WHAT CAN A LOST LAMB TEACH US ABOUT LIVING THE MISSIONAL LIFE?

"Now the tax collectors and sinners were all gathering around to hear him (Jesus). But the Pharisees and the teachers of the law muttered, 'This man welcomes sinners and eats with them.' Luke 15:1-2 (NIV)

You can almost hear the disgust in the voices of the teachers and Pharisees. They couldn't fathom how Jesus could possibly associate with such people! They were spiritually unclean! 

THEY WERE SINNERS! 

Why in the world would Jesus ever want to be connected to these kinds of people. And it wasn't that he just associated with them. No, Jesus actually enjoyed their company.

Why would Jesus do something that was so offense to the upstanding members of the community? Didn't he realize that the religious people would be greatly offended by these associations? And if he did know - didn't he care about their thoughts and feelings? 

The answers to all these questions lie within the very reason why Jesus came to this world. It lies within the objective of the mission that Jesus was sent here to pursue and the mission that he has given us to pursue as well. 

We find the answer in a story about the lost sheep that Jesus shared. In it we find out why Jesus' approach was so radically different from that of all the other religious leaders of his day. I would even go so far as to say it is radically different from the approach that most churches in North America use today.  

I wonder? If Jesus was here in the flesh today would we be the Pharisees? Here are some lessons we learn about Christ's mission from the story of a lost sheep:

GOD'S MISSION IS ALWAYS OUTSIDE OUR RELIGIOUS BUBBLES!

"Then Jesus told them this parable: 'Suppose one of you has a hundred sheep and loses one of them. Does he not leave the ninety-nine in the open country and go after the lost sheep until 

he finds it?" (v. 3, 4 NIV)

Notice that there is a leaving that is taking place! The man has to leave the flock in order to go find the sheep that was lost. He didn't remain satisfied with a 99% success rate. This shepherd was compeled to leave the others to search for that one sheep that was missing. He didn't stay with the flock and try a bunch of methods that would entice and attract the lost sheep back into the fold.

Churches that only have "HOLY HUDDLES" and never get their people to leave and engage the community will never be able to accomplish Christ's mission. Lost people if they are going to learn and accept Jesus are going to do so because some brave followers of Christ has decided that being on mission happens outside a church building, outside their religious gatherings, and in the community where the lost people are at.

This leaving the RELIGIOUS BUBBLE is an intentional act. It is deliberate and planned act. It is intentional, deliberate and planned because the aim is to reach others who are not part of our holy huddle or any other holy huddle for that matter.

That searching for the lost just might take you to places that you never thought you would ever go:  

It might take you to the wrong side of town!  It might take you to people that you've never associated with before!  It might require you to put aside you regular scheduled activities to go help a lost person in need!

People don't just fall into doing missions, they chose to do missions.

• GOD'S TREATMENT OF SINNERS IS ONE OF TENDER LOVING CARE

"And when he finds it, he joyfully puts it on his shoulders ..." (vs. 5a)

Isn't that a beautiful picture! The shepherd finds his lost sheep and when he does he probably finds it scared, hungry, thirsty and maybe physically beaten.  And because of the shepherds compassion he tenderly and carefully picks up and lamb and places him on his shoulder to carry him back to the fold.  The one thing you don't see is the shepherd yelling or screaming at the sheep!  You don't hear the shepherd tearing down the sheep by saying, "You stupid sheep. Look how dumb you've been!" You don't see him hitting the sheep with his rod and forcing him to go walk back home! Instead you see a tenderness and a loving care for the sheep.

How sad is it when someone who has been so beaten down by the world and made horrible choices finally decide to take a chance and go to church with the hope that maybe God will have mercy on them and then they find hypocritical Christian looking down their long and judgmental noise at them.
Once we find sinners who are tired, beaten and ready to repent how we treat them is of utmost importance. Should we yell at them, criticize them or belittle them? Or should be tenderly and compassionately care for them.

• GOD'S GOAL IS TO BRING THEM HOME

" ... and goes home..." (vs. 5b)

The shepherd's intention was to bring him home and back into the fold where he can be nurtured and cared for. What do we want to do with sinners when we reach them? Are we ready and willing to have them to be part of our church fellowship? A lesson that I have been learning is that the people that God assigns for us to reach out to are non-negotiable. We don't get to pick and chose who we will reach. We reach those whom God has assigned us to reach. And our assignment is not just to reach them but also to love and accept them as a full member of the family. God expects us to extend to them the same grace that he extended to us.

• WHEN THIS HAPPENS ALL HEAVEN REJOICES.

"Then he calls his friends and neighbors together and says, ‘Rejoice with me; I have found my lost sheep.’ I tell you that in the same way there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one 

sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who do not need to repent." 

(v. 6,7 NIV)

The normal result of a successful completion of a mission is celebration.  I don't care what it is!  It could be the winning of a state football championship, successfully completing and graduating from high school or fishing a mission trip to another country, the natural and normal expression of completing something is to CELEBRATE!  When we successfully reach someone to faith in Jesus there needs to be sincere and heart felt excitement and gratitude - there needs to be a PARTY!  I can promise you that at the completion of God's plan for this world and judgement Day is over the next event will be a party.  There is will be a banquet with Christ all of his disciples. There will be singing, shouts of joy and I wouldn't even be surprised if I saw even a couple of "high five's" as God's children run around the thrown room slapping each others hands.

So here's what we need to do:

1. Get out of our religious bubbles and back out into the dark world where our lights can shine the brightest and be the most use.
2. Truly and compassionately love the sinner and not with just words but with your actions.  Serve them, minister to them and be willing to get dirty with them.
3. Make those sinners as they repent to God fully functioning members of the God's family. Don't treat them as if they were some second class citizen or a red headed step child.
4. And as each new person comes to faith in Christ have a PARTY and rejoice.  

ESSENTIALS FOR LIVING AN EFFECTIVE MISSIONAL LIFE: Part 1 - Eliminating The 3 Causes For Why Christian Don't Live A Missional Life

I am writing this blog because it is my hearts passion to empower, encourage and equip ordinary Christians to intentionally live a life on mission with Christ!  Wanting o see God's people eager and passionate about fulfilling the mission that Christ gave us is what I live for.  But when I look at those who claim to be Followers of Christ in North America but failing miserably in advancing the cause of Christ I have to ask myself, "Why?"  Why are Christians in North America not successful in making disciples of Christ as other Christians are in other parts of the world?  I am sure that an entire dissertation could be written about that particular subject and indeed there have been such research and discussion but that's not the intent for this blog series.  I am not a theorist but more of a practioner.  What I am wanting doing is to quickly address some basic causes that have kept North American Christians from being effective in living a missional life and suggest some basic skills that every Follower of Christ need to master.  In this blog we will deal with the 3 basic causes that have kept Christians from living a life on mission and suggest three cures.  Most likely these are not the only causes and they are not the only cures but they are a starting point in order to live a more obedient life to Christ and developing a missional lifestyle that would be pleasing to our Lord Jesus.

THE 3 CAUSES

These are not only the causes that keep people from living a missional life for Christ but also the basic causes that keep people from doing anything that need or want to do.  They can be applied to just about any area of your life.  Whether it be going back to school to increase your education or starting a new business or even just learning how to dance the reason why people won't do them will fall usually into one of three categories.  Find a cure for these basic causes and a person has a better than average chance to succeed and learn those new skills or accomplish that new goal.  So what exactly are those 3 basic causes that keep people from doing new things?  They are a:

LACK COMPETENCE:  This means that people just don't know what to do.  They are told that they are to be the Light of the world but then they ask, "But how do you do that?" They have heard sermons, Bible Studies, devotionals and even Christian friends tell them over and over again all the things they should being doing in order to live a missional life for Christ but very little if any training has been provided to teach them how to do it.  So much of the preaching and teaching in the N. American church is what I call "The Ought To Sermon".  The "Ought To" sermon says, "You ought to do this or you ought to do that."  More specifically it could say, "You ought to tithe" or "you ought pray" or even "you ought to witness or make disciples" and then the Christian is left scratching his head wondering, "But how do I do that?"  We have given a lot of "To Do's" with very little, "How Do's!  This has left the Christians in N. America frustrated and feeling incompetent to live a pleasing life on mission for Christ.  They know what they should be doing but they just don't know how to do it.  The disciple of Christ got to that place of frustration in their life when they asked Jesus if he would teach them "HOW" to pray just like the John the Baptist had taught his disciples to pray.  There comes a teachable moment in every Christians life when they have heard all they can handle of "What To Do" and have come to realization that they now need instruction on how to do what they've been told to do!

I believe the Christians in N. America are at that teachable moment where they heard over and over again that they need to be the LIGHT OF THE WORLD, that they need to be a WITNESS FOR CHRIST, that they need to be MAKING DISCIPLES FOR JESUS but now in frustration they are crying out, '"BUT HOW?"  The lack of N. American Christians living a life on mission with Christ is  not because they don't know what  to be do, it's because they don't know how to do it.

LACK CONFIDENCE:  Now there are some Christians that don't lack competence. Many Christians  have been trained on how to witness, how to let their light shine and how to make disciples.  It's not that they don't know how to do it, its just that they don't feel confident in doing it. Living a missional life feel awkward and unnatural.  Bringing up a spiritual conversation with people  feels forced and if they do bring it up there is a sense of worry in the Christian that maybe they will do or say something that is wrong.

This is not only true for just living a missional life but its also true for any new skill that a person is attempting to learn.  Whether it be learning to type, to ride a bike or swim in a pool there is a period of time where the new skill that has been learned is done by force and not done naturally.  I remember when I was learning to play the guitar and had just been taught my first three chords.  I knew those chords, I knew where my fingers were to be placed on the fret of the neck and I could put them there but I had to think about it and it didn't feel natural and it took time.  But now 40 years later I can play those same chords and others but mind doesn't have to concentrate on doing it, it just seems to do it almost without thinking.  The goal of training people in living a missional life is to get them to a point where these knew missional skills are done with confidence and done naturally without feeling forced.

THEY LACK ACCOUNTABILITY:  Now there are a few Christians who know what to do and also have the confidence to do it but they still don't do it!  Why?  The answer is because they are not held accountable to anyone on whether they doing it or not.  The reality is that most people do things when they know someone is going to check up on them about it and ask them if they actually did do it.  That's one of the reasons why teachers give tests to their students.  Yes, I know that one of the major reasons for testing is to measure how much the student has learned! I get that but I also know it's to help ensure that the student will actually do the work.  When students know that they are going to be tested on certain material they are more likely to make sure they have studied it.  At work if you know that your boss is going to come to you to check up on your work you are more apt to make sure the work is done.

Accountability is a very Biblical concept.  The parable Jesus told of the master who went away on a very long trip and gave 3 of his servants different amonts of talents. To one he gave 5, to another he gave 2 and to the last he gave 1 each according their own ability.  They were to use these talents while the master was away and in a way that the master wanted.  The servants each knew that there was coming a day of accountability when the master  would come back and see what they had done with his talents.  I just think it would be a whole lot better for all of us if we didn't wait until the Lords return for ultimate accountability but between now and then we lovingly hold each other accountable so that when the Lord Jesus does return we will hear him say, "Well done good and faithful servant."

THE 3 CURES

PROVIDE TRAINING EVENTS:  The best way to correct the lack of competence is for the church to provide training in the essential skills needed for living a missional life.  If people don't know what to do its the leadership of the churches job to provide training in those areas.  This training should not be complicated but easy to follow, understand and most of all it should be reproducible!  That means that whatever training a church provides the member who finishes that training should be able to use it to train someone else without any difficulty.  Can that training be passed on, can it be duplicated and taught by an ordinary Christian who completed the training or is it difficult teach that the average Christian couldn't use it?

If a training course is to complicated for one of its participants to use to train another Christian it SHOULD NOT BE USED!  We are not here to only train people to do certain missional skills but we are here to train people who can then train people, who then can train people.  Our goal should always be to see the rapid reproduction of disciple makers.  That means we not only train Christians to live a missional life but we train Christians train others to live a missional life, who will be able to train others.

The only real test of any program, training course or process to decide if its reproducible is whether or not it actually reproduces.  CAN THE PEOPLE WHO'VE GONE THROUGH THE TRAINING TAKE WHAT THEY HAVE BEEN TAUGHT AND TEACH OTHERS TO DO THE SAME? Now that the real question.  Paul writing to Timothy in 2 Timothy 2:2 said,

"And the things which you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses these intrust to faithful men who will be able to teach others also."  

Here we see reproducibility at its very best and all the way to a fourth generation.  Paul was confident that Timothy could take the information that Paul used to train people all over the world in the Christian faith and use it himself to train others because Paul made sure it was taught in a reproducible manner.

The way the training curriculum is designed and organized, the method of presenting the material, the process of how the training class is conducted all need to lend itself to being reproducible.  The training material needs to be designed so that it's quickly remembered and the process to teach that material needs to be done in a way that anyone can do it even if they're not skilled in classical teaching.

PROVIDE PRACTICE OPPORTUNITIES:  The goal of our training should never be just for information!  The training objectives for missional living should always be for daily application!  It should be the goal of every church, pastor, missionary, evangelist to train the people of God to have a missional lifestyle that is naturally lived out daily.  People need to know not only how do live out a missional lifestyle skill but they need to actually do it.  That means they need to become confident in performing the new skill.

Confidence only comes with:

 PRACTICE 

How many of us when we first learn how to ride a bike was actually confident in riding that bike?  Not many of us!  After I received some basic instructions on how to ride a bike my father put me on the seat of the bike,  placed my feet on the peddles and then took my hands and told me to firmly gripped on the handlebars and then with one firm push he sent me sailing down the sidewalk.  I was scared and nervous. My hands were shaking making the bike wabble back and forth.  My feet kept slipping off the peddles and I just knew I was going to crash.  But then I noticed something! The whole time I was riding my bike my father was running right alongside of me, holding the back of my seat so it wouldn't fall and staying with me until I gained the confidence to ride without him.

WHAT MY FATHER WAS DOING WAS GIVING ME A SAFE PLACE TO PRACTICE UNTIL I GAINED THE CONFIDENCE TO RIDE ALONE!

Now that's the kind of training we need for living the missional living.  As part of the process of training we need to give opportunities for people to practice what they've learned and we need to allow them to practice it week after week after week.

But that's not what happens in most church training events. Today most trainings are usually a day or two in length and the people are sitting around tables with a work book to fill in the blanks as the instructor tells them how they should do a particular missional skill.  There may be some video's that are shown as an example of how the skill could possibly be put int practice.  There might be some time given for participants to pair off to give a half hearted attempt to do what they've just been told to do.  Then as the training is ending the participants are given a pep talk about how they can now go out and do it.  But the reality is that most of the participants, while knowing what to do and how it might look, still don't feel confident in doing it.  Why?

Not enough time to practice in a safe place.

Confidence comes with lots of practice over time.  That's why I really appreciated James Kennedy's Evangelism Explosion Witnessing Training.  Or at least I should say the practicing element that was incorporated into the training.  I do feel that for the most part the training material was very difficult to reproduce but I do like the way they give a trainee weekly opportunities to go out with a skilled person in  witnessing and then allowed them an opportunity to practice the different parts to a gospel presentation.

PAIR CHRISTIANS INTO TEAMS:  The third cause for failing to live a missional lifestyle is that there is no accountability.  If a person knows that no one is going to check up on them to see if they are doing what they should be doing there is a much greater chance the person will never make it a lifestyle and possibly stop doing it all together.  So the cure is to design accountability into the training process that is not legalistic and none judgmental.  I think that we really do need to make sure that we have those two qualifiers: Not Legalistic and None Judgmental.  The reason is because our purpose is to encourage and not condemn.  We are not hear to look down a long and judgmental nose and tell people, "YOU'VE FAILED".  No our goal is to loving engage people in living a life on mission with Christ.

We're Here To Encourage - Not Condemn

 So how do you do that? How do you have accountability that doesn't measure if a person is PASSING or FAILING? I suggest pairing participants into teams of at least two people.  These teams are to do the mission activity together and thereby hold each other accountable.  These teams are to think of themselves as soldiers who are in battle together, who are watching each others back and trusting one another.  They are Comrads in Arms.  They have a profound sense of responsibility to perform at their highest level because their partner depends on them and they depend on their partner.  I think this is one of the reason why Jesus sent out the 72 in teams of two to very town and village he was about to go.  Jesus knew that along the way their would be discouragements and if they weren't in a team they could very easily quit and go home but because he had them in a team they would be there for one another to encourage each other.

TEAMS ARE A GREAT ACCOUNTABILITY PRACTICE

But even after the teams were done Jesus had them come back and share what had happen.  This was both a praise report time and an accountability time.  Churches would do well to have a time where missional teams come back together to have a debriefing and praise sharing on what God was able to do.  

In the next three blogs we're going to cover three of the essential skills needed for living a missional life and ways for you and your team member to practice these skills.  By doing this we will effectively deal with the lack of competence, the lack of confidence and the lack of accountability and allow you the ordinary christian to live productive missional life.


I'M PRAYING THAT GOD WILL RAISE UP, TRAIN UP & UNLEASHING ORDINARY CHRISTIANS TO LIVE A LIFE ON MISSION WITH CHRIST WHERE PEOPLE ARE MADE INTO RAPIDLY REPRODUCING DISCIPLE MAKERS.  GOD BLESS YOU AS YOU GO AND LIVE FOR HIM!

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

A North American Church Planting Movement Initiative

New Churches Can Be More Effective In Reaching Post-Modern Youth

Though churches of any size and age should be seeking to reach young adults, often new churches can be more effective in this area than existing churches. 

The elders and deacons at Faith Community Church, Barre, VT, fondly recall one Sunday when the church was only about five years old. At that time, the young adults had just begun to lead worship once a month. They were still growing in their abilities and their music was much edgier than the congregation was used to, but the leadership team wanted them to be involved, so the youth were allowed to lead. On that particular Sunday, three rows of young adults were present in their customary section near the back. Halfway through the service, the youth praise team was singing a very upbeat song called, “I Am Free,” by Jon Egan, who is the leader of a group called Desperation Band. The song was supposed to be what the church refers to as special music. That basically means the praise team was supposed to sing it on their own while the congregation listened. During the chorus of the song, suddenly those three rows of young people spontaneously rose to their feet and joined in singing the song with an enthusiasm they had never shown in church before. A wave of the Spirit flowed across the room, and the whole nature of the worship experience changed. For the first time, the youth band was actually leading worship and not just going through the motions. That particular group of young people has never been the same since. On that day, the congregation realized that God could use young adults in a powerful way even though it was different than the way worship was done previously.

Many churches may think they need to allow young people to take part in religious ceremonies only so that they can build “the church of tomorrow.” While church leaders mean well when they say things like this, what they are actually communicating to the next generation is that young people have no current value to the church. Young adults hear that message and decide that if they are not valued at church, they will go somewhere that does value them. Churches that do not value young people as the church of today should not be surprised when young people are not around tomorrow. If churches want to attract younger generations, they have to begin to value them the way God does. Young adults need a real connection to Christ. They are often looking for a deeper spirituality than their parents have. When we help them prepare for religious ceremonies, they can discover the faith in Christ they need. Once they discover faith, we must let them lead. When we let them lead, they will set an exciting example for others to follow and draw their postmodern peers into the church as well. Churches must begin to recognize that young people are gifted by God and can be used by Him in powerful ways. Paul’s exhortation to Timothy readily applies to young adults today: “Do not let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in life, in love, in faith and in purity” (1 Tim. 4:12 NIV). Churches that can help the next generation live out that admonition will have no problem reaching people with a postmodern worldview.

The above blog is written by a guest blog writer, Terry Dorsett,  and is adapted from his book, Mission Possible: Reaching the Next Generation through the Small Church, published by CrossBooks.

Terry is an insightful Man of God with a wealth of wisdom and understanding in reaching the world in which we live in.  You can find his work at:  http://www.thoughtsfromdrt.blogspot.com/ 

IT'S TIME TO SPEAK UP - NOT SHUT UP!

Recently I was talking with a Christian brother about his job and how his boss had told him that he would have to stop sharing about Jesus to the clients who were receiving their services.  It wasn't that the clients were complaining about it but it made some co-workers feel uncomfortable.  This is a trend that is becoming more prevalent in our modern day American society.  Some people become extremely uncomfortable when they hear Jesus being talked about.  Throughout the work place in North America Christians are being told they have to be silent and not talk about such things.  But it's not only in the work place.  Even in Alcoholic Anonymous Meetings, where it's encouraged to find a higher power, Christians are being told not to share about their sobriety through Jesus Christ.  I was even meeting with a guy for discipleship at a local coffee shop in Salinas, Ca when I guy got very agitated with me because he kept hearing me refer to Jesus.  The days of Christ being warmly received in our North American culture is over and the hostility that's replacing it is only going to get more intense.  However, let me admonish you:

THIS IS NOT THE TIME TO SHUT UP - BUT TO SPEAK UP

During a study of God's word in the church that meets in my house God gave my church family  a glimpse into the the bold missional lifestyle that those early Christians had.  It was found in Acts 8:1-4. Listen to what it says,

"On that day a great persecution broke out against the church at Jerusalem, and all except the apostles were scattered throughout Judea and Samaria. Godly men buried Stephen and mourned deeply for him.  But Saul began to destroy the church.  Going from house to house, he dragged off men and women and put them in prison.  Those who had been scattered preached the 

word wherever they went."  

The execution of Steven was found with such favor that it incited a vicious movement of persecution against the Christ's followers of such proportions that Christian men and women were being dragged out of their house, thrown into prison and even killed.  This persecution was so intense and extensive that it caused Christians to flee Jerusalem for their vary lives.  To remain in Jerusalem meant certain death but to flee offered the hope of life and freedom.

The scripture tells us that the apostles remained in Jerusalem and that it was only the ordinary Christians that actually fled.  The Bible also says that these Christians were scattered throughout all the towns and villages in Judea and Samaria.  From a general and quick observation a person might get the sense that these early Christians were a bunch of cowards.  I mean, if they really had faith in God wouldn't they just stay in Jerusalem and face the opposition trusting that Christ would deliver them from their oppressors?   That, however, would be a worldly perspective but not God's perspective.  In reality these early Christians were just being obedient to what Christ commanded.  Jesus himself instructed them to flee.  The Bible says in Matthew 10:21,22

“Brother will betray brother to death, and a father his child; children will rebel against their parents and have them put to death. You will be hated by everyone because of me, but the one who stands firm to the end will be saved. When you are persecuted in one place, flee to another. Truly I tell you, you will not finish going through the towns of Israel before the Son of Man comes." (NIV)

Just because they were fleeing doesn't mean they were cowards!   Actually the Bible depicts them to be extremely brave.  Notice what the last line of verse Acts 8:4. It says,

"Those who had been scattered preached the word wherever they went."  

DID YOU CATCH IT?  These ordinary Christians when they fled, fled still preaching the word and being a witness for Christ wherever they went!

THAT'S ABSOLUTELY AMAZING!

These early Christians weren't scared to silence they just weren't stupid! They weren't going to stick around and get beat up but that didn't mean they were going shut up either!  Nope!  They just went and found a new audience to share the good news and if they got persecuted in that new town they would flee again to a different town and there again begin to share the good news Jesus.

Why didn't those early Christians just keep their trap shut?  Why didn't they just decide to let their faith be a personal faith between just them and God?  Isn't that what most of us would do?  Doesn't that make a lot of sense?  If we are told to stop talking about Jesus at work wouldn't most of us stop and just rationalize our silence with,

"I can't talk about Jesus because my boss told me I can't and if I do I'll lose my job and after all God wouldn't want me to lose my job. Would he?"

Or Would He?  Would God more prefer for you to lose your job instead of being silent about His Son?  To answer help answer that question let me ask two different questions that might shed some light on this topic and give us a more Godly perspective:

Is witnessing of Jesus a suggestion or a command that we've been given?  In Matthew 28;18-20 we read:

"Then Jesus came to them and said, 'All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.  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. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

These were Jesus' last words that were spoken and as such were probably the most important words He wanted His followers to remember.  When you know you are sharing your last words with someone you don't talk about the weather - you talk about what's heavy on your heart.  In addition the verb, "GO" is written in the imperative mood which means that Jesus isn't making a suggestion he's giving a command.

So when you take together the occasion for what Jesus is saying: HIS LAST WORDS and they way He said it: A COMMAND, we quickly realize that it's not an option for Christian to stop sharing about Jesus.  No where in the Bible does it say,

"Be my witness and share my Good News with everyone 

unless it gets to dangerous to do so."  

There's no place in the Bible where it say that!  Instead Jesus says that He has all authority and what he's about to command is not an option but a requirement.  WE HAVE TO TALK ABOUT JESUS!

Here's the next question: Is being persecuted for our faith and testimony of Jesus a good or bad thing? Again lets see what the Bible says,

"Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 'Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you."  Matthew 5:10,11 (NIV)

Now what Jesus says here is so counter intuitive to our modern Christian life and perspective.  Today's North American Christians say that its a horrible thing to be persecuted for our faith but Jesus says that we are blessed when we are.  Jesus says that those who are persecuted because they refuse to stop talking about Him have a reward waiting for them in heaven that is beyond imagination but I get the feeling that most Christians feel that they are some how being punished by God if they are persecuted.  

So with these thoughts in mind lets get back to the original question:

WOULD GOD PREFER ME TO LOSE MY JOB INSTEAD OF NOT TALKING 

ABOUT JESUS WHILE AT WORK?

Are you ready?  Here's the answer so you better hold your hat!  

GOD COULD CARE LESS IF YOU LOSE YOUR JOB OR NOT!  WHAT GOD CARES ABOUT ARE SINNERS COMING TO REPENTANCE AND FAITH IN JESUS. AND HE'S COMMISSIONED YOU AND ME TO SHARE THAT NEWS!

Our job as Followers Of Christ is to make him disciples!  It's to shine our light in our part of this dark world!  It'S to go and be a witness of Christ's power and presence that can change lives!    

So what if you lose your job?  Don't you believe and have faith in what Jesus said in Matthew 6:33,

"But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, 

and all these things (things you need) will be given to you as well."

Don't you trust that God can and will take care of your every need if you are being faithful and obedient to sharing Jesus with the people in this lost world?  Or maybe the words that Jesus had to say to his disciples on more than one occasion needs to be said to us, "Oh you of little faith".  

In truth it's really not a job issue but a faith issue.

So here on my final words that hopefully will admonish you and encourage you to be found faithful!

TODAY MORE THAN EVER

IT'S TIME TO SPEAK UP - NOT SHUT UP

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THE ORDINARY CHRISTIAN'S GUIDE TO CHURCH PLANTING: Step 5 - Develop A Prospect List

Hopefully by this time you have developed a comprehensive prayer strategy that will empower the work of starting a new church with the power and presence of God himself.  I cannot overstate the importance of step 4.  If you do not develop and implement a strategic prayer ministry, nothing from that point forward will be of any use.  Church planting is not a human endeavor. Jesus said, after Peter's great confession, that He (Jesus) would build his church and the gates of hell would not overpower it.  From that statement we see that church planting is Christ's work and he is the one who accomplishes it.  Therefore, it is vital that we understand that church planting is not something we do for God but it is something that God is going to do through us.  W,ith that being the truth then the dependence on God through prayer is essential and cannot be removed from the equation.  So if you have not started to implement a comprehensive prayer strategy STOP reading this post and go back to step 4 and do that first.

The task in step 5 is the development of a prospect list! This list will determine the ground for planting the gospel seed from which the harvest will come. In other words from this list will potentially come the people who will become the members of the new church.  The development of this list is a vital BEST PRACTICE for any church planting endeavor.  What do I mean by "BEST PRACTICE"?  Simply this:

IT IS ONE OF THE BEST AND ESSENTIAL ACTIVITIES

You cannot start a new church unless you know who you are going to invite to be part of it.  Now please understand developing a prospect list doesn't mean that they all will come and be part of the new church. 

A LARGE PORTION OF THEM WON'T!  

Developing a prospect list provides you with a starting point - not a finish line.  Developing a large prospect list provides you a tool to begin sorting through a large group of people whom Jesus is going to use to build His church.  At this point in the church planting process no one has an idea who God is going to use.  Right now your only job as the church planter is to beging sifting through the potential people and weed out those whom God is not going to use and begin to disciple those he does intend to use.

WHAT KIND OF PEOPLE SHOULD BE INCLUDED IN 

YOUR PROSPECT LIST?

First, let me start off by saying who you should not consider!  Since you have already enlisted and formed your church planting team which consists of at least two Christians (you and one other Christian) your prospect list shouldn't include any other Christian that is growing in the Lord and active in a church.  Leave them alone!  Now I know that probably sounds very strange and counter intuitive but believe me this is important.  Why?  Because we are not trying to start a new church that robs  growing Christians from other churches! We are wanting to start a church that focuses on fulfilling the Great Commission of making new disciples.   In starting a church and especially a house church you don't need a lot of strong growing Christians to form a solid foundation.  In a house church two strong growing Christians is plenty.    When you place your focus on developing a prospect list and reaching Christians who are already growing in the Lord you run the risk of forming what I like to call
-

"SPIRITUAL NAVEL-GAZERS" 

Spiritual navel-gazers are Christians who like to get into small groups and focus on themselves by encouraging each other and praying for one another.  While there is nothing wrong in and of itself in singing praises to God, praying with each other and and encouraging one another they should not be an end unto themselves.  Our mission and our goal is to fulfill the Great Commission by MAKING DISCIPLES.

But as Followers of Christ and as a church planter our call is to shine the LIGHT OF CHRIST in this spiritually dark world.

Second you need to know that there are two groups of people you want to use to form this prospect list:

• The Totally Unsaved:  These are people who have never committed their hearts to the Lord Jesus Christ and if they were to die today would surely go straight to hell.  
• The Far Away Brethren:  These are people who are Christians, or at least profess a faith in Christ, but have for one reason or another fallen away from Christ and the church.  

Identify people from both of these groups and you will have a very productive prospect list from which to plant the gospel seed and see whom God raises up to form and grow his new church.

WHERE DO YOU FIND THESE PEOPLE?  

You find these people from within your own sphere of influence.  You find them from those people you already know and have a relationship with.  This is another BEST PRACTICE.  Finding prospects from within your own sphere of influence is not only a proven contemporary strategy but more importantly is also a profound Biblical strategy.

When Jesus talked to the woman at the well in Samaria and shared with her everything she had ever done and revealed to her that He was indeed the Messiah she immediately ran back into the town and told everyone what had happen and invited them to come and see for themselves.  When Jesus healed the Demoniac of a Legion of Demons the man asked Jesus if he could go with him when he left and Jesus told the man "No" and instructed him to go back to the towns in that region declaring the great things that God had done for him.  The man obeyed and later when Jesus came back to that area the people were completely ready to receive Jesus and his ministry.  Why? Because they had heard and believed the testimony of the man who had been healed.

So in developing a strong prospect list you need to think of all your family, friends, fellow workers, neighbors and people you may know from your social groups who are either not Christians or they are backslidden Christians and add make them part of your list.  In putting this list together let me give you a couple of suggestions:

1. Pray Before You Start:  Prayer is always the best way to start any activity.  You can never go wrong by praying.  Ask God to reveal to you and bring to your memory all those people that He wants included on the list.  You might be surprised whom God brings to mind.  I know of people who have been in earnest prayer in developing their prospect list and have had people come to mind that they haven't seen or heard from in years. God knows who he's working with and you need God to reveal His list to you.  I guess in reality we are seeking to understand who is on God's list.  That's why prayer is so important.  
2. Don't Prequalify Them:  What do I mean about that?  Simply this: Don't try to play God and decide if a person will or will not come to Christ or attend your church.  Only God knows the heart of a person and we can only guess.  Larry Munguia is now a very good friend of mine and fellow pastor but before Larry came to faith in Christ no one ever thought he would do it.  Everyone was concerned for his wife, Bobbi, and they prayed for her consistently. But interestingly enough Larry came came to faith in Christ before his wife and it was his changed life that convinced Bobbi that Christ was real.  Larry is now the Senior Pastor of a church he started called The Sober Project.  My point is this, we don't know whom God has chosen and prepared for this new life and new church.
3. Include All Vital Information: As you form this list make sure that you have each person's name, address, phone number, email address and Facebook account.  Why? Because you will want to stay in consistent contact with them sharing about activities, ministries and any other offers the church may want to make.  A church planter should maintain a  prospect list twice as large as the average attendance of the church.  Building a robust prospect list at the very beginning of a new church will only enhance the work later and having all this information will insure the ability to stay in contact.

Between you and your church planting team you should easily be able to form a list between 50 - 100 people.  This is more than enough to form and establish a new house church.

Now that you have built your list you work your list the way you started it - through prayer!  That's right start praying for your prospects.  Ask God the Father to begin drawing them to Jesus.  Ask the Holy Spirit to begin convicting them of their sin and need for a Savior.  Pray that God will bring circumstances and situations in their lives that will make them hunger and thirst for Christ and his righteousness.  Pray that these people become dissatisfied with this life of sin and become desperate for the life that only Christ can give. Send the names of your prospect list to the PRAYER WARRIORS you have already enlisted and get them to start praying over them.  Pray as a church planting team over the prospects.

 PRAY - PRAY - PRAY

AND NEVER STOP PRAYING!

Home Work:  

You and your church planting team get together and begin develop a prospect list of 50 to 100 people.

UNREALISTIC EXPECTATIONS: By A Guest Post Writer, Dr. Terry Dorsett

The phone call ended with a sense of frustration. I had just finished yet another conversation with the same pastor about some struggles he was having in his church. The struggles were very real, and sadly, quite common. Some leaders in his church had different opinions about how certain things should be done. This was creating tension between himself and those leaders. It was not really a theological issue, since both the pastor and the leadership group seemed right on target theologically and doctrinally. But they did not seem to be able to find unity on how to do certain things in the church. Regretfully, that tension had begun to build and, as often happens in the church, people were starting to use the "God told me" line. Once people start claiming that God told them something, it is almost impossible to compromise with them and the only solution they will accept is one that agrees 100% with their viewpoint. I did my best to offer helpful advice and spent time praying with the pastor, but deep in my heart, I feared that it would not end well.

Though I wish this phone call was rare, the reality is that this is a common experience, not only for pastors, but for anyone who aspires to be a leader in the context of Christian community. I have spent a lot of time thinking, reflecting and praying about why these things happen. Though I am still formulating my thoughts, it seems to me that one of the key reasons this happens is because we often have unrealistic expectations of others. We expect people to be perfect, forgetting that we are not perfect ourselves. We do not like it when people use a sharp tone of voice with us, but excuse ourselves when we are tired, or frustrated, and use a sharp tone with others. Just because a person is a Christian, even in a position of leadership, does not mean they are perfect. People have bad days and good days. People have weeks when they spend extra time in prayer, and weeks when they do not spend enough time in prayer. It is an unrealistic expectation to think that everyone in leadership will be perfect all the time.

Even when everyone involved has a good day at the same time, we may have different opinions based on our life experiences. I recall getting frustrated once with a group of church leaders about an insurance matter. I just could not see why they could not understand my perspective. After the meeting was over, one of the leaders spoke to me privately. He simply said, "Don't take this the wrong way, but how much do you really know about insurance?" I had to admit that I knew very little. He went on to explain that two of the five members of the group had extensive experience in that area and it just made sense to trust their judgment on the matter. I was humbled, and decided to heed his advice. It is unrealistic to think that we will understand every detail about every issue.

Many churches would have less tension if they let go of unrealistic expectations. We should accept that sometimes people say and do things they should not have said or done. Obviously, if a pattern of bad behavior exists, then the person may need to be removed from leadership. But if no such pattern exists, then we should accept that they were having a bad day and we should forgive easily and pray fervently for them. We should also accept that no one person is an expert on everything, including ourselves. We should offer our opinions on matters that we are knowledgeable about and remain quiet on issues that are outside our scope of expertize. Just because a thought comes to our mind, does not mean it must escape our lips.

Being a leader in a Christian community can be a challenge, but if we let go of our unrealistic expectations, it is a challenge worth engaging in!

You can find this post in its original form at: Next Generation Evangelistic Network

Dr. Dorsett is an amazing church life and missional practitioner. He has lots of insights and understanding in the ways of God.  I encourage you to subscribe to his blog and be blessed.