Pressing On By Knowing God’s Mission

MISSIONAL LIVING DEVOTIONAL: I AM RESOLVED

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3 Parts To The Great Commission As A Sandwhich

Now that's an interesting title for a blog! What on earth would I mean by, "The Great Commission As A Sandwich"?  It is just a visual way for you to comprehend all of the components that make up the commission Jesus gave us before He ascended back into Heaven.  

Every good sandwich consists of three parts.  

1. First, you have the top piece of the bread, 
2. then you have the bottom piece of bread 
3. and finally you have the meat in the center.  

The two ends of the bread hold the meat together and thereby makes a perfectly formed meal.  The Great Commission if found in Matthew 28:18-20.

THE TOP PIECE OF THE BREAD FOR THE GREAT COMMISSION!

"All authority in Heaven and on earth has been given to me ..."

The top piece of The Great Commission Sandwich is CHRIST'S AUTHORITY! How much authority does Christ have?  All authority!  Where does Christ have authority? Everywhere, in both Heaven and earth.

This is important to understand because Jesus is about to give out some orders or commands that He expects his disciples to follow and he wanted us to know that He really does have the authority to issue out those commands.  In other words, it is as if Jesus is saying to us, 

"Listen up and pay careful attention because I am about to give you some orders to obey while I am away and by the way I do have the authority to give you these commands, so you better obey them."

Jesus does have the authority to command us to do whatever he choses, so this Great Commission is not a option - it's a command!

THE BOTTOM PIECE OF THE BREAD FOR THE GREAT COMMISSION!

"... and low I am with you always, even to the ends of the age."

The bottom piece of The Great Commission Sandwich is Christ's continual PRESENCE!  As Christ is sending us out on this mission he is wanting to reassure us that we will not be going at it alone! Christ is wanting to remind us that His presence through the working of the Holy Spirit will be our consistent companion for His power and presence, even in the midst of the most adverse situations.  He reminds us of his presence to reassure us that we can do this mission because He is with us do ing it through us. 

THE MEAT OF THE GREAT COMMISSION!

"Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you."

There are 3 parts to the meat section of The Great Commission Sandwich;

1. Make Disciples Of Christ:  We are to go share the Gospel of Jesus Christ and lead others to faith in Christ so they too can become His faithful disciples also.  Making more disciples is the command. The other two parts are to support this primary activity.  You are not being obedient to the Great Commission if you are not sharing Jesus with others and how they too can be saved. 

2.  Baptize Them:  This is peoples way for people to publicly declare their allegiance to Christ.  They may not be mature followers of Christ when they are baptized but the are sure they want to follow Christ.

3.  Teach Them To Obey Christ's Command:  Teaching people to know what Christ commanded isn't enough. We must teach them to obey Christ. The Bible says that to obey is better than sacrifice. We are to be doers of the word and not hearers only.  Obedience is the proof of true discipleship. Jesus said, "why do you call me Lord but do what I say?"  To claim to be a disciple of Christ but not to obey Him is an oxymoron! 

SO, LET'S GO PUT THE GREAT COMMISSION SANDWICH TOGETHER AND GO FULFILL THE GREAT COMMISSION.

WHAT'S THE GOAL FOR MISSIONAL LIVING?

What exactly is the goal for living a missional life?  If you you're going to invest your time, energy and  life for something you should know why?  Answering this important question will give you the answer to the "Why"!

Take a few minute and watch this important training video for missional living and then ask yourself if your life is effectively striving to fulfill this Christ given goal.

Now that you've watch this training how well is your life striving to reach Christ's goal? Are you doing all that you should be doing to accomplish it? If not, why not? Do you just need more training or do you need a heart transplant? What do I mean by "Heart Transplant"? Do you need to develop a heart like that of God?

Keep coming back we have lots of new training for missional living that we will be adding on a regular basis!

I want to provide you weekly encouragement as you strive to live a powerful missional life by offering you a FREE SUBSCRIPTION to the weekly Missional Devotionals that we send out to hundreds of people all over the world. They are FREE, so claim yours now.

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Missional Living For Ordinary Christians

EMPOWERMENT TO DO CHRIST'S MISSION Part 1: Knowing What's Most Important To Christ

In the summer of 1990 my wife, four children and I went to go visit my parents.  We lived down in North San Diego Country in a city called Oceanside and my parents lived in Marina California.  It was about a 6 to 7 hour drive from Oceanside to Marina and I was pastoring a small church so we didn't get a chance to visit them more than once, twice or if we were lucky three times a year.  This visit, however, was a special visit and one that I will never forget.  My father was dying of cancer and it had reach a point where it was progressing quickly and my wife and I knew that this would probably  be our one and only chance to visit with my father before he passed away.  We were able to spend four days with them and it was absolutely wonderful.  We didn't go anywhere special. We just stayed around the house enjoying every minute of each others company.  On the last night we were there the family decided to watch a movie however it was kind of late when we put the movie on so all of the family except me and my dad went to bed before it was finished.  My dad and I stay up and finished watching that movie together.  The movie was FIELD OF DREAMS. I had never seen it before nor heard anything about it and I had no idea how it was going to end.  At the end of the movie the star of show was told was once again, "If you build it, he will come." This phrase had been told to him over and over again throughout the show and he still had no idea what it meant until right then at that moment.  At that moment he saw the baseball catcher take off his mask and he realized it was his father, as a young man, who had passed away many years earlier, now standing beside him wanting to play catch.  With that realization and with hearts filled with unspeakable emotion the two of them began to throw the baseball back and forth to each other.

I was completely caught off guard by the ending of the movie and was totally unprepared for the emotional response that came rushing out of me at that moment.  My eyes welled up with tears and I just laid my head in my fathers lap crying uncontrollable, like a baby, as the realization of that moment hit me.  I realized this would be the last night I spend with my father on this earth and the next morning when I would hug and kiss him goodbye that would be our last hug and kiss until we meet again on the Day of Resurrection.  Together, into the wee hours of the night, we spent talking.  Do you have any idea of what kind of things we talked about?  I can assure you that we didn't talk about the weather, we didn't gossip about the neighbors nor did we even talk about politics.  No, the things we talked about in those last few hours were the things most important to us.  My father shared with me THE MOST IMPORTANT things that he felt I needed to know. They were things like how he loved me, my wife and my kids; how to be a good man that God would be well pleased with; and to truly trust God at his word that he would meet all of my needs.  This was not a time for chit chat or just shooting the breeze.  This was a time for both me and my father to make sure that the most important things that needed to be said, got said.  The next morning I packed up the car, loaded up the kids and then I gave my father the last hug and kiss that I would ever give me in this world and I drove away.  

ALL THAT NEEDED TO BE SAID HAD BEEN SAID 

ALL THAT NEEDED TO BE DONE HAD BEEN DONE.

This is the same kind of scene that we find here in Matthew 28:18-20.  These are literally the very last words of Jesus to his disciples before he ascends into heave to be seated at the right hand of God the Father and await for his return.  These are his LAST WORDS that he said to communicate to them what were his priorities.  It wasn't chit chat! It wasn't shooting the breeze! No, he was sharing with them the most important things on his heart and the things they needed to be doing while he is away.  Listen to what Jesus says, 

"And Jesus came up and spoke to them, saying, 'All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples 

of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the 

Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that 

I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even 

to the end of the age.”  Matthew 28:18-20 (NIV)

So what's the most important thing on Jesus' heart, mind, and soul?  It was for them, while he was away, to:

TO GO MAKE HIM MORE DISCIPLES

That's what he wanted his disciples to do while he ways away!  Just to go make him more disciples.  They had watch and learned how to do it for the past 3 1/2 years and now Christ wanted them to go out and do it while he was away.  

And Jesus is very specific from where he wants these disciples to come from. He said to make him disciples from all the nations.  Most of the time when people hear the word nations they think of geographical boundaries but that is not what this word, NATIONS, means.  The best English word we could use is ethnic. Quite literally what Jesus is saying is to, "Go make me disciples of people from every ethnic group, every people group and every language group.  What Jesus desires is to have representatives from every kind of group there is from the face of the world to be his disciples.  This was the most important thing that Jesus wanted his disciple to know before he left and what he wanted them to be doing until his return.  He wanted them to be intentional and deliberate about helping others become Fully Devoted Followers of Christ.  Making sure that his disciples was about disciple making is what was on the Christ's heart the most right before he left to go back into heaven and that's what should be the most important goal and objective that we should have on our hearts as well.

Having a thorough understanding of what is most important to Christ and what he is most passionate about is what empowers us!  

KNOWING CHRIST'S HEART AND PASSION IS WHAT EMPOWERS US!

When a person receives a vague set of directions the possibility of mistakes and making wrong choices can occur.  However, when a leader is specific and clear about what he wantS to be accomplished then the planning and execution can happen more effectively.  Jesus did not give us some fussy or unclear instruction.  His words could not have been any more clearer.  He kept it short and to the point:

GO MAKE DISCIPLES

With that clear instruction those of us who are Followers of Christ are now empowered to say "Yes" to those things that help accomplish that mission and "No" to those things that don't accomplish it.  

HAVING CLEAR INSTRUCTIONS EMPOWERS US TO SAY "YES" TO SOME THINGS & "NO" TO OTHER THINGS!

While there may be many good things a Christian could get involved in that doesn't mean they should get involved in them.  A Christian could fill up their entire calendar with really good things to do but still never accomplish what they've been commanded to do.  The real question that needs to be ask is whether it is the "BEST" thing we need to get involved in and whether it accomplish the mission that Christ left us here to do.  Does it help make disciples for Christ.

Making Disciples For Christ Is The Best Thing

And Knowing That Empowers Us!

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OUR GOOD INTENTIONS USED AS A STUMBLING BLOCK TO FULFILLING CHRIST'S MISSION?

Yesterday during my house church meeting we were reading the story of Jesus when he was telling his disciples plainly that he would be arrested, beaten, killed but on the third day would rise from the dead.  We had an interesting discussion about how Jesus' disciples responded to this very clear and frank revelation that Jesus was making about what was to happen to him.  Here's what the verse says,

"From that time on Jesus began to explain to his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things at the hands of the elders, the chief priests and the teachers of the law,and that he must be killed and on the third day be raised to life.  Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. 'Never, Lord!' he said. 'This shall never happen to you!'  Jesus turned and said to Peter, 'Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me; you do not have in mind the concerns of God, but merely human concerns.”  Matthew 16:16-23 (NIV)

It is quite obvious that Peter didn't like what Jesus was saying.  I mean Jesus wasn't trying to be obscure about the meaning of what he was saying at all.  He wasn't sharing this spiritual truth in some parable that required you to sit down and contemplate the meaning behind it. No, Jesus was talking quite plainly and sharing with his disciple exactly what was to happen and Peter made it very clear he didn't like it at all.  

Picture the scene.  Jesus has just finished sharing about his death, burial and resurrection and Peter doesn't like what he heard, so he asks Jesus to speak with him off to the side and, according to the Bible, begins to REBUKE Jesus.  REALLY?  What audacity for Peter to think that he could pull aside and rebuke the Son of the Living God!  Is he for real?  Who does Peter think he is?  

Now I know some of you are wanting to come to Peter's defense by thinking that maybe he really didn't know exactly that Jesus was the Christ the Son of the Living God!  I mean if Peter didn't understand Jesus' true identity that would be a reasonable excuse for his disrespectful behavior, right?  But wait a moment!  Is that accurate?  Did Peter not know who Jesus was and that he was the Son of Living God ?  The truth is that Peter knew exactly who he was talking to and what Jesus' true identity was!  Let take a look at the verse right before the ones we just read:

"When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, 'Who do people say the Son of Man is?'  They replied, 'Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, Jeremiah or one of the prophets.'   ^'But what about you?' he asked. 'Who do you say I am?'   Simon Peter answered, 'You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.'  Jesus replied, 'Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by flesh and blood, but by my Father in heaven. And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.' Then he ordered his disciples not to tell anyone that he was the Messiah." Matthew 16:13-20 (NIV).

There it is right there in front of our faces!  After Jesus asked the disciples, "Who do you say that I am?" It was Peter who said, "Your are the Messiah (Christ) the Son of the living God."  It hadn't been more than ten minutes between Peter great confession and Peter's great stupidity.  Peter knew exactly who Jesus was.  It was God the Father, himself, who had revealed that spiritual truth to him.  Now, we see Peter feeling as though has the right to pull Jesus, the Son of the living God, aside and REBUKE him and all because he didn't  like what he's hearing!

Now I don't think that Peter's intentions were bad!  I think that Peter loved Jesus with all his heart, mind, soul and strength.  I think Peter was only looking out for Jesus' best interests and actually thought he was doing the right thing!  But with all of Peter's  best intentions Peter was still being a stumbling block to Jesus.  

PETER'S BEST INTENTIONS BECAME A STUMBLING BLOCK TO JESUS

"What?" You might be thinking. Peter becam a stumbling block to Jesus?  Please understand those aren't my words, that's what Jesus said.  Jesus said that Peter's best intentions was used to be a stumbling block to him.  Jesus actually called Peter Satan.  "Get behind me Satan."  Right there at that particular moment Peter, who loved Jesus, was being an instrument that Satan was using to try and tempt Jesus not to go to the cross. Even though Peter had the best intentions he was not only a stumbling block to Jesus but also an instrument of Satan!

NOT ONLY WAS PETER A STUMBLING BLICK TO JESUS

HIS BEST INTENTIONS USED USED AS AN INSTRUMENT OF SATAN!

Why?  Why was Peter a stumbling block and why was he able to be used by Satan?  Because even though Peter's intentions were meant to be good they were based from man's concerns and not God's concerns.  Peter's concern were to protect and keep Jesus safe but God's concern was the salvation of the world.  Jesus was not sent to be protected, he doesn't need human protection, but he was sent to be the sacrifice for the sins of the world.  In order for God to actualize his concern Jesus had to die and Peter actions based from his concern became a stumbling block.  The lesson that Peter was learning was that it's not about our will but all about God's will being done.

IT'S NOT ABOUT OUR WILL BUT ALL ABOUT GOD'S WILL BEING DONE!

How many times have we been Peter?  How many times have we tried to rebuke God for what he was doing?  How many times have we had all the best intentions to do the right thing but lacked the spiritual understanding and faith to accept God's wil?  How many times have our actions became a stumbling block to Christ's mission being accomplished?  

For me the number is to hight to count.  As I look back over my life and ministry I realized that so much of what I tried to do was based from my own concerns and interests and not God's at all.  It's strange to think about but how many times have I prayed for God to do something because that's what I really wanted to happen but never took into account what God was trying to do?  It has been a humbling lesson to learn that even my  prayers can become a stumbling block for Christ's mission to move forward!

So what do we need to do? I believe it all starts with two things:  Faith and Revelation.  

First, we need to make sure we have the faith to surrender our will over to Gods will.  We need to get to a place in our spiritual walk where we have no will of our own except to do the will of God.  Faith is the emptying of ourselves from our own personal desires so that we can wholeheartedly believe and accept God's desires.  

And then second, we need God to reveal to us His will to us!  God's will is never discovered as though it is some hidden treasure.  No, God's will is always revealed by God to us his people.  We need pray that God will give us eyes to see and ears to hear when God is telling us what he's about to do.  This is where Peter failed.  Peter was receiving a clear revelation of what was to happen to Jesus through his death on the cross and resurrection but Peter didn't have the faith to surrender his personal desires over to God and die to them so that He would be able to accept what God's will really was.  

Let us all pray that we don't act upon our BEST INTENTIONS but that we always have the FAITH that we need to act upon GOD'S INTENTIONS as he reveals them to us.

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Missional Living!

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THE ORDINARY CHRISTIAN'S FACEBOOK PAGE

Hi, I'm Pastor Jay Moore and the founder of The Ordinary Christian.  I am absolutely convinced that God loves to use ordinary people to do his extraordinary work!  The Bible is filled with such examples.  Two of Jesus' own disciples are described exactly that way. Peter and John were referred to as ORDINARY MEN WITH NO SPECIAL RELIGIOUS TRAINING.  

WHY?

Why would God chose to use ordinary people to accomplish his greatest work?  Why wouldn't he choose to use the more talented and extraordinary people?  Wouldn't he accomplish more if he did?  The reason why God loves to use ordinary people is found in 1 Corinthians 1:26-31:

"Brothers and sisters, think of what you were when you were called. Not many of you were wise by human standards; not many were influential; not many were of noble birth. But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. God chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things—and the things that are not—to nullify the things that are, so that no one may boast before him. It is because of him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God—that is, our righteousness, holiness and redemption. Therefore, as it is written: “Let the one who boasts boast in the Lord.”

THAT'S WHY!

God wants to humble the proud and show the whole world that He can do anything, through anybody, including ordinary Christians.  That way God receives all the glory.  

The Mission of THE ORDINARY CHRISTIAN is to: 

Empower  Encourage  and  Equip

ordinary Christians to intentionally live the missional life for Christ.  I invite you to be a part of what God is doing by "Liking" The Ordinary Christian Facebook Page!

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LIVING THE MISSIONAL LIFE: PICNIC OR WARFARE

Too often I think Christians have a poor and even dangerous view of what it is to be intentional about living a missional life.   There is way to much romancing and glamorizing and when the reality of what a missional lifestyle is really like is made known disillusionment and discouragement quickly set in.  It's kind of like the heroic and brave stories we hear about war where the hero sacrifices his life to save his fellow comrades with the beautiful angelic music playing.  It shares all the glory but very little of the blood, guts, pain and sorrow.

I personally think that the comparison of a soldier in wartime and the Christian living a missional life is very appropriate.  The reason I feel this way is because

THE MISSIONAL LIFE IS THE WARRIOR'S LIFE!

As fully devoted followers of Christ we must never forget that we are not on a picnic where we are sipping lemonade and eating fried chicken. No!  The life we are called to is a life in the midst of a raging battle where our enemy, Satan, is like a hungry lion seeking to attack and devour whomever he may.  This is the reason why the Apostle Paul admonishes us to put on the full Armor of God; watch and pray; and stand and resist.  Of all people the Apostle Paul knows all to well what lies ahead for those who choose to follow Christ on this mission.  Paul had been stoned, whipped, imprisoned, shipwrecked, falsely accused of wrong doing, hated by his countrymen, and eventually beheaded for his faith in Jesus Christ.  Over and over again Paul warns Christians to expect persecution as a normal part of the life of a Follower of Christ.  

THE MISSIONAL CHRISTIAN LIFESTYLE  IS NOT A LIFE FOR THE WEAK AND FEARFUL!  IT IS A LIFE FOR THE WARRIOR READY TO FACE HIS ENEMY!

It is as if, when a person determines and announces that they are going to live a life for Christ and intentionally pursue the mission that Christ has commissioned, that Satan says, 

"Oh really! So you think you are going to come into my territory, knock down my walls and liberate my slaves!  I don't think so! No way!  It's not going to happen!"

And then Satan goes up into the heavens, just as he did with Job and with the Apostle Peter, and demands permission from God to sift you like wheat.  That's right.  Satan is going to demand that God give him permission to spiritually attack you,  to test your metal and to see if he can find any chinks in your armor.  I mean, really, do we honestly believe that when we come to a place in our walk with Christ where we decide to follow him and obey him fully that it is going to go unchallenged by Satan? When we decide to live a missional life for the cause of Christ we have put a bullseye on our shirt that says, 

"SATAN I DARE YOU TO TAKE YOUR BEST SHOT!"  

Do your really think he won't?  Here's the crazy part!  THERE WILL BE TIMES WHEN GOD GRANTS HIM THAT PERMISSION.

How crazy is that? Doesn't that sound unkind of God?  Why would God, who loves us, allow our enemy to attack us and possibly do harm to us?  That doesn't sound like love! Does it?

Unless God Knows Something We're Not Thinking About!  

A nation that intends to defend itself from their enemy will put together an army to fight on their behalf.  The first thing that every new recruit goes through is basic training where they learn how to be an effective warrior.  Why?  Why put them through this training?  Is it not so these new recruits will have the best possible chance of survival before they're thrust into the battlefield?  In the same way God knows that the world is hostile to Him and those who belong to Him.  He knows that we have a real enemy who truly does hate us! And God allows Satan to attack us but with limitations so that we can gain battle experience and strengthen our faith in God for even bigger challenges that will come our way.

Satan's goal is obvious.  He desires to destroy our faith in God and leave us wounded and bleeding in the gutter!  However, God has a different goal in mind.   James 1:2 says,

"Consider it all joy ... when you encounter various trials know that the testing of your faith produces endurance. And let endurance have its perfect result that you may be perfect, complete and lacking in nothing."

Did you catch that?  The trials, the difficulties and, yes. even spiritual warfare is designed by God to test our faith in order to make it stronger and make us complete with nothing lacking.  Now that's truly amazing? While Satan wants to destroy our faith, God intends to use what Satan does to make our faith in Christ even stronger.

From the story of Job and Peter there are a three encouraging truths about spiritual warfare we need to understand:  

• First, when Satan attacks us he first has to get permission from God to do so.  Satan can't attack us any time he desires.  He is never going to pull a fast one on God where he sneaks in an attack that God didn't know was coming.  In the story of Job we first see Satan coming before God seeking permission from Him to attack Job and thereby prove that Job's faith in God was weak.  It was only after God gave permission that Satan went out and attacked Job.  The same was true of Peter!  On the night that Jesus was to be arrested Jesus told Peter that he would deny him three times.  After Peter insisted that he would never deny Christ, Jesus looked at Peter and said that Satan had demanded permission to sift him like wheat.  Once again we see that before Satan could attack he first had to get permission from God.  
• Second, once Satan receives permission he cannot do anything he wants because God also sets the conditions and limitations to what Satan is able to do.  On the first attack against Job God placed the condition that Job himself could not be touched.  So Satan went out and destroyed all his wealth and had all his children were killed.  For the second attack God said that yes he could attack Job physically but could not kill him. Here we learn that when it comes to spiritual warfare Satan has to work within the boundaries that God has established.
• Thirdly, in the story of Peter when Jesus tells him that Satan has asked permission to sift him like wheat we also hear Jesus tell him, "But I have prayed for you..."   The Bible tells us in the book of Hebrews that the resurrected Christ is now standing before God our Father as our High Priest always making intercession on our behalf.  Now that's a powerful thought.  The Son of God himself is constantly praying on our behalf during our greatest times of spiritual testing and warfare.  NOW THAT'S THE GREATEST PRAYER WARRIOR EVER FIGHTING FOR US!

NOW THAT WE KNOW THAT THIS MISSIONAL LIFE WE ARE CALLED TO IS NOT A PICNIC BUT A RAGING BATTLE HOW ARE WE TO LIVE?

First, every morning we you get up to start your day remember that you are going out to war.  It's not a picnic, it's not a party, no, it's a battle!  Therefore, suit up!  Put on the full armor of God!  Don't forget any piece but pray it fully on so that you are fully protected from Satan when he attacks. And rest assured he will attack.  He is looking for a weak spot, a vulnerable place or a chink in your armor.  If you are not careful to put on the full armor he will find that weak spot. So don't make it easy for him by failing to spend time in prayer before you start your day.

Second, throughout the day keep watching and praying.  Just as a soldier out on patrol walking through a potential battlefield is staying watchful for any sign of the enemy, so you must be watchful for any sign that Satan is around.  Satan, like a lion, is hiding and blending into the surroundings waiting for the most opportune time to pounce on his prey.   The soldiers who aren't watchful make it easy.  But do not only be watchful but also be praying.  From where does our strength and power come to defeat our enemy?  From ourselves?  No! It comes from God.  Quite literally it is God who fights our battle but He does it through us.  Prayer is the conduit from which the power flows from the throne of God into our lives to defeat our enemies.  A Christian who fails to pray continuously is like a soldier who has gone out to battle and has forgotten to bring his weapon.    

According to Jesus failing to watch and pray is the exact reason why Peter lost his spiritual battle on the night that Jesus was arrested.  In the garden Jesus had instructed Peter, James, and John to pray but then Jesus returned He did not find them praying but sleeping.  He woke them and admonished them all but named Peter specifically to: 

"keep watching and praying that you might not fall into temptation..." 

And we know the next part of the story. They still were unable to stay awake and the result was the loss of a spiritual battle for them and in particular Peter.

Third, you need to stand and resist!  The armies of old when they would fight with swords and shields would form a battle line where the soldiers would stand shoulder to shoulder with their shields forming one solid and hopefully impenetrable wall.  The opposing army would run and charge them ramming into their shields hoping to create a break into the wall.  The soldiers that formed the wall would stand firm and hold up their shields to buffet the assault and try very hard not to break the line thereby allowing a crack to form in the wall.  These soldiers would continue to hold up their shields between them and their enemy until the initial push was stopped.  Once they were able to withstand the initial assault and stop the push the soldiers would push back against their charging enemy with their shields creating a small little space between them and their enemy. They then would take their swords or spears and stab and kill the enemy that was right in front of them and then go back and form their wall of protection.  Over and over again they would do this until the charging army suffered such losses that they would retreat like a dogs with their tails between their legs. 

This is what is meant when the Bible tells us to STAND and RESIST!  We stand with our shield of faith in the Lord Jesus protecting us when we see our enemy, Satan, charging with an attack.  Once we have buffeted Satan's initial charge with our shield  and stopped him in his tracks, we take our weapon, the Sword of the Spirit, the Word of Truth and we stab him with it.  Our faith in Jesus stops Satan but it is our use of the Bible and scripture that allows us to fight back.  That's exactly what Jesus did when he was tempted by Satan in the wilderness after fasting for 40 days.  He used the Word of God as a weapon to fight off Satan's attack against him.  

Now here's a wonderful promise that the Bibe gives us!  It says that if we resist the devil he will flee from us.  That's right, you stand with your faith in Christ and you resist him by fighting back with the Word of God Satan will run away.  Once he figures out that there is no way to crack your defense and fight off your attack on him he will run off but only for a while.   Isn't that what he did with Job! After Job successfully fought off the first attack Satan asked permission a second time to have a whack at him. 

Now please understand that the Bible says that if we resist Satan he will flee from us.   BUT IT DOESN'T SAY TO RESIST TEMPTATION!  Those are two totally different things. The Bible tells us that when it comes to temptation we are to flee and run from it.  The best way to overcome temptation is to get away from it and put your focus on something totally different and wholesome.

SO HERE IS THE FINAL THOUGHT I WANT TO LEAVE WITH YOU.  THE MISSIONAL LIFE IS NOT A PICNIC OR PARTY IT'S A BATTLE WITH A REAL ENEMY THAT REQUIRES US TO BE PREPARED TO ENGAGE HIM WHEN HE ATTACKS.  

How well do you prepare yourself each day for battle?  Are you making sure you are putting on the full armor of God? Are you watching and praying? Are you ready to stand and resist?  The promise of victory is ours for the battle always belongs to the Lord.  

An Essential Key To Unlocking A Church Planting Movement in North America

In searching for the keys to unlocking a Church Planting Movement here in North America I believe that the Lord has shown me at least one of those keys. While looking at scripture, especially the book of Acts, and at church history, especially my own denomination the Southern Baptist Convention, and in the contemporary Church Planting Movement happening all over the planet again and again I notice an important key to seeing the Kingdom of God spread and new churches rapidly being started and established. This IMPORTANT KEY is ordinary followers of Christ being raised up, trained up and unleash to establish new communities of faith (i.e. churches).

Not the paid professionals, not the highly educated, not those who have the religious pedigree but ordinary, common, and many times over looked, people who love Jesus with all their heart, mind, soul and strength. In the book of Acts we do see the Apostles starting churches. That's what Paul did. But the Apostles didn't start nearly the number of churches that were established in those early years. For instance, who started the church in Damascus? It wasn't Paul because he wasn't even a believer yet but would come into a living encounter with Christ on the road leading to Damascus that would transform him from a Christian killer to fully devoted follower of Christ. It wasn't the other apostles. The scripture tells us that when the persecution started the apostles stayed in Jerusalem. So who started that church? I think it is pretty clear that it was those disciples who fled Jerusalem because of the persecution to Damascus and as they came they bore witness to Christ's death, burial and resurrection and to as many as believed those ordinary followers of Christ taught them what they had learned from the apostles while in Jerusalem. Again, let's consider the church in Rome. Who started it? Again, not Paul. When Paul writes the Roman letter he makes it clear that even though he has not yet come to them it has been his desire to come to them share with them his gift. So who started it? We don't know for sure. Quite possibly it was some people who were in Jerusalem on the day of Pentecost when Peter preached and 3,000 people were baptized. Having received salvation and basic instruction in the faith from the apostles they then returned home and shared with others in Rome. Here's what is clear. Most of the church plants were started not from the professionals but by the ordinary followers of Christ.

In my own denomination Southern Baptist experienced its greatest growth as farmers and ranchers began to move out west to start a new life. As these ordinary people, who were also devout followers of Christ, moved out west they were confronted with a stark reality. That reality was that there were no Baptist churches out west. One of the long time flagship churches among Southern Baptist has been First Baptist Church of Dallas Texas and according to Wikipedia,

"Dallas was a wild and reckless frontier town in the 1800s; no Baptist church existed in downtown because they were repeatedly being run out of town. When W.L. Williams and his wife, Lucinda, moved to Dallas and
saw no Baptist church, they were moved with determination and a call
from God. Along with nine others, they met in the Masonic Lodge at
Lamar and Ross on July 30, 1868, and First Baptist Dallas was born."

Notice that it was a husband and wife, ordinary folks who loved Jesus, that started what later became a highly influential and powerful church for God's kingdom. All over the Southern Baptist Convention, during that time, churches were established by farmers, ranchers, and other ordinary, non-seminary trained folks who felt what W.L. and Lucinda felt, a call from God and determination to start a new church. They knew the Lord through saving grace, they had read, studied and meditated on the Bible and could share what they learned with others who didn't know as much.

In our contemporary age there is a church planting movement happening all over the world, accept North America. As missionaries and missiologist have studied these rapidly reproducing churches one common factor keeps coming up again and again and that is it is fueled and driven by non-professional followers of Christ. Ordinary people who have a personal relationship with Christ determined and called by God to reach new people and gather them into newly formed communities of faith (churches) are the ones driving these movements all over the world.

So what does this teach us about one of the essential keys to experiencing a Church Planting Movement here in North America? Just this: OUR FOCUS MUST BE IN RAISING UP, TRAINING UP AND UNLEASHING ORDINARY FOLLOWERS OF CHRIST INTO THE CHURCH PLANTING FIELDS.

While I do believe there is a place for those who are in professional vocational ministry I do not believe raising them up should be anywhere close to our primary focus. Our attention, focus and emphasis in training church planters should be on those ordinary believers who will work at a secular job during the day and go and work the church planting field at night. Our discipleship process should focus on moving people from being SEEKERS to FULLY DEVOTED FOLLOWERS OF CHRIST WHO START NEW CHURCHES. Everyone member a missionary who starts churches should be our theme. Methods for training in Church Planting should be developed with the non-professional church planter in mind.

Now while some of these ordinary and non-professional church planters maybe sitting in some of our pews today I would venture to say that most will come out of the harvest. Why? Why won't most of the church members sitting in our pews heed the call to become church planters? Simple because that is not what they bought into. This way of Christian living is so far off their radar that most will not be able to tune into the right frequency to make it become a reality. However, I pray that I am wrong about this but I don't believe I am to far off from the truth.

Attention all Pastors, Directors of Mission, Denominational Leaders and Church Planting Strategists it is time for us to put our full attention and devotion into:

RAISING UP, TRAINING UP AND UNLEASHING ORDINARY FOLLOWERS OF CHRIST AS
CHURCH PLANTERS!

Stop making it small side issue! Start making it the major issue and emphasis.

A Lack of Resources For A Church Planting Movement In North America

Peter Wagner in his book CHURCH PLANTING FOR A GREATER HARVEST said that Church Planting is the single best evangelism strategy available to us. More people come to faith in Christ and grow in their faith through the planting of new churches than any other means. Armed with that information denominations and churches have made an intentional priority for new churches to get started. The North American church has become very sophisticated and professional in their church planting endeavors. Seminaries offer not only church planting classes but majors in church planting. Denominations require church planting assessments before potential church planters can be funded. Denominational leaders require church planters to attend church planting camps and/or training seminars to make sure that their is a viable strategy in place. With all this sophistication one would think that North America would be in the middle of one of the fastest growing church planting movements in the world. However, that is just not the case. Instead of a church planting movement that is over taking the general population of North America the North American church is in decline with the largest growing religious identification group being: 'NO RELIGIOUS PREFERENCE AT ALL". While the Christian church has declined the No Religious Preference Group has nearly doubled. Why? Why hasn't a CPM taken place in North America?

The answer to that question is simply this: THERE IS NOT ENOUGH RESOURCES TO START THE KIND OF CHURCH WE'VE BEEN TRYING TO START over the past 30 years. There's not enough FINANCIAL RESOURCES and not enough PERSONNEL RESOURCES. The kind of churches we've been trying to start with a full time paid pastor, in many cases staff, buildings, worship equipment, Bible study material etc... cost a whole lot of money. As a matter of fact it cost more money than we have available if we are to start the number of churches needed to impact North America. THERE'S JUST NOT ENOUGH MONEY!!

The second resource that we don't have enough of is PERSONNEL. To start the kind of churches we've been trying to start requires leadership that is skilled in administration, counseling, business, personnel and the list goes on. I jokingly but also seriously say, "That in order to be a church planter in North America you better have a Masters in Business Administration." And actually that's not very far from reality. But the sad part is that there's not enough people with that skill set to be church planters for us to start the number of churches needed in North America.

So what's the solution? The solution is to stop putting such an emphasis on starting Corporate Style Churches and start putting the major emphasis on RAISING UP, TRAINING UP and UNLEASHING ORDINARY PEOPLE AS CHURCH PLANTERS. North America is sick and tired of Organized Religion! Instead of these Corporate Churches with their big financial budgets and CEO leaders we need to start churches that resemble more of a family unit and led by spiritual parents. This kind of church won't don't cost much at all to start. There would be no need to pay salaries the church planters would have secular jobs and the money that is brought in can be used for evangelism and ministry. A few of these ordinary people may be sitting in the pews of our churches but most of them will be raised up from the harvest.

If the North American Church is going to be serious about reaching our mission field and seeing a church planting movement then we must become serious about developing this new church structure and using all of the people of God to start them.