Steve Addison's Blog, page 11

326-Church matters

A conversation with Nathan Shank and Jeff Sundell on ecclesiology — why church matters in a multiplying movement.

325-Lessons for Leaders from Acts and the Movement of God

Josh Husmann interviews Steve Addison on Acts and the Movement of God. Recorded at Exponential 2024 in Orlando.

325-Lessons for Leaders from Acts and the Movement of God

Steve Addison, Josh Husmann

Josh Husmann interviews Steve Addison on Acts and the Movement of God. Recorded at Exponential 2024 in Orlando.

When heaven invades hell

Don Waybright wrote this response to my interview with Terry Solley. . .

Before the sun rises every day on Texas Death Row you will hear the songs of praise and Amazing Grace echoing from the cells.

In the past year, thirty-three Death Row inmates have followed Jesus in baptism. These inmates lead five churches that meet daily for worship, Word, prayer, and learning to love God and love one another.

They are caged separately but that does not inhibit their worship. When a man receives his execution date, they conduct a special service, and as he makes the Death Walk they sing Amazing Grace. The condemned man is placed in Death Watch until his execution. The most dangerous criminal in the Texas Prison system has a special cell on Death Watch. Whenever he is removed from the cell, his hands and feet are shackled. Yet, he is a born-again disciple maker and ministers daily to the other men on Death Watch. The men on Death Row often feel God could not forgive their horrific crimes. Yet all who call upon the name of the Lord will be saved. The Gospel sets these men free.

One seemingly demon-possessed killer has been on Death Row for twenty years. His hair and beard a wild tangled mess – cussing venom constantly, his cell shielded to protect guards from his spit. Today he has been transformed by the love of Jesus demonstrated by Leroy and Barry. His hair and beard are clean shaven, he is baptized, transferred to Death Watch to the sound of Amazing Grace, sharing the Gospel with every guard. Two days later he was executed and like the thief on the cross, entered Paradise.

Another man who had been on Death Row for twenty-six years said, “I have been in everything you can be in—it is good to now be in God. Jesus laid His hands on me!” He quoted all of Psalm 34 from memory as his last words before execution. He received a stay of execution and continues to lead one of the Death Row churches every day.

Barry and Leroy are two multiplying inmates with special security status and freedom to make disciples on Death Row. They have been used by God to create this new humanity among a people and place that seems inhuman.

This is a work of the Spirit-Word-Mission. In the last year, Leroy and Barry have baptized over forty prisoners in solitary. Before being transferred to Death Row they led a movement in a prison south of Houston that saw 90 baptisms in solitary in nine months.

Inmates that were trained with these two in the simple, biblical reproducing disciple making approach have transferred to other prisons and seen amazing fruit. The largest Texas prison reached NoPlaceLeft with almost 300 churches meeting weekly, and 500 baptisms in four years. Inmate leaders have trained over 2,000 inmates to share the gospel, and over 500 to plant churches. There are over fifty church planting multiplication leaders across six Texas prisons. Texas has the largest prison population in the United States.

Several of these NoPlaceLeft inmates will be released soon, and plans are in place to help them keep spreading the Gospel and making disciples in prisons, in our cities, and in the nations.

Don Waybright

324-Release to the captives

When heaven invades hell

Don Waybright baptises a prisoner

Don Waybright wrote this response to my interview with Terry Solley. . .

Before the sun rises every day on Texas Death Row you will hear the songs of praise and Amazing Grace echoing from the cells.

In the past year, thirty-three Death Row inmates have followed Jesus in baptism. These inmates lead five churches that meet daily for worship, Word, prayer, and learning to love God and love one another.

They are caged separately but that does not inhibit their worship. When a man receives his execution date, they conduct a special service, and as he makes the Death Walk they sing Amazing Grace. The condemned man is placed in Death Watch until his execution. The most dangerous criminal in the Texas Prison system has a special cell on Death Watch. Whenever he is removed from the cell, his hands and feet are shackled. Yet, he is a born-again disciple maker and ministers daily to the other men on Death Watch. The men on Death Row often feel God could not forgive their horrific crimes. Yet all who call upon the name of the Lord will be saved. The Gospel sets these men free.

One seemingly demon-possessed killer has been on Death Row for twenty years. His hair and beard a wild tangled mess – cussing venom constantly, his cell shielded to protect guards from his spit. Today he has been transformed by the love of Jesus demonstrated by Leroy and Barry. His hair and beard are clean shaven, he is baptized, transferred to Death Watch to the sound of Amazing Grace, sharing the Gospel with every guard. Two days later he was executed and like the thief on the cross, entered Paradise.

Another man who had been on Death Row for twenty-six years said, “I have been in everything you can be in—it is good to now be in God. Jesus laid His hands on me!” He quoted all of Psalm 34 from memory as his last words before execution. He received a stay of execution and continues to lead one of the Death Row churches every day.

Barry and Leroy are two multiplying inmates with special security status and freedom to make disciples on Death Row. They have been used by God to create this new humanity among a people and place that seems inhuman.

This is a work of the Spirit-Word-Mission. In the last year, Leroy and Barry have baptized over forty prisoners in solitary. Before being transferred to Death Row they led a movement in a prison south of Houston that saw 90 baptisms in solitary in nine months.

Inmates that were trained with these two in the simple, biblical reproducing disciple making approach have transferred to other prisons and seen amazing fruit. The largest Texas prison reached NoPlaceLeft with almost 300 churches meeting weekly, and 500 baptisms in four years. Inmate leaders have trained over 2,000 inmates to share the gospel, and over 500 to plant churches. There are over fifty church planting multiplication leaders across six Texas prisons. Texas has the largest prison population in the United States.

Several of these NoPlaceLeft inmates will be released soon, and plans are in place to help them keep spreading the Gospel and making disciples in prisons, in our cities, and in the nations.

Don Waybright

324-Release to the captives

324-Release to the captives

A conversation with Terry Solley about movements of disciples and churches behind bars.

Terry's ministry: texasprisonoutreach.org

324-Release to the captives

A conversation with Terry Solley about movements of disciples and churches behind bars.

Terry's ministry: texasprisonoutreach.org

New York — What will it take?

I listened again to my interview with Matt on reaching the New York metro. A few things stood out . . .

God has brought the nations to New York which has the highest concentration of unreached people groups for a US city.

To reach a complex city like New York you need to have a vision for unreached peoples and places.

That means multiple teams going after peoples and places.

Matt and his team couldn’t start everywhere, so they started somewhere with fasting and prayer and 30 days in the harvest locally in Queens.

Matt identified the top ten unreached people groups and places in New York and mobilized and trained teams to go after them.

The Holy Spirit burdened him with Urdu speakers from Pakistan. God provided a teammate with experience reaching South Asians. The Holy Spirit led them to a tea shop frequented by Urdu speakers. Matt shared a dream his wife Cassie had about Urdu speakers which led to a chance to train a young Pakistani believer in making disciples. They’ve met others whom Jesus has encountered through dreams.

The Holy Spirit opened the door to a partnership with a couple reaching Central Asians. As disciples and churches form the gospel is going out from New York to Turkey, Central Asia, and Pakistan.

Through partnerships, the door has opened to mobilizing some Garifuna believers from Honduras to take on five peoples and five places in New York.

Matt and the teams he serves envision 100 apostolic bands across metro New York reaching 1,000 segments (peoples and places).

As Matt and Cassie pray about reaching Urdu speakers globally they are thinking about their exit strategy for New York — six to ten teams with a “what will it take” vision for the city.

The interview: 323-New York Calling

New York — What will it take?

I listened again to my interview with Matt on reaching the New York metro. A few things stood out . . .

God has brought the nations to New York which has the highest concentration of unreached people groups for a US city.

To reach a complex city like New York you need to have a vision for unreached peoples and places.

That means multiple teams going after peoples and places.

Matt and his team couldn’t start everywhere, so they started somewhere with fasting and prayer and 30 days in the harvest locally in Queens.

Matt identified the top ten unreached people groups and places in New York and mobilized and trained teams to go after them.

The Holy Spirit burdened him with Urdu speakers from Pakistan. God provided a teammate with experience reaching South Asians. The Holy Spirit led them to a tea shop frequented by Urdu speakers. Matt shared a dream his wife Cassie had about Urdu speakers which led to a chance to train a young Pakistani believer in making disciples. They’ve met others whom Jesus has encountered through dreams.

The Holy Spirit opened the door to a partnership with a couple reaching Central Asians. As disciples and churches form the gospel is going out from New York to Turkey, Central Asia, and Pakistan.

Through partnerships, the door has opened to mobilizing some Garifuna believers from Honduras to take on five peoples and five places in New York.

Matt and the teams he serves envision 100 apostolic bands across metro New York reaching 1,000 segments (peoples and places).

As Matt and Cassie pray about reaching Urdu speakers globally they are thinking about their exit strategy for New York — six to ten teams with a “what will it take” vision for the city.

The interview: 323-New York Calling

323-New York Calling

What do you do when the vision outstrips reality? A conversation with Matt Foshee in New York.

Podcast: Cassie and Matt Foshee talk about NoPlaceLeft in the Mormon heartland of Utah.