Fellowship of the unashamed

A powerful quote attributed to a pastor in Zimbabwe......

I'm part of the fellowship of the unashamed. I ahve the Holy Spirit's
power. the die has been cast. I have stepped over the line. the decision has
been made; I'm a disciple of His! I won't look back, let up, sow down, back away
or be still... I won't give up, shut up, let up, until I ahve stayed up, stored
up, prayed up, paid up and preach up for the cause of Christ. I am a disciple of
Jesus.

Determined Gospeling

In case you missed it I will be doing some blogging with some friends this year, you can find it here. Head on over and have a look around, it will slowly be populated with posts from various people - it is all about helping us think through evangelism permeating all structures of the church.
ENJOY!

In the chute conference

Big things to take out of 'In the chute' conference

Over the last few days I was in Canberra thinking about church planting and growing churches. It was put on by the guys at Geneva Push.

Their website is great and has all the talks up

So here are some things that I took away….

1. Pursue evangelism, no matter how difficult or die. We want grow by sheer organisational skill. Therefore we have to have lives that touch unbelievers somehow whether it be door to door, letters, radio stations, etc
   


2. Keep thinking hard about training people to be disciples of Jesus especially during times of rapid growth
   


3. Give ourselves not just to planting but growing churches
   


4. 
   
   Factors to consider in church growth
   
   
   
   
   
   1. Spiritual: check community, congregational, leadership: are we captured by the gospel and its convictions. Preach with urgency
      
   
   
   2. Competency: of leaders in preaching, communication, conflict resolution & people skills
      
   
   
   3. Process management: not good at managing the resources that God has given u
      
   
   
   4. Need to keep thinking about building capacity: finding people who are vision multipliers, raising the evangelistic temperature
      


5. Our evangelistic edge will be lost if WE are not walking closely with Jesus
   


6. Know your local area: find the local council employed community worker to find out how we can work in partnership
   


7. Work hard at modelling an evangelistic lifestyle – inviting people to church, etc
   


8. See your calendar as missional e.g. teach people you have 5 lunchtimes 1 of them lunch with non-Christian
   


9. Breaking 200 the leader needs to move from shepherd to rancher (but not too quickly)
   


10. You will only fill up to the lowest slat in the barrel (you have to understand the illustration)
    

More Moving Moody

For a lot of the time Moody's Mum, Betsey, was Unitarian, however after returning from two years in England Moody went home for some rest and relaxation. He says,

'Cold unitarians….My heart burned to draw them to Christ'

After spending some time in his hometown he was invited to preach and did over a number of evenings

'Betsey came from pride, determined not to budge from her convictions…..A Unitarian till shed died. On the hills, alone or with his friends, Moody wrestled in prayer. Some song, some graphic Bible story pierced her shield of moral confidence, but she gave no sign until on one of the last evenings, when Moody invited those to rise in their places who wished to acknowledge Christ as Son of God and trust in Him as Saviour, "that we might pray for you", Betsey rose. Moody was so overcome that he could barely ask one of the others to lead the prayer. On the last night Samuel (his brother0 stood.

Really enjoying this book…..

Funeral Talk

A few weeks ago I took a funeral for a young man of 22 who tragically died on his way back from an army exercise. Approx 650 gathered, for a full military funeral, the following is my sermon from the day not because I think it is brilliant but because I hope it points people to the God of great comfort.

The Pain of a Lost Son

Passages: John 14:1-7

Ps 23:1-6

We come together as a community today to grieve

To Frances and her family – today is a testament to a well-loved son, brother, uncle and so much more

And so we grieve with you

We grieve of a man taken far too young from this world

It is clear from today that Stephen loved the Army

On the back of their cars they have blazoned across their number plates – serving the nation

Those involved in the Army serve us, they serve our country

The work of the Army is often not thanked enough in our public sphere – we remember at certain times throughout the year

We owe a great debt to those men and women who fight on our behalf

It is easy to see from today that there is a great and deep respect for you and an appreciation of the work you do

We want to thank you today for your service of this great nation

It is work that would take you to some very dark places

Confronting things that most of us would not even dare encounter

And even sometimes, as the Psalm writer says, into the valley of the shadow of death

The work of the army has won for us many valued freedoms that too often we take for granted

They are freedoms that we enjoy without realising the cost involved

Sometimes it is paying the ultimate cost – the loss of life

It is on this note of cost that the Bible speaks very clearly to us this morning

And it has something for us all to hear and take away

I can't imagine the pain of losing a son

Frances and her family are going through everyone parents' worst nightmare

And today is a time set aside for us to remember him

To grieve together the loss of his life

But then again it is hardly the normal thing for death to be a welcome thing to someone's life

No matter how much we try to fight the ageing process

Death is something that will come upon as all

I can't imagine the pain of losing a son

But God can

He willingly went through the pain of losing a son

Willingly put himself in that situation

so that we could gain freedom

He paid a high price and it was no accident

God deliberately sent his Son, Jesus onto a mission that would cost his life

The mission was one that impacted all of humanity

Each one of us today has been touched by the mission of Jesus

It was about reconciling a world full of people who have rejected him and his ways

Repairing that broken relationship

God knows about paying the cost

God knows what it is to lose a son

God knows what it is to suffer like we are today

God knows the pain of a lost son

THEREFORE

1. God is a one of great sympathy and comfort
   

If there is one thing we all need on a day like today is comfort

And God is able to offer it

This is not a false comfort or a just a determination to look on the bright side

As it is said in the Psalm

Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me, your rod and your staff they comfort me

The Bible never promises a life of no suffering and no pain

It is very realistic about what life can throw at us

Even the events of the last few weeks

The promise of the Bible is not that they will never happen

But of a God who walks alongside us as we walk go through the valley of the shadow of death

Of a God who is not distant and vague

But one who knows and cares and can empathise with us on a day like today

God walks with us

And so we can say with the Psalm

The LORD is my Shepherd

God is like the ancient shepherd

A shepherd is not a weak man

But rather one of the toughest

Accustomed to fighting of thieves and wild animals with his staff and rod

This is the type of shepherd willing to lay down his life for his sheep

Here is a picture of a God able to comfort for he is able to ward off all his enemies for our protection

When Jesus was on earth he came as the shepherd Ps 23 speaks about

He came to guard us, guide us, live for us and ultimately die for us

The cost of the death of Jesus won for us a wonderful freedom

The freedom of forgiveness with God

Jesus asks his followers to demonstrate that same forgiveness in their lives

Frances, I want to thank you for showing and demonstrating the power of what Jesus came to do

For those that don't know

Frances is an active member of our church family

She is someone who knows and loves the Lord Jesus Christ

As I sat with Frances this week she has told me many times that she holds no blame for the tragic accident that occurred

No blame for the driver

But instead offering a hand of forgiveness

I'm sure that there would be many in your situation that would have responded very differently – be it with anger or vengeance – both of which would be unjustified

Frances you have shown the community gathered here today a better way and something important and wonderful and extremely powerful – the power of forgiveness

The story of Jesus is not just to his death on the cross

But Jesus was even raised out of the tomb resurrected from the dead

See it in the words Jesus says to his disciples and Thomas in the John passage as he talks about returning to prepare a place

Showing us that in there is a future place; an age to come where death will be defeated

There is a great and wonderful world awaiting those who walk with the Good Shepherd

Friends take these two passages with you

Comfort and console each other today

However God is the greatest comforter of all

b/c he is the Good Shepherd

Trust yourself to him

He will see you through all your trials

Even the valley of the shadow of death

And you are able to say

I will fear no evil

God is with me

His rod and staff they comfort me

Little ‘Arry Moorhouse

He was a little guy apparently from England that went to the States in the late 19^th Century to visit D. L. Moody. Moody was sceptical but he soon changed…

Moorhouse announced his text: John 3:16: God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life'. Instead of dividing the text into firstly, secondly, thirdly in ministerial manner, Moorhouse, Moody noted, 'went from Genesis to Revelation giving proof that God loves the sinner, and before he got through, two or three of my sermons were spoiled'. Moody's teaching that it was the sinner god hates, the sinner as well as the sin, lay shattered at his feet. 'I never knew up to that time that God loved us so much. This heart of mine began to thaw out; I could not keep back the tears.'

Mooving Moody

I have started reading John Pollock's biography of a man called 'D.L. Moody' it is a great read so far but the bit I read yesterday was awesome, let me set the context of what I am about to quote. One of the men Moody had working with him doing what we would call a massive kids club in the slums of Chicago had not long to live. This teacher was anxious about his class that he taught, not one of them had turned to Christ. Moody took him to all the homes of the girls in his class and he asked each one personally, 'I have come just to ask you to come to the Saviour'. At the end of the 10 days every girl had accepted Christ as their saviour. But there is time for one more meeting before he dies …….

'You are not going today. Wait until tomorrow and get the whole class together. Bring them all to tea tonight'. Moody said afterwards that if he had known what that meeting would do to him he might have stayed away. All came, the teacher spoke and read to them, and thy tried to sing a parting hymn. They knelt to pray. The man begged God to deepen the girls' new found faith. Moody prayed. 'I was just rising from my knees when one of the class began to pray for her dying teacher.' Astonished, Moody listened to the faltering, extempore prayer of a slum girl whom he had known as an empty headed scoffer. A second besought her God for power to win others to Himself. One after another the girls stumbled into prayer. As Moody heard these genuine, fervent thanksgivings, these earnest petitions, the 100,000 gold dollars of his dreams turned to tinsel, the ambition to build a commercial empire showed up tawdry, transient. Better to spend his years as this dying teacher had spent ten days.

Is there genocide in Joshua?

How would you counter the argument that Joshua is genocide planned by God?

There are a number of things to say to this question

1. There is a lot of killing in the book of Joshua, let's not deny it! And the killing is directed by God, the people are directed to put to death all those in Jericho, 'they devoted the city to the Lord and destroyed with the sword every living thing in it – men and women, young and old, cattle, sheep and donkeys' (Josh 6:21). This happens to the city of Ai 9 (ch 8), as well as the southern and northern cities (ch10-11).
   

   
    

2. The idea of 'devoting something to destruction' is from a Hebrew word 'cherem'. Only God has the authority to impose this on any city or people.
   

   
    

   
    

3. The use of point 2 is specifically in the conquest of Canaan. It is not a broad policy with wide applicability and a long record of use. The purpose was to protect the Israelites from idolatry by ridding the land of idol worshippers (see Deut 20:16-18). But all this is still pretty bleak stuff, but there are some more realities to come to grips with:
   

   
    

   1. If justice is ever to be done, there are people who deserve destruction. The destruction of Sodom & Gomorrah in gen 18-19 troubles people less because of the debauchery going on. In relation to Joshua it is the Canaanites themselves who initiate the hostilities against the Israelites. Joshua 9:1-2 says,
      

 ¹ Now when all the kings west of the Jordan heard about these things—those in the hill country, in the western foothills, and along the entire coast of the Great Sea ^[a] as far as Lebanon (the kings of the Hittites, Amorites, Canaanites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites)- ²
they came together to make war against Joshua and Israel.

    Even though these people knew the great power of God they still engaged in war with them. This is what Rahab knows about God in Josh 2:8-13

⁸ Before the spies lay down for the night, she went up on the roof ⁹ and said to them, "I know that the LORD has given this land to you and that a great fear of you has fallen on us, so that all who live in this country are melting in fear because of you. ¹⁰ We have heard how the LORD dried up the water of the Red Sea ^[a] for you when you came out of Egypt, and what you did to Sihon and Og, the two kings of the Amorites east of the Jordan, whom you completely destroyed. ^[b]
11 When we heard of it, our hearts melted and everyone's courage failed because of you, for the LORD your God is God in heaven above and on the earth below. ¹² Now then, please swear to me by the LORD that you will show kindness to my family, because I have shown kindness to you. Give me a sure sign ¹³ that you will spare the lives of my father and mother, my brothers and sisters, and all who belong to them, and that you will save us from death."

 

    The people of Canaan were not innocent victims of a form of injustice. At least some of them were God's opponents.

1. It is a difficult thing to be totally comfortable with what transpires in Joshua because of the distance that lies between us and them. We are not an ancient near east culture. I'm guessing few people would respond with a joy and glee over the destruction proclaiming 'that is what they deserve'. In fact the rest of the Old Testament rarely recalls the conquests, doesn't glory in its goriness and never promotes it as a policy for the future. Therefore we cannot ever literally apply the conquest today we just don't and shouldn't have the option today to go and burn down the city hall or local council because of their opposition to us. Joshua is describing what God did not what we should do. God is responding to the Canaanites who perish for resisting Him. Those that do respond with acknowledging the greatness of God and are therefore obedience are saved and receive compassion. This shows that there are those in Joshua who receive salvation in the same way we do in the New Testament but through Jesus.
   

   
    

2. God is sovereign. If this is true then he owns everything! As the owner he alone has the authority to decide who may enjoy the use of his property. Therefore the very unappealing truth is that God can do whatever he wishes with what belongs to him – even take human lives. (Perhaps this is why the 'fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom')
   

 

This is only a very brief defence of God and how he acts in Joshua but it does outline some of the major ideas to work though.

Does Joshua 1:8 teach the prosperity gospel?

The prosperity gospel is a way of thinking that says 'it is God's will for you to be rich and healthy in this lifetime'. It is often backed up by, in my opinion, misquoting texts and Joshua 1:8 is a favourite.

This question about what is the prosperity gospel flows out of a question about Joshua 1:8 which says

Do not let this book of the law depart from your mouth; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful.

Does this text teach the 'prosperity gospel'?

The context of this verse is about inheriting the land that God would give them (v6). The primary blessing under the old covenant was rest in the abundance of the land of milk and honey. Under the new covenant this rest is in the superabundance of heaven (Heb 4:1-11). 'Joshua 1:8 remains a valuable text calling for courage and fidelity to God's word, but its specific promise of material prosperity does not apply to Christians' (Brian Rosner, Beyond Greed, p39). I think the other problem with the prosperity gospel is it has discontentment written all of it – I am not happy with my health or my wealth and I want God to fix it for me now. Rom 5:3-5 is helpful here:

Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love in our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us

Paul doesn't seem to think that the Christian life is one of health and wealth but of hope and hardship and then he firmly believes that this is what is worth rejoicing in (in fact the word 'rejoice' could also mean to boast)!

Simple Church critique: That’s not how you make porridge

Things have slowed down on this blog but not quite to a standstill. I have been reviewing the book 'Simple Church' and there is a lot to like from it but in this post I review what I think is the biggest downfall to the book – their use of Scripture.

'That's not how you make porridge! You remember those ad's don't you?'Some little Irish guy saying how there is only one way to make porridge, well my last post about Simple Church is that for all the good that comes out of the book the use of Scripture, in my opinion, left a bit to be desired. Let me give you some examples

On p16ff they talk about Jesus as the man who knows simple, he simplified the Law with its myriad of Laws down to a single commandment. While it is true that he did this but is the application of this Scripture therefore that we should simplify everything because Jesus summed up the Law into a single phrase? I'm not convinced that if I was preaching on Matt 24:34 that I would come to the conclusion of a simple church based upon the logic of what Jesus does here.

Then on p18ff they use the story of Jesus clearing the temple as a justification for decluttering anything that gets in the way of encountering the 'simple and powerful message of Christ'. I would have that the main and obvious (read simple) barrier to encountering the message of of Christ is our own sinful hearts as opposed to clutter that invades church programs. Don't hear me wrong on this one, if there are things in church that we do that make it difficult for the message to be heard they need dealing with but Jesus clearing the temple and us decluttering our churches seems like a big theoligical and exegetical jump to make.

On p78ff they talk about Hezekiah (he was one of the good kings!) and when he destroys the bronze snake made by Moses (Num 21:6-8). And perhaps this line is delibirately provocative but they say, 'He got rid of it because it was clutter'. Once again I'm just not convinced that this is the main point of 2 Kings 18 or that if you were preaching it it would naturally flow as a point of application out of the text.

So, what exactly is my beef – well as the litte Irish boy said – it's just not how you use Scripture! The fancy word for it would be eisegesis which is when you read into the text rather than letting the text speak to you.

It is my gut feeling that the ideas in this book are brilliant and as they did their research they have stumbled across something very helpful but then gone looking for some Scripture to back up the 'simple church' idea.

Or maybe I'm not reading some of these passages well enough and not seeing the broader scope of application that may be present.

Is it too easy?

Chapter Four - Three Simple Stories

I have been working my way through book 'Simple Church' summarising the chapters. Today we hit chapter four, you can find the previous summaries - chapter 1, chapter 2 & chapter 3.

This chapter looks at three churches using the simple method. The basis of the chapter begins with a discussion of Matt 16 when Jesus says

Upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of Hades will not
overpower it.

The church is something that is God given and therefore not even Hell can hold back the church, it is a powerful, intense and unstoppable movement. They then illustrate how gates that don't do fulfill their purpose (keep people or cars out or in) are useless. Their point about gates being purely a defensive mechanism is interesting. Therefore, the gates of Hell is always on the defensive never on the offensive - 'the church always has the ball'. The question they then ask from this is: 'how big a dent in the gates of hell will we make?' This chapter is showing us 3 stories that are causing big dents in the gates of hell

Immanuel church in Glasgow

They show that their contention - simple churches grow disciples - is working in Immanuel Baptist Church. There is clarity (connect, grow, serve); movement (through the connect, grow, serve), alignment (all the ministries adopt and actively use and promote the process) and there is focus (they use all their energy and resources into this process).

Numbers wise they have doubled in size from 150 to 300 over 2 years. But there are other benefits they outline - an increased morale, a sense of urgency to move people towards maturity, visible spiritual growth, conversions, better financial situation and and sense of unity.

Christ Church in Miami

Once again (as above) there was a group of pastors committed to simplifying the church and the church has been growing. There is clarity (connect to God, others, ministry and the lost); there is movement (actively seeking to move people to connect to God - others - ministry - lost); alignment (all ministry activities have the same process from the kids through to adults) and there is focus (they eliminated programs that didn't fit over the course of 2 years and it seems they made some tough calls!)

Northpoint Community Church

Northpoint began their life as a church committed to simple and have been the 'epitome of simple'. The church has had immense growth from a handful to sixteen thousand in ten years. They use the analogy of foyer, living room and kitchen. Once again the four elements of clarity, movement, alignment and focus.

The reason Northpoint is able to do things so well is because they have chosen
to only do a few things [...] they refuse to add programs or events that will
distract people from the simple process that God has given them.

These 3 stories have all engaged with a simple process that guides its ministry and is pushing back the gates of Hell.

My thoughts

Each of the above churches seems to be in a very healthy way. People are growing from infants to maturity through a simple process of discipleship. Each church is seeing people come to Christ for the first time. They have all had to varying degrees growth in numbers alone with Northpoint growing substantially. There is a degree of scepticism about large churches in Sydney as we prefer to grow churches by breaking off around the 150-200 mark to begin another church. I am fence sitting on this one at the moment.

But the stories are good, I do wonder if there are the stories of a simple church that is not growing?! But they probably don't sell books.

At this point it is hard to ignore the evidence. But it also seems all too easy a bit like the 'silver-bullet' talked about in various places.

The next portion of the book (Part 2) is about becoming a simple church but before we get there the next post will be about the book's use of Scripture so far.

Simplifying Simple

Chapter Three - Simple Church: An Extreme Makeover

The guts of this chapter is that there are many churches that need an extreme makeover. Just like in the TV show "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition' the team sometimes knocks out walls, sometimes add rooms, or just update the colour scheme or even build a whole new house - the same is true for churches, some need tweaking while others need a total redesign. The redesign is one for discipleship to happen.

They then go on to make the case that church leaders are designers; we give people opportunities to encounter the grace of God. We design churches around the process of spiritual growth. We help provide the right environments to facilitate growth.

They then define what a simple church is:

A simple church is a congregation designed around a straightforward and
strategic process that moves people through the stages of spiritual
growth.

An unpacking of the above definition follows for the next few pages.

They go back then to the beginning of their journey towards writing the book and embarking on the simple church projects. A lot of the impetus for the book came from the research they did and the results from a survey done by a few hundred churches. The survey was called the Process Design Survey (PDS). The statistician then assured them that they had found something highly significant coming to this conclusion:

There is a highly significant relationship between a simple church design
and the growth and vitality of a local church ... So here is the practical
language: In general, churches that are vibrant and growing are simple. A simple
church strategy is effective and there are four basic elements, they must all be
present

An expanded definition is then given

A simple church is designed around a straightforward and strategic process that
moves people through the stages of spiritual growth. The leadership and the
church are clear about the process (clarity) and a re committed to executing it.
The process flows logically (movement) and is implemented in each area of the
church (alignment). The church then abandons everything that is not in the
process (focus).

Clarity --> Movement --> Alignment --> Focus

This is the BIG push of the book - these four words are what it means to 'go simple' so to speak. So don't read over there definition too quickly!

Clarity is the ability of the process to be communicated and understood by the people.

Movement is the sequential steps in the process that cause people to move to greater areas of commitment

Alignment is the arrangement of all ministries and staff around the same simple process

Focus is the commitment to abandon everything that falls outside of the simple ministry process.

My thoughts:
I really love these four words and how they work together. I am sold on the simple strategy however I am wary only because the book is written in an American context. Will it have the same results in the north west Suburbs of Sydney? I would dearly love to 'have a crack'. I would love for us to be in the position were the necessary stands out clearly to people, it means eliminating the unnecessary (most of which will be good things!) and sticking to the best. This is a decision that is constantly being made in ministry - all of life is ministry - we need a strategic and biblical way forward as to what we do and what we don't do.

In my own context at Norwest we don't have heaps of clarity, our movement is implicit rather than explicit to people and even to me. We have begun the process of alignment but it is happening slower than what I ever thought. Our focus needs to be way sharper than what it is now. But I will be commending a basic (simple even!) process to people at a newcomers afternoon tea this Sunday - most likely stealing the idea of a house with a big foyer (3 congregations), moving people to the many living rooms (small group network) and then to the kitchen (serving in some capacity). Next post you will see where I have stolen it from as they survey three simple churches.....

Seeing Simple - Part 2

Chapter Two: The Simple (and not so simple) Church in Action

This chapter is all about helping us as readers to see the simple and not so simple churches in action. So they begin with a story about just having to be there - they have observed the simple church in action and they want us to be there too. We then get introduced to two churches that they visited - real churches but names changed.

1. First Church

A solid church with great programs. Staff are talented and popular. Church hasn't grown for 5 years, there is no major turmoil or rifts nor is there a crisis to promote any change.

Statements

There is lots - a mission statement, purpose statement, vision statement and strategy statement. Each is different from the next and long. Each ministry department has different statements. There is a degree of influence from Willow Creek in the the five 'M' words. It is unclear how all the statements fit together and unsure of the real focus of the church.

The Pastor

He moves between saying all is ok and looking really frustrated by everything. He hints that the church is disjointed and heading in multiple directions. He doesn't know what his desire for the church is though.

The Leaders

Each leader gives a myriad of responses to the question of what the focus of the church is however not one of them mentions any of the various mission, vision, etc, statements. None of them have been internalised.

The what and the how are very unclear for this church.

Programming
They have 8 major programs in 7 days! That is just for adults and doesn't include youth and childrens. It is clear that the programs are good so much so that the attention is divided. Every program is short on leaders and all complain that their program isn't publicised enough.

Numbers

They look to see how many people are attending each program. Each program is separated from the whole.

2. Cross Church
Only 20 yrs old, less well known on the landscape. People have come to Christ, been plugged into ministry and are contributing to the body of Christ.

Statements

There is only ONE statement, one overarching theme. It is short, it is adapted for each age group - 'loving God, loving people, and serving the world'. But is it the DNA of the church?

Pastor

He indicates that the church stands behind the statement. There is a fascinating dialogue on p38 between the pastor and the author.

Author: So, this is your purpose, right?

Pastor: I guess you could say that

A: Talk to us about your process. How do you make your purpose happen?

P: Love God, love others and serve the world is our process

A: I thought you said it was your purpose

P: It is both. Our purpose is a process.

A: Oh.

Interesting. Genius. Simple. Instead of a chasm of separation between their purpose and their process, the two are one in the same. Their purpose is their process.

They then share some of the history of how this pastor came to this conclusion and moved towards simplifying their church.

Leaders

The vast majority of the leaders speak freely about loving God, loving others, and serving the world. It is clear that it is the DNA of the church.

Programming

All programs are set up to move people through loving God - loving others - serving the world. Loving God is the weekend services. Loving others is to help people connect relationally in small groups. Serving the world has ministry teams engaging people in team ministry. Some focus on the church, others on the community. New people are told not to join if they don't want to serve. There are essentially only 3 main programs correlating with the loving God, others and serving the world.

Numbers

They evaluate people as to where they are at in the ministry process - worship service, small groups or ministry teams. They look at quarterly reports to see each if each process is increasing or decreasing.

The comparisons continue in terms of handling new ideas and staffing but you get the general drift of this chapter. They end the chapter asking, Is your church more like First Church or Cross Church?

My thoughts:

As a Pastor it is so easy to keep adding new things on to the agenda, new programs, new ideas, events but these don't always or even necessarily equate to growth in the life of a Christian or in the corporate life of the church. It is a very real challenge to keep things simple like Cross Church does. Once again this chapter is exciting me for the challenge of simplifying everything. This is not a new thought for where we are at in our church family. We need clarity, movement, alignment and focus which is the focus of chapter 3.

'Simplify man'

After hearing Andrew Graham briefly mention a book called Simple Church by Thom Rainer & Eric Geiger, I decided to have a read. I am almost halfway through and thought it would be good to write down some summaries of the chapters. So far it has been a really stimulating and thought provoking read.

Chapter One - The Simple Revolution has Begun

The opening chapter reassures the reader that this book is not about another church model. They then proceed to sell on the idea that simple is in and complex is out. They refer to some popular brand names to back it up - Apple (an ipod has one big button, the 'plug and play', their artwork is simple, they have cultlike followers), Google (the amount of white space screams simplicity) and he goes on to show other companies providing quality services with a high degree of simplicity.

Then comes a pretty big claim - they got 400 evangelical churches to complete a survey seeing how simple their church is.

• Growing and vibrant churches are simple.


• Complex churches flounder in growing disciples of Christ.

The qualify the statement by saying they are not looking to change doctrine or conviction. Or that simple is the new style or 'hip'. Simple churches are actually mimicking the world but doing the opposite as our world is complex. Nor is simplicity desired for pure pragmatic reasons.

They then spend some time theologically justifying 'simple'.

Jesus simplified, e.g. commandments down to the greatest. He offered a simple relationship compared to the Pharisees, 'my yoke is easy and my burden is light'. He decluttered the temple.

The conclusion of chapter one - 'perhaps we are losing ground not despite our overabundance of activity but because of it [...] To have a simple church, you must design a simple discipleship process. This process must be clear. it must move people toward maturity. It must be integrated fully into your church, and you must get rid of the clutter around it'.

My thoughts:

I love the ideas that are thrown up in the opening chapter. I think churches do tend towards complexity rather than simplicity and if you asked a group of people to write down what our church is about I'm positive you would get a large variety of answers.

Stay tuned for chapter two.....

Multiplying Ministry

We have seen in the last two posts a summary of a talk from a conference I went to with Mark Dever last year. So far we have looked 14 blessings of every member ministry and 7 dangers and challenges and today we see 3 ways to go about multiplying ministry.

1. Understanding

We misunderstand leadership, before we require people to do something we need to teach them. We need to help them understand. And teach with clarity.

2. Motive

Avoid involvement through guilt as it saps joy in service. Tell them about God and his glory and the wonderful hope of the resurrection. Love from the one who loved first. Love for others in God's image. Teach the right motivation clearly.

3. Culture

Create a culture of discipling others, don't make it an optional extra because it's not! Helping others follow Jesus is the most basic way way we show love for each other (Jn 13). Teach that the basic package is to inconvenience yourself out of love.

The challenges of 'every member ministry'

The other day I outlined the 14 blessings that Mark Dever talked about at a conference last year. Today we outline the 7 challenges, dangers or cautions of every member ministry' that Mark Dever put before us.

1. It is difficult to manage: there is a unorganised nature to it.

2. Divisiveness

3. Reductionist: can simply reduce Christian life to ministry. New members need to attend first and then do ministry later

4. Busyness: lose all our time in church

5. Narcissism: wrong type of individualism in it

6. Be a steward of your gift/talent/desires but remember you are also called to minister in a way in which the local church needs it.

7. Rebelliousness: authority needs not to be oppressive

I think No 5 & 6 are interesting.

No 5 because there is a sentiment and feeling out there that 'everything is important'. Every announcement or piece of information is THE one to listen to and we then have lost perspective on the big picture. And everything is important then it communicates the nothing is important, everything just flat lines as being REALLY important and nothing stands out. The other consequence is that we are busy doing the wrong things that actually don't produce any Christian fruit (by which I mean Christian growth or new conversions). Churches are already busy and complex beasts to manage at times which can sap people from spending time in relationships with other people with the result being, 'I'm too busy to spend time with non-Christians (or in other valuable relationships) because I have too much church stuff to do'. When we have achieved this attitude then I think we have failed.

No 6 was particularly challenging for me. I am a big believer in people using their specific gifts in service of the saints. The question that remains is, for example;

'What if there is no one who desires/gifted/talented to read the Bible at church, should we not do it?'

Or should someone 'have a go' because the church needs it to happen? This relates across all our ministries that we do - how far do we keep stretching people who are not gifted to fulfill particular ministry roles but do it because it is an area of need? Dever's thoughts were definitely challenging for me.

The Blessings of 'every member ministry' thinking

One of the things I have been trying to create a buzz about this year is 'every member ministry'. The unashamed goal is for everyone to know and think that they are as much a minister as someone with a Rev in front of their name. In our context of middle-class suburbia I want our people to think 'we are ministers in the urban jungle; we are missionaries to the Parish of Norwest'. I want people to get to the point were they feel equipped and ready for the task of being a missionary and I see my job as one of helping them for this task. As Eph 4 says

And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and
teachers, 12to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building
up the body of Christ, 13 until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of
the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the
stature of the fullness of Christ,

As I was shifting through some notes from a conference I was at with Mark Dever last year I came across his 14 blessings of every member ministry. I haven't got explanations for them all unfortunately.

1. Blessing of perspective: especially to the Pastor to know it is not all up to him
2. Blessing of fellowship: encourage others in ministry
3. Blessing of growth: there is a new completeness in the believer
4. Blessing of relationship: a depth
5. Blessing of seriousness
6. Blessing of obedience
7. Blessing of service: from consumers to 'where is that person?' How can I follow them up? A move to contributors to the gathering
8. Blessing of maturity
9. Blessing of resources:
10. Blessing of priesthood: it takes seriously the 'priesthood of all believers'.
11. Blessing of efficiency
12. Blessing of corporate responsibility
13. Blessing of witness: the more people are involved the greater the witness. Don't underestimate the power of corporate witness. I remember the story he told of a Professor in Sociology who became a Christian at his church because of the way the people related to each other.
14. Blessing of perseverance

Looking back on them now, I wish that I had taken better notes!

The Wise Words of Sheens

It's time to start listening to the Australian coach, Tim Sheens, and put Robbie Farah into the NSW side for Origin 3. Read the wise words, here.

Getting to Grips With Your Identity in Christ - An Introduction

I have written a short booklet on Christian identity that came out of two talks I did for Russ Smidt at Epping. Here is the introduction...... do you want to keep reading?

Introduction

It is a joy to be human. This is especially true when we compare ourselves to our canine friends. I, for one, am glad that I am not a dog. A dog can’t reason like humans can. A dog can’t prize things for their real worth. A dog doesn’t contemplate the universe. A dog can’t think about things in relation to God. And a dog certainly doesn’t reflect upon their identity. So, aren’t you glad you are not a dog?

But if you’re not a dog then who are you? How on earth do we figure this out? Our natural tendency as human beings in this world is to look around at the creation to figure out an answer to this perplexing question. It is my hope that in reading this you will come to see something extraordinary, something truly amazing, and something that will cause you to again reflect upon your identity.

God has revealed who we are in Christ.

This is the central truth that I am communicating. In order to help us we will concentrate our efforts from the book of 1 Peter. Why chose 1 Peter to focus on?

The main tension that runs behind 1 Peter is how much do the readers conform to the culture and dominant values of the day? As well as, what are the boundaries of maintaining a Christian distinctive in a hostile society? It is fair to say that the tension of these original hearers is our tension too. Our Australian society is not one where we easily accept the uniqueness of Christian characteristics but we are all for conforming to the Australian culture. Who wants to be branded un-Australian? It is into this type of melee that 1 Peter is written and has much to say to us even today. Peter’s response to these questions is to re affirm who they are in Christ and in doing so shows us as readers 2000 years later who we are in Christ.

There are only two chapters in this book. The first outlines how we see ourselves and the second flows out of it, how we see other people. The two are intimately connected as we will see in the course of our journey together.

Weekend Away Talks

Unfortunately the outlines haven't moved in the last few days but I did get some books from the Moore College library to keep me thinking.
I've also got a 2,000 word exegetical on Titus 1 due next Friday so it's going to be hectic.
Here is the text of Titus 1.

What do you think are the big ideas in this chapter?
Paul, a servant of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ, for the sake of the faith of God's elect and their knowledge of the truth, which accords with godliness, 2 in hope of eternal life, which God, who never lies, promised before the ages began 3 and at the proper time manifested in his word through the preaching with which I have been entrusted by the command of God our Savior; 4 To Titus, my true child in a common faith: Grace and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Savior. 5 This is why I left you in Crete, so that you might put what remained into order, and appoint elders in every town as I directed you- 6 if anyone is above reproach, the husband of one wife, and his children are believers and not open to the charge of debauchery or insubordination. 7 For an overseer, as God's steward, must be above reproach. He must not be arrogant or quick-tempered or a drunkard or violent or greedy for gain, 8 but hospitable, a lover of good, self-controlled, upright, holy, and disciplined. 9 He must hold firm to the trustworthy word as taught, so that he may be able to give instruction in sound doctrine and also to rebuke those who contradict it. 10 For there are many who are insubordinate, empty talkers and deceivers, especially those of the circumcision party. 11 They must be silenced, since they are upsetting whole families by teaching for shameful gain what they ought not to teach. 12 One of the Cretans, a prophet of their own, said, "Cretans are always liars, evil beasts, lazy gluttons." 13 This testimony is true. Therefore rebuke them sharply, that they may be sound in the faith, 14 not devoting themselves to Jewish myths and the commands of people who turn away from the truth. 15 To the pure, all things are pure, but to the defiled and unbelieving, nothing is pure; but both their minds and their consciences are defiled. 16 They profess to know God, but they deny him by their works. They are detestable, disobedient, unfit for any good work.

I'll give my thoughts tomorrow (hopefully!).