• 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!

The Father loves me

Posted on May 22, 2023 by wtdavid

One of our natural reflexes regarding ministry is to try and address a significant problem by creating a process.  It might be a new process, or it might be one that has worked well for us in the past. I’m certainly not against processes that might allow us to work a problem, difficulty or obstacle that we are facing. 

However, there are times when our hearts tell us there is something “deeper” in need of work because of a difficulty or problem we are facing.

In the past five years, World Team has lost over 100 workers.  Now there are understandable reasons for some of that attrition, but the reality is that the number of new workers coming into World Team have not offset that loss.  As a result, we have less resources with which to sustain and launch ministry initiatives that our God has placed in front of us.

There are many creative and innovative ideas being shared by WT colleagues to raise new resources (people, prayer and finances).  And many of those ideas are good and worthy of our consideration.

But my heart tells me there is a deeper need.  I was recently reading the prayer letter of a close friend when I came across these words: “This year, they (a group of believers) asked for teaching on how inner renewal is reflected in relationships of love and service.”  Inner renewal means telling ourselves again and again about the power of the Gospel to change lives, and in particular our lives.  Or as Tim Keller of Redeemer Presbyterian Church in New York City (USA) puts it: “Taking the Gospel downtown to our hearts to effect deep change.”

Maybe that’s the missing part.  Work new processes but give as much attention and more to inner renewal.

Give time to inner renewal; asking God, our Father, to remind us again of His love for us. The result of that time spent would be a Gospel culture built among us that would draw others to want to be part of what God is first doing among us, and then through us.

I want to coach 2-3 new workers into cross cultural ministry this coming year.  However, I want to definitely coach them first and foremost to see their daily deep need of Jesus.

#gospelgoingdowntown

Filed under: Coaching, Gospel, Mobilization | 2 Comments »

Raw authenticity

Posted on November 15, 2022 by wtdavid

Two stories or events came to mind when I think about raw authenticity.  What I mean by raw authenticity is simply the clear, honest, and straightforward expression of one’s character or that of a group.

The first story.  Talking with a friend recently, I noticed that the organization he worked for had processed 35+ new workers during the pandemic. “How were you able to bring in so many new people in the midst of one of the most difficult times?” I asked.  His answer was enlightening. He told me that they had no idea as to why they drew in so many new workers.  They hired a consultant to help them figure out “what they were doing right”. 

Basically, the consultant said that the organization my friend worked for had not varied from their guiding principles over many years.  In other words, their strategy may have changed, but who they were and how they lived together as an organization had not altered. 

The second story or event.  I once worked for the administrator of a long-term health care facility.  He often ‘preached’ about the value and dignity we were to give or show to the residents of this facility.  They were our focus. We were there to serve them.  The way he personally demonstrated his commitment to this guiding principle was that his office door was directly accessible from the main hallway of the facility.  No need to go through someone else to get to his office.  And that door was almost always open.  Any resident could simply walk right in if they wanted to talk to the director of the facility.

In both cases, what was said to drive their relationships, drove their relationships.  And people were drawn to that authenticity of life and openness.  Yes, there was an organizational culture and work strategy that people adhered to and believed in. But what seems to keep them or have kept them onboard was the outworking of the principles to which they held.

We talk a lot about the Gospel as the driving guiding principle of our mission (see the WT Ministry Framework). Perhaps we need to reclaim that principle as the driving force behind our actions and the way in which we work and will work together.  And we would do well to look for daily expressions of that Gospel expressing itself in love, in and through our lives (Galatians 5:6).

What that might look like is fodder for ongoing discussions … and certainly a next blog post.

Filed under: Authenticity, Character, Gospel, WT Ministry Framework | Leave a comment »

The Gospel & Grandstanding

Posted on September 12, 2022 by wtdavid

It’s a story that many are familiar with, but it always seems so out of place in the context of this particular biblical narrative.  In Mark 9, we read about the transfiguration and the healing of the boy with an unclean spirit.  After these events, Jesus foretells his death and resurrection, but the disciples are unable to grasp the meaning: “But they did not understand the saying, and were afraid to ask him.” (9:32)

This is a pivotal moment in the recounting of the life and ministry of Jesus. However, following right on the heels of this, we discover that the disciples have been arguing about “who was the greatest” (9:34).  In modern day speak, we might title this section of Mark’s Gospel: Grandstanding. 

Grandstanding or self-aggrandizement is choosing to make oneself the centre: the centre of the conversation, the centre of activity, and the centre of the applause given by others. 

Honestly, I don’t think the disciples (nor us for that matter) consciously and deliberately sought to put themselves in the centre.  But they did. And we do. And the fact is, we often enjoy being the centre. 

The Gospel displaces grandstanding from the heart.  The Gospel pushes one to be other-oriented rather than self-oriented; dependent on Him rather than independent, relying strictly on oneself. 

The Gospel will move us to put Christ more deliberately before others than ourselves.

Here’s the question though: what would happen, if we were to walk away from the ministry in which we are engaged at this moment?  Would others take up the charge?

If it all depends on us, then we are at the centre, and we are, in some way or another, people’s Savior rather than Jesus.

Talking to a fellow church planter while attending a conference on CPM in Switzerland, he shared that he had begun a new work in Eastern Europe.  He had seen a number of people come to Christ and these new disciples wanted to meet as a ‘community of believers’.  They agreed to a time for their first meeting. When the day came for the meeting, the church planter deliberately chose not to show up for the meeting.  Now I don’t know what you think, but I was a bit taken aback by his approach.  However, what happened was that the group waited, and when the church planter didn’t show up, they started the study and worship time.  And the group continued on without the church planter.

Again, I’m sure we could find fault with elements of this approach. What I learned was that this church planter understood the Gospel message of humility and tried to find ways to not to be at the centre of this work.  What he ended up demonstrating was that the group was first and foremost dependent on God, not on him.

Filed under: Empower, Gospel, Humility | Leave a comment »

A must read for the heart

Posted on March 23, 2022 by wtdavid

We all have trusted friends who serve as references for good books to read.  Two of those friends for me recommended the same book within a week of each other.  The book is entitled: Gentle & Lowly: The Heart of Christ for Sinners & Sufferers.  

Some of you have already read or are in the processing of reading this book.  However, with this blog post, I want to strongly encourage you to pick up a copy and join us in reading through this book.  If you need a copy, just contact me directly and we will figure out a way to get you a hard copy or a Kindle copy.

I happened to mention the book at one of the recent Ministry Support Centre board meetings, and a board member followed up with a call to ask me more about the book.  He asked this insightful question: How did the book actually impact your walk with Christ?  

Here is what I said: One of our guiding principles (perhaps THE guiding principle) within World Team is the Gospel.  We often talk about it, write on it and even preach on it.  However, this book will push each one of us to reflect on how that Gospel practically addresses and changes our own heart and actions.  We need this constant rehearsal of Gospel for ourselves.  The book will also cause each of us to stop and to reflect on truths that we know, but consider them from a different perspective or angle.  It’s like holding up a gem and turning it in a variety of directions to notice every aspect of the gem.

On my first read through the book, I came across this statement: “Christ died to confound our intuitive assumptions that divine love has an expiration date.  He died to prove that God’s love is, as Jonathan Edwards put it, “an ocean without shores or bottom.”  God’s love is as boundless as God himself.”  When I read that bolded phrase, I couldn’t help but pause to reflect on the “boundlessness” of His love. How often I have limited it and fallen back into a “I need to do more for God” approach in order to earn His favor and love.

I hope that I have whetted your appetite a bit for reading this book.  And here’s hoping you will join me!

Filed under: Gospel, Heart of Christ, Jesus Christ | 4 Comments »

He loves us

Posted on December 14, 2021 by wtdavid

Dane Ortlund in his book: Gentle & Lowly: The Heart of Christ for Sinners & Sufferers, wrote the following:

“What was the purpose of this heavenly rescue mission?  “God shows his love for us …” (Romans 5:8). The Greek word for “shows” here means to commend demonstrably, to hold forth, to bring into clear view, to put beyond questioning. In Christ’s death, God is confronting our dark thoughts of him and our chronic insistence that divine love must have an endpoint, a limit, a point at which it finally runs dry. Christ died to confound our intuitive assumptions that divine love has an expiration date. He died to prove that God’s love is, as Jonathan Edward’s put it, “an ocean without shores or bottom.”  God’s love is as boundless as God himself.” (192)

It is that last statement that struck me and on which I encourage you to reflect: “God’s love is as boundless as God himself.”

What does that truth stir up in your heart?  How does it challenge you to respond?

Feel free to share your thoughts in the comment section of this blog post, and bless other members of the World Team community with the insights and thoughts God lays on your heart.

Filed under: Gospel, Love of God, Reflection | 2 Comments »

A heart of compassion

Posted on June 4, 2021 by wtdavid

His name was Carl.  He entered the presence of his Saviour last weekend.  His name probably won’t mean much to most of you, but he taught me a great deal about a deep understanding and commitment to the Word, a faithful and consistent walk with Christ, and a constant need to have one’s heart refreshed in the Gospel.

I had heard a lot about Carl in my early days of training for pastoral ministry.  My first significant encounter with Carl was when I passed my theology exam to be licensed and ordained in our denomination.  For those unfamiliar with this process, it’s a means by which a group of churches identifies and affirms those called to pastoral ministry in terms of their theology, life and practice.

Carl was the kind of person who made the proverbial “knees shake” when you walked into a room for a discussion with him.  The theology exam was basically three (3) hours face to face with Carl.  What I learned during that afternoon exam was that explaining the Bible to others was not something you could do from a quick and cursory study.  It took time, energy, perseverance, dialogue with others, and prayer.  It wasn’t biblical understanding just for the sake of being able to explain some intricate biblical text.  It was understanding that would lead to change and transformation in one’s heart and life.

That is what I saw even more as I began to spend time with Carl over the next number of years.  All that he knew about God and the Bible actually worked its way out in his life. Even though I was no longer living in the US, I remember how often he would agree to meet me at an airport or at a coffee shop to listen and share his thoughts, insights and prayers.  The more I listened, the more I began to see the amazing connection between the God of which he spoke, and the life he sought to live.

However, I think the greatest gift that Carl gave me was his regular honest confession of his daily need of the Gospel.  The message that “God is for us” (Romans 8:31-39) was the reminder and refreshment that he sought. 

One summer, I was asked to speak at the opening night of Missions Week for our denomination.  Most of the pastors in our denomination would be present in the audience.  I remember watching many of them file in and take seats in the front rows of the auditorium. I wondered how I could possibly speak in front of such a group of erudite and seasoned pastors.  My message was on the Gospel and its impact on my life in recent days. “If the Gospel was not good news for me again, how could it be good news for those around me who did not know Christ.”  At one point, I turned and looked over at Carl who was sitting in those first few rows.  Tears were streaming down his face and I thought to myself: “I must have said something that wasn’t theological well put.” When I asked him afterwards why he was crying at that particular moment, his reply took me by surprise: “David, the message of the amazing love and grace of Christ for me was just the message that I needed to hear again tonight.  I could not keep back the tears of joy.” 

There it was. The man who had made my “knees shake” during a theology exam, gave me the gift of a life solidly founded on the Word, a willingness to invest in others, and a heart so sensitive to his need of the Gospel that the tears flowed when he heard the ‘old, old story’ once more of Jesus and His love.

Filed under: Godly living, Gospel, Mentoring | 8 Comments »

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