“Foundations are forever”. I don’t remember who is the author of that important phrase, but I do remember that I first heard it in ‘CP 201’ from Pau
l T. “Foundations are forever” means that the principles we first ‘pour into’ our work of discipleship and church planting cannot be easily changed at a later point.
If we, as cross cultural workers, choose to take on the bulk of responsibility for the ministry from the very start, then national believers who are part of ‘our’ church will show little interest or desire for taking on the work and ministry. “Foundations are forever”.
If we, as cross cultural workers, simply tell our new believers (by our words and actions) what church should look like, we may unconsciously create a ‘church’ that is culturally irrelevant. “Foundations are forever”.
If our speech is filled with the Gospel, but we create a church culture where it’s all about doing for the Lord, then local believers may have little joy in life from the weight of legalism. “Foundations are forever”.
One of the funny things I have learned over the course of the last number of years is that the principle applies as well to my life as a cross cultural worker. “Foundations are forever”. There are foundations that have been laid in my life that are not the foundations the Lord desires for my life. Foundations that need to be broken up and re-poured.
There is a lot of talk in our mission about the Gospel. I have greatly profited in my own life from daily ‘speaking the Gospel’ to my own heart. However, if we were honest, the default mode, the true foundation in times of deep community and accountability is more of selfishness than Christ.
When we are asked to do something for another, we may choose to ‘rebel’ and criticize, rather than respond and learn. When someone asks a critical question of our work or ministry, we may choose to defend ourselves rather than see it as a ‘searchlight’ moment (Psalm 139). When someone pulls us aside after a team meeting and asks what the ‘energy’ and anger was they felt, we may choose to ignore a systemic problem and not allow our brother or sister to help us grow. “Foundations are forever”.
It’s time for lunch and there’s lots to discuss after this class. Tomorrow we will talk about what we might do to change faulty foundations.
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se days and seeing their enduring importance to life and ministry.
ain meeting place. When they arrived, I ‘tested’ them by asking what metro line they had taken to get to the meeting place. “You took line 6, right?” Their reply caught me by surprise: “No, we took line 3! It looked like a shorter route.” I had always taken line 6 to get to the meeting place. I knew what to do to get to the meeting place. Where in the world did they come up with the idea of taking line 3?
at she is expecting God to do in her and through her in this coming year. One of her prayerful expectations is for the hearts of university students to be revived as to the need of the unreached around the world.
rough the words of this short verse from Psalm 90. Daily, I must find my joy in the love that God has for me. Daily. This is an expression of my faith. The Psalmist’s words are meant to convey that the day is ‘defined’ or structured by the context in which I place it. I can express my faith by finding my joy daily in the unending, unconditional love of God for me.
ear’s Eve service. One of our elders shared a brief meditation on the text: Haggai 2:6-9. Not
Thoughts Along The Journey 