• 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!

A beginning

Posted on April 30, 2012 by wtdavid

Today, the journey begins.  I have invited all of us as the World Team community to join me in reading and discovering together the message of the book, King’s Cross, by Tim Keller.

In his opening section, simply called “Before”, Keller summarizes the aim of his book: “It is an extended meditation on the historical Christian premise that Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection form the central organizing principle of our own lives.  Said another way, the whole story of the world – and of how we fit into it – is most clearly understood through a careful, direct look at the story of Jesus.”  From the outset, Keller strives to focus our eyes on Jesus, rather than on our lives, work and ministries.  It is from that ‘look’ at Jesus that life, work and ministry flows.

The one statement that stood out for me in this section was when Keller described his own life-changing encounter with Jesus: “The best way I can put it is that, before the change, I pored over the Bible, questioning and analyzing it.  But after the change it was as if the Bible, or maybe Someone through the Bible, began poring over me, questioning and analyzing me.”  I guess I would have ordinarily used the first part of this phrase to describe the transformation that occurs when someone encounters Jesus. A new believer is someone who pores over the Bible, reading and studying it for themselves.

How many of us have watched with joy as a new believer takes a great delight in the Word?  But Keller is pointing to another indicator of that life-changing encounter with Jesus, namely that a new King now comes to reign in a person’s life.  Someone other than ourselves comes to pore over us, question us, analyze us, convict us, lift us up and restore value to us.

Here’s a question to ponder: what does that shift look like in my daily journey when God the Holy Spirit begins poring over me?

 

 

Filed under: Cross of Christ, Gospel, Reflection | 4 Comments »

What’s our responsibility?

Posted on April 27, 2012 by wtdavid

Sometimes when I’m reading along in a book, a quote just jumps off the page and really forces me to reflect at a deeper level.

That was the case with this quote I read the other day:

“The responsibility of the church in the new age is the same as its responsibility in every age.  It is to testify that this world is lost in sin; that that the span of human life – no, all the length of human history – is an infinitesimal island in the awful depths of eternity; that there is a mysterious, holy, living God, creator of all, Upholder of all, infinitely beyond all; that he has revealed himself to us  through Jesus Christ the Lord; that there is no other salvation, for individuals or for nations, save this, but that this salvation is full and free, and that whoever possesses it has for himself and for all others to whom he may be the instrument of bringing it a treasure compared with which all the kingdoms of the earth – no, all the wonders of the starry heavens – are as the dust of the street.  An unpopular message it is – an impractical message, we are told.  But it is the message of the Christian church.  Neglect it, and you will have destruction; heed it, and you will have life.”

I had to ask myself again if my life and ministry are aligned with that singular purpose and responsibility. Then I asked myself if our lives and ministries together as a community reflect a singular commitment to this calling.  It certainly makes you sit back and reflect.

 

Next post: Spheres of influence?

Filed under: Church, Mission, Reflection | Leave a comment »

It’s a big word, collaborate

Posted on April 26, 2012 by wtdavid

We often use words like ‘cooperate’ or ‘work together’ to describe our desire to carry out projects with others.  Collaboration though is much larger than these ideas.  It is more extensive and involves greater partnership on the part of each person collaborating.

You might define collaboration as “people from wide spheres and backgrounds laboring together towards a jointly held project or outcome.”

Collaboration would then:

  • Affirm our core value of interdependence by taking the time to work in a group or community
  • Seek involvement from co-workers in my area as well as from outside, including outside my own ‘culture’ or context
  • Break down the silo mentality that keeps us from making the effort to draw others into project because it ‘takes too much time to involve them’
  • Genuinely seek and listen to the contribution of each collaborator, knowing that the result will be a better project and greater ownership

I put it this way in drafting a third global priority for WT: “Seeking broader collaboration, our workers/leaders will move away from a strict organizational chart approach and move towards more overlapping spheres of influence.”

 

Next post: Spheres of influence?

Filed under: Community, Priorities | Leave a comment »

Will you be joining in the discussion?

Posted on April 23, 2012 by wtdavid

Many of you are familiar with participating in a virtual conversation through Facebook, Twitter or Google+.  You’re now invited to a blog discussion, hosted here each Monday for the next several months, around the book, King’s Cross, by Tim Keller.

A number of colleagues from around the WT community have been asked to help facilitate this discussion.  So each week you’ll be hearing from someone different about their insights, along with questions to stimulate blog discussion.

We’ll officially start on Monday, May 7th, looking at chapter 1, “The Dance”.

If you have not been able to get a copy of the book up to this point, I can send you scanned copies of the first five chapters for your personal use until you receive a copy.

So, will you be joining the discussion?

 

 

Filed under: Cross of Christ, Reflection | 4 Comments »

TC4u

Posted on April 19, 2012 by wtdavid

What would transformational community look like for you?  To put it in a text message version: What would TC4u look like?  This is the question we seek to answer in working out the second global priority: Each worker/leader will relate in a community where he/she experiences teaching, repentance, and new patterns of biblical living.

Dick Scoggins, who spoke at Mission11 Europe last summer, has written extensively on this subject in the context of establishing new communities of believers (www.dickscoggins.com).  There are many others who have written about transformational or apostolic communities as well.

However, we need to describe anew what we (World Team) mean by community.  In the next few weeks, I will be launching a working group to look into this topic and come back to me with recommendations and applications for us as a WT community.

Our desire is to train one another to live out in tangible ways the truth that: “The physical presence of other Christians is a source of incomparable joy and strength to the believer.”

 

Next post: Are you joining in the discussion?

Filed under: Church planting, Community | 3 Comments »

So What About Character Development?

Posted on April 18, 2012 by wtdavid

Dietrich Bonhoeffer in his work entitled, Life Together, said this about community: “The physical presence of other Christians is a source of incomparable joy and strength to the believer.”  I would contend that part of the ‘incomparable joy and strength’ that the community brings to a believer is to assist them to grow in character development.

The fourth chapter in Paul’s letter to the Ephesians (as well as all the one another commands) is a case study for the need of community in order for character to develop. In that chapter, all the action words are in the plural ‘you’, indicating the need for one another to be able to grow in who we are in Christ.

Another of our global priorities speaks to this need: Each worker/leader will relate in a community where he/she experiences teaching, repentance, and new patterns of biblical living.

Community, team-time together, is first of all a place where true transformation happens and continues to happen in the life of the believer, of the worker.  This community will give rise to national fellowships as those workers spread out and share the story of Christ with those they are meeting.

This community time is more than just a sharing and prayer time.  It is a time where we hold one another to what the Scriptures call us to live out as a community, where we challenge, pray and encourage ‘one another’ in the Gospel.

 

Next post: TC4u

Filed under: Church planting, Community | 2 Comments »

« Previous Page — Next Page »

  • Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

    Join 205 other subscribers

  • Categories

  • Recent Comments

  • Archives

  • Goodreads