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Ideas, convictions, and observations about church planting.

Wednesday
24Feb2010

Global (and spiritual) Sons

DateFeb 24, 2010 at 7:00 AM

I recently spoke with a leader of a global missionary initiative. He explained to me how he was interested in the way mission-theory and thinking on a local level can be transferred globally.

As I thought about that idea--that what we learn in our own setting can have implications and application to other believers in other cultural contexts around the globe, I was reminded of something the Apostle Paul wrote to his son-in-the-faith, Timothy:

...what you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses entrust to faithful men who will be able to teach others also.

While this is traditionally applied to training up young men in the content of the Christian faith, I think it sometimes is treated too academically.

As if the only thing Timothy "heard" from Paul was, say, sermons.

Ask yourself this question: what do you remember from your dad? (Click below to read more.)

Click to read more ...

AuthorPhil | CommentPost a Comment |
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Friday
12Feb2010

Why Plant a Church? part 5

DateFeb 12, 2010 at 6:00 AM

Living sent lives is at the heart of what church planting seeks to accomplish.

For those who do not yet believe the Gospel, their new faith enables them to align with God for the first time in their lives.

This is something like discovering an owner’s manual to a fancy machine that previously, because of ignorance, was unusable. Or, if useful, not fully functional.

Once I was given an electronic light switch that turns on and off according to a digital timer. But I didn't know how to program it. Basically it was useless.

However, I was able to find a copy of the directions on line, and all of the sudden, what was nothing more than a simple $1.99 toggle switch turned into a sophisticated piece of electronic equipment.

Being enlightened by the Gospel works this way too.

Now, knowing the Good News that Jesus died and rose again to justify a people for Himself “zealous for good works,” someone who was once “lost” is now “found.” (Click below to read more.)

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AuthorPhil | CommentPost a Comment |
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Thursday
11Feb2010

Why Plant a Church? part 4

DateFeb 11, 2010 at 7:00 AM

We've looked at church planting, and some foundational assumptions about why it's an important movement within the Christian church, over the past three days. To review, we've seen:

  1. Discipleship means providing the equipment a person needs to hear, follow, and obey Jesus' call on their lives.
  2. Believers are called to be reformed and reshaped to fit back into the original charter of Jesus in the Gospel: living a sent life in all aspects of life as God’s partner in the world.
  3. Too many of us have become functional gluttons and, so far from being on mission with God, have become obsessed with our own.

But that was not the reason for which Jesus died and rose again. (Click to read more.)

Click to read more ...

AuthorPhil | CommentPost a Comment |
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Wednesday
10Feb2010

Why Plant a Church? part 3

DateFeb 10, 2010 at 8:00 AM

The occasion God intends believers to use the gifts He has given them is every day life.

This is why recent missional thinkers and pastors have called on Christians to live "sent lives"--missionaries, on mission with God, partnering with Him in His mission in the world.

I love how one pastor analyzed the current situation in too many churches:

Many churches are serving "almost like containers" and holding people in rather than sending them out to spread the Gospel. "It's almost as if we're extracting people from the world instead of equipping them and sending them into the world."

Holding them in. It reminds me of the feeling of being too full after a huge meal. Can you remember how that feels?

Some have noticed that Western, American material prosperity leads, too often, to a kind of inebriation of blessing, such that this "being full" image is true on a society-wide scale. (Click below to read more.)

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AuthorPhil | CommentPost a Comment |
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Tuesday
09Feb2010

Why Plant a Church? part 2

DateFeb 9, 2010 at 9:00 AM

Yesterday I defined discipleship as the process by which a person is provided with the equipment a he or she needs to hear, follow, and obey Jesus' call on their lives.

I ended my essay by asking a metaphor question: is the church more like a container to be filled or a tool to be sharpened for use?

The answer should be both. Let me explain. (Click to read more.)

Click to read more ...

AuthorPhil | CommentPost a Comment |
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