CAN SOCIAL MEDIA BE USED TO HELP IGNITE CHURCH PLANTING MOVEMENTS IN NORTH AMERICA?

Now that's an interesting question?

CAN SOCIAL MEDIA BE USED TO HELP IGNITE 

CHURCH PLANTING MOVEMENTS IN NORTH AMERICA?

Now I'm sure there is more than one person who's reading this post and not really appreciating it to much!  For many the whole information revolution, the digital communication and "yes" the social media invasion seems to have gotten way out hand and created a slew of problems that are haunting our American society!

And I Would Wholeheartedly Agree That There Is A 

Whole Lot Of Evil That Has Come From Social Media.

After all who really wants to hear about every little thing that is happening in a person life?  I mean do we really want to hear that a person has just stepped outside to watch the daisies grow?  Who really cares if Billy Bob has just left the office early for the third time this week with the same unknown strange woman?  So yes I would agree that Facebook, Twitter and other social medias have become the playground for voyeurs to get their jollies. And yes more than one marriage has broken up because someone has reestablished a connection with a old high school sweetheart.  But with all that being true can social media be a tool to help ignite the church planting movements we so desperately need to experience from God here in North America?

And I would have to say

"YES"

The reason why social media has the ability to be used to propigate such evil in the lives of people is because it has the power to mold, shape and influence people's thoughts, ideas and emotions.  The constant bombardment of images, quotes, values and philosophies begin to transform a persons world view.  When a persons conception about life, family or anything is challenged over and over again people begin to question if what they have always believe is true or not.  In other words social media is a tool that has been used to shape the ideas and values of large groups of people which in turn has brought about behavioral change.

NOW THAT'S POWERFUL!

And that's exactly what needs to happen among the pastors and ordinary christians of North America if Church Planting Movements  are going to ignite!  Pastors and ordinary Christians alike need to have a reshaping of the ideas and values of what church is, how churches are started and who's qualified to start churches.  For the most part both Christians and pastor conceptually think that church is a building located at a certain place, that churches are started by professional and ordained clergy and requires lots of money, staff and people to start one.  But as we look at the Church Planting Movements that are happening around the globe and the people who are being used to make them happen we see a totally different idea and values.  Where CPM's are happening around the world the pastors and christians see the church as the people - not a building; they see ordinary Christians starting the churches - not ordained paid professionals; and they see these new churches being started with very little if any money, staff or people.

So what does this tell us?  What it tells me is that before North America will experience CPM's like that of the rest of the world there needs to be a reshaping of our idea's, concepts, and values in some vital components of Church Planting Movements.  Before we will see CPM's happen the ordinary christian has to believe that they can and should start rapidly reproducing churches; pastors need to see that their primary role is to raise up, train up and unleash their membership to start these rapidly reproducing churches; and denominational leaders, pastor and christian alike need to let go of the importance of having a building in order for a church to be authentic and legitimate and that a building is actually a hinderance to CPM's.

AND THAT'S WHERE THE TOOL OF SOCIAL MEDIA 

BECOMES EXTREMELY USEFUL!

Never before in the history of the world has one person (any person) had the powerful potential of impacting and reshaping the idea's and values of the entire world.  Through social media (Facebook, Twitter, Youtube, Blogs, Interactive Web-sites, Linkedin, Pinterest, etc...) one person can literally impact thousands if not 10's of thousands of Christians and pastors on a daily basis sharing what God is doing through Church Planting Movements and how He is doing it and thereby reshape their values and idea's so they can join God in His activity.

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Let me give you an example of what I mean by showing you what I'm doing with social media.  Understand I am not an expert on this but I truly see the value in it for CPM's igniting in N. America so I have become a learner and practitioner of it. There's a whole lot more for me to learn but here is what I'm doing thus far:

• On Facebook I have 2,506 friends who potentially can see my multiple posts each day.  I don't know personally most of these people but we have connected because of some common interest and for many it is our love for the Lord.
• On Linkedin I have 1827 connections
• On Twitter I have 479 people following me.
• I have just started on Pinterest and only have about 30 followers.
• I have a blog I post on regularly called Missional Meditations that have about 100 people who follow it in one way or another.  Many of my posts have had over 300 people read them from all over the world.
• I have created two Facebook Pages one for encouraging people to join God in his activity for a CPM in N. America and the other one to empower, encourage and equip Ordinary Christians to live an intentional missional life for Christ. One of them has 262 "LIKES" and the other one has 458 "LIKES".  You can check them out at:

THE ORDINARY CHRISTIAN

A NORTH AMERICAN CHURCH PLANTING MOVEMENT INITIATIVE

Never before in over 25 years of full time ministry have I had such influence over so many people living in so many different places as I have had since making social media a major tool in my tool box.  Since I've started using all these different social media, to one degree or another, I now have been able to help both pastors and ordinary christians, I have been able to influence people who live in countries all over the world.  Here's list of some of the countries where my message has been heard via social media:  (United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Germany, India, Kenya, Russia, Mexico, Israel, Indonesia, Australia and Ukraine).  

So what's the point I'm trying to make through this post?  Is it to brag?  

NO! 

It Is Simply this:

If you are a person who is passionately involved in seeing CPM's ignite in N. America then as part of your work you need to develop a comprehensive social media presences where you can participate in chipping away and reshaping the idea's and beliefs of both Christians and pastors that Church Planting Movements are God's activity and will and what needs to be done in order for them to ignite.  This is a tool you cannot ignore if you are serious about wanting to reshape the values and ideas of the Christian culture of N. America.

Here's a like that might help you in the process of learning about it:  Christian Marketing Institute

If you would like to see what you can do with a blog feel free to read the one I write at:  

missional meditations

I pray that God will use you to help reshape the Christian Culture of N. America that will become fertile ground for experiencing CPM's.

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A NEW TESTAMENT STRATEGY FOR IGNITING A CHURCH PLANTING MOVEMENT: Part 2: John Wesley's Version

In my last post, A New Testament Strategy For Igniting A Church Planting Move, I shared 3 invitations that Jesus and His disciples offered to people that continually moved them into an ever increasing deeper commitment to Christ and the missional movement that He was establishing.  While these three invitations may not be able to explain in totality the strategy that Jesus used to ignite a movement I do believe they offer three important components to it and if we are going to experience church a planting movement in North America we will need to find a way to adapt them into our context.  Those three invitations were: COME AND SEE; COME AND FOLLOW; and COME AND BE WITH ME.  The Come And See was an invitation to experience the power, presence and message of Christ personally (many times in a large group setting but not always); the Come And Follow was a commitment to learn to of Christ, His way of life and His world view (this often happened in smaller groups. If they had not earlier and the come and see event they would come to personal faith in Christ.  These were called his disciples); and finally the The Come And Be With Me was an invitation to a very few of those disciples whom Christ would train to do what He did and thereby multiply the movement (this was a very small band 12 leaders in training whom he called Apostles as opposed to just disciples).

But was this missional movement (Church Planting Movement) reproducible?  Could it be transferred from culture to culture and from one point in history to a different time in history? Were these principles  (3 invitations) at play in different movements of God in history?  Now please understand it is not my intent to do an exhaustive historical or cultural research to answer these questions! This will only be a very general and surface observation to see if there are indications that this strategy has been at work in different movement of God.  I will leave the more exhaustive research of this subject to those who are both more qualified and enjoy that kind of intellectual rigor.  So in this post we are going to look at the missional movement of the Methodist and see if these 3 INVITATIONS were at play with what God did through John Wesley.


When I look at the early Methodist's and the strategy that John Wesley implemented three important activities stand out that enabled a strong ministry to be turned it into a powerful movement that swept England and America.  These three activities were:

• OPEN AIR PREACHING:  At first John Wesley didn't like the idea open air preaching where one shared the gospel outside of a church building where ordinary people gathered.  But it was his friend George Whitfield that helped him not only overcome this conception but also help see the value in it so that he could wholeheartedly embrace it.  It is said that John had rode over 250,000 miles on horseback to preach at these open air meetings, preached over 40,000 sermons and it is estimated that tens of thousands of people would show up to a single meeting.  His primary style of preaching at these open air meetings was evangelistic where he would introduce the ordinary person to the power and presence of Christ that could save their soul.  But these, many times,  large evangelistic meetings was only the starting point of his strategy.  Wesley felt that leaving a newly converted person to their own devices without training them in righteous living was an ungodly thing to do.  This conviction was what led him to the second activity that characterized his strategy.
• CLASS MEETINGS:  When people made a decision at the open air preaching he would then quickly gather them into small groups called CLASS MEETINGS.  These groups were to help people grow in their spiritual faith through discipleship and accountability.  They met at least weekly; started the meeting with singing and praying; a time of confession of sin to one another would follow; then they would examine each other through probing questions of their spiritual condition.  They would also, as part of their regular meetins, review study material that John Wesley had written to help them grow in their knowledge and understanding of God, scripture and spiritual growth.  As vital and important that these first two activities were it wasn't until Wesley initiated the third activity that his powerful ministry became an explosive movement of God that would spread through England and North America.
• ITINERANT HORSEBACK PREACHERS:  Because of the vastness of the needed work yet to be done and because of the reluctance of the theologically trained pastors and preachers John began to develop and train scores of lay preachers to go preach the gospel to those who would never enter a church building.  They would follow his example of preaching at open air meetings and riding on horseback.  John Wesley became the standard and model for all of the new open air preachers to follow.   Most of the men selected to be the  preachers were ordinary men with no special theological training, much like the description of the Apostle Peter and John when standing before the Jewish Rulers in the book of Acts.  The selection of the preachers was based more on grace than education.  Grace being that they had a powerful story (testimony) to share with the crowd of people who would gather.  These itinerant preachers were sent all over England and especially into the expanding westward America.  Like Wesley these lay preachers would form the new converts into CLASS MEETINGS that would allow for their spiritual formation to develop.  They would continue the practice passing out religious material that was produced by the Wesley's to help them grow during the weeks that the circuit rider was in other area's.  And it was out of these Class Meetings that new potential lay pastors/circuit riders were identified, trained and mentored by a more experienced circuit rider and eventually unleashed to go into his own new and expanding territory.  And thus the movement continued to expand and explode.  

These 3 activities that John Wesley created were his version of the New Testament Strategy For Igniting a Church Planting Movement.  The Open Air Preaching was his adaptation of a 

COME AND SEE EVENT; the Class Meetings was his style of the 

COME AND FOLLOW GROUPS; and his Circuit Riders were his version of 

COME AND BE WITH ME LEADERSHIP.  

Just like Jesus in his New Testament Strategy John Wesley used the same approached of sifting through the masses of people and inviting them into a deeper commitment to Christ and spiritual growth culminating with the raising up, training up and unleashing of new apostolic itinerant preachers who would take the message and the strategy to new area's that still needed to be reached or revived and thus exploding it into a movement

So again I ask: What would a 21st Century North American Adaptation of the New Testament strategy for igniting a church planting movement look like?  What would the Come And See Events look like where the gospel can be presented to a group (large or small) to interested seekers?  What would a Come and Follow Group look like where accountability and spiritual disciplines are being instilled in the lives of the new believers?  And what would the training of new apostolic leadership of ordinary Christians that form the Come and Be With Me look like in a North American context?

ARE YOU INTERESTED IN BEING PART OF GOD'S ACTIVITY IN BRING A CHURCH PLANTING MOVEMENT TO NORTH AMERICA?  Then I invite to join in with the discussion and preparation by become a fan of the Facebook Page A North American Church Planting Movement Initiative.  We need to pray, seek God's wisdom and experiment.  Join the fun.

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A NEW TESTAMENT STRATEGY FOR IGNITING A CHURCH PLANTING MOVEMENT

I have been kicking around this idea about a strategy for igniting a Church Planting Movements/Disciple Making Movements. It's not new to me and others have discussed it in terms of how Christ made disciples. I'm just applying it to CPM's/DMM's. I would love to hear your thoughts on it.

In the 4 Gospels we see three different invitations that Christ and his disciples extended to people depending upon their level of commitment.

The First Invitation: COME & SEE: This was an invitation for people to come see and experience the power, presence and message of Christ. Sometime these turned out to be a large gathering of people but only lasted a day or two. As ordinary people came they got to meet Jesus, hear his teaching on the Kingdom of God, experience his power when he performed miracles and healings and they would receive an invitation to join him in a deeper committed which was the second Invitation.  The goal of this event was to discover the Person of Peace who would open their home that would form the beach head for the new movement and to find those who were prepared to follow Jesus and become His disciples.

The Second Invitation: COME & FOLLOW: These were people who were willing to leave everything to come and follow Christ. They considered the cost of discipleship and made a decision to be Christ's disciples. As they did Jesus taught them how to become spiritually mature through laying a strong foundation of himself/Christ and his teaching, about living in the Spirit, how to relate to one another, spiritual warfare and pursuing His mission. As he watched and prayed he then would extend a third invitation to some of those the Father identified.  The goal of this following was to establish his follower to be strong in their faith and to identify those who would form the apostolic leadership from which the movement would gain momentum.  

The Third Invitation: COME & BE WITH ME. The few that Jesus identified through prayer He made them to be His apostles. He would teach them to do what he did and implement the same pattern (come and see, come and follow and come and be with me). They would watch Jesus do it, they would practice it under His supervision and he would them unleash them to go do it themselves in teams. As they did the work they then would gather those who were identified from the Come and Be With Me to be the second generation of apostolic leadership and then repeat the process. This time not with just twelve but with seventy-two.  It is here with this third group THE COME & BE WITH ME that we see the rapidly reproduction begin to happen. They were the apostolic leadership that would leave to go to other unreached groups to share the gospel. 

As the process was repeated over and over again more disciples increased and more apostolic leadership were developed thereby increasing the momentum of the movement. It is important to note that this strategy was used to raise up, train up and unleash ordinary christians, people, to create this church planting movement.  The church planting was done by ordinary christians who had no special training.  These regular guys were used by God to do some pretty extraordinary and amazing things. These ordinary christians or regular guys were the one's that God used to be His missionaries!

So here are some question for us to consider:

• What if we were to follow the same pattern? 
• What would it look like in N. America? 
• What would COME & SEE EVENT look like? 
• What would a COME & FOLLOW GROUP look like? And what would a COME & BE WITH ME TRAINING look like? 

Share your thoughts in the comments space Let's brainstorm and begin to experiment and see what God does.

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EMPOWERED TO DO CHRIST'S MISSION: Part 2: Representing The One Who Has Authority

In giving us the mission to go make disciples Jesus wanted us to know that he has the authority to issue it.  Notice how The Great Commission in Matthew 28:18-20 starts off. Jesus speaking says,

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

How much authority does Jesus say he has?  Does he have only some authority or does he have most of the authority?  

No, Jesus said he had 

"ALL AUTHORITY" 

And where exactly does he have this authority?  Is it just in heaven? Is it just on earth? 

Again, it's a 

"No"  

Jesus not only has all authority but he has all authority in both heaven and on earth.  It would be one thing if Jesus' authority was only in heaven where the angels had to obey but not on earth.  I mean there are people from other countries where they have a tremendous amount of authority in that country but now live here in the United States and just because they have lots of authority back home in their home country doesn't mean they have any authority here in United States.  Just because the Prime Minister of England, while visiting here in America, tells me to do something doesn't mean I have to do it.  Why because his authority does not extend over the citizens of the United States.  So if Jesus' authority was exclusive to heaven that would not mean he had the right or authority to tell us to do anything here on earth.  

But notice the Great Commission does say that Jesus' authority does extend to both heaven and earth.  All things are under his authority and his control.   I love the way the Apostle Paul states it in Colossians 1:16-18,

For by him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by him and for him. He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. And he is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy. (NIV)

All thing were created by Jesus, for Jesus, and are held together by Jesus.  And why?  So that Jesus would have supremacy over all things.  In other words what Jesus is saying is that we should listen up because what he is about to command us to do he has the right and authority to command it.  It is as if he is saying to all of us who follow him that what he's about to say is not an option, it's not a suggestion but it's a command that most be obeyed! 

It Is Jesus' Authority

That Empowers Us!

Because Jesus who is the King of kings and the Lord of lords has given us this mission we are thereby empowered to do that mission.  No one has the authority to tell us to stop doing it because the one with all authority has already commanded us to do it.

• We need not ask person permission from any person if we can share Christ because the one who has all the authority has already commanded us to do it.  
• We need not pray and ask God if we should witness or make him disciples for he has already, with his last recorded words, said to go make him more disciples.  
• Because Christ has all authority and commanded us to go make him more disciples we can pray with confidence that he would lead us to those whom the Father has been preparing to believe.

Our empowerment to do this work comes straight from the one who has all authority and who has commanded us to do it.  

So when people begin to question you on who gives you the right to share your faith about Jesus you can take confidence and say boldly that your right comes from the one who has all authority and he commanded you to do it!

SO BE EMPOWERED AND GO MAKE JESUS MORE DISCIPLES

YOU GO WITH THE AUTHORITY OF CHRIST BACKING YOU!

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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THE ORDINARY CHRISTIAN'S GUIDE TO CHURCH PLANTING: It's Time To Throw A Party, Step 6

We are now at step six in this blog series and this is where the rubber hits the road and where you will quickly move toward the starting of a church!  So what exactly do you do?  Up until now you have been planning and preparing.  It's been all about you and making sure you are ready to launch a new church.  Now the emphasis changes from being about you to being about others.  Now is time to start gathering people together for a common purpose that will eventually form into being a church.  Now its time to plant the seeds (people) that will take root, grow and become the church you have been praying for.  

So what do you do? How do you begin the process of gathering people that will become a new, vibrant and reproducing church?  

YOU ARE GOING TO THROW A PARTY!  

Yes, that's right I said: Throw A Party!  You may be wondering how in the world does throwing a party help launch a new church?  You may have been thinking that you needed to start with an in depth Bible Study or host some intensive Spirit filled prayer meeting.  And by the way those are good things, but when it comes to starting a church that intentionally reaches the unsaved or backslidden Christians the place to start is by throwing a party!

As one does a survey of the New Testament Gospel and the life and ministry of Jesus a very common theme keeps reoccuring.  It seems to be a very common practice of  Jesus that when he enter a new town or village due to His growing popularity that someone in that town would invite him over for a dinner party.  The truth of matter is that Jesus was very popular and was invited to lots of parties, weddings,  banquets, and receptions.  He was definitely the Who's Who among the young and upcoming Rabinical teachers and as such people felt it was good for their social standing to have Jesus as an honored guest in their home.

We need to remember that during Jesus' time and in the villages he visited there was not a whole lot of entertainment going on for the people.  For the most part the daily life of people during that time never really changed.  They would get up in the morning, eat breakfast, go bust their butts at whatever job they had, come home, eat dinner, go to bed and wake up again the next morning.  They didn't have movie theaters, theme parks, fine dinning or anything else that most of in the 21st Century use for entertainment.  So when a person of growing popularity would enter a village that was a very special treat for that community and most everyone would get involved.  Let's take a look at a particular time when Jesus invited man to come follow him and how this man responded.  It's found in Luke 5:27-32:

"After this, Jesus went out and saw a tax collector by the name of Levi sitting at his tax booth. 'Follow me,' Jesus said to him, and Levi got up, left everything and followed him. Then Levi held a great banquet for Jesus at his house, and a large crowd of tax collectors and others were eating with them.  But the Pharisees and the teachers of the law who belonged to their sect complained to his disciples, “Why do you eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners?” Jesus answered them, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.” (NIV)

This is the story of Jesus calling Matthew the tax collector, also known as Levi, to come and follow him as one of his disciples.  From this story we can learn a couple of really important things:

First, we see that when Jesus invited Matthew to join him he immediately responded and left everything to follow Christ.  God had so prepared Matthew's heart that when the opportunity to join Christ presented itself there was no hesitation on Matthews part. He immediately responded and left everything to join Christ.  This was no small sacrifice.  Matthew was a tax collector and as such was part of the higher income group of the community.  Because of his profession he was not very popular among the rest of the community. He was a Jew but worked for the Romans and as was the common practice among the tax collectors robbed the people by taking more taxes from them than they owed and pocked. In other words they sole from the people.  But now Jesus was giving Matthew a chance to change his entire life.  Matthew is now invited to become one of the disciples of one of the most popular new rabi's.  And he left everything to join Jesus!

Second, we see that after Matthew agreed to joined Jesus he immediately threw a party in honor of Christ and invited all of his friends to be guests.  Now we need to understand that Matthew's guest list was not all of the well respected people in the community because Matthew had no friends that were well respected. His relationship with the well respected people in the community consisted of gathering their taxes and probably over charging them.  Even if he had invited them they probably wouldn't have accepted out of fear of becoming a social outcast.  So who were Jesus' friends?  They were other tax collectors and those that would associate with tax collectors, sinners. His guest list consisted of the social and religious outcasts, the people that no one else would want to associate with.  Now here's the great part! 

JESUS ACCEPTED THE INVITATION TO COME TO A 

PARTY FILLED WITH SINNERS!

Jesus didn't only accept the invitation he wholeheartedly embraced it.  Jesus wasn't a reluctant attender but he was thrilled to have such a wonderful opportunity to hangout with these people.  Why?  Why would Jesus be so excited to rub elbows and party with a bunch of sinners?  Well that's the same question that some of the Pharisees asked and complained about to Jesus's disciples.  I love the response Jesus gives them and its something that we should all consistently remind ourselves as we come to start a new church.  Jesus said: 

"It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.”

Why did Jesus enthusiascially accept Matthew invitation to be the honored guest at a part filled with sinners?  

BECAUSE THEY WERE JESUS'S TARGET GROUP

They were the reason why he came!  They were the central objective for his mission on earth.  Jesus explained it a little differently when he went to the home of another tax collector by the name of Zacchaeus. He told him  that He had come to seek and to save that which was lost.  

Jesus' mission was to come for people who knew they were sinners and desperately wanted to be freed from that life.  

Matthew was such a person and many of Matthews friends were those kinds of people.  Unfortuantly the Pharisee that came to check out Matthew's party wasn't one who recognized his own sin and thereby wasn't desperate for forgiveness. 

Now I think it's important to note that Jesus' mission wasn't  just to hangout and party with a bunch of sinners.  Please don't make that the lesson you learn from this.  Jesus said he had come to call sinners to repentance.  There was a redemptive purpose behind Jesus' intent for attending that party.  He came to call Matthew's friends to repentance and thereby be saved from their sin!  

I also believe that was Matthew's intent as well!  Matthew had just experience Christ himself, his call to follow and Christ's forgiveness. So now Matthew is wanting to introduce his friends to this same Jesus so they can receive what he got also.

So again I say that the next step in starting a rapidly reproducing church is to throw a party - A MATTHEW PARTY - and invite all your family, friends, neighbors and co-workers who are either unsaved or very backslidden Christian so they can experience Jesus and repent.  In step five you started to put a list of  people together and you have started praying for them, now its time to invite them over for a party where they can begin to meet Jesus.

Some of you might be thinking that it was easier for Matthew to throw this kind of party because he had Jesus there for the people to meet.  Here's my response to that:

SO DO YOU!

Jesus said  that where two or three are gathered in his name there he would be in the midst of them.  When you and your church planting partner throw this party with the intent to introduce your prospects to Jesus, Jesus himself is there through the enacting work of the Holy Spirit.  As a matter of fact it is Jesus who is doing the work, it is Jesus who is introducing himself to your friends and Jesus who is creating within your friends a prepared heart.

So what do you do at one of these parties?  Well, that depends on you!  How would you normally throw a party? What kind of things would you do at a party? Would there normally be music? What style of music? Would you serve food? Would you play games?  I can't tell you how to throw a party for your friends!  You know what kind things you would normally do at one of your parties.  That's for you to decide based upon your culture and likes. I am quite sure that Matthew's party included all of the things that he would have normally done when he threw a party.  There was probably music, dancing, food and talking and in this case listening to Jesus as he talked and taught.  So you need to throw a party that would be culturally acceptable and normal for you and your friends.

However, I can give you some basic guidelines that will help you in the planning process:

1. Make sure it includes the things that would be culturally acceptable for you and your friends.
2. Make sure there's nothing illegal, immoral, unethical or sinful.  (No strip dancers, no illegal drugs etc..)
3. Make sure that you introduce Jesus at the party and give your guest an invitation to join you and your partner in a study to learn more about Him.

Let me talk a little bit more about this third point.  Your primary objective in throwing this party is not to just have fun but to introduce Jesus to your guests and to invite them to join you in a 7 week study on Jesus. The introduction of Jesus to your guests is the objective for your party.  So how to communicate that to your guests needs to be a well thought out part of your party.  Their are three parts of your party you need to consider when planning it:

 THE INVITATION STAGE:   We are not trying to pull a fast one on our friends by inviting them to a party and then blindside them with talking about Jesus.  I am very sure that Matthew made it very clear when he threw the party that his invitation was for his guest to come and meet Jesus.  Matthew's guests knew when they came what they were getting into and could decide based upon accurate information whether they wanted to attend or not.  We need to do the same for our friends also.  So as you are designing your invitation to send out to your potential guests you need to think through how to clearly and accurately invite people to come and hear about Jesus in a way that is intriguing.

THE PARTY ITSELF:  So now you're at the party and all your friends have shown up how do you share Jesus at this party that is natural, compelling and intriguing?  Along with the music, food and games you might be doing at the party you also need to make the sharing of Jesus a major part of the party.  How do you do that?  Let me give a few suggestions to help you think through it.  Three parts to consider:

• AS PEOPLE ARE ARRIVING: Plan out what you are going to be doing while people are arriving.  Making sure the earliest guests are not just standing around getting bord.  Are you going to be playing games or offering snacks for people to munch on while others are still arriving?  Your aim here is to keep people engaged from the moment they attend.  To introduce Jesus in this part of the party you can play a game where you have people fill out a survey on how much they actually know of Jesus' life and then offer a gift for the one who gets the most right. Make sure you know the answers to the questions and where its found in the Bible.

• DURING THE PARTY ITSELF:  Along with the games, eating and dancing that you maybe doing there needs to be a well thought out time to talk about Jesus to your guests.  Where that falls into your party depends on you but you need to clearly plan how you are going to introduce Jesus to them.  This should not be left up to chance or trying to do it by flying by the seat of your pants.  Here three suggestion:

1. Show A Movie:  You could easily invite your friends over to see a movie about Jesus like The Jesus Film or The Passion Of The Christ.  Other movies might work well also like Courageous or Facing The Giants.  Movies are a great way to engage our North American Society and get discussion started.
2. Give Your Testimony:  You can use this opportunity to share with you guest about what your life was like before you give your heart over to Jesus, who you met Jesus and what your life has been like since Jesus forgave you of your sins.
3. Share A Gospel Presentation:  A Gospel Presentation is a clear and easy explanation how a person came come and experiences Christ's forgiveness of sin personally.  There are lots of good Gospel Presentations available. A couple  for you to consider are: The Bridge Presentation or The Roman Road Presentation.

• CLOSING THE PARTY:  At the close of the party you need to offer a compelling invitation for your guest to join you for a 7 week study on Christ himself as told from the Bible.  Your guests need to know that they don't need any prior Bible knowledge or religious education and that its just an opportunity for them to find out who Jesus really is according to the Bible.  Let them know when the study is going to start along with the time and location. I feel the best time to start the study is within a week and no longer than two weeks of your party.  Personally I feel 1 week should be your goal otherwise we give Satan time to distract them.  Let them know before they leave your party that you will be calling them within a day or two to see if they would like to be part of the study.

"INVITE YOUR GUEST TO JOIN YOU IN THE 7 WEEK STUDY OF CHRIST"

Following up with phone calls is absolutely essential.  Within two days call guest and answer any questions they might have and try to secure their commitment to attend.  Now here is what's going to happen. Some of the guests  will definitely say no to participating in the study of Jesus, others will say they might but may need to take care of others things first and then a few will say, "YES" and they will be ready to learn and eventually receive Jesus.  Don't worry about the one's who say, "NO". Let them walk.  The people are wishy washy about being part of the study consider them as a "NO" also and let them walk.  Put all your time, attention and effort to the few who say "YES" and are eager to know more about Jesus.  It is these people from which the fruit will grow and from which more disciples will come.  They are the good soil that will reap a harvest of 40, 60 and 100 fold.

What if by some chance you throw your party and no one decides to be part of your study of Jesus?  Do what Jesus taught the 72 to do in Luke 10.  Shake the dust off your feet and move on to other family and friends who need to hear about Jesus and throw another Matthew Party and you keep doing this until you find those people who are ready to get to know Jesus.

Home Work:

1. Set a date, time and location for you PARTY.
2. Design and mail out your party invitations in a way that will let you guests know that you will be sharing Jesus with them.
3. Plan what you will be doing at your party and specifically how you are going to introduce Jesus to them.
4. Pray for the party and those who might attend.
5. THROW THE PARTY!  Do It!!

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A NORTH AMERICAN CHURCH PLANTING MOVEMENT INITIATIVE

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