• 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!

Assessing quality, counting quantity

Posted on February 5, 2015 by wtdavid

We exist to glorify God.  We as a World Team community exist to glorify God by establishing and facilitating communities of believers that give birth to other communities.  We work together to explore new ways to share the message of Christ in a contextualized manner, to build disciples and communities that will multiply themselves exponentially among those least reached with the Gospel.

The purpose, the vision,the focus is quite clear.  How will we know if we are actually fulfilling this vision?  Do we just ‘hope for the best’ spiritually speaking?  Or are there any indicators that allow us to assess God given progress?

quality_or_quantity-resized-600Each year, Rebecca and I sit down and decide what we will plant in our garden.  We have rented a plot about 5 kilometers from our house and we want to use the space well.  One crop we plant every year is potatoes. Two things are important with potatoes: the quality of the potatoes.  Not all potatoes store well nor can be used for a variety of cooking purposes.  And second, the quantity of potatoes.  If we’re going to take the time and energy to plant a particular variety of potato, we want to make sure there is a good return.  We will count the approximate number of potatoes harvested at the end of season.  We do this because we want to discover if there are some things we might need to change the following year to have a better harvest.  For example, different soil composition, more consistent watering, or being better on top of parasites that attack our plants could create a greater harvest.  Some things we have no control over, such as the weather, and we simply will do the best with the conditions we face.  Quality and quantity are both concerns.

There are surely a number of parallels between gardening and disciplemaking.  Any ideas?  We can share more about all this in another blog.

“Other seeds fell on good soil and produced grain, some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty … As for what was sown on good soil, this is the one who hears the word and understands it.  He indeed bears fruit and yields, in one case a hundredfold, in another sixty, and in another thirty.”  Matthew 13:8, 23

Filed under: Assessment, Metrics | 4 Comments »

Mutually supporting and openness … again

Posted on January 30, 2015 by wtdavid

Ginny shared these thoughts after reading my last post.  They are part of a devotional she recently shared with a small group.

“Proverbs 12:25 speaks to us of one of the ways of encouraging others.

One way to encourage, build-up, or stimulate one another is through the written word.  A letter or email sent with the right words at the right time can be greatly used in the life of someone else. We can also encourage by actions, by what we do.  As we walk in close relationship with the Lord, He then can enable us to be an encouragement one to another.

Recently I received a note from a friend who shared with me lessons of encouragement learned from a goose!  Geese as you know fly in a “V” geese in formationformation. As each bird flaps its wings, it creates uplift for the bird immediately following. By flying in a “V” formation the whole flock adds at least 71% greater flying range then if each bird flew on its own.   This is quite similar to being part of a team, sharing a common direction to get where they are going.  The journey is quicker and easier if they are traveling on the trust of one another and lift each other up along the way. Whenever a goose falls out of formation, it suddenly feels the drag and resistance of trying to go through it alone and quickly gets back into formation to take advantage of the power of the flock. As a team member, we need to work together and share information and encouragement with those who are headed in the same way that we are going.

The geese honk from behind to encourage those up front to keep their speed.  Words of support and encouragement help energize those on the front line helping them to keep pace in spite of the day-to-day pressures and fatigue.  It is important that our honking be encouraging.

Finally when a goose gets sick or is wounded and falls out, two geese fall out of the formation and follow the injured one down to help and protect him. They stay with him until he is able to fly again.  Then they launch out with another formation to catch up with their group.  When one of us is down, it’s up to the others to stand by us in our time of trouble. We need to stand by each other and be that source of encouragement.”

Filed under: Community, Encouragement | 2 Comments »

Mutually supporting and openess

Posted on January 28, 2015 by wtdavid

Like most workers, I feel like I have a good read on life and ministry.  The reality is that I can easily be blinded to faults that bring pain and conflict into conversations, relationships and teams. We each see the ‘evident’ needs of others, but lack a larger perspective that shows us our own spiritual growth needs.  I, we, for the most part lack self awareness.encourage-one-another-hands

Being interdependent, being mutually supportive of one another is also a call to get involved in one another’s lives.

The TC4u document (found on the Hub under the Gospel Conversation Café) is one attempt to grapple with how such mutual dependence works itself out in our communities as workers in World Team.  I can talk about community and tell others of the importance of being part of one, but do I personally feel the need and model the need for such mutual support through community?

If you don’t see the need for community, for this need of open and honest sharing, you won’t go seeking it out.

However, if like me, you recognize your lack of self awareness and need of Christ, you will go looking for a group of like minded believers with whom to gather and offer that mutual support to one another; to work at living out community as described in the Scriptures:

  • Encourage one another: 1 Thessalonians 5:11
  • Build up one another: 1 Thessalonians 5:11
  • Pray for another: James 5:16
  • Speak truth (in love) to one another: Ephesians 4:15

Filed under: Community, Core Values, Interdependence | 2 Comments »

Mutually supporting

Posted on January 13, 2015 by wtdavid

One of the core values we hold as World Team global workers is interdependence. On our website, we describe interdependence in this way:  “Interdependence is evident in our conscious desire to embrace partnerships with others who share our passion for the unreached. It is lived out in our teams, networks of national church associations, and sending churches and individuals who make up the broader World Team family.”

That may be good missiological speak, but it doesn’t necessarily tell us what interdependence might look like in our lives and ministries. I kind of like thinking about interdependence as being mutually supportive of one another. It’s about being intentional in working together across team and agency lines.  In some respects, “it’s about all believers everywhere being united together and needing each other.”

Maybe a practical example would help.

The office where I currently work came about through just such mutual support or dependency.  During our first few years in France, I met Pierre (a European sent worker) who was 20150113_140056involved in a church plant near the city.  From our first conversation, I knew we were driven by the same passion.  We met a number of times and had deep conversations about reaching the community here with the Gospel.  One day, Pierre called.  He said that he had heard I was in need of an administrator.  He had someone to send my way.  It was someone from his church who had greatly helped him with the organization and structure of their church plant as it got off the ground.  That is how I met Olivier.  Olivier worked for me for about five years.  During that time, he introduced me to Jean Marc who owns his own business.  We had lunch with Jean Marc numerous times over the past number of years.  Last May, Jean Marc called and said that he had heard I was looking for an office.  He had one to rent to me.

A few things stand out as I look back over this timeline of mutual support:

  • ‘Mutually supportive’ workers were not afraid to share with others resources they had.
  • ‘Mutually supportive’ workers keep their ‘spiritual ears’ open to the needs of others and how they might be able to respond to those needs.
  • ‘Mutually supportive’ workers build networks or bridges between like minded workers

Filed under: Core Values, Interdependence | 2 Comments »

Laying it down

Posted on January 9, 2015 by wtdavid

Many of you may have heard about the tragic events which occurred this past Wednesday here in Paris.  As I listened to an online talk show while driving to the office, the interviewer asked two religious leaders why we should continue to talk about the need to address the evil intentions of peoples’ hearts when that message, up to this point, has brought about little or no change.  The response was truly insightful: ‘Saying something once does not mean that the problem has been dealt with and will go away.  We need to repeat, repeat and continue to repeat the message for it to take root and bring about change.’

change in the skyWe all know the ‘right’ answer or response to the questions of ongoing Christian growth and maturity.  However, those truths are not sufficiently repeated so as to ‘take root’ in our hearts and cause real and visible change to occur.

“You have given us your most cherished treasure, yet we prize many other things more highly than Christ.  Forgive us for trusting in our own strength more than in his power to save us completely.  We live each day with hearts full of our own desires, minds full of our own agendas and plans for our own self-promotion.  Forgive us, Lord.” (Prone to Wander)

We know that we prize many other things more highly than Christ: the approval of others, our ministry strategy and vision, being ‘right’, and our comfort or lifestyle, for example.  We know that we prize these things and tell ourselves we need to prize Christ more, yet our actions (and our words) demonstrate that we continue to value these above Christ.

We need to ‘lay all these things down’ and that comes through a daily effort of crying out to God for His work to turn our eyes back to Him.  It comes as well through turning to others to help us take this Gospel ‘downtown’ to our hearts.

“Holy Spirit, fill us with everlasting wonder that the gospel is true.  You kept your promise to send a Savior; help us to stop trying to rescue others and ourselves.  When we are tempted as [Adam and] Eve did, remind us of Christ, who kept all your laws for us, and fix our eyes on him.” (Prone to Wander)

Slowly we will see changes occur in the way we as a WT community talk with one another and listen well to one another.  We will actually lay down our ‘right-ness’ in how we see and do things and begin to work together in community to bring the Gospel to ourselves and to the unreached.

Filed under: Change & transition, Community, Repentance & faith | Leave a comment »

Captivated by sin more than by Jesus

Posted on January 7, 2015 by wtdavid

A fellow worker from the WT community forwarded me a challenging article on: “The Danger of Fruitfulness without Purity”.  I would commend it to your reading and reflection.

The final challenge from this article got me wondering as to how such a change actually begins to work itself out in my life: “If we will simply return to the power and the beauty of the gospel, not only will the Lord grant fruit, but it will be fruit that will endure and bring his name great glory for eternity.  Let’s live and end well for that great name.”

That led me to a book that one of my mentors recently sent my way: Prone to Wander.  The authors provide practical ways to work out the exhortation of the excellent article above from Desiring God Ministries.  It comes through confession of heart difficulties and allowing the Holy Spirit to apply again and again ‘the power and grace that is ours through the work of Christ on the cross.’

repentance and faithOur hearts can so easily be captivated more by sin than by Jesus and His work on our behalf.  Let me quote a large section of one of the first prayers in Prone to Wander as a practical aid in learning to respond more quickly to the call to repentance and faith:

O God, our Father, forgive us for our many sins.  Like Eve [and Adam], we are easily captivated by the objects that our eyes desire.  We fall so often, and when we do, we run and hide in shame instead of running to you to confess our sin and find joy and forgiveness in the cross.  You have given us your most cherished treasure, yet we prize many other things more highly than Christ.  Forgive us for trusting in our own strength more than in his power to save us completely.  We live each day with hearts full of our own desires, minds full of our own agendas and plans for our own self-promotion.  Forgive us, Lord.

Jesus, you are our strong salvation. Thank you for invading our world to rescue us from ourselves.  We cannot fathom the humility, love, and commitment to your Father’s glory, which led you to give up heaven for us.  When the Holy Spirit took you into the desert to be tempted by Satan, you kept your eyes fixed firmly on your Father, your soul devoted to serving him in perfect obedience, and your mind saturated with Scripture.  You gave up your own glory to be stripped, humiliated, and shattered in death, so that you could serve us and be our substitute.  The joy or your life was fixed firmly upon the will of God, and now we find the joy of our lives to be your obedience for us and your death in our place.  How can we ever thank you adequately?  Holy Spirit, fill us with everlasting wonder that the gospel is true.  You kept your promise to send a Savior; help us to stop trying to rescue others and ourselves.  When we are tempted as [Adam and] Eve did, remind us of Christ, who kept all your laws for us, and fix our eyes on him.

Filed under: Community, Repentance & faith, Uncategorized | 3 Comments »

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