Turns out, there is a coalition of apostles.

ICA is currently the largest professional society of apostles known with nearly 500 apostles as active members who pay dues, attend an annual meeting, connect with each other, and provide mutual support and accountability.

And, they have a definition...

An apostle is a Christian leader gifted, taught, and commissioned by God with the authority to establish the foundational government of the church within an assigned sphere of ministry by hearing what the Spirit is saying to the churches and by setting things in order accordingly for the extension of the kingdom of God.

And, we are in a new era:

The Second Apostolic Age began roughly in 2001, heralding the most radical change in the way of doing church at least since the Protestant Reformation. This New Apostolic Reformation embraces the largest segment of non-Catholic Christianity worldwide, and the fastest growing.

Hmm...

Regardless of whether you will be joining the coalition any time soon, there is an increasing interest in the subject of apostles and apostolic ministry.

Skye Jethani has written a good article here. In it he points to a middle-ground perspective. "The middle-ground viewpoint acknowledges there is a difference between being gifted as an apostle (little "a") and possessing the authority of an Apostle (capital "A")." Alan Hirsch writes in the same issue here, and argues that the apostolic ministry is a missional, "initiating" work. "[Apostles] ensure that the faith is transmitted from one context to another and from one generation to the next. They are always thinking about the future, bridging barriers, establishing the church in new contexts, developing leaders, networking trans-locally." (Alan and I have talked at length about the subject and Alan even posts an apostolic job description here.)

Skye and Alan are not from the Pentecostal, Charismatic, or Third-Wave traditions where the term and emphasis is more common. (Skye is Christian and Missionary Alliance and Alan is part of the Restoration Movement.)

Those from the Pentecostal / Charismatic traditions tend to see the roles as a bit different than described by Alan and Skye, though often not the same as the "coalition" view described above.

Adrian Warnock writes extensively on the subject on his blog, reflecting on a recent conference, Together on a Mission.

One of the links is his video interview with me where I indicate my belief in two church offices--and I see apostolic as a function and not an office.

Some want to have a more apostolic function (or even office) in the missional conversation. Alan may represent the non-charismatic version. For a more Charismatic view, Dave Harvey, of Sovereign Grace Ministries, evaluated the "missional" movement with a criticism that, "Missional Churches Tend to Have an Insufficient Understanding of Apostolic Ministry."

In Breaking the Missional Code, we wrote about apostolic ministry after explaining several missional shifts:

These [ten] shifts [to missional thinking] are both helpful and challenging. They challenge the church and leaders to be apostolic. By "apostolic," we are not speaking of the authority, power, or oversight of the first-century apostles. That office has passed away. However, the meaning of the a word apostolic is best defined as one who is "authoritatively sent." We are sent to proclaim the gospel from Christ, who, before giving the Great Commission, began by reminding his listeners, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been give to me. Therefore go . . . ." Jesus authoritatively sends us to proclaim the gospel and reach people in the name of Christ, not to lord it over in new structures of church life. Some claiming "apostolic" focus on their authority, but our focus is on Christ's authoritative commands to go and transform the world for the gospel--in our church, community, and culture.

Thus, these shifts are forcing the church to focus more sharply on its apostolic mandate. We are rediscovering that to be a biblical church means to be missionally engaged . . . and those shifts help us to think biblically and missionally in our world.

Three questions come to mind:
What is apostolic?
What is an apostle?
How can the church regain an apostolic focus?

I would love to get your input...

The blog tour for Compelled by Love continued today. The tour has included Alan Hirsch's blog, Tall Skinny Kiwi, Darryl Dash, Micah Fries, iemissional. Today, we visit my friend David Fitch at Reclaiming the Mission. David is a great thinker and writer and you will often see his links in my "Noteworthy Items" below. Drop by his blog and read the interview there.

One of the things we try to do to reach out to our neighbors is to bring them cookies, welcome them into the community, and invite them over for something (grilling out, playing with the kids, etc.). Yesterday, Donna was making cookies for us to bring to the neighbors. Since we live in a new neighborhood, we want to be the "welcome committee."

Well, last night I was up reviewing a few notes for my session today. Donna had already gone to bed, and as I was working I finally realized the room was filling with smoke. It had been smoking for a while, but by the time I noticed it was like something from Isaiah's vision in the temple, "and the house was filled with smoke."

Turns out we started the cookies and forgot to get them out of the oven. So, last night, we were up with a surprise, opening the doors, turning on the fans, and putting cookies out on the front porch.

Very exciting...

Donna asked, "Should we leave the cookies out-- it might attract animals."

I was pretty sure that wouldn't happen.

Want a cookie?

Chicago is on my mind.

I am heading there in a couple of weeks to shoot a day of video on Comeback Churches for the Assemblies of God. Should be good...

I am staying over a few days with Donna to get a feel for the city.

If I don't end up preaching somewhere, Dave Ferguson has invited me to lunch so I will probably visit the big yellow box called Community Christian Church. Dave and Jon are contributing to our new book, Multisite Churches: Guidance for the Movement's Next Generation So, I owe Dave (and Jon) and will probably have to buy the lunch!

I am trying to get to Chicago more often because of my new relationship with Trinity Evangelical Divinity School. As I recently blogged, I just joined their faculty.

This Fall (November 17-21) I will be teaching a course titled "Becoming a Missional Church" at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School just outside of Chicago, IL. The course description reads,

Transformational ministries in today's rapidly changing culture require churches that are "missional" from a biblical, theological, and cultural perspective. This course will help you better understand the cultural context in which you serve and teach you how to apply biblically faithful and culturally relevant missiological strategies to your ministry. Special attention will be given to North American cultural shifts, the missional/sending nature of the church, effective communication in various cultural contexts, and emerging ministry patterns in North America.

You can download the syllabus here. Auditors are welcome!

TEDS is a fantastic school and I am looking forward to teaching and interacting with the students. I will be making a point of being on the Trinity campus while in town, so if you are a student there, I hope we can visit.

I will also teach a one day conference on November 20, in Hinkson Hall, (located in the Rodine Global Ministries Building on campus). The conference, also called "Building a Missional Church," runs from 3:15-6:45 and is open to all, but registration is limited. This should be a great gathering of students and pastors. Stay tuned for coming website and how to register.

I will come back in December to be part of a Cornerstone Knowledge Network meeting. We did some architecture research for them (see here.) They are meeting the 9th and 10th, and I will be with them on the 9th and will get some time at Trinity while I am there.

In the Spring I will be back in Chicagoland teaching another class at Trinity. This course will be on "Planting Missional Churches." While there I will lead a forum for sub•text on March 12th, 2009 (more details coming soon). sub•text is a new initiative begun by local pastors by Joe Thorn and Steve McCoy and emphasizes the preaching and practice of the gospel in the suburban context.

So, now I just need tickets to the White Sox game.

Well, as of this week, I've been blogging at edstetzer.com for 1 year. It has been enjoyable, rewarding, and (at times) challenging.

We have released and discussed a lot of research. In addition, it has allowed me to share parts of my life (like moving and rolling my car,) my thoughts on the church and her mission (like the meanings of "missional"), and encourage dialog on issues I believe are important to the Kingdom of God.

The blog has included:

• Talking about movements, history, and race.


• Having edifying dialogue even when you disagree,


• Telling the truth about my denominational situation even when people don't want to hear it,


• Sharing family traditions, and


• Responding to public accusations of plagiarism.

And, surprisingly, the blog itself has been quoted in AP, UPI, USAToday, and World Magazine (reminding me to be careful in what I say!).

It is my hope that the 330 post have helped to facilitate thinking and conversations that can be beneficial to all who participate. I look forward to the next year of blogging and hope you will help to make this blog better by jumping into the conversations.

A recent study by the Barna Group sheds light on the differing values among various Christian segments of the American population. Individuals were asked to rate 19 possible outcomes in life in terms of personal desirability.

The study examined people's preferences according to a dozen overlapping but distinct segments of Christians. Among those groups were evangelicals, non-evangelical born agains, notional Christians, self-identified Christians, Catholics, Protestants, mainline Protestants, and non-mainline Protestants. The research also explored the desires of atheists and agnostics.

One interesting distinction between evangelicals and other groups is the high value they place on being active in the church and making a difference in the world.

For example, 84% of evangelicals claimed that being personally active in the local church was a "very desirable goal." This is double the national average. The study also revealed evangelicals were "much more likely than other people to desire a life in which they make a difference in the world (75%, compared to the national average of 56%)," while ranking fame, recognition and a comfortable lifestyle as less desirable than the national average.

"Adults who define themselves as Christian but are not born again constitute about half of the population that embraces the 'Christian' label" (in this study called "notional Christians"). They were "less than half as likely to say that being active in a church was very desirable (32%), were one-third less likely to list having a close personal relationship with God as very desirable (65%), and were only half as likely to portray being deeply committed to the Christian faith as very desirable (46%)."

The biggest gap between Catholics and Protestants was connected to the local church. "Protestants were significantly more likely than Catholics to say it would be very desirable to be personally active in a church (60% vs. 41%, respectively)."

George Barna, director of the study, points out that the study tells us something about each of the groups represented.

"The data provide a distinct image of each faith group," Barna commented. "Evangelicals are intensely driven by their faith: their life is substantially influenced by their beliefs and their lifestyle choices and aspirations reflect the centrality of their spirituality. Non-evangelical born again adults consider faith to be important but it is not the defining aspect of their existence; it is influential but not the determining factor. Notional Christians treat faith as just one of many dimensions of their life that serves a purpose, but it is not a driving force at all. Skeptics have replaced faith with a passion for healthy longevity and personal pleasure gained through world travel, sexual experiences, and obtaining knowledge. They are substantially less focused on relationships and legacy than are other groups. They tend to be less concerned about finding or pursuing a purpose in life because a majority of them believe life has no purpose beyond comfort and pleasure."

Be sure and check out the study, and offer your thoughts here. Evangelicals say they value being active in the church, what does that look like in your context?

A couple of weeks ago, I gave a presentation at Every Nation ministries. They are a network of like minded churches with a heart for church planting, campus ministry, and leadership training (three key leverage points in our culture, I believe).

If you read the blog much around here, you have seen Steve Murrell comment. He is one of the key leaders of the movement. Well, Steve, Kevin York, Rice Brooks, and David Houston invited me to come to the meeting and share some characteristics of movemental Christianity and then do a little Q&A.

Based on my own observations, and adapted from an earlier version I presented at the National New Church Conference and a church planting gathering in Philadelphia, I think that movemental Christianity will have certain characteristics if it breaks out here in the West. And, although I draw from his excellent work, some of those characteristics are different from what David Garrison speaks of in his paradigm-creating book, Church Planting Movements. Since most of his examples are from Two Thirds World settings, I think there will be some differences with movements in the West.

Anyway, here is the outline I shared at the meeting last week. I may develop it more into an aritlce, but for now I wanted to share it with you... feel free to give me some feedback or additional thoughts.

If and when movemental Christianity happens in North America I believe it will consist of (at least) 10 elements:

Prayer
Prayer will need to be more than a habit, or a discipline. It must be a conviction that establishes its priority. Before we see movemental Christianity, we will have to be praying, asking God to change us.

Intentionality
We will also need to show the intention of being movemental (see the next 8 elements). As of now, I believe our focus is primarily defensive and incremental, not intentional and exponential.

Sacrifice
Change will not come without giving something up. No movement will happen until pressure is applied to move the church from the place of being static to a body of believers in action. This sacrifice will be paid by denominations, individual churches, and believers.

Reproducibility
Movements do not occur through large things (big budgets, big plans, big teams). They occur through small units that are readily reproducible. Those who want to see movements need to see reproducibility at every level. This is a challenge is to resist the grandiose in favor of the reproducible.

Theological Integrity
Churches wanting to be involved in transformative, movemental Christianity hold firm and passionate positions on biblical views. The Baptists and Methodists won the Western Frontier (1795-1810) because they were passionate about their beliefs. The Pentecostals are not de-emphasizing what they believe to win Central America. Movements are found among people with robust beliefs, not generic belief systems.

Incarnation
Movemental Christianity recognizes that the gospel is unchanging, but the expressions and results of the gospel will vary from culture to culture. It also recognizes that as the sent people of God we are called to appropriately identify with those to whom we have been sent. All of this means that we must understand both the gospel and culture in order to be the biblically faithful, culturally relevant, counter-cultural movement of God. Movements will look like, and be owned by, ordinary people in their setting.

Empowerment
Movements only occur when the disempowered are given the freedom, and then take up the responsibility, to lead. In our case, the clergification of the church has marginalized those God has called - all people. The disempowerment of church members simultaneously satisfies and disturbs many pastors. Frustration results from not being able to get others to do the work of ministry, but satisfaction comes from being affirmed in doing the work others should be doing. Such co-dependency is the death-knell of movemental Christianity.

Charitability
Movemental Christianity is messy. Those involved in it make mistakes, over-emphasize certain things, and even believe things different than I do. Nobody gives her or his life for a bland belief system. A movement of God cannot be contained in a single movement or theological tradition. Therefore, movemental Christianity requires charity to maintain our firmly held convictions while rejoicing for and speaking well about those with whom we differ but are being greatly blessed by God.

Scalability
Movements often are stifled within smaller communities because of the small mindedness of local believers. When God begins to move, and believers allow movement Christianity to begin to grow, structures must be able to rapidly re-size to not stifle such movements.

In many cases, movements will break out of structures. More frequently, non-scalable structures (like some training programs or denomination structures), will actually hinder the movement. These structures become bottlenecks rather than catalysts.

Wholism
The modern evangelical separation of gospel proclamation and societal transformation is an historical oddity. Movemental Christianity will practice wholistic ministry much in the way of Jesus. Current movements and historical awakenings are and were accompanied by societal transformation. (Cities of God: How Christianity Become an Urban Movement and Conquered Rome provides a helpful look at this subject.)

I am sure a true movement will involve more than this... but these would be a start.

World Magazine reports on the dialogue that Geoff Surratt and I started here at the blog. Both Geoff and I had a follow-up interview with the reporter, Mark Bergin.

Here are some excerpts, mainly focusing on my comments and Geoff's comments. Since the article is for subscribers, I am guessing they would not want me to duplicate the whole thing... but since they draw from our conversation here, it seems OK to cite those parts of the article.

The subtitle is a bit sensational ("mania," etc.) but the article is relatively "pro" when it examines multi-site.

Here are some excerpts:

Out of one, many

Multi-site churches are growing, spreading across cultures, and redefining the concept of gathered worship, for better and for worse. From high-tech to low-frills, unanswered questions and unproven strategies of NextGen churches have yet to slow the mania

...A LifeWay Research survey last year found that 16 percent of Protestant churches in the United States are considering adding at least one campus within the next two years. Other LifeWay findings are due out next spring with the publishing of Scott McConnell's Multi-Site Churches: Guidance for the Movement's Next Generation.

Ed Stetzer, an experienced church planter and president of LifeWay Research, hopes its data will help protect against what he sees as common pitfalls of the movement: "Here's my main concern: Now that multi-site has become the next big thing, will people take the time to do it well or will they simply set up theaters with videos? Often what multi-site becomes is one prominent pastor projecting his image into another town without a missiological or evangelistic strategy accompanying it."

As interim pastor of the multi-site First Baptist Church in Hendersonville, Tenn., Stetzer does not oppose using multiple venues. But in "Questions for McChurch," a recent magazine column for Outreach, he outlines several potential negatives of the model: diminished pastoral care, the discouraging of church community, and fewer pulpits to develop young leaders.

Geoff Surratt, co-author of The Multi-Site Church Revolution (Zondervan, 2006), takes issue with Stetzer's criticisms. He says the multi-site model fosters greater pastoral care, deeper community, and more opportunities for young leaders to develop as preachers and teachers. He says that at Seacoast Church, where he serves as pastor of ministries, the congregation's 13 sites in the Carolinas and Georgia have helped section a large church of 10,000 people into smaller, more manageable blocs. Campus pastors direct the individual mission- and community-building at the various satellites...

Critics of multi-site expansion are apt to interpret the morphing of a campus pastor into a church planter as evidence that starting new churches is a more noble and significant enterprise than starting new campuses. Trouble is, that charge fails to recognize that many of the most committed church-planting churches in the country are also knee deep in multi-site ministry. Seacoast co-founded the Association of Related Churches, which has planted 60 new congregations since its inception in 2001.

According to a recent Outreach magazine report, the top two church-planting churches in the country are Redeemer Presbyterian (part of the Presbyterian Church in America denomination), which holds services at four sites in Manhattan and has planted more than 100 churches, and Mars Hill Church, which operates 16 services at seven locations in and around Seattle.

Stetzer celebrates such examples of internal and external replication: "I'm not a theologically driven critic of multi-site. I'm a critic of it done poorly. If you don't think this through and you don't have the right motives, you end up with a baby that grows up to be pretty ugly..."

Other congregations, such as LifeChurch.tv out of Edmond, Okla., have embraced church online without reservation...

Stetzer believes such online outreach is a valid tool, provided it serves people who cannot physically attend church or offers an aid for people to connect and move into physical community. "The problem is when people equate it to church with online baptisms and that kind of stuff," he said. "You have to assemble, and that requires feet, not electrons."

By and large a good story. I would like to have explored some of the ecclesiological issues of why churches should "assemble" and not just meet on-line, but such is life when it comes to word counts.

One small mistake, the church I serve is not multi-site, it is multi-venue.

And, I would also add that this paragraph only tells part of the story:

Critics of multi-site expansion are apt to interpret the morphing of a campus pastor into a church planter as evidence that starting new churches is a more noble and significant enterprise than starting new campuses. Trouble is, that charge fails to recognize that many of the most committed church-planting churches in the country are also knee deep in multi-site ministry. Seacoast co-founded the Association of Related Churches, which has planted 60 new congregations since its inception in 2001.

Though the writer is correct with his examples (and I know and appreciate ARC and the churches he cites), I think it would also be helpful to point out that many of the most well known multi-site churches have no church planting strategy involvement at all.

It is good point out that the leading church planting churches in American are multi-site (and for the record, I made that list of leading church planting churches to which the writer refers-- and reported that they were multi-site), but I think that the fact that some of the best church planting churches are multi-site does not mean that most multi-site churches are deeply involved in church planting... I wish they were! (You might want to take a look at Aubrey Malphurs comments on that very issue here.)

And, finally, I wish they would have pointed out the great dialogue that Geoff and I had about it here at the blog. You can find that here. Conflict makes a good story, but I don't feel much conflict with Geoff!

By the way, Geoff will be contributing to the book LifeWay Research is publishing on multi-site (along with several other current practitioners).

All in all, a good article... though, as I have written before when the USAToday and AP did the same thing, I find it odd that people use my blog as a source for news.

Whenever I come to Orlando, I end up thinking about life and ministry.

Today was a day like that. After I finished teaching class, my daughter and I did a little tour and I shared with her part of her dad's (and her mom's) journey. She seemed interested, but it might have been the promise of ice cream along the way.

I was born and reared in New York and list that as "home" on forms that ask. However, Orlando has a lot of memories for me. I lived here as a teenager and had some significant milestones during those years:

1. I came to Christ in Orlando.
2. I was discipled here (in a new church plant as a teenager).
3. I met my wife in High School. We were high school sweethearts and even went to the prom together.
4. My sister died here (in 1987).
5. I grew greatly in my faith through, and in some cases because of, those things.

So, today I went by my old house (which was just torn down), the restaurant where I had my first date with Donna, my sister's memorial garden, and some other meaningful places with my daughter.

Being in Orlando makes me wish it was a simpler time when I did not have to worry about books and research, the challenges of denominational structures, who has this-or-that agenda, what event I was speaking at next, or what I had to say (or not say) at the next place.

I miss those days when things were simpler and it seemed that the big concerns were loving God, growing in faith, and helping others do the same. I am sure it was not as simple as I remember, but coming to Orlando makes me wish it was.

Being here makes me want to go back in time, grab a guitar (yes, I play, though not well), and go start a church with nothing but God, a Bible, and a mission...

So, pardon my musings. It was just a good day. It reminded me of what really matters... and it prompts me to adjust some things in my own life today and over the next few months.

As you can tell, the blog has undergone a major redesign. When LifeWay upgraded our blogging platform to the most recent version of Movable Type, I decided it was time to give the blog an overhaul and knew Tim Challies was a guy I wanted to talk to. Tim is an uber blogger, an author and a professional web designer.

I wanted a unique, professional look that is easy to navigate and Tim really delivered. We are still building a few pages, but everything else is complete. I am very pleased with what Tim has done here and I hope it makes your visit more enjoyable. For those who need a little help understanding the "interweb" and the features of this blog, I've put together a brief guide to the blog that may be of help.

Navigation

The navigation at the top of the blog of the page will take you to general information concerning:

• Lifeway Research (primarily a link to the actual LifeWay Research site and a list of national news stories including of LWR),


• the Lifeway Research Team,


• my speaking schedule, and


• the blog archives.

You can find all my blog series in the sidebar, as well as a link to the books I have written.

Recent Comments

The "Recent Comments" section in the sidebar lists the six most recent comments left by blog readers on various posts. It's a quick and easy way to see where the conversation on the blog is taking place. If you leave a comment it will show up here. For comment guidelines please see the end of this post.

Twitter

What is Twitter? Think of it as a way to peek into my world, see where I am, what I am doing and what I am thinking as it happens. You can see the most recent "tweets" (brief posts, typically written from my cell phone) in my sidebar, but it's even more fun to sign up and follow on Twitter. You can follow me or subscribe to my Twitter at www.twitter.com/edstetzer.

The example to the right is a little tame, but today's twittering of the ICRS is here with about a dozen pictures and "commentary" here.

Article Series

Important topics that receive a number of posts are collected together in one place for easy reference. You can find them listed by topic in the sidebar. Click the topic link and you'll be directed to a page containing links to all the relevant posts on that topic.

Facebook

I'm on Facebook as well. Facebook is a social networking site that connects people all over the world, allowing for varying levels of interaction. If you are on Facebook, look me up here.

Noteworthy Items

You'll notice in the sidebar a section titled "Noteworthy Items." These are blog posts and articles around the web that are interesting, thought provoking, and worth a read. I am not endorsing everything linked, but consider worth thinking through and potentially discussing. You can find of my Noteworthy Items here.

Comment Guidelines

You will see this at the bottom of the articles now:

You are welcome (and encouraged) to comment on the blog, but be sure your comment relates to the post. Feel free to discuss the topic, but do not denigrate individuals. You may use HTML to style your comment. Comments are moderated and usually appear within 15 minutes of being posted. Regrettably, Ed cannot personally respond to most comments and questions.

I would love to hear any feedback from you and suggestions are welcome (perhaps for version 2.1!). Thanks for being a reader!

In case you are interested... here is my week in sunny Orlando.

I am flying down to Orlando in a couple of hours for some speaking, meetings, and some time with my youngest daugther, Kaitlyn.

Here's what's up:

Wednesday Morning

I will be heading to ICRS (International Christian Retail Show) in the morning, which used to be called CBA (Christian Booksellers Association), but basically is a shrine to all things commercial related to Christianity and Christian bookstores. I will be Twittering and it might get me in trouble.

Wednesday Lunch

I will be lunching with Joel Hunter (from Northland Church, and president of the Christian Coalition for a couple of hours) and Steve Childers (prof. at Reformed Seminary in Orlando and all around Jesusy guy).

Wednesday Afternoon through Friday noon

I will be teaching my doctoral students. My syllabus is here. I will teach them till Friday noon.

Thursday Morning

Steve Sjogren, of Servant Evangelism fame and founder of the Cincinnati Vineyard will guest lecture for me. Steve and I will then go to lunch with his staff.

Friday Morning

After breakfast with the staff of Crosspointe Orlando, Chan Kilgore (the pastor) will come and guest lecture in my class.

Friday Afternoon

Disney World with Kaityln.

Saturday Morning

Disney world with Kaityln.

Saturday Night and Sunday Morning

Preaching at Church at the Springs in Ocala (Ron Sylvia is the pastor). I will be preaching Saturday night and Sunday morning for 4 (count 'em, 4) services.

Ron says I should eat my Wheaties. Indeed.

Sunday Afternoon

Flying to Albuquerque and then up to Glorieta for the next week-- teaching and finishing my book!

Yesterday, I received an email from Alan Nelson, telling me about some changes in his role. Alan is moving to California and moving from full-time editor to part-time Executive Editor of Rev! Magazine. He will be doing more speaking and writing now and you can find out more about him at www.alanenelson.com.

Anyway, all that to say that it reminded me of a recent article I published with the magazine, I think it was in the last issue. If you are a subscriber, you have already read the article. But, if not, let me share it below.

The theme of the article is change. This has been a "change" week for me. I am right now at Ridgecrest, NC where I have been teaching on the subject for the last few days. And, I just started reading Who Stole My Church, which is, so far, and excellent fictional parable of a church struggling with change.

When Mike Dodson and I wrote Comeback Churches, we did so to help churches change to reach their community. And, yes, it requires change. You cannot do the same thing and expect different results. However, Alan Nelson at Rev! challenged us with the question: how do you motivate people to make that change. The result is the article below:

Warning: I am talking about resources and conferences... beware of shameless plugs!

As I've mentioned before, I'm doing some work with LifeWay's Threads initiative. They are good folks and I've enjoyed working with them. We'll be releasing a new Bible study this fall called, Sent: Living The Missional Nature Of The Church. I am excited about seeing the ideas of missional living in a small group format.

I've also told you about my new co-authored book, Lost and Found: The Younger Unchurched and The Churches That Reach Them. It will release this October in Atlanta at the Catalyst Conference. One of my co-authors, Jason Hayes, serves as a face and voice for Threads by providing teaching, consulting, writing, etc.

All this to say, Threads is hosting a series of regional events this fall that I would encourage you to check out called, Connect Conferences. I'll be participating at several locations along with folks like Jason, Margaret Feinberg, Michael Kelley, and several others. Click here for more information.

It is a fascinating mix of articles at Catalyst: Take a look.

My article, based on the ideas in my new book, Compelled by Love, agrees that ministry is tiring, and can leave us asking, "Why bother?" We should ask that question.

...sometimes, we get tired.

The "wet blanket committee" roams the church to see what passion they can squelch. Tons of logistical work has to be done when all you really want to do is talk to people about Jesus. And there's the never ending cycle of dreaming, strategy, and vision-casting. It's a lot for one person to handle.

So why?

Because of love. Not love like a Reese Witherspoon romantic-comedy or an afternoon talk show pseudo-psychology counseling session. I'm talking about love that asks you to die for the greater good. Like Jack Bauer in 24. Or Leonidas and the Spartans. The kind of love that motivates us should be the same as Christ - a dying love.

Love stands at the center of the Christian life. Understood rightly, it is the "why." It is the supreme command of scripture. When Christ was asked to name the greatest law, he pointed out that it is to love God supremely and others sacrificially (Matthew 22:37-40).

I hope you'll check out the article and are able to find encouragement in it.

Just a reminder: I will be presenting some new research on the main stage at the Catalyst Conference this year, in addition to hosting an IMB event and leading some breakouts. Hope to see you there.

Baptist Press reported today on the SBC messengers in Indianapolis. Registration Secretary Jim Wells has always done a good job with this thankless job.

The number of messengers is not encouraging, but since so many have already commented on that, I want to look at the younger messenger numbers for two reasons:

1. I was young a couple years ago (at least I was under 40).
2. We have done some research on age trends and I have opined on the subject earlier.

From the BP story today:

According to data from 672 messengers who provided additional information during the registration process, messengers 18-29 years old accounted for 5.95 percent of the total; 30-34, 4.76 percent; 35-39, 5.51 percent; 40-44, 5.51 percent; 45-49, 13.10 percent; 50-54, 14.73 percent; 55-59, 18.90 percent; 60 and over, 31.25 percent.

The writer, Mark Kelly, rightfully points out, "The percentage of messengers in the 18-29 category almost doubled over the 3.12 percent at the 2007 meeting in San Antonio." That's good-- and a step in the right direction. (This year, there were 40 messengers reporting their age that fit in this age category. In 2007 San Antonio, it was 20. In 2006, it was 53 and back in 2005 it was 106 for that age group.)

As most of you who read here know, I am not a big Willow guy, largely because I have some concerns about seeker-driven ministry.

They are good people and they love Jesus, and I have learned some good things from them, but my approach to church heads a different way. But, I have learned a lot from Hybels. And, I am interested to see how these things progressed lately.

Willow has made news by, well, correcting the news. The Christian Post has the story here. And, finally, Out of Ur sorta' repents for their sensationalist headline.

When all the hubub first came up, I jumped into the fray in my monthly column in Outreach Magazine called "As I See It." (If you are a subscriber, you would have read it already! If you are not, go here and subscribe.)

The article was birthed out of my surprise at how quickly people lied about what Willow and Hybels had said. Yes, I think some were unintentional errors, and some were irresponsible spreading of misinformation, but some of it was lying.

Some misquoted what others misquoted. However, I was very surprised to see how freely people just, well, lied-- all in the name of good theology.

So, I went on a bit of a rant-- particularly addressing those who thought Willow's concern for relevance was the problem.

Here is the article.

In April, I mentioned here on the blog that I was creating a Facebook page. Well, today, Russ Rankin (from LifeWay Communications) emailed me to tell me that I have 666 friends. This is not good and I am accepting some new requests to fix the problem. However, does it seem a bit suspicious that the guy who told me about the 666 is also the guy who appears under the number on my profile page.

Just sayin'...

When I was growing up, American Independence Day was always a big day. Perhaps it was being reared in a union, working class, Irish family, but I have two memories of that day. First, we celebrated America. And second, there was a lot of drinking. Needless to say, there was much volume to the celebration and the fireworks were especially dangerous.

Donna, my wife, is actually Canadian by birth and a naturalized citizen. So, growing up, she did not experience all the Stars and Stripes celebrations. (Canadians have Canada Day, which is good and fine, but lacks the punch.) The Canadian equivalent of "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness" is "peace, order, and good government." It's not nearly as exciting. So, I have to explain to her why large amounts of explosives are so essential. No explanation is necessary for the girls... they just love the explosions.

Well, today, we will think of our freedom and spend time with our family. While on the subject, let me direct you to Denny Burk's post on Lincoln's second inaugural address and Mark Batterson's on the 56 original signers of the Declaration of Independence.

And, it is always good to read the Declaration... click here to do so.

Have a great Independence Day.

Terry Mattingly of the Scripps Howard News Service and the GetReligion.org blog adds more helpful information about the Pew study related to our recent release, "Are Evangelicals Really Universalists?" Read his synidcated column here and his blog on the subject.

Did I call the Founders Conference attendees "functional hyper-Calvinists?"

Well, some comments have sprung up on the blogs about my message at the Founders Conference. Today, the news story was published covering my second message.

Here are some of the notes from my first message-- which I may not have said exactly as I wrote in these notes. But, these "talking points" may give a feel for what I said. (Some of it, particuarly the section on pragmatism, were hand written and then I added them here.)

Best case, listen to my messages and the other messages here.

I was impressed with these men and their passion for the gospel. I am encouraged to hear their desire to get more involved in evangelism and church planting. Though we would not do everything the same, I was grateful that they invited me. And, I was glad I went.

And, don't be a functional hyper-Calvinist. ;-)
_____________________________________________

My first message:

I want to be upfront with you that I come with a bias-- many of my Southern Baptist Reformed friends are not well represented in church planting and evangelism...

That is not the case with all of the Reformed community.

I have had the privilege of speaking at 4 of the 5 top multiplying churches in America (based on a study I did for Leadership Network and published in Outreach Magazine). Interestingly, 4 of the 5 are Reformed.

1. Redeemer Presbyterian
2. Mars Hill Church
3. NorthWood Church
4. Perimeter Church
5. Spanish River Church...

And, let me add that in my recent book, Comeback Churches, filled with statistics that drive some of you crazy, we studied 324 churches that had "comeback" after a significant period of decline. One of those churches was Grace Baptist, pastored by Tom Ascol, President of Founders Ministries...

But, I think that much of the SBC Reformed community is under-involved in these areas. Which, to be fair, is why your focus in this meeting is church planting and revitalization... a good and important theme.

Now that I have probably offended some of you, I want to start with a few quotes:

"As our blessed Lord has required us to pray that his kingdom may come, and his will be done on earth as it is in heaven, it becomes us not only to express our desires of that event by words, but to use every lawful method to spread the knowledge of his name."

This "whatever it takes" approach came from William Carey in An Enquiry into the Obligation of Christians to Use Means for the Conversion of the Heathens.

I believe that many in the Reformed community need to start using "means" to more faithfully do evangelism and start churches.

Charles Spurgeon also has a warning to some of his brothers who lacked passion for evangelism:

"...they maintain their churches by converts from other systems. I have even heard them say, 'Oh, yes, the Methodists and Revivalists are beating the hedges, but we shall catch many of the birds.' If I harboured such a mean thought I would be ashamed to express it. A system which cannot touch the outside world, but must leave arousing and converting work to others, whom it judges to be unsound, writes its own condemnation." --Charles Spurgeon, Lectures to My Students: Complete & Unabridged, by Charles Haddon Spurgeon, page 243, Zondervan, 1979.

Let's open up to Luke 24:46-49

Luke 24:46-49 (HCSB) 46 He also said to them, "This is what is written: the Messiah would suffer and rise from the dead the third day, 47 and repentance for forgiveness of sins would be proclaimed in His name to all the nations, beginning at Jerusalem. 48 You are witnesses of these things. 49 And look, I am sending you what My Father promised. As for you, stay in the city until you are empowered from on high."

1. The Gospel and the Mission

46 He also said to them, "This is what is written: the Messiah would suffer and rise from the dead the third day, 47 and repentance for forgiveness of sins would be proclaimed"

Jesus is clearly presenting the focus-- the gospel. Church planting is a tool, the gospel is the goal.

We must remember that the gospel is on a mission. I was going to call it "a missional gospel," but I don't think the gospel needs modifiers. Prosperity gospel, social gospel, they all have one thing in common - when you have to modify the "gospel" with an adjective you end up with a false gospel.

Jesus describes the gospel similar to that of Paul's description:

1 Corinthians 15:1-4 Now brothers, I want to clarify for you the gospel I proclaimed to you; you received it and have taken your stand on it. You are also saved by it, if you hold to the message I proclaimed to you--unless you believed to no purpose. For I passed on to you as most important what I also received: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that He was buried, that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures,

But, Jesus also added the idea of propagating the gospel. Jesus gives the same, "suffer and rise from the dead," formulation from 1 Corinthians, but then adds "and repentance for forgiveness of sins would be proclaimed."

Jesus is on a mission and wants us to join that mission.

John 20:21 Jesus said to them again, "Peace to you! As the Father has sent Me, I also send you."

Fundamental to the nature of the gospel is the proclamation of the gospel.

We need to be in the world to tell the world about Jesus. We hear much from our Reformed brothers about holiness... but I warn you: holiness is separation from sin and not separation from sinners.

We need to be known for being passionate evangelists.

Let me encourage you as friends here:

Don't make heroes of pastors who are great preachers and theologians, but whose churches are not evangelistic. They are talking about the gospel without living it out.

What we celebrate we become. And if we celebrate those with strong theology but week witness, that is exactly what we will become.

Churches with strong theology but little mission are like a bodybuilder with huge theological arms, but tiny, spindly missional legs. Don't make that exciting. Don't celebrate that.

I know that claims of "hyper-Calvinism" are a straw man. I know no hyper-Calvinist in my denomination. If I did, their church should discipline them and the denomination should dis-fellowship them. But, I know that Bill Ascol cautions his church here to not be "functional hyper-Calvinists."

Watching out for functional hyper-Calvinism is a good caution for all of us.

I know many who are "functionally hypercalvinist," Reformed and not-Reformed.

But, here is the important thing: Hyper-Calvinist or functional hypercalvinist, the result is the same: God is not honored and given the glory he is due.

2. A Gospel for the Nations

Jesus said the gospel (v. 47) "would be proclaimed in His name to all the nations, beginning at Jerusalem."

It is both a Global Mission and a mission whose applications in some ways determined by the people we have been called to reach.

The "nations" come up here and in Matthew 28.

What does it mean?

Matthew 28:18-20 Then Jesus came near and said to them, "All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe everything I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age."

Panta ta ethne.

Now, not everyone thinks that the "nations" refers to different kinds of people as I do. But, most misisologists and many theologians do.

We need a passion for God's global mission among the nations.

I work for the IMB and we need you involved in reaching the nations: the Pokot, the Quechua, and the Iban. We need you to "Let the Nations Be Glad."

Working in "peoples-focused" ministry leads to some important "means":

• The how of ministry is in some ways determined by the who, when, and where of culture. Yes, churches have "marks," but it seems that some churches are all marks and no mission. Mission leads to churches and expressions that look different. A biblically faithful church should look different in New York, Singapore, and Owasso.
• Older Western expressions are not necessarily more holy expressions. The gospel must be understood and expressed in each cultural context. God and the gospel do not need to be "made relevant," they already are. But, that does not mean we are. (And, I should add, neither are younger expressions.)
• Church plants need to be seeker-comprehensible. And, I use the seeker language on purpose to rile you up. But, if you are going to get into church planting you will need to use language that the unchurched can understand. Planting is not the same as pastoring an existing, particularly a theologically driven existing, congregation.
• What you call respectful, sober, and worshipful, is often based more on your culture than the scriptures.

3. A Clear Obligation to Witness

vs. 48 You are witnesses of these things.

Jesus calls us to be witness of that message. That's good and we all agree with that. We all talk about it. But, it seems to me that many don't do it.

The "in-thing" right now in the reformed community seems to be to write books on evangelism. I think that is good in some ways, but bad in others. It is good because it is an acknowledgment that the movement desperately needs to grow in that area. It is bad because it might be similar to me writing a book on weight loss.

Maybe it would be better to listen to those who are already adept at evangelism rather than find it necessary to write a new version to correct theirs.

If you want to overcome the negative perception of Calvinists, Calvinists must be known as evangelists.

Nobody was upset at D. James Kennedy for being a Calvinist. He was known as an evangelist.

We must evangelize and plant the gospel to start a church.

I believe that church planting is the most important form of evangelism because it ties the church to the mission.

Let me share a few thoughts related to evangelism that leads to church planting:

• Begin by understanding the gospel and clearly articulate what God has called you to do.
• Exegete the context. (Statements like "contextualization was an anathema to the apostles," are exceedingly unhelpful.) Most SBC churches do not need more reasons to not engage the culture. If the 50's came back, most Southern Baptist churches would be ready to go - but if we believe this gospel is true, we need to live it out and evidence it here, now, today in a way that people look in and see the kingdom of God evidenced.
• Reach out and evangelize (This is a challenge for people who think, "If I just preach the word, my church will grow.).

Door to door

Community events

Bridge events

Too many think if they just tell someone the gospel, they are faithful... they say, "I don't need to learn how, the power is all in the gospel." Then why did Jesus approach the woman at the well differently than Nicodemus. Why did Paul preach differently at the Aeropogus, Lystra, and Psidian Antioch?

• Start groups
• Begin worship (launch the church)
• Disciple the people (they are not a church until they covenant with each other).
• Covenant together
• Plant new churches

My desire is that churches will be: Biblically faithful, culturally relevant, counter culture communities for the Gospel and the Kingdom.

4. A Spirit Empowered Mission

49 And look, I am sending you what My Father promised. As for you, stay in the city until you are empowered from on high.

Jesus indicated that such a focus will require waiting for the Holy Spirit.

I am pragmatic. Let me get it out there since I know it will bother some. It seems like pragmatism has already been whacked at a few times here.

You see, I am a missiologist and I ask, "How has God worked and what can we learn about how he is working today?"

People often beat on pragmatism like a low hanging pinata on cinco de mayo, but the dictionary defines pragmatic as, "Dealing or concerned with facts or actual occurrences; practical." Not sure who would be opposed to that, but I am sure there are some.

But, I looked up the antonyms since so many people don't want to be pragmatists. They are: idealistic, impractical, unrealistic, unreasonable

I also want to be anti-pragmatic. I believe this is Holy Spirit work that genuinely is, "idealistic, impractical, unrealistic, and unreasonable."

We need the supernatural non-pragmatic work of the Holy Spirit to work in our prayed over and thought out plans.

Remember William Carey, An Enquiry into the Obligation of Christians
to Use Means for the Conversion of the Heathens:

As our blessed Lord has required us to pray that his kingdom may come, and his will be done on earth as it is in heaven, it becomes us not only to express our desires of that event by words, but to use every lawful method to spread the knowledge of his name.

We need to learn how God has already worked to create a biblically driven and contextually appropriate (pragmatic) strategy. We also need to believe Him to work in supernatural ways as we trust Him and are obedient to his commands.

Conclusion:

You have great influence at Founders. And, I am hopeful and encouraged that you want to use that influence to focus on evangelism and church planting that reaches lost people.

_____________________________________________

And here are some of the news excerpts from my second message:

The overwhelming assumption of the New Testament is that local churches will plant other churches, Ed Stetzer said June 26 in the keynote address at the 26th annual Southern Baptist Founders Conference...

Stetzer challenged pastors to avoid leading local congregations that are theologically sound but inwardly focused (a "cul-de-sac church") and encouraged them to wed orthodox theology with church planting.

"What was normal in the New Testament has become abnormal today," Stetzer said of church planting. "The New Testament church was always multiplying and the church today must always be multiplying. Mission is to be wrapped together with good theology.... God is a sending God."

Preaching from Luke 10:1-12, Stetzer gave six principles that undergird church planting:

-- Prayer is essential to successful church plants. The proper place to begin a church plant is on one's knees, Stetzer said, but many church planters have a tendency to shirk the duties of prayer because they are self-starters. When a person begins to pray for the place where he is going to plant a church, God will break his heart for that place, he said. A church planter must go where he has a deep love and concern for the people and not where the latest demographics predict a favorable outcome, Stetzer said.

-- Prayer flows into a radical reliance on God. All Christians are called to be on mission with God, Stetzer said, but the church has created a false three-tiered Christianity: lay people, those called to full-time ministry and those called to ministry but not called to missions. "We're all called," he said. "The only questions are 'Where?' and 'Among whom?' There is not a separate call to missions." Church planters must not wait until circumstances such as personal financial resources are right, but must radically depend on God, he said. "You will never have enough resources to plant a church," he said. "God will provide."

-- Church planting blesses a community. A church planter can go in confidence that God is already working in the hearts of some in that community, he said. Churches are to go and serve all the people in their communities and be a blessing to them, he said.

-- Build relationships and settle in. A church planter should become a part of the community which he serves and must build deep relationships, while preparing to stay for the long haul and engage the local people with the Gospel, Stetzer said. The planter will likely have to leave some of his own culture behind, especially if he plants in a place far outside his native territory, Stetzer said.

-- Meet needs and serve people. One of the means God sometimes uses to bring people to Himself is through Christians who meet practical needs of people in their community, Stetzer pointed out. Serving others often builds a bridge to the Gospel, he said. "Though salvation is entirely a work of the Lord, we have an obligation to use means," Stetzer said.

-- Church planters are announcing the kingdom of God. "When we plant churches, we are extending the boundaries where Christ reigns -- a church as a sign and instrument of the Kingdom of God. The world around us sees what the Kingdom of God looks like when visible saints express the love and life of Christ."

The task of church planting is not fundamentally a denominational function, he said, but is a function of the local church...

"If you really believe the agenda of the Kingdom of God, if you want God's name and God's fame magnified, how can you not want to be a part of church planting?"

And, no, I did not call the attendees "functional hyper-Calvinists," though I warned them not to be.

It seems that many evangelicals, Reformed and not so, have become that very thing...