Come Over Here and Help Us!

Then they went from town to town, instructing the believers to follow the decisions made by the apostles and elders in Jerusalem. So the churches were strengthened in their faith and grew larger every day. Next, Paul and Silas traveled through the area of Phrygia and Galatia, because the Holy Spirit had prevented them from preaching the word in the province of Asia at that time. Then coming to the borders of Mysia, they headed north for the province of Bithynia, but again the Spirit of Jesus did not allow them to go there. So instead, they went on through Mysia to the seaport of Troas. That night Paul had a vision: A man from Macedonia in northern Greece was standing there, pleading with him, “Come over to Macedonia and help us!” So we decided to leave for Macedonia at once, having concluded that God was calling us to preach the Good News there. - Acts 16:4-10

“Come over to Macedonia and help us!” What a powerful and yet oft neglected verse of the New Testament. 

In North America the church of Jesus Christ has taken a real hit. Some of the loss is self-inflicted - other things beyond our control have also stymied us over the past few decades. It’s true and indisputable - the “church” has been losing “members” for decades now. The decline is evident - both numerically and, unfortunately, spiritually.

Yet, one wonders if we should be viewing this from a different perspective.

In other words, is this the opportunity we have been praying for? To quote a teacher from long ago: are “the fields white with harvest?”

We believe they are.

Which is why, after years of praying and wondering, Missy and I are (as an AARP-aged couple no less) answering the call to plant a church. We have heard the call come from “Macedonia:” “Come over here and help us!”

God has spoken clearly to us. His Holy Spirit has been directing and leading us all along the way. We have seen a great need and have a desire to fill it. Answering our “Macedonian call,” Missy and I are moving to Alabama to plant a church on the Eastern Side of Mobile Bay.

And God has already been opening doors for us to walk through.

We would like to take some time to explain to you what God is calling us to do…

First off, this will not be a traditional church plant as you might be thinking. We are looking to focus on only three things:
    Fellowship (lots and lots of time together!)
    Discipleship (spending lots of time doing in depth Bible study and the other spiritual disciplines)
    Service (our love for God should reveal itself in our love for others. Period)

Secondly, we will not be seeking to build a church numerically. We will not be focused on numbers. That is the way of the world. We will not care about numbers. We will care about people.

Also, we will not have a budget. (We know, some of your heads are spinning right now.)There will be no overhead for us. Each week we will take whatever funds are given, and collectively as a group agree to whom/what we will be sending our gifts to. Then we will turn around and immediately be a blessing to someone. 

Furthermore, we will not worry one second about trying something new out...you know, doing something different. We will not be caged by tradition or a "This is the way we have always done it!" mentality. Rather, we will be free to place new wine into new wineskins.

Now. What will be our aim?

We will focus on growing people. We will keep our primary concern on seeing people mature in Christ and growing closer to God. We will invest our time in them - via Bible studies, small group ministries, prayer groups, and service groups.

We will train people to be leaders. If there is a shortage of anything in Christ’s church it is leadership. But, to be a leader of others you must first be a follower of Jesus. Therefore, one of our aims will be to teach others to become leaders.

We will train others to be leaders so they may then go out and serve. We do not want people to just gather - we want to gather so then we will “go.” We desire to take to others what has been given to us.

We will serve together. That’s one thing that we cannot wait to do - Missy and I understood and accepted as co-pastors. Both of us. Together. A team. And, our fellowship will recognize it as well.

And all the while, we will do all things in joy. Fellowship, koinonia, will be a hallmark of who we are and what we do. Think of it this way: lots of food, lots of laughter, lots of sharing, lots of playing games, lots of just hanging out at the local high school activities...fun times!

Some people call what we are going to do “marketplace ministry.” That’s not a bad way of looking at it. We will both be working normal jobs. We will not look to ask people to come to us…we will be going to them. Kind of like Jesus and the disciples in the New Testament.

And maybe that last sentence explains best what God has laid upon our hearts. We want to do what we read and see in the New Testament. We want to be like Jesus. As Paul writes, “Follow me as I follow Christ.” May that be said of us all.

Please be in prayer for us. Please ask God to continue to lead us. Please ask God to anoint us with his Holy Spirit. Please seek for God’s favor to be upon us as we reach out to those he places in our path. May God use us all for his glory…

We've Got it All Wrong

August 24, 2022

And it was He who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers, to equip the saints for works of ministry and to build up the body of Christ, until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God, as we mature to the full measure of the stature of Christ. Then we will no longer be infants, tossed about by the waves and carried around by every wind of teaching and by the clever cunning of men in their deceitful scheming. Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will in all things grow up into Christ Himself, who is the head. From Him the whole body, fitted and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love through the work of each individual part. - Ephesians 4:11-16

In those days when the disciples were increasing in number, the Grecian Jews among them began to grumble against the Hebraic Jews because their widows were being overlooked in the daily distribution of food. So the Twelve summoned all the disciples and said, “It is unacceptable for us to neglect the word of God in order to wait on tables. Therefore, brothers, select from among you seven men confirmed to be full of the Spirit and wisdom. We will appoint this responsibility to them and will devote ourselves to prayer and to the ministry of the word. - Acts 6:1-4

Ok. Go back and read the above scriptures one more time and then come back.

This week we read something that really caught our attention. Hoping it will spur prayerful thought and consideration, while also knowing it may cause a firestorm of responses, we wanted to share it with you and hear what you think.

Bill Tenney-Brittain is one of North America’s most trusted church advisers. On his blog, The Effective Church Group, he posted an article about the five tasks of the lead pastor. It’s a quick-read article but at the end of it he posts:

Do you notice tasks that aren’t there? The first comment we hear from many congregations is, “But what about us? What about pastoral care and hospital visitation and shut-in communion and …” Please re-read Ephesians 4:11–13 – the pastor equips the saints for member care as well as other ministries. Need another example? Luke 15:3–7 tells the story of the good shepherd. In that parable, the shepherd literally abandons the ninety-nine and leaves them to look after themselves while the shepherd takes on the task of reaching the lost. Is this not exactly what we see in the book of Acts? The Apostles spent their time preaching in the public square, in the synagogues, and often in prison…rather than doing member care. Effective, faithful, and sustainable churches today grow because the Lead Pastors have the margins to engage in life transforming ministries like evangelism and discipleship. They lead well-equipped teams of ministers, sometimes called church members, to do the work and ministry and mission of the church. And when they do, they not only accomplish so much more … they have time to be great spouses, parents, neighbors, and spiritually grounded disciples of Jesus Christ.

(The Effective Church Group – The Five Tasks of the Lead Pastor)

It is a truth that most churches have a guide-line or list of expectations of what their pastor is supposed to do. Why is this? Because the pastor is usually being interviewed and hired for a job. A job that has unfortunately become a business with a budget, meetings, and facility maintenance.

But, if we were to re-read (or actually for the first time read) God’s Holy Word we would find that we have turned upside down what was handed to us over 2,000 years ago.

I (Steve) am writing this early on a Wednesday morning, while sitting in the front row of the sanctuary, surrounded by red carpet, a white pulpit and communion table, and rows of stained glass. Why? Because “Pastors need to have office hours…”

Well, if the pandemic and near utter collapse of the world’s economy has taught us anything, you can do your “job” without walls.

Funny thing - do you know where Missy and I do most of our pastoral care, evangelism and discipleship - outside the walls of the church. In real life. In homes. At the grocery store. In the marketplace.

Do you want to know why the church in North America has decreased so dramatically? Do you really want to know why North America is a post-Christian nation? Hint: it ain’t COVID…

It’s because we’ve got it all wrong. We’ve done it all wrong.

We have allowed the world to tell the church how to be successful rather than follow Jesus’ command for the church to be faithful.

The pastor/pastoral couple is called by God to serve Him and His people. Missy and I serve by training those entrusted to us to do the work of the kingdom. We spend our time wisely praying, studying, seeking God’s wisdom and then sharing what is revealed to us with the people of God.

In turn, the people of God grow in their faith and love. They learn how to treat others better than themselves and care for “the least of these.” They obey the first and greatest command: love.

They have been given the command to “Go” and to “love God and their neighbor.”

It’s the way of the Master. It should be our way as well. It’s actually the purpose of this weekly offering. We hope to take a little less than five minutes of your week and give you something to consider, pray about and hopefully help you grow.

What do you think? Have we got it all wrong? Can we get it right? And, what would happen if we did get it right?

Just Who is Your Teacher?

August 9, 2022

Jesus realized they wanted to ask him about it, so he said, “Are you asking yourselves what I meant? I said in a little while you won’t see me, but a little while after that you will see me again. I tell you the truth, you will weep and mourn over what is going to happen to me, but the world will rejoice. You will grieve, but your grief will suddenly turn to wonderful joy. It will be like a woman suffering the pains of labor. When her child is born, her anguish gives way to joy because she has brought a new baby into the world. So you have sorrow now, but I will see you again; then you will rejoice, and no one can rob you of that joy. At that time you won’t need to ask me for anything. I tell you the truth, you will ask the Father directly, and he will grant your request because you use my name. You haven’t done this before. Ask, using my name, and you will receive, and you will have abundant joy. - John 16:19-24 (NLT)

A friend once asked Isidor I. Rabi, a Nobel prize winner in science, how he became a scientist. Rabi replied that every day after school his mother would talk to him about his school day. She wasn't so much interested in what he had learned that day, but she always inquired, "Did you ask a good question today?"

"Asking good questions," Rabi said, "made me become a scientist."

Asking good questions should help us become better followers of Jesus.

It has been said, and rightly so, that there are no dumb questions…only questions we stupidly neglected to ask!

A disciple/student of Jesus should have lots of questions. As a matter of fact, one might argue that the person with the least amount of questions has not opened the Bible.

Questions allow us time to think, consider, unlearn, learn, remember, and apply. Asking questions should be a normal part of the life of every believer.

Recently, a new friend recommended to Missy and I the book, The 5Q Method of Discipleship, by Matt Friedeman. We haven’t thoroughly mined through it yet but we wanted to share with you the five questions the author suggests “will change your life.”

Question 1: Scripture
    Read a passage of Scripture, asking the Lord: “What do You want to say to us through Your Word?”

Question 2: Adoration
    From the passage, how can we praise God?

Question 3: Change
    From this Scripture, what does the Lord want us to do/change?

Question 4: Testimony and Thanks
    From the theme (or one of the themes/words/precepts) of the passage, how can we testify and give        thanks for how the Lord has helped us or given us an example of the theme in His Body?

Question 5: Supplication
    How can I pray for a member of this group from our text for the day?

Well, as you may have well figured out, this is some pretty intensive discipleship. It is decidedly for the one who truly wants to be a student of the Master - Jesus of Nazareth.

It’s not for the casual Christian. It’s not for the carnal Christian. It’s not for the cheap-grace Christian. This is for those who truly want to sit at Jesus’ feet and learn.

It is for those who are not afraid to ask questions…and find answers.

The world is being discipled by news agencies, political parties, social media, and group think. The world’s discipleship programs aim at dividing, squashing original thought, destroying culture, blasting tradition, and conquering hope.

Following a discipleship plan - based on the words and thoughts of God - strives only to unite, mature the mind, and create a loving and serving culture. It reminds us of our foundations that have stood the test of time and breathes hope to the hopeless, mercy to the hurting, and healing to the broken.

The only question left to ask is: when will you start asking the right questions?

Well, we’ve listed five of them for you! (Thanks to Hal Perkins and Matt Friedeman!)

Now, grab your bible (or click on that app).

Open to John 3:16-17.

Ask the questions.

And let’s get together soon to see what God is revealing to us; what God is calling us to do in response; what God is seeking to change in us; how God can use what we learn in our lives and the lives of those we love; and let us rejoice in the fact that the “mysteries of God” have been revealed to his children and for that we are grateful!