mr. t.......... on mission

changing roles...mr.t going public

2007-01-21T21:31:00.000-06:00

If anyone is checking, I am still around. I have not posted for a long time due to some major changes. My wife and I had planned to return to South Asia by the end of this month. However, the Lord made it clear that He has another plan for us. We are in the process of changing jobs and are now transitioning to do missions through our local church. If you are still interested in continuing our conversation about missions... please go to the new blog at Travel Light.

Yes, mr.t is going public! No need to continue an anonymous blog. So, I look forward to learning more from you and sharing more about what God is teaching us through this wonderful adventure on God's mission.

missionary roles

2006-12-11T22:16:00.000-06:00

Missionaries are sent out by the Holy Spirit through a church for the work the Spirit has called them to do (Acts 13:3,4). We saw in the last post how missionary ministry is different from pastoral ministry. The missionary never stays where he spreads the word and plants church but continues led by the Spirit to new harvest fields. Paul stayed in most places for only weeks, sometimes months. Only on three occasions he stayed in a particular field for more than one year. Paul never abandoned the new churches that he planted. There were others that stayed behind or sent later to strengthen and encourage. Paul would often revisit the churches after leaving. Paul also corresponded with the churches. Should all missionaries follow Paul’s model of staying only for a short period of time and then moving on? Do all missionaries have the same role as Paul? Look at what Paul says to the church at Corinth:

“Who then is Paul, and who is Apollos, but servants through whom you believed, as the Lord gave to each one? I planted, Apollos watered but God gave the increase. So then neither he who plants is anything, nor he who waters, but God who gives the increase. Now he who plants and he who waters are one, and each one will receive his own reward according to his own labor. We are God’s fellow workers; you are God’s field, you are God’s building” (I Corinthians 3:5-9).

I see at least four insights concerning missionary roles in this passage:
1. The mission is not about the missionary. It is about God. The Lord gives the harvest of new believers and He gives the increase of that harvest. The missionaries are not anything but lowly servants, or field hands, playing their assigned role.
2. Paul played the role of a planter. He spread the gospel until he found good soil where he could plant church.
3. Apollos played the role of a cultivator. He nurtured the new plant so that it could grow and reproduce.
4. Even though Paul and Apollos did not work together directly, they were fellow servants and part of a larger team effort.

Timothy was another that played a role different from Paul. We know that Paul sent him to the Corinthians to “remind you of my ways in Christ, as I teach everywhere in every church” (I Cor. 4:17). We see many examples of disciples sent to play a cultivating role in the life of new churches. Barnabas and John Mark revisited Cyprus (Acts 15:39). Timothy and Silas remained in Macedonia a little longer (Acts 17:14). Priscilla and Aquila stayed in Ephesus (Acts 18:19) and ended up helping Apollos. Paul sent Timothy several places to cultivate churches and leaders. Paul also sent other fellow workers like Epaphroditus (Phil. 2:25) and Titus (Titus 1:5). We could name several others who played a role in the life of newly planted churches. These were not elders (pastors) but missionaries serving in a team effort to encourage and strengthen the new churches (and pastoral leaders) to grow and reproduce.

Did Paul do some cultivating? Of course he did. We can assume there were times that Apollos planted. But cultivating was not Paul's major role. God called him to lay the foundation for new churches among the gentiles. His goal was to proclaim Christ where there was no church and not to build on another's foundation (Romans 15:20).

Missionaries are outsiders; we don’t take the place of local indigenous leadership. As missionaries, we should be careful to play the role that the Holy Spirit has prepared for each one of us. Some will be more like Paul and do the planting. Many will be more like Apollos and do the cultivating. Hopefully none of us missionary outsiders will take a role that belongs to a local leader or local believers.

when is it time to leave?

2006-12-06T11:19:00.000-06:00

Perhaps the most difficult time in the life of a missionary/church planter is when it is time to leave. One church planter, Darrell , raised the question in a comment from the last post. How do we know when it is time to leave? What characteristics should the new church or churches demonstrate? Before I offer an opinion, let's look at the apostle Paul's example. Below is a summary of where Paul went during his missionary journeys. You will find the reference from the book of Acts, approximately how long he stayed, and the results. This comes from a document by S. Smith (from our org in Asia).

PAUL'S MISSIONARY MINISTRY (Total time - approximately 8 to 10 years)

Island of CYPRUS
13:4-5 Cyprus 4-6 weeks - Word shared in whole island of Cyprus.
13:6-12 Paphos (Cyprus) 2 weeks - Proconsul believes; possible church plant; miracle.

Province of PHRYGIA
13:14-52 Pisidion Antioch (capital of Phrygia) 3 weeks or more (possibly longer) - Church planted; word spread through the whole region (13:49); movement resulted, HS filled disciples; mainly gentiles; run out by persecution; weekly or daily meetings.

Province of GALATIA
14:1-6 Iconium (Galatia) "long time" 4-8 weeks? - Church planted; large number believed (v.1); bold witness with signs; stayed until run out by persecution.
14:6-20 Lystra (Galatia) 2 weeks - Church planted; some believers; no great results; stoned and run out of town by Jews.
14:20-21 Derbe (Galatia) several weeks? - Church plant & many disciples; preached gospel; good results.

GALATIA & PHRYGIA
14:21-23 Lystra, Iconium, P. Antioch (Galatia & Phrygia) several weeks - Re-visited disciples; strengthened them, encourage them to continue in face of persecution; appointed elders in each church (churches solidified); commended to Lord.

Province of PAMPHYLIA
14:25 Perga (Pamphylia) 1-2 weeks - Shared the gospel but no evidence of results.

CYPRUS
15:39 Cyprus - Barnabas and Mark re-visit disciples.

GALATIA
16:1-5 Derbe, Lystra, Iconium (Galatian region) several weeks or months - Strengthened the churches and disciples; impression that the number of churches has multiplied; disciples still increasing daily; Timothy taken as a team member.

Provinces of ASIA, MYSIA, BITHYNIA
16:6-7 Asia, Mysia, Bithynia several weeks - FORBIDDEN by Holy Spirit from sharing. Not the right time???

Province of MACEDONIA (Europe)
16:12-40 Philippi (capital of Macedonia) 2 weeks - Church plant; via 2 people of peace; miracle; sent away by authorities.
17:1-9 Thessalonica (Macedonia) 4-5 weeks - Church plant & large number of disciples; Jason as leader? Run out by Jews; weekly meetings, "day & night". "Upset the whole world!"
17:10-14 Berea (Macedonia) several weeks - Church and many disciples; Jews ran out Paul, but Silas & Timothy REMAIN a little longer.

Province of ACHAIA (Greece)
17:16-34 Athens (Achaia) 2 weeks - Few disciples, possible church plant; left because of poor response?
18:1-18 Corinth (Achaia) 1 and 1/2 years - Weekly training; great harvest; raised up Priscilla & Aquila, Titius Justus. This time NOT run out but protected by authorities. Taught the word of God to them. Probably all of Achaia (Greece) evangelized from here.

Province of ASIA
18:19-21 Ephesus (Capital of Asia) 1 week - Great interest from locals, Paul decides to return one day. Priscilla & Aquila left there.

PHRYGIA & GALATIA
18:23 Phrygia & Galatia several weeks - Re-visited churches strengthening disciples.

Province of ASIA
18:24-20:1 Ephesus (Asia) 3 years - Apollos continues witness. He leaves & Paul finds disciples there. Then begins witnessing & training daily regarding the kingdom of God. Everyone in Province of Asia hears word! Seven churches of Revelation started. Great miracles, radical commitment by disciples (life transformation). Apparently Ephesus is the base for mission (the new Antioch?). Great uproar. Night & day for 3 years with tears Paul admonished believers (20:31). Paul finally leaves.

MACEDONIA & ACHAIA
20:1-2 Macedonia several weeks, months - Re-visited and encouraged the disciples.
20:2-3 Greece (Achaia) 3 months - Re-visited and encouraged the disciples; run out by Jews.
20:3-5 Macedonia short visit - On way back to Jerusalem.

ASIA
20:6-12 Troas (Asia) 1 week - Encourages disciples from the Asia mission in Ephesus.
20:15-38 Miletus (Asia) 1 week - Final exhortation to Ephesian elders to take up their shepherding responsibilities.

Okay, did you notice anything about the length of time Paul stayed in any one place? Most of the time it was very short, only weeks, maybe months. The longest period of time was three years. So, we can learn from this that there is no certain length of time required to plant viable churches.

Another observation is that Paul laid the foundation, baptizing initial believers and teaching them to obey before moving on. After leaving, we see Paul's teammates often stayed behind or revisited. Sometimes Paul revisited the church or churches to encourage and strengthen them. We also know that he followed up through correspondence. So, the new churches were not abandoned, however, Paul never stayed. In every case he left for another field.

The Holy Spirit led Paul from place to place and we assume indicated when it was time to leave. (In many cases persecution was the determining factor).

When Paul left, the new church was empowered by the Holy Spirit to continue the work among their own people, spreading the gospel, planting new churches and maturing in their faith by obeying the word.

Missionary (church planting) ministry is different from pastoral ministry. The missionary stays as long as the Holy Spirit and circumstances controlled by God's sovereignty permit. The missionary is an outsider used by God to initiate new work among people of a different culture. The missionary will revisit from time to time, follow up through correspondence, and team members may stay on. But the missionary team should never stay in the same place indefinitely. The new churches must grow up and take responsibility for their own people, the sooner, the better.

How do we know it is time to leave? By following the Holy Spirit's lead and submitting to God's sovereignty. As missionaries/church planters we should regularly ask the Lord to "show us the door" when it is time. We should make sure that we have done everything possible to "teach them to obey" before we leave (the last part of the Great Commission). One indicator for me has been: Are my disciples making their own disciples? Do we see a third generation of disciples obeying the Lord?

When it is time to leave, does this mean that we make a physical move to another state, region or country? That is up to the Holy Spirit. He will lead if we will follow, and it depends on the sovereignty of God in our lives. Some will live in the same place for years but change focus or travel to different areas within the same region. Others will make a more drastic move. The important thing for the missionary is to always maintain an attitude of "wherever He leads, I will follow."

back to blogging... prayer updates...

2006-11-29T15:58:00.000-06:00

Hey fellow bloggers,

I don’t know if anyone is checking this blog anymore. Is anyone out there? We are on home assignment, traveling extensively during the fall season, thus, little time for things like blogging. We are back at home base for now and I will try to catch up with everyone.

Here is a prayer reminder… this was posted back in August and below this post is an update on how these believers from the "uddermost" are doing…

August post…

The anti-Christian groups continue opposition in John's area. But the work is growing in spite of their efforts. John*, the doctor and another leader (Dan*) are doing well. They are penetrating some new villages. The doctor is evangelizing his home village which is 7 kms away from where he practices medicine. People there are very interested in the gospel.

In the midst of the persecution, John baptized 23 new believers. There were 60 baptisms reported in this area by four different church planters during the last ten days. More believers are ready for baptism, but because of flooding (not because of persecution), they had to postpone.

Thank you for praying, continue to pray for boldness in the face of opposition.

*pseudonyms

November update…

1. John* (first generation disciple) and family are doing fine though they continue to face opposition. Some of the new believers were influenced by the anti-Christian groups to leave their newfound faith and return to the H. religion (a case of I John 2:19?). Others have remained faithful despite the persecution. John will baptize some more new disciples next week.

2. Dan* (second generation disciple) and family are also doing fine. He asked for prayer for his mother-in-law who is undergoing a kidney stone operation this week. Dan is going to baptize some new believers next week.

Through Dan’s testimony, his brother who was a 'Baba', (H. priest), accepted Christ. PTL!!! Dan’s brother (third generation disciple) had built an H. temple but demolished it to plant a vegetable garden in its place after he became a believer. His testimony of how he experienced the power of Jesus in his life is impacting people far and wide. Most of Dan’s relatives are now believers (third and fourth generation disciples).

The doctor (second generation disciple) and his family are doing well and a great support for the work. The doctor’s brother recently accepted Christ (third generation disciple). He was a devotee of S., one of the H. gods. The brother used to act as a spiritual guide to over 5000 people. The ex-devotee of S. and spiritual guide for thousands went through our month-long 24/7 discipleship immersion program. He is now a strong follower of Jesus Christ and actively sharing his faith with others. PTL!!!

*pseudonyms

Please continue to pray for these… that they will remain faithful and intensely grow in their faith… that their testimonies will spread the gospel where there is no good news… that a church planting movement will develop in this area as generations of new believers, churches and leaders multiply.

home for a season

2006-10-02T19:42:00.000-06:00

We are "home" for what we call stateside assignment. We are immersed in western ways of living. The fall of the year is an especially active season for missions conferences, so I (and sometimes my wife and daughter) will be on the road a lot. Actually, we have been here for a while undergoing reverse cultural stress, submitting to medical evaluations, going through personal stuff, spending time with family/friends, speaking at churches, enjoying our home church and staying in touch with our partners back on the field.

We will go to a church in North Carolina this week for their annual missions conference. This is one we don't know, so we will meet all new people. We will go directly to Virginia the following week for our debriefing. Then our fall schedule continues in various places... Oklahoma, Georgia, but mainly in Tennessee. We have a full schedule but have also blocked out time for family. We took a vacation in the mountains last week. I will go fly fishing later this month with some old friends. I have played golf a few times with my Dad. We look forward to the holidays with family. So, we are enjoying our time here... But...

We feel strange whenever we come back "home". A part of us remains with brothers and sisters in Christ on the other side of the planet. A part of us stays here when we return to the field. We don't feel totally comfortable in any place. I guess that is a good thing... since the world is not supposed to be our real home.

Pray for a team from our home church going in our place this week. It feels very strange to be here while they are there, taking their first solo trip. You can keep up with them at: Connect & Relate

Please remember us as we get refreshed, retooled, and refocused for whatever God has planned for us next.

encouraging and leaving

2006-09-23T10:13:00.000-06:00

“But you must continue in the things which you have learned and been assured of, knowing from whom you have learned them” (II Timothy 3:14).

“For this reason I left you in Crete, that you should set in order the things that are lacking, and appoint elders in every city as I commanded you” (Titus 1:5).

Paul never abandoned his new disciples, churches and leaders. He always followed up with encouragement and further instruction, even as he left to preach the gospel in other places. He would do this primarily through faithful men like Timothy. He also sent letters to the churches along with his faithful disciples, to remind them of “his ways in Christ” (I Corinthians 4:17). Paul himself sometimes revisited the churches to strengthen and encourage them (see Acts 14:21-23).

Paul modeled a Biblical pattern for the new churches to follow. The new churches would model this same pattern for others while Paul observed their obedience. Most of the time, he heard reports of their faithfulness (or lack thereof) from a distance. Paul would revisit the churches to delegate authority to the recognized leaders who demonstrated obedience (Acts 14:23), or he would have faithful men like Titus do so (Titus 1:5). Finally, Paul would encourage them to continue following the pattern they had learned and practiced, even as he left for another place.

Jesus modeled the same pattern for His disciples. A careful reading of John chapters 13 through 17 reveals the same pattern for training: Jesus modeled, observed, delegated, encouraged and left. But He did not abandon His disciples; He left them “the Helper”, and continued to be ever present with them through the indwelling of the Holy Spirit (see John 14:15-18). Jesus also prayed for the future spiritual generations of new believers that would believe because of His obedient disciples. In John 17 Jesus revealed how He was to accomplish the Father’s master plan, through reproducing generations of loving obedient disciples.

Jesus said: “I do not pray for these alone, but also for those who will believe in Me through their word; that they all may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You; that they also may be one in Us, that the world may believe that you sent Me” (John 17:20,21).

Like the previous stage of delegating authority, we often fail to encourage and leave our disciples. It is difficult to let go and change our role; after all, we have invested so much of our time, effort and resources in them! Don’t we have the right to continue to be their instructor? And, what if they mess up?

Remember, we are not talking about abandoning our disciples. We are talking about moving on to another stage of development, a different level of trust and maturity. We can continue to have a mentoring relationship, but that relationship should mature into a higher level as we delegate responsibility and authority to them.

It is very similar to how we should train our children. At first, they are very dependent upon us. We are their role models, they observe everything we do and say. Then we observe how they do, how they follow our example. There is a great deal of correction and discipline in the early stages. As a child enters adolescence, they become more independent. They still need our guidance but they begin to handle more responsibilities on their own. As they mature, we delegate more freedom to act on their own accord, but we still hold them accountable for their actions. We continue to encourage them to live according to the pattern that we set before them. Sooner than we like, they grow up, become very independent and leave us (here the analogy breaks down, as church planters we should do the leaving). They become an adult and start their own family. They will make mistakes; nevertheless, the cycle of life reproduces itself and will repeat the whole process again through another generation. Our relationship still exists, but it is changed radically by this natural order of things. This is the natural progression of a healthy child who develops into a mature adult and starts his/her own family.

We should practice the same cycle of training in our spiritual life. But it should not take years and years to reproduce. Depending on how the mentor and trainee carry out their roles, the time it takes for the reproduction of a new spiritual generation should be relatively short. Christ took only 3 years. Paul never stayed more than 3 years in one place, but most of the time; it was only a matter of months before the second generation of disciples was delegating authority to a new third generation. When Paul saw that his churches were reproducing healthy churches, he let go and moved on. He continued to encourage them, sometimes he revisited them, sent letters, or left a disciple like Timothy who was fully authorized to do everything necessary to help the church obey the Great Commission. But Paul never stayed; he left them to continue the work on their own. Did they make mistakes? They sure did, but Paul still gave them full authority to carry on the work. He even left the job of choosing leaders for the third generation churches to second-generation disciples like Titus.

“For this reason I left you in Crete, that you should set in order the things that are lacking, and appoint elders in every city as I commanded you” (Titus 1:5).

What are your thoughts? Do you have any experience with leaving to make other disciples? How did you continue to encourage from a distance?

the key to reproducing disciples, churches and leaders

2006-09-08T14:19:00.000-06:00

Have you ever been given a job to do but your boss will not trust you to do it on your own? Maybe he or she stands over your shoulder to make sure you don't make a mistake, or that you do it a certain way? Or, maybe you don't have the authority to implement, always having to call your boss for permission? This lack of empowerment is very common, not only in the everyday working world, but also in everyday kingdom work.

“And the things that you have heard from me among many witnesses, commit these to faithful men who will be able to teach others also” (II Timothy 2:2).

Paul charged Timothy with entrusting his teaching to obedient disciples who were equipped to teach others. This is the key to reproducing followers of Jesus: a disciple is empowered to carry on the work of his mentor, training others with the same teaching, and in the same manner. For this to happen, the trainer must delegate authority to his trainee, so that disciple will be empowered to do all that is necessary to reproduce another generation of disciples.

Jesus did this with His disciples in Matthew 28:18-20. He left no doubt when He said, “all authority has been given to Me… Go therefore”… (v.18a,19a). God the Father fully authorized Jesus to carry out His mission, Jesus delegated His authority to His disciples to carry on the same work in the same way. The original disciples were empowered by Jesus (through the Holy Spirit) to do even greater works (see John 14:12-18). What were the original disciples of Jesus, and now present day disciples, authorized to do? As they were going, they were to make followers of Christ from all people groups, baptizing them in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey all that Christ had commanded (Matthew 28:19-20).

At this stage of training we often fail to do what is absolutely necessary for reproducing a new generation of disciples. In most mission work around the world, the first spiritual generation is very slow to share authority with disciples from the second generation. Therefore, the second generation of believers seldom authorizes a third generation to do all that is necessary to make disciples, plant churches and train new leaders. This is because they are not fully empowered by their mentors. The third spiritual generation may be allowed to do evangelism and the initial work of planting a church (which is quite difficult in itself). However, the first generation, with maybe a few from the second generation, will continue to do the baptizing, administer the Lord’s Supper and train leaders. This disrupts the reproduction of future spiritual generations and limits the expansion of God’s kingdom to addition, and not multiplication. In most cases, the first generation disciples do all of the “authorized” work, and the second generation disciples become eternal assistants, never fully authorized to empower their disciples (the 3rd generation) to do all that Christ commanded.

The first generation will use Scriptures to justify this:
“A bishop (pastor/elder) then must be… not a novice, lest being puffed up with pride he fall into the same condemnation as the devil” (I Timothy 3:2a,v.6). Or where it says: “Do not lay hands on anyone hastily”… (I Timothy 5:22a). However, leaders are more likely to never lay hands on anyone, than to do so hastily.

Most of us have been guilty of not empowering our faithful disciples to baptize, administer Lord’s Supper, lead and teach. We forget that the “laying on of hands” is a basic doctrine (teaching). It should be part of our basic discipleship curriculum. Look at what Scripture teaches in Hebrews:
“Therefore, leaving the discussion of the elementary (basic) principles of Christ, let us go on to perfection (maturity), not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works and of faith toward God, of the doctrine (teaching) of baptisms, of laying on of hands”… (Hebrews 6:1-2a).

The writer of Hebrews is saying that if we want mature disciples, we must get beyond these basic doctrines to deeper teaching and practice. Teaching about the “laying on of hands” is one of those basic foundational doctrines that we should not only teach about, but that we should put into practice with our obedient disciples. We should not blame our faithful disciples if they are not mature enough to be in leadership. We should blame ourselves for not equipping them properly and with enough intensity. If we met with them for training and mentoring more often, they would progress much more rapidly. But often we only have infrequent meetings with our disciples (or no meetings at all). They continue to faithfully wait until maybe one day we will count them worthy enough to entrust them with full authority.

The measure of maturity is not in how much you know, but in how much you obey. If our faithful men continue to obey, are they not demonstrating maturity? I would rather have new Christ followers that know little but obey the Lord every time, than to have disciples who have professed Christ for many years, and yet do very little with what they know.

No one ever arrives, so how can we judge when someone is "ready" and share full authority? Faithfulness... when our disciples demonstrate progress in their character (fruits of the Spirit) and obedience (works of faith), we entrust them with the training of their own disciples. Our disciples must be fully empowered to do all that we do in order to help their disciples follow Christ. Yes, that even includes baptism and Lord's Supper, or any other function that we have traditionally reserved for the clergy.

We see multiple reasons for the “laying on of hands” in the Scriptures: to give a blessing or inheritance, to consecrate an offering, to ordain a Levite priest, to heal the sick, to impart the gift of the Holy Spirit. But another reason for the laying on of hands, that is often overlooked, is to commission one for a task. I am not talking about legal ordination. Look at the example we have from the church at Antioch:
“Now in the church that was at Antioch there were certain prophets and teachers… As they ministered to the Lord and fasted, the Holy Spirit said, ‘Now separate to Me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.’ Then, having fasted and prayed, and laid hands on them, they sent them away” (Acts 13:1a, 2,3).

Paul and Barnabas were fully authorized by their church to do all that was necessary for making disciples of all nations: baptizing, teaching to obey, and anything else needed to train the local leaders raised up from the harvest. Paul and Barnabas were not commissioned to do whatever they felt like. They had to return and give account to their church for what they had done with that authority (see Acts 14:26-28). Accountability Always Accompanies Authority (Quadruple A). This is kingdom insurance against abuse of authority.

This last year, when we discovered our disciples did not feel authorized to baptize or administer the Lord's Supper, we organized a commissioning service. We had other national believers pray, lay hands on them and send them out. This made all the difference as new baptized believers and house churches multiplied in a short time.

What about your experience? Have you been frustrated by a leader unwilling to share authority? Or maybe you have been reluctant to empower your disciples to teach and do all that you have taught them? Many will say: "I would rather err on the side of caution." In other words, they will not entrust their faithful disciples with all authority. If we make that choice, instead of freely sharing authority (always with accountability of course), we are choosing to interfere with the Holy Spirit's work and the expansion of God's kingdom. Pray about using the key to reproducing generations of disciples, churches and leaders. Delegate authority and step back to see what God will do.

teaching... or teaching to obey?

2006-08-25T16:56:00.000-06:00

As missionaries (or pastors/leaders), how many times have we experienced the following scenario? We plan/organize a conference to “train” people in evangelism and church planting. We may invite guest teachers from a partner church or mission agency. The participants are fired up about starting new churches, and represent a good cross-section of volunteer and paid workers. The program is inspirational, everyone is happy, they go home after the conference is over… and then nothing changes. There is little or no result from all of this “training”.

One thing that I have learned from this type of experience and confirmed for myself from Scripture: “teaching” and “training” is not the same thing. Teaching will produce more knowledge, while training will result in more application. Let’s look closer at what Jesus commanded in the Great Commission to help us understand this distinction.

“And Jesus came and spoke to them (his disciples), saying, ‘All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations (people groups), baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe (obey) all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age’ (Mt. 28:18-20).”

“Teaching them to obey” is training that will reproduce disciples, churches and leaders. Jesus did not say, “Teach them everything I commanded you.” He said, “Teach them to OBEY everything I commanded you.” Training = Teaching to Obey. It is not our duty to teach the newly planted church all they will need to know and do. But we must establish a pattern they will follow and that will lead them to obey the Lord every time He speaks from His word. We call this “obedience-based discipleship”. It is very different from teaching only to gain more knowledge.

Paul gave Timothy a pattern for obedience-based discipleship. In 2 Timothy 3:16,17 Paul says to Timothy: “All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine (teaching process that is training), for reproof (rebuke), correction (repentance), for instruction in righteousness (right-living), that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.”

All of God’s word is good for teaching (training) us, by showing us what is wrong (rebuke), showing us what is right (correction/repentance), and how to continue to live right (instruction in righteousness). If we follow this pattern of training from Scripture, we will be complete (mature) men of God and equipped for every good work, which includes training others. This pattern for training from Paul can serve as a guide to help us know how to teach others to obey the word of God/commands of Christ. We use this pattern from Paul in our training in South Asia:

1. Teaching – We ask, “What is the main teaching of this story/passage?”
2. Rebuke – We ask, “What example should we not follow in this story/passage?” (Ask this only if there is something in the passage that we should not imitate).
3. Correction – We ask, “What example should we follow in this story/passage?” (Ask this only if there is something in the passage that we should imitate).
4. Instruction in Right Living – We ask, “How will you follow the good example in this story/passage?” And/or – (if there is a command) -
“How will you obey the command given in this story/passage?” (Ask these last two questions to help us think how to personally apply the teaching to our particular situation for right living).

We can follow this pattern for training for all of God’s word. We must ask questions that lead to dialogue. Jesus used stories, questions and dialogue in his training. If we do all of the talking, it is unlikely our trainees are “getting it”. If they give verbal feedback, this will indicate how much of the teaching they really grasp. We may have to ask sub-questions to draw trainees into articulating the teaching for themselves. The sub-questions are open-ended, no questions with “yes” or “no” answers. Explanation should be kept to a minimum until trainees have attempted to express the teaching in their own words.

This process will turn our teaching into training, or “teaching them to obey”. This pattern for training can be outlined in the following manner:

MODEL
1. Prayer/Praise
2. Model Telling of New Bible Story/Passage - Model
3. Repetition
4. Questions/Dialogue (2 Tim. 3:16 Outline)
5. Observe Practice of Trainees - Observe
6. Assignments - Delegate
7. Prayer/Praise - Encourage/Leave

RE-MODEL
1. Prayer/Praise
2. Review Previous Lesson and Assignments - Report
3. Reports on Assignments - Encourage
4. Encouragement and Prayer
5. Model New Bible Story/Passage - Model
6. Repetition
7. Questions/Dialogue (2 Tim. 3:16 Outline)
8. Observe Practice of Trainees - Observe
9. Assignments - Delegate
10. Prayer/Praise - Encourage/Leave

The above outline is only one way to train, or “teach them to obey”. There can be many variations of this that will work in different cultures or settings. It is a process that we have used to train indigenous church planters to reproduce disciples, churches and leaders in our context. It requires meeting with disciples regularly over a period of time, and not just a one-time conference. We praise God for reports of more than 800 new baptized believers in over 100 new churches in the past year.

Of course, I have not fully explained the process here, but only gave an outline. Maybe this is something that can be adapted for your work? Do you have a pattern for training, or a way for “teaching them to obey” that works in your context? Are we teaching... or teaching to obey?

book tag

2006-08-10T14:49:00.000-06:00

Okay, I was tagged by David Rogers ... So here goes...

1. One book that changed your life: Improving Your Serve by Charles Swindoll (during College days).
2. One book that you’ve read more than once: Abide in Christ by Andrew Murray (and several other works by him).
3. One book I’d want on a desert island: 101 Recipes for Fish (using nature's finest ingredients at hand, of course).
4. One book that made me laugh: I can't think of any right now, any recommendations?
5. One book that made me cry: Trig and Calculus Text Books from school days.
6. One book that you wish you had written: The Spontaneous Expansion of the Church by Roland Allen (not really, I just like this book).
7. One book you wish had never been written: The Trail of Blood by ? (can't remember).
8. One book that you are currently reading: Spiritual Leadership by Henry and Richard Blackaby (for the second time and yes, I like J. Oswald Sander's classic as well).
9. One book that you’ve been meaning to read: The Training of The Twelve by Alexander Balmain Bruce.

cpm... for every context?

2006-08-05T15:15:00.000-06:00

In many of our discussions about mission, I see the word "context" used quite frequently. We usually bring out that word when someone describes something that God is doing among their people group but we don't see that happening in our "context". Just to clarify, I think we are using the word to describe our: circumstance, situation, framework, perspective or environment. Somewhere along the way we hear, "That may be the case in your field, but it does not work that way in our context." In other words, what works in one part of the world among a particular people, does not work in a different circumstance.

I am good at generalizing and over-simplifying things. So bear with me here as I attempt to describe a few of my observations about missionary environments. (BTW - when I use the word "nation" I am referring to a people group).

1. Third-world Unevangelized Context - Much of the 10/40 window would fall into this category. Underdeveloped nations with little or no Christian presence. This is the context where we see most of today's church planting movements.

2. Third-world Evangelized Context - Many African nations (not all) fall into this category. Underdeveloped nations with a large percentage of the population professing to be evangelical Christian. There are great numbers of churches, denominations and organizations focusing on the reached people groups. There are pockets of lostness, neglected people groups/population segments in the same countries.

3. Industrial Unevangelized Context - A few Latin countries and many Asian nations are in this category. Emerging developed nations with little or no Christian presence.

4. Industrial Evangelized Context - Most of Latin America is in this category. Emerging developed nations with a large percentage of evangelical Christians. Again, there may be unreached people groups or segments in the same highly evangelized country.

5. Post-Industrial Unevangelized Context - Most of Western Europe and some parts of the U.S. are in this category. Developed countries with little evangelical presence or very little among certain segments.

6. Post-Industrial Evangelized Context - A few Asian countries, most of the U.S. and very few overall in this category. Developed countries with large evangelical presence. Pockets of lostness found in newer generations emerging.

I know that there is better terminology out there and well researched data about this sort of thing, I am just mentioning some very general contexts that I observe in the world today. Now, maybe you would like to add to or take away from what I offer here, that is fine, go ahead. This is not meant to be an academic exercise. I have a question:

Is it possible to see a type of church planting movement in each of these environments (or any other context you may define)? A church planting movement is defined as: Indigenous churches rapidly multiplying among the people of that culture so that everyone can access the good news of Jesus Christ.

Here are some general stages of development I observe as nations/people groups are evangelized through church planting movements:

A. In the beginning of a movement where there is very little or no evangelical Christian presence, small groups/house churches reproduce and multiply to spread the gospel. There will be certain individuals that God will use mightily to stimulate and nurture this initial stage of development.

B. As the gospel is spread far and wide through small reproducible groups/house churches, there will be church development that will produce larger congregations. Some small groups/house churches will die, some will remain small but network with others, some will combine with others to create larger congregations. Another type of leader emerges in this stage to train others and deepen the maturity of the churches.

C. Some of the congregations will develop into mega churches with cell groups. During this stage believers will access mass media to saturate regions with the gospel. Christian sub-cultures will develop and the gospel will not reach into every segment. Sophisticated and well-groomed leadership characterize this stage of development.

Okay, I know I have used some very broad brushstrokes here. Please forgive me for that. The purpose is to get us thinking about our context. In what context do you find yourself working? Can you identify with any of the situations I have described? Is cpm possible in your context?

prayer update

2006-08-01T10:41:00.000-06:00

The anti-Christian groups continue opposition in John's area. But the work is growing in spite of their efforts. John*, the doctor and another leader (Dan*) are doing well. They are penetrating some new villages. The doctor is evangelizing his home village which is 7 kms away from where he practices medicine. People there are very interested in the gospel.

In the midst of the persecution, John baptized 23 new believers. There were 60 baptisms reported in this area by four different church planters during the last ten days. More believers are ready for baptism, but because of flooding (not because of persecution), they had to postpone.

Thank you for praying, continue to pray for boldness in the face of opposition.

*pseudonyms

cpm... a new testament pattern

2006-07-28T14:24:00.000-06:00

“…You became examples to all in Macedonia and Achaia who believe. For from you the word of the Lord sounded forth, not only in Macedonia and Achaia, but also in every place” (I Thessalonians 1:7,8a).

God’s word was spread by the Thessalonian churches to every place in their region. Paul’s teachings, “his ways in Christ,” were taught in every church everywhere by faithful disciples like Timothy and the churches Paul planted (I Cor. 4:17). Churches reproducing churches so that ultimately every place can have access to the gospel is what we call today a “church planting movement”. The phenomenon of church planting movements is nothing new. CPM is a term used today to describe a Holy Spirit driven process for evangelizing whole nations, or people groups.

We observe a pattern for what we call “CPM” in the New Testament and especially in the book of Acts. Following are passages that describe a movement of the Holy Spirit that led to the first “CPM” (Acts 9:31).

Observe what happened after the coming of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost, Peter’s message and the results …
“And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit…we hear them speaking in our own tongues the wonderful works of God… Then those who gladly received his word were baptized; and that day about three thousand souls were added to them. And they continued steadfastly in the apostles’ teaching and fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and in prayers… So continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house… praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to the church daily those who were being saved” (Acts 2:4a, 11b, and 41-42,46a,47).

Observe what happened after the healing of the lame man, Peter and John’s arrest, and the results…
“And they laid hands on them, and put them in custody until the next day, for it was already evening. However, many of those who heard the word believed; and the number of the men came to be about five thousand” (Acts 4:3,4).

Observe what happened after the prayer of believers in response to threats and the results…
“And when they had prayed, the place where they were assembled together was shaken; and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and they spoke the word of God with boldness. Now the multitude of those who believed were of one heart and one soul; neither did anyone say that any of the things he possessed was his own, but they shared all things in common” (Acts 4:31,32).

Observe what happened after the signs and wonders done among the people through the apostles and the results…
“And believers were increasingly added to the Lord, multitudes of both men and women…” (Acts 5:14).

Observe what happened after the trial and beating of the apostles by the religious council and the results…
“And daily in the temple, and in every house, they did not cease teaching and preaching Jesus as the Christ. Now in those days, the number of the disciples was multiplying…” (Acts 5:42-6:1a).

Observe what happened after the multitude of disciples chose seven new leaders to serve and the results…
“…Whom they set before the apostles; and when they had prayed, they laid hands on them. Then the word of God spread, and the number of the disciples multiplied greatly…” (Acts 6:6,7a).

Observe what happened after Stephen’s murder, how the Jerusalem believers fled persecution and the results…
“Therefore those who were scattered went everywhere preaching the word. Then Philip went down to the city of Samaria and preached Christ to them. And the multitudes with one accord heeded the things spoken by Philip, hearing and seeing the miracles, which he did. For unclean spirits, crying with a loud voice came out of many who were possessed; and many who were paralyzed and lame were healed. And there was great joy in that city… But when they believed Philip as he preached the things concerning the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, both men and women were baptized” (Acts 8:4-8,12).

Observe what happened after Saul’s (Paul’s) conversion and the results… “Then the churches throughout all Judea, Galilee, and Samaria had peace and were edified. And walking in the fear of the Lord and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit, they were multiplied” (Acts 9:31).

Early on in Acts, even before the great missionary Paul, we see a pattern for evangelism and church planting that reproduced and multiplied rapidly among all the people of a particular region (primarily Jewish people at this point). God performed mighty acts through His obedient followers that resulted in what we identify today as a “church planting movement”. In Acts chapter five, we see a shift in the momentum of the first church planting movement. Earlier in chapter five, “believers were increasingly added to the Lord” (Acts 5:14). However, later in chapter five it is recorded that, “the number of the disciples was multiplying” (Acts 5:42). In every Holy Spirit driven movement we see this same characteristic. At some point the believers, churches and leaders that are added in the beginning of the movement start to multiply. This happens when several spiritual generations are reproducing themselves, much like a family will multiply when grandchildren start having great grandchildren, and then the great grandchildren reproduce, and so on. Every church planting movement sees this type of spiritual reproduction that results in rapidly multiplying indigenous churches that get the gospel to every place.

In Acts 9:31 we see that the churches throughout that entire region were multiplying. Today God continues to do the same work that He did through the early church. He is using His obedient healthy churches that are reproducing disciples, churches and leaders to get the good news to every place.

How can we join God in a movement like this among our own focus people?

It will require following a Biblical pattern that is indigenous and easily reproduced by the people. It will go beyond adding disciples to multiplying churches. What kind of church in your context will do this? It may look quite different from other churches or anything anyone has ever seen before. Have you discovered a “way in Christ” that works for reaching your people? The test is: the people can easily follow that way in Christ and teach others to do the same. If we are struggling to see a Holy Spirit driven movement happen among our people, let us persevere in vigilant prayer and walking in the Spirit, until we discover that breakthrough that will lead to a church planting movement.

For more information about church planting movements today, order the book from:
churchplantingmovements.com

prayer request

2006-07-23T19:54:00.000-06:00

Some have graciously offered to pray for our ministry. Below are some specific requests. I include earlier reports so you can know the background for the prayer request in the final paragraph:

UPDATE: FEBRUARY 2006
One of our church planter families has a tailoring shop in a village where they are starting a new church. The village doctor’s wife enrolled in sewing classes. She worshipped the monkey god faithfully, performing elaborate worship rituals before her idol, spending a lot of money on the rituals hoping for blessings and peace. Instead, she suffered from persistent migraines and never felt any peace, only torment. The church planter prayed for her in front of the sewing class. From that day on, she never had another migraine. When she concluded that Jesus healed her, she believed in Christ and threw away her idols. Her husband, the medical doctor, had heard about someone called Jesus when he was in the eighth grade, but never found anyone who could tell him more (he is now in his thirties). He found the church planter to learn more. He also accepted Christ, especially after he witnessed the change in his wife. The doctor is so enthusiastic now that he is sharing his testimony with everyone in his village. The doctor said, “This is wonderful news, everyone needs to hear this! Before now, there was no one to tell us about Jesus.” He plans to take the gospel to all of the surrounding villages. Pray for this couple as they continue in discipleship and are trained by the church planter.

UPDATE: MARCH 2006
Thank you for praying for the village doctor and his wife who gave their lives to Christ. They followed the Lord in baptism this past month and shared a powerful testimony to all who witnessed the event. The doctor took all of the images and idols that had decorated their home and threw them in the river where he was baptized. He said, (to the idols), "You have been a curse to me and my family, now you are dead to me." What a beautiful picture of what baptism means... our old life is dead and buried; we are raised to a new life in Christ! The doctor has a goal of reaching and baptizing 50 families for Christ. Continue to pray for him and his family as they continue in discipleship and seek to spread the gospel to all the surrounding villages.

UPDATE: JULY 2006
A radical religious group arrived at our tailoring center a few days ago and threatened to beat the church planter family if they did not stop teaching Christian songs and sharing the gospel with people. This radical group was planning to make a disturbance but the landlord came to the rescue and dispersed the group. Our church planter (John) has been warned not to enter this village where he has been going to share the gospel. The believers in that village are also being threatened with death by the radical religious group if they continue to meet as a church or have any Christian meeting. The new believers are very afraid right now. John has not been able to return to that village. Please pray for protection and perseverance for all the believers, and for the three new house churches in this area. Please pray for the three local leaders and their families, including the village doctor that was baptized recently.

am i being followed?

2006-07-17T13:10:00.000-06:00

How did Paul and his missionary team come to be known in Thessalonica as, “these who have turned the world upside down” (Acts 17:6b)? How did they leave a new healthy reproducing church in Thessalonica after only 3 to 4 weeks? We know from the letters written later by Paul to the Thessalonians that they: “Became examples to all in Macedonia and Achaia who believe. For from you," (not from Paul), "the word of the Lord sounded forth, not only in Macedonia and Achaia, but also in every place” (I Thess. 1:7,8a).

Even after a very short time, Paul and his partners left behind vibrant reproducing churches that extended to reach every place in that region with the word of God. How is that possible? We find the answer in God’s word through the follow-up letters of Paul to churches that he planted, and in his letters to faithful disciples like Timothy and Titus. Paul reminded the Thessalonian churches: “For you, brethren, became imitators of the churches of God which are in Judea in Christ Jesus” (I Thess. 2:14a). Paul said to the Corinthian believers: “Imitate me, just as I also imitate Christ” (I Cor. 11:1).

When physical reproduction takes place in a family, characteristics are passed on from parents to children. The children grow up demonstrating not only some physical resemblance to the parents, but also acting out some of their character traits, both good and bad. These characteristics can be passed on from generation to generation as children form their own families reproducing grandchildren and so on.

The same is true of spiritual reproduction. The disciple will imitate his teacher. The new church will imitate the mother church. Imitation of fellow believers in Christ through the transforming power of the Holy Spirit is the means for spiritual reproduction. If disciples, churches and leaders reproduce, this will lead to multiplication, and the kingdom of God can be extended to populate every place, just as it was in the first century.

But what or whom should we imitate? There must be a pattern or model that we follow in order to reproduce. Paul gave the churches a model to imitate. This model was reproduced over and over again through faithful disciples like Timothy. Paul told Timothy: “Hold fast the pattern of sound words which you have heard from me, in faith and love which are in Christ Jesus. That good thing which was committed to you, keep by the Holy Spirit who dwells in us” (II Timothy 1:13,14). Paul instructed the Corinthians: “Therefore I urge you, imitate me. For this reason I have sent Timothy to you, who is my beloved and faithful son in the Lord, who will remind you of my ways in Christ, as I teach everywhere in every church” (I Corinthians 4:16,17). Paul also said to Timothy: “And the things that you have heard from me among many witnesses, commit these to faithful men who will be able to teach others also” (II Timothy 2:2). Jesus said, “Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men” (Matthew 4:19). So this process for training came from the Lord. Christ gave a model for His disciples to follow and reproduce. Paul imitated Christ and modeled for others like Timothy how to follow a pattern so that they could teach others also.

If we followed a pattern, could we become a model for others to imitate, train them to teach others and see reproduction for many spiritual generations to come? This would need to be a model that anyone among our focus people could follow and reproduce. I am not saying the pattern would look the same for every people and place. But I am saying that we need a simple reproducible model/pattern for making disciples among our focus people group, if we want to see multiplication.

Let's ask ourselves: "Am I being followed?" The next question: "Are my disciples being followed?"

the power of baptism

2006-07-11T22:05:00.000-06:00

Our training in South Asia involves meeting with indigenous church planters regularly to mentor/teach. Every time we meet, we use a process outlined as follows:
1. Accountability/Encouragement 2. New Teaching 3. Practice and 4. Assignment. This is basically how we “teach to obey”. There is much more about this that we will discuss in future posts. This post continues the discussion on baptism.

On one occasion, we were receiving reports about church planting efforts during a two-month period. They had followed the pattern we taught: praying as you go, sharing your personal story, finding the person of peace, gathering the household to share gospel stories, and staying with the new disciples to teach them to obey (among other things). We were greatly encouraged to hear that this particular small group of church planters now had 150 new believers!

We praised the Lord together and shared words of encouragement. Then we asked, “How many of these are baptized?” The main leader answered, “They are all ‘ready’ for baptism.” I then asked, “Why are they not baptized?” The main leader replied, “I have not had time” (he had traveled and was involved in some other activities). Of course, a red flag went up for me. I asked, “Who does the baptizing?” Only the main leader raised his hand.

We had already covered practical “how to” instruction on baptism, as well as the why, where, when, etc. So, I knew that was not the issue. We went back over those things again, just to make sure. But that was not the problem. The issue was one of authority. Only the main leader appeared to have the authority to baptize. After consulting with other national partners and with the main leader, we decided that the rest of the church planters needed assurance that they too have the authority to baptize. So, the next day we organized a special service and had the main leader lay hands on them, pray for them and “authorize” them to do all the Great Commission commands. We explained that this was not legal ordination to avoid problems with traditional denominational churches and the government. This was confirmation of their leadership to do all that was necessary to plant New Testament churches. I gave them the assignment, to go back and baptize every new believer in Christ that has confessed Jesus as their only God. In our context, this confession also involves cleaning house of all idols and images, along with other evidence of repentance. Also, in our context, ritual bathing is practiced by the main religion, so we must be careful that new believers fully understand the meaning of baptism and that it has no power to save or cleanse.

The next month we expected to hear that they baptized around 150 new believers. To our amazement, they returned the next month to report over 450 baptisms and over 50 new house churches! Of course, we were cautious about the reports and we wanted to confirm everything. After confirmation of names, dates, places, details, etc., we set out to determine what happened to bring in such a harvest. Here is what we discovered: The church planters felt empowered; they did not wait on permission from a higher authority. They baptized a new second generation of disciples and then empowered them to go and make disciples (with training of course). The second generation reproduced a third generation of disciples and they were baptized! Now, they were not baptized by the second generation. It all happened so fast that the second generation leaders did not feel confident (or authorized) to baptize. So, the first generation baptized the third. Now they are doing intensive training of the second and third generation leaders so that all will be fully equipped and empowered to obey the Great Commission.

If you sat under my teaching, you would know that this happened in spite of my abilities, intelligence, etc. I have made so many errors, a comedy of errors, but it’s not funny. I have failed the Lord over and over, the only way to explain this little success is: God. He is sovereign, He is at work in people’s lives, and He will use the most unlikely people to accomplish His will for His glory. So, we want to give all the glory to God and I will take responsibility for the failures.

I wanted to share what God is doing in our midst to illustrate a point about the power of baptism. While it is true that baptism is symbolic and no special power is derived from it, there is something about this step of obedience that emboldens believers. Where we serve, most new believers suffer consequences for publicly identifying with Christ through baptism. Their families reject them, or even disinherit them. They can lose jobs or businesses. But despite this, one can note the difference in their faith and life after following the Lord in baptism. Both, the baptizer and the one baptized, participate in a worship experience that somehow changes things. God honors their obedience and blesses them for it.

“As you are going, make disciples of all nations, baptizing them …” (Mt. 28:19a). I have to confess, in the past as a missionary I failed to emphasize the importance of baptism in making disciples. We would postpone, go easy on new believers, require they go through a discipleship course before baptism, etc. We set a pattern that diminished the importance of that part of the Great Commission. Many times new believers wandered off and out the back door of the church because of our neglect. I believe now that it had an adverse affect on our ministry and was probably one of the major factors in not seeing greater harvest. For church planting, we see a pattern in the book of Acts for immediate baptism. I think that pattern is there for a purpose. Still, we do not baptize immediately, but now we do encourage baptism as one of the first steps of obedience for a new believer. If they are not willing to take that step, we take that as a “no” to following Christ. We don’t expect new believers to be fruitful disciples until they follow the Lord in baptism.

baptism blues

2006-07-07T20:21:00.000-06:00

“I thank God that I baptized none of you except Crispus and Gaius, lest anyone should say that I had baptized in my own name. Yes, I also baptized the household of Stephanas. Besides, I do not know whether I baptized any other. For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel, not with wisdom of words, lest the cross of Christ should be made of no effect.” (I Cor. 1:14-17).

We served in Latin America for many years before moving to South Asia a couple of years ago. Why we did that is a whole ‘nother story. One of the big issues among Christians there (and just about everywhere) is who can baptize, who can be baptized, and when? (Does this sound familiar)? Most established churches have their tradition or custom and that has become “bible” for them. The last place we lived in Latin America we helped with a new house church. One of the first converts was a medical doctor. Unfortunately, we had a long-time believer from an established church that kind of pushed his way into the situation. He insisted that we should have an ordained pastor baptize this new brother in Christ. It did not matter that this pastor, who was not even involved in the house church, was not discipling this new believer. I wanted one of the lay leaders in the church to baptize the good doctor. He was a leader in the new church and one of the people discipling the new brother. I thought we had everything worked out until we arrived at the pool for baptism. There was that ordained pastor and at the last minute, he was pushed to go into the pool and stand on one side of the doctor while our lay leader stood on the other side. They both baptized him taking one arm on each side, and boy did he get dunked, but good! To make a long story short, that house church did not reproduce. A precedent was set that day with the first five baptized believers – “we must have a certain type of authorized person to baptize”. That started a “domino effect” with other issues that came up … the Lord’s Supper, “qualified” leadership, church structure, etc. It is possible that a church planting movement was killed that day by the poolside, we will never know. The Lord always finds someone else to obey His will if we are unwilling. He used someone else out of that church to start another house church that has reproduced many times over. Meanwhile, the original “house church” became a congregation with an inward focus.

Jesus commands us to make disciples and baptism accompanies obedience to that command (Mt. 28:19). Jesus modeled this in his ministry (Jn. 4:1,2). We see the pattern for immediate baptism of new followers of Christ throughout the book of Acts. It is interesting that Jesus did none of the baptizing (see Jn. 4:2). The great missionary Paul did very little baptizing (see I Cor. passage at the beginning of this post). In fact, Paul said that it was not a big deal who did the baptizing (my paraphrase of that passage). This issue (among others) had caused division in the Corinthian church. Paul rebuked them and said basically – you are missing the point! “Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel!” Baptism is still important; it accompanies the making of disciples. But extra-biblical rules for baptism should not be a barrier to obeying the Great Commission. Sadly, it is one of the barriers to the expansion of God’s kingdom on just about every mission field today.

We will continue this line of discussion in the next post. What are your thoughts? What issues concerning baptism have you faced while on mission?

sop for kiss

2006-07-05T13:22:00.000-06:00

As we train indigenous church planters here in South Asia, we try to practice the KISS principle (Keeping It Super Simple). We take the Great Commission from Matthew 28 and teach that Jesus gives us authority to do four things: Going; Making Disciples (the command); Baptizing; and Teaching to Obey. Then we answer the questions: How do we go? How do we make disciples? How do we baptize? How do we teach to obey?

This post will continue to address "how do we go"? We discussed the principle of searching for the "man of peace" in the previous post. The person of peace will be the bridge to his community/household - "oikos". This is his closest circle of family, friends and neighbors. If the person of peace and his oikos receive the church planter, an evangelism/discipleship process begins with stories from the word of God. As the Holy Spirit uses the word, people respond in faith, are reborn and a new church is planted with the first baptisms. Discipleship continues through teaching to obey.

The standard operating procedure (SOP) for our church planters in our corner of South Asia is as follows:

1. They go as a team, following the leadership of the Holy Spirit to a particular people/place.
2. They pray before they go and as they go (prayer walking).
3. They find people who will listen and share their testimony, and God's story.
4. They discover the person of peace and meet separately with his oikos to share more gospel stories and more of their personal story.
5. They baptize those who believe in Christ.
6. They stay with the new household of faith to teach them to obey Christ.
7. They move on but will revisit to encourage and appoint local leaders.

We see this same pattern in the apostle Paul's ministry:
1. Paul and his companions followed the leading of the Holy Spirit to focus on a particular people and place (Philippi) (Acts 16:6-10).
2. Paul and his team went to a place to pray. Could this be a biblical example of "prayer walking"? (Acts 16:13a).
3. Paul's team discovered a group of people (women) the Lord had prepared to hear the good news and shared God's story with them (Acts 16:13b).
4. They identified the person of peace (Lydia) that God had prepared to respond to the gospel and met with her household separately to explain the gospel in more detail (Acts 16:14).
5. They baptized the household, or group of new believers. This group was within the oikos (circle of influence) of the person of peace (Lydia) (Acts 16:15a).
6. Paul and his companions stayed with the new household of faith to teach them to obey (met in homes) (Acts 16:15b).
7. Paul and his team revisited the newly formed church to further equip leaders and encourage them to continue as obedient disciples, but then left them to go start churches in other places (Acts 16:40).

We train indigenous church planters in how to share your personal story (testimony), how to tell gospel stories, and how to pray as you go (prayer walking). Then we send them out to follow this pattern from the book of Acts.

This is "how we go" in our corner of South Asia. We apply patterns from Scripture as our "how to" model. What is your experience in going on mission? What patterns, if any, have you followed? Could the pattern mentioned in this post be adapted for your context?

as we are going ... looking for the person of peace

2006-06-28T23:24:00.000-06:00

This post is in part a response to a blog about Missionary Strategy
by David Rogers posted on June 28. I admire David and appreciate his ministry in the new last frontier of Western Europe. It is hard soil with hard to find “good soil”. Like David, I do not want to get into an argument either. I love David’s blog and it is one of the missionary blogs that inspired me to start my own.

The passages in Matthew 10, Mark 6 and Luke 10 concerning Jesus’ instructions to His disciples as He sent them out, should not be written off as proof texts for recent thinking from some missions strategists. These passages are from the Word of God and deserve our careful consideration. Like much of Scripture, these passages reveal some principles that can be applied differently in different contexts. They are not meant to serve as a cookie cutter approach for missionary methodology. Rather, they are meant to teach us some principles that can be applied in different ways depending on the situation:

1. Pray for the Lord to send more laborers (Mt. 9:38)
2. Receive authority and power from Jesus (Mt. 10:1)
3. Go where God calls you, to a specific people (Mt. 10:5,6)
4. Proclaim His word (Mt. 10:7)
5. Be an instrument for God’s power (Mt. 10:8)
6. Don’t take extra money or stuff (Mt. 10:9,10)
7. Find the “worthy” person and stay there (Mt. 10:11)
8. If his oikos receives you, stay, if not, move on (Mt. 10:12-14)
9. Don’t go alone, go two by two or as a team (Mark 6:7)
10. Depend on the hospitality offered by your hosts (Lk. 10:7,8)
11. Don’t go house to house after you find the person of peace, but stay to disciple their oikos (Lk. 10:7).

The above list is not meant to be exhaustive, just examples of principles that we can learn from Jesus on the “how” of going. These principles (and others) can be applied in different ways in different contexts. We practice many of these principles in our context and God has blessed. We trained our indigenous partners using these principles, along with others, and saw wonderful things happen as they obeyed the Lord.

Not every person of peace will be the one to reach the rest of the city or region. There may be that exceptional person that multiplies “a hundred fold”. However, it has been our experience to find multiple persons of peace, most do not multiply out, but a few will.

There are not persons of peace in every village, town or city. However, they can be found among every people group, otherwise, Christ would not have commanded us to make disciples of all peoples. We “shake the dust off”, or leave a place, when we cannot find that person. We keep going to the next place until we find the “good soil” that God has prepared. Again, this is a principle that requires different applications.

As far as the part about not taking extra money or stuff, … we teach that and try to practice that ourselves. We also teach to pray for people who want prayer for their needs. We see healings take place on a regular basis. Demons are cast out. We have not had any dead raised, yet.

Concerning judgment of entire people groups in the Old Testament … I don’t know, that is God’s arena. The New Testament judgments pronounced by Jesus were on cities or regions, not on entire people groups. I believe there are plenty of examples in Scripture of a holy remnant that God spared even as He severely judged a people. As for the Dark Ages – who knows? (Only the “Trail of Blood” people know ;-).

The apostle Paul practiced the principle of finding the “Person of Peace”. Look at Acts 16 (Lydia and the Philippian Jailer), Acts 17 (Jason), Acts 18 (Justus and Crispus), etc. The Holy Spirit leads in all of this … Paul was following His lead.

Concerning how long to stay, etc., that will vary from place to place. We don’t use MAWL for training here, we use MODEL … Model a Biblical Pattern, Observe Obedience, Delegate Authority, Encourage Faithfulness, and Leave to Start New Work. We get this pattern for discipleship/training from Scripture. We never abandon, we follow up after leaving with: 1. Correspondence, 2. Timothy/Titus types, and 3. Personal revisits. Remember we are talking about missionary ministry here, not pastoral ministry.

Our “plowing” occurs through prayer. The Holy Spirit prepares the soils, we sow/plant and water (hopefully in His power).

“One size does not fit all.” Correct. That is the application part, and it can vary. However, the Scriptural principles remain the same for all.

Thanks to David Rogers for the good dialogue.

worship outside the walls ... WOW!

2006-06-27T19:44:00.000-06:00

"... and you Jews say that in Jerusalem is the place where one ought to worship ..." (Jn. 4:20).

One thing we are reminded of every day in South Asia is that we are created for worship. We have this innate desire to connect with God even when we don't know who He is, or how to communicate with Him. Every morning on the roof of an apartment building next to ours, a lady prays to a plant. All around us neighbors are performing elaborate rituals before their favorite idol nearly every day. On the streets people are bowing down by the side of the road before a temple statue or shrine. These people are a worshipping people! We know of a man who spends 3 hours every day in worship before his house god! I don't know about you, but that puts my quiet time to shame! People here spend huge chunks of their time, energy and resources giving glory to their god. While most in the western church give little time, energy or resources to the one true living God. God is seeking true worshippers, He desires authentic worship (Jn. 4:23). Worship is not about a certain place or religion, it is about a real relationship with the living God.

"You worship what you do not know..." (Jn. 4:22).

One of our colleagues in South Asia taught us a great truth about evangelism. God is having a conversation with people, even people who do not yet know Him (Ro. 1:20-25). God is speaking through His creation, through circumstances and other people in their lives. They are trying to understand, but unfortunately they worship created things instead of the Creator (Ro. 1:25). I believe many are sincerely looking for God. But there is no one to introduce them to the one true living God (Ro. 10:14). As we are going, we can enter into their lives and join in the conversation, picking up where God left off. If we have a transparent life walking in the light with nothing to hide, they will let us in on the conversation. We may not reach the conclusion and see them receive the Lord, but we can play a part in moving them closer to knowing God. Worship is not about a certain code of behavior or ritual, it is about an honest conversation with the living God and others.

"In the meantime His disciples urged Him, saying, "Teacher, eat!" ... Jesus said to them, "My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me, and to finish His work" (Jn. 4:31, 34).

I don't know about you, but it takes a lot of pressure off when I am reminded that this is HIS work. I don't need to fret about my schedule or plans as long as I am worshipping God for real. He will let me in on what the real agenda is, His agenda. His will becomes quite obvious and all that is left for me is obedience. If we love Him, we obey Him. We are more than servants, we are His friends. A servant does not know what His master is doing, but as friends God makes His plans known to us (see Jn. 15:9-16). Worship is not about following a certain program, it is about doing God's will (Ro.12:1, 2).

If we experience authentic worship on a daily basis, no place, ritual or program will contain it. We will worship outside the walls (both spiritual and physical), and people will say, "WOW! So that is what I am looking for!"

who is going? ... everybody!

2006-06-23T13:58:00.000-06:00

"Who is this?" I asked one of our church planters about a 12 year old boy who had accompanied him to our training event. "Oh, he is one of us," replied the church planter. "He is one of your family?" I asked. "No, he is part of our team, he is going with us to plant churches." He added, "our team member's wives and children go too, so that they can relate to the families we meet in the villages."

What a breath of fresh air to meet people like that, where the Great Commission is interpreted so literally and perceived as something that every follower of Christ should obey! Jesus, with all authority, commands us: "As you are going, make disciples of all people groups" (more literal translation). Jesus assumes that everyone in His church will be going somewhere. Not everyone will make it to the "uttermost". Most will be going in their own Jerusalem (Acts 5:42). Some will go to their Judea and Samaria (Acts 8:4, 5). A few will be sent to the ends of the earth (Acts 13:1-3). But everybody in the church is going somewhere. Maybe most are not going where the Lord desires, but they are going. Most are not doing what the Lord has in mind, but they are doing something. Somewhere and something is better than nowhere and nothing, right?

After 200 years of the modern missionary movement the ratio of Christian missionaries to lost population in some places in the world remains shocking. The average for South Asia is less than 10 missionaries for every one million lost persons ("Closing the Gap," Garrison). That includes all evangelical groups. The average for IMB, SBC in South Asia right now is about one missionary for every six million lost. Of course we have a good number of national missionaries, and then many more indigenous workers in some areas (as it should be).

But it still boggles my mind how many people are going somewhere else. Are they hearing the Lord correctly when He calls? Upon hearing where we were going, one of my relatives asked, "Are you sure the Lord said _____? Maybe you heard wrong, maybe He was saying Indiana." I don't think He would say Indiana to me, but you never know.

There are two possible explanations for the ratio imbalance of missionaries to lost population here on this side of the planet. The first is ... this part of the world, and the hundreds of unengaged people groups living here, are reserved for the Gideons. No, not the organization "The Gideons," that distribute Bibles. I mean a type of Gideon. God determined that Gideon only needed 300 to deliver the enemy into the hands of God's people (Judges 7:7). The enemy (the Midianite people) was innumerable (Judges 7:12). The reason given by the Lord to Gideon for this strategy: "The people who are with you are too many (Gideon had 32,000 soldiers at first) ... lest Israel claim glory for itself against Me, saying, 'My own hand has saved ...' (Judges 7:2)."

Hummm ... maybe that's it. I don't know, it very well could be ... but you haven't heard the second explanation. Could it be ... God is calling and His people are not listening? Missional churches SEND. Everbody is going. Hopefully not to Indiana.

in the name of missions

2006-06-19T15:54:00.000-06:00

The summer season for "mission trips" is here! Churches send their people to destinations near and far in the name of missions. Individuals, and sometimes families, sacrifice personal finances and vacation time to go "on mission". Projects usually include ministry to the poor, maybe teaching in a children's Bible school, helping to construct a house for a needy family, or possibly even a church building. Some will do personal witnessing by sharing their faith in Christ with total strangers (if the locals speak some English, or are blessed to have a translator). A few will preach a sermon in a local indigenous (native) church, or give a musical presentation with a gospel message.

A lot of things are done in the name of missions. They are usually helpful and good things to do. But are we really obeying the Great Commission, or the "Mission", when we do these things? What is the Mission that Christ gave to His disciples (to us, the church)? According to Mt. 28:18-20, He has all authority (privilege and power), therefore He commanded His disciples to do the following: Make disciples (followers of Christ) of all nations (peoples). The "make disciples" part is in command form. That is the part that we should obey. There are three other actions that accompany the making of disciples: Going, baptizing and teaching them to obey.

Could the community service, construction, personal testimonies or sermons help to accomplish the "Mission"? It's possible... but most of the time that is as far as the mission trip takes us. We go back home, give a great report about what we (God) did, and forget about it a few weeks later when the next initiative in our church grabs our attention.

The challenge: Next time you plan a mission trip, make it more than a trip. Begin a missionary journey with God. I used to take trips... no more... I am on a journey with God. In South Asia I discovered that He is more than my Master and I am more than His servant. He is my Friend (Jn. 15:15). I am part of His mission, He is letting me in on His plan for redeeming a people. The Mission is a journey with Christ, but there is a task to obey as well (Jn. 15:14). In the next post I will begin a series about how to obey the Great Commission, or the Mission.

on-mission on-line

2006-06-15T18:01:00.000-06:00

Hi, I am mr. t ... not the Mr. T from the A-Team. Sorry to disappoint you. I am a missionary in South Asia. Cannot give my real name or exact location because of security concerns. Today I became a blogging missionary (or missionary blogger?) to begin a dialogue with you about missions. My hope is that we can help each other to be on mission, or be "missional", as they like to call it these days.

So, if you would like to kick the tires (give it a try), or even change a tire ... please join in the conversation...

What verse or passage from the Bible best describes our mission (really God's mission)? My vote is for Matthew 28:18-20. I believe this passage is the best mission statement we have from Scripture for the church. I will post about this in the coming days.

on mission to the uttermost,
mr. t