There is in our community a man who made his fortune in restaurants. Now he has sold them and spends his time planting churches and helping others do the same. I sat with him not long ago and talked about church planting in this new day. He tells people to move into a community and settle down there. Then go out and get a job, any legitimate job. Work in fast food if you have to. With your Christian lifestyle and work ethic, you’ll be managing the place in six months. Do what you have to do to make a living. Then do what you have to do to bring together that core group to start your church.
His approach is not only entrepreneurial, but also includes Christians being embedded in their community. Our greatest goal should be to insert into a community called people who are trained and connected, then help empower them to support themselves while doing viable and vital ministry through existing small churches and/or through planting new house churches.
We want Christian families to become embedded in their communities. Many people today never make a place for themselves in their neighborhood or community. They are present only as a resident and only as long as their jobs keep them in that location.
While we recognize the necessity of being mobile, we should also seek to become contributing members of a community. We should seek to know our neighbors and introduce them to Christ. And we want to know and fellowship with other Christian families.
Showing posts with label jesus. Show all posts
Showing posts with label jesus. Show all posts
Thursday, May 10, 2012
Tuesday, May 1, 2012
What I Wanna Do When I Grow Up
I’ll turn sixty in a few days, and lately I’ve been trying to decide what I wanna do when I grow up. You see, lots of guys my age are beginning to count down the days to retirement. Not me. I’m doin’ what I love - serving the Lord, serving churches. As long as health and opportunity holds out, I’ll be in active ministry.
But that doesn’t mean no change or nothing new. In fact, that’s exactly the reason for starting this blog. I’m contemplating, praying about something so dramatically new it’ll take a lot of ruminating to bring the concept together. I need you to jump in and react and maybe help in some very hands-on ways down the road.
Here are some things I want to do when I grow up:
When I grow up, I wanna help small churches. I believe in small churches. While there are plenty of folks who are saying the day of the small church is past and being supplanted by the mega church, I believe just the opposite. In the future there are likely to be a good number of mega churches. And there are likely to be tens of thousands of tiny churches meeting wherever they can. And maybe not much in between. Unless we want Christianity to be totally a collection of a few mega churches (with multiple campuses all over the country), we’d better start finding ways to breathe new life into the small church.
When I grow up, I wanna help struggling ministers. There are likely to be a lot more struggling now and in the future. I want to help those just starting out find ways to make it financially in the ministry to which God has called them. I want to help them dream big about ministry, evangelism and missions. I want to help them find places to rest and spiritually and physically recover. I want to help others in their middle senior years find ways to continue being effective.
When I grow up I wanna write more. This blog’s a start. But there are several writing projects in the hopper as well. A couple of them are almost ready for the light of day.
When I grow up I wanna share the spirituality that’s been developing in my heart. The presence of the Lord is amazing. There’s likely to be a separate blog on that very soon.
When I grow up, I wanna be even more urgent and direct in calling people to salvation at the cross of Jesus. I’m evangelical. No apologies. Ever more focus as the time grows shorter.
Whachuwannado?
But that doesn’t mean no change or nothing new. In fact, that’s exactly the reason for starting this blog. I’m contemplating, praying about something so dramatically new it’ll take a lot of ruminating to bring the concept together. I need you to jump in and react and maybe help in some very hands-on ways down the road.
Here are some things I want to do when I grow up:
When I grow up, I wanna help small churches. I believe in small churches. While there are plenty of folks who are saying the day of the small church is past and being supplanted by the mega church, I believe just the opposite. In the future there are likely to be a good number of mega churches. And there are likely to be tens of thousands of tiny churches meeting wherever they can. And maybe not much in between. Unless we want Christianity to be totally a collection of a few mega churches (with multiple campuses all over the country), we’d better start finding ways to breathe new life into the small church.
When I grow up, I wanna help struggling ministers. There are likely to be a lot more struggling now and in the future. I want to help those just starting out find ways to make it financially in the ministry to which God has called them. I want to help them dream big about ministry, evangelism and missions. I want to help them find places to rest and spiritually and physically recover. I want to help others in their middle senior years find ways to continue being effective.
When I grow up I wanna write more. This blog’s a start. But there are several writing projects in the hopper as well. A couple of them are almost ready for the light of day.
When I grow up I wanna share the spirituality that’s been developing in my heart. The presence of the Lord is amazing. There’s likely to be a separate blog on that very soon.
When I grow up, I wanna be even more urgent and direct in calling people to salvation at the cross of Jesus. I’m evangelical. No apologies. Ever more focus as the time grows shorter.
Whachuwannado?
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