I was reading some of Dave and Jon Ferguson's book Exponential, which I highly recommend if you are trying to start a missional movement. I especially appreciated their section on reproducing leaders as that is a huge part of my role in my new context. And although the list may not fully apply to my new context, I still believe that it is helpful for recognizing when leadership is lacking, wherever you are.

Twelve Indicators that leadership is lacking:
1. I wait for someone to tell me what to do rather than taking the initiative myself.
2. I spend too much time talking about how things should be different.
3. I blame the context, surroundings, or other people for my current situation.
4. I am more concerned about being cool or accepted than doing the right thing.
5. I seek consensus rather than casting vision for a preferable future.
6. I am not taking any significant risks.
7. I accept the status quo as the way it's always been and always will be.
8. I start protecting my reputation instead of opening myself up to opposition.
9. I procrastinate to avoid making a tough call.
10. I talk to others about the problem rather than talking to the person responsible.
11. I don't feel like my butt is on the line for anything significant.
12. I ask way too many opinions before taking action.

It is important to recognize that everything rises and falls on leadership and these twelve indicators may help you realize why something that you are part of right now is not succeeding to its fullest potential.

And So It Begins...

2012-01-01T06:30:00.000-05:00

And so it begins, the big adventure that my family has been planning for over two years now. Today we are leaving for South Asia at 1:30 PM out of Charlotte, NC. In some ways it will be sad to see the skyline I grew up to love, especially the Panthers stadium, for the last time as we take off. In other ways it will be a joyous occasion as we are walking in obedience to our Savior and planting churches where there are next to none.

To think we just came out of the holiday season where we celebrate the birth of King Jesus and many in the part of the world where we are going have never even heard of his name. We know that at this season in our lives this is what God has called us to and to do anything else would be disobedient. We know that we are in the center of God's will, but we are also feeling the sadness of the goodbyes to family and friends as reality is slowly setting in.

Perhaps a conversation between Gandalf and the Hobbit best describe our lives as we set out on this great adventure:

Gandalf: You'll have a tale or two to tell when you come back.

The Hobbit: Can you promise I will come back?

Gandalf: No. And if you do, you will not be the same.

For the next three days we will be traveling with a total of 12 pieces of luggage, carseat, stroller, etc. Please keep us in your prayers as this can be a very stressful time and we do not want to let the enemy use anything stupid against us in this transition. By Wednesday late morning we should be in our new city starting our new lives.

In regards to writing on here, I plan to keep it up the best that I can. During January I may re-post my top posts since starting the blog as I transition and then start with fresh material in late January or early February. That is the general plan right now, but either way I appreciate the support of all my readers as I have been tracking the stats and this blog has been growing over the past year.

Lastly, I pray that you all have a happy new year and that 2012 will be a year to remember as I know that it will be for me and my family as we begin our great adventure!

Leapyear Project

2011-12-30T06:30:00.000-05:00

This upcoming year is a leapyear and I came across the leapyearproject this week and it intrigued me because of the idea behind it, which is to see in 2012 what you can do with your dreams and ideas to create something that would make your life, family, industry, and world a better place. In 2013 documentation of what was accomplished in one year will be published to show just what can be done to make a difference in such little time.

There are very few restrictions and the main point is to take a risk (leap) and make something in your life, community, or world better. The project is not faith-based per se, but the guy behind it, Victor, was a pastor, but wanted to make it open to anyone, anywhere. Personally I hope to see all types of people, everywhere get involved, but believe that the best creativity and ideas are stored within the church, just waiting to be released to make a difference because of the difference that Jesus Christ makes in peoples lives and the world.

2012 is two days away, so now is the time to start the conversation of risk-thinking and take the Big Leap. Although not narrowly defined, my big leap starts on January 1 as I move to church plant in S. Asia. I would love to hear your story of how you will take a leap in 2012 to see change happen in your context.

SO 2012 IS A LEAPYEAR. "What risk will you take to change your life, your community, or your world for the better?"

A Church's Attempt to Be Cool

2011-12-28T06:30:00.000-05:00

I saw this billboard the other day as I was driving that advertised a community church reading, "A church for people who do not like church." My first thought was what is that supposed to even mean? I have come to love the church as I see it being the means in which people will be reached for Jesus and his glory. As it is often said around my own church, the church is God's plan A, there is no plan B.

From what I read in Acts 2:42-47, I do not see why anyone would not want to be a follower of Christ and part of a community of believers (a church):

And they devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers. And awe came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were being done through the apostles. And all who believed were together and had all things in common. And they were selling their possessions and belongings and distributing the proceeds to all, as any had need. And day by day,attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes, they received their food with glad and generous hearts, praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved.

Perhaps the motive behind this church's sign was an attempt to be cool or maybe be different than what many are used to in the Southeast. I understand that somewhat, but to advertise yourself as "the church for people who don't like church" is like saying we are the chicken restaurant for people who don't like chicken. This tells me that they are artificial and full of filler, existing so that you can have it your way, not God's way.

Maybe I am being too harsh on this church and their attempt to get new people coming to their church, but to me what they are after is not true change and organic growth, but superficiality. I understand getting passed the non-essential reasons that people do not step foot in a church, but to advertise yourself in such a way as this church does is to make it sound as if you are something entirely different from the true definition of a church, which is God's plan A.

Celebrating the Savior Christ the Lord

2011-12-26T06:30:00.000-05:00

In those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be registered. This was the first registration when Quirinius was governor of Syria. And all went to be registered, each to his own town. And Joseph also went up from Galilee, from the town of Nazareth, to Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and lineage of David, to be registered with Mary, his betrothed, who was with child. And while they were there, the time came for her to give birth. And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in swaddling cloths and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn.

And in the same region there were shepherds out in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And an angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were filled with great fear. And the angel said to them, “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger.” And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying,

“Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!”

(Luke 2:1-14 ESV)

[Below is the full Christmas at the Summit service, which is about the profound simplicity of what God was trying to tell us at Christmas.]

Christmas at the Summit from The Summit Church on Vimeo.

Born Is The King: It's Christmas

2011-12-25T06:30:00.000-05:00

Merry Christmas to all, I hope you enjoy time with your family and celebrate the birth of King Jesus because It's Christmas!

Is It Hatred to Move My Family to Asia?

2011-12-21T06:30:00.000-05:00

Some people have questioned me on moving my family to Asia in order to plant churches as if it is "hatred" towards my wife and son. In this video clip, John Piper discusses God, Manhood & Ministry, touching on this very idea and the lack of understanding. The key that Piper points out here is that those that question my motivation of moving my family to plant churches do not have the mind of Christ and so to them it comes across as a form of hatred or cruelty; but the reality is that in obedience to the calling of God you often have to make these tough choices and sacrifices.

Have We Over-Elevated the Family? from Desiring God on Vimeo.

Spiritual Rejuvenation

2011-12-19T06:30:00.000-05:00

And he said to them, “Come away by yourselves to a desolate place and rest a while.” For many were coming and going, and they had no leisure even to eat. And they went away in the boat to a desolate place by themselves.

(Mark 6:31-32 ESV)

Taking a sabbath day is probably one of the most broken commands in the Bible by Christians, including myself. We are commanded to take one (Deut. 5:12-13), but we often find ourselves "busy" with ministry as were the apostles in Mark 6, which results in continuing on with ministry.

Most of us, myself included, find this command difficult enough to keep in our culture, so the thought of spiritual retreat never even crosses our mind. What we are really communicating in this neglect of a sabbath is that we think we know better than God and we show our lack of dependence on him.

Thankfully I have been encouraged and had the opportunity in the last two months to take two separate spiritual retreats that were above and beyond a normal sabbath. The first of these came at a much needed time of exhaustion and frustration. Taking a spiritual retreat with nothing but a Bible, notebook, and pen allowed me to commune with God in a way that I normally do not, express my dependence on him, and allow him to give me the restoration that I needed.

Sometimes it can be easy to overlook the command to take a sabbath, but Jesus himself took a day of rest and told the apostles to Come away by yourselves to a desolate place and rest a while. In our rest we are offering ourselves up to God and allowing him to do the rest by communicating to him that there is nothing more important in life to us than him.

Now one of my goals for 2012 will be to take an extended spiritual retreat once a month for a time of rejuvenation and communion with God. Ministry and being on mission is important, but obeying God's command and taking a sabbath is also important. So what do you say? How about joining me in this goal and see how it impacts your spiritual life in the new year!

Christmas at the Summit

2011-12-15T06:30:00.000-05:00

Friends in Raleigh-Durham, I wanted to invite you all to take time out of your busy December schedules to celebrate the center piece of Christmas, Jesus, at the Summit Church. There will be five different opportunities to attend this celebration between December 22-24. For complete details and information please visit ChristmasAtTheSummit.com.

christmas at the summit from The Summit Church on Vimeo.

Shake The Dust Off Your Feet

2011-12-14T06:30:00.000-05:00

But they shook off the dust from their feet against them and went to Iconium.

(Acts 13:51 ESV)

During the last two months I have been studying through the books of Acts as part of my preparation for church planting in an unfamiliar context. In reading Acts 13:51 I came across this phrase Shake the Dust Off Your Feet. And although reading the book of Acts many times I had never quite paid full attention to the meaning of this verse.

Note, this same phrase is also used at least three other times before the book of Acts in three of the four gospels (Matt. 10:14; Mark 6:11; Luke 9:5). In each context that this phrase is used it is referring to a situation in that you are going to share the gospel with someone, but upon them not receiving you or the message of the gospel to basically move on to another person or place.

This tells me that I don't have to carry the burden of that person not being saved at that moment or feel like they were rejecting me. Many times in the past I have beat myself up over someone rejecting the gospel once presented, but this verse tells me not to be upset, but rather to leave the burden there and move on to the next person that needs to hear the gospel.

Recognizing this has been so freeing to me because it does not give me an excuse not to share the gospel with all people, but it does give me reason to move on after a clear gospel message has been delivered and rejected. It points back to the reality that it is the Holy Spirit that needs to go before you to initiate the relationship and Jesus alone that saves.

I've personally experienced this in my own life in the last year as I have been preparing to leave the country. Knowing I would be leaving, I wanted to be intentional with my family and friends and although not sharing the gospel with all as I should, I have shared with many and with some I have had to "shake off the dust from my feet" and move on to the next person.

Now to you I say share the gospel with all people, but don't waste your time too long on those that are not receiving what you are saying. Rather move on to the next person or place because time is getting short and there are many who have never heard the good news that the Holy Spirit of the almighty God has prepared for you to share with as they are ready to respond.

Disciple Pattern

2011-12-13T06:30:00.000-05:00

On yesterday's blog post I mentioned attending the Universal Disciple seminar by Dr. Thom Wolf and discussed some of the insights that he gave into discipleship the way in which we see Paul doing it in the New Testament. Today I wanted to share what Dr. Wolf calls the Universal Disciple Pattern.

Key to The Universal Disciple Pattern:

ROCK:
In one way or another, you introduce people to who Jesus is: the Rock to build your life on. Jesus taught and the apostles developed the 'rock theology' as the foundation for our faith: Matt. 7:24-28; 16:13-20 with Deut. 32:1-3, 15-18, 30; 21:33-46; 1 Cor. 10:4; Eph. 2:19-22.

WORSHIP:
Through whatever process and time, the person must come to a personal commitment and surrender to Jesus as Lord and God. John 20:26-31; Acts 8:26-40; Romans 10:8-15.

WALK:
Personally the new believer must begin to walk worthy of Christ. To do this he/she must put off the old style of living-old vices, and put on the life of Christ-new virtues. Col. 3:5-15; Eph. 4:17-5:17.

WORD/SPIRIT:
Socially, there is a spiritual response or reaction to the new life of the new believer. Some are attracted, some are repelled. Matt. 13:5 and 20-22; 1 Peter 4:1-5; 5:8-9; Acts 14:21-22; 1 Thess. 3:1-5. But the personal transformation impacts the convert's circle of influence.

The core experience here is:
Word: "let the Word of Christ dwell in your richly" (Colossians 3:16)
Spirit: "be filled with the Spirit" (Ephesians 5:18)

The Pattern to Universal Discipleship

2011-12-12T06:30:00.000-05:00

This past weekend I had the privilege to sit under the teaching of Dr. Thom Wolf, who is the international president and professor of global studies of University Institute, New Delhi, India. The topic of the seminar that I was part of was on the Universal Discipleship Pattern that Dr. Wolf has been presenting since 1994.

I wanted to briefly share some of the highlights from the seminar with you:

He starts by saying, "It is perplexing that Paul and his church-planting team were often only in a city a few weeks, a few months, or at most a few years. How did they do it?"

Q: How did Paul establish leadership?

so quickly
so solidly
so reproducibly that became the basis for the Christian church?

A: Paul had a pattern, a standard:

that could be remembered easily
that could be received personally
that could be reproduced strategically

We see from Paul that his discipleship pattern was remembered easily, received personally, and reproduced strategically. Now my question is do most of us or our churches disciple in such a way? I would think not or otherwise I believe that we would see a very different result from our discipleship, but instead 80% of my generation leaves the church once getting to college.

So instead of you or your church seeking the next way to do discipleship that may work, try instead to make it quick, solid, and reproducible. Then it will be remembered easily, received personally, and reproduced strategically that may result in more disciples being made and disciples that make disciples.

Are We Really Here to COEXIST?

2011-12-09T06:30:00.000-05:00

I was recently in conversation with a coworker/friend who brought up the topic of the ever popular COEXIST bumper stickers that are seen on cars everywhere. I had an opinion, but told her that I honestly hadn't researched the meaning behind the sticker enough to give a fair evaluation. She then proceeded to tell me how her and her fiancé were going out one night and happened to be behind a car with a Summit Church bumper sticker (My Church) and a "Coexist" sticker right next to it, as to the reason for her question.

For those not aware, the letters that spell coexist make use of totally different religious symbols to characterize the completely different religions. Listed below are the letters used and what religion they really are for:

C – It is a crescent moon that represents Islam

O – It is the peace symbol or pagan/Wiccan pentacle.

E – It’s the male/female symbolic representation or a scientific formula.

X – This can be the Star of David and symbolizes Judaism.

I – It’s a pagan/Wiccan symbolic representation used.

S – This can be a Oriental yin-yang symbolic representation.

T – The cross is utilized to represent Christianity.

The word “Coexist” actually means to exist in the same space as anyone else. Indicating that all beliefs plus religions ought to try to live together in peace. The Coexist Foundation aims to increase communication plus cooperation among Jews, Christian believers and Muslims.

The meaning in and of itself does not sound bad at all and I'm all for increased communication and cooperation. But in order to clearly answer my friends question, I want to say that I personally would not put a "Coexist" bumper sticker on my car. The reason being that we are not here to merely exist with others.

Rather we are here to proclaim a message (the gospel) and make disciples. We are to be set apart followers of Christ who yes, coexist in the same space with people of all backgrounds and faiths in love, but we do so not in a way to say that all peoples religious paths are equal, but in a way to show that Jesus is the only way to real knowledge and truth.

So we as Christ followers should coexist with all people, but do so in a way to have an opportunity for increased communication and cooperation that quickly leads to the gospel and changed lives.

Christmas Missions Offering

2011-12-07T06:30:00.000-05:00

This time of year at my local church, the Summit, always proves to be an exciting time with a lot going on. One of my favorite parts about this time of year is that the pastors seem to set higher and higher goals on how much to take up as our Christmas missions offering. This is money that is entirely given away for church planting and local outreach. In other words, none of it is kept internally to benefit the local body of the Summit Church, but it all goes so that the gospel can be spread to many places where the name of Jesus has never been named.

The few years that I have been around the Summit, we as a church have gone far above the set goal. This blew me away the first couple of years because I had my doubts with such large numbers in the midst of an economic downturn. But year after year I have watched the goal get met and then almost double in its final number. Now, I know it is not about numbers or dollars, but the money taking up at Christmas represents lives changed and churches planted. And those are the kind of numbers that I can get into all of the time!

This year the Christmas Missions Offering means perhaps more to me than it ever has meant before. Why? Because my family and I are now able to plant our lives in S. Asia to be church planters in a large part due to this offering. We will be able to move our lives there, pour into national believers, and send them out to see churches planted.

The goal this year is set at a higher amount than ever before with a goal of $625,000. This amount is broken down into two categories. $468,750 of that amount goes directly to Church Planting, from this amount is how we are able to go and plant churches in S. Asia. The remaining $156,250 will be used locally in RDU with the week of ServeRDU and helping to see things such as i58 come to fruition.

So if you are a part of the Summit Church then I highly encourage you to be on mission with the church and to live sufficiently, give extravagantly. Give huge amounts to the Christmas missions offering, not so that I can go live in another country, but so that peoples lives can be changed by the gospel and churches can be planted all over the world.

Why Pray?

2011-12-05T06:30:00.000-05:00

Let me start out by being honest up front in saying that overall I feel as if my prayer life stinks! But it is out of that realization that I have started to sense even more the need for prayer in my life. Aside from that I printed off 2500 prayer cards of my family that I am fully expecting people to pray for us when they see, but I don't think that I should expect that from people if I myself am not praying.

In my process of realization of the importance of prayer, I came across 19 reasons on "Why Pray" that was given out at one of the orientation sessions I attended recently. These 19 reasons have helped me see even more reasons why to pray, which I hope will also be of help to you.

WHY PRAY:

1. Prayer discovers the secret of Christ's evangelistic success (Mark 1:14, 35).

2. Prayer follows the example of the early church (Acts 4:31).

3. Prayer acknowledges dependence upon God (Psalm 40:1, 4).

4. Prayer conforms our will to God's (1 John 5:14).

5. Prayer opens closed doors (Colossians 4:2,3)

6. Pray grants victory over Satan (Ephesians 6:12, 18).

7. Prayer unleashes divine power (Ephesians 3:14-16).

8. Prayer begets boldness in witnessing (Ephesians 6:18,19).

9. Prayer brings wisdom about what to say (James 1:5).

10. Prayer replaces anxiety with peace (Philippians 4:6,7).

11. Prayer brings fullness of joy (John 16:24).

12. Prayer produces fruitfulness (John 15:5,7).

13. Prayer causes growth in new believers (Philippians 1:4,6).

14. Prayer raises up new workers (Matthew 9:37, 38).

15. Prayer generates revival (Chronicles 7:14).

16. Prayer impacts the world (Psalms 2:8).

17. Prayer accomplishes amazing results (Jeremiah 33:3).

18. Prayer delights the Lord (Proverbs 15:8b).

19. Prayer glorifies God (John 14:1).

Going Where the Gospel Has Not Been Heard

2011-12-02T06:30:00.001-05:00

How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written,"How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!"

Romans 10:14-15

This is a moving video that I came across this week that basically speaks for itself... It is hard to fathom that there are 2100 full time workers for every million people in the Christian world, but only six foreign missionaries for every million people in the unreached world.

Beautiful Feet Project from AsiaLink HistoryMaker on Vimeo.

I encourage you to pray about how you will respond in light of this video you have just watched. Perhaps God is calling you to go to Asia, be a partner, give, or pray. We each have a part in taking the gospel to the ends of the earth as we see in Acts 1:8, I just hope that you respond with obedience to yours.

Church Planting Movements

2011-11-30T06:30:00.001-05:00

I love this clip on Church Planting Movements from the organization Pioneers. They are a very like-minded organization in church planting and I believe that this video clip helps capture the conversation I feel like I have with family and friends everyday who do not quite understand what it is exactly that I am going to be doing over the next couple of years.

Below I have also included some of my favorite quotes from the video that really help capture the essence of what church planting and church planting movements look like in an international context.

"A Church Planting movement is a movement of the Spirit of God."

"We don't want to simply see a church raised up where the missionary becomes the pastor forever and ever, amen. We want to see church planting movements that are indigenous to the people, even from the very beginning, that has as one of its core values the desire to reach out to others and to plant churches that will plant churches."

"So we're not here to Americanize this place or try and stimulate a church planting movement that looks like the US, we want to empower, equip, and involve the local church here... in what God is already doing."

Training for Trainers

2011-11-28T06:30:00.000-05:00

This week I spent some time studying the essential elements of Training for Trainers (T4T), which is the primary way in which our team will operate in developing church planters in S. Asia to be sent out. The end goal will not be to only see them plant a church, but also train new leaders that will go on to also plant a church and continue to train more leaders. This training method has in the past and will hopefully continue to lead way into a church planting movement.

Due to its simplicity and its effectiveness, I found it worth sharing some of these essential elements with you here. T4T -- an all inclusive process of evangelism, discipleship, church planting, leadership training, and reproduction.

1. Built on the Word of God.

II Timothy 3:16-16
Psalms 3:16-17

2. Obedience based Discipleship.

Luke 6:46-49
Matthew 28:19-20

3. All believers equipped to share their faith.

Matthew 28:19-20
Acts 1:8

4. Emphasis on training those who will train others.

II Timothy 2:2
John 15:16

For a more in depth look at T4T check out T4T: A Discipleship Re-Revolution.

Thankfulness

2011-11-23T06:30:00.002-05:00

It is my favorite time of year again and one of my favorite holidays is tomorrow. Thanksgiving has always meant a lot to me because it allows me to be with my family, eat a lot, watch football, and reflect on the last year of God's provision in my life. This year in particular my family will be spending it with my aunt and uncle in Chesapeake, VA.

This will be my last Thanksgiving in the States for a few years so I look forward to cherishing the day with loved ones and appreciating it for everything that it is. God has really blessed my family in the last year and I wanted to express a few of those here.

On March 9 this year I was given the best gift that I have ever received, aside from my salvation, in the birth of my son Elliot. I was and am a huge proponent of waiting to have children, but I am so thankful for his life and look forward to having him with us for the holidays this year.

I am also extremely thankful that God has opened the doors for my family to move to S. Asia in order to plant churches. The cooperative program of like minded churches have made this possible through their gracious gifts and I am thankful that they all helped make this possible.

Lastly, I am thankful for the support of both of our families in this huge transition in our lives. Goodbyes are never easy, but it has made it easier that we have their support and that they both desire to see our obedience to Christ.

I hope you too can recognize God's perfect provision in your life, even if it has been a difficult year. Be safe if you are traveling this weekend and I encourage you to take some time this over Thanksgiving to reflect on God's provision and express your thankfulness to him!

A Message for the Heart of Muslims

2011-11-22T06:30:00.000-05:00

For over a year now I have had Breaking the Islam Code by J.D. Greear on my reading list, but just now managed to start reading it this past weekend. It is already promising to be a great starting place in order to understand the soul questions of Muslims and to be able to see them come to Christ. Although I have only read about 25% of the book, I wanted to go ahead and share what J.D. calls "A Message for the Heart" in chapter one.

A Message for the Heart:

1. You most effectively share Christ with Muslims when you are genuinely friends with them.

2. You must learn to listen to Muslims.

3. You must look for the Holy Spirit to do in the heart of your Muslims friends what you cannot do.

In addition Greear offers three preliminary questions that he suggest you constantly be asking:

1. What does my friend actually believe?

2. Why does he believe that?

3. Which of his beliefs, questions, and experiences can I affirm?

I look forward to finishing up the book this week and offering further tools in reaching Muslims, but hopefully this will help get you started in the right direction.

Rules as Guidelines vs. Rules as Law

2011-11-21T06:30:00.000-05:00

Finally at the age of 26 I have come to realize that sometimes rules are just necessary. It is not that it took me 26 years to actually realize that or fully understand that, but I struggled with the rules mentality for so long because I have often experienced rules as a law when in many cases they are not. My main issue with rules over the years has been generally when someone lays down a rule as if it is biblical or the only way.

My issue with rules being presented this way is that it does a couple of things. First, it many times causes something to become sin that was never sin to begin with. A great example of this is alcohol. Often times an institution will prohibit the consumption of alcohol, which often results in turning alcohol now into a temptation and sin when it is consumed. Alcohol is a gift from God, the first recorded miracle of Jesus, and when consumed appropriately and moderately can be a wonderful thing.

Second, by presenting or making rules as law it makes them appear as the only way. This in turn often results in the judgement of others when they may not be following those same given rules. It is important to remember that you can and still should have fellowship with fellow brothers even though their rule following may look different as the body of Christ is unique. What some can do in good conscience, other cannot. So, in some instances an issue or certain behavior maybe a sin issue for some and not for others. We must not make the mistake of making something a sin for all believers that was not clearly given as one in Scripture.

Now, are rules necessary? Absolutely, but I have come to see the freedom in rules as guidelines and not as law. Any organization and institution will have rules and I fully believe that you should follow those as your general guidelines because in most cases you agreed to those in working with them. And following rules as guidelines does not give one an excuse to sin, but rather respect them for what they are by submitting to the authority over them in their lives in a way that is Christ honoring(1Peter 2:13-16).

Obedience Based Discipleship

2011-11-18T06:30:00.000-05:00

Starting next year, part of my role as a church planter in an international context will consist of me coming alongside national believers and discipling them. These followers of Christ could be at any level from seasoned Christian to a brand new follower of Christ. The key in my discipleship with them will be to equip and train them to be sent out on mission.

I will not be coming in as if to say that I am the man with the answers, but rather I will walk with them, point them to Jesus, and explore together what the Bible has to teach. This way there is not a dependency created on me in anyway, but rather all dependency is on Christ and what the Bible teaches. In many ways I will be equipped by these believers within my equipping of them.

A key aspect within my discipling of these brothers in Christ, will be obedience based discipleship. In other words I will initially meet with all whom are interested, but very soon I will look for those that are serious about their faith, on mission, and ready to be sent out to plant churches. This may come across as harsh to some, but the truth is that in the context that I am going, I do not have time to waste on those that are not serious. This does not mean that I will not come back to them later at some point if they express and prove their seriousness, but initially I will move on.

I am fully on board with this model and often question why we don't do that more within my current context within the American church? I love both the church local and the church universal/glocal, but believe that more of us need to get to a place of obedience based discipleship. We tend to let people play church too much, when the reality is that there are serious needs everywhere in the world.

The U.S. alone now has an unchurched population over more than 120 million. That number is only going to grow larger if we do not get serious about our discipleship within the church. So in order to reach the 120 million plus we need many faithful disciples that are on mission to be sent out. So my challenge for you is to start obedience based discipleship if you are not doing so already.

Please feel free to comment below on how you have seen discipleship work and fail in the past within your own setting.

Propaganda - G.O.S.P.E.L.

2011-11-16T06:30:00.001-05:00

I know this video went around on facebook a few months ago, but thought it was still worth sharing for those of you that may have missed it. Artist Propaganda is putting together relevant music and poetry that reaches across the spectrum of youth and pop culture. He is highly respected in the LA hip-hop underground scene, but the key difference between him and many of those within the hip-hop world is that Propaganda is spreading the truth in his message.

Chasing Hard after God

2011-11-14T06:30:00.000-05:00

My soul followeth hard after thee: thy right hand upholdeth me.

Psalm 63:8

Chasing hard after God should be our highest goal and first priority in life. I was challenged with this recently in my preparation to move to another country to be a church planter. It struck me how often my highest goal has been to please fellow man in many ways such as coming off as a good communicator, a respected leader, or even at times a good blogger. But the truth is that if I am not chasing hard after God to please him as an audience of one then I have ultimately failed.

Before I go any further I do want to point out that the only way in which one can chase hard after God would be dependent first on a work of enlightenment from God of himself to that individual. In the words of A.W. Tozer, We pursue God because, and only because, He has first put an urge within us that spurs us to the pursuit.

Tozer further says, The impulse to pursue God originates with God, but the outworking of that impulse is our following hard after Him; and all the time we are pursuing Him we are already in His hand: "Thy right hand upholdeth me."

So if God has originated a work in you then your natural response of that work is an impulse of following hard after Him. To do anything less would be to fall short of all that God has for you and your life. Remember that you are created to please an audience of one, God himself, therefore chase hard after that audience.

The Nations In the City

2011-11-11T06:30:00.000-05:00

Fulfilling the Great Commission and taking the gospel to those people groups that are unreached is no longer about only going to another country because many of the unreached people groups are coming to us in our major cities across the world, including the US. EthneCity is a conference that is focused on just that by looking at ways to reach the unreached in the city.

Nations in the city on Vimeo.

The gathering of ethneCity is designed to do three things:

Explore the reality of the urbanization of the world and what it will take to engage the unreached in the urban centers of the world.
Equip mission leaders and church-planting strategists in the development of strategies to reach unreached people groups in their indigenous homeland and urban centers, including in the U.S.
Provide an environment for mission leaders and international and U.S. church-planting strategists focused in urban centers to network and develop opportunities to work together.

Lingering by Failing to Grasp the Situation

2011-11-09T06:30:00.000-05:00

As morning dawned, the angels urged Lot, saying, “Up! Take your wife and your two daughters who are here, lest you be swept away in the punishment of the city.” But he lingered. So the men seized him and his wife and his two daughters by the hand, the LORD being merciful to him, and they brought him out and set him outside the city.

(Genesis 19:15-16 ESV)

But he lingered, a simple statement that has huge implications. I had never really paid much attention to this statement in the story of Lot because I always remembered the outcome of him coming out on the other side okay. But what I failed to recognize in that statement is that in lingering over the situation it shows that Lot himself was slow to grasp the seriousness of the situation.

Thankfully in the case of Lot, although he lingered, the Lord still showed mercy to him and his family. But this got me thinking about how many of us linger over things in our lives, specifically temptations and sins. I would say that it is only by the grace and mercy of the Lord that we ever escape those, but in lingering we too are failing to grasp the seriousness of the situation of sin in our lives.

In regards to temptations and lingering, the longer one lingers then you are that much closer to go from lingering to sinning. An example of this that is often seen in the life of men is a beautiful woman walks by and in that moment if a man is faced with the temptation to lust after her he is much more likely to do so if he lingers as he looks at her and decides. Instead the better choice in that moment is to abide in Christ and turn from the lingering of your mind, therefore suppressing that temptation and sin in your life through Christ.

So lingering is almost always failing to recognize the seriousness of the situation.

Great Commission Basics

2011-11-07T06:30:00.000-05:00

This week I had the privilege to sit in on a two part seminar given by Missiologist and Ethnographer Dr. Jim Slack. He specializes in using a selection of anthropologically-oriented tools that are valuable when planting churches, specifically those among unreached and unengaged ethnic people groups. But in the words of Slack himself, The biblical foundation for embracing, engaging and evangelizing a "panta ta ethne" ethnolinguistic people group as found within Christ's Great Commission precedes all other tools and presentations.

Here is a helpful summary that Dr. Slack put together on The Basics of Christ's Great Commission:

Matthew 28:19-20

Luke 24 and Acts 1 & 2

The Great Commission from Christ was given to each and every believer, not just to apostles, pastors or missionaries. (Matthew 28:19 & Luke 24:47-48)
An everyday responsibility - "As you are going"-starting in each person's "Jerusalem" (Luke 24:47 & Acts 1:8)
The task of the Great Commission is "making disciples"-Evangelism and Discipleship. (Matthew 28:19)
The focus of "making disciples" is very specific-"making disciples within each and every ethnic people group-the panta ta ethne. (Matthew 28:19-20)
Each believer is responsible for "making disciples" within each and every ethnolinguistic people group beginning in each person's Jerusalem, and moving beyond to each person's Judea, Samaria and uttermost. (Luke 24:47 and Acts 1:8)
Witnesses and evangelizers are to engage each and every ethnolinguistic people group in their "mother tongue" (heart language) (Acts 2:6 & 8 & 11)

God Doesn't Want Your Flattery

2011-11-04T06:30:00.000-04:00

This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me...

(Matthew 15:8 ESV)

This past week I was involved with a seminar dealing with ones relationship with God. We discussed how many things that used to be able to be assumed in the life of a believer can no longer be assumed anymore as the church is constantly allowing the culture to dictate how many view things. This is perhaps seen no greater than in my own generation as it seems like the majority of my "Christian" buddies that I grew up with are no longer identifying themselves as Christ followers.

In essence I grew up with a bunch of Pharisees for friends, not all, but the ones that I referred to in the above paragraph. Then there is also a group that still honors Christ with their lips, but their heart is far from God. The classic example of this is seen as someone is publicly raising their hands in worship, declaring their honor and worship for Jesus, only to leave and go sleep with their girlfriend or perhaps to have many secret sins in their life.

This boggled my mind for a long time growing up as I started to wonder when my time would come, my time to profess Christ with my lips, but go and live in whatever way pleased me. The reality is that this no longer boggles my mind, but what it does cause me to do is be saddened for those individuals who are wasting their lives away after hearing and knowing the truth of the gospel.

The reality is that their hearts are far from God and the worship they professed was merely in vain. They may have fooled man, their parents, and youth pastor, but nobody fools God. The truth is that God doesn't want your flattery, so don't be a stupid pharisee. So if this is you, stop what you are doing and take time to consider what your life is truly like. You are the definition of a hypocrite and in need of true repentance.

First Impressions

2011-11-02T06:30:00.001-04:00

For over a year now my wife and I have been proudly Wal-Mart free, but occasionally we will venture into Wal-Mart for an exchange on an item such as diapers that nobody else will accept without a receipt. The other night ended up being one of those nights where we needed to do an exchange. So we fought through the cars to find a parking spot, experienced an unfriendly greeting at the front door, waited in long lines, and walked the store what seemed like fifteen minutes to find the section that I was looking for.

Let's just say that immediately my mind was flooded with the many reasons that we are no longer Wal-Mart shoppers, aside from the ethical implications of shopping there. I finally found the item that I needed to get and proceeded to the checkout line. The checkout clerk was very pleasant and we had some small talk as he overly explained their return policy to me and pointed to a manager about ten feet from us. Since he had pointed to the manager I thought it courteous to walk over to find out the information.

To my surprise her response to me was, "I'm off the clock!" I kindly smiled and left, but immediately thought how that was horrible customer service and a really bad first impression. As a manager of a store it shouldn't matter if you are off the clock as long as you are still wearing the uniform, smiley face name tag, and standing out on the open floor.

This in turn made me think about our first impressions team at the Summit Church and Danny Franks in particular. We go above and beyond to make sure that first time guests have an excellent first impression of not only our church, but Christians and Christianity. It is commonly said around our church that "The sermon starts out in the parking lot."

I find this to be true, but think of the many churches that treat first impressions just like this manager at Wal-Mart. They may be all about doing what it takes to get you there, but if it appears you are interrupting their life or want to talk to them after church then you are mistaken.

As Christians it is important to remember that in a sense we are all leaders and never off the clock. We are always called to be representatives of Christ and ultimately called to do everything in and with love (1 Cor. 13).

Troubled Waters

2011-10-31T06:30:00.001-04:00

I wanted to take the time today to introduce you all to one of the worst cases of mass poisoning in the world and the documentary that is filming the process of clean water coming to this town in "Troubled Waters."

Here is the synopsis taken from their own website: Jim Hill, a seasoned missionary, stumbles on a small town 12,000 feet above sea level in the Puna region of Argentina. He hears San Antonio de los Cobres is being poisoned by the very thing it needs to survive, water.

After extensive research Jim and the team surrounding him discover alarmingly high levels of Arsenic in the town’s drinking water. He wants to install a filter system for San Antonio de los Cobres but when the reality of raising the money, politics, and power stand in his way he is forced to fight for his vision.

Through a mountainous terrain of inner struggle and setbacks Jim and the devoted team of people around him overcome the obstacles thrown in their way and inspire an entire town to stand up for its well being. A series of extraordinary events allow them to install a brand new filtration system; providing clean drinking water for the entire town of San Antonio de Los Cobres.

I have been following this story and the making of this documentary for years now and I am behind it fully as I long to see the vision of this missionary be fulfilled and the story of this town told. The crew is currently raising funds for their post production trip through a kickstarter project with seven more days to raise about $2,000, so if you can help in anyway to make this story come to fruition then please do so as it deserves to be told while helping bring clean drinking water to other towns just like this one.

Sharing the Metanarrative of the Gospel

2011-10-28T06:30:00.000-04:00

Yesterday's post dealt with how to share your faith, which I have come to realize that many people do not know how to do. One of the best tools that I have ever come across in helping people share their faith is a booklet (not a tract) called the Story. It allows people to share their faith by connecting their story with the larger story of the gospel.

"The Story" Promotional Video from The Story (ViewTheStory.com) on Vimeo.

I really like that the "The Story," doesn't just cover one aspect of the gospel, but it covers the entire metanarrative: creation, fall, redemption, restoration. This allows people to see the fullness of the gospel for themselves through this tool, which then helps them when in conversation with others. It may seem simple to some, but that is what the church needs in a gospel tool. A tool that is rich with the gospel truth, but simple enough that anyone anywhere can understand it, grasp it, and in turn multiply the amount of people hearing the Gospel.

Share Your Faith

2011-10-26T06:30:00.000-04:00

During the last few years I have come to realize that many Christians do not ever share their faith with others. This means that either people are uncertain of how to share their faith or that they are being disobedient to Scripture in not sharing their faith. I believe that many people are really just not sure where to even start the conversation.

In the video below, Jeff Vanderstelt takes seven minutes to explain how he shares his faith and how he trains others in sharing their faith.

How to Share Your Faith from Acts 29 Network on Vimeo.

I honestly do not struggle that much in sharing my faith as it comes natural for me to have a conversation with someone and in most of those conversations we inevitably get to matters of faith, which gives me an opportunity to share the gospel with them. Just this week I have been placed on a team that is going to set up trainings to help others be able to share their faith at one of the largest colleges in the state of Virginia and then in Washington DC in about a month.

If you find yourself struggling to share your faith then I encourage you to take some of these ideas or concepts that Jeff mentions here and implement them into your own conversations with people. Everyone has a salvation story, we just have to be willing to open our mouths to share it with others.

Good Christians Celebrate Halloween

2011-10-24T06:30:00.001-04:00

[Editor's Note: The following is a re-post of George Robinson's Sep. 28, 2010 blog.

October 31^st. For most Americans this date means one thing: **Halloween.** Costumes, candy and trick-or-treaters spending to the tune of $2.5 billion making this holiday second only to Christmas in marketing revenue. But good Christians don’t celebrate Halloween. Or do they? Some Protestants may prefer to call it Reformation Day, for after all, that is the date that Martin Luther nailed his Theses to the door at Castle Church in Wittenberg back in 1517. That does pre-date the first usage of the phrase “All Hallows Eve” (commonly known now as Halloween) which didn’t emerge until some 40 years later in 1556.[1]

Ironically, most good Christians that I know won’t be celebrating either Reformation Day or Halloween. Instead, they will be showing support for their local church by attending a “safe and sanitary” alternative called a Fall Festival. This alternative allows good Christians to invite their neighbors and friends to come to the church and get candy, play games and have some good, clean Christian fun. No pagan witches and goblins allowed. But they can dress up as David or Moses or some other biblical character. All the fun without the pagan revelry, right?

I would like to propose another alternative – that good Christians should indeed celebrate Halloween. I think that they should stay home from their church’s alternative Fall Festival and celebrate with their pagan neighbors. Most of them wouldn’t have come to your Fall Festival anyway. And those who did would’ve stopped by briefly on their way to “real” trick-or-treating. I’m sure that some of you reading this blog might be more than a little unhappy with my proposal at this point, but stick with me for a moment.: The reason I propose that good Christians celebrate Halloween and stay home from the “Christian alternatives” is that Halloween is the only night of the year in our culture where lost people actually go door-to-door to saved people’s homes . . . and you’re down at the church hanging out with all your other good Christian friends having clean fellowship with the non-pagans.

Living with missional intentionality means that you approach life as a missionary in your context. I lived with my family in South Asia and we had to be creative and intentional in engaging our Muslim neighbors. We now live in the USA and we still need to be creative and intentional. That’s why for the past 2 years we have chosen to stay at home and celebrate the fact that Halloween gives us a unique opportunity to engage our neighbors. In fact, last year we had over 300 children and 200 adults come to our doorstep on that one night. And we were ready for them!

We had a tent set up in the driveway and gave away free coffee and water to the adults who were walking with their children. Our small group members manned the tent and engaged them in conversation and gave each one of them a gospel booklet (“The Story” gospel booklets are available with a Halloween distribution rate here: http://story4.us/offer). The children ran up to our door while the parents were waiting and got their candy, along with gospel booklets (even if they were dressed as witches or goblins!). In all we gave away more than 500 pieces of literature that night, each with our name, e-mail address, and a website where they could get more info.

I sure wish more good Christians would celebrate Halloween this year by staying home and meeting their pagan neighbors – an option which I believe surely beats the “good Christian” alternative.

__________________

[1] John Simpson and Edmund Weiner, Oxford English Dictionary 2d. ed. (London: Oxford University Press, 1989).

The Journey Ahead

2011-10-19T06:30:00.000-04:00

Today starts a new journey for my family as we start eight weeks of training in VA with the organization that we will be planting churches with in South Asia. This promises to be a time where we can focus and prepare spiritually to be on the frontline of darkness. We will also have the opportunity to build some life long friendships with like minded people who are also going out to reach the nations.

The eight week schedule is rigorous as there is something planned everyday with no real time for extra curricular activities. This part will admittedly be a struggle for me as I enjoy my free time or the freedom to make my own schedule (I've already outline every area of free time in our schedule). In some ways, we are already anticipating the other side of training as it means we are one step closer to actually living in South Asia, but at the same time we are trying to go in with open hearts and minds to be humble and learn from many who have gone before us.

My family would appreciate the prayers of all of you as we enter this time and get ready to leave in January. We also have a family blog so that people can follow our journey of church planting in South Asia and keep up with ways to prayer for us.

In regards to this blog, I have had many people ask if I plan on continuing to write on here. I have wrestled through this question myself as I have a feeling that most of our family post will be done by me, but I have decided to at least initially attempt to do both. The nature of the blog may change some, perhaps mature and get deeper in many ways, but definitely will continue.

As far as the next eight weeks I am uncertain on the amount of time and internet access to keep up with posts, but I plan on doing what I can and maybe even taking the month of November to repost some of the most popular post. So please stay in contact, keep reading, and I look forward to some future conversations.

Help Plant a Church in Australia

2011-10-18T06:30:00.000-04:00

It is not everyday that you get an opportunity to help plant a church in Australia, but my friend Seth Snider has made that opportunity available. Seth, along with another family are uprooting their lives in December to move to Australia to plant a church where they hope to bring coffee, community, and love to the people.

Seth is also a long time musician so he recorded a seven song album as a way to donate towards the journey to Australia. Of his album release, Seth had this to say, It is an honor to me that you have my CD. I hope it portrays love and a genuine heart. What brought this passion to record"The Presence Of Freedom", outside of my love for music, is to support my move to Australia to bring coffee, community, and love together while using it to reveal the true and authentic gospel to the country of Australia and whoever else hears this CD!

I was able to both attend the release show for the album and purchase a copy myself. It is one of those albums that you want to put on repeat as every song is that good. It doesn't fit into a neat little category of "worship" music like many other artist out there as Seth is just being himself and allowing God to use his gifts and abilities. Although it definitely leads you into worship with songs like "Father God" and "Savior King." The music itself has an indie-rock, folkish sound to it, which I personally like, but believe there is a song or sound for everyone on this album.

Here is the deal, you can purchase the album either as a digital copy or a hard copy for $7. It is hard to find a album of this quality for that cheap anywhere and the fact that every dollar is going to missions in Australia makes it that much more of a reason to purchase it. So head on over to http://sethsnider.bandcamp.com/ to download or order your copy now and start listening to some good tunes and financially helping plant a church in Australia.

Are Our Churches Entertaining or Discipling?

2011-10-17T06:30:00.000-04:00

This is a thought provoking video put out by the Foursquare Church that I came across this week on what discipling really looks like in most of our churches. Many churches today are more interested in entertaining people than discipling them. I do not believe that the makers of the video are saying that any of the things listed are inherently bad, but that we should from time to time take a step back and see if our churches are truly focused on making disciples or more on entertaining.

Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.

Matthew 28:19-20

Ways to Honor Your Wife

2011-10-14T06:30:00.000-04:00

During my man's weekend we discussed men as husbands and ways to practically honor your wife. As men it is important to remember that first God is your example. Second that men must love their wives with agape (unconditional) and efficacious (transforming) love (1 Cor. 13:4-8; Eph. 5:25-33).

Men, it is important to remember that, your spouse is a living, breathing, endless book to be read. Dreams and hopes have yet to be realized. Talents and abilities may be discovered like hidden treasure. But the choice to explore them starts with a decision by you.

Here are ways to practical honor your wife:

Honor her maritally. Take a wife honorably. Establish right priorities, and be a one woman man-absolutely faithful to your wife.
Honor her physically. Be strong for your wife, not against her. Be protective of her and present with her.
Honor her emotionally. Be emotionally present and intimate Take her on dates.
Honor her verbally. Speak honorably to her. Speak honorably of her, when she is present and absent.
Honor her financially. Provide for the financial needs of your family, organize your budget, and be generous towards your wife.
Honor her practically. Consider her needs and how you can serve her.
Honor her parentally. Be "Pastor Dad" by shepherding your children (praying with them, teaching them about Jesus, reading the Bible with them, etc.).
Honor her spiritually. You initiate and lead prayer, Bible, chats, church attendance, etc. Take responsibility for your church.

I will be the first to admit or Andrea will be that I am not the best at implementing these ways to honor your wife, but that it is something I am striving towards. Men, God created your wife and gave her to you as a gift, now start honoring that gift!

Feminized Men, "Man Up"

2011-10-13T06:30:00.000-04:00

This past weekend I went on a man's weekend where we did things that typically speak to a man's heart such as sleep in cabins in the mountains, raft on the river, and play paintball. But entertainment was not our purpose, rather our purpose was to get away from the normal mundane day to day life and search the Scripture to discover how the Bible describes men and masculinity, which I believe that the church has stripped in many ways by creating a culture of feminized men. We see this displayed in churches all over that are painted with pastel colors, have pictures of Jesus painted like a woman on the wall, and are full of nice feminine guys. No wonder so many men do not even want to walk inside many of our church buildings.

To be clear, this is not how men and masculinity are portrayed in the Bible. Rather we see that there are key biblical truths about men and their calling that describe men as warriors who put on the full armor of God (Eph. 6:10-17, Rev. 19):

Men must be forward thinkers, defining their life forward and living according to the plan God has prepared for them. Men must have priorities in life that include (in order) 1 - A personal relationship with Christ, 2 - Loving one Wife, 3 - Raising Children, 4 - Providing for your family, 5 - Volunteer Ministry. Men can fail by neglecting one of these priorities OR getting them out of order. Men must continue to refine their lives by working "on" their life, not just working "in" their life.

Here are some questions that we as men wrestled through during the weekend that I encourage you to wrestle through as our society has started to define what men are including what we are seeing defined as men in the church. Now is time for men in the church to "Man Up."

At this stage of your life, what is your great battle? Is it on the surface (making more money, getting the kids to behave, reducing the hassles of life?) or is it deeper?
Where is your great adventure? What real risk have you been swept up into? (Is anything in your life more compelling than watching sports, following stocks, or viewing the adventures of others on TV?)
Is your church full of masculine men? Where are we missing the mark? Do you see an area of your church that is in desperate need of Biblical men?
Look at the men around you. How has Satan perverted society's view of a masculine man? Think about businesses in town, advertisements, tv shows, government. What do guys live for today?

Humility Trumps Arrogance

2011-10-12T06:30:00.000-04:00

My wife and I were having lunch recently with a Jewish couple that we have gotten to know over the last seven years. Typically our meetings are the husband drilling me on what I have learned in seminary, discussing differences of faith, and him attempting to make sure that I am not insane for wanting to move my family to South Asia to plant churches.

This man, in his late sixties, is usually open minded in our conversations, but this particular lunch went different. He immediately started telling me the history of the country I am moving to and their historic interaction with Christianity. He then said a statement that I believe captures the attitude of many people, he was just bold enough to say it, "You are going to a country where they are all born and raised Hindu, therefore they will all die Hindu; you were born and raised a Christian, therefore you will die a Christian."

He then proceeded by saying, "Tell me, do you think that you have something that they don't... that you are better than them?" The next few moments were me and my wife explaining that we do not believe that you are born into a religion and die in that religion, but that it is by God's grace alone that either one of us is a follower of Christ and that we simply want to go to South Asia to allow the people there to have the same opportunity to hear the message of the gospel.

My wife responded with the analogy of a doctor discovering the cure for a disease such as cancer and then keeping it to himself. She said, "Anyone in their right mind would want this doctor to announce to the world the cure for this awful disease and not keep it to themselves." She proceeded to tell this man that in the same way we do not believe we are better than anybody because of following Christ, but that we do believe it is the truth and the only cure for sin, therefore we want to tell everyone that we can this message of salvation. (This is definitely one of those proud moments as a husband)

He thought this over for a moment and although it was obvious that he did not necessarily like what he just heard or agree with the statement, there was at least something that he appreciated in our conversation. He looked up as if finished with the questions and said, "You guys are going to do alright, you know why, because you guys are humble in your message."

Although I pray for the salvation of Jews just as I do for Hindus, but what this man hit on during our lunch was that arrogance will automatically close people off to hearing whatever it is you have to say, especially the gospel. This got me thinking about the numerous conversations that I have had with people that the number one reason they wouldn't even consider Christianity is the intolerance or arrogance that they witness.

It dawned on me at that moment that humility trumps arrogance in the life of a Christian. And perhaps the reason some people won't give a listening ear to the gospel has more to do with you than them because of your arrogance. So if you find yourself being arrogant as a Christian, STOP, repent, and go to the people you have been sharing the gospel with in love and humility.

Minimum - Successful Church Plant

2011-10-10T06:30:00.000-04:00

About a week ago I wrote on "Defining a Successful Church Plant," pointing out the assumption that in many cases people would define a successful church plant the same way that one would define a new Starbucks. Mainly based on the amount of people attending, often from other churches (church shoppers), the amount of services, etc. But I believe if that is the criteria that we place on a successful church plant then I believe that we have missed the mark somewhere.

Rather than a church plant being celebrated as successful based on x amount of consumer Christians or church shoppers attending, there are some things that need to be in place as a minimum that would define a successful church plant. Minimum based on whose criteria, based on the criteria read in the New Testament.

Before I discuss the minimums, I want to mention briefly the things that need to be in place for a healthy church plant to take place. First there needs to be leadership. Second there needs to be discipleship. Third there needs to be a group of people on mission.

Once those three things are in place, here are the minimums when it comes to defining a successful church plant:

First a church must be built on Jesus Christ and have the gospel as the focus (1 Cor. 3:11). In the words of Josh Kouri, "The gospel is not entry level Christianity. It is our primary and most important message." The church should have Jesus as the first and last focus, everything should point to him, and be all about his glory.

Second a church that is built on Jesus must then be filled with the Holy Spirit so that their leading and guiding come from him (1 Cor. 3:16). A key to knowing if a church is truly filled with the Spirit is that everything done in and through the power of the Holy Spirit will ultimately point to Jesus.

Third a church must have qualified elders to lead the church (1 Cor. 3:10). This is why assessments of church planters is essential because if not then any yahoo out there can pose under the guise of "church planter," which then often will lead people astray and sets up an unhealthy church on the road to disaster.

Fourth a church will then have a group of people that are on mission (1 Cor. 3:9). This is why teams are key to planting churches, not individuals. I have known many struggling church plants and church planters, and I have no doubt in my mind that one of the number one reasons that they struggled is in part due to them being the "lone ranger" church planter. It is not healthy and has unfortunately proven so to their detriment.

These are what would need to be in place as the bare minimum for a successful church plant, at least one that is going to be healthy, gospel-centered, Spirit-filled, and on mission.

Treasure Principles

2011-10-06T13:30:00.000-04:00

This week I was given a copy of Randy Alcorn's The Treasure Principle, a book that is deep and rich in regards to giving and generosity in the life of a believer. I highly recommend the book and thought that it was worth sharing the Treasure Principle Keys that Alcorn presents in the book. Here are the principles:

Treasure Principle Keys

God owns everything. I'm His money manager.

We are the managers of the assets God has entrusted-not given-to us.

My heart always goes where I put God's money.

Watch what happens when you reallocate your money from temporal things to eternal things.

Heaven, not earth, is my home.

We are citizens of "a better country-a heavenly one"

(Hebrews 11:16)

I should live not for the dot but for the line.

From the dot-our present life on earth-extends a line that goes on forever, which is eternity in heaven.

Giving is the only antidote to materalism.

Giving is a joyful surrender to a greater person and a greater agenda. It dethrones me and exalts Him.

God prospers me not to raise my standard of living, but to raise my standard of giving.

God gives us more money than we need so we can give-generously.

Spiritual Gifts vs. Cessationism

2011-10-05T06:30:00.000-04:00

The following is a conversation that I came across this week between Doug Wilson and Mark Driscoll regarding the spiritual gifts and cessationism that is worth the time to watch. This is a conversation that I have had more times than I would like to count as I was raised Baptist, married a Pentecostal, and now would fall into the category of a Reformed Charismatic.

In my opinion my background either often ignored the role of the Holy Spirt or they just weren't quite sure what exactly to do with the idea and role of the Holy Spirit. In my searching though, I experienced a group that was on the other end of the spectrum where the Holy Spirit was the center of everything, often to the neglect of Christ himself. Even at a secular university one of my favorite classes in my undergraduate program was "The Rhetoric of Twentieth-Century American Faith Healers" that I had with a cessasionist professor who titled his textbook, "Foul Demons, Come Out!".

What I appreciate both about my background and my searching for some answers is that both ultimately led me to search the Scripture. This is how I have come to my own conclusions on the spiritual gifts and also feel like it has allowed me to have a more well rounded perspective when dealing with people on both sides of the debate; where yes, I can answer some questions now, but ultimately I am able to point them to Scripture.

Book Review: GOSPEL by J.D. Greear

2011-10-03T06:30:00.000-04:00

I cannot imagine writing a book and then being so bold to title with something such as Gospel, but that is exactly what J.D. Greear has done in his newest release along with a subtitle of Recovering the Power that Made Christianity Revolutionary. Greear is very clear from his introduction that his reason for writing the book is because he like many in the church have gotten to a place where they are finding Christianity to be wearisome with all of the "do's and don'ts" that categorize someone as a "good" Christian. Thoughts that are categorized in statements like once you become a Christian, "don't drink, don't dance, don't chew, and don't go with girls that do."

Greear admits however, that recently he has discovered something that has changed everything, the gospel. And in this rediscovering of the gospel it has given him a joy in God that he never experienced in all his years of fervent religion. I believe that this is what many, I may even be as bold to say what most Christians need to rediscover because when I look at the church, specifically in America, what I see is a bunch of wearisome Christians who have forgotten the power that made Christianity Revolutionary, the gospel.

I feel like it is necessary to give Greear's definition of the gospel from the book because I know many who are questioning what that even means in today's context. "The gospel is the announcement that God has reconciled us to Himself by sending His Son Jesus to die as a substitute for our sins, and that all who repent and believe have eternal life in Him. The gospel is that Christ has suffered the full wrath of God for my sin." And in this rediscovering of the gospel, Greear wants to through this book help people simply abide in Jesus because abiding in Jesus will change everything by creating a re-defined life.

A re-defined life is where the turning point comes for Greear and will come for you. He goes on to say, "The Gospel has done in my heart what religion never could." This statement hits at the core of what most all of us have experienced in trying to "do good" in order to be accepted only to learn the reality of the gospel that we are only accepted because of what Jesus has already done. Greear points to this in 2 Corinthians 5:21 that says that He (Christ) actually became our sin so that we could literally become His righteousness.

This should be liberating to us, especially those of us that grew up in a tradition where it in essence was all about us and our performance that made us acceptable to Christ. This verse takes that whole idea and concept and flips it upside down, which may sound strange, but in reality it is freeing when you understand and realize that it is all about Christ and what he has done.

I believe what Greear has done in this book is to break down into three parts what many Christians have been longing to understand deeper for years. Part one answering how the gospel does what religion cannot. Part two is broken down by what Greear refers to as the gospel prayer. Part three helps point people toward a gospel-centered understanding of life.

In part two Greear has opened up his personal life by providing a tool for the church that he has been using for years, which allows one to saturate themselves in the gospel daily. This is referred to throughout the book as "The Gospel Prayer."

Here are the four parts of "The Gospel Prayer":

1. "In Christ, there is nothing I can do that would make You love me more, and nothing I have done that makes You love me less."
2. "Your presence and approval are all I need for everlasting joy."
3. "As You have been to me so I will be to others."
4. "As I pray, I'll measure Your compassion by the cross and Your power by the resurrection."

I believe that most people in the church will find this book to be a refreshing and encouraging one, but also one that may convict and challenge people in many ways. Greear is clear and faithful in his presentation, but also humble as you sense that he really desires to see all people fall back in love with this power of Christianity in the gospel.

After reading this book, I highly endorse and recommend it as Greear leaves me with a hope for evangelicalism and the church as a whole that there will be a recovery of the gospel as the center of Christianity. Gospel is a game changer and a book that you will want to spend some time in no matter where you are in your faith as it will help you in achieving a daily gospel-saturated life that will produce a consuming passion for God and love for others.

Defining a Successful Church Plant

2011-09-30T06:30:00.000-04:00

This week a new Starbucks opened up in Raleigh, an area already populated with many Starbucks, and other coffee shops. And because it is my last week working for Starbucks and I am an experienced barista, they decided it would be beneficial to have the remainder of my shifts helping get this new store up and running. Of course I gladly offered my services, well kinda sorta, I didn't really have a say in the matter, but either way I am there.

Since the open of this store, I have noticed that the overwhelming majority of our customers are not new coffee drinkers, in fact I would go as far as to say that most are already Starbucks patrons. Then of course there is some patrons of other coffee shops such as Caribou, Dunkin Donuts, and other places that serve coffee beverages like McDonalds who are coming to check out what this new and convenient Starbucks has to offer. So what defines a new Starbucks as successful? Money, of course, but it does not matter where the customers were drinking coffee before as long as they are drinking Starbucks now and particularly from this new location.

This got me thinking about church plants and when a new church gets started in a city, what it is exactly that would define a successful church plant. You see for many I believe what defines a successful Starbucks would be similar to that which would define a successful church plant. It doesn't matter where the people come from, whether they are members at another church or not, but as long as they are now attending our church and we are filling the seats then we are successful.

An example of this would be a new church plant comes to Raleigh and almost over night it is full of people, busting at the seams, and in need of a new meeting space. This church may even be featured on the top fastest growing churches in America list. A successful church plant right?

Well no, because if the criteria for a successful church plant were the same of that of a new Starbucks then you have no success at all and my issue is that some church plants go in with the same or similar criteria. I have no issue with a church having many people early on, or experiencing growth issues, but if a church plant has growth because they are the new church in town and all their people are just from other churches then I have an issue calling that a successful church plant.

Why? Because that is not organic growth and it doesn't represent changed lives, but rather people that were tired of their current church not catering to all of their needs, who wanted to try something new or maybe more convenient. This has and can easily happen with new church plants in the South especially where there is such a religious spirit in the culture.

But that still leaves us with the question then, what defines a successful church plant? Is it the amount of people that are attending from other churches? The amount of services? Or is it something else? I would love to hear some of your thoughts and have feedback on defining a successful church plant as the discussion will be picked up fully next week in another post.

Planting but Not Pastoring

2011-09-28T06:30:00.000-04:00

In preparation to move to South Asia as a church planter, I have been reading a lot of different books. One that I highly recommend to anyone preparing to plant whether that be in North America or in an International setting is Discovering Church Planting by J.D. Payne. Because many people are confused when I tell them that I am going to be a church planter in South Asia, but that I do not plan on pastoring a church, Payne has helped me differentiate that for them by delineating types of church planters.

First you have the Apostolic Missionary, who plants and raises up a pastor, then plants again, which is very similar to what we see modeled by Paul in the New Testament. Second you have the Missional Pastor, who plants and pastors, and then raises up others to plant from within the church.

There are examples of both and one is not better than the other, but due to the nature of International Church Planting, in most cases the apostolic missionary type is the better suited type.

The apostolic missionary is also sometimes referred to as a Pioneer Church Planter when they are going into areas where the gospel has never been proclaimed and there is no gospel witness. Where my family and I will be going in 2012 will be a mix of both as we will have our home city, but also do much traveling to other areas. Therefore, my prayer and ambition for our part of the world is this:

...and thus I make it my ambition to preach the gospel, not where Christ has already been named, lest I build on someone else's foundation, but as it is written, "Those who have never been told of him will see, and those who have never heard will understand."

-Romans 15:20-21

Finding Your Place in Finishing the Mission

2011-09-26T06:30:00.000-04:00

The video below is the missions video that was used this weekend to launch the 2011 DG National Conference "Finish the Mission." There really is no need for any commentary as the video speaks for itself, but I would just like to say this is why my family and I are going to South Asia in 2012.

People often ask how they can help us or what they can do to be involved with what God has called us to. So here are six ways that individuals and churches can help and do something.

Be Informed: We do not want you to be uniformed... about the hardships we suffered. -2 Cor. 1:8

Pray: Pray for us that the word of the Lord will spread rapidly and be glorified. -2 Thes. 3:8

Love: You are to love those who are strangers... -Deut. 10:19

Send: How can they preach unless they are sent? -Rom. 10:15

Mobilize: The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. -Luke 10:2

Go: Go and make disciples of all nations. -Matt 28:19

Church at the Ballpark Highlights!

2011-09-25T15:31:00.000-04:00

Last weekend the Summit Church had church at the ballpark where we celebrated what God is doing in Raleigh-Durham and the greater Triangle area. There were more than 7200 in attendance and over 300+ baptized. This is all perhaps summed up best in Psalm 115:1 - Not to us, O Lord, not to us but to your name be the glory, because of your love and faithfulness.

Here is the highlight video below:

Church at the Ballpark Highlights from The Summit Church on Vimeo.

Untethered from Childhood Beliefs 2/2

2011-09-23T06:30:00.000-04:00

(This 2/2 on the topic of Untethered from Childhood Beliefs)

This is from a recent article on Brad Pitt that appeared in Parade Magazine on September 15, 2011. Pitt was interviewed and asked to open up about his family and finding time for the important things in life. You can read the entire interview by clicking on the link above, but here is his opinions on faith.

On Faith:

My religion was telling me what not to do—what not to even think about doing. Those are the things I would try, because that was my nature. I had to experience things to know what would work for me—say, something as simple as premarital sex. I can figure out what works or doesn’t work. I will know. You say that something is wrong for me to do? Well, I know it’s not wrong because I just did it. Then you say something else is also wrong? Yeah, I did that too, and you’re right, it is wrong for me. But it wasn’t wrong just because you told me it was.

Pitt here is pretty much right on in what he is saying and describing. Statements like that it was his "religion that was telling him what not to do-what not to even think about doing." That is religion it gives you a list of things to do and not to do in order to be who you are "supposed to be." He is right that his nature, one of sin, would want to try many of those things listed on the do and do not list. Many of the same things that most of wanted to try or did try at some point.

So what is Pitt missing about faith in his life? What he is missing is a real encounter with the gospel that is not about behavior modification, but that causes your behavior to change because you change. My point here is that a list of religious do's and don'ts do not create the heart change that is produced out of the gospel.

You see the gospel turns religion upside down.Tim Keller explains the difference between religion and the gospel by saying, "Religion says, I obey-therefore I'm accepted. The Gospel says, I'm accepted-therefore obey." Accepted by what some may ask? Accepted by the fact that God sent Christ to suffer the wrath that we deserved in our place and that through belief and surrender to him that we are now looked at as righteous because of his righteousness.

Christ in the gospel is our only hope, my only hope, Pitt's only hope, and I pray that the many that are out there just like Pitt will have an encounter with the God of the Bible who loves them more than anyone. Pitt is right when he says that his religion wasn't working for him; because it was religion not the gospel.

Untethered from Childhood Beliefs 1/2

2011-09-22T06:30:00.000-04:00

ON FAITH:

I grew up Baptist, and then the family switched over to more of an evangelical movement, probably right around the time I was in late high school. There’s a point where you’re un-tethered from the beliefs of your childhood. That point came for me when it was finally clear my religion didn’t work for me. I had questions about Christianity that I could not get answered to my satisfaction, questions that I’d been asking since I was in kindergarten. I realized it didn’t feel right to me, that one question just led to another. It was like going down a rabbit hole, each answer provoking another question. There were things I didn’t agree with.

I believe what Pitt describes here on faith describes many people that I come in contact with everyday, in many ways even myself. We both grew up Baptist/Evangelical, we both had many questions from a young age, some that received unsatisfactory answers, and we both found things that we didn't agree with in the faith of our parents.

Perhaps one of the most profound statements by Pitt here is when he says, "There's a point where you're untethered from the beliefs of your childhood." I would say that I too experienced this untethering of the beliefs of my childhood. In conversations about faith people have even tried to use being raised in a Christian home against me as the only reason and means that I am indeed a follower of Christ.

To be honest there is a slight bit of truth to this, but only in the sense that I, like Pitt, was raised in an environment with parents who love me and desired to see me follow Christ. But I believe there has to be an untethering point for everyone who comes to discover the truth that made Christianity revolutionary in the gospel.

The untethering point is where Pitt and I differ. In my questioning of my childhood beliefs, I, unlike Pitt, discovered the gospel and came to the realization that the Bible is truth and that the only ones that will enter the Kingdom of God are those that believe on Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of their sins.

Does this make me any better than Brad Pitt? No, because it is only by the grace of God that I came to the realization and understanding that I did. It encourages me that Pitt had an untethering point, but I pray for people like him that their questions have not stopped, but that they will continue with their questions and that the God of the Bible would reveal Himself to them.

So for Pitt and others like him, I practice what is taught at my church as "intercessory faith." As described by J.D. Greear in his new release, GOSPEL, "Intercessory prayer is not informing God on behalf of someone else; it is believing God on behalf of somebody else."
(Check back tomorrow for 2/2 on being Untethered from Childhood Beliefs)

From Death to Life

2011-09-20T06:30:00.000-04:00

For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.

Ephesians 2:8-9

The following is a baptism story from Church at the Ballpark:

On Sunday as I finished counseling one person, I immediately looked up to see the line of people waiting to get counseled for baptism spanning the entire staircase and as far as I could see. This was an incredible sight and to be honest I was skeptical of the amount that would even respond due to the horrible acoustics at the ballpark and the coolness of the weather. But the truth is that God showed up at the ballpark and his Spirit moved as we experienced something that was filled with the power and resembled that of what we read about in the book of Acts.

I walked up to the next lady in line who was responding to celebrate with her on her decision; and as we walk over to the table and sit down, I look up and all I see are tears streaming down her face. She was overwhelmed by the power of the GOSPEL!

As we begin to talk I learned that she is from Columbia and has been a Catholic her entire life. To her being a Christian has always been about her and what she could do in order to be looked at as good and righteous, but she always felt like she failed at this, which left her feeling far from God.

On Sunday at the ballpark for the first time she realized why she had always felt empty and far from God as she tried her hardest to do what she was supposed to do and everything that the Catholic church told her to do. The reason being that she would always fail because the focus had always been on her works righteousness not Christ and the gospel. On Sunday however her eyes were opened as she realized that it is by grace through faith in Christ alone that salvation is found.

She understood for the first time the gospel that Christ has already suffered in her place the full wrath of God for her sin. In response to this she wept with joy and praise for her Savior Jesus as she celebrated in going from death to life in baptism!

Spectator to Follower

2011-09-19T06:30:00.000-04:00

Yesterday my church, which is multicampus, celebrated as one church at the Durham Bulls Athletic Park. It was an incredible day as 6,500+ people gathered in the heart of the city as we proclaimed Jesus as Lord. Many people there were Summit members and spectators, but there were also many visitors, people who were potentially being exposed to and hearing the gospel clearly for the first time.

My wife, Andrea, and I were on the baptism counseling team and were overwhelmed by the response of people responding to salvation and baptism. In fact, we were lacking enough volunteers so at times I saw two people being counseled by one person. The last count that I heard was that there was at least 300 people baptized.

Each person that I counseled has a story, but the first person that I had the privilege of counseling sticks out to me because I believe that he represents a lot of people. His name is Chris and he is in his mid twenties, raised in church, been in and out of the church scene, but at the end of the day described himself as a "spectator" Christian. In other words he knew a lot of stuff in his head about being a Christian, knew how to speak Christianese, but the reality up until this weekend was that Jesus was not Lord of his life.

I believe that there are many people out there just like Chris, people who could articulate the gospel, but have not surrendered their life to Jesus as Lord. Instead many people turn to legalism and moralism as the means to their salvation. But the truth is that neither legalism nor moralism are saving.

So for Chris, he was a spectator Christian, which in reality is no Christian at all. He merely watched other followers of Christ, hung-out with some of them, went to their parties, but did not find his own identity with Christ as his Savior and Lord.

My feeling is that there are churches filled with people like Chris, you may even be one of them. Though for Chris he faced reality yesterday and saw his need for a Savior and went from being a spectator to a follower of Christ and celebrated that in baptism.

Perhaps you are one that is just like Chris. You have been a spectator of Christians for years, but never become a follower of Christ. Why waste your life as a spectator when you will never reap the full benefits that Christ has to offer you? Why not today go from being a spectator to follower? A great tool that can help you with this can be found here.

Loving People Toward Jesus

2011-09-16T06:30:00.000-04:00

The other day I encountered a transgender individual and instead of loving this person toward Jesus, I noticed my thoughts immediately being disgusted and making numerous judgements in my head. At that moment I was convicted to the core as I asked myself if I was viewing this individual with love and as Christ would view them?

My answer of course was no because at that moment I wasn't disgusted by the sin of the individual, but by the individual, and there is a difference. So during the course of our interaction with each other I began to ask myself how then would Christ have responded?

My answer is that Jesus engaged with the people of his culture, all of the people, including the ones considered sexually immoral. We see numerous examples of this throughout the New Testament, but some of his more popular interactions are with the sinful woman (Luke 7:36-50); the woman at the well (John 4:13-26); and the woman caught in adultery (John 8: 3-11).

So over the course of our interaction together, my heart began to change and instead of looking on the individual with judgement and disgust, I started to see them through the lens of the love of Christ. I was then saddened and disgusted at the sin in their life because of their individual choices; but I had complete love for this individual as my desire was and is to see them freed from the bondage of all sin in their life. Instead of continuing to have a heart of judgement towards this person I prayed for them that their eyes would be open and that they could be released from the power and penalty of sin.

My point in sharing this is because I believe that my initial response is the initial response of many within the church, which doesn't display an attitude of love towards others. I once heard a Pastor proclaim in front of his congregation how disgusted he was of gays and lesbians and his lack of desire to interact with them. This is not the right response and I called this pastor out in love and to my knowledge he repented of his actions.

Instead of judging these individuals and condemning them, we should instead be loving them toward Jesus. A relationship with Jesus is the only hope for people who are caught in their own ways. Typically there are two groups when it comes to sexual sin, the permissive and the judgmental, but instead we should point all people to Jesus and the gospel as in and through him only true transformation can take place.

Church at the Ballpark

2011-09-15T07:00:00.000-04:00

If you live in or near RDU then you have probably heard about the Summit Church putting on Church at the Ballpark this coming weekend. Yes, the Summit Church is a multi-campus church in the Triangle, but this weekend we are coming together as one church with one service in the heart of the city at the Durham Bulls Athletic Park.

The video below will give you all of the last minute details needed as you plan your Sunday to be with us at Church at the Ballpark.

Business as Missions

2011-09-14T06:30:00.000-04:00

Recently I attended a seminar hosted by SendRDU on Business as Missions featuring Patrick Lai. He had some intriguing thoughts on missions going forward into the future that looks vastly different then what many of us are used to, what he called B4T or Business for Transformation. In B4T there is a place for all kinds of people in missions instead of the traditional model of it just being for a select few with a special calling.

Admittedly so there are many issues that were hit on in B4T that I have been wrestling through in the last year and in many ways I am still wrestling through. Patrick Lai has helped me see more clearly how to connect all people to missions since the Great Commission was given to all followers of Christ not just those that are seminary trained or going into vocational ministry roles.

Here is a summary of the notes that I took on the topic as I believe that he has hit on what the future of missions will look like in the next 20-30 years. To hear the complete audio of the seminar click on the following link: www.sendRDU.com

B4T - Business for Transformation

-Businesses strategically placed in Unreached areas which are profitable in serving the local community and planting churches.

-Contexualization is not an issue in B4T because you are legitimately there for business so you contextualize by "playing" by the rules of the business world within that context.

-In B4T you are credible, model the truth in the gospel, and have integrity about what you are doing and why you are in the country. 1 Corinthians 9:12; 9:18

Three Terms:

-BAM: Market Place Ministry

-B4T: A Circle within BAM

-Tent making:All workers overseas are fully supported by their business.

(I think that this would significantly help with the budget shortfall that some denominational mission organizations are currently experiencing).

Missions & Globalization

1.0 - The mission agency told me who to reach, what to do, when to do it, where to do it, and how to do it. (Pre-Modern World)

2.0 - I negotiated with the mission agency: what, when, where, how. (Modern World)

(This is where most of us are currently stuck)

3.0 - I am my own mission agency. (Post-Modern World)

(This is where most of the world is and where missions is headed)

In future missions people will seek organizations where:

1. There is no central leadership

2. There is no central office

3. People subscribe to values

4. People want people who care about them and can relate to them where organizations functions more like networks working towards the same goal instead of being in competition with one another.

Giving Up Something You Love...

2011-09-12T06:30:00.000-04:00

Recently I sat down to watch a sitcom that displayed a common problem between a husband and wife. He made a major purchase without asking his wife, which resulted in her being upset and greatly affecting their marriage. He refused to hear his wife as to her reasons for being upset; which was him not telling her, the amount of money that he spent on the item, and the fact that the item was potentially dangerous to his life.

As the show went on the conflict in their marriage only deepened to the point that he spent more time with his new purchase then he did with his wife. Eventually he recognized his wrong and in turn did something else without asking his wife. He sold the item as a result of his love for her.

When asked by his wife as to why he sold it, he responded with something significant. He responded in saying, "I gave up something I love for something that I love even more," in this case being his wife.

This got me thinking about the gospel and what we as Christians should be willing to do in our life as a response to the gospel. We should be willing to give up things that we love for something that we love even more, that being the gospel.

This is precisely why my family is moving overseas in 2012. It is not that we don't like our lives here in the US, in fact we are very comfortable here, love our church, and could easily stay here. Although we love our lives here, we are willing to move our lives to another country because we love the gospel even more and want to see others have the opportunity to hear and respond to the gospel just as we both did.

We all have things that we love, but we must be willing to give up these things because we love the gospel more. So my question for you today, is there something in your life that you love more than the gospel? And what is there that you may need to give up as a response to loving the gospel more?

Authentic Community

2011-09-09T07:00:00.000-04:00

It seems that more and more in the pursuit of the American dream that we isolate ourselves from others, which results in broken community. This leaves people with less meaningful relationships and with no one to turn to when times are tough. It is no wonder that with the downfall of the American economy that more and more people have fallen into depression.

The church on the other hand should exemplify something different, true authentic community. As Brad House says, "The church should be the most compelling expression of community in our culture."

I have many friends that are Christ followers that have fallen into this American idea of community, where there is none. They believe that their relationship with God is purely a "personal" one and that there is no need for any form of community, including gospel community. But the reality is that "Real authentic community is not about us, it's about God."

If you are not in an authentic community already then I encourage you to get involved with one today. Authentic community through my small group has been one of the best things for my life over the last three years, as a group of people who love me and care for me, constantly point me to Christ and the gospel where true life is given.

If you are part of the Summit church then you know that this weekend is Grouplink so there will be an opportunity to help you get connected to an authentic community. If you are part of another church then I encourage you to seek out authentic community in whatever form it is offered. Remember that we were created in the image of a God who exists in community, so get into a community today as we see the believers doing in Acts 2:42.

A Culture of Worshipers

2011-09-07T06:45:00.000-04:00

The time of year that we have all been waiting for, at least in the US, is finally here. Yes, of course I am referring to Football and I am especially excited to see what my Carolina Panthers do this season, which has to be better than last season, I pray and hope anyway.

Included with all of the hype of the start to football season, I have been listening to a lot of sports radio, paying more attention to espn, and watching preseason NFL games. There was something that the sports commentator said the other day that caught my attention with all of this hype, "We are a culture of worshipers when it comes to our athletes."

I believe that the commentator hit on something significant here, perhaps more than most of us realize, which is that we are indeed a culture of worshipers. In fact we are all worshipers, therefore we all worship something, in this case individuals and players in the sports world.

I am not necessarily saying that every individual who does these things is worshiping, but it is hard to deny that we as a culture worship our athletes when you see grown men every week wear a jersey with another grown man's name on it and scream at the top of his lungs for that man like he is his number one cheerleader. I mean talk about a man crush!

I even personally know people who would never attend a church or a small group study, but have even stated that if the topic were their favorite NFl team then they would attend. In other words this person is saying that football is my religion and my favorite team is my god.

To be clear this is not a rant against football, athletes, or sports in general because I am a big sports fan who is hoping to see Cam Newton take the Panthers to big places. But the implications are clear as the commentator pointed out that we are a culture of worshipers and for many people this comes in the form of sports whether through athletes or teams.

Hopefully if you are a Christ follower then you are more excited about Jesus every week and what He has done for you then your favorite football team. And if you are not ashamed to be expressive in the cheering on of your team then hopefully you are not ashamed at being expressive of the Lord of your life in corporate worship settings. This football season focus on making the name of Jesus famous though your interactions with fellow fans by pointing them to God and away from their potential idol.

Drink Coffee and Help Plant Churches

2011-09-05T04:00:00.000-04:00

Two things I love, drinking coffee and seeing churches planted and now the two are related, sorta. The video below is pretty self-explanatory, but this is a great organization (29 Coffee) that describes themselves as "existing to plant churches and spread the Gospel through coffee."

I know that many of you are not only coffee drinkers, but also coffee addicts, so why not help plant churches with your money, while feeding your addiction at the same time. 29 Coffee allows you to do just that. So head on over 29coffee.com/ and start drinking good coffee and help with the funding of new church plants.

Misleading Posers

2011-09-02T04:00:00.000-04:00

During my time in seminary I have been working for Starbucks. One complaint/request that I frequently hear is the need for Starbucks to recycle more than just their cardboard boxes, primarily for plastic products such as the 25+ milk jugs that are thrown out daily. I have seen no real effort towards this, although recently a recycling bin for customers showed up. People love it, I have heard many compliments on it, but there is one problem with this recycling bin, it is misleading. Why you might ask?

It is misleading because to my knowledge Starbucks has no plans on offering a way to recycle their numerous paper/plastic products that are thrown out daily.
Instead it is an image thing for the public eye to look positive on Starbucks in the midst of the green initiative movement happening in the US.

This got me thinking about how many people within the church are often misleading. This often presents itself in the form of those who pretend to be something that they are not, which is commonly seen in the seminary classroom with "professional" Christians who believe that they have arrived. It is also commonly seen at conferences where once again people appear to come off as something they are not in order to impress someone or get somewhere. The worst is perhaps at churches when that guy in your small group won't shut up about everything he knows and has experienced, often the same seminary guy from the conference.

My fear is that this misleading mentality of pretending to be something that you are not has serious ramifications for the church. An example of this that I am often around are those aspiring to be church planters and/or pastors. I am all for church planters and those desiring to be pastors, but I think that some guys are unclear of the qualifications of a church planter and instead have bought into a trend that is misleading by believing that their charismatic personality, youthful vision, MacBook pro, and plaid untucked shirt are enough to qualify them to plant a church.

The reality is that it takes a lot more than those things to be a church planter and/or pastor. But due to the recent rise in popularity of church planting, my fear is that many have either been mislead about what it takes to be a church planter or are being misleading in aspiring to be a planter. Either way both are misleading and could lead to many serious problems when there are unqualified leaders planting and/or pastoring churches.

To be clear, I love church planting, I have had the desire to plant since I was 16, and I am moving to South Asia to plant churches in 2012. So hopefully this serves as a conversation starter about church planting, what it takes, who is qualified, etc. Any recent or future church planters out there care to weigh in on the conversation? I would especially be interested in hearing from those that under went assessment before planting by either their church or planting network.

Has Your Method Become an Idol?

2011-08-31T06:30:00.000-04:00

Last week on the blog there was some discussion that revolved around working with other followers of Christ that may not be from the same background or tradition. The main idea being whether or not there are issues that would cause one to either break fellowship or not work alongside with another believer based on issue x, y, or z. Basically what was looked at was are there such things as non-negotiable and negotiable issues within the church?

For the record I am a huge proponent on working with people from varying backgrounds as I see the benefit of the larger body of Christ in the Church Universal being whole and on mission together. But I do not think that means that you just incorporate every idea or method in order to get along with every guy who comes along claiming to be a Christian because I do believe that there is a place for the gift of discernment within the church.

That being said, I still hold to there being non-negotiable and negotiable issues within the church, although my view or may be how I articulate it has been challenged in recent days.

I want to briefly look at an issue that goes hand in hand with this whole idea, that being principles and methods. In regards to this overall discussion over a few blog post, I like how Mark Driscoll sums it up in his recent leadership coaching video by saying, "Principles are close-handed and timeless; whereas, methods are open-handed and timely." http://theresurgence.com/2011/08/30/methodology-vs-methodolatry

It is often our methods that would fall into the negotiable category, but many are guilty of making these non-negotiable, which in essence has turned a methodology into an idol. Driscoll has created his own term here in calling it "methodolaltry," when ones method becomes the "only way" of doing things.

Much of this is played out in the church today as being the "big issues" that split churches when in reality they are not "big issues" at all other than the fact that they have become idolatry to some. Practical examples would be robes or no robes (My Orthodox Priest friend), choirs or bands, the way in which to serve the elements of communion, etc. These are all methods that are timely, open-handed, and contextual.

I am sure that this is convicting for some, so my question is what methods have you tried to make principles? What methods in your life have become idolatry? Please feel free to share an example from your own life or that of your church as you have seen "methodolatry" or the repentance from such.

Test and Trials=Steadfastness

2011-08-29T06:45:00.000-04:00

Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.

James 1:2-4

All of us have needs, but few us like to ever admit those needs. So there are times in your life that God will allow you to face a trial so that you clearly see your need in the midst of what you are facing.

But what is encouraging about facing a trial and being in need is that by recognizing our deepest need for Christ then all other needs and trials can be counted as joy because it is helping produce spiritual maturity within us. Yes, this is encouraging, but not always easily recognizable.

This has been something that I have been wrestling through myself in the last six weeks in the midst of my families own trial once we were uncertain of our future back in mid July. I can honestly say that James 1:2-4 were the last verses on my mind as we received an unexpected email, but in the process of six weeks God has worked on my heart to where now I can read these verses and honestly say that I count it all joy because of the spiritual maturity that it is building in myself and my family.

I recognize now that what we have been facing has been a trial and a test. A trial and a test that I believe I can now say that we count it all joy because of the steadfastness that it is producing in us that will help lead us to faithful endurance in South Asia when we face troubles and afflictions of numerous kinds.

So wherever you are, whatever you are going, know that your ultimate need is for Jesus Christ. Once you recognize that need then everything else you face in life can be counted for joy because it is all part of maturity that is helping lead to steadfastness, which ultimately will lead to perfection at the return of Christ.

Three Levels of Church Authority

2011-08-26T06:41:00.000-04:00

On Wednesday I posted on Deconstructing Faith in A Safe Environment, which reminded me of George Patterson's "Three Levels of Church Authority" that I learned about during my time in seminary. I have always found this helpful for discussions such as I described in my last post and thought that it would be worth sharing with you all here for your own faith discussions. So here it is:

THREE LEVELS OF CHURCH AUTHORITY

This document may be freely translated, copied, and published in any language and any country. It must carry the following copyright statement.

To differentiate between New Testament commands, apostolic practices and human customs has proven over the years to be most helpful, for settling church disputes, for ascertaining the level of authority for a church activity, and for making plans and establishing priorities. The method is a simple one.

The FIRST level of authority is New Testament commands. We must obey them and must not hinder others doing them. These include Jesus' commands, which are foundational, and those of the apostles written in their epistles. These build on Jesus’ commands and are for Christians who are already under pastoral care in a church. The basic commands of Jesus, which were being obeyed by the 3000 new believers in Acts chapter 2 in their most basic form, include:

• Repent, believe, and receive the Holy Spirit. • Be baptized. • Break bread. • Love God, neighbor, fellow disciples, enemy (forgive). • Pray.

• Give. • Make disciples (witness, shepherd, teach)

The SECOND level is apostolic practices that were not commanded. We must not make universal laws of these, nor prohibit others' doing them. They include:

• Baptizing immediately. • Using one cup in the Eucharist. • Fasting. • Worshipping on Sunday. • Speaking in tongues. • Naming several elders to shepherd a church. • Etc.

The THIRD level is Human traditions not mentioned in the New Testament. We can take them or leave them, and we can prohibit them if they hinder obedience to New Testament commands. We must not force our own traditions and customs on other churches. Most traditions are good, and some are necessary for good church order. They include:

• Non-biblical requirements for ordination, officiating the Eucharist, baptism, church membership.

• Sunday School structure. • Wearing robes in the pulpit, not wearing robes in the pulpit. • The pulpit. • Prohibition against using wine in moderation. • Democratic processes in church business meetings. • Episcopalian hierarchy, etc.

Deconstructing Faith in A Safe Environment

2011-08-24T06:45:00.001-04:00

Through the use of social networking, I have become friends with an array of people, but occasionally the opportunity allows for that friendship to become real, such is the case with my new friend Fr. Anastasios. I describe him as a once Protestant turned Catholic, now Orthodox Priest.

Being Orthodox he obviously believes that the Orthodox tradition is the "right" and most "pure" tradition to be in, which in essence is exactly what every person in any tradition believes. I must note that this post is in no way a slander against him because as I said, I now consider him a friend.

Rather this post serves as a purpose to show that it is possible to deconstruct ones faith in a safe environment without arguing or fighting, but rather openly discussing issues with hopefully an open Bible in hand (In our case it was a printout and an iPad).

First, we met on the basis of differing beliefs, namely modes of baptism. Orthodox practice infant baptism as a saving act in itself. In Fr. Anastasios own words, "Orthodox baptisms contain many long prayers, and several ritual actions with great significance. The focal point of the service is naturally the moment of baptism itself, when the candidate is immersed in the water three times (in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit), but there are several things leading up to the immersions, such as the renunciation of Satan, and several things take place after, such as the giving of the Cross to the newly-baptized." http://wp.me/p1HngT-x

Second, this post reminds us that we can meet with others who have differing beliefs and do so in a way that at the end of the day honors Christ. Do I personally think that the Orthodox tradition has everything right? Absolutely not, case in point would be infant baptism. Fr. Anastasios believes that infant baptism is saving, but at the same time that those baptized can walk away one day and lose that same salvation. I would argue that many who believe this see their children walk away because they never had salvation in the first place. It is easy to walk away from something you never had.

How about you? Does this sound like your typical encounters with those of differing beliefs? If not, what is causing your encounters to go differently?

Endurance in Temptations

2011-08-22T07:00:00.001-04:00

I have recently discovered that at the age of 25 my metabolism has started slowing down, meaning that I can no longer eat whatever I want without reaping the physical results. This has led to me running on a regular basis as I attempt to keep in shape and avoid one of my fears of being overweight.

Running has been both great for me physically and spiritually as it has also given me an opportunity to spend time conversing with God in the midst of my run. This has led to many great times communing with God and reflecting on what He has been teaching me in this season of my life.

Where I have been running is on a Green Way path in Raleigh that is paved and surrounded by a wooded area. As I started to run I immediately noticed that every so often there would be a wooden bench on the side that is great if someone is taking a leisurely stroll or wanting to do some bird watching, but counterintuitive to a guy like me who is trying to run to get back in shape.

These benches got me thinking about the Christian life, the fact that it is not easy, and that there are many temptations along the way to trip us up. The first few days that I went running on this path was a struggle in the least, but then every time I passed one of these benches it made me want to give up, quit, and sit down.

Just like these benches caused me to be tempted to give up on being in shape and caused me to want to sit down, so in the Christian life we often experience something similar. If you have been a Christ follower for any of amount of time then you know that in the same way that these benches would pop up for me every so often so temptations pop up daily in the life of a Christian.

Many times we give into these temptations instead of abiding in the gospel, which gets us down and causes us to want to sit down and give up on the Christian life. But just like for me to push forward and stay on the task of my run, so in the Christian life we must abide (remain) in Christ in the midst of these temptations in order to endure through them, so that at the end of our life we may join Paul in saying, "I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith." 2 Timothy 2:7

Seek the Good of Others!

2011-08-19T07:00:00.000-04:00

"Let no one seek his own good, but the good of his neighbor."

1 Corinthians 10:24

It's interesting how many times I have read this verse and probably claimed to follow this verse, but the reality is that I often do not. This reality became real to me and smacked me in the face the other day as I was spending a little time in the Word one day before work.

I am recently back working at Starbucks temporarily for the next couple of months during our transition of everything that has taken place in our lives. It was humbling enough to contact my boss and return to Starbucks, but then once returning I sensed that some co-workers were less than happy of my return. This led to my own attitude towards these co-workers as I was determined to not allow their attitudes interfere with me and my life.

Instead of me loving them and seeking their good, it turned into me having an attitude towards these co-workers that was out to seek less than their good. One co-worker in particular I would do the minimum expected and sometimes less intently, so that she would be left with more to do and deal with before ever leaving work.

About a week ago I arrived at work early to eat breakfast and spend some time in 1 Corinthians and the first person I see is this co-worker. My attitude changed immediately and I decided right then and there that I would do the minimum expected during my shift.

I walked to the back, started eating my cereal, and opened to 1 Corinthians 10:23-33. I made it to verse 24 when God smacked me upside the head as I read, "Let know one seek his own good, but the good of his neighbor." Immediately I was convicted as I realized that I had not been seeking the good of all of my co-workers.

Yes, I realize that more than likely this passage is dealing with seeking the good of other believers, but if that is the case then how much more should we seek the good of those that are outside of the church as a testimony to them?

I started to realize that I was seeking the good of those around me, but often times only when it was people that I liked or when it would benefit me. As followers of Christ we should be seeking the good of all people and desire to see them be what God created them to be by practicing grace in their lives just as we have been given undeserved grace in our life.

So if you have been like me and only seeking the good of those that you like then I pray that you will repent as I have had to repent and start seeking the good of all people. And when it comes to work in particular, Josh Reeves posted on his blog this week, http://joshreeves.tumblr.com/post/8698505392/30-ways-to-bless-your-workplace, "30 Ways to Bless Your Workplace" that are extremely simple and helpful ways that you can engage your workplace missionally.

What Is an Unreached People Group?

2011-08-17T07:00:00.006-04:00

By now most of you know that my family is preparing to move to South Asia to plant churches amongst unreached people groups. In July I answered the question, "Why Move to South Asia to Plant Churches?"http://t.co/OlC95aa, in which I quoted the statistic from Desiring God International that over 70% of Asian's have yet to hear of Jesus Christ, even for the first time.

When referring to most Asian peoples, there is much talk of going to reach the unreached, but I believe that many times people are unaware of what that really means. In fact, on a regular basis I receive this exact question from people, "What is an unreached people group?"

What Is an Unreached People Group? from Pioneers-USA on Vimeo.
In order to answer that question today I am going to quote a Pioneer in Central Asia, from the video above, who says of unreached people groups, "We're not talking about people who are lost and don't know the Lord; we're talking about people who are lost and don't know the Lord and there's no one that speaks their language that can tell them. There is no church that exists... That's an unreached people group."

Gospel Prayer

2011-08-15T06:50:00.000-04:00

Yesterday in church we started a new series titled Gospel: The Revolutionary Power of the Christian Life. I am very excited about this series as I am continually learning and being reminded in my own life that the gospel is not just for those outside of the church, but it is just as much for those inside the church. Just take a look at many of Paul's letters in the New Testament and you will discover that they were written for and addressed to the church in particular areas.

In addition to this series, lead pastor J.D. Greear (jdgreear.com/), has a new book coming out towards the end of the series on October 1, which I blogged about earlier this summer here: http://t.co/p9LJPqr. In his upcoming book and at the start of this series he has given us what he calls, "The Gospel Prayer", which he describes as a tool for saturating yourself in the gospel daily.

The prayer is broken down into four parts and I thought that it was worth sharing as it has helped me in my own life making sure that I am consistently lined up with the gospel.

The Gospel Prayer:

1. "In Christ, there is nothing I could do to make You love me more; nothing I have done that makes you love me less."

2. "You are all I need today for everlasting joy."

3. "As You have been to me, so I will be to others."

4. "As I pray, I'll measure Your compassion by the cross and Your power by the resurrection."

I am still fairly new to this prayer, but it has already been a great tool in my own life. I have this prayer written down on a few different cards that I am placing at spots that I will see throughout the day that will assist me in gospel saturation. Perhaps the number one spot this will be is somewhere on my dashboard of my car so that as I go to work and return home I will be reminded of the gospel. So I encourage you to at least join me in this prayer for the next eight weeks to see how it helps keep you saturated in the gospel daily.

Are You Thirsty For God?

2011-08-12T07:00:00.007-04:00

As a deer pants for flowing streams, so pants my soul for you, O God. Psalm 42:1

I was reflecting on this verse the other day as I watched the movie 127 Hours, which tells the biographical story of mountain climber Aron Ralston, who became trapped by a boulder when climbing in Utah. He was trapped for 127 hours, which is where the name of the movie comes from.

In his entrapment he becomes more and more desperate as he runs out of water and even drinks his own urine to survive. He eventually does break free after his five day struggle and the movie portrays his desperation for water alone when he finds a pool of water in one of the crevices of the boulder. He puts his face to the ground and drinks up whatever he can. As he runs into other people who are hiking he tells of his story as he begs for their water, drinking up all that he can get.

It was a great movie, but that is not the point. The point here is a reflection of what our lives should look like in relation to God. We should long for Him so as the Psalmist puts it that we are like a deer panting for a flowing stream. We should long for him in desperation like Aron Ralston for water.

In most cases this will be displayed through your public life in worship, but not as a way of a show, but as a sincere longing for the one true God. In many of our lives this is not how are longing for God would be described, rather He more often then not becomes a by product of our lives if convenient. Why? Because most of us are not at a point of desperation for God, but perhaps we need to be. So what about you? Do you long for God as if desperate for water?

Be Content - God Is Enough

2011-08-10T06:45:00.000-04:00

I know how to be brought low, and I know how to abound. In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need. I can do all things through him who strengthens me.

Philippians 4:12-13

The point of these verses is obviously contentment in Christ in the midst of life's difficult circumstances. But until recently I was never truly faced with circumstances that required me to do a self-examination to see if I was really content in Christ.

Now Philippians 4 speaks to me in a whole new light as I have been faced with a situation that required me to see where my contentment was truly found. And I can honestly say that I am not so sure that I am quite there yet; but I definitely believe that God is using my circumstance and this passage to help me discover that true contentment comes from and in Him.

Something else that stood out to me in this passage like never before when reading it is that just like the Philippians partnered with Paul in his ministry at both the spiritual and practical level(4:14-16), my local church has done the same with me and my family.

As Paul pointed out in verse 17, we were not seeking this gift of support from the church, but it has been incredible to see the body of Christ surround us with both spiritual and practical support in this time. It has been both a testimony of their fruit to the body of Christ, but also to those that are not yet part of the family of God.

One friend even commented, "I am starting to think that maybe the rest of us need to start going to church because it seems like it doesn't matter what type of situation you guys face, it always seems to work out."

The truth is that this is a testimony of the church being the church. And what our friend is seeing is that although we face difficult circumstances just as she does, we have an unexplainable provision and contentment that allows us to have joy at all times as seen in 4:4.

So if you are struggling to find your contentment in Christ then start today. Embrace the truth that God is enough and that in Him you can do all things and face every kind of circumstance in life. Be content - God is enough.

My Endurance and Hope Has Perished

2011-08-08T07:00:00.002-04:00

so I say, "My endurance has perished; so has my hope from the Lord."
Lamentations 3:18

We've all felt this lament at some point just as Jeremiah is feeling here, but for most of us, myself included, we have been raised in a church culture that no longer allows you to honestly express yourself when it comes to doubts. Instead we have created a culture that feels as if it can only express itself in a way that is described on "positive and encouraging" K-Love.

I have often felt this way, most recently when it came to the potential for my family to be homeless and without jobs, due to some uncontrollable circumstances in our life. I knew the "Christian" answer that I would give most people, but I was sick and tired of hearing it from others. Common phrases used were: "God knows best", "God has a plan", and my favorite "God is Sovereign."

I kept thinking I have been a follower of Christ long enough that I know all of this so thank you captain obvious! I guess most people just wanted me to smile and say, "God is good all the time." Instead I chose to be honest, imagine that, about how I was feeling in the midst of all this just as the prophet of God, Jeremiah, was honest in his circumstance.

I think what we often forget is that God can handle all of our doubts and He can answer all of our questions so there is no reason to be worried or freaked out when people doubt and question God. In fact I often encourage people to do this. My pastor, J.D. Greear, described it this way this weekend, "Real faith grows out of honestly expressed doubt."

But for the prophet Jeremiah it doesn't end with doubt instead we see a huge transition take place from verses 21-24. But this I call to mind, and therefore I hope: The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. "The Lord is my portion," says my soul, "therefore I will hope in Him." Lamentations 3:21-24

So for Jeremiah in the midst of his doubting and questioning of God he recognized that God is enough; which for me in my circumstance I came to this same conclusion that God is enough and as verse 24 points out "therefore I will hope in Him. We will not always understand what is going on in our circumstances that is why J.D. Greear also pointed out that God is often doing three things in our lives when we face difficulty and despair. He's pursuing His agenda, He' purifying your heart, and He's preparing you for ministry.

There are definitely going to be times of difficulty in your life and in the midst of those you will often have doubts and questioning of God. But be honest in those times as Jeremiah was honest by allowing your faith to grow as you express your doubt.

Win A Seminary Scholarship & Theological Library

2011-08-05T07:00:00.000-04:00

Many of my readers are seminary students so most of you know that going to Seminary is expensive. On top of that, finding a scholarship can be really difficult. That's why I was so excited to find this Seminary Scholarship website today. Not only are they giving away a $1,000.00 scholarship and a digital theological library, all I had to do to apply was watch the short video below and answer a few questions! It took me less than 10 minutes to apply. The best part of this is that if you're in seminary and apply for the Seminary Scholarship, and put my name as the person who referred you, if you win the scholarship, so do I! We could both get a $1,000.00 scholarship and digital theological library. So, do us both a favor and go apply for the Seminary Scholarship today.

Are You Producing Theologically Orthodox, Morally Upright, Warmly Pious Idol Worshippers?

2011-08-03T06:28:00.000-04:00

Last night I sat down to start reading The Drama of Scripture: Finding Our Place in the Biblical Story by Craig Bartholomew and Michael Goheen, which sets out to tell the biblical story of redemption as a unified, coherent narrative of God's ongoing work within his kingdom. In the reading of the preface of the book a couple of statements stood out to me that describe much of what we are seeing happen within the church of the West in regards to Scripture, interpretation, and how we view our role in the story.

Here is the first statement that stood out:
"If we allow the Bible to become fragmented, it is in danger of being absorbed into whatever other story is shaping our culture, and it will thus cease to shape our lives as it should."

There are many other stories shaping our culture, but most all of these stories could be boiled down to one thing, idolatry. Idolatry is what has taken precedence in the secular world, but it is also showing many signs of prominence within the church. It is really a heart issue, which Tim Keller address by saying, "Our hearts are idol-making factories that make good gifts from God ultimate in our lives, thereby replacing God in our affections." Keller goes on to say, "An idol is anything more important to you than God, anything that absorbs your hear and imagination more than God, anything you seek to give you only what God can give you."

Here is the second statement that stood out:

"Hence, the unity of Scripture is no minor matter: a fragmented Bible may actually produce theologically orthodox, morally upright, warmly pious idol worshippers!"

In recent days there has been much talk of the unity of Scripture by seeing the overarching story (Creation, Fall, Rescue, Restoration) in the Bible, which I see as a positive thing. The issue is that many people within our churches for far too long have been taught only one part of the Bible, often the New Testament, which has left many to believe that they are different stories. Many professing Christians believe that many of the stories in the Bible are just that, stories with no purpose. The problem is if Christians fail to see every part of the Bible in the context of one story then the risk is a fragmented Bible as the quote points out.

My question then is to you leaders, are you teaching your church the unity of Scripture? Have you ever thought that if you are not communicating to the people the unity of Scripture, then you may actually be assisting in the producing of people who turn out to be theologically orthodox, morally upright, warmly pious idol worshippers!

N.T. Wright says, "The whole point of Christianity is that it offers a story which is the story of the whole world. It is public truth." I want to encourage you all to see the story that Christianity offers, which faith in Jesus is the means by which you understand life and all of history.

Do You Speak Christian?

2011-08-01T06:22:00.000-04:00

I came across an article on cnn.com this weekend that was titled, "Do you speak Christian?", which got me thinking about how we in the church typical speak about our faith and following Christ to those outside of the church. In other words, I have often wondered, do we make any sense to those outside of our own faith circles?

This article appears to answer that questions with a big flopping NO. It uses common examples of phrases used such as: "born again", "have you been saved?", "pray the prayer", etc. Looking back over these phrases I understand exactly what every single one of them is asking because I have been cultured within the church. It doesn't mean that I choose to use these particular phrases, although I have been guilty of using all of them at one point or another in my life.

So you might be reading this right now and wondering, so what? What is the big deal that we use "Christian" phrases within church. It is not so much an issue that you use Christian phrases within the church, it is that often the phrases being used make no sense to those outside the church and then we look like idiots when we try to communicate with them. An example of this would be try to explain your faith and how you came to be a Christ follower without using typical Christian phrases. I bet most of you reading this would struggle to make it more than one minute.

The other issue at stake as pointed out in the article is that often words used within Christianity will be used in a different manner than they were intended to be used. Marcus Borg says it like this, "When Christians forget what their words mean, they forget what their faith means." Many people in our churches have not taken the time to dig into the Scriptures along with a Bible Dictionary to understand and grasp the real meaning behind some of the words that are used within the church.

Bill Leonard points out that, "Jesus spoke in a way that drew people in, He used stories, parables, and metaphors. He communicated in images that both the religious and nonreligious folks of his day understood." So this is the picture that we get of Jesus, but not the picture that we get with most of his modern day followers.

My challenge to you today is that if you find yourself constantly using only phrases that those within the church would understand then you need to stop and find a different way of communicating as Christ communicated. It is difficult to communicate the gospel when the audience you are talking to has no concept of what you are even talking about. I also challenge you to go beyond merely taking a certain belief or doctrine and believing as if you have full understanding, but take the time to dig into the truth of Scripture to see fully where the doctrine developed and why it is held within the church today. You may even be surprised to learn that some of the beliefs you hold may not even be in Scripture or your particular interpretation may only be held in the church you grew up in.

Matt Papa, This Changes Everything

2011-07-29T07:00:00.001-04:00

Matt Papa - This Changes Everything
Record Label: Independent
Release Date: August 2, 2011

Authentic indie rock music that is gospel-centered is hard for one to find. Often what is found instead is an attempt to be like another band or to fit into a stereotype of "Christian" bands that are only almost as good as "secular" music, but not quite. But then there is Matt Papa, an artist who possess this authenticity that is displayed through a thirteen song collection that makes his third full length album This Changes Everything.

The moment that I started to play the album, it was not only music that I enjoyed rocking out to, but it put me in a state of worship of the Savior Jesus Christ. I mean how could it not with tracks such as, "Our Sovereign God", "Jesus is Lord", and "The Glory of God." Overall the music itself is difficult to put into a neat and tidy category as it ranges from soft melodies to heavy beats, perhaps the best description would just be rock. This album even features a little surprise rap/hip hop with guest artist Shai Linne on the song, "The Lord Is a Warrior."

Unlike many other Christian acts out there today, Matt Papa doesn't short us on songwriting creativity and theologically rich lyrics that are Christ centered. All of the songs are rich with gospel proclamation, standing as short sermons within themselves. The third song on the album, "It is Finished", that released as a single earlier this year is a prime example of this with lyrics such as: The earth shook and trembled, the sun bowed it's head. The veil of the temple was opened for man as Jesus went down in the cold of the grave, defeated the darkness when He overcame. The keys of the kingdom were placed into hands, of children and priests and of fishers of men. Through all generations His voice will be heard, creation resounds the victorious words.... IT IS FINISHED...'

Matt Papa explains the name behind the album by saying, "The heart of the album is that "This" is the reality that Jesus is alive and Jesus is Lord and that reality changes everything." The album and the title track will speak to a lot of people like myself who grew up in the Bible belt where there is a lot of proclamation of Jesus as Lord, but often times what is being lived out is practical atheism. This album reveals that if Jesus is truly alive then it should change everything in our life.

This title track was convicting and challenging to me with lyrics such as: 'Oh lord have I become a man, too scared to be a child again. Too comfortable with amazing grace, too familiar with the empty grave. 'Did i miss something, or have I begun to lie? Do i really live, like "Jesus is alive"? 'If this is true, this changes everything, If this is real, then i've got to tell the world. If He is God, then I have a choice to make, If I believe, then I must follow Him..'

I find myself liking all thirteen songs on this album more and more as I continually listened to them. My personal favorites are "It is Finished", "This Changes Everything", "The Lord Is a Warrior", and "The Glory of God." Matt Papa really sends a challenge forth to the Church with this album by revealing that for far too long we have been asking the wrong question, "Would you like to accept Jesus into your life?", when the question should be, "Has Jesus accepted you?" And if He has then your life should look differently then it did before because this truth, this reality of the gospel changes everything.

Overall, this album is my top choice for the summer as the music is marvelous, but each song points to the One who is Marvelous. There is something for everyone in this album as it is convicting and challenging, but worshipful to the core. Matt Papa has yet released another must buy album that aims to make King Jesus famous. His own prayer for the album is this, "My prayer for you is that as these songs bring you into collision with the greatest, most central reality in the universe, namely the Gospel ..." I highly recommend you purchase this album when it releases on Tuesday August 2, 2011. The best way to do so is on his website (www.mattpapa.com) or from iTunes.

A Necessary Shift In Missions

2011-07-27T07:00:00.001-04:00

In June I blogged on everyone embracing their role as an everyday missionary by leveraging their everyday opportunities for the gospel. This weekend I was spending some time reading over the archive from Dave Black's blog, http://daveblackonline.com/, and came across some quotes that I believe capture the shift that needs to take place in the thinking of missions in the church as a whole, specifically in my own background.

Here are some excerpts from Dave Black's blog:

In other words, once the idea that every Christian is a fulltime missionary is accepted, the work of missions will advance with much less hierarchy -- and much less wasted money. In time, I think we will see a new equilibrium emerge in which professionally-trained missionaries will work side-by-side with an army of volunteers in a low-friction environment that enhances cooperation.

The bottom line of what I am saying: It's time for us to wake up to the fact that there is a fundamental shift talking place in the way many of our churches are thinking about missions. As missions becomes flattened, local churches will realize they can plant other churches or send out missionaries themselves.

The missions "connection" will move from vicarious support of foreign missionaries via missions giving to raising up local personnel and sending them forth.This is what happens when the missionary enterprise is no longer outsourced. Collaborative innovation flourishes -- and the result is expanded involvement on all levels in the Great Commission.

My own heart has been convicted in recent months that this shift indeed is what we need to see take place in missions. Hopefully what is described here will represent the future of missions where churches realize that they do not need to outsource to parachurch

organizations in order to plant churches and send missionaries as we all can serve the role of a missionary by leveraging our lives for the gospel and the planting of churches.

The Church Being The Church

2011-07-25T07:00:00.000-04:00

All the believers were one in heart and mind. No one claimed that any of his possessions were his own, but they shared everything they had. With great power the apostles continued to testify to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and much grace was upon them all. There were no needy persons among them. For from time to time those who owned lands or houses sold them, brought the money from the sales to the apostles' feet, and it was distributed to anyone as he had need.
Acts 4:32-35

When the Church was birthed at Pentecost, in Acts 2, thousands of people had come from all over the Roman Empire to celebrate the Jewish feast. Many of these people became followers of Christ and unexpectedly stayed in town due to their now faith in Christ. There were only a couple of problems about these people that had traveled from all over deciding to stay.

First, they had no home. Second, they had no jobs. Third, they had no way of providing for themselves at this time. But what we see of the Church in Acts is unique to the church as we see an early picture of how the body of Christ takes care of each other by gathering all of their resources, selling their property, and providing for those in need.

This passage has become more real to me in the last week as the situation that my family has been temporarily placed in because of uncontrollable circumstances. We have no home, no jobs, and no real way of providing for ourselves during this time. It has not been an easy place to be, but it has been incredible to watch the body of Christ, specifically our local body, rise up and be the Church.

We have been offered two homes to stay in for as long as we have need and many people have blessed us with a meal or even some money to help with our provisions during this time. This is a true picture of the Church just as we see in the book of Acts. This is unique to the body of Christ as we hold all things in common for the building up of the church.

This is not the way that we see the world living and to be honest it is not the way that we always see the body of Christ living, but it should be. I am thankful to be part of a local body that this is their response when there is a need instead of complaining about it, they rise up by finding all things in common and providing for one another just as the early Church did in Acts.

Why Move to South Asia to Plant Churches?

2011-07-20T07:00:00.022-04:00

People often ask me why I am moving my family to South Asia to plant churches when there are many places in the US that need churches planted. First, I do not believe that this is an either/or, but rather a both/and as there are needs for churches here and places around the world. Second, 2 out of 3 people on the planet live in the great continent of Asia. According to Desiring God International 70% of Asian's have still never heard of Jesus Christ, not even for the first time.

This video below captures the essence of why we are moving to South Asia to plant churches. "Missions isn't simply about winning individuals to Christ. The unique task of missions is to plant the church among all people groups."

Beautiful Feet from AsiaLink HistoryMaker on Vimeo.

I would challenge you to consider the challenge to GO to the nations in some capacity as the need is great, but the laborers are few as we are reminded in Luke 10.2: And he said to them, "The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few. Therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.

Serve the City

2011-07-19T07:00:00.005-04:00

Last week our church held their week of service for the community, ServeRDU, which serves as a catalyst for people to be involved with loving our city all year long. There are dozens of service projects throughout the city where as a church we serve and love our city by communicating to them that we are a church for the city. Most of these areas of service are involved in serving one of five areas: unwed mothers, high school dropouts, homeless, prisoners, and at risk children.

Our missional community had the opportunity through the SummitNRC to partner with the Raleigh Rescue Mission in reaching out to a community that is only a few miles from our campus. This community is made up of three apartment communities that in many ways has become one of the more poverty stricken areas of Raleigh where it is not uncommon to see drug deals happen in broad daylight. It has gotten to the place that the police do not even like to be in this area often or for very long.

As a church and a campus we have identified this area as part of our community and instead of turning a blind eye we have decided to engage, serve, and love this community. The name that we have chosen to give to this community as we serve them is I-58 that comes from Isaiah 58. Our focus is gospel proclamation in Word and deed for community transformation.

As a campus we spent three days in this community last week, of which I was involved with two. We are just now starting our involvement with this community so much of the focus right now is on building trust with the people and building relationships. We were able to spend three days doing just that as we pressure washed sidewalks, had a clothing market, cleaned the inside of homes, and held kids activities.

By serving this community for these three days it allowed us to build some initial relationships with the people that will not only be followed up with soon, but we have five small groups that have committed to active, missional involvement within these communities as our focus is long-term not just one week.

Our involvement in this community brings to mind Luke 4:18-19: The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to proclaim the good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor.

Our long range vision and mission in this community is five years or more if it takes that, where the hope is to see 1 Thessalonians 2:8 come true in the lives of these people: "We loved you so much that we were delighted to share with you not only the gospel of God but our lives as well, because you had become so dear to us."

Unexpected Occurrences

2011-07-18T07:00:00.003-04:00

You always hear to "expect the unexpected" but you never quite take it to heart. Typically this is a phrase that people try to package as a nice way to say that the big decisions in life will not turn out the way that are you thinking such as marriage, children, etc. Being a few years into my adult years I have come to terms with that whole idea and learned that unexpected occurrences will pop up from time to time that you have no control over.

This past weekend my family has experienced one of those occurrences as we have set our lives up to move to South Asia. We have been told that we would go to for training at the end of July and be there for eight weeks. We have quit our jobs, rented out our house, gotten rid of all of our possessions, and our current insurance will run out at the end of this month. So everything is cool right? Wrong!

Thursday we get an email telling us that we will be going to training in October instead of next week. I was not only shocked by this unexpected occurrence, but I questioned whether or not it was a joke. Since I received this email I have gone through a mix of emotions as I realized the potential for my family to be homeless, jobless, and without insurance.

A couple of quick observations. First, this gives the organization a bad name, which ultimately reflects Christ giving him a bad name. Second, this puts a nasty taste in the mouth of those that are within the church, but especially those outside the church as they get a bad image of how believers sometimes treat each other.

In all of this I have not questioned God's sovereignty because I believe and know that God is sovereign over everything. Rather it has caused me to push forward to have hope that this can all be worked out so that we will be at our training at the original stated time. It does not surprise me one bit that the enemy would use any means of attack, including an organization, on us because of what we are about to go and do in the name of Jesus.

So if you are a follower of Christ then be ready to expect the unexpected occurrences in your life as God will call you to things that the enemy will attempt to stop. The important thing to remember is that God is sovereign over your life and every situation that you encounter. Learn to trust Christ in the unexpected occurrences realizing that Christ is what you truly need!

Evaluating What It's All Worth

2011-07-14T07:00:00.001-04:00

I am two days away from moving out of Raleigh, where I have been for the last two years. The last two weeks have been full of throwing stuff away, donating stuff, selling stuff, and storing some stuff. At the end of two weeks I am left with the notion that we have so much stuff!

This has caused me to reflect on my life now and where we will be living in a few months. It has caused me to take a step back and evaluate what it's all worth. This isn't a rant on stuff and how you should or shouldn't have certain things, but it is amazing after living in a place for two years how much stuff you accumulate and then you start realizing how much of it you have never touched since you moved in.

I like how David Platt explains this struggle in his book Radical as he says, "The lesson I learned is that the war against materialism in our hearts is exactly that: a war. It is a constant battle to resist the temptation to have more luxuries, to acquire more stuff, and to live more comfortably."

So deciding what to keep and what to throw/give away in the process of moving overseas has caused me to discern what it is that is really valuable to me. It has forced me to decide what is important enough that I almost consider it an essential to my life.

I keep being reminded and returning to Matthew 6:21 "For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also."

So I encourage you even if you are not moving to take a look at your own life and all of your stuff to evaluate what it's all worth and to see where your treasure really is because that is where your heart is also.