• 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!

Rescued people are dependent people

Posted on January 11, 2012 by wtdavid

Rescued people learn to become dependent people.  It is not a onetime event, but a process over a lifetime. 

How does one know if he/she is growing in dependence or is simply remaining in his/her sinful independence?  Darrin Patrick writes: “We often do not know whether we are living in dependence upon God because we are disengaged from our hearts.”   So, we must engage with our hearts, discerning its movements and motivations.  Patrick provides us with some questions that might help us in this process:

1)      Which do I want more: to know God or to achieve for God?  [Some verses to meditate on: Philippians 3:10; Exodus 33:13; 1 Timothy 4:6-10]

2)      When was the last time I experienced a prompting of the Holy Spirit?  [Some verses to meditate on: John 4:7-19; Acts 16:6-10]

3)      Am I consistently being convicted of sin in my life?  [Some verses to meditate on: Hebrews 12:5-11; John 16:7-8; 1 John 3:9]

4)      Am I consistently accepting my acceptance by God through Christ? [Some verses to meditate on: 2 Corinthians 5:17, 21]

5)      Where do my thoughts go when I am not forced to think about anything?  [Some verses to meditate on: Psalm 63:1-4]

I was greatly ‘exercised’ by this list; discouraged might be another way of putting it.  Then I realized the problem.  I was responding to a series of questions about being dependent by trying to just exercise my own independent will.

Rescued people learn to become dependent people by choosing to go God for the power to change; for the ability and strength to engage one’s heart and learn what it means to depend on God the Father more and more.

Filed under: Godly living, Gospel, Lifelong learning | 4 Comments »

Rescued people

Posted on January 9, 2012 by wtdavid

I have appreciated the interaction we have been having on innovation.  Over the weekend I read a quote which refocused my heart on that which is most important in all that we do: “While a church planter may be a good person or a talented person or a clever person, he/she must be, first and foremost, a rescued man, a rescued woman.  He/she must be a person who has been rescued from the slavery and foolishness of their own sin and saved by the freedom and “foolishness” of a God who displayed his perfect justice and love by laying down his life on behalf of the very ones who wronged him.” [Darrin Patrick] 

It’s ultimately not our goodness, our talents, our wisdom, nor even our capacity for innovation that is the driving source of our passion to multiply disciples and communities of believers.  It’s that we know we are rescued people.

Let me leave each of us to reflect on these challenging words from another older saint, Richard Baxter: “Take heed to yourselves, lest you be void of that saving grace of God which you offer to others, and be strangers to the effectual working of that gospel which you preach; and lest, while you proclaim to the world the necessity of a Savior, your own hearts should neglect him, and you should miss of an interest in him and his saving benefits.”

Filed under: Gospel, Reflection | 2 Comments »

What do you mean when you say “innovation”?

Posted on January 6, 2012 by wtdavid

I am sometimes asked a question in light of our global vision statement.  It goes something like this: “What do you mean when you say ‘innovation’?”  Rightly so, it is hard to be intentional about something, if we don’t understand what we mean by the concept (see 04.01.2012 post)

Wikipedia defines innovation this way: “Innovation is the creation of better or more effective products, processes, services, technologies, or ideas that are accepted by markets, governments, and society. Innovation differs from invention in that innovation refers to the use of a new idea or method, whereas invention refers more directly to the creation of the idea or method itself.”  This is somewhat helpful, particularly the distinction between invention (or creativity) and innovation.  However, it still doesn’t help us answer the practical question.

The word innovation also comes from the Latin word meaning “to renew or change.”  So, innovation is the process of initiating change or renewal.  However, what does that look like?

The more I thought about it, the more I realized that the harder I try to “define” innovation, the farther away I move from it.  Rather than defining it, here are a few concrete examples. From these we can discern what innovation means and might look like in our context.

  • A worker in Asia proposes to his board to buy a storefront and open a training school for refugees temporarily resettled in his country.  Being a certified chef, he suggests the school train refugees in food preparation, a marketable skill in most places of the world.  From the very start of the course, this worker talks openly and freely of his faith, offering opportunity for students to share needs and for prayer to be offered.  An innovative approach to outreach.
  • A worker in Europe sees several people come to Christ.  These new believers express a desire to study the Word, and they agree to meet for Bible study once a week.  The worker wants to implicate new believers more quickly in owning and taking responsibility for gatherings.  At the very first meeting, the worker deliberately does not show up.  When these new believers realize that the worker is not coming, they start the study themselves and continue on for weeks before recontacting the worker.  An innovative approach to discipleship or small group leadership.
  • Given the prolific number of cell phones in our world today, one group of workers developed short videos that presented the person of Jesus Christ.  They then sent these videos out to numerous contacts in ‘closed countries’ where they served.  Many came to a personal relationship with Jesus Christ as a result.  An innovative approach to sharing the Gospel.

A creative idea that leads to prayer and new approaches.  What do you mean when you think innovation?

Filed under: Church planting, Innovation, Sharing the Gospel story | 6 Comments »

Mushroom Eaters

Posted on January 4, 2012 by wtdavid

We long to be more intentional this year in our outreach, our discipleship, our mentoring and our own personal growth and development.  Should we not also long to be more intentional in our innovation?

Jay recently shared this quote from Erwin McManus which speaks to this desire:

”The Church Communication Network sent me an invitation to do a session on leadership in one of their national conferences… I would follow one of the most credible experts on church leadership… I was honored… Somewhere in his lecture he started to say something that totally threw me. Point-blank he instructed, “Don’t be an innovator; be an early adaptor… the innovator is the guy who eats the poisonous mushroom and dies. The early adaptor is the guy right next to him, who doesn’t have to eat it…” After thanking him for his amazing contribution to the body of Christ and for mentoring me through his books and ministry I went on to thank him for a new metaphor for my life. I am a mushroom eater… Any day now might be my last supper. But without risking the poisonous mushrooms, we never would have discovered the joys of portabellas. The barbarian call is just this simple; we are called to be mushroom eaters. A world without God cannot wait for us to choose the safe path. If we wait for someone else to take the risk, we risk that no one will ever act and that nothing will ever be accomplished. John the Baptist was a mushroom eater, and it cost him his life…”  [From: Erwin Raphael McManus, The Barbarian Way: Unleash The Tamed Faith Within, Thomas Nelson, Nashville: TN, 2005]

 

Maybe we should start praying to be “mushroom eaters”; choosing to take the risk and not be satisfied with the safe path.

Filed under: Innovation, Intentionality | 2 Comments »

Intentionality

Posted on January 2, 2012 by wtdavid

Intentionality, by its root, is linked to being intentional.  If we scan the dictionary, we discover that “intentional” is when something is “done deliberately or on purpose.”  It is the act of consciously, deliberately, knowingly and purposively working towards carrying out an intended goal or objective.  Therefore, to be intentional about something is to exhibit intentionality. 

Our hearts and minds have been focused over the past few weeks on the birth of the One who came and ‘tabernacled’ among us; the One who entered our world in order to save His people from their sins.  From the very start, there was intentionality in all God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit undertook on our behalf.  The Creator God was intentional in seeking to re-establish relationship between Himself and His creation.  That intentionality led to the pouring out of His life for others.

Missional living, though, is a constant struggle of intentionality.  Our lives and ministries continually call for deliberate and purposeful action.  We do not wait for people to move towards us, rather we must move towards them in an intentional way, just as God did and does for us.  Our own personal growth and development does not happen by osmosis, rather we must consciously build more and more upon the faith foundation that has been laid by His Spirit in our hearts.

As this New Year begins, we would do well to consider our ‘intentionality quotient’, that is, how quick are we to be intentional in our life, development and ministry?   Or are we more accidental in our approach?

Try prayerfully thinking through this question:  what is the greatest hindrance that would keep me from being more intentional this year in my outreach, my discipleship, my mentoring or my own personal growth and development?

Filed under: Faithfulness & Fruitfulness, Intentionality | 3 Comments »

In the midst of change

Posted on December 12, 2011 by wtdavid

Over the past year, we have been dialoguing together on the impact of global currents on the outworking of World Team’s global vision.  Many of you have either been involved in working groups discussing this topic or have freely shared your thoughts and ideas with me.

Earlier in the year, I made available the Global QuickVIEW document on this blog.  Now I would like to make available two documents that were given to all our leaders: “Leading Well in the Midst of Change” and “Resources Supplement”.  Simply right click on the link below to save these documents for yourself.

Leading Well in the Midst of Change

Resources Supplement

Working through all the input that was given by workers in the WT community, a series of ‘guiding principles’ were drawn up to direct our next planning process.  The “Leading Well in the Midst of Change” document is an attempt to provide a framework for the development of ministry plans over the coming months, knowing that change will be needed for the new contexts that we find.  The “Resources Supplement” summarizes all the input given as to possible broad-based solutions to our global vision in light of global currents.

As you read these documents, I encourage you to ask yourself and your team these questions:

  • What concepts, ideas, or insights do I resonate with as I read through these documents?
  • What trend(s) is most at work in my area of ministry?
  • What changes will I (we) need to make in order to carry out more fruitfully our vision of innovative teams multiplying disciples and communities of believers bringing the Gospel within reach of lost people everywhere we go?

Filed under: Assessment, Global realities, Vision | 3 Comments »

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