Church Planting (Keller)

I listened to an mp3 by Tim Keller on "Church Planting".  In it he said the following:

The vigorous, continual planting of new congregations is the single most crucial strategy for the numerical growth of the body of Christ in the city, the continual corporate renewal and revival of all the existing churches.  Nothing else, not crusades, not outreach programs, not parachurch ministries, not growing big old fashion mega churches.

Then he listed 4 basic reasons why vigorous church planting is important:

1) want to be true to Biblical mandate
2) true to Great Commission
3) we are committed to renewing existing church of the city
4) church planting is an exercise of Kingdom-mindedness

"Every local church should have a church planting ministry and/or be involved in church planting" - Tim Keller

An Evening of Eschatology (Piper, Hamilton, Storms, Wilson)

At church this past year we finished going through a series titled "40 Days of Hope for Hamilton - Thy Kingdom Come, Thy Will Be Done on Earth as it is in Heaven"

There was a special two night course that Lane and Mike organized on "end times" and they referred to this discussion titled "An Evening of Eschatology".  For me it was a great introduction to the following 3 views:

Premillennialism (represented by Jim Hamilton): The return of Christ happens before (pre-) the thousand-year reign of Christ, which is a reign of the risen Christ on the earth.

Photo below of "Dispensational Premillennialism":

Photo below of "Historic Premillennialism":

Amillennialism (represented by Sam Storms): The return of Christ happens after the thousand-year reign, a reign that occurs in heaven, in the intermediate state, and not upon the earth. Those who have died in faith and entered into the presence of Christ share his rule and reign during the current church age in which we now live.

Postmillennialism (represented by Doug Wilson): The return of Christ happens after (post-) the thousand-year reign, which corresponds to the Christian age, and the reign of Christ from heaven leads the church to triumph by and through the gospel to such an extent that the Great Commission will be successfully fulfilled, and the Christian faith will pervade all the cultures of all the nations of men. All Christ's enemies will be subdued in this way, with the exception of death, which he will destroy by his coming.













The question that kept arising was what does "this age" refer to and what's "the age to come" (Matt 12:32, Mark 10:30, Eph 1:21).

Post millennials would generally say that in 30-70 AD there was an overlap and "the age to come" started in 70A.  Premillennials would generally say that the "Millennial Kingdom" is part of this age and then there is "the age to come"

One of the panelists said this:
"Jesus dies not so we might live.  Jesus died so we might die.  Jesus lives so that we might live!"

Note that Isaiah 65 says that people die in new heavens and new earth (this is a problem text for Post Mill people)



Sam Storms believes Satan is currently bound from deceiving the nations but he can tempt and persecute.
Post Millennial (Doug Wilson) agrees.


Sam Storms - doesn't like the "amill" title but that's what he believes.  He believes the "thousand year reign" is real and in heaven right now.  Those are the saints in Rev 20:4-6 reigning.  Sam Storms is post-millennial in that Christ returns after the thousand year reign, but he thinks the thousand year reign is in heaven right now.

Sam Storms (amill) agrees with Jim Hamilton (premill) that there will be intense suffering in the end, which Post Millennials can't explain.

Another big question that is debated is "When does physical death die?"
Sam Storms says that it dies at the second coming of Jesus (see 1 Cor 15:50-58 and Romans 8 where the curse is lifted from earth simultaneously with when curse is lifted from man).


Storms says the second coming of Christ is the resurrection of good and evil, and also the final judgement of good and evil.  The second coming terminates all possibility of being saved.

Other passages to consider:
Rev 12:7-12, 13-17. (Jim Hamilton believes this is the cosmic destruction of Satan whereas Sam Storms thinks this is different symbolism and 2 aspects of Christ's victory).
Rev 12-13 Satan makes war on the church
2 Cor 4:4
1 Peter 5
1 John 5:19
Rev 20:1-3
Rev 6 and 20, 2:11 Sam Storms believes this is physical martyrs come to life in intermediate state and 2nd death has no authority over them.

Other important notes:
- time references in Revelation include 42 months, 1000 yrs, etc (note Nero literally reigned 42 months).
- the Post Millennial view requires that Revelation was written before 70 AD which is debated.


The biggest problems for each position are:

for Amill = meaning of anostraphis in Rev 20:6
for Premill = getting natural bodies and unbelievers into Millennial kingdom
for Post Mill = harmonizing 1 Thessalonians 4:13 and 2 Thessalonians.

Evangelism in a Post Modern World (Keller)

I listened to a message by Tim Keller titled "Evangelism in a Post Modern World".  He gave a good reminder that there is no "magic bullet".  He also stated that the 4 Spiritual Laws are good in systematic theology but are individualistic.  Keller stated that the emerging church emphasizes more the Creation-Fall-Redemption-Restoration story (which is good biblical theology). But he said this can leave out the "my chains fell off, I rose went forth and followed Thee" aspect.  Keller didn't really have a "solution" or "best practice".  He did provide this quote from

"Thou art coming to a King.
Large petitions with Thee bring.
For His grace and power are such.
None can ever ask too much."
- John Newton

Foundations - Scriptural Principles Undergirding SIM (Hay)

Karen had this book written by Ian Hay in 1988 when he was the General Director of SIM International. So I decided to read it. On the opening page he dedicates the book... 

"To the missionaries of SIM International past and present, whose devotion to Christ and His commission have laid a sound base for SIM ministries"

Then he begins

"There are no unreachable people, only the unreached.  The task is not impossible, but it requires total obedience on our part...It is imperative that a fresh group of totally committed missionaries be found to meet today's challenges" (pg 19)

When I read the first line about no unreachable people I said "AMEN"!  Then I read about a "fresh group of totally committed missionaries" and said "am I supposed to be one of them"?

One aspect of SIM that I appreciate is their focus on metting spiritual AND physical needs while understanding the balance outlined in this next quote.

"Relieving hunger, attacking social evils, providing fine education, and other such efforts, although they are important and valid aspects of our church planting efforts, can not by themselves achieve God's purposes for mankind." (pg 26)

Plus SIM realizes more than just evangelism is required...

"The Mission quickly learned that Christ's total commission demands more than evangelism.  To bring people to new birth through evangelism and to stop at that point is to follow a truncated commission.  Discipling - teaching "them to obey everything I have commanded you" (Matthew 28:20) - is crucial." (pg 29)

I'm curious to hear your thoughts on this quote:

"God's basic pattern for missionary responsibility has not changed.  It resides in the church, which has the authority for missionary outreach.  The responsibility and authority, however, is delegated by the local church tot he mission society, which becomes the agency for missionary outreach.  The mission society, in turn, is accountable to the sending church.  Thus the full cycle of true delegation is maintained. There are those who question the validity of mission societies such as SIM.  They state that such organizations are an accident of history, existing only because the church failed, and as a result God raised up societies to get the task done.  SIM does not agree with this line of reasoning." (pg 43)

I'm still not sure about this, because I've heard the saying "if the local church had been doing its job we wouldn't need mission agencies" and I partially agree.  I realize they are very important and valuable nonetheless.

Here's a good Rowland Bingham quote:

"It is not my 'mighty faith' but my little faith in a mighty God.  God, and God alone is my confidence today" (pg 50)

And finally a quote on money:

"We inform God's people of the Mission's needs...  Some people question the element of faith in this principle... There is no questions in my mind that god led such giants of the faith as Hudson Taylor and George Mueller in their decisions that He alone should be informed of their needs.  Certainly that is not inconsistent with Scripture, but clearly it is not the only Biblical way of exercising faith as it relates to financial stewardship. The apostle Paul was explicit in what he had to say about giving.  One one occasion he sent Titus and another brother to Corinth to collect funds for the needy in Jerusalem.  Nothing could be more forthright that the appeal he made and the instructions he gave in 2 Corinthians 8 and 9." (pg 53)

Threads - The Gospel and Personal Evangelism (Platt)

In July 2008 David Platt did a series called "Threads - The Gospel and Personal Evangelism" at his church.  In the summer of 2012 I listened to these 4 mp3 sermons (linked here) and was challenged.  Here are my notes.

In Romans 1 the word "apostles" is a broader term used elsewhere.

Platt defines the Gospel as "The good news that the just and gracious God of the universe looked upon hopelessly sinful people and sent His Son, Jesus Christ, God in the flesh, to bear His wrath against sin on the cross to show His power over sin in the resurrection so that all who have faith in Him will be reconciled to God forever."

"unhindered" = the last word in Acts in the Greek

You are not calling people to embrace truths you are calling them to embrace a person - Christ!  You are not calling them to adopt your religion, you are calling people to be adopted into a relationship... The goal is disciples not decisions.

There are 5 major points he makes: God, Sinful Man, Christ, Necessity of Faith, Urgency of Eternity

Practical Applications re God 

- Creator and Judge

- acknowledge to others that God has made all (ie sunset, baby, stars, etc)

- acknowledge ways God is gracious to you

Practical Applications re Sinful Man

- acknowledge you want justice in a sinful world

- acknowledge you are sinful (ie "Daddy is prone to sin too")

Practical Applications re Christ

- speak with hope

- speak about death with joy

- when's the last time you told someone of Jesus' death and resurrection

- tell others of Jesus' work in your life

Practical Applications re Necessity of Faith

- tell your story of faith

- don't say "Good luck"

- point people to the Lordship of Christ, but tell people to "make" Christ Lord of their lives (He already is Lord over all)

- urge and call people to trust Christ

Practical Applications re Urgency of Eternity

- minimize talk of temporal matters

- talk about hell with humility

- talk about being with God with hope

- remind others that dying is gain

Radical Together (Platt)

This book, "Radical Together" by David Platt is one that I recommend to every Christian leader (good call Mike for giving it to all the PMC GGp leaders as a Christmas present!) Whether you are a pastor/elder, or if you're on the staff team at a church or missions organization, or if you are or want to be an influencer, this book is worth the read. If you don't know who David Platt is take 2 minutes and do a quick Google search on him. He's the pastor of the Church at Brook Hills in the USA, he's just a few years older than me, and his passion for the Church and global outreach is contagious.  If he lived in Hamilton, we'd be friends!  He is quickly becoming (if he hasn't already become) one my favourite Bible teachers.

Here are some highlights from this book. But I encourage you... Read the whole book yourself, not just my summary below. If you need even more motivation to read the book check out this review from the Gospel Coalition.

There's an introduction and then the following 6 chapters. You'll notice that I liked some chapters more than others.  Chapter 5 was my favourite.


Introduction

How can we in the church best unleash the people of God in the Spirit of God with the Word of God for the glory of God in the world? (pg 3)

If you and I want our lives to count for God's purpose in the world, we need to begin with a commitment to God's people in the church. God has called us to lock arms with one another in single-minded, death-defying obedience to one objective: the declaration of His gospel for the demonstration of His glory to all nations. (pg 5)

And with that the book was off to a great start :)

Chapter 1: Tyranny of the Good - One of the worst enemies of Christians can be good things in the church

This chapter was so good it's very hard to chose just a few quotes. Platt starts telling a story of a man who had been involved in church programs and church committees his whole life but then he came to a point where he said

I spent my life doing all the stuff in the church that I thought I was supposed to do. But I'm realizing that I have missed the most important thing: making disciples. (pg 8)

God, please guard this from happening to me.  Wherever I am may I be involved in making more and better disciples.

The way we minister to kids, youth, men, women; how we do music and mission; how we budget; our policies and procedures; all the buildings or land we own or rent - all these things and more belong on the table. (pg 9)

Everything belongs on the table.  It's a pretty radical statement, but its true - if God gave His life for us then there's nothing we shouldn't be willing to sacrifice for Him.

In church there are going to be some things that are dead and need to die. Why should we just do things for the sake of doing them? We need to ask these questions.

- How can we most effectively mobilize the people of this church to accomplish the Great Commission?
- How can we most effectively organize the leadership of this church to accomplish the Great Commission?
- Do we need all the staff, teams, and committees we have?
- Does our church budget reflect the desires and design of God in His Word?
- Are our multimillion-dollar facilities the best use of our money for the accomplishment of God's purposes in the world?
- Are all the programs we have created the absolute best way to advance the gospel from our community to the ends of the earth?
- What good things do we have or what good things are we doing that we need to abolish or alter for greater ends? (pg 12)

No one was going to say that children having fun at a carnival or people playing basketball was a bad thing. The conversation would change only when we asked, "Are these programs and activities the BEST way to spend our time, money and energy for the spread of the gospel in our neighborhood and in all nations?" (pg 13)

Amid all the good things we are doing and planning, are there better ways to align with God's Word, mobilize God's people, and marshal God's resources for God's glory in a world where millions of people are starving and more than a billion have never even heard of Jesus?
Some would say that's not a fair question. I'm convinced it is a question we cannot avoid. (pg 15)

WOW. Powerful and true!!

Christians in North America give, on average, 2.5% of their income to their church.  Out of that 2.5%, churches in North America will give 2% of their budgeted monies to needs overseas.  In other words, for every $100 a North American Christian earns, he will give 5 cents through the church to a world with urgent spiritual and physical needs.  This does not make sense (pg 16)

Chapter 2: The Gospel Misunderstood - The gospel that saves us from work, save us to work

I didn't have any quotes from this chapter to mention.  It was a good chapter (don't get me wrong) but nothing "outstanding"

Chapter 3: God Is Saying Something - The Word does the work

We don't have to work to come up with a word from God; we simply have to trust the Word He has already given us. (pg 40)

Well said, David Platt, well said!

Together, will we realize that our greatest need is not to be successful business executives, profitable money managers, or even good parents, but to know God and to walk with Him? (pg 50)

In the midst of learning how to be "a good dad" with the option of reading endless books on parenting this was a much needed reminder to know God, read His Word and walk with Him.


Chapter 4: The Genius of Wrong - Building the right church depends on using all the wrong people

There's also nothing in the NT that says we should construct church buildings.  So whenever we plant a church or whenever a church starts to grow, why is the first thing we think, "We need to spend masses of our resources on a building?"  Why would we spend an inordinate amount of our resources on something that is never prescribed or even encouraged in the NT?  Why would we not instead use those resources on that which is explicitly promoted in the NT, such as sharing the gospel with the lost or helping the poor in the church? (pg 62)

Let's at least consider not spending such a large portion of our resources on building places when the priority of the NT is decidedly on building people. (pg 63)

As my church walks through the process of figuring out what to do with a 100+ year old facility this was a good reminder.  The building is not "the church".  The church is the people.  So if we're going to build something then lets design it so it's used more than once a week. :)

Our leadership team understands that it's good when people are so involved in ministry where they live that they don't have time to participate in the programs we create (pg 67).

AMEN. I need to work on this in my life.  God help me lead my family so that when we return in 2014 we can fully engage and move in to the neighbourhood wherever you call us. 

If you are married, how can you serve together with your spouse in your community? (pg 67)

YES!  God, help Karen and I not only lead a GGp, but to serve together in other ways.

If you work outside the home, how can you share Christ in your workplace? Be careful not to let programs in the church keep you from engaging people in the world with the gospel. (pg 68)

Church leaders are intended by God not to plan events but to equip people. (pg 71)

Don't build extravagant places; build extraordinary people.  Make disciples who will make disciples who will make disciples, and together multiply this gospel to all peoples. (pg 73)

Chapter 5: Our Unmistakable Task - We are living and longing for the end of the world

What we need to understand is that Jesus did not command us simply to take the gospel to as many individual people as we can.  Instead, he made it clear that his followers are to make disciples among every people group in the world. (pg 82)

Praise the Lord!!!! If you haven't yet listened to this 5 minute clip I encourage you to do so.

So for you and me not to be intentionally engaged in taking the gospel to unreached people groups is disobedience to the command of Christ.  Our churches are in the wrong before God if we are not prioritizing the spread of the gospel to every people group. (pg 84)

Then Platt quotes from George Ladd... 

God alone knows the definition of terms.  I cannot precisely define who "all the nations" are.  Only God knows exactly the meaning of "evangelize".  He alone... will know when that objective has been accomplished.  But I do not need to know.  I know only one thing: Christ has not yet returned; therefore the task is not yet done.  When it is done, Christ will come.  Our responsibility is not to insist on defining the terms of our task; our responsibility is to complete it.  So long as Christ does not return, our work is undone.  Let us get busy and complete our mission.

These next quotes hit me pretty hard and made me really think.  It would be way too much for me to try to unpack them all here.
 

They are unreached because they are hard to reach and we haven't had the resolve to get them the gospel. (pg 86)

Amid much talk in the church today about being missional, the Adversary may subtly be deceiving our minds about mission.  We are exhorted to see ourselves as missionaries in our cities, and we are encouraged to engage our cultures with the gospel.  These exhortations and encouragements are needed correctives for church mind-sets that have compartmentalized and limited mission.  But biblically our mission is not only about loving our city or invading our culture with the gospel.  Our mission is also about leaving our cities to infiltrate every culture with the gospel.  I am convinced that Satan, in a sense, is just fine with missional churches in the West spending the overwhelming majority of our time, energy and money on trying to reach people right around us.  Satan may actually delight in this, for while we spend our lives on the people we see in front of us, more than 6,000 people groups for generations have never even heard the gospel and remain in the dark (pg 87)

When I came to Brook Hills, I was encouraged to identify our target audience (ie Brook Hills Bob).... We decided our goal was not to reach Brook Hills Bob.  Instead, our target was going to be Brook Hills Baruti... Baruti doesn't live in our community.  Instead he lives thousands of miles away in North Africa... We are going to live and plan and strategize and organize and work so that Baruti hears and receives the gospel.  This changes everything about how we do ministry at Brook Hills.  If our goal is all nations, then our strategy cannot be defined by what will best reach people within 10 miles of our church building.  If our goal is all nations, then our strategy must always revolve around what will best reach people who are 10,000 miles from our church building.  This doesn't mean we neglect Brook Hills Bob or anyone else... Someone might ask "Are you saying that Baruti is somehow more important, or more valuable, than Bob?" That's a great question, and that's not at all what I am saying.  Bob and Baruti are equally valued by God and equally lost before God.  They both need the gospel.  But if the church I lead focuses only on Bob, then even if we are successful in reaching Bob, we will ultimately be disobedient to Jesus' command to get the gospel to all people groups, including Baruti's people group.  Therefore, I want to make sure that the church I lead has its sights set on Baruti, not to the exclusion of Bob, but to the inclusion of Bob and everyone else in Birmingham.  And once we reach Baruti together, we will equip Baruti to reach still other unreached people.  And we won't stop until the word "unreached" is no longer applicable to any people groups! (pg 90)

I am a strong believer in short-term mission trips.  I can talk until I am blue in the face about setting our sights on the nations, but until someone actually goes and sees the nations in person, he or she is likely to underestimate the urgency of God's global purpose in our lives.  For this reason, at Brook Hills we are intentional about encouraging people in the church to take concentrated time every year possible to go into another context and spread the gospel (pg 93)

Successful short-term missions must be a part of fueling a long-term disciple-making process in another context (ie the receiving church).  Clearly, no one is going to make disciples in another country over the span of 1 week... Successful short-term missions must also be a part of fueling long-term disciple-making in the sending church (pg 94)

Consider what would happen if each of our churches adopted (or a couple of churches joined together and adopted) an unreached people group and decided to organize an intentional strategy for leveraging the resources of the church here for the spread of the gospel there. (pg 97)

Chapter 6: The God Who Exalts God - We are selfless followers of a self-centered God

We are selfless followers of a self-centered God.  We are selfless in that we have died to ourselves.  We have lost the right to determine the direction of our lives.  Our God is our Lord, our Master, and our King.  He holds our times in His hands, and He is free to spend our lives however He pleases. (pg 104)

AMEN

Let me remind you of a startling reality that the Bible makes clear: "There is... no one who seeks God." So if the church is sensitive to seekers, and if no one is seeking God, then that means the church is sensitive to no one.  That's radical, but probably not the kind of radical we're looking for.  Instead Jesus tells us that the Father is pursuing worshipers for his praise.  He is the one doing the seeking!... So let's be radically seeker sensitive in our churches.  But let's make sure we are being sensitive to the right Seeker. (pg 108)

The topic of "seeker sensitive" deserves more than a brief sound byte, but his point is a valid one.

"God does not need our help" - A. W. Tozer (The Knowledge of the Holy)

God does not need me.
God does not need my church.
God does not need you.
God does not need your church.
God does not need our conferences, conventions, plans, programs, budgets, buildings or mission agencies.
God does not involve us in His grand, global purpose because He needs us.
He involves us in His grand, global purpose because He loves us. (pg 122)

Thank you God for loving me and inviting me to participate in this grand redemption story!

Making disciples of ALL nations

Some people have asked me why I'm so passionate about making disciples of all nations. In this 5 minute clip, David Platt gives a wonderful illustration that I hope answers that question while encouraging and challenging you.

If you want to hear the whole message titled "The Privilege & Responsibility of the Missionary Problem" go here