• Our hope-filled future is bound up in sharing the story of Jesus, in discipling others, in bringing those disciples together into communities of believers, and in developing and releasing those believers to create other communities... till Jesus the King comes again!

What’s in a name?

Posted on July 6, 2016 by wtdavid

I’ve been reading through 1 Chronicles the past few days. Beginning with the first chapter, the author leads us through a seemingly unending series of names. It’s the kind of text that you often ‘speed read’ or skim through. There doesn’t seem to be a whole lot of importance to these lists of names.

Lists and lists of names, what we call ‘genealogical research’, can be interesting G-best-genealogy-siteswhen we want to know more about the family history. However, our Western cultures can blind us to the deeper significance of genealogies for the people of Israel (and others). For the people of God, genealogies served the function of defining who individuals were in the larger community, and recognized the people who had a part in building that identity.

Looking back, we could say is a way of giving direction, purpose, and identity for moving forward.

Not only do we, as Christians in the 21st century, have an identity which has been built on the sacrificial work and grace of Jesus on our behalf, but our identity has been and is being built by the impact of other brothers and sisters on our lives each day.  Many of us can give testimony as to how God used the influence of another to point us in the direction of missions.  Many of us can give testimony as to how God used the words and counsel of another to strengthen our ‘weak knees’ in the midst of difficulty or doubt.

What’s in a name? A whole host of history that gives meaning to where God has placed us at this moment.  What’s in a name?  The reminder of the special love that God has placed upon us.  What’s in a name?  The assurance that He has placed us on His path and will use others to build into our lives.

“The sons of Issachar: Tola, Puah, Jashub, and Shimron, four. The sons of Tola: Uzzi, Rephaiah, Jeriel, Jahmai, Ibsam, and Shemuel, heads of their fathers’ houses, namely of Tola, mighty warriors of their generations, their number in the days of David being 22,600.”  (1 Chronicles 7.1-2)

Filed under: Community, Identity | Leave a comment »

Why three good players are better than one star player

Posted on July 5, 2016 by wtdavid

Those of us located in this part of the world have been taken up with the various matches of the Euro 2016 football championship over the past few weeks. European ‘football’ is what we call ‘soccer’ in some other parts of the world.  From the various groups or ‘pools’, sixteen teams emerge to play single elimination games leading to the final this coming Sunday.

People have been surprised by the rise of several lesser known teams who have gone ‘deep’ into the tournament. One of those lesser known teams actually played one powerhouse of the European football world to a tie, and beat another one to advance to the next round.

At that point, everyone began asking: “How could this team beat such a highly favored one?”  In part, the Dimitri-Payet-answer lay in team-work.  A solid group of good players, with no star, drew on the resources of everyone on the team to be able to defeat a powerhouse whose lineup contained a number of star players.

One of the reasons for including ‘teams’ as one of our guiding principles (see the World Team Ministry Framework) is to emphasize how God calls us to work and minister. When God calls us to Himself, He calls us into a body or community of believers. God does not look at us as individual ‘stars’, but as members and workers of a larger community that acknowledge their need for one another.  As a community, we pool our gifts together to create a greater dynamic than we could accomplish by ourselves as individuals.  All for the glory of God’s kingdom.

The apostle Paul put it is this way: “Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit; and there are varieties of service, but the same Lord; and there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who empowers them all in everyone. To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good.”  (1 Corinthians 12)

How might you demonstrate this week the team principle that ‘three are better than one’? What can you ‘bring’ to your next team meeting that will empower and strengthen the other members of your team?

Filed under: Community, Teams | Leave a comment »

Ever feel lonely?

Posted on May 19, 2016 by wtdavid

Ever feel like you are standing in a crowd, but no one recognizes you and engages you in conversation? Ever feel like you are the unnecessary ‘extra’ in a group and wish someone could just ‘beam you up Scotty’?  Ever feel lonely?loneliness

Loneliness is that emotion where we deeply sense our loss of connection to others; where we know in our hearts that we are ‘unplugged’ relationally.

That loneliness can be the result of a number of factors. We may be a ‘foreigner’ in a culture where we have been called to live and minister, and we feel that loneliness because nothing is familiar.  We may be an ‘older person’ surrounded by the new younger generation of workers, and we sense that loneliness because we feel ‘old’ and misunderstood.  We may be a single on a team of married couples, and we feel that loneliness  because we are like that proverbial 5th wheel, not sure of our place and role.  We may be from one culture, working among a team with a majority of members from another culture, and ministering together among another culture.  In that situation, we feel that loneliness because we are always fighting to have ourselves heard, misunderstood and appreciated.

I am not trying to be simplistic by saying that community is one of the best ways to dispel loneliness in our lives. However, the Bible certainly leaves us with this distinct impression.  However, our communities often tend to accentuate rather than dispel loneliness. That happens because we, as individual members, look to the community to meet our needs, rather than offering acceptance and engagement to all members of the community.  When we move towards others in the community and relationally ‘plug back in’ with those who are part of our community, we begin to dispel the cloud of loneliness.

At a wedding that Rebecca & I attended a few weeks ago, the pastor made this comment: “Love is all about initiative: we taking initiative to move towards others, just as God took the initiative to move towards us.”

I’m not sure how all this works out, but calling us back to examining what gospel community should truly look like, is certainly a first step.

Filed under: Community, Crossing cultures, Gospel | 6 Comments »

A community of shared hearts

Posted on April 22, 2016 by wtdavid

A colleague of mine sent this quote to me yesterday. It’s taken from the book, Connecting:

“The crisis of care in modern culture, especially in the Western church, will not be resolved by training more therapists….It will be worsened by moralists who never reach deeply into the hearts of people in their efforts to impose their standards of behavior on others, even when those standards are biblical.   The greatest need in modern civilization is the development of communities – true communities where the heart of God is home, where the humble and wise learn to shepherd those on the path behind them, where trusting strugglers lock arms with others as together they journey on.”

The daily care we need for our souls, for our hearts will be found in community. However, servletthat is where the rub comes in.

Most of us assume that community will be found in our ministry team, and it just may be. However, teams are built to accomplish ministry tasks and are not by nature communities; that is, places where we can share our hearts with others and be shaped by the engagement of others with us.

Most of us assume that community is easily established, and it just could be the case. However, community often requires time spent together, trust, and an atmosphere that is framed by God’s Word. It doesn’t have to be a Bible study, but what happens in our community time together must flow out of God’s principles and God’s ‘one another’ commands.

Most of assume, in our hearts, that we really don’t need community. Warning signs should immediately come up on our life’s dashboard.  Community is essential to growth in the Christian life. As ‘iron sharpens iron’, so we participate in the long-term spiritual growth of one another when we enter into community with a small group of other believers.

Community is about shared hearts; opening up to others so that they may walk with us in our journey; a journey where “trusting strugglers lock arms with others as together they journey on.”

Filed under: Accountability, Community, Lifelong learning | 5 Comments »

No one is an island

Posted on March 11, 2016 by wtdavid

That expression, in part, comes from John Donne’s (1572-1631) well known poem which begins in this way: “No man is an island, entire of itself, every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the main.” Each one of us is ‘connected’ to others. To talk about life from a singular viewpoint denies the very nature of what is means to be human.  In other words, as God’s creation, we are relational beings.desert-island

That all may sound heady and somewhat theological, but the practical implications of this truth are far reaching.

For one, it means I should resist talking about ‘my’ ministry. If no one of us is an ‘island’, then all ministry is done in the context of community.  It’s ‘our’ ministry, or better yet, it’s the ministry God has given to us.  As a result, I (we) will find ways to find out more about what is happening elsewhere in my community and how I can support it by my prayers, resources and presence.  I (we) will seek to know more of what is happening in Suriname as well as in East Asia.  There’s time investment involved.

For another, it means I could consider moving laterally within the agency to help another part of the community. If we believe this is a community ministry, then we will be open to God’s leading to move from one ministry location to another (maybe even outside of our current geographical location) to come alongside and help another part of our larger team.

Finally, it means that when I enter a people group or culture, I will recognize God’s hand already at work in that people group or culture. This is His ministry and working from that truth, I will more easily share ministry with others within that culture; I will see myself more as a facilitator of those on that ‘continent’ with me.

No one of us is an island. We truly do need each other.  So, how do I reach out and offer the ‘hand of fellowship’ to other members of our community?

Filed under: Collaboration, Community, Sacrifice | Leave a comment »

Prayer is the work

Posted on March 9, 2016 by wtdavid

A good friend used to quote the statement, “It’s not that we should pray about the work; prayer is the work!”   I’m not sure who was at the origin of that statement, but its message certainly rings true.  Most of us are activists at heart and prayer can quickly become one of those ‘options’ or add-ons.  It’s important, just not that important, we think.cdop-smal-group-prayer

Then we read a verse like this one that Paul sent to Timothy, a fledging pastor and worker, and find ourselves challenged about the place of prayer in our life and ministry: “First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people, for kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way.”  (1 Timothy 2:1).  This an exhortation of urgent importance which is quite inclusive in scope.  If nothing else, it puts prayer at the very top of our priority list and reminds us that no one is unworthy of our prayer focus.

What recently struck me is how often I have read this text in the singular, as addressed to Timothy (and by extension to me as an individual worker). However, over and again, Paul slips in the usage of the first person plural to remind us that the work to which he is calling Timothy is a work for the entire community.  In fact, he is inviting us to a ‘concert’ of prayer rather than just a solo.

I’m concerned that sometimes in our busyness, we forgot the importance of prayer, and particularly of prayer together with others. God calls us, through prayer, to influence our culture and touch the hearts of men and women lost without Christ.

Creative ways to make that happen, of joining more often in collective prayer with others, are certainly within our reach.

Filed under: Community, Prayer | 7 Comments »

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