Steve Addison's Blog, page 35
June 16, 2020
224-God Calls and Shapes a Movement Pioneer
We hear the story of Lipok Lemtur, a Naga from India, and learn how God shapes a movement pioneer.
June 2, 2020
223-Africa Calling
Justin and Rachel White talk about how God prepared them for, and called them to Africa.
Related: 156-Growing Workers for NoPlaceLeft
Africa Calling
Justin and Rachel White talk about how God prepared them for, and called them to Africa.
Related: 156-Growing Workers for NoPlaceLeft
May 31, 2020
Pentecost Makes Fools of Us All
Pentecost Sunday has just passed and I’ve been thinking how Pentecost makes fools of us all.
Pentecost shames our best efforts to pursue God’s mission. Without Pentecost there would be no mission. Jesus’ closest disciples had all fled and deserted him. Despite his example, and his training, their best efforts led to failure.
Luke wrote his Gospel to tell the story of all that Jesus began to do and teach (Acts 1:1). He wrote the book of Acts to tell the story of all that Jesus continued to do and teach through his people in the power of the Spirit.
That’s why Pentecost is important. Without the Spirit there could be no mission to the ends of the earth. They had his command to make disciples of the nations. Now they needed his power to complete the task.
Pentecost makes fools of us all when we predict dates for the Second Coming. The disciples pressed Jesus for a timeline. Jesus told them: You don’t need to know times and dates. You have a job to do. Take the gospel to the ends of the earth in the power of the Spirit (Acts 1:7-8).
Pentecost makes fools of us when we contain the work of the Spirit to our prayer meetings and worship events.
Jesus told them to wait for the Spirit and so they joined together constantly in prayer (Acts 1:14). Suddenly a sound like a violent wind came from heaven as the Spirit fell upon them. The very presence of the living God was among his people. Tongues of fire rested on each one filling them with the Holy Spirit. They began to speak in other languages. Prayer erupted into worship.
Pentecost begins with God’s people lost in prayer and adoration in the upper room. Almost immediately, it spills over onto the street. The Spirit would stay behind closed doors in the upper room. The Spirit comes, the church is born, the mission begins — immediately.
Pentecost makes fools of us all.
Outside the building there are Jews and Jewish converts from every nation amazed they could hear the wonders of God declared in their own languages. They wanted to know: What does this mean? (Acts 2:12).
Peter stood up and declared the Word of God. This outpouring the Holy Spirit on the young and the old, men and women, without distinction, marks the beginning of the last days. This has happened because of the life, death and resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth who is Lord and Messiah.
Peter urged them: Call upon his name and you will be saved. You must repent and be baptised in his name for the forgiveness of sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit (Acts 2:38).
Pentecost makes fools of us all when we separate the power of the Spirit from proclaiming the Word.
At Pentecost, we see this wonderful partnership between the Word of God and Spirit of God. The Spirit and the Word bear witness to the Lord Jesus. The story of the early church is the story of the progress of the Word from Jerusalem to ends of the earth in the power of the Spirit. When God speaks the universe is flung into existence. God’s Word is God in action. The Word and the Spirit leave the building together and take the church with them.
Pentecost makes fools of us all. It shames our foolish attempts to contain the living Word to the edification of settled believers. The Word is a living force going out into the world to bring salvation. The sermons recorded in Acts were preached to people far from God. The Word spreads, grows and multiplies in Acts. The fruit of its work is new disciples and new churches. Everywhere. That’s the core missionary task.
Pentecost is the real thing. Don’t be fooled by the alternatives.
May 24, 2020
222-NoPlaceLeft Online
Zach and Calley Medlock talk about how they are pursuing NoPlaceLeft (Rom 15:23) by launching groups for discovery and discipleship online.
Links:
May 17, 2020
NoPlaceLeft Latinos
Oggie
Oggie Martin is an Argentine-American living in Florida. As a successful evangelist he realised he could never reach the world’s half a billion Latinos by converting individuals. Now he’s on a mission to multiply disciples and churches throughout the Latino world.
Before the coronavirus Oggie was criss-crossing the Latino world training and mobilising workers. In from Mexico to Argentina, Cuba to Venezuela, and Ecuador they were getting the gospel out, making disciples, and planting churches.
The virus hit and Oggie was stuck at home. What was he to do? He didn’t have to wait long to find out.
Immediately doors opened. Before the virus, denominations were reluctant to release authority and responsibiliy to their people. A key inhibitor to movements. When the lockdown came they were ready, and Oggie was the man to help them do it.
Soon Oggie was training online groups of up to 100. All with the blessing of their denomination. Word spread and one online training blew out at 800 young people, adults and pastors.
The crisis broke denominational traditions and now ordinary people are on the front line making disciples and forming new churches. When the lockdown lifts the churches can start meeting face-to-face or remain online if people are separated geographically.
Oggie is no longer flying from country to country in Latin America. On Mondays he trains 300 Mexicans on Zoom. On Tuesdays it’s 200 Colombians. On Wednesdays 350 Central Americans. On Fridays another 300 from Brazil.
These trainings get people started in sharing the gospel and making disciples. Then Oggie goes fishing for leaders in each region. On Saturdays he offers additional training for 60-80 people who are quick to implement and want to learn more.
Now Oggie has teams and leaders in every Latin American country.
His role is shifting from trainer to coach as he multiplies leaders. All this from his living room in Florida.
Want to learn more?
May 14, 2020
221-Multiplying Disciples and Churches Online
Austin Wilson and Jack Worthington are making disciples and planting churches online. They talk about what they’re learning.
May 10, 2020
How One Church is Thriving in a Crisis
The Bridges
Jeff “JT” Timblin is the pastor of Bridges church in Long Beach, California. Before the virus hit, the church of over 200 had already started five new churches meeting in homes.
In the first week of restrictions meetings of 25 people were allowed. So JT broke his church into groups of 25 meeting in homes for Discovery Bible Study.
A week later only ten people could meet in each home. JT had trained leaders ready to go and they increased the number of groups.
The next week face to face meetings were banned. The churches meeting in homes became churches meeting online. Each of the twenty churches had a leader and an apprentice.
Church online can be a passive experience. Viewers sit at home passively watching a production of worship and teaching. There is little required of them them except to support the ministry financially.
Instead, JT’s online churches have identified and applied the characteristics of healthy churches using Acts 2:36-47.
Each leader assigns roles for participants to lead:
Mutual Care and Worship
Discover in the Word
Goal Setting and Prayer
For the first time in their life members are facilitating pastoral care, not just receiving it. For the first time in their life they are leading others in a Discovery Bible Study. For the first time in their life they are leading others in prayer.
JT meets weekly with the 20-25 leaders of the churches for encouragement, training and problem solving. For years JT has been casting this vision but now the lights are going on. People are experiencing church as a community of multiplying disciples.
Bridges has become a church of churches. They can meet together as one church online as they become a network of reproducing churches.
Now JT is helping other churches transition in Southern California. He is part of a wider coalition of churches committed to plant a church in every zip code of Los Angeles and Long Beach. He’s also building hubs of reproducing churches in southern Ethiopia and Mexico City.
What to learn more? 215-Doing Church in an Age of Crisis
May 6, 2020
220-David Garrison. 12 Characteristics of Movement Leaders
In this podcast, David Garrison explains the 12 characteristics of Movement Leaders:
They have a Magnificent Obsession: Movement leaders "see it before they see it."
They have a "My People syndrome": They adopt an unreached people group as their own people.
They have a WIGTake (What's It Gonna Take?) worldview rather than a "What am I good at?" way of thinking.
They are lateral thinkers: They learn from failures and keep seeking another way to solve problems.
They never take no for an answer when it comes to reaching their people for Jesus.
Ruthless evaluation: The strategy and tactics change as they pursue the vision. They set aside things that don't work.
They recognize this is God's work, not their work. They see themselves as the ant that rides the elephant across a river.
They know how the story ends. The promise of Revelation 5:9 is true.
It's not about them. It's about God's glory and seeing Christlikeness multiply among unreached people.
God can hit straight with a crooked stick. Movement leaders don't fall from heaven but rise up out of hell. Things can be messy. God will work in unexpected ways.
This is about the whole body of Christ fulfilling the great commission, not just one church or denomination. Look for super-spreaders scattered throughout the body of Christ.
God never places an order that he doesn't pay for. This isn't a fool’s errand. We are joining God in his work.
Thanks to Peter "Pheaney" Lindell at the OnTheRoad Podcast for making this interview and these notes available.
May 5, 2020
NoPlaceLeft in a Coronavirus World
Jenny Preato was frustrated that during the coronavirus lockdown she could not get out and share the gospel. So she did the next best thing, she recorded a short video of how she came to know Christ and posted it on Facebook. Then she waited.
A cousin got in touch with Jenny and they met up on Zoom for a chat. The cousin had no Christian background and told of how much she wanted to go to church but couldn’t. So Jenny and her cousin began reading the Bible together using a simple Discovery approach. Now her cousin is also reading with one of her friends.
In addition to posting her story online, Jenny has been in touch with friends and family to find out how they’re doing. One question she asks is, “How’s your heart?” She’s looking for, and finding people, who want to begin reading the Bible and discovering how to follow Jesus.
Rick says they’ve been surprised that some of the most receptive people are from their second tier of relationships — people they don’t know so well. One woman responded on FaceBook wanting to learn how to read the Bible. She’s locked down in an alcohol rehab center. Jenny met with her and now the lady is leading a Discovery group with her roommates.
Then Jenny thought, if I can do this, so can others. So Jenny and her husband Rick asked Christian friends on FaceBook and Instagram this question:
“Who wants to share the hope of Jesus but isn’t sure how?”
Twenty people turned up to the first Zoom training they launched. They cast vision by telling stories of what God had done through Discovery groups online.
Then they modeled how to run a Discovery group using the 7-Stories of Hope.
Within days participants began groups of their own. One of the participants started a group with her friends and one of those friends started a group with Muslims they know.
Rick says because of the pandemic the internet is connecting people in ways that would have previously felt weird. People are open to meeting online for Discovery and discipleship. We’re limited to our homes, but the opportunity to connect online has opened new doors.
To be clear, Rick and Jenny aren’t just online evangelists. Their mission is to multiply disciples and churches.
The Discovery studies are obedience-oriented. Their goal is to find people who want to follow and obey Jesus. The 7-Stories of Hope lead into the Commands of Christ, a set of studies in discipleship that lead to church formation. Evangelism is one important step in the journey towards discipleship in community.
For as long as lockdown lasts, Rick and Jenny are pioneering effective methods of multiply disciples and churches. If the lockdown lifts tomorrow the groups that have formed can continue face to face or online.
The Preato’s knew what to do in a crisis because they knew their mission and had learned some simple but powerful tools for making disciples and reproducing churches. They are not alone. There are thousands like them who have been trained and mobilised around the world. They share Paul’s vision that in every region and among every people group throughout the world there would be NoPlaceLeft (Rom 15:23).
Want to know more?
The interview with Rick and Jenny Preato
