I’m observing something about the Kingdom of God in the earth

It all began when I read Acts again towards the end of last year – actually I’ve read it at least once a year for a long time, but it was last year I began to notice something which, to me anyway, was significant.

Most of you who are leaders will have read widely enough to have heard of the idea that the earth is full of jurisdictions or spheres of influence. Specifically, a jurisdiction or sphere is a place where authority is vested and exercised. For example, Government is a jurisdiction and so, therefore, are nations. The Church too is a jurisdiction or sphere and there are many examples of the way in which authority is vested and exercised within it mentioned in the Scriptures.

The judiciary is a sphere too (an Ezekiel-like sphere within a sphere) and once again, there are a variety of ways in which authority is vested and exercised therein e.g. solicitors don’t do criminal cases.

What fascinates me is the way the Kingdom advances through the missionary-church by releasing its people to move across from its jurisdiction to another and as they go, to carry the message of the King and His Kingdom and its application to human life in that new sphere.

Actually it is essential this happens in order that the Kingdom should advance throughout human life. This requires an incarnational approach, in that we as the ambassadors of Christ, cross personally into other jurisdictions to announce the King’s agenda. These same ambassadors sometimes stay within that jurisdiction a long time to exercise the King’s authority while others return again to their own sphere or jurisdiction.

Acts is full of this kind of thing. It seems to me this is the way the Kingdom advances into every part of the world. Let me show you what I mean, but please look out for the following pattern.

First there is the work of the Spirit on people within the initial jurisdiction; next, the crossing over itself which may be caused by any number of factors but always according to the purposes of God; then the planting of the Word in the new jurisdiction; followed by the observation that those in the affected jurisdiction are transformed and their sphere also; finally these newly transformed people proceed to repeat the process itself into another jurisdiction.

Look at Acts 2. The disciples are the first jurisdiction of the Kingdom – gathered together and in prayer (Ac.1:13-14). This particular jurisdiction includes people who carry a unique promise – yet unfulfilled – but who still carry within them the promise and command of God (1:4-5,8). As yet they represent the only jurisdiction where this promise applies – the company of disciples.

This first jurisdiction is, at that moment in time, the key Kingdom jurisdiction in the earth – at least in terms of the transformation of human society as a whole. They are not living it yet, but it is their destiny. This does not mean that this jurisdiction was the only Kingdom jurisdiction – a fact which will hopefully become clear soon.

Once the Holy Spirit is poured out (2:1-4) the switch is thrown resulting in those populating this first jurisdiction beginning to cross into other jurisdictions with a very new and challenging message which will carry enormous impact – into Jerusalem.

The next jurisdiction is mentioned in Acts 2:5. They are God-fearing Jews in Jerusalem to faithfully observe the Pentecost – many had been in Jerusalem since before the Passover.

This group of people is a jurisdiction normally untouched by the members of the first Kingdom jurisdiction in the earth for these men were from the fringes of Jewish society. The men and women from the first jurisdiction are neither priests nor trained in the ministry of the Temple nor are they permitted to minister. In the usual course of events, these God-fearing Jews would not be ministered to by such a company of men and women.

Yet, the Spirit anointed that company of disciples to cross into this new jurisdiction (God-fearing Jews) and minister a new message – the message of the Kingdom.

The signs of the Spirit create the moment and Peter advances into the new jurisdiction with a new and amazing message(2:14-36).

The effect was amazing (2:37) and Peter announces the promise of the Spirit to them exactly as it had been promised to himself (2:38-39).  I know the words are different, but it is the same Spirit. The promise in this first jurisdiction has now been announced to a second jurisdiction and many of those in that second jurisdiction took up that same offer of the Kingdom (2:41) and formed a significant Messianic community (2:42-47a)

The key here is that the two jurisdictions were parallel. That is, they shared some significant common ground which, when accented by the work of the Spirit, led to the transformation brought by the Kingdom, to leap across normal human divides into a new jurisdiction. It was a kairos moment.

Acts 2:47b needs separate comment. The community which had been drawn from the second jurisdiction and that from the first jurisdiction is now joined by faith. But they are very diverse with some real cultural differences. They form a new jurisdiction (ie the Church of Jesus Christ) which shares an amazing outcome – that of being a community whose aim is to engage other jurisdictions in a worldview challenge on a continuing basis.

And momentum is key.

For me, it’s proof the Kingdom is present. The Kingdom advances both because of intentional and non-intentional human action. Mark 4:26-29 outlines a parable about the Kingdom which I think is resounding here.

But what happens next is in some ways more amazing.

Acts 8:1-3 records a phenomena – a scattering of believers out of Jerusalem which was caused by a persecution of the followers of The Way by the Jewish authorities and their chief protagonist Saul of Tarsus.

Initially, these believers were scattered to Judea and Samaria (8:2). In addition, Acts 8:4-40 tells the story of the remarkable revival led by Philip which itself is an example of jurisdiction transfer in the name of the King and His Kingdom.

I mentioned earlier the initial group of believers carried in them a command and a promise to be witnesses to Christ to the ends of the earth – Luke’s version of this is in Acts 1:8 and Matthew’s is recorded at Matthew 28:19. But this did not happen spontaneously, rather, it was the result of an action.

The first expression of the jurisdiction we now know as the Church (the company of believers hidden between the ascension and Pentecost) did not advance into any new jurisdiction automatically – the action that created this was the pouring out of the Spirit.

Following this, the newly created jurisdiction advanced into the next “parallel” jurisdiction which turned out to be devout Jewish believers in Jerusalem for the feast of the Passover and Pentecost. The effect was amazing. But again, the church as it was now (a group of believers who had known Christ personally, certain priests and members of the Sanhedrin as well as devout Jews from around the known world) did not automatically fulfill the plan and intent of God. Another action was required – this time, a persecution.

This however created a problem and it remains one for us today. The members of that first jurisdiction rightly saw themselves as “guardians” of the deposit left by Christ so they needed to confirm the veracity of what had occurred. The Church was now in a new city (another jurisdiction).

How was this being handled? What proved it was the real thing?

In this case as described in Acts 8:14-17 it was the presence and work of the Holy Spirit that was proving a jurisdictional transfer of the Kingdom had occurred. The Gospel had leapt across into a new jurisdiction through the work of ordinary believers.

Philip’s story also contains the contact with the Ethiopian (8:26-40) which together with the story of Peter and Cornelius (10:1-48) reveal the first major jurisdictional transfer of the Gospel and the Kingdom – that which is from Jew to Gentile.

This would eventually find its fullest expression in the work of the Spirit among the believers at the Antioch Church.

But all this is just an introduction. Let me finish this by trying to explain what it might mean to us now. What is the application for us in the 21^st century?

Right now we have several crucial jurisdictional transfers before us. The major one is one that is similar to that involving Peter and Cornelius and it will also take Spirit-led timing and content built on what the Holy Spirit is doing on the other side of the transfer to be successful.

I refer to the transfer from the Church of Jesus Christ into the Muslim world. Leaders like Stuart Robinson represent those who have crossed the jurisdictional barrier between western culture and that of Islam. His book “Mosques and Miracles” illustrates what is involved, what challenges exist and what opportunities abound. There will need to be more people crossing this jurisdiction in order for the Kingdom to move more purposefully into Islam with the good news of Jesus.

Another of these crucial jurisdictions before us is the new age movement. Thousands of Australians are engaged in this movement; buying the books and crystals, seeking the diviners and palm readers and adopting an extremely strong “spiritual” approach to life.

Outside this jurisdiction, inside the Body of Christ, there are people like Lyn Thomas who lives in Brisbane and goes to fairs and new age expos and offers prophetic ministry and dream interpretation. In 2005-2006 she and her team led almost 150 people to Christ. The real challenge for her is finding Churches to which she can send these new converts. So the second transfer is from the Church into the New Age Movement.

A third crucial jurisdiction that needs to be crossed is that across many unreached people groups scattered throughout the earth.

Unlike the previous two I have mentioned, this transfer requires the commitment of a whole life. It requires language and culture skills that take time to develop and the offer of a life given over completely to God in the tradition of Hudson Taylor who went into China. We might call this transfer from the Church into unreached people groups around the world.

Speaking nationally, there is a jurisdiction that is in urgent need of transfer – the indigenous Australian peoples. I have a vision for how The Pines Training Centre will move across this transfer. By preparing and supporting a specific team of Indigenous leaders I have a vision for the development of leaders fit for winning Indigenous people to faith in a culturally relevant way.

There are some wonderful examples of this jurisdictional transfer occurring. There’s an Apostolic Church based in Roeburn in north-west Western Australia.  From this church there are Aboriginal believers venturing out across the deserts to Alice Springs. The Church was planted by an Anglo-Saxon who gave his life to this cause as his son did after him. The kingdom is transferred now as all the ministry is done by Aboriginal converts and leaders.

Jeff Christopherson (Kingdom Matrix) speaks of assumptions made about the Kingdom. One is that you can often get a hold of “Church” and miss “Kingdom”; but when you get a hold of “Kingdom” what follows is a clear sense of “Church.”

Another of these assumptions is that there are only two Kingdoms – “at any given moment I am either building the Kingdom of God or the Kingdom of Darkness.” 

And – it is possible to participate in Church expansion and unintentionally be an agent for shrinking the Kingdom of God. 

But when I heard him speak in mid-2006 this was the one that impacted me most – it is possible to unknowingly value the Kingdom of God before acknowledging the value of its Source – the King.

Are Australians Resistant or Receptive to the Gospel?

David Garrison has alerted the world to the amazing phenomenon of Church multiplication movements.  I get excited when I hear about Churches multiplying themselves through a society via the rapid spread of the Gospel through relational webs. Most of the success is due to Church people (not pastors) taking the initiative to share the “Good News” with friends and family.  According to Garrison, most of this growth is occurring in Latin America, Africa and Asia. There is no evidence to date of this phenomenon occurring in the West.

 As an Australian I am envious. Why can’t this happen in my land? Garrison and Ed Stetzer write that two significant barriers are our requirement to have professional pastors and expensive plant for every Church.  I admit that these two factors can be significant obstacles to Church planting but I suspect that we should look at a deeper level into our own cultural environment.

 Why? In the story Jesus told about the Sower the two common denominators were the seed and the Sower himself. The aspect that most impacted on the result of the sowing of each seed was the condition of the soil!

So why is the Australian “soil” not conducive to the rapid acceptance and spread of the Gospel of Jesus?

 Of course, my question contains at least two assumptions that I am testing.  The first assumption is that there is such a thing as one Australian cultural identity to which all Aussies adhere. The second is that Australians in general are more resistant to the Gospel than people in non-Western countries where thousands are coming to Christ regularly.

 In regard to the first assumption, I want to briefly say that whilst there may be a broad cultural Aussie umbrella under which we all generally fit, we are better described as a multi-ethnic people. Think about how many teams Aussies cheer for in the World cup!

 In regard to the second assumption, I thank God that in my ministry (over 40 years) I have had the great privilege of leading people to Christ from many different Aussie cultural backgrounds – farmers, uni students, business people, nuclear physicists; boat people from Laos, Vietnam, Cambodia; Latin Americans, Chinese,  Egyptians and Lebanese.  So I know that there are people in each of these Aussie ethnic groups who have been receptive to the Gospel.  But the reality is that many are not interested! Some of my evangelist friends now spend much time preaching overseas with great benefit. But they have few opportunities here. Is this an indicator of resistance or irrelevance?  My son and his wife lead a Church plant team.  They are winning some people from the community  through the slow process of building life long relationships with neighbours and friends who do not know the Gospel. Another young guy who is a Pines graduate leads teams of young people to do what we used to call “street fishing” every Friday night. They ask permission to share the Good news with people on the streets in a few minutes.  There is no relationship, but they are successfully winning young people to Christ and discipling them.  These are two different forms of evangelism but they are both working.  Do they indicate receptiveness?

 The bigger question is, are there discrete groups of Aussies who are coming to Christ in significant numbers?  Ten years ago, the most rapidly growing Australian Churches were those planted among the Chinese people.  Is this still true? If so, what can the rest of us learn from this experience?

 I think we should be seriously researching the Australian “soil” and methods of “harvesting and sowing” that are proving to be effective.  I would like to hear from you about effective evangelism and people that you have found to be open to the Gospel. Let’s learn from each other.  Can you help me?

Where are the leaders?

About six years ago the German football team was at a crossroads. They were playing what many people thought was a boring brand of the beautiful game. They were a defensive team and while they could sometimes win on the counter when it came to winning a game with their own strategy they really struggled. Losing Euro 2004 was the final disaster and the German Federation did some thinking. They changed leadership and philosophy but MOST IMPORTANTLY they changed their approach to developing players.

Jurgen Klinsman was brought in as a manager with new ideas. Klinsman had recently been a player so he was more of a practitioner instead of a theoretician. Also, he had played a couple of seasons in the English premier League which is undoubtedly the most watched football competition in the world and is known for its attacking flair. Ironic when you consider the way they played in this years World Cup in South Africa.

At this years World Cup the Germans have been inspirational. A young team. Fearless and the only team who has consistly found a way to score goals – lots of goals against different opponents. They planned six years ago for what is happening now. They deliberately found a way to develop the players they needed to lead the world again in the game of football.

We all bemoan the fact that it is proving hard to identify and prepare the catalytic leaders we need to sustain planting movements in our country. But what have we actually been doing? We have been training pastor-teachers. This is important too. But if we want a planting movement we have to find and develop fearless young leaders who will pay any price to do evangelism and disciple-making. My guess is they won’t go to our present training institutions because they simply don’t want to be pastor-teachers.

To find these catalytic leaders we must change they way we talk about mission; then we must change the way we relate to the young catalytic but difficult to manage young men and women in and around our churches; then we must change the way we train them and above all we must change the way we support them in an ongoing manner.

Anyone want to have a discussion?

God is not fair

Today has been an emotional day and it’s only 9.15 in the morning. I’ve just finished reading an article written by my wife regarding the terrible start in life our son Zeke had. I’ve also been keeping up with the saga of someone who’s been ripped off in an online transaction (read about it here, but be warned, there is some bad language). I recognise millions of people have so much more to contend with than I do and lately just about any story of powerlessness or injustice makes me think of  ‘fairness’ or more importantly the lack of fairness in the world today.

I can’t even watch a simple kids’ movie like ‘Air Bud’ because of the tension raised (oops did I say that out loud?).

Perhaps the triggers for you are different. Perhaps the trigger which gets you started on the ‘fairness’ issue is when you have dealings with the Tax Office. Perhaps it’s when you get a phone call from the credit company on the weekend ‘with a please explain’. For some people the whole topic of ‘fairness’ comes to light when past experiences with the local church are recalled.

In the past I’ve brushed over the topic of fairness and done my best to avoid thinking about it (and avoiding movies/news/documentaries which have any sort of tension based on unfair circumstances – hmmm that explains why I’ve seen every episode ever made of Mythbusters and Top Gear).

Why do I do that? And why is it becoming more of an issue now? For one thing, at my stage in life and having begun a church planting journey alongside my family and friends, the issue of fairness presents itself on a regular basis. My friends who have chosen to plant a church with me have given up everything for the cause and for God. But the results so far are not what we expected.

In fact, it doesn’t seem fair. And now, to be exposingly honest, it seems some churches which don’t have any focus on evangelism seem to be blessed with resources well beyond us.

I wish I could ignore the blatant discrepancies - just keep going and continue to assume all is well… all is fair.

Matthew 20;

1 “For the kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire laborers for his vineyard.   2 “When he had agreed with the laborers for a denarius for the day, he sent them into his vineyard.   3 “And he went out about the third hour and saw others standing idle in the market place;   4 and to those he said, `You also go into the vineyard, and whatever is right I will give you.’ And so they went.   5 “Again he went out about the sixth and the ninth hour, and did the same thing.   6 “And about the eleventh hour he went out and found others standing around; and he said to them, `Why have you been standing here idle all day long?’   7 “They said to him, `Because no one hired us.’ He said to them, `You go into the vineyard too.’   8 “When evening came, the owner of the vineyard said to his foreman, `Call the laborers and pay them their wages, beginning with the last group to the first.’   9 “When those hired about the eleventh hour came, each one received a denarius.   10 “When those hired first came, they thought that they would receive more; but each of them also received a denarius.   11 “When they received it, they grumbled at the landowner,   12 saying, `These last men have worked only one hour, and you have made them equal to us who have borne the burden and the scorching heat of the day.’   13 “But he answered and said to one of them, `Friend, I am doing you no wrong; did you not agree with me for a denarius?   14 `Take what is yours and go, but I wish to give to this last man the same as to you.   15 `Is it not lawful for me to do what I wish with what is my own? Or is your eye envious because I am generous?’   16 “So the last shall be first, and the first last.”

I just find this passage incredibly applicable to my planting situation at the moment. I mean who would be happy with working for the entire day… doing a good job… but with one hour to go in the long day a new co-worker is brought out into the field to work beside you and that worker doesn’t even raise a sweat. The time comes for payment and you all get exactly the same amount?! It would be an understatement to say I’d be a bit ticked off!

So because of the situation I find myself in, and because of passages such as this one in Matthew, I feel forced to say it, and I wish I didn’t have to say this, but God is not fair!

Several years ago I was called into Caboolture hospital, because a priest could not be found to administer the last rites to a dying man. This elderly man and his family were moved into the “death room” as it was commonly called in the hospital. I agreed to go see the man and his family, but explained to the hospital staff who called me that last rites ‘are not really my thing!’

When I arrived in this small room, the family were all sitting quietly, actually quite a number of family members were there and it was a very uncomfortable moment. I felt I was there more for the family than for the man lying on the bed. So I started to engage them in conversation about the man. I was trying to get them to talk and remember the good life this man may have had with them.

However a little way into the conversation the man woke up. He was far more alert and active than I had been led to believe. I explained to the man who I was and that I would like to talk to him and pray with him. I also made it clear that I do not give last rites… as if I have any power to forgive a man’s sin! But I told Him he could meet the person who could, Jesus.

He made the point and was very clear on it, that he did not want to be a hypocrite: how could he follow God now after living a life without him. It seemed so unfair to him. 

Being a young and inexperienced Pastor I tried my best explain to him God’s way are not our ways. I tried to explain to him that our mind is not God’s mind and we can not fathom the depth of God’s perspective on this question, “Is it fair for someone to live their whole life one way and then in one final fleeting moment turn around and plead for mercy, and get it?” I looked for a water tight theological explanation to explain the ‘unfairness’ of it all.

Knowing what I now know I would have said something completely different. Rather than try and be all theologically nice and in control, I would be far more direct. I would answer him by simply saying, “No you are absoulately right! It isn’t fair! But, luckily for you and me, God is not fair”.

 He doesn’t treat us fairly. What does the Bible say about us, “We have all sinned and gone astray”.

If He was fair we would all be hell-bound.

Personally I think this notion of God being fair is silly and needs to be removed from our mindset. What happens when we tell our kids that God is fair and will treat you accordingly? Several things; first, our kids could think God will always come through for us in the way we expect… that we won’t face persecution. We won’t have to stake our lives on faith. If you take this view, God is seen more as a large scale and fairness is proportional to the amount of good one does in life. So when push comes to shove for our kids, when things go bad and it seems as everything is against them as it surely will be at sometime in their lives… they will say, “Well He didn’t come through for me, and so I’m off… to look for something which is fair.”

At best our kids might grow up and become fine ‘respectable’ Christians. We can see evidence of this type of thing within christendom today and sadly even in our own lives. For example, lets imagine God comes to town and all sorts of people are saved - people who are of questionable repute. 

How about mass murder Jeffrey Dahmer who kept body parts of his victims in his fridge? Who was saved just before his own death? We can’t figure it out. We can’t put the pieces together, the scales don’t balance. It is easy for us to harbor bitterness towards those who haven’t done as much as us.

Do you get what I am saying?

We end up having a Christianity which is more about “me” than about “Him”. Because what becomes paramount to us is the notion that God must treat us fairly.

This passage in Matthew is starting to be more like the prodigal son passage. The older brother missed the company of the father ‘because of his good works’. He could not see through the injustice to sit at the party with His father and brother. The older brother was trying to work his way in and the unfair grace shown to the younger brother grated.

The more I think about this the more I see these early workers are very much like the older brother from the prodigal son story. The younger brother worked so he would be indebted to his dad. The older brother who we generally look up to as doing the right thing in the story, works so that his Dad is indebted to him. When the younger brother comes back and the feast is made up for him, the older brother says, “Oh but dad, I have worked so hard for you”.

In essence the early workers are actually saying, “Oh but dad, I have worked so hard for you”.

Perhaps this is more of the point of this passage. Perhaps the passage is showing it is not so much the work we do that earns the reward. Perhaps it is more to do with the Farmer/Father than with us. God does indeed treat us unfairly. He rewards when there is no obligation to reward. He blesses when there is no reason to bless. Even our best deeds are like filthy rags before Him.

So how do we handle fairness? How do we continue losing everything and counting it all gain?

I could imagine some of those earliest workers thinking, well tomorrow I will just start work late in the evening.

Or in a today’s perspective, I could imagine some reading this passage and saying, “Well if God is like that farmer, then I will just wait till the last moment”. Kind of of makes sense doesn’t it?

However, there is one fatal flaw with this idea. Take notice that it is the farmer who goes looking for the workers. The workers don’t find the farmer!

No one knows when the farmer will come calling. No one knows the day or hour. Life has the tendency to change in a blink of a eye.  I’m certain I could go from testimony after testimony of people whose lives have been turned around, completely changed in the blink of an eye because of some events in their life or in a loved ones’ life.

I remember a great evangelist who once said that he would rather lead a child to the Lord any day over some adult! Because that child had a whole life time ahead of them to serve Christ.

So the application is this, if God is calling you, regardless of your age and where you are in life. GO! Because, you don’t find him, he finds you, and who knows when he will be coming your way again, if ever!

That goes for us as a whole community of faith as well. It worries me to think that even now we could be missing out on some terrific outpouring of His Spirit in evangelism, because when He has come looking for workers we have said, “Nah, not today. I’m not ready”, or the “Results won’t be worth it”.

Don’t waste your life, don’t waste a minute of it!

This passage in Matthew contains wonderful truths. And the advice is simple. Go with God when He calls you. Don’t focus on what others are getting paid. Don’t be jealous that some other ministry is succeeding and yours’ seems to be failing.

Actually on that note have a look at:

Hebrews 12:1 Therefore, since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us also lay aside every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us,   2 fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God

Do you see that? Run that race which is set before you! It’s personal, like in a running race, we all have our own lane, we need to keep focussed on the end and stay within our lane. The Bible picture is not so much a race between contestants, but an individual race. We each run the race which God has set out for us, not for anyone else.

What a liberating view this is. Most of my Christian life I have wanted to be a Billy Graham. I wanted to preach to thousands and see thousands respond. I had a chance a few years ago to go to the US and I even went to the Billy Graham museum. I tell you by the end of it I was ready to give my heart to Christ. If someone was at the door at the end and ask me if I knew Jesus and would I like to meet him, I would’ve said lead me in prayer now!

I came back to my home church and I preached like I have never preached before. And not one person responded! This repeated for several more weeks. I was so disappointed. I was shattered. Every inch of my body, every amount of energy I had was put into writing and speaking those sermons. I truly believed that in doing so I could have even just a potion of Billy’s results.

I felt like a big old displacement cruiser. You know the difference between a displacement and planing boat?

I had all this horsepower for evangelism and preaching, but it didn’t matter because the hull just couldn’t displace anymore water.

I was trying to run in Billy’s lane, not the lane set out for me.

I am now far more comfortable and aware of the lane and race He has put me in. It is to enhance, equip, excite and even evaluate God’s people for evangelism and new ministries.

Hebrews 10:36 says For you have need of endurance, so that when you have done the will of God, you may receive what was promised.

If I stick to that purpose, if I don’t focus on what others are getting paid or what others are doing ministry-wise, then guess what? I will receive a prize. A fair wage for a fair day’s work. Much like the early workers in the Matthew text.

To be honest I’m now more interested in developing those who will get in and do the had work. My heart breaks for those in my group who have given it everything and continue to give it everything, who are longing to see a greater move of His Spirit. I want to be with those people, more than those who just come in see some results and say ‘look at me’, or worse  come in and only stick around for a short period of time because the results didn’t come fast enough. If you are struggling with the fairness of it all… if you are jealous of other people’s ministries say this with me – ‘I will look at God not at the blessings He provides in the results. I will do whatever He gives me to do and leave the rest to Him!’

2 Timothy 4:1 I solemnly charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by His appearing and His kingdom:   2 preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort, with great patience and instruction.   3 For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but wanting to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance to their own desires,   4 and will turn away their ears from the truth and will turn aside to myths.   5 But you, be sober in all things, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry.   6 For I am already being poured out as a drink offering, and the time of my departure has come.   7 I have fought the good fight, I have finished the course, I have kept the faith;   8 in the future there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day; and not only to me, but also to all who have loved His appearing.  

I charge you be ready to go when He calls, in season or out of season. In other words even whether you feel like it or not. Be patient, endure. Keep your eye on the prize – and by the way the prize isn’t a ‘successful international ministry’ and the race laid out for you. And one day you will receive a prize from none other than Jesus Christ Himself.

Man can you imagine that. You are standing in heaven. Jesus comes to you face to face, and He says, “Well done you good and faithful servant”.

Amazing stuff. But totally unfair!

Because we learn from the Bible that it is Jesus who sort us out in the first place – just like the farmer did with the workers, and that any good works we do are actually as a result of Jesus. Our good deeds are what? Like filthy rags. The reality is that crown is all His work! And we get it. Totally unfair.

I want to run the race set before me so I can get the biggest, coolest looking hat with the most jewels in it. Not because I want to show off, not because I want to get paid more than the people around me. But so I can take it off in heaven and lay it back at His feet and cry out ’Jesus, it wasn’t me! It was all you! You are worthy – not me! It is all about you! You have been more than fair! You have been wonderful – mighty – majestic – too marvelous for words. And I can do nothing but stand in awe of you!’

Make a difference? Or make the world different?

Is Our Vision Too Small?
I read an article on the internet recently in which the writer made a critical assessment of world mission efforts during the last 100 years.  He said we had invested our energies in either Gospel outreach or social action and the results in many countries have been Churches dependent on the West for financial help. 

I must admit my first reaction was to be defensive. 

But when the writer went on to explain that people remained dependent because we had not worked intentionally to transform their thinking, I began to understand his point of view.

Is it possible God wants to transform whole communities?
1. God is a transforming God. He transformed darkness and void into light and meaningful forms. Jesus transformed fishermen into Apostles. He healed lepers; gave sight to the blind, and life to the dead! The Holy Spirit transforms believers into His likeness whenever we encounter the Lord. (2 Cor. 4:18)

 2. God called a community of slaves out of Egypt and made them into an example of how He intends every nation to live.  He gave Israel Godly leaders, His Law, His Presence, His guidance and His leadership.  God directed the development of the Nation and led them to a permanent homeland.  God transformed the slave people so they would be a missionary nation on the earth!

 3. The birth of the Church in any community results in significant transformation.  When the Church in Jerusalem was born at Pentecost radical community transformation began. The new believers began sharing their possessions and selling their possessions to give to the poor. (Acts 2:45)  Luke reports, “There were no needy people among them.” (Acts 4:34) Sick people were healed and the dead were sometimes raised. (Acts 5:12)

 4. Wherever the Lord has worked in revival there has been significant social transformation. In Wales, the swearing stopped in the mines and the Hotels were closed. In other places in the United Kingdom community transformation came through newly enlightened social consciences – children released from the workforce and taught in schools; slavery ended; workplace reforms; medical advances and laws adopted that delivered rights and justice to people in many nations. In Fiji, poisoned rivers flowed with new life. Wherever God has worked powerfully there has been wonderful community transformation.

 5. The idea of the Kingdom of God advancing in the world cannot be limited to the preaching of the Gospel and bringing relief to the poor. The Kingdom is the means of transformation! Whenever God works, transformation occurs.  We have seen evidence of personal transformation whenever a new believer is converted. Should we also expect to see evidence of a family transformed – then a workplace transformed – then a whole village or community transformed?  Why do we limit God to the transformation of only one? Could it be that the Western idea of the importance of the individual has blinded us to the possibility of the transformation of whole societies?

What would a transformed community look like?
Ray Bakke, a long-term advocate of the need to transform our cities, outlines seven characteristics of a healthy community from the heart of God (as expressed in Isaiah 65:17-25).

• Public celebration and happiness (18,19)
• Public health for children and the aged (20)
• Housing for all (21)
• Food for all (22)
• Meaningful work (22,23)
• Family support systems (23)
• Absence of violence (25)

I am sure we could add additional dimensions, but there is enough challenge in Bakke’s list to make us re-evaluate our ministry goals and begin to flow more readily with the Spirit to be God’s light and God’s salt in the world.

What is our vision and what could/should it be?

The question we must ask ourselves is what is the expected result of our efforts?

Some possible answers are:

1. that individuals will come to Christ
2. that individuals who come to Christ are discipled
3. that individuals come to Christ, are discipled, and become actively involved in spreading the Gospel (Church multiplication results)
4. that individuals come to Christ, are discipled and become actively involved in spreading the Gospel (Church multiplication results) and working to bring transformation to their communities.

If we agree that only answer 4 captures the dimensions of the Kingdom of God as expressed in the spread of the Church in Acts, then we must raise the level of our vision and change our methodology to suit the real goals.

There are implications for those of us at the “front end” of delivering the training for future leaders; there are further implications for those who go out in teams in terms of their expectations and operations; and there are huge implications for the communities and Nations we seek to influence.

What may need to change?
Eric Swanson, describes, “Ten Paradigm Shifts Toward Community Transformation” in his article on ICWM.net.  We should consider each of these carefully.

1. From building walls to building bridges  (Matt 5:13,14)
2. From measuring attendance to measuring impact (Matt 13:33)
3. From encouraging the saints to attend the service to equipping the saints for works of service  (Eph 4.11,12)
4. From “serve us” to service (inward to outward focus) (Mark 10:45)
5. From duplication of human services and ministries to partnering with existing services and ministries  (Ecclesiastes 4:9)
6. From fellowship to functional unity  (Philipp 2:2)
7. From condemning the city to blessing the city and praying for it (Jer.29:7)
8. From being a minister in a congregation to being a minister in a community (Luke 19:41)
9. From anecdote and speculation to valid information  (Like Nehemiah in Ch 1 get to know the truth about your community and act on it prayerfully)
10. From teacher to learner (James 1:19)

 Which of these paradigm shifts connect with you in terms of implementing your vision through training and strategy development?

Internet Evangelism – home of the wild west

Almost every week I get an email from some Christian organisation asking me to sign a petition regarding something ‘bad’ on the internet. Every second day I see another news headline talking about the dangers of facebook. A recent news headline in Australia has been about defacement of a young schoolboy’s tribute page with disgusting porn images. Last week I saw another story about a teenage girl being lured by two men to her death through her facebook page. All this talk about facebook and yet not much about myspace. (By the way, myspace isn’t exactly a field of daisies either. “Lowlights” include video images of terrorist beheading captives.) I tell you it is a wild world out there in cyber land!

Here in Australia we are having the ‘internet filter’ debate. Our government wants to force all ISPs to use a government-approved list of acceptable and unacceptable sites. Some Australians don’t trust their government to run such a thing, some Australians don’t see how it’s even possible. Some Australians think at the very least the government should make the list public. However, making the list public would actually promote some of the sites which frankly shouldn’t be seen by anyone. It becomes even more complicated by the fact that already hackers have shown how easy it is to circumvent the filter, and I should mention the filter does not work in filtering out peer to peer networks where most of the material the government is trying to filter out is shared. To make the filter debate even more silly, the same people who have shown how easy it is to circumvent the filtering system have also show how easy it is to make the list of unacceptable sites known to the greater public.

And now the Internet debate has intensified with the government’s new national broadband network – an issue so complicated it would take hundreds of articles to do it justice and I would still only scratch the surface. Should the government roll out another network? Despite the fact the Australian people have already paid for a network to be rolled out in the guise of ‘Telstra’.

Frankly all of these issues are only issues because we have people who are ignorant of the real issues. Decisions seem to be made with one thing in mind… the lowest common denominator… the largely ignorant population.

Sadly, this ignorance has become a breeding ground for the most well-meaning people. As a result some of the most well-meaning people have become pawns used for other political reasons. Some of these well meaning people have come up with petition after petition and have created proposals which are a terrible waste of resources. Further, these proposals will do damage to some businesses, further erode the responsibility of parents to care for their children, continue to increase the cost of providing internet services (which will be passed on to consumers) and create mistrust.

And here is the worse bit: it will not stop people viewing things which are immoral, distasteful and illegal. In fact, it might make it harder for the enforcement agencies to police.

The state of the ‘internet’ here in Australia actually caused me to consider joining the ‘pirate party’. An ordained Baptist minister wanting to join the pirate party. What has happened to me?

So I went to the pirate party’s web site… (quickly just in case it is going to be put on the government’s banned list ;-P) and I looked to sign up. But I didn’t because I couldn’t find the information I needed (and because the site looked like a 12 year put it together, which is a likely scenario). Not exactly the professional alternative voice I was looking for!

Whenever I get an email from a Christian organisation asking me to sign up to the ‘we want the filter list’ or the ‘facebook is evil club’ a little part of me withers… I feel further and further away from “main stream” Christianity. I wish I could articulate what I know and in so doing some make people aware of the even greater issues behind the debate. Or to show some alternatives which might help rather than ‘tear the Internet down and just don’t use it’. I know these people who send me petition after petition to sign are well meaning, God fearing people. But… the message coming across to anyone who is a bit internet geeky is one of ‘retreat’ or at best ‘react’.

I propose an alternative… An alternative in wish we neither retreat nor react, but actually adapt, overcome and lead!

That was the background information. Moving on. Why would any Christian be interested in Internet evangelism? Why should someone who is part of the ‘internet is evil club’ want to taint themselves with internet evangelism? Or why would someone like me who feels at odds with what mainstream Christianity is saying about the internet want to be involved in internet evangelism?

Apart from the obvious fact that we don’t have a choice when it comes to evangelism… it’s a God given requirement, for me it is because my ministry, my life, my church’s life is all about seeing opportunities in which God’s people cross paths with culture and community. The internet provides just that sort of opportunity.

The internet can be a front door or a side door for so many people into a community of faith. In my church setting we have just as many people who not yet followers of Christ as we do believers. The internet provides a way for those not yet following Jesus to keep in touch with the church (and I mean the people, not the building of course), to interact in a deeper yet non-threatening way through blogging, twitter, facebook, forums, online games, the list is endless! As someone who has been heavily involved in internet evangelism for more years than I care to remember… I’m certain people are more free to go deeper on the internet. And yes before some of the nay-sayers say it, that is also one of the problems with the internet.

But for large number of “de-churched” people in Australia (people who have experienced the church at some time but for whatever reason have dropped out), the internet provides at great doorway for them to re-enter. Tools such as video podcasting allow people to experience your gatherings first and try them out. You might say, ‘Doesn’t that just make it easier for people to drop out of the church?’ Another fallacy I afraid… all those who have tried video podcasting in a professional way have not experienced that problem one bit!

These things I’ve just mentioned are good reasons why some of our more traditional churches should be involved in internet evangelism. But things get way more exciting when we look at how some of our newer church plant models can get into internet evangelism.

Let’s say for example a church plant was looking to start up in high rise buildings in the city. Those of you have tried to plant in high rises know it’s next to impossible to get your foot inside the door (unless you live there). One effective entry point is as follows:

Parents who live in these buildings are concerned with the types of online games and the types of people their kids play with online. What if you could offer the people inside these buildings a secure network of game servers, which are heavily moderated and enforce a  stricter ethical code? These game servers could also be local game servers, so the kids don’t even need to have to go online to play. This type of ministry does get you permission to enter the building and knock on doors to advertise. In fact this type of ministry can also be seen by the developers as an aid to fostering community within the buildings. The game servers could even run building verse building days. As someone who has been successful in online gaming ministries I can tell you that something as weird as online games can and will lead to conversions and can and will lead to church multiplication!

Regardless of what sort of internet evangelism you want to be part of… social networking, web sites, forums, church pages, online gaming…the problem has always been the same. It is the problem that the IEC is working hard to over come.

That problem is the 99% rule. 99% of Christian sites are useless for evangelism. They rarely escape their own comfort zone and don’t have a “product” to sell. In other words there is no reason for anyone to visit let alone to keep them coming back.

So here is what I think we need to be doing.

Tell stories of our positive internet evangelism results with your churches. If you have none, I’ll share mine and you can use those! We need to demonstrate it as a working medium that is effective!

We need to understand internet evangelism is not about preaching, it is not about slick professional tracts in a new medium. It is more about being a good journalist and employing a user-friendly interface. We need to encourage churches and individuals to make effective sites for nonchurch members, sites which are based on a common interest or common ground.

And here is the biggie for me… train potential web evangelists. Internet evangelism has massive implications for the spread of the Gospel into the whole world and there are practical ways and means to do that effectively.

The Pines Training Centre offers a Unit on Internet Evangelism. If you would like to know more please get in contact with me asap.

Salvations, swine flu and a giant banana tree

In September 2009 four Pines’ Graduates went to Chiang Mai, Thailand, to encourage and minister alongside four other Pines’ Graduates – Peung, Relle, Terry and Robyn. The ensuing two weeks were filled with challenges, salvations, swine flu, tree removal, good food and new cultural experiences. In their own words:

 We left for Thailand hoping to encourage and support Pines’ Graduates living in Chiang Mai – Peung, Relle, Terry & Robin Collins-  Thai Christians and Thai people in general. By God’s grace we achieved this simple goal.

We also saw people make decisions to follow Jesus, developed relationships with Thais, visited villages, learnt heaps about serving God and rode elephants (!).

But if there was one major lesson and faith building exercise I learned, it was this …. “Wait – and see what God will do ….”

There are always challenges when we set out with God and seek to love people in service of Him. Often times, in the early part of the day, I would be wondering how to deal with some problem. My standard operating procedure is to try to work towards a solution Andrew’s way… with Andrew results (ie. very average; ha ha). But I gradually learnt to say, “Okay God – what do You want to do here? I’ve got no solution.” (Wait! And see what God will do).

It was amazing the things God would bring about, even that afternoon… through little or no effort of mine. I could then say, “You’re good God!!”

~ Andrew Burnett

Thailand, Free land (well not quite, but very inexpensive) but spiritually very bound. Everywhere you turn there are temples or statues or someone offering incense to different gods. 

What was reinforced for me was that God is bigger than all that. 

He is not one who needs to be appeased daily nor is He a silent, distant God.  He is here with us wanting a personal relationship. He knows our concerns and worries and reassures us that He has everything in His hands if we will only trust and obey. 

These three words were constantly going through my mind.  This meant I had to release my idea of control and let God.  And He did (after all He is God).

We saw the continuation of the work God is doing in Thailand with eight conversions during our time and the beginning of new works in the village and no doubt more than we know about. It will be interesting to go back in coming years to see the way that God is moving.  To God be the Glory.

~ Georgina Douglas

We generally always go into something with varied degrees of expectations.

Surprisingly enough in the case of this trip those preconceived expectations were not there.

I had hopes of seeing God move, maybe in the way we hear about the sick being healed the devils cast out and all that but also an attitude of let’s just go, ask God and “wait and see what God does”.

We did not see any of the “great things” like the sick healed and devils cast out, but instead we saw what scriptures say is the GREATEST miracle of all, a person being saved and we saw it seven times in our first night and later once more that we know of anyway.

I got a little huffy that we did not see or do the other, you know everyone who goes on mission does this, or so it would seem from stories you hear but again I was reminded that we were able to pray and be a part of something far greater – eight people are now saved from hell.

Upon return in the intercessors’ prayer time at The Pines, John T brought a word to us it was Matthew 11:20 – 24 (Woe on unrepentant cities) as John read and we reflected it dawned on me –  the grace of God.

In His sovereign wisdom he was protecting not just Thailand but many others. You see God know hearts and what this scripture said to me was that if a miracle is performed and people did not repent then they would be in a very seriously bad spiritual place one worse than Tyre and Sidon… that’s bad.

I have stopped jumping up and down over the signs and wonder “chase” and have said, “Ok God I am open and willing to be used by You in this way but only when it’s right in Your ways. I don’t want to be a part of messing someone up spiritually.” Then I also thanked Him for the grace that he has shown by NOT answering my prayers at times.

The next big lesson for me was as Andrew mentioned “wait” there were so many times where God said wait and then later an answer came or we were redirected to fit into a great plan – it’s funny we think we see the big picture but in contrast to God’s vision we all are so short sighted.

Fortunately the Holy Spirit was our glasses.

There was one time coming into the 2^nd week where I was prompted to learn how to drive – we later found out why as Peung came down with h1n1 and I then needed to be driver for the following week.

Another time in the 1^st week we were preplanning events because of program change and we felt God say cancel something we were planning to do, so we prayed and waited and later that week cancelled the plan and again this turned out to be the correct move because we needed that day in the second week to be free for something else.

Waiting and hearing God voice was a great lesson and one needed so much for me personally upon returning to Australia.

A quick summary of our activates – a building project with the Collins’ including removing a giant banana tree, work in the local primary school, work in various local churches with Peung and teaching English, time of sharing with trainee church leaders, plenty of eating, an evangelical outreach and relationship building in a hill tribe and a little personal time for sightseeing.

The team was well protected and thanks to all who were praying we did come in close contact with h1n1 and none of us caught it. Physically, emotionally and spiritually we were protected.

It is wonderful to know (in person) who we are praying for now when updates and letters come as we hear of the work taking place in Thailand.

We are planning on taking another team over next year in the September/October school holidays and would love to have you onboard. The trip is open to graduates as well believers who want to serve others (and through that serving you meet God personally).

So if you want to be stretched, tested and grow then contact The Pines to register you interest.  

~ Cameron Douglas

Witnessing God move through Peung reinforced to me that the whole idea of sharing God’s love is 100% through relationships.

The time team spent with Peung was always accompanied with the intention of leading someone one step closer to Lord.

This process of relating mostly occurred around food and it was seemingly effortless because of the free flow of Holy Spirit (Jesus’ yoke is easy and His burden is light).

Working with a sister in Christ made me want to stay in Thailand and spend every day doing church – sitting on people’s verandah’s sharing food, encouragement, burdens and praying.

I urge you to answer the call and step out in faith to go on a mission trip.

I had a prophecy earlier in year to go on a mission trip and the person giving me the prophecy said, “It’s not your cup of tea, but don’t let it stop you”. So when the opportunity came to go to Thailand, I thought – I can’t see I have any time to go because of Uni assignments and work commitments. I can’t see it working. But God I know You can make a way so let’s do it.

When I got back to Australia God moved some assignment deadlines to give me extra time. When you do step out in faith God makes a way. And He also sent another Chaplain to my school so He lifted work pressure too.

Watching God move and seeing Him in control of the things you have to do is a blessing and encouragement.

~ Michelle Britton

Some concluding words from Thai Pines’ graduate Peung…

The Aussie Pines’ team has gone back to Australia now and I thank God for the blessing that we could serve Him together here in Thailand.

The first Friday we had a welcome party for the team and we used this time to share God’s Word.  Seven people gave their lives to God that night.

The second Friday the team was here we had a worship night at Mae Dia.  The village leader was really open to us, and almost 200 people came to watch.

They were a little bit shy but I am so excited what God is doing at Mae Dia.  The teenagers asked if we could go there and have another worship night or youth camp.  So we are planning to have that next April.

The daughter of one of the first Mae Dia villagers to come to the Lord rang me last week and told me she wanted to hear about God.  I met her last Monday and I shared with her about God.  I asked her if she knew that her sister and her father were Christians, and she said ‘no’. 

I told her that her father gave his life to God last May on my birthday.  And after I told her she said, Peung, I have goose bumps because she said that she was surprised that when she looked at her father’s life it was changed especially the last few months, and she didn’t know why. 

But now she knows why.  She prayed and she gave her life to God.  Praise the Lord!

Contextualize, contextualize, contextualize

Contextualize, contextualize, contextualize. I hear this word a lot.

I hear it from the emerging Church movement. I hear it from the evangelical pragmatics, (that’s what Robert Webber calls them in his book ‘Young Evangelicals’). I hear it from training colleges…
What do young evangelists think of this word? Some are excited. To them, the Church, the training centers and the people with influence are finally waking up to the fact that the best Church growth and health practices are focused on mission. Some of us evangelists (who would still like to be classed as young), but who have been around long enough to become slightly cynical are somewhat less excited about this new push for contextualization.

Why? Simple: evangelists have been contextualizing the message since day one. It’s not a new thing, people. Most evangelists are crying out for the Church to be contextualized.

Have you heard the one about the magic plane ride syndrome? That’s where well-meaning Christians hop onto a plane and fly overseas where they expect to lead a whole nation or people group to Christ, when in reality that Christian has not even led a single person to Christ in their home land.

Evangelists know ‘you reach your own kind best’.

Contextualizing the message or process of evangelism will achieve little for the Church if the Church doesn’t respond in the same way. What happens is that a person might be saved, but immediately that person is expected (or has no other option but) to fit in with the congregation. But the reality may be that the message was so contextualized at the very beginning, the new convert may have very little in common with the people of the Church. We immediately take them out of their ‘belonging’ situation and expect them to believe and become something which is foreign to them. The result? Well who knows?

I believe we should go further and explore contextualization in the context (ha ha) of the entire discipleship process – from pre-belief right through to re-producing follower of Jesus.