Wed, 21 Nov 2007 11:24:31 +1100 http://www.houseofdean.com/ The Leaders Guide en-us http://www.houseofdean.com/images/logo.gif http://www.houseofdean.com/ dean@pinestraining.com.au http://www.houseofdean.com/Article24.phtml Some people love the Church, some are suspicious of the Church and still others hate it with a vengeance!But which Church do they love or hate? Is it the greying, largely traditional Church; the aggressive, contemporary mega or regional Church; or the almost hidden (no buildings) emerging Church? And which Church needs to change? The pundits are predicting the demise of many of the established congregations over the next 20 years due to their failure to attract young adults. This happened in the UK amongst the Methodists two decades ago and out of the closures of many Churches there arose a whole new vibrant Church planting movement which successfully engaged people with the Gospel. It is a foolish thing to write off the Church when Christ said He Himself would build it! Individual congregations may become non-viable but the Church will always be with us in some form or another. The question many Church leaders are asking is, “How can the Church in Australia re-invent itself in order to get back on message and fulfil Christ’s mission in the world?” This question implies there are certain non-negotiables that are presumably sacrosanct due to Biblical constraints. I am fairly certain there has not been enough homework done on these issues to date. For this reason we may have made the mistake of calling some emerging “models” Churches, when in fact they do not fulfil the basic functions according to the Bible. The question also implies it is possible re-invent the Church in any age. There is a need for clear contextualisation here. If we can determine the difference between what is obviously Biblical and valid in all cultures, and what is clearly cultural in the Australian Church, then it will be possible for a new Church to emerge that is clothed in the Australian culture yet challenging to those aspects that defy the Bible. Eddie Gibbs in Church Next declared our Churches can display one of three attitudes towards the world around them. Firstly, we can display an attitude of judgmental isolation. This head-in-the sand attitude ignores the fact that complete isolation is impossible because most of our people have to cope with the pressures of the world on a daily basis. Secondly, we may display an attitude of protective separation. This attitude involves engagement with the world, but it also demands that individuals who wish to enter the Church must clean up their lives first and undergo cultural indoctrination and initiation. The third attitude is one of missionary engagement according to Gibbs. In this case, the Church recognises its “distinctive identity in the Gospel but also its calling within a specific culture.” In this preferred third alternative, “The Church goes into the world with the same degree of dependence as Jesus demonstrated towards His Heavenly Father, and also with humility and repentance in communicating its message.” This third attitude best describes where the Church should be. The primary challenge facing the Australian Church is not the challenge of re-inventing itself, but the challenge of re-connecting with people who have a different worldview so as to present the Gospel in a way that makes sense to them. This challenge necessitates a missionary mindset and demands all the skills employed by cross-cultural missionaries overseas. Three of us who minister together out of this missionary conviction are embarking on a journey together. I (John Tanner) am a missiologist, Colin Stoodley is a Church planter and the training director of The Pines Training Centre, and Dean Thomas is a pastor evangelist. We also represent three generations. We’re not sure where our journey will take us because we know we don’t have all the answers. We need input from others that we meet on the road. [John] During the years when the influence of Christendom was pervasive within Australian culture, people connected with the Church as a relevant and necessary part of their community. Now Australia is a multi-cultural nation in a post-Christian phase. We shouldn’t allow the high profile of a few mega Churches to hide this fact from us. We are correct to view Australia as a mission field that requires us to re-connect with various sectors of our society in redemptive ways. [Dean] John’s point regarding the decline of influence of Christendom within Australian society can no longer be argued against. For some within the Church, this has been a frightening development causing all sorts of negative reactions detrimental to the cause of ‘winning Aussies for Christ’. Some Churches are now so disconnected to society that unless a miracle occurs the Church will continue to be, at best, irrelevant or at worst, counter-productive to reaching the unsaved. [John] The first step in the journey to re-connection is preparation. Everyone knows the key to a successful journey lies in being properly prepared. Our preparation involves: understanding the worldview of the people we’re trying to reach determining what is to be contextualised, and identifying appropriate ministry models 1. Understanding Worldview We can think of worldview in three general categories. The surface category is the cognitive dimension dealing with what people know, the way they think logically and how they view wisdom. The intermediate level of worldview is the affective dimension which deals with feelings and aesthetics. The deepest level of worldview is the evaluative dimension which is comprised of beliefs, values and allegiances. In order to reach people with the Gospel, we must first understand and appreciate their worldview. The worldview of the Baby Boomer is radically different from that of the Gen Xer. Similarly, recent immigrants from Hong Kong will have a different worldview from third generation Australian Chinese. Unless the Gospel penetrates deep down to the level of beliefs and values, true conversion is not possible. One of the greatest challenges facing the Australian Church is to understand and appreciate the worldview of people under thirty-five years of age in order to re-connect with them and to introduce them to Jesus. 2. Contextualisation [John] The second task in preparing ourselves to re-invent the Church is the work of contextualisation. Because Jesus commanded us to preach the Gospel to “all the people groups,” we may safely assume that the Gospel will fit within every sub-culture on the planet. One problem we have is that we constantly fail to distinguish between what is Biblical in the Church and what is cultural. Whenever we move across cultures we must be careful to leave behind the “cultural garments” of our home Church and to plant relevant Biblical truth and practices within a whole new “garment” indigenous to the new culture. It is necessary for us to determine the Biblical nature and functions of the Church; the essence of the Gospel; the character of true conversion; the responsibilities of discipleship and the descriptors of spiritual maturity to begin with. In our Churches we have added much to basic Biblical Christianity that is cultural. If we are to share the Gospel in redemptive ways to another culture or generation we had better understand what the message is, how it relates and what are the implications of conversion within that culture. [Colin] The point John makes about contextualisation is absolutely vital. When I began ministry as a planter in the early 1980s there was no discussion about this among planters in Australia. Now it is rightly becoming a rigorous part of our preparation and ministry as planters. As well as this, with regards to describing Australia as “post-Christian” I also like to think of Australia as “pre-Christian” because this helps me see the opportunity just as seeing us as a post-Christian nation helps me see the challenges realistically. This is a great day for us if we will accept the challenge. We must not be intimidated but release the creative elements of our lives to the task. But seeing ourselves rightly also involves accepting the reality of what we have “added” to the Gospel by way of “western” enculturalisation. This involves examining our message and methods to discern what must be stripped away. This will be a painful process but among new Churches being planted there is a natural and amazing opportunity to do this without major dislocation. In planting new Churches we can not only do evangelism better but we can complete the reformation of the Church quicker. [Dean] There are several emerging grassroots “movements” which have identified the need for careful contextualization in the preparation stage and have created a community of faith amongst those who understand evangelism is no longer an event but a process in context. The Engell scale (of evangelism) has become second nature to these people. The Engell scale, by nature, “forces” God’s people to contextualise. Succesful evangelism is no longer about getting the ‘kill’, it is working at moving people along the process from completely unaware of religion through to a conversion experience and on to becoming replicating followers of Christ. With this in mind evangelism is no longer just the realm of the evangelist. It is now the responsibility of the whole Church! Once again the power is in the hands of the Church, not a select few. 3. Appropriate ministry models [John] Possibly the easiest task of the preparation stage is discovering and developing appropriate models of ministry. Note that I was careful to say “ministry” and not Church.” Today there are experimental models that I would call ministries which do not qualify Biblically to be called Churches. I applaud those who have the courage to experiment and cheer them on to complete the task God has called them to do. The appropriateness of the models will be determined by the worldview of the people we are seeking to reach. For example, anyone seeking to reach people under thirty-five must adopt a model that has a strong relational base because this generation relates to friends more than to family. Church leaders tell us that the Mega Church model based on marketing techniques is no longer the preferred option. In some Denominations this policy shift will create a vacuum. There are many possible models, but we must be discerning in our choices. [Colin] The models of our ministries will look different. We are already seeing that and, I believe, accepting that as a fact. But there are some very big picture things that we must somehow never lose sight of. What underpins this three stage process that John presents is that we retain the element of God’s Spirit in a continuous process of transformation. Even if we understand worldview, do our contextualisation and change our ministry models, we must not lose what God Himself brings to the table. Being people of the Spirit and prayer cannot be replaced. My great concern is that we will become “clever” but not “consecrated.” When I was a planter the first time around, I attended a conference on the new thing at that time – Church growth. For a while I think we lost the deep transforming work of the Spirit and became quick to analyse and adapt but not quick to yield. My prayer would be that what John is calling for will be adopted in lives that resound to the person and work of God the Holy Spirit. My sense as a Church Planter is that this dimension gives energy and vitality and effect to the disciplines we must adopt. [Dean] I can also see a change regarding ministry models happening amongst my evangelist friends. The evangelists of the past who have been so successful in times gone by are no longer reaping the same size harvest in Australia. As a result, some of them are looking for someone to blame (eg lack of pre-crusade preparation on behalf of the Churches). This in turn increases the gap between Church leaders and evangelists. These old models of evangelism won’t be successful in this postmodern culture. “Modern” evangelists (as opposed to those who operate within the current postmodern context) are looking for harvest fields in which they can once again see dramatic numeric results. So many are turning to other countries. The decline of the big time Evangelist’s hey-day has well and truly started and it won’t be long before it is complete. Now I know this sounds dark and gloomy, but the story doesn’t end there. I believe the Scriptures – not even the gates of hell shall prevail! Before our very eyes we are witnessing grass roots movements that are changing the way Churches and evangelists work together to re-connect with everyday Australians in order to bring in the harvest. I for one am very hopeful. [John] This is just the start of the discussion. If you would like to join us in the journey we would welcome your presence and comments. Together we may discover some principles that will help to shape the mission of the Church in the next five years. ~ John Tanner (Minister at large, Southern Cross Institute and Missiologist) ~ Colin Stoodley (Training Director, The Pines Training Centre) ~ Dean Thomas (Pastor/evangelist and pioneer in internet evangelism) Wed, 21 Nov 2007 11:24:31 +1100 http://www.houseofdean.com/Article23.phtml Growing up I feared with a passion school report card day. To this day my father has not seen all of my report cards. Last week my four year old son brought his first report card home from kindergarten. How is that possible? How do you prepare a report on a four year old who can’t read or write, whose favourite conversation starter is, “Is sixty bigger than sixty hundred?” After careful reading I soon discovered the report card serves no purpose other than to evaluate my son’s ‘imagination’ or creativity. Now I don’t need a teacher to tell me my son has an imagination – he told me last night he was going to buy me a new car for my birthday. By nature all kids are creative. We don’t have to teach kids how to explore, how to ask questions, how to make up stories, it just happens! I think it’s this creativity in humans which makes us different to all other created beings, and to the rest of creation. The Bible tells us the reason our kids are creative is because they are created in the image and likeness of the God who is ‘creative’. Not just the creator of the universe but the creative of the universe! God imagined our world before He created it, and when He spoke it came into being. Obviously, there is a difference between you and me and God. God created out of nothing, we create out of something. We can’t just speak into being things which have never existed before. As I look at the Church in Australia, particularly as I look at the top level leadership, I fear we are missing something – something we were created to have and experience but something which we are fearful of reclaiming, perhaps even a little embarrassed to mention. Or depending upon the doctrine we believe a little reluctant to pick up on. I am talking about our imagination or creativity. You might say. `But I’m not creative’. Not true. You might not be ‘artistic’. You may not be able to sculpt, dance or play the drums (I can’t even clap in time) and you’ve been tricked into thinking you’re uncreative. Absolutely untrue! You may be uncoordinated… but you’re not uncreative. Creativity spans the full spectrum of human talent and gifting and all of us have within God-created creativity waiting to be set free. In Galatians 5 verse 1 Paul writes, “It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.” And verse 13, “You, my brothers, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the sinful nature; rather, serve one another in love.” WOW! Did you see it? It is for freedom Christ has set you free. Despite this amazing proclamation so much of our conversation, our time, our understanding of God is understood in terms of rules and commands and all the “don’ts” in life. We get the false impression that God is trying to put us in a box, trying to standardize us yet Paul knew that what Jesus Christ came to do is to set us free. You are called to be free! But sadly, as we grow up we make choices which destroy that freedom. Choices which may rob us of our health, our joy, our peace. Choices which rob us of freedom. What choices have you made that have stolen your freedom? I’m not just talking about those easy to see sins. But what choices have we made as Christian leaders which have robbed us of taking a fresh approach to something? What choices have we made that deny or hinder the Church from trying something new, because something, somewhere in our past has urged us to lean towards caution or even a ‘just don’t do it.’ A couple of weeks ago I was traveling home from work, a journey for which I have two choices – do I go the old way which is full of traffic lights and a lower speed limit, or the new way which has no traffic lights and a higher speed limit? Riding my new Ducati I chose the fast way. You can guess what happened, I got stuck behind a slow moving Honda Jazz. I am going crazy behind her, and the traffic isn’t that bad, but it is an unbroken line. So I sit there muttering in my helmet. People go this way because it is quicker, it is faster than the old way. I look at the car, look at the speedo, look at the double lines, say to myself, “Don’t do it Dean, obey the law today” and finally when we hit the round about and we have the extra lane for 10 metres, I speed around her and get in front. For a lot of us, we think our spiritual experience is just like getting into the faster lane. We are trying to go full speed into life and zoom we get behind God and we think Jesus starts slowing us down. The whole world is moving by. They can change lanes, they can have a good time, they can mock you as they go by, because they made that choice and are going faster than you. Because we wrongly think God is the one who narrows our options rather than expands our freedom. Wrong. We think God is up there going ‘No no no’ when in fact He keeps saying ‘Go go go’. Maybe you’ve risked, dared or even stepped out and advanced, and you’ve been disappointed. Maybe you’ve experienced failure and humiliation. Don’t forget we were created as creative beings. God frees us to be creative, to lead in creative ways. Don’t let your past choices hinder you from advancing, don’t allow them to force you to say no, let them free you to go. What happened to us? The One who created the intricacies of gravity, the balance of nature, the complexity of human emotions…He’s the One in whose image you were created. Get out of the box. Be free. ~ Dean Thomas Wed, 22 Aug 2007 09:05:44 +1000 http://www.houseofdean.com/Article22.phtml From science we recognize that there are capacities and limitations to our own perceptions. From the early 20th century two guys named Donald Broadbent and Thomas Kuhn did separate studies and discovered we have filtering processes that both allow and prevent information from coming in to our minds. Broadbent’s research was all about selective sensory perception (SSP). We all have this amazing ability to filter out meaningless information. And because you have this ability, this selective sensory perception, you can block out the person next to you who is sneezing, or the one scratching their nose, or the person in front of you who’s moving around and fidgeting. You can block out lights and sounds. Wouldn’t it be horrible if all the information or stimuli of your immediate area came flooding into your brain without any kind of filter? You would go crazy. In fact you would have an attention deficit disorder because so much information would be storming your brain you could not possibly stand it. There’s an old story about the cosmonauts and astronauts’ first space journey. The cosmonauts, when they stepped outside the earth’s gravitational pull, said, ‘We have explored the universe and there is no proof of God’s existence’. And the astronauts stepped out beyond the gravitational pull of the earth and said, ‘We have stepped out into the universe and there is evidence of God everywhere’. Selective Sensory Perception may be vital to help you function in a rational manner, but it does have it limitations. It causes you to see what you want to see, and not see what you do not want to see. That makes me pause. What filtering am I doing in my journey to extend God’s kingdom? All of us have this filtering process going on. Some of it is governed by our past experiences, circumstances and paradigms. What’s that, you ask? Well if SSP is a way of filtering information, paradigms are our way of distorting information. Around the same time as Broadbent and his discovery of SSP, another scientist released findings in a book called Revolution of Scientific Discoveries with his thesis being we operate with unique paradigms. Paradigms are not only our way of filtering information so we see what we want to see and block what we don’t want to see – they go even further and distort the information which has made it through our SSP. Kuhn's theory of paradigms said scientists had a natural inclination to reinforce their already set beliefs so new scientific discoveries were already rejected not because they weren’t discoverable, not because there wasn’t enough empirical evidence to prove them but because the scientists’ paradigms actually blocked out the information that would change their minds. And so they kept seeing the world as flat, not because all the evidence said the world was flat, but because all the evidence that proved the world was round was flattened by their paradigms. Have you ever had someone on your leadership team who just seems to be on another planet to you? Who thinks differently to you? It’s not a bad thing (although it can be painfully frustrating). It can be very beneficial as those type of people make it easier for you to see your own filtering process and paradigms. Unfortunately, some Christian leaders tend to get so caught up with the experience of the western Church their SSP slowly begins to change. We begin to lose our first call, our passion. In fact, sometimes we even begin to walk another paradigm to that in which we want and ought to be traveling. I once attended a formal function at a Church I knew nothing about. As soon as I entered the building I noticed a mission statement hanging on the wall (maybe you know a Church with a similar one). It started, ‘To teach God’s people’. A worthy priority, I’m sure. The minister was a gifted teacher. But in the back of my mind I was thinking, `What a waste.’ It was an uneasy feeling. The clanger for me came when I heard him say, ‘Christ died for the Church’. Yes, true, but not complete. I began to see a pattern – an emphasis on teaching God’s people. He was a gifted teacher who sadly did not give a single voice in his message to evangelism, and presented a theology which viewed Christ as dying only for the Church. Perhaps I should have asked this man about his views on the Kingdom of God? I should have asked how did he participate in bringing about God’s Kingdom or was that even his role? Clearly, this pastor’s filtering process differed to mine. Although we may walk towards the same goal we were walking in totally different paradigms! One of the most profound learning experiences I’ve had happened very early on in my Christian walk. I was asked by a man who I had great respect for, ‘What do you say is the Kingdom of heaven’. I babbled on talking about one thing then the next, but all I could do was describe it – I couldn’t define it. Finally he told me to be silent and said, ‘The kingdom of heaven is the glorious reign of God through the Messiah Jesus Christ’. I knew from that moment my life was going to be devoted to that purpose, ‘To see the glorious reign of God through the Messiah Jesus Christ’. My paradigm was set! My filter process changed that day. My number one priority in life became to advance the Kingdom of God. Think about that for a moment. The glorious reign of God through the Messiah Jesus Christ. How can a pastor be so occupied with equipping the saints that he/she fails to be a co-worker in the harvest, reaping the crop for the reign of Christ? When we see the Kingdom of God as the WHOLE ENTIRE reign of God through the Messiah, we cannot, we dare not, neglect one single aspect. So today can I ask some questions of you and the Churches you serve? Hopefully these questions will help us address any shortcomings we have through an inadequate view of the Kingdom of God. More than likely most Churches have a pastoral care system in place, and perhaps most of the congregation will be aware of the pastoral care process. However, does your Church have a clear process for evangelism? If so, is your congregation aware of it? Do you and/or your Church see evangelism as an event or process or perhaps both? What is your purpose in equipping the saints? Is it so your Church will live in harmony? Or is it to advance the Kingdom of God? Would you say the majority of your time in Church leadership is consumed with matters of maintaining the ‘status quo’ or on ‘bold’ steps of faith in future evangelistic plans? Would your leadership team be mainly ‘managers’ or ‘leaders’? What is the priority of your day? Where are you spending most of your time? If evangelism is not a priority for you, time-wise, how do you expect your congregation to believe you when you say it is to be a priority? Have a look at your preaching roster, what topics have you covered in the past six months? How does your roster reflect the Kingdom of God? Is it more concerned with the Kingdom of God just for the Christians? What percentage of your Church’s budget is spent directly on evangelism? It is not enough to fill Churches – we must transform the world! Ok with all that said, I will let you in on a little secret, my aim thus far has been to help you discover your own paradigms. Some of you started the ministry journey with the expansion of God’s Kingdom as your priority, but circumstances and pressures changed your path. How can you go about realigning your filter process? How can you go about walking the paradigm you long for? The short answer is…. I don’t know. But I do know that it will require a conscious effort on your behalf. I do know it will mean you’ll have to do some serious soul searching. I do know you will cop a beating from some people because of it. And I do know the road you want to travel will cause you to be viewed by some as an eccentric. If you’ve gone off-course somewhere along the line, you may now find yourself overwhelmingly consumed with maintaining the status quo. You’re governed by the voice of the sheep who are bleating, “Feed me, feed me,” rather than looking out into the harvest saying, “Send me, send me.” If you really want to return to a Kingdom perspective, I have a few suggestions, but I’m certain some of you aren’t going to like them (perhaps it’s because my paradigm is unbalanced, that is for you to decide). Here’s a couple of ideas; 1. Quit the pastorate! Now that got your attention didn’t it? But in all honesty, if “ministry” is getting in the way of the ministry God is calling you to, GET OUT, and go with God. 2. Surround yourself with people who are different. Now I know most of us like to think we are ‘innovators’ or at the very least ‘early adopters’. But in reality most Church leaders are far from that. Most of us are stable, slow adopters at best. Why is that? Churches tend to vote for safety first. You may have been voted in because you feed the Church folk, and because you are safe. If, however, you are surrounded by people who will risk everything for an ideal, you will soon come to understand you’re not a person who is as willing to simply go with God as you thought you were. 3. If your existing Church leadership is not interested, just go and do something on your own. See if it flies or falls. Even if it fails, you are not a failure, it is just you doing what He asked of you, nothing more, nothing less! The Kingdom of God is much bigger than you or me. When we understand that, our safe ministries won’t seem important, our false views of ourselves will be challenged, and the risks we take will be worth it regardless of the physical outcome because He is the one who leads us! Our SSP will be one that helps us be the type of people God calls us to be. Our paradigms will not be self-centred, not consumed by the bleating of the saved, but will be governed by the heart beat of God for the lost! ~ Dean Thomas Tue, 01 May 2007 08:55:36 +1000 http://www.houseofdean.com/Article21.phtml Ed: Colin Stoodley is the Assoc Training Director of The Pines Training Centre. He has planted two Churches, pastored a “thriving” suburban congregation and now trains Church planters and those who would be. We asked him why “successful” Churches aren’t successfully reproducing in Australia. Here’s part one of his reflection: Before I tackle this question, I want to make something clear. I have come to the view that all Churches (like all disciples) should be reproducing – they should be life giving. I know a few people will take issue with this, but I really believe I am right on this question. And I also want you to know that sharing this with you, I’m not blaming anyone for anything. I’m certainly not calling into question the heart or motives of anyone at the Church with whom I just concluded ministry. That said however, I do have a personal sense of regret that we didn’t plant a Church. I have been a Church planter twice. In the first one planted in the ACT early in the 1980’s I was able to see the plant get through the early phases of growth and left it (at the instruction of the denomination) with about 100 adults and about 60 children in regular fellowship after six years. But I never planted out from that work. The second was in Brisbane in the mid-90’s. Very different context. Whereas the first work was planted in a suburb of a growing city; the second work was planted in inner-city Brisbane. I only saw this second work through the first phase before mentoring a young man to replace me. I left behind about 35 people and a lot of hope. In 1997 I was led to take over a very small Church which had, in its past, been a thriving Church. After periods of real difficulty, the Church had dwindled until in 1996 they faced closing. I was their last call. I’m still not sure how I feel about that! From January 1997 to December 2005, I was Pastor and then Senior Pastor. At one stage it was a 600 strong congregation, with strong mission emphasis and support as well as an emphasis on grace and restoration. But we never planted! Here it is. I wanted to plant; most of the leadership wanted it; there was no opposition in the Church; but we never planted! Why not? The answers may surprise you, but I think they go a long way to explaining a problem we are facing. In 2000 I sensed the time and decided to add to the staff a man who I believed would coach the whole process. He was willing and in fact, looking back, would have been an excellent facilitator of the call I sensed. But it never eventuated. Here’s what I think happened. First, I got distracted. I know that our warfare is not against flesh and blood and so I realise this distraction was a critical intervention by the enemy. But I also realise it still didn’t need to go this way – even a little bit! Tough side-issues come up for all of us, so focussing on the important stuff is crucial. In my case, it was leadership tension that arose within the Eldership which meant the process to support and guide the staff appointment and the task of planting beyond that was left untended. It lapsed. It just died on the vine while I “managed” the whole matter to prevent it from becoming some sort of division. And by the time I was ready to return to the matter, the opportunity and the ‘moment’ had passed. Distraction is, I believe, the major reason why other Churches never plant. We all face distractions; they come up all the time. Yet we must not allow them to dictate whether we do this most fundamental of works. That distraction aside there was another problem. When I returned to the matter in 2002, I began looking for a leader. Some of you will be saying now – “why did you have to look for a leader? Weren’t you raising them up?” Yes, all true. First though, when I say “look” I meant that I looked within the fellowship. I had managed to develop leaders in the mission and pastoral care areas, but not in the planting area. When I couldn’t find anyone, I began intentional leadership development within the Church in mid-2004. But what leaders we did have at that time simply weren’t planters. The advice I knew in my head and the advice I heard from Bob Logan (who I had just heard speak in mid 2001) was unless you had the right leader, you ought not to start. Perhaps I didn’t look hard enough. But I couldn’t find the leader I needed. We began to put money aside. I began to do some planning. I decided on a training phase and established in a formal sense with the leadership that we would use the Pines Training Centre. But we never found the leader! This is the killer isn’t it? We’re all struggling with it as an issue. It will not go away. I went another two years before the transition out of the Church began, without taking another step towards Church planting. We never planted. How about you? I’m not telling my story to give reasons and defend myself. Pastors who are leading Churches that don’t plant aren’t awful people. They are not rebellious or anti-Kingdom leaders. No-one intentionally refuses to plant do they? Really? Do they? I think most of us get distracted and because we aren’t intentional enough we never get back to it and it never happens. Some people say if you don’t plant in the first four years you will never plant. That’s true and it’s also not true! I believe it is never too late. The barren can be fruitful and this isn’t just a Biblical theme of hope. The barren Church can be fruitful but there needs to be attention given to the DNA factor. I haven’t mentioned this yet. The third issue was, as I look back, that I never took the time to check whether the DNA to plant was in place. In a sense, if this is right, almost nothing can stop you. The DNA is what drives a Church to plant. It’s what guides the process of planting. It’s what summons the leader to take passion into the work. Looking back, I never checked. Now I see why. In late 1997 in a prayer meeting a sister felt to say she believed the Lord was asking us to make our Church a “safe-place.” A place where people could come to recover and re-vision. This really made sense to us that Sunday night. My own guess is in Brisbane for every believer in Church – there are two not in Church! So we took that theme up in everything we did as a Church. The next year, a brother raised the same matter. This brother hadn’t been at the meeting the previous year. But his word was, that the Lord was giving us a name – Hebron. It was the name for a safe-place in the Scriptures. Again, it seemed to fit and we were even more intentionally focused on being that place. My point is, this became our DNA and I didn’t even realise it at the time. When I raised the issue of planting and Kingdom-focus in 2004, it was mainly in the hope the Church’s new leadership would take it up and move with it. What I was attempting was to change the DNA. Or at least start the process of change. It has been pleasing to see the Church continuing to develop these fundamental aspects and I pray it continues and ushers in a cycle of reproduction and results in a new Church planted. I think the reason we didn’t plant was that our DNA wasn’t quite right and we were in actual fact – sterile. We didn’t look sterile. We looked healthy and we were in every way except this one. We were growing. In fact what began around 40 in early 1997 became almost 600 by 2004. But we were sterile; we couldn’t birth babies (baby Churches, that is) because we couldn’t conceive. I don’t blame anyone. Not God. Not myself. All I know is I think God wants our attention on this matter. We need missional Churches. I define this word missional as meaning “reproducing”. These missional Churches must be supported to birth as many times as possible, birthing other Churches with the same missional factor in their DNA. This is how you get a Church Planting movement. When I write part two of this reflection I want to take up the question of whether every Church should be planting. ~ Colin Stoodley Ed: check out issue 4 of ignition (published Nov 06) to read part two of Colin’s reflection. Fri, 22 Sep 2006 09:35:56 +1000 http://www.houseofdean.com/Article20.phtml "Having met Bob Roberts; seen him pace up and down speaking at an enormous rate of words per minute; having had to get past the awful Hawaiian shirts he wears; but also having great regard for his ability to get things done, I don't have any difficulty with the sincerity of Bob's words in his blog "Why they start churches -through their eyes". Bob is a Kingdom minded man who places great store on doing the stuff and not talking about it. I have to say he's right about the "religous industry" built around the concept "missional" and as usual we in the West are seeing the Lord "break out" around the world except in our part of the world. We have to ask why. We must ask why and we must learn to learn from the Church in places like Vietnam, China or Tehran. Bob, as usual, is asking the right questions. Have a look and see what you think." ~Colin Stoodley Thu, 21 Sep 2006 10:08:55 +1000 http://www.houseofdean.com/Article19.phtml The Feb 2006 QB advertises on p. 8 the Sunshine Coast Church of Christ seeking “a Missional Pastor.” There are a variety of things people mean by “missional church” or a “missional pastor.” Some are biblical and some are not. This article sets out what the writer thinks is biblical and you are invited to respond and let there be ferment on this topic! “And they devoted themselves to (a) the apostles’ teaching and (b) fellowship, (c) to the breaking of bread and (c) the prayers.(Acts 2:42)” This cameo reveals exactly to what the first church devoted its time and attention. The word “devoted” means these four activities were what they constantly were doing. These activities are not directed horizontally toward the world. So the first church, in this cameo at least, was not “missional” in the sense of “mission defining the church” or “the church only being the church when on mission.” At the heart of the Church was the devotion to what we now have as the New Testament (Apostles’ teaching), Christian fellowship around that teaching, communion and sharing of common life, and corporate prayer meetings. No, rather than being missional, these activities were dominated by the vertical connection with God and the Christian fellowship thereby created. This fellowship is described, vv 43-47, as very rich and insiderish! So this non-missional core of church activities is the meat of the church sandwich! But the meat was in between two pieces of bread that are indeed “missional.” Baptism is not amongst these four Acts 2:42 activities, but this is because it is in Acts 2:38,41 just before our passage. Also on the very front of the Acts sandwich is a toasted edge of Acts 1:8 which is the command of Jesus to be witnesses at the coming of the Holy Spirit. So the missional aspects are described there in Acts before the cameo in on the insider church activities. Also, immediately after our passage is again a description of the first church relating to its outside world of Judaism. In Acts 2:47 they are recorded as having favour with all the people and the Lord was adding to their number daily those who were being saved. So before and after our central verse 42, the record is of the first church ministering to and having favour with and drawing converts from the outside world. We have a missional sandwich! The next chapters of Acts continue this picture of the first church relating to its outside world. Note that this Church impacting its outside world in Acts 2:46-47 (the second piece of bread on the other side of the sandwich) describes an “attractional church.” To be missional should not mean that you cease to be an attractional church. You can and should be both an attractional church and also on mission. The missional church movement is presently contributing some important emphases. In an increasingly nonChristian society we must not set up Divine Services of worship and then expect uninstructed outsiders to come running in. Jesus’ great commission was to go into all the world and not expect them to come to us. But the wonder of Jesus’ incarnation and his divine mission to die on the cross for the sin of the world and His powerful resurrection were the necessary core from which and about which the disciples were sent out in His Name. Now that Christ has gone to Heaven He continues a presence on earth through His body, the people of God, the Church. So our being the people of God, the visible body of Christ on earth, is the continuation on earth of the Person of Christ from which the sending out takes place. No amount of telling people about Jesus can substitute for His historic incarnation on earth and His continued incarnation in the church as the God-man living amongst us. John 1:14 says: “And the Word became flesh and dwelt (tabernacled) among us, and we beheld His glory, glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.” Jesus came and lived amongst us. In 1 John 1:1, John says the people saw Him with their eyes and touched him with their hands. Now Jesus is in Heaven, we His body here on earth continue that role. We have to be the Church, proximate to the people that they can behold and feel. Our word of the gospel makes sense against the backdrop of what they see and experience in the church. It is not the contemporary nature of our worship that will capture their attention. It is the reality of it. “Contemporary” helps if that shows it is real to us, but nonetheless it is the spiritual reality of what they observe of our worship that will convict them. “God is among you, of a truth” the outsider cried out in 1 Cor 14:25. So think of the missional question as being answered by this sandwich. The outside bread pieces are the church on mission but the meat at the centre is the church relating to its Lord and to itself. Its core had to do with the vertical relationship with God and the spirituality of its fellowship. The reality and power of its worship was the secret to its attractional draw and the validation of its sending out mandate. The President of a tertiary Christian group in Brisbane was once visited by AFES worker, the young Rowland Croucher. The Brisbane Christian fellowship was trying to be missional and it was not working! Rowland Croucher advised a change of purpose to be worship rather than mission. (I wonder if he would give the same advice today in the present missional climate!) This worked and as the people of God in the institution worshipped, mission was the outcome. This is what I think is God’s call at this time for Australian churches in 2006. Attend to “being the church” and allow the “doing of mission” to be an outcome. Concentrate purely on the mission and you will lose both. Don’t be tricked into an “either/or” that should be a “both/and.” Don’t allow current trends to move you to do “missional church” while neglecting to be what a church is –God’s people relating to and hearing from Him. The doing must flow out of the being, not instead of it. This does not deny mission. The sending into mission, in Acts 13, came out of the church at worship. The outward gates to the world can be fostered well when the core activities are not being threatened. Nowhere in Australia is there a missional church that is an ongoing success where the ”missional” is the severe form of the Church dissolving the “being” aspects to concentrate only on “doing” mission. This is because such a severe model represents a failure to implement a biblical doctrine of the church and secondly because the divine order of worship and then witness has been ignored. In Mark 3:13,14 we often quote that Jesus ordained the twelve that he might send them out to preach. The passage is about the choosing of the 12 apostles and the word “apostle” does mean “one sent out with authority.” But read the verse a bit more carefully and you will see that Jesus ordained the twelve first of all “to be with Him.” The sending them out in mission was secondary to being with Him. In fact only when you have been with Him can you have the authority when you go out on behalf of Him. The apostles had three years of being with Him to qualify to be the apostles sent out at the great commission. Yes, there was the sending out of the 70, or the 120, but these were short term missions or “on the job training” during those three years. This precedent is seen in the practice of Jesus and also in that of the apostles. Paul, for example, talked about the God “to whom I belong and whom I serve” (Acts 27:23). To belong to God is prior to serving God. The core of the church is about belonging to God. The English word “church” comes down from transliterations of a Greek word kuriakon which means “belonging to the Lord.” Its translation comes from another word ekklesia which means called out ones and the Classical Greek root idea is “being called out to assemble.” The chief biblical definition of a church is the people of God who belong to the Lord and are called out to assemble and worship. When we learn to be this church then we will find an overflow into mission. We have to be church and then do mission to make the “missional sandwich.” Fri, 25 Aug 2006 09:45:41 +1000 http://www.houseofdean.com/Article17.phtml In March I visited an Asian country to speak at a seminar for Church leaders and attend the 10th Anniversary celebrations of the host Church. My invitation came from three graduates of The Pines Training Centre who were involved in Church planting movements. To name either the country or the graduates would put the whole movement at risk as you will discover as you read on. The ministry environment is incredibly difficult and even dangerous. Yet despite the difficulties, Churches have been planted through a process of local evangelism. I believe God is doing something so significant through this Gospel movement that the rest of the world should take careful note. Maybe there are similar movements elsewhere and if so, we would all benefit by a careful analysis to determine the common characteristics. The ABC Evangelical Church – a case study in growth against the tide Background The cultural context in which the Church offers the Gospel is incredibly negative. The country is mixed ethnically. The dominant people group hold political and economic power. The armed forces are used as a weapon against minorities. Buddhism is the national religion. The country is listed as being among those countries with the lowest per-capita incomes in the world. The Church in the nation has had a wonderful heritage, but after almost a century of operation, it’s hindered by nominality in many places. Independent and Pentecostal Churches are making some in-roads, but often at the expense of existing Denominations. History of the ABC Evangelical Church In 1996, a teacher who also served voluntarily as a youth pastor in an independent Church in the capital city received a vision to plant 100 new Churches among the dominant ethnic group by the year 2020. The teacher was not a member of the dominant group. Within the next five years, OH (not his real name) had planted two Churches in the Capital (intentionally) and three in his tribal homeland (unintentionally through running a leaders’ course). OH came to The Pines for training in February 2002. He returned home in June and commenced a school for Church planters in August of the same year. The chart below indicates this training was the catalyst to very significant growth. But I’m sure it was not the only factor. Significant growth factors explained From my knowledge of the situation I can identify at least six factors that have contributed to the significant growth of the Church in the past five years. They are: 1. Quality leaders. The Church planting movement has been led by OH, his wife and two other pastors. All the leaders are involved in the training process. They are Godly people, committed to fulfilling the vision, and willing to make whatever sacrifices are necessary. They differ in gifts and personality types, but work as a cohesive team. 2. Weekly day of prayer and fasting. All the Churches and students in the training college celebrate every Friday as a day of prayer and fasting. The prayer focus is on effective evangelism. The rice not eaten on Fridays and money not spent in buying food is given away to poor people from the dominant ethnic group to show love and support. 3. Vision 2020 outreach. All of the 29 Church plants are working to reach Buddhists in the dominant ethnic group. All ministries are designed to be culturally relevant to this group. All Church planters begin as evangelists. When a group has been gathered, the evangelist is then promoted to probationary pastor. Only when the group continues to grow and mature is the leader confirmed as a pastor. As no new Churches are allowed to own property within the country, the Church plants begin in a small two room rented house. One room is for the family and the other is for the Church. Each pastor is encouraged to pray and work to have a Church of 200 members by 2020. 4. Training. The original training programme was adapted from The Pines’ courses and delivered over a longer period of time than in the Western context. The programme offered a Certificate IV level course initially, but quickly added a Diploma year. The first Degree level students will graduate in February 2007. The focus of all the courses is on the successful evangelisation of the dominant ethnic group with the Gospel. The fact that the original course was designed for The Pines by Church planters has ensured there would be a high degree of transferability to the local situation. Quite evidently, this training has produced a cadre of practical leaders who know what to do and are willing to pay the price for leadership within their own cultural context. The chart clearly verifies this fact. 5. Conversion/membership policy. At first the Church planting movement was at best tolerated by other Denominations. Now it has proved to be successful, the movement has been recognised by all the national Church and training accreditation bodies. Church planters have asked the founders if they are permitted to accept members by transfer from other Denominations. To accept this as a policy would have guaranteed the quick success of several Church plants. However, the founders have decided only those people who accept Christ through the ministry of a Church plant will be accepted as members of that Church plant. This decision has been a stroke of genius as it keeps the focus on evangelism and also has the potential of saving the pastor from imprisonment through complaints from other pastors about his “sheep stealing.” 6. Moral and financial support from overseas. Each of the earlier factors has equal importance. This last factor is far less important, yet still key enough to mention. This whole movement is supported financially by one Church in Australia. Gifts totalling A$30,000 are sent each year. Over the ten years, as people have come to Christ, the local income of the movement has increased, but not at a rate sufficient to cover all expenses. The Australian Church has also helped set up small community development projects designed to help the Church movement become self-sufficient. Of more significance than the dollars has been the regular prayer of the supporting Church people and personal contacts made with the leaders. Leaders visit from Australia at least twice each year to encourage and provide that intangible signal that “we are with you in what you are doing for God.” One last poignant observation The following week I visited a major city in another country where there was a significant missionary presence. There were possibly 100 missionary personnel working there at considerable personal sacrifice. They were no doubt all good people, all called by God to be there and their friends and home Churches were supporting them up to more than $1 million per year in total. What an enormous investment the Western Church is making there for so little results compared with what is happening with so little in the next country. I admire these workers for their commitment, but I cannot help but question the strategies they are working so faithfully to implement. Can something be learned from OH and his team that will make us all more effective in local evangelism? And can we begin a dialogue around the world that will help us to discover not models, but transferable principles that will result in many thousands more people who live in the difficult places coming to know Christ? ~John Tanner Mon, 19 Jun 2006 09:17:34 +1000 http://www.houseofdean.com/Article16.phtml There’s a linkage between the devotional pathways we take and our eagerness to share about Jesus with our friends. I can be physically down but still willing and able to share about Jesus. But if the spiritual side of my life is down, then I feel unbalanced and I’m less confident about ministering to others. It would be great if our lives could be driven by some kind of “automatic transmission.” Then another power could take over and we could live in “ministry mode” all day. The reality however is most of us seem to get stuck in first gear as far as our spiritual side goes! One reason for this dysfunction is our inability to understand which devotional pathways suit us best. We are all unique. We think differently. We learn differently. In The Pines' Orientation week new course participants work through an exercise that helps them understand how they think and learn. This not only reinforces their own strengths but also indicates they will always need others. Different personalities require different devotional pathways. Bill Hybels did some research on this topic using a book by Gary Thomas called Sacred Pathways. Bill categorised some of these pathways and his thinking has helped a lot of us discover the pathways that fit us best. Here are a few of the possible pathways. Which ones suit you? The pathway of the intellect. Last night I watched an absorbing documentary on the life of C S Lewis, the creator of The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. Lewis had a brilliant mind. I was struck by his intellectual struggle when he said, “It is such a painful thing for an atheist to admit that God exists after all!” Lewis approached God through his mind. To some degree we all need to utilise our minds as a devotional pathway. But some Christians love to study the Bible with commentaries and study guides. They feel most alive when they “understand.” They get excited when a speaker challenges them to think. The pathway of meditation. There are other Christians who lack the discipline of lengthy Bible study. When they read their Bible, it is not so much to learn but to hear God speak. They enjoy lengthy conversations with the Lord. They enjoy devotional exercises and services that are rich in symbolism. They may feel that too much noise intrudes on their sense of God’s presence. These people are often quite intuitive. The pathway of community. Many new Christians find it difficult to discipline themselves to commit time each day to be with the Lord. They have to learn to “feed” the spiritual dimension of their lives. They find meeting with a disciple-maker enriches their sense of the presence of God. Others are so stimulated by other people’s ideas and prayers they have difficulty following a devotional pathway alone. People like this thrive in the context of small groups and public worship that allows for relational exercises. The pathway of service. Some of us are “wired” to come alive when we are on the cutting edge. We discover God’s presence in serving others and in extreme experiences where our faith is put to the test. Most people who go on a “mission trip,” whether it is to an exotic place overseas or to somewhere new near home come back changed. They meet God when they move out of their comfort zone in obedience to His voice. It is probable the people who serve us tea and coffee after Church or the person working the computer in the Church office experience a deep sense of satisfaction because they are serving God. Which pathway leads you regularly into God’s presence? Are you ready to learn to meet God through another pathway? What can you learn from others? It’s not a case of “one size fits all!” Everyone is unique and God is big enough to meet every one of us in unique ways. And let’s face it – when you meet the Risen Lord at the beginning of the day, you are ready for anything, especially the chance to tell someone what Jesus means to you! Thu, 30 Mar 2006 10:10:38 +1100 http://www.houseofdean.com/Article15.phtml My two favorite subjects at College were ‘theology’ and ‘Church history’, because I love to see the outworking of the theology of the time. The Reformation saw the Church being ‘born again’ or ‘saved’ from the dark ages through the restored message of justification by faith, according to scholar Jack Hayford. The doctrine of salvation was rediscovered. Hayford believes the 20th century was the ‘century of the Holy Spirit’, and says this century birthed the reformation of ‘ecclesiology’ – the doctrine of the Church. 100 years from now, what will Church history say about the theology of today? One man who has thrown his considerable hat into the ring to answer this question is US researcher George Barna. The reaction to his book Revolution is massive. Some have labeled the movement he describes as the ‘tune in, drop out’ reformation of the western world Church. I think that’s a little unfair. Barna calls Christians to move beyond the established Church and instead be the Church. He doesn’t advocate abandoning the Church—just redefining it. He suggests we’re witnessing the fall of the local Church (as we know it) in society. What’s this new reformation/revolution all about? Is it an excuse to skip Church? What is the theology behind it? Will it have a lasting impact? Modern pastoral training focuses on care for believers and organisational success. Pastors are equipped to be ‘ministers’ as opposed to ‘ministers of the gospel’. But what happens when we become all-consumed by the saved “flock”? The majority of Church growth comes from Church shoppers and hoppers, not conversions. Attendance drops off, tithing becomes increasingly cause-oriented rather than a spiritual discipline. Leadership positions become harder to fill. Faced with this situation, how are Churches responding? Sadly, some respond to a lack of leaders by lowering the requirements to become a leader, which in turn de-values the ministry and decreases its effectiveness. However, the opposite action produces a better outcome. Instead of watering down requirements for ministry, raise the bar. Tell people it’ not about them, it’s about Jesus! He is worth the best you have to offer! Jesus said, “If I be lifted up, I will draw all men”. Barna’s critics have got it wrong. At the very core of this new reformation is not the ‘tune in, drop out’ ethos, it is in fact ‘He is worth it’. Jesus is worth going it alone, He is worth stepping out in faith, He is worth the risk. Even if all the steps aren’t in place, even if you aren’t sure it is going to work, take the risk. The new reformation already looks like it will be expressed in risk taking! This fact alone will place an increasing need for Church leaders to be early adopters. Ministries will emerge which, at the surface level, seem to have nothing to do with Church or even God for that matter. But all the way through them is an underlying principle of mission. Mission will be paramount, even if unseen. How so? The Church will come alive to the process of evangelism. Evangelism will no longer just be seen as an event. This reformation will view successful evangelism as moving people along in the process from wherever they are through to a relationship with Jesus which produces much fruit. This view of evangelism as a process can be extremely liberating and rewarding to many Christians. Some years ago, a youth leader came to me in tears, upset that despite her many years in ministry she had never led a single person to Christ. I was shocked! Not that she hadn’t led anyone to Christ (because I know many pastors who haven’t either!) but because this lady understood what we were on about! I told her she was extremely successful in evangelism. All I had to do as a pastor/evangelist was follow her around. She had the ability to get people to the point of committing their life to Christ and I simply reaped the harvest she had planted. For the first time she saw her role in the body of Christ. She was released to do what she did best, prepare people for someone like myself who will reap the harvest! On a larger scale, ministries become far more inter-related, because the priority or core purpose of each ministry is to continue moving people through the process of evangelism. Sunday services become more a reflection and celebration of what God is doing within the community. Services will provide an opportunity to communicate what each ministry group is doing, so people know how they can move lost loved ones along in the process. Barna has also been criticized because some believe his new book is without his usual facts and figures. You might well ask is it a whole lot of wishful thinking? The conclusion is simply, yes and no…. Yes, there is some wishful thinking involved, it wouldn’t be a revolution otherwise! And no, it’s not all conjecture, because we’re seeing the evidence of this revolution before our very eyes. In fact I saw it last night in the faces of two guys I am mentoring. The whole idea of Church and how it is worked out in the form of gatherings and ministries is changing rapidly for them. They will be new cultural leaders and transformers within my Church. The revolution is exploding, taking on a life which, in many ways, seems uncontrollable! Do I have facts and figures to support it, well yes, but only for my congregation. Does Barna have the facts and figures to support it? I’m not sure, but what I do find interesting is those who last week used Barna’s statistics to prove their own agendas are now the ones attacking him. It’s hard going for this new reformation because we’ve all sorts of people jumping on board— apostolics, fundatmentalists, penetcostals, emergents— all laying some claim to it, all with preconceived ideas. The danger is the reformation could explode into factions at any time. Nothing outside the Church can stop it. The only thing which can hinder it is us. Here on the Sunshine Coast, we’re about to embark into unknown terrain—a series of extreme youth events planned and implemented by a gathering of youth workers from different Church and para-Church organizations. These events will be enveloped in prayer, carefully targeted, and will aim at moving young people one step along in the evangelism process, with the ultimate goal of helping them belong to a community of faith and become a revolutionary Christ-follower. Lastly, let me say this. The revolution is far greater, far nobler than simply ‘tune in and drop out’. It is more like ‘come alive and thrive’. The battle lines are drawn. Barna has nailed his colours to the wall, and whether or not you agree with him, you have to admire his honesty and courage. Our world needs us to take a risk right now, so join the cause! Fri, 10 Mar 2006 09:26:50 +1100 http://www.houseofdean.com/Article14.phtml I chat online with men and women involved in house churches, church planters and other pioneers creating new ministries. And I speak in the old-fashioned way to peers involved in ‘normal’ pastorates. Whenever the subject of emerging church or emerging ministries arises, we inevitably have run smack into a hurdle. We tend to flit from one description to the next, unable to come up with a succinct definition. We get excited by it. We want to be part of it. But do we know what it is? I’ve heard the emerging church described as a “return to Acts” and “the bloom of the third world” (because the church in the two thirds world will rise up and lead the world). I’ve also heard it referred to as the “house church” movement, or “community focused church” – I’m certain you could add your own description here. And after what seems an eternity of time (but in reality only a decade or so) it’s beginning to feel like froth with no substance. Almost like the wishful thinking of the disillusioned. But something must be there. Something must be causing this tide of discussion. Before the cynics say it’s the authors and publishers of the “next big thing” pushing discussion on the emergent movement, I believe the expanding school of thought is partly due to a rising dissatisfaction with the western church. The beginning of a quest, if you like, to bring life back to the “dry bones”. Many of my pastor peers have tired of the consumer mentality within congregations and church society in general. We train pastors for ‘success’, attend conferences to help us replicate the latest, greatest church growth model in order to appease the masses and build the mega church. As a result the average pastor can become disheartened by the lack of any real (conversion) growth within God’s family. Comprehending the emerging church discussion for me was like grasping at water. But through reading books such as Young Evangelicals by Webber, and Revolution by Barna (not to mention the writings of McManus) I’ve finally been able to get a handle on it. I remember the moment this epiphany occurred. I was attending an Erwin McManus conference in Brisbane and for the first time, it seemed like I was interacting with someone who understood my view of the world and who could verbalize what I could not about the emergent movement. For the first time, my ministry felt legitimized in some way. It was a combining of what I had known to be true yet had been unable to place into my theological framework. So let’s have a look at the most common misunderstandings, or at the very least incomplete descriptions, of the emerging church. Number one: the emerging church is all about the return of the Acts church. This description is probably the most common. While it may be true to a degree it is not the whole picture. Simply superimposing the Acts model onto our post-modern society is doomed. It would be contextually inappropriate. Besides, nowhere do I read in Acts, “This is how it is meant to be done”. The Acts account is not a be-all-and-end- all picture of how church should be. It is however, a starting point and a great basis for a biblical framework which can keep us on track and not off serving a man-made kingdom. Within this particular “return to Acts” culture the apostolic question has been raised. Some say, “Finally a return to the model of apostles as in the book of Acts YIPPEEE!” Straight away the emerging church is on a tired old bumpy road! And others may be thinking, “Oh no, not this debate again” Tied in with this notion of a return to Acts there are those who are wearing their signs and wonders badges. Don’t get me wrong, I believe in signs and wonders. Jesus is the greatest sign and wonder known to man! But amongst the signs and wonders brigade there is an element who are at best dangerous. In the words of social commentator Homer Simpson, “D’Oh!” The road to a clear definition of the emerging church via the “return to Acts” description looks almost impassable. This view becomes even more clouded when the hard core fundamentalists enter the fray. These are the men (and indeed some women) who won’t allow a female to be involved in any sort of secular work or public ministry. To them a return to Acts means something entirely different again! In fact, the emerging church concept is roping in lots of people and to each one it means something different. Even if we try and think about it in terms of a return to Acts model, it is still a slippery concept to grasp. Moving on. The other view of the emerging church is that it is simply the coming of age of the two thirds world church. You’ve only to read James Rutz’ Megashift to see what God is doing in His church in the two thirds world. Surely, the emerging church will come from this outpouring of the Spirit in these countries? But is anything really different in this movement? What has the church done in the two thirds world which the church in the west hasn’t already espoused? Besides, it seems God has worked in different ways most of the time. And let’s be honest most, if not all, the time I don’t know how or why He works! Have a look at the Transformations video series. Every city, every nation has a different angle on the outpouring of His Spirit! Another example can be gleaned from hearing contemporary “success stories” talk about the next best thing in church growth. I am certain half these blokes started a work not knowing where they were going, but God turned up and blessed them. Then, in hindsight, they sat down and analyzed and wrote about it, attempting to put it into some sort of framework. (As though the framework was the key!) I believe if the emerging church is to be any sort of force in a lost and dying world then it quite simply has to be a work of God. Not just some formula followed or copied. That’s a relief, because I can’t afford to attend any more conferences! And the last thing I want to say about the explosion of the two thirds world church is this: while the movement of God in other parts of the world is exciting and wonderful and demands our attention, it means nothing for us if it remains ‘over there’. A third view of the emerging church is an oldie but a goodie: it is the rise of ‘house churches’ and a return to community focus. This group is greatly diverse, and with such diversity comes conflicting opinions. For example a mere mention of community raises the question of which community? Is the focus to be on creating and fostering God’s community or the community outside the family of God. My friends online in the house church movement have told me how they go to one house church and all of the focus is on the community of believers. Then a short time later when a falling out occurs they end up in another group where the key focus is on the outside community. For many, mission and ecclesiology seem unable to live together. Which one comes first? In the ocean of discussion about the emergent movement, very few seem to be talking in terms of ecclesiology for mission. Pause for a minute. This, I think, might be the key, the truth that binds this all together. Most of us who long to see something great come out of this nexus of ideas, we long for the church to be one in which mission is accomplished. Where evangelism is finally taking place effectively. The process of evangelism is really simple. Only when we speak to the hearts, minds and finally soul or spirit of a person can the process be effective. People need to be receptive to hear the truth. The truth must be acted upon. The soul is changed. Now this is were it gets exciting. After all this talk about community I can see the importance it will play in the first step of evangelism. Community is vital! People need to feel as though they belong, even moreso with security of all kinds failing (eg national defence, financial, relational, societal). The community which the family of God can offer is paramount for evangelism. A change has taken place, we have gone from believe (in Christ) then belong to belong (to the Christian community) then believe. I’m not condoning a watered-down salvation message which promotes, “Come to Jesus and you can belong and feel safe”. In fact it is, “Come to Jesus because He is worth the risks and dangers you SHALL face”. That is the sort of community we need to foster. A community which espouses the dangers/risks of following Jesus yet is certain that He is worth it! To me this is a return to the principles of Acts anyway. The issue of apostles and prophets in all honesty is a waste of time for the emerging church. For far too long we’ve been consumed with matters inconsequential to extending His Kingdom! Ecclesiology in terms of mission is exciting, not just because it gets the job done, but because it continues to fan the flame of evangelism. The standard model of our churches has been: once a person is saved we pluck them out of their environment and educate them. This has been called “salvation lift”. When we talk about ecclesiology in terms of mission we don’t have that problem because the two communities are so intertwined. The emerging church is a church which understands ecclesiology in terms of it being missional. It is a return to the values from Acts. That is, the emerging church fully understands what it means by the phrase, ‘Jesus is worth it all’. The emerging church is far more fluid than ever before—where every single thing a believer does is seen as a mission opportunity. Could it be that in the emerging church there will not just be theology but theology in action? ~ by Dean Thomas Tue, 17 Jan 2006 13:00:02 +1100 http://www.houseofdean.com/Article12.phtml Have you ever read a non-fiction book which is un-put-downable? If a quick survey of my close circle of Christian friends is anything to go by, books like James Rutz’s MegaShift are few and far between. The preface includes the challenge, “If you read it with an open heart, I promise you will be changed forever.” Wow. That’s setting the bar real high. Does this book deliver? Two pages in your heart rate accelerates as you read how God has brought people back from the stone-cold-dead in 52 countries during the last 20 years. James and his team of researchers have thoroughly investigated each of the miracles detailed in his book. In a lot of cases, James himself has spoken to (and seen) those who have been resurrected. Take, for example, five-year-old Arjun Janki Dass who died in New Delhi from electrocution. The treating doctor told his parents to call a mortician. Instead, they called the nearby Deliverance Church. Church leader, Rodrick Gilbert, came to the boy’s house and brought with him a 60-year-old widow from the lowly Dom caste named Savitri and two other Christians. They prayed over the boy’s dead body for six hours and then he snapped back to life. Today he’s a happy, healthy nine-year-old. When James met Savitri and Arjun, he asked her, “How many resurrections have you been involved with in the six years you’ve been doing ministry?” She answered quietly, “Sixteen.” It’s inspiring to see photos of Arjun and Savitri in the book, along with others. Like Nigerian Pastor Daniel Ekechukukwu, who died in a car crash, had chemical preservatives injected into his body and was laid out on a slab ready for embalming. His wife Nneka believed he would be raised from the dead, and took his body to a Church. At 5:15pm, nearly two days after his death, Daniel was brought back to life. This resurrection has been documented like no other, and most of it has been captured on video camera. The photograph of Indonesian Bible College student Domingos is particularly confronting, a scar nearly ring-barking his neck. He was caught up in Muslim-Christian riots in Jakarta in 2000 and was found by police, dead, and with his head almost completely severed. They threw his body onto a large truck. Domingos says an angel told him to go back to his body because, “It is not your time yet.” Unlike the other two resurrection accounts mentioned above, no-one prayed for Domingos. God did it all. James describes in his book what he calls the Endgame of God. And as far as games go, this one is, literally, the game to end all games. “Miracles are happening like popcorn starting to pop. That is amazing enough, but they are also attracting numbers of people globally that no movement in history has ever seen before,” he says. In this end game, James claims, the world is rapidly becoming all-Christian. Did you catch that? Not all Muslim, or all atheist – all Christian. James’s figures show a billion people will switch their loyalties to Jesus in the next 11 or 12 years. On the Day of Pentecost, 3,000 people were saved. Will we ever see people coming to the Lord in large numbers like that? James says yes! Every 25 minutes, around the world 3,000 more people come into the Kingdom of God. These are his statistics: In 1900, there were 2 million evangelical or charismatic Christians in Africa. By 2000, there were 200 million. In Latin America during that period, the born-again population zoomed from 1 million to 170 million. And in China, just since 1950, Christianity has exploded from fewer than a million to almost 120 million. While some may argue that most of this growth occurred in the “heyday” of Christianity before the 1960s, James argues most of the growth has occurred in the last 20 years, with a new core of white-hot Christians growing at an incredible rate of eight percent per year. This growing heart of the global church is a powerful mix of charismatics, Pentecostals, evangelicals, and a few Catholics. In 1970, there were 71 million of them. By 2000, there were 707 million. Straight-line projections are silly because nothing ever goes in a straight line. But to give you a comically precise picture of our current momentum: At 8 percent growth a year, the world would have more Christians than people by the fall of 2032! Up until 1960, Western evangelicals outnumbered non-Western evangelicals – mostly Latinos, blacks and Asians – by two to one. But as of 2000, non-Westerners had shot ahead by four to one. By 2010, it will be seven to one. James says, “Never before in history has such a large part of humanity changed its religious loyalties in one century. And it's happening by acclamation, not by force.” He goes on to say the Church may begin to experience what he calls Victory Shock. We expect life, and our Christian journey, to be hard. “But now you’re going to have to make an emotional adjustment to handle with humility the sudden realization that we’re winning – that the Holy Spirit is dismantling the foundations of the prince of this world and revealing the Father’s glory, which is off-the-scale dazzling.” Pessimism, he says, is passé, boredom is obsolete, and defeatism is dead. And so adjust to it! So what is at the heart of this megashift? What’s driving this massive growth in Christ-followers world-wide? James proposes ten engines of change: The first is intercessory prayer – prayer warfare and prayer evangelism. The second is empowerment of the laity. James says, “Empowerment of what used to be called ‘the laity’ is the greatest paradigm-shattering event since the rise of the priesthood class in the 2nd century. What we are seeing today is the biggest shift in the history of the church: a transfer of momentum from the steady hands of the leaders to the fleet feet of the followers.” The third engine of change is reconciliation, and the fourth, identificational repentance. The fifth change engine is spiritual mapping, and the sixth is the formation of rabbit teams. What? Rabbit teams work on the premise that in order to think really big, you need to think small. James shares an amusing illustration of this point: “Curtis Sergeant has brilliantly dramatized the advantage of smallness. He sketches the potential of locking two elephants – or two rabbits- in a closet for three years. Ignoring all practical problems and calculating the mere mathematics of gestation periods, litter size etc, you would have three elephants – or 476 million rabbits.” Kamla Bai was a Christian in India. Her two children had been slowly dying of two different diseases. One night God gave her a detailed dream of a man who would come with a group of westerners with a message that God was going to make her a prophetess, and as a sign that this was of God, the man would pray for her children and they would be healed. The next morning, she awoke to find her children completely well, and two months later, the rest of her dream came true (ironically until that point neither Kamla nor her Pastor believed in prophecy). Since then she has been a key person in a rabbit team that goes from town to town, starting churches that are geared to multiplying quickly, like rabbits. Kamla and her team plant about 50 churches a year. The seventh and eighth engines of change are on-site prayer and fasting. And the ninth one is leadership teamwork, or multi-denominational cooperation. The final engine of change is media evangelism, via television, radio, press and internet. According to James, to maintain today’s rapid growth, the Lord is raising up a new breed of disciples – liberated, empowered, responsible Kingdom builders. They aren’t spectators. They’re unstoppables. At times this book is exhausting. Let me briefly tell you about some other phenomenal people. There’s Mannu Lal, 55, who started a thousand house churches in India in four years. Tawpaun, 33, a wife and mother in China, who planted 233 churches in one year – and baptized 12,000. There was a 90-year-old Chinese lady who led 5,000 people to Christ simply by putting up a little sign at a well known suicide spot at the top of a cliff which said, “Before you commit suicide, come see me at…. (her address)”. Extraordinary to you and me, but they say they’re just followers of Christ. They say they’re just using their spiritual gifts. So where do you fit into that picture? Could you have a place in this cyclone? “You bet,” says James. “Paul hammers on this point in 1 Cor 12. You do have a spiritual gift (probably several, in fact). So as they say, use it or lose it.” Today there is a way to use it – and it’s not by wasting away in a pew, counting the dead flies in the fluorescent light fixtures, as James so eloquently puts it. The book concludes with a story set in 2012 about a visit to, “the Church you started back in 2005!” It provides very interesting insight (or should that be foresight) into corporate worship on a large scale in this new paradigm. Whilst his style may not be to everyone’s liking – he’s humorous, hands-on, thought-provoking and sometimes confrontational – this is a book you can’t afford to miss. A lot of what he’s saying, particularly what he believes are the key engines of change needed to bring in the harvest, align with what is taught here at The Pines. We may differ on some minor things, but the underlying premises are similar. We, too, believe in these days God is re-distributing the power in His Church back to the “laity”, empowering and equipping the priesthood of all believers. We have seen miraculous signs and wonders. (The next ignition will run the story of Pines’ graduate Corinne whose wrist bones were snapped earlier this year in a gruesome accident. Her most recent X-rays show no evidence of a break at all!) The cover of MegaShift includes the sub-head, “The best news since year one…” You can make up your own mind when you read it for yourself. This book paints a practical, user-friendly picture of the post-modern Church operating in a similar way to its first century predecessor. Again I say, “Read it.” At the very least, you will be encouraged by what God is doing in miraculous ways all over this globe. At the very most, you will be inspired to take up the mantle and become an “unstoppable”. ~ Christine Thomas Wed, 09 Nov 2005 14:00:00 +1100 http://www.houseofdean.com/Article10.phtml It was the best of times, it was the worst of times. The often misquoted opening sentence of A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens actually refers to the French revolution, but it came up in a discussion about suffering between three friends as we traveled the Bruce Highway from Caboolture to Kawana. A lady we’d just met was in the midst of a life and death trial. And as we chased the broken white line, we shared our own trials and spoke of the sweetness that can be found hiding beneath the suffering. When I was first married, I experienced my own annus horribilis, to quote a royal someone considerably more famous than I. I was stalked by a disturbed man who was intent on physical and psychological harm. His personal bag of tricks included breaking into our two story Queenslander home and leaving little mementos of his visit on the kitchen bench, such as my Springer Spaniel’s collar. He routinely lit fires under the house, watched the house day and night, tried to break into our second floor bedroom through a flyscreen window and attempted an abduction. Scarey stuff. And this was despite my husband (who was twice his size) kneecapping him with a cricket bat in an attempt to immobilize him while calling the Police. Time and again he brazenly snuck past a troop of hard-core bikies (related to said husband) who set up club-house, so to speak, in front of our home in a blatant but futile attempt at deterrence. While this would have frightened the heebies out of most people, the stalker persevered. In fact, the siege didn’t let up until seven months after we bought a Rottweiler x Bull Mastiff puppy. We named him Sick ‘em Rex, or just Rex for short. He grew very quickly to an impressive 75kg, was black as the night and as protective of his owners as a lioness of her cubs. One dark evening he sunk his sizeable jaws into the prowler’s soft tissue as he unwittingly stepped over the deceptively still and perfectly camouflaged Rex (ouchies!). The bane of my life tumbled down the back stairs and did not disturb the peace of Blackwood Rd again. The neighbours were very thankful to be rid of him, too, as it meant the removal of our resident bikie contingent (not good for residential value!). I shared this story, then one of my friends said he thought suffering was like sandpaper. The struggle is the sandpaper, and we’re the object to be sanded. Eventually the sandpaper wears out and is discarded, but the object, with its knicks and marks removed, remains. I have faced other trials in my life, some light-weight, some gut-wrenchingly hard. And I’ve come to the conclusion that we choose to respond to trials in one of three ways: we become embittered at the world and at God, we become emotionally numb, or we are drawn back to the Cross of Jesus where only He can give us what we so desperately need – perfect love that casts out all fear. The struggles in my life, or the worst of times, have also become the best of times. Sometimes the beauty is in the contrast. The cool of the evening and the heat of the day. The dark of night and the illumination of dawn. The excitement of activity and the tranquility of silence. It’s the opposite that gives poignancy to the other. The heart-thumping hand of a prowler clutching at you through the window, and the tested promise of God, “Fear not, for I am with you.” How can we truly understand, to the very depth of our being, “The Lord is my strength and refuge, whom shall I fear?” if we have never despaired for our own safety? How can we recognize the truth, “And underneath are His everlasting arms” if we’ve never been carried in them? God tells us trials bring perseverance, perseverance brings proven character which in turn produces hope. In my own life, this is true. The trials I faced when I was first married were an easy warm-up session compared to the suffering we faced when my baby boy arrived in this world. He had massive cardiac problems and we were told he wouldn’t make it. I sure needed to drawer on the perseverance, character and hope honed through previous trials. But that’s a story for another day. However, I’m sure you’ll be pleased to meet my now-almost-three year old son, Zeke, who has just taken to walking around the house busting some hip-hop moves and saying, “Woooorrrrd brother!” “We exult in our tribulations, knowing that tribulation brings about perseverance; and perseverance, proven character; and proven character, hope; and hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us.” Rom 5:3-5 by Christine Thomas Thu, 20 Oct 2005 00:00:00 +1000 http://www.houseofdean.com/Article9.phtml One of these things is doing its own thing… (sing along with me now) one of these things just doesn’t belong... O.K. so you’re not as familiar with the Sesame Street classics as I’d hoped. Doesn’t matter. Does it worry you to be different? I don’t always fit in. And the fact I’m even moderately concerned I don’t “fit in” irks me even more than the actual “not fitting in”. Why? If I’m brutally honest with myself, it irritates me because I’d like to think I don’t need anyone. I’d like to think I don’t need others’ approval. And herein lies the problem: as a Pastor, as a leader, as a Christian man, I do need approval. Let me clarify: I do need to hear every once in awhile, ‘You are valued, your unique ministry is what God has given to His Church’. And herein (also) lies the problem for many Australian Churches. We are giving Pastors, ministry leaders and potential leaders the opposite picture. We’re showing them their ministry must conform to an accepted norm to be valid (and approved of). I wonder how many sit in our congregations longing to be involved in a valued ministry, but do not have ministry skills that will fit into certain expected norms? (like worship leader, deacon, elder, youth pastor, pastor... you can place your own norms here.) Can you imagine what it would be like if everyone was commissioned to do the ministry God purposed for them? How exciting would it be to go to a service where person after person stood up and testified about how they ministered to someone within their own unique work situation? I want to hear stories of how the sales person sold more than just their assigned product… leaving with their client the idea of a passionate God who wants a relationship with them. I want to hear stories of the taxi driver who spoke of Jesus’ hope and love to a fare he picked up outside the hospital. Stories of the teacher who illustrated God’s forgiveness to a rebellious teenager. I want to see a revolution in ministry! To see ministry happening outside the Church building, to see Sunday services become a time of joyful praise, not only because of who He is but because of what He has done through the ministry of all the believers. Now you might be sitting here thinking, ‘well that is nothing new’, and ‘we all want that’. But how can we achieve this ideal? Perhaps something drastic will have to happen. It will begin with us Pastors. Some Pastors may have to leave the “pastorate” in the professional sense and lead the ministry revolution through example. No matter who you are and what you do, if your job is getting in the way of ministry – change jobs! If you’re a full time paid Pastor, when was the last time you ministered to someone outside the family of Christ? Just pause and do a quick “reccy” of your own ministry situation. If the “office” of Pastor is hindering you from living out God’s purpose for your life, eventually your heart will be hardened and your hearing will be dulled. You will no longer hear God’s voice in your life. And that’s the last position you want to be in as a Pastor. I regularly take stock of my ministry situation. And I guess you could say recently I have refreshed faith indwelling me, a renewed passion and a voice which communicates to me as clear as any voice I’ve ever heard. And it’s saying, ‘Extend His kingdom, extend His kingdom.’ To return to my opening thoughts, this is why it upsets me that I feel different. Why do I need human approval if I hear God’s voice so clearly? Why would I need your blessing if I am hearing God’s? To be honest I have tried to come up with all sorts of rational explanations. Perhaps it’s because I’m really an attention seeking, self-centred egotistical, self-absorbed man. Perhaps it’s because God created all of us with a need to belong. Perhaps it is both. I don’t know. Regardless, I want to heed His voice and extend His kingdom! And I want to follow His purpose for my life over and above any man-appointed plan. That is were the revolution in ministry needs to begin! Want to join me? I’m sure we can take a little poetic licence with that Sesame Street song, I know my kids sure do… two of these things are doing their own thing…(No wait! Now there’s ten) Ten of these things are doing (Hang on! Where did you all come from?) Forty-nine of these things just do not belong. ~Dean Thomas Wed, 19 Oct 2005 16:09:47 +1000 http://www.houseofdean.com/Article8.phtml Can I tell you two stories, both of which occurred to me last week. I was driving home with my 4 year old daughter and my 3 year old son, when they both unexpectedly started singing this song; “You are my sunshine, my only sunshine. You make me happy when clouds are grey”. I grinned from ear to ear! I was sitting in a prayer meeting last week and I heard the story again about Abraham receiving a visit from the Lord and my Senior Pastor made this statement “do you like God?” You know I have never been asked that before. I have been asked ‘do I love Him?’ To which I have always thought, of course! I have served God. I would like to think I have honored God. I have given huge amounts of my time, money and efforts to Him. I have thrown away any real chance of ‘making it’ in life. OF COURSE I LOVE HIM! ……But do I like Him? Do I like Him mmmmmm….. If I was sitting in the back sit of a car and God was driving, would I burst out singing, “you are my sunshine”? This thought has now nagged me for days. It has made me think, what does it mean to like God? Is it important? So I endeavored to think of people who I like, and of the things I do and experience with those people. Here is a list of things I could think of; Most generally have a common interest connection Most are not self centered, or ego centric in anyway Most listen and speak kindly and encourage me Most seem happy when I am with them Most are truthful with me Have fun together I am relaxed near them I don’t feel pressured to pretend I am free to express myself Hang on a minute I see something here….. Yes I do like God! I feel and experience every one of those things with God. Yes I do love and like Him! Phew what a relief…. I thought I was in serious trouble then. ~Dean Thomas Tue, 20 Sep 2005 15:21:47 +1000 http://www.houseofdean.com/Article7.phtml The noise is getting louder each day! The boisterous opponents of the Church are becoming increasingly vocal: “All the Church wants is money!” “Fanatics like them cause wars!” “Bunch of hypocrites!” “They don’t know how to have fun!” “The Church has no place in politics/schools/the media…” Every day the opportunity for Aussies to hear about belonging to a community of God becomes more remote. Every day Mr/Ms Average Australia sees less need to go to Church. And more often than not, the wider Church body has one response: Silence. Do you hear it? In many Churches it’s deafening. In stark contrast to society’s clanging vocal opposition to the Church, there comes the feather-light whisper calling us to experience life the way it was intended to be. We were created to belong in a vibrant, life-changing community like the Acts Church which spear-headed the culture of its day and influenced future society. They weren’t so much reacting to culture, but rather changing it and leading the way. Sounds good, doesn’t it. How can today’s Church lay hold of that vital role? How can the Church help the average Aussie change their mind about the role and relevance of the body of Christ? How will the vocal opponents be silenced? Those of the gambling persuasion are betting the Church will soon flounder and a whole generation will be lost to the experience of Christian community. However we know something they don’t – Christ himself promised the gates of hell shall not prevail. How can today’s Church be culture-changers? By charging into battle. The Church was not created for self-defence. She was created to go off to battle. When it comes to the battle for cultural change, some still think in terms of structural renewal for the Church, that is, to go on the attack by changing structures or programs. However, structures or programs don’t necessarily change anything. In fact structures will inevitably crumble and fall if the few key people running them move on. Some equate preparing the Church to be culture changers to changing the Church stylistically to be more contemporary. But it doesn’t mater what style of Church we try to present if we’re still only reaching the converted. It’s irrelevant. It’s not leading culture and community, merely reacting to culture. It’s the Church on the back foot – certainly not marching into battle and beating down the gates of hell for the souls of mankind! To become cultural pioneers, the Church needs a complete paradigm shift – a re-emphasis on following Christ, not just a preoccupation with belief. We don’t need more believers, we need followers of Christ. Passionate followers of Christ can win the battle for cultural change. The world has always needed passionate followers of Christ. Look at the early New Testament Christians. They were consumed with a passion for the lost because Christ was. They were willing to die for that passion because Christ was. Now days Aussies call that sort of fanaticism evil, almost on par with terrorism. To make matters worse, within the Church those who are passionate followers of Christ have been labeled as “over the top”, or as some have said, “just not cut out to be leaders in the Church”. Some are put in the box of “Evangelist” when they’re not – they’re simply passionate followers of Christ who live out their worship each and every day and obey the teachings of their Saviour. I’d like to share my story. I have been told by some Christian leaders that I am not a Pastor but rather an Evangelist (due to what they identify in me as an “excessive amount of or extreme preoccupation with fulfilling the Great Commission”). I remember not being considered for a pastorate in one Church because, according to the Senior Pastor, “I was too evangelistic”. It has taken years of wasted time and effort for me to understand these people were just plain wrong. I am not a big E “Evangelist” in their sense of the word, that is, someone who simply reaps the harvest and performs no other pastoral functions whatsoever. In their eyes, the primary role of the Pastor is to tend the (converted) flock, leaving the harvesting of the heathen to the “Evangelist”. These leaders are walking in a different paradigm to me. I am a believer and a follower of Christ – a Pastor who not only believes in the primacy of the Gospel as do all of my peers (hopefully). But as a result, I also believe in the priority of evangelism as being the foremost consuming purpose in my life. That does not make me an Evangelist. It just makes me a typical follower of Christ who has the purpose and priority of God right! Now don’t get me wrong. I am not talking here about the “office” of the Evangelist, moreso commenting on the role of the Pastor. Nor am I saying let’s give up what structural renewal programs we have going and forget about making our services generationally relevant. But I am talking about refocusing our time and energy towards what I know is your main concern – the reaching of this lost generation. Stop and listen carefully… do you hear it? The sound of thousands upon thousands of every day Australians limping through this life and falling into an eternity without Christ. Listen to the voice of the Good Shepherd, as he tells us to go and make disciples. Let them hear that Jesus came so they may have life to the full now. So to you my fellow Pastors: I know you believe in the primacy of the Gospel, and the priority of evangelism. But do you want to be culture-changers? Do you want to turn this nation inside out so people look to the Church to lead the way? To turn the present situation around start by asking yourself: does my diary reflect my so-called priorities of the primacy of the Gospel and the priority of evangelism? It is time to get passionate! Passionate about the things that really matter! The things which can change not only your Church, but the whole of society. Do you hear it? ~Dean Thomas Mon, 25 Jul 2005 22:26:01 +1000 http://www.houseofdean.com/Article6.phtml I have learnt things in ministry! I have – really?! Most of the things I learnt in ministry were things I wasn’t told in College. Like, I should have been told that I wasn’t in competition with the Church Planter down the road!? The fact I wasn’t told that caused a few hiccups early on, but I learnt that one eventually, so that I was able to cheer for every success they had! But, some things they did tell me! One of the best lessons I was taught was to read and to read as widely as I could. I had always enjoyed reading, but I had, to that point, always read books from within the “approved” list of books that my denomination said were ‘kosher’. One of my leaders however, told me of his own journey of reading widely and it encouraged me to do so from that time. I look back now on almost 25 years of ministry and I’ve read some amazing books, books that once upon a time I would never have read. And, I believe it has helped me greatly with two things. As I read I came across weird stuff and that threw me back on God’s Word. I read the Word more because I needed a benchmark for thinking. Was this author on to something? Or, was it just an idea that had no Truth in it? I reckon that’s been a great outcome for me. The other thing was that reading widely has helped me see the value and grace in believers from all parts of the Church. The Church is really an amazing thing. The real Church doesn’t have boundaries and departments, just people who love Jesus and they come from every culture and tribe and tongue and its amazing. As I read them, I kept having to see God as beyond my ideas. Greater and stronger and wiser and more amazing than I had realised and I have to thank authors from many cultures who have helped me to see that revelation of Jesus. So the drum is – read! Read widely and read wisely. Read with the Word of God nearby and read with a heart to know. Don’t stop because leaders are readers all the time. They never stop learning, so they never stop reading! -Colin Stoodley Tue, 19 Jul 2005 12:45:48 +1000 http://www.houseofdean.com/Article5.phtml So there’s all this “stuff” floating around in cyberspace about postmodern worship. If you’re already up to speed on this topic read no further. But some people still want to know what it is and what it isn’t. Some want a list of things they can incorporate into their existing modern services to attract Gen Xers to their church. Some try to replicate what others are doing, cramming a worship experience built for another group of people from a land far, far away into a pre-fabricated service formula which has “worked for us for years.” Failure, with a capital F is heading their way. Or perhaps more tragically irrelevancy with a capital I. Postmodern worshippers don’t want a one-size-fits-all approach to worship. They don’t want blended worship – a nineties term referring to the church’s attempt to please all of the people all of the time with song-selection. They don’t want a performance by those up front, and they don’t want a linear approach to worship… this happens, then when that stops this happens, and then when that’s finished this happens, and then we go home. No. What postmodern worshippers crave is a rich tapestry of worship, woven together with strands of story-telling, the arts, ambience, suspense, dialogue, anticipation and authenticity. The “message” or sermon, is no longer the only message. People expect to hear and interact with God’s truth from the moment they arrive, not just in pre-determined times or in pre-determined ways during the service. The worship experience is three-way. They worship God as a response to His grace, He ministers to them and they also minister to one another in a way that builds community (beyond a superficial, “ hi how’s your week” conversation). Because experiential worship is, in essence, an experience, it cannot be replicated from one gathering to another. But for the purpose of illustration, here’s one example of an experiential Easter service: Four figures, dressed in black, stand on plexiglas cubes, suspending them above the stage. The upward lighting emanating from the cubes creates an eerie feel as it illuminates the objects the figures are holding: a whip, a hammer and spike, a crown of thorns, and a spear. John Michael Talbot music floods the room as technicians project crucifixion art on the large screen. One at a time, the figures dressed in black speak and describe the torture inflicted on Jesus' body by the object they are holding. "The Roman soldiers used a whip, commonly called the cat-of-nine tails to pulverize Jesus' flesh. The tails of the whip wrapped around His body, and when the solider snapped the whip, the stones and pottery pieces woven in the leather grabbed His flesh and tore it away, exposing His muscles, and sinews to the elements...." As the impact of the first speaker's words sink into the hearts of the worshipers, the second speaker holds up a crown of thorns, and says, "When the soldiers thrust the crown of thorns on Jesus' brow, they shredded the flesh on His skull. The thorns on this crown are one to two inches long and extremely sharp. Because the skull is one of the most vascular areas of the body, these thorns would cause severe bleeding when forced onto His head...." Another speaker explains the pain Jesus felt when the Roman soldiers drove nails through His hands and feet. "The spikes were over six inches long and almost a half inch in diameter. The hammer drove the nails through His flesh. Besides the pain from the puncture and slow compression, Jesus felt severe shock waves of pain as the nailed touched His median nerve." The final speaker holds a spear and describes the soldier piercing Jesus' flesh through to His Heart. When Pastor Ron Martoia rises to speak, he and the audience explore the question, "Why did Jesus do it?" Images continue on the big screen and on the small monitors scattered throughout the auditorium. Before communion, the Worship team sings "Why?" The worship leaders don't pass communion out to the crowd; instead, worshipers walk to a sixteen-foot, semi-oval concrete communion table, built especially for this service. Lying on the table are oversized pewter gothic chalices and large loaves. Interspersed with the communion elements are the whip, hammer, crown of thorns, spike, and spear. The silence is interrupted with three loud hammer blows, and the sound of a thunderstorm. On the screen, these words appear: "You are free to linger as long as you like or go as you like, but please leave in silence." The Good Friday service at Westwinds Community Church in Jackson, Michigan concludes.* And one last thing…. When you do start developing times of experiential worship that work, please, please, please don’t label it with fluorescent stickers which say, “this works, let’s do it again next week.” Don’t allow your worship experiences to become new traditions, never to be changed because, “that’s the way we do it around here.” Be guided by the great Creator. *from Jim Wilson's book Future Church: Ministry in a Post-Seeker Age ~Christine Thomas Tue, 28 Jun 2005 13:00:00 +1000 http://www.houseofdean.com/Article4.phtml Our parents left religion and, perhaps not coincidentally, each other in unprecedented numbers. Failed ideologies were mother's milk to us: love didn't save the world, the Age of Aquarius brought no peace, sexual liberation brought us AIDS and legions of fatherless children, Marxism collapsed. We can't even imagine a world of cultural or national unity; our world is more like a tattered patchwork quilt. We have every little inconsequential thing, homepages and cell phones, but not one important thing to believe in. We are the much–maligned Generation X: your mission is to get us back to church. There's a problem in this project. Even though we share the same cultural background, not all members of my generation are alike. After all, it's not so easy to sum up the character of a group whose only certain common feature is age. Yet there's something to be said for such generalizations. So drawing on our commonality (in spite of our diversity) and the extraordinary presumption of youth, I present here a vision of what the Xers might say if they all banded together to tell you what might persuade them to reenter the fold. My authority on this subject can be challenged because in one critical respect I am not part of the "we" in what follows. I do go to church and am utterly taken with "the Christian thing." But I know a lot of people of my generation who don't and aren't. So while I don't claim to be an expert (and am not sure what it would mean to be an expert on this subject), I'll presume to talk about "we" and "us" and ask the reader to accept it for what it's worth. We know you've tried to get us to church. That's part of the problem. Many of your appeals have been carefully calculated for success, and that turns our collective stomach. Take worship, for instance. You may think that fashionably cutting–edge liturgies relate to us on our level, but the fact is, we can find better entertainment elsewhere. The same goes for anything else you term "contemporary." We see right through it: it's up–to–date for the sake of being up–to–date, and we're not impressed by the results. In any event, you're not doing us any favors by telling us we're so important that age–old prayers and devotions can be rewritten to suit our personal whims. We know intuitively that, in the cosmic scheme of things, the stakes are too high for that. On the other hand, you shouldn't be excessively medieval and mysterious, either. Mystery works up to a point, but it's addictive, and once we get hooked on it, the Church won't be able to provide enough to support our habit. We'll turn instead (many of us already have) to Eastern gurus and ancient pagan pantheons to satisfy all the esoteric delights our souls might desire. The human lust for secret knowledge should not be underestimated and certainly not encouraged. The Church has fought against that gnostic impulse from the start: Christianity is explosively non–secretive, God enfleshed for everyone to see, the light shining in the darkness. We're much too comfortable alone in the dark; we need the light to shake us up. Then, of course, there is the matter of telling us that the Church possesses the Absolute Truth. Gen Xers doubt the very existence of such Truth with a capital T. We're much more comfortable with the idea of a multiplicity of little truths than one single unifying truth. But even if universal truth does exist, we are extremely skeptical that you–or anyone else–can possess it. Admittedly, this skepticism is a bit puerile. All the more reason not to use "the Truth" as the basis for evangelizing us, because it will backfire. And when your evangelizing attempts do fail, don't let the word "Hell" cross your lips. That's another thing we don't believe in. As you can see, Generation Xers are a strangely complicated and self–contradictory bunch. Torn between rigid scientific doubt on the one hand and irrational credulity toward the supernatural on the other, we tend to have a generalized belief in God but are doubtful of his personal concern for us. It often sounds to us like the Church preaches two Gods, one of law and another of love. The first punishes sins (though we see evildoers get away with murder) while the second babysits his flock (but there's too much suffering for us to buy that, either). We refuse God's judgments, yet judge our parents harshly by canons in which hypocrisy is the only capital crime. And anything that smacks of the Establishment (a hangup inherited from our Boomer parents) elicits nothing but our contempt. The Establishment purports to be for the greater good, but what has the greater good ever done for us? Each of us is the center of his or her own universe, and so we abhor any kind of coercion, no matter how gentle, socially beneficial, or genuinely correct. In our eyes, the Church's standards of orthodoxy and behavior are as coercive as the government's laws. Both seem to be convenient vehicles for affirming preconceived notions, whether the narrow–minded judgments of parochial middle America or the social agendas of trendy leftists. We see complicity in the Church where you want us to see stability, moralism where you want us to see righteousness. The ultimate difference is that where you see the City of God we see only the City of Man. Our stumbling block is Christianity presented as panacea. You're right that we are looking for healing, and usually in all the wrong places. When we're at our worst, we turn to drugs to numb the pain, cure the boredom, and escape the nothingness that haunts our lives. At our best we try alternative medicine, psychology, meditation, yoga, diets and exercise, successful careers, or falling in love. We invest ourselves in these things, and they inevitably fail. Which is what we expected anyway. We have learned that nothing can be trusted, so we've given up on trust altogether. Don't tell us that the Church can be trusted because, frankly, we doubt it. Don't tell us Christianity is the answer to our problems, because nothing but death will take them away. (Ever wonder why our suicide rate is so high?) So you're in quite a pickle: you can't tell us that the Church has "the Truth," and we know that the Church won't miraculously cure us of our misery. What do you have left to persuade us? One thing: the story. We are story people. We know narratives, not ideas. Our surrogate parents were the TV and the VCR, and we can spew out entertainment trivia at the drop of a hat. We treat our ennui with stories, more and more stories, because they're the only things that make sense; when the external stories fail, we make a story of our own lives. You wonder why we're so self–destructive, but we're looking for the one story with staying power, the destruction and redemption of our own lives. That's to your advantage: you have the best redemption story on the market. Perhaps the only thing you can do, then, is to point us towards Golgotha, a story that we can make sense of. Show us the women who wept and loved the Lord but couldn't change his fate. Remind us that Peter, the rock of the Church, denied the Messiah three times. Tell us that Pilate washed his hands of the truth, something we are often tempted to do. Mostly, though, turn us towards God hanging on the cross. That is what the world does to the holy. Where the cities of God and Man intersect, there is a crucifixion. The best–laid plans are swept aside; the blueprints for the perfect society are divided among the spoilers. We recognize this world: ripped from the start by our parents' divorces, spoiled by our own bad choices, threatened by war and poverty, pain and meaninglessness. Ours is a world where inconvenient lives are aborted and inconvenient loves are abandoned. We know all too well that we, too, would betray the only one who could save us. One more thing. In our world where the stakes are high, remind us that all hope is not lost. As Christians you worship not at the time of the crucifixion, but Sunday morning at the resurrection. Tell us that the lives we lead now are redeemed, and that the Church, for all her flaws, is the bearer of this redemption. A story needs a storyteller, and it is the Church alone that tells the story of salvation. Here in the Church is where the cities of Man and God meet, and that is why all the real spiritual battles, the most exciting adventure stories, begin here. We know that death will continue to break our hearts and our bodies, but it's not the end of the story. Because of all the stories competing for our attention, the story of the City of God is the only one worth living, and dying, for. (c) Sarah E. Hinlicky, 1999, First Things. Mon, 27 Jun 2005 13:25:57 +1000 http://www.houseofdean.com/Article3.phtml Righteo. Backpacks ready? Check. Hiking boots on? Check. Fresh water? Check. Compass? Map? Hat? Check. Check. Check. Oh, and do you have your “Guide to understanding the competition – a friendly look at Pentecostals and Conservatives.”? Check. Then journey with me to a land where those in the two corners of evangelical doctrine co-exist. A place where experiencing God is just as important as knowing Him. As a pastor I have noticed many who attend the “conservative” Churches are longing for God to visit in a way which would bring real experience. Many are tired of opening their bible to hear a preacher knowing full well what the preacher is going to say. Some have become used to the three hymn sandwhich on offer on Sundays and long for something different – but are unsure what that difference should be. Equally so, many of my more pentecostal brothers and sisters are longing for some real teaching on something other than tithing. They are tired of being blown by the wind of the next and latest fad. They’ve become restless with the new ‘traditions’ of worship. Could it be conservative Christians are longing for experience and pentecostal Christians are longing for the Word? Does this simply mean a merging of the two? I’d like to think the answer would be yes, but then again, we might be seeing something new. Perhaps a new movement is emerging - one not at all interested in the conservative/pentecoastal debate. A new group which has not had the displeasure of going through this tired old battlefield again. (As we look through church history we can see the holes in the ground where the explosions have occurred.) This new group of largely Gen Y people are pragmatists at heart and will discover a new tradition. A tradition which has a sane amount of experience and knowledge. What does that mean for someone like me? Someone who leans to the conservative side of the walking track…. Well it means I will probably have to be part of a ministry team which reflects the whole spectrum. It will probably mean that our team’s goals and evaluation will largely be grounded in pragmatism. We’ll have to do things that work and just drop things that don’t. Nothing will be off limits. Ministries will be measured in relation to how many in the community are still not in the kingdom. Not how many are in Church. Belong, believe become, rather than believe, belong, become. See the difference? The team will have to speak first to people’s hearts, overcoming isolation. Then to their minds, overcoming ignorance. And finally speak to the spirit or soul, overcoming indifference or indecision. I’d love to take a hike with a church who journeys like that. ~Dean Thomas Thu, 02 Jun 2005 11:29:25 +1000 http://www.houseofdean.com/Article2.phtml The Church where I pastor is driven by this idea “Belong Believe Become”. That means all of our ministries fit into one, some or all of these areas. The process is clear, help people belong and then they will be able to believe. When people believe, they can become the people God created them to be. Internet evangelism fits into the scheme perfectly. We can tailor make web sites to help people feel as though they are part of a community, and then give them enough information to help them believe. We’re about to launch a new web based ministry designed to help people feel part of our community. We plan to give a group of young people some digital cameras. They then go to where the parties and events occur in our area on the coast and take digital photos of groups and couples (who want a photo, of course). They then hand out business cards with our web address and offer them free or cheap digital prints of the photo. The site will have the photos for viewing free of charge for a set period of time. Each group will have its own forums page for anyone to discuss the images or gig where they were taken. The goal is to help the young people create a sense of community for themselves, a community which is influenced by my church. Thu, 02 Jun 2005 11:25:16 +1000 http://www.houseofdean.com/Article1.phtml How can an itinerant evangelist be effective in reaching Gen X? Many Gen Xers have grown up without any real father figure, so for starters we (itinerant evangelists) could try being a little less itinerant. Many Gen Xers have been fending for themselves since day one and are used to being forsaken. But they can sense genuine love and commitment a mile away. Most are attracted to a caring individual with time to waste on them. “If you want the key to my heart”, they say, “show me you'll be my friend. After you preach (or better, before ), ask me out to dinner. Listen to me. Stay a week. Meet with me a few more times. Come back in a couple of months and see how I'm doing. Call. Write. E-mail”. Evangelism to Gen Xers has to be relational-intensive to be successful. It also needs to be genuine. “Do what you can to identify with us. When appropriate, exchange your suit and tie for jeans and a flannel. Be sure to drop all theological lingo learned in college that can't be easily explained. And remember to fashion your presentation of the Gospel in a way that will appeal to our needs”. As a group, Gen Xers are hurting now . They’re not that concerned about getting to Heaven. They want to know, “How can Christ give me adventure, challenge, purpose and meaning? And can He clean up my life?” Gen Xers will sacrifice their lives for a worthy cause. Many are ready to do so now. But we need evangelists who will take the time to befriend them, listen to them and be genuine the whole time. And the Gospel needs to be presented in a way that is culturally relevant. Thu, 02 Jun 2005 11:21:11 +1000