How Important Is It to You?

An experience from my recent trip to Colombia continues to grab my attention. One day we went into the mountains to visit and study with a family. Some family members were Christians–some were not. We left as soon as possible after breakfast. At first the road was at least acceptable, but as we climbed further into the region of coffee fincas and sparse population, the “road” became barely a path, generally wide enough for only one vehicle. While we were in a car, the only vehicles we saw were jeeps. After about two hours, we arrived at “Finca del Oriente” (loosely translated, coffee plantation of the east). The rugged terrain was incredibly beautiful–the house and its surroundings intriguing.
After being greeted with hugs and holy kisses, we were treated to fresh coffee (sugar and cinnamon included) prepared on the open fire of the “kitchen”–really a sheltered breezeway between the main house and the bodegas. An interesting thing was that the roof of the coffee drying unit was moveable–it sat on a series of beams and rollers so that the coffee could be exposed to the sun but protected when it rained. My host, a brother in Christ of probably 70 years, wanted to show us more of the finca, so he scampered up the almost vertical trail until we reached a beautiful overview. I carefully made my way up the trail, but was glad when it was time to rest briefly. My body was not as ready as his for the thin air of the higher altitude.
After a delicious lunch, vegetable soup followed by a plate of rice, yucca, bread, and thin pieces of boiled beef, we spent the afternoon in Bible study. On this day, hermano Roberto and I were the teachers since we were the guests. Someone from the church makes the trip to the mountains every week to study with these Christians and their non-Christian friends and family members who want to understand more about God’s will and word. (Remember that the trip is about two hours each way, plus the time spent in fellowship and study.)
We left in time to be back down the mountain and to the church building for the 6:00 P.M. activity. (Evening sessions were scheduled every night we were there–two hours of preaching, plus questions and answers, conversation and fellowship.)

The most impressive part of the story for me is that the Christians in the family we visited get up every Sunday morning at 3:30 A.M. in order to get ready to come down the mountain to worship with their spiritual family. They encourage their friends and neighbors to come with them, and some do. The only way down the mountain for those who do not own their own transportation is by “jeep taxi”. These Christians (and some who are not yet Christians) arise very early in order to take care of the normal morning routines and chores, get ready, and walk to the jeep taxi stop in order to catch a ride down the mountain. They have to be at the jeep stop no later than 6 A.M. The 2+ hour trip down the mountain (jeep taxi) and into the city (regular taxi) gets them to the church building between 8:30 and 9:00 A.M., in time for Sunday study and assembly which begins at 9:00 A.M. After the activities have concluded (including a noon meal on many Sundays), they make the return trip home–another 2+ hours. (By the way, they were not present for the evening sessions during my visit–no way back up the mountain after dark, and too dangerous to walk.)

I wonder….
how faithful most of us in the U.S. would be if we had to get up at 3:30 A.M. in order to be present for morning Bible study and worship
how many of us in the U.S. would decide that Sunday morning Bible study is optional given this demanding schedule (since many have already made that decision because of the need to get up by 8:30 or 9:00 A.M.)
how faithful most of us in the U.S. would be if Sunday routines and worship required almost 12 hours every Lord’s Day (after all, we have a “life”, or do we?)
how long most U.S. ministers would last if most of one day a week involved studying with and strengthening a single family in Christ, with the hope that the accompanying evangelistic study would bring additional souls to Christ
how committed we would be to fellowship if we lived more than 2 hours from the building where our spiritual family assembles

The “what if” list could easily be extended to multiple areas of life. Yes, I know that we do not live in that place and culture, and that our situations are different. Nonetheless, the question is a valid one for every Christian: how important is your Christianity to you?

What is the Christian life about?

It is about God. It is about recognizing God for who he is, both in his creative power and his nature (character). It is about seeing God as he reveals himself to us.
It is about respect for God based on who he is–his nature and character.
It is about Jesus. It is about understanding God through the One who shows us the Father.
It is about responding to God’s love, aligning our lives with his. It is about relationship with God.
It is about healthy relationships on earth–it is about people. It is about our family and our friends, relationships that demonstrate God’s presence.
It is about becoming like God as his sons and daughters, people of God. It is about imitating him.
It is about reflecting him in our lives–bringing glory and honor and praise to him.

Random thoughts from this morning’s meditations–worthy goals for this day. What would you add? How would you summarize the Christian life? What are your goals for this day?

Missional Outreach: Evangelism in the Latin American Churches

Yesterday I wrote about leadership development using the phrase: “missional inreach.” The phrase may sound strange to our ears, because it connects missional with internal church dynamics. I believe there is a sense in which missional outreach efforts begin with and are based on effective missional inreach efforts. The church which honors God’s purpose and plan, develops Christ-followers (Christians) and disciples based on biblical teaching, shares the word of God, is organized biblically, is led by spiritual leaders, with the ability to support and encourage one another in faith, fellowship and family….this kind of church characterized by effective missional inreach is the vessel through which God can work most effectively for missional outreach.

Latin American churches in most places are sharing the word of God in ways that put the US church to shame. Home Bible studies, studies with friends and family, entire denominational church groups taught the way of the Lord more perfectly, contacts with co-workers, meeting people on buses, in neighborhoods and in sometimes unimaginable ways. If there is a lack, it is the lack of evangelism skills by those in the pew (as also in the US). The Latin American preachers see their task as evangelism and share the word almost daily through the contacts and visitors made possible by the church members. The preachers preach evangelistically, and not merely pastorally (actually, their preaching addresses both dynamics!). Their preaching is fresh and vibrant, urgent and relevant, seeking to share the very essence and heart of the gospel.

A tool for helping members develop evangelistic teaching skills is available through the series: “En Busca de la Verdad.” These eight lessons can easily be used by any Christian to share the gospel. The materials are linked on my Spanish Index Page. More information, including information about training seminars, is available by contacting me.

Missional Inreach: Leadership for Latin American Churches

For the last several years, my heart has been burdened by the need for biblical leadership and biblical church organization in Latin America. In 2002 when I taught an adjunct course at Baxter Institute on the subject of Church Development and Administration, effective biblical leadership was a key component. I presented a guest seminar at Baxter Institute in the summer of 2004 on the topic of correlating effective ministry and biblical leadership. This was shortly after I accepted a position as director of graduate Bible studies at Oklahoma Christian in the spring of 2004, and due to the nature of my work in the university, my mission trips were limited from 2004 to 2007. Nonetheless, I continued to develop additional materials on church leadership (including teaching graduate courses on Church Leadership) and to think about the need for effective church leadership models in Latin America. On mission trips in 2005 and 2006, I spoke to leaders at Escuela Biblica Honduras in Catacamas. My topics were leadership dynamics and family dynamics. In 2007, I accompanied a group from the Edmond church on a mission trip to Nicaragua and spoke on biblical leadership dynamics and developing strong “leader families.” In 2008, I began serving as chairman of the board of directors at Baxter Institute. Along the way in stateside activities, I also taught a Sunday afternoon Bible class at the Capitol Hill work in Oklahoma City and assisted the Edmond church in establishing a Spanish ministry.

Many needs that arise in mission work and in the process of establishing new, strong congregations. I see three basic tracks related to leadership–concepts that effective Latin American leadership training must address. First, there is a need for strong biblical teaching that is theologically grounded. Only this kind of teaching can address the issues and concerns of the local churches in the context of the culture, not merely transporting ideas (and problems) from the mission-sending context and culture. This I call teacher training, or general training for workers. This kind of training includes basic Bible knowledge, but also includes training that allows workers to analyze and apply the Bible in specific situations and circumstances.
Second, the churches must be helped and encouraged to understand and develop biblical leaders and biblical church organization. This involves teaching in the churches, but also involves teaching and training future church leaders with the purpose of developing leaders who can be identified and selected by the local churches. Such leader training must be biblically focused and culturally sensitive.
Third, teaching to strengthen families is imperative. An essential step in developing teachers and leaders is to provide instruction and support for strong families in the churches.

These three needs do not occur sequentially, but must be constantly focused and addressed. Future leadership in the Latin American churches depends on developing effective teaching and training models that can build strong Christian families and provide teacher training and leader training. At Baxter Institute, we provide support in these areas as we training future missionaries and ministers. But there is a need for more to occur in the local congregational contexts, sooner rather than later.

In 2011, I have begun field-testing some initial concepts and materials. In March and April in Guatemala, “theological” sermons were presented with opportunities for congregational response and analysis. A leadership dynamics seminar was presented to a group of ministry students. A Christian family seminar with special emphasis on “leadership families” was presented with about 150 present from 14 congregations.
These ideas were a topic of discussion in Honduras in May, especially focused on the nature of biblical leadership in the Latin American context. In June, I participated in a Latin American leadership seminar in Houston, where these ideas were brought into even sharper focus in my thinking.
In September in Colombia, Bob Miranda and I were in four congregations with the purpose of providing Bible instruction along with increased awareness of leadership dynamics and leadership development. Preachers from four additional congregations traveled to be with us to study the Bible and biblical leadership concepts. Two half-days were devoted to meeting with the leadership group from a congregation to help them address concerns related to the Christian family and healthy, exemplary mentor families.

I continue to write and think about how we can best address these three tracks: training effective teachers for the churches, training effective leaders for the churches, and training in Christian family.

What efforts are you aware of in these three tracks? What materials are you using for church development in these three areas? How can we accelerate the development of leaders? How can we train more teachers in a short period of time? How can we help the families develop in healthy ways–especially in the development of strong marriages that provide examples and mentoring for others?

A Big Step Toward Becoming a Missional Church–Congratulations!

Last week, the Main and Oklahoma church was able to pay off their mortgage on the Family Life Annex, eliminating a major budget expense of the past almost 20 years. I remember that when I first worked with the church about 10 years ago, the church was paying about $1000/week (yes, week!) on the mortgage.

When I returned for a second tenure as minister with the church in 2007 (after spending a few years in Christian higher education), the mortgage represented a big challenge. Through a series of difficulties, the church had diminished in size, resources were fewer, and a much smaller congregation faced what on some days seemed a daunting challenge–a mortgage balance of almost $170,000. Monthly payments had been renegotiated, but the new, lower payments extended the length of the mortgage out over 15 years. With the bank balance generally low (and sometimes awaiting the next week’s contribution), the financial challenges seemed overwhelming.

A major part of ministering to help heal the church and to restore self-esteem and the capacity for meaningful work in the kingdom, including increased mission work, was to develop a plan for handling the mortgage–the albatross around our necks. A first step was to encourage confident and generous giving that provided a working balance in the checking account. By the fall of 2007, a proposal was in place for quarterly “Bonus Sundays” along with opportunities for other special contributions. Available resources were often funneled to paying the mortgage. The church (through a series of unintentional events) functioned with a one-minister system for a time. Ministry costs were pared to a minimum. Sacrifices were made, and several gave sacrificially again and again to assist with accelerating the mortgage payments. Now a little less than four years later the mortgage is paid off.

To the congregation, I say “congratulations.”
I am reminded that a group of committed Christians can do a lot together when they put their mind to something and make it their priority and purpose. This is true whether we are talking about building payments or evangelism and missions.
I encourage that the funds now available not be spent on numerous “wants and niceties” and that the original purpose in undertaking the accelerated payments schedule be honored–to significantly increase the capacity of the church to reach out both locally and in mission work around the world. Numerous donors gave generously so that more mission work could be done in the future–using the budget money now freed up and available for the purpose of outreach, evangelism and missions honors the motivation and intent of many who gave to make this day possible.
The elimination of the mortgage is indeed a big step toward becoming a missional church! Amen! (May it be so!)

On Leadership: A Quote from Stuart Briscoe

“Leadership is largely a catalyst for what happens in a corporate body. Studies done in churches in different parts of the world have found that while many churches approach their ministry in different ways and have different emphases, a church that is vital and virile, and achieving that which it appears God has called it to achieve, has without exception a vital, virile leadership. I think it is also true to say that where you have a fellowship that is weak on leadership, you have a fellowship that is weak period. Now it doesn’t mean that leadership is everything but leadership is a massive part of the health and well-being, and the effectiveness and efficiency of a fellowship of believers.”
–Stuart Briscoe, Purifying the Church: What God Expects of You and Your Church

It’s Sunday Again: The Communion We Share….

For me, Sundays provide time for reflection. What is the nature of the fellowship Christians share? What does it mean that we assemble, that in fact the Greek word for church can also be translated assembly when referring to secular meetings? Is assembly something we do or something we are? How do the shared activities in our assembly communicate our shared lives?

Last Sunday I was in Latin America. I confess a growing appreciation for the practice of many Latin American churches for all who are present to participate in the Lord’s Supper both Sunday morning and again on Sunday evening. In shared feasting around the Table of the Lord, we declare that we share common faith and common forgiveness, thus common fellowship (which is the meaning of communion). [Interesting note: the Spanish word often used for fellowship is comunion.] This declaration of oneness and acceptance I shared last Sunday with brothers and sisters in Christ in two different congregations. We mutually declared also our anticipation of Christ’s return.

What a meaningful reflection of the nature of the communion is this practice of declaring fellowship at all Sunday assemblies. How much better this authentic participation and sharing in the horizontal realm than to treat the Supper as mere checklist and indication of vertical relationship. Already did that today–no more need for declaring fellowship today!

Worship today with the spiritual family I have known and loved for almost a decade will be special–not because of anything that will happen or not happen, but because of the communion we share–declared most clearly in the Supper. No wonder the weekly Supper was seen as a primary reason for the church’s assembly in the New Testament (Acts 20:7). It is true that we will share understandings, prayer, worship, and conversation. But at the Table, we declare unity, acceptance and hope, possible only because of the blood of Jesus.

Reporting In: Colombia

The trip to Colombia was intense, busy, and tiring. The 11-day trip included nine days in Colombia (seven full days plus partial days at the beginning and end of the trip). Roberto and I preached every night for seven consecutive nights, visiting four different congregations. The people are hungering and thirsting for the word of God–the sessions each evening included two sermons as we both preached and taught, and people lingered afterward to ask questions, visit, and share the special opportunities for fellowship.
I also had the privilege of preaching on Sunday morning–there were about 160 adults present plus the children. Along the way, we spent about 20 hours during the week in presenting classes and Bible studies.

The desire and commitment of the Christians is impressive. After our late Monday evening arrival and extended conversation over a late dinner of chicken and fried bananas (with pan de bono–a delicious cheese bread), the next morning 8 members of a local congregations arrived at the house at 7:00 AM for Bible study. We studied until noon–sharing bread and coffee as we studied without breaks. (The majority of those present had to take off work to participate in the study.) A preacher and his wife, along with two other preachers, traveled 12 hours by bus from southern Colombia and northern Ecuador to be with us on Thursday through Sunday. I studied through Titus with them, along we were unable to finish the book in the time we had available. Another brother traveled from Bogota to share in the studies and find refreshment in the preaching and teaching.

I will include a more detailed report in my October newsletter which should be available and linked from the front page of the website by the last week of September. This report will give a detailed account of activities along with reflections concerning the need and opportunities for leadership training in Latin America.

Leadership Training in Latin America

The next two weeks will be devoted to Latin American Leadership Training. One can hardly overstate the case. A church that appointed elders within the last year has been instrumental in three new church plants since that time. Churches that are self-governing more easily become self-sustaining and self-supporting, both financially and with regard to the involvement of the local membership in the work of the church. The wisdom of a leadership team is demonstrated again and again. God intended a plurality of leaders. Members have more confidence in a group of leaders to oversee the resources and the work than in a single pastor leader.

Churches that are self-governing and self-supporting become self-duplicating. A church that can barely “keep house” does not have the energy and the resources to reach out and establish new churches, despite the fact that new churches generally grow more rapidly than older churches. Often unintentionally, older churches become self-centered and the majority of the work done is done for the benefit of those already “inside”, despite what may be said.

The Latin American church must be taught and leaders trained so that the biblical model is used and the church grows. The church must escape false concepts regarding leadership in the U.S. The problem is clear in the following which I recently compiled:
The importance of this matter is accentuated because (1) often the church today does not understand spiritual, Christian leadership. (2) Churches have too often chosen leaders based on secular abilities and leaders with secular worldviews. (3) Many churches and current leaders do not operate on the basis of a biblical definition of leadership. (4) When members of the church describe leaders, they do not use biblical concepts and words. (5) When churches choose leaders, they do not choose spiritual leaders based on spiritual qualities, but rather choose leaders based on their level of involvement in church activities.(6) The church has adopted leadership concepts from the secular realm and as a result has a distorted view of Christian leadership. (7) We have sacrificed spiritual leadership for leadership that we think will move the church forward more quickly. (8) This has resulted in a tendency of elders to become managers rather than spiritual leaders. (9) We have developed unbiblical concepts of leadership tenure and have thus retained leaders who do not do or cannot do what biblical leaders do.

Pray for the work of Latin American leadership training. I would be happy to answer questions or explain this work more fully. Contact me for details.