Dave DeVries :: Blog

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Often when I ask Christians if they know anyone that needs to be discipled they think of a new Christian. Somehow in America we have adopted the idea that "discipleship" is for new believers. The idea is often associated with "follow-up" of new Christians.

However, when Jesus said, "Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations" He wasn't telling His closest followers to go find new followers and help them become better followers. He was telling them to go after those who were not yet His followers. He was telling them to be "fishers of men."

If we are going to see movements of transformation it will only happen as we make disciples of non-disciples!

How do you make a disciple? You go to somebody who isn’t one. You win them to Jesus Christ and you teach them all things “whatsoever I have commanded.” You build them in the Word. That’s the job all of us have. - Dr. John MacArthur

Any thoughts?

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One of my best friends, Karl Teichert, is a missionary with OC International in South Africa. Karl and Jenny were part of the team that helped start Lake Hills Church in Castaic nearly 20 years ago. For the past ten years, God has used them to train and develop church planters in South Africa. Please read this email I received from Karl today and pray and fast for Zimbabwe from June 26-29:


___________________________________________

Dear Praying Partners of SART,

Zimbabwe.

What is the first thing that comes to your mind when you think of this southern African nation?

For our team, the first “thing” we see in our mind’s eye are our Zimbabwean friends and ministry partners. These are men and women that we love and cherish. These are men and women who are living the life of faith; tested beyond what many of us might be able to endure. Yet this time of testing has allowed them to see that the Lord is good. The Lord is faithful. The Lord has not forgotten them and He will help them. Yet, life is hard. Very hard.

Currently the Zimbabwean inflation rate is 165,000 percent. Over 80 percent of the people are unemployed. Goods that Americans can get by a quick run to the neighborhood market have not been on Zimbabwean store shelves in months. Imagine not buying milk, cheese, bread, sugar, flour, or butter this week. Now imagine not being able to buy these items for months. And don’t even think that you can pop something into the microwave or go to a restaurant. That isn’t going to happen either, if you live in Zimbabwe and are unemployed.

What happens is that people go to their pastors for help. They ask for food and water. They ask for clothes and blankets. They ask for spiritual guidance. And some ask if the pastors will take their children because they can’t feed them anymore. Yes, life in Zimbabwe is becoming more and more difficult.

On June 27, 2008 Zimbabweans will return to the election polls to cast their vote for the presidency. This is a run-off election. MDC (Movement for Democratic Change) Leader Morgan Tsvangirai won 47.9 percent of the votes while President Incumbent Robert Mugabe won 43.2 percent on the March 29 election. To win the presidency, a candidate needs at least 50.3 percent.

Sadly, as the run-off election date has approached, violence has erupted across the nation. Political activists or people seen as sympathetic to the opposition party have been attacked, arrested, and at this writing 66 people have been killed. There is a growing belief that the presidential vote will not end the country’s accelerating political and economic crisis, with neither side willing to enter a unity government to end the bloodshed.

"What is clear is that the election [run-off] is not going to end the crisis because Mugabe has declared war to stay," said John Makumbe, a veteran political commentator and Mugabe critic.

Lovemore Madhuku, chairperson of political pressure group the National Constitutional Assembly (NCA) agreed.

"For the MDC, the political violence that is going on is also hardening feelings in its ranks ... and if we are going to get talks on a government of national unity, these talks are going to be long and hard," he said. "What I see is a long, drawn crisis, and more hard days ahead."

The days ahead in Zimbabwe look even darker, more violent, and more ominous.

Except for one great thing! The prayers of God’s people can make a difference! The Lord is at hand. He will act. Do we believe it? We must.

And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints. Ephesians 6:18

Our SART team believes, now more than ever before, we need to seek the Lord in prayer for Zimbabwe. We need to be alert and keep praying for our ministry partners and the people of Zimbabwe. Will you join us?

We are setting aside June 26-June 29 to pray and fast for Zimbabwe. To make our fasting particularly relevant to Zimbabwe, we have compiled a list of things that Zimbabweans live without daily. We encourage you to look through the list and pick something to live without for this four day period (or choose one item a day for the four days).

In looking at the list you might think, “There is no way I can live without ___________!” We imagine the Zimbabweans once thought that way too. However, today they have no choice.

By fasting one or more of these items, you are choosing to suffer and stand in Christ with your Zimbabwean brothers and sisters. Please look through the list either as a single, couple or as a family and decide what you would like to fast. You might also consider asking your cell group, small group, Sunday School class, or church to join you.

• Electricity
• Water from the tap; a shower
• Phone service
• Internet
• Cell Phone
• Television
• Video Games
• Gasoline/Diesel Fuel
• Listening to music from stereo, cd player, ipod
• Flour
• Sugar
• Butter
• Bread
• Rice
• Beans
• Peanut Butter
• Coffee
• Milk
• Cheese
• Juice
• Cooking Oil
• Toilet Paper
• Diapers
• Sanitary Napkins
• Soap
• Infant formula
• Medicine of all kinds/Medical help
• Going to school (Teachers are deserting schools due to lack of pay and teachers are also targets for political violence.)

On Sunday, the opposition candidate Morgan Tsvangirai withdrew his name from consideration and will no longer participate in the election. He cited that voting for the MDC would risk too many lives. At this writing, 80 people have been killed. Mr. Tsvangirai is now housed at the Dutch Embassy in Harare, Zimbabwe for the time being.

If you are interested, here is a recent video from CNN regarding Morgan Tsvangirai’s pull-out and some of the reasons why. (click here)

We have some points for prayer for you to take before the Lord for Zimbabwe:

• Pray for the pastors and ministry leaders to find renewed strength and hope to care for their own families and also the people in their sphere of influence. (Case in point: One of our ministry partners was robbed on June 12. He was on his way to purchase building supplies for his church. His church community was ready to begin construction after five years of saving and fundraising work. Now, all of that money is gone.)
• Pray for Zimbabwean leaders to put aside their differences and personal interests and seek a path of humble reconciliation for the good of all Zimbabweans.
• Pray for the June 27 election, the days leading up to it and the following days that the violence, torture, and intimidation would stop.
• Pray for a free, fair, and peaceful election day on June 27. Many believe that a fair election is not possible given the harassment, intimidation, torture, and killings that have taken place in recent days.
• Pray that the Lord would intervene in Zimbabwe’s situation in such a glorious and powerful way that there is no doubt that the Lord’s help and care was present.
• Pray the word “Enough. The Lord is enough for the cries and needs of the Zimbabwean people.”
• Pray that the physical needs of the people would be met and that international aid organizations/NGO’s will be allowed to continue their food/medical distribution work in Zimbabwe throughout the election period. Violence in areas of Zimbabwe has prevented many of these organizations from getting food/medicine to the people who need it most.
• Pray for the United Nations, African nations, and other government leaders to act with wise judgment in their dealings with Zimbabwean leaders during this critical time.
• Pray for the SART team as we continue to minister and support our Zimbabwean ministry partners.

All of our SART families will be praying during the days of June 26-29. We humbly ask that you join us in prayer for Zimbabwe. May the Lord be praised for what is about to take place in the hearts and minds of the people of Zimbabwe and also in each of us.

With sincere gratitude and sincere hope in our God,

The Teichert Family
The Siaki Family
The Gerhart Family
The Hartley Family
The Witherow Family
(Members of OC Africa’s SART team)

__________________________________________

I am going to join in praying and fasting - I hope you will too.

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A "no" uttered from the deepest conviction is better than a "yes" merely uttered to please, or what is worse, to avoid trouble.
- Mahatma Gandhi

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Here is a simple explanation of the word missional—it describes being a missionary everywhere you are! It is about doing missions—aligning your life with the redemptive mission of Jesus in the world. It includes adopting the posture of a missionary in order to engage those in the culture around you with the gospel message. It is based on the recognition that every believer has been sent by Jesus as Christian missionaries with the good news of salvation together in community with other believers to their specific geographic and cultural context. Just as God sent Jesus, Jesus sends all believers (John 20:21).


The word missional is an adjective that describes the way in which Christians do all activities, rather than identifying any one particular activity. Everything missional is directed toward participation in God’s mission in the world.

Missional then, no matter what noun it is modifying, must qualify the meaning of that noun by referencing God’s mission as defined by Scripture. More specifically, missional limits any noun that it modifies to the temporary mission task of the Church to make disciples of all ta ethne for God’s glory and worship … Therefore, a local church is missional when it intentionally pursues God’s mission for His glory among all peoples by following His patterns and His ways of expanding His kingdom. (Van Sanders, "The Mission of God and the Local Church," in Pursuing the Mission of God in Church Planting, ed. John M. Bailey, Apharetta: North American Mission Board, 2006, 25).

The term missional is rooted in the missio Dei, which means “the sending of God” in Latin. In 1934, Karl Hartenstein, a German missiologist, coined the phrase in response to Karl Barth and his emphasis on actio Dei (Latin for “the action of God”).

When kept in the context of the Scriptures, missio Dei correctly emphasizes that God is the initiator of His mission to redeem through the Church a special people for Himself from all of the peoples (ta ethne) of the world. He sent His Son for this purpose and He sends the Church into the world with the message of the gospel for the same purpose. (Ibid, 24).

Mission is not primarily an activity of the Church, but an attribute of God. God is a missionary God. “It is not the church that has a mission of salvation to fulfill in the world; it is the mission of the Son and the Spirit through the Father that includes the church.” (Jurgen Moltmann. The Church in the Power of the Spirit: A Contribution to Messianic Ecclesiology, London: SCM Press, 1977, 64; quoted in David J. Bosch, Transforming Mission, 390.) The Church must not think its role is identical to the missio Dei; the Church is participating in the mission of God.

Jesus said, “As the Father has sent Me, I am sending you” (John 20:21). Every believer is sent by Jesus with the gospel together in community to those in the surrounding culture. “The essence of any church is its mission. The essence of God's mission is extravagant love, which Jesus Christ communicated and displayed for us on the cross.” (Tom Clegg and Warren Bird, Lost in America: How You and Your Church Can Impact the World Next Door, Loveland: Group Publishing, 2001, 20.)

David Bosch has written the most comprehensive study of Christian mission. His book, Transforming Mission is a must read for anyone seeking to understand the mission of God and the Church’s role in fulfilling that mission.

During the past half a century or so there has been a subtle but nevertheless decisive shift toward understanding mission as God’s mission. During preceding centuries mission was understood in a variety of ways. Sometimes it was interpreted primarily in soteriological terms: as saving individuals from eternal damnation. Or it was understood in cultural terms: as introducing people from East and the South to the blessings and privileges of the Christian West. Often it was perceived in ecclesiastical categories: as the expansion of the church (or of a specific denomination). Sometimes it was defined salvation-historically: as the process by which the world—evolutionary or by means of a cataclysmic event—would be transformed into the kingdom of God. In all these instances, and in various, frequently conflicting ways, the intrinsic interrelationship between christology, soteriology, and the doctrine of the Trinity, so important for the early church, was gradually displaced by one of several versions of the doctrine of grace …

Mission was understood as being derived from the very nature of God. It was thus put in the context of the doctrine of the Trinity, not of ecclesiology or soteriology. The classical doctrine on the missio Dei as God the Father sending the Son, and God the Father and the Son sending the Spirit was expanded to include yet another “movement”: The Father, Son and the Holy Spirit sending the church into the world. As far as missionary thinking was concerned, this linking with the doctrine of the Trinity constituted an important innovation …

Our mission has not life of its own: only in the hands of the sending God can it truly be called mission. Not least since the missionary initiative comes from God alone …

Mission is thereby seen as a movement from God to the world; the church is viewed as an instrument for that mission. There is church because there is mission, not vice versa. To participate in mission is to participate in the movement of God’s love toward people, since God is a fountain of sending love. (David J. Bosch, Transforming Mission, Maryknoll: Orbis Books, 1991, 389–390)

The Bible is clear that “the end result of such missio Dei is the glorification of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.” (George Peters, A Biblical Theology of Missions, Chicago: Moody Press, 1972, 9.)

God is a missionary God and He has sent the Church to participate in His mission of reconciling the world to Himself. That mission is the purpose of the Church on this earth, and the message is the good news of the kingdom. Missional activity encompasses the redemptive mission of Jesus. Just as Jesus was sent to seek and to save what was lost, the Church is sent to seek and to save what was lost. “The church exists for the sake of the world....The ultimate goal of all ministry is to reach others for Christ.” (John F. MacArthur, The Master’s Plan for the Church, Chicago: Moody Press, 1991, 59.)

Jesus knew His mission. He knew why God sent Him into the world. He aligned Himself with this mission. Everything that He did, everything that He taught, everything that is recorded of His life in the Gospels was focused on accomplishing the mission for which He was sent. At the end of His life and ministry, He prayed to the Father, “I have brought you glory on earth by completing the work you gave me to do” (John 17:4). Mission accomplished.

Jesus was a missionary. This application of the term missionary may sound strange, but Jesus exemplifies in the truest sense what it means to be a missionary. Most Christians understand that a missionary is one who has been sent with the gospel to a foreign people to lead them to faith in Christ and among other things, multiply disciples, and establish churches. Jesus was sent to earth by the Father with the gospel. He was not sent “to condemn the world, bur rather that the world through Him might be saved” (John 3:17). He proclaimed the gospel, He made disciples, and He established His Church. Then, He sent His followers as missionaries with the gospel to Jerusalem, Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth (Acts 1:8). He commanded them to make disciples, to baptize, and to teach all that He commanded (Matt 28:19–20). Jesus initiated a missionary movement! Every follower of Jesus instantly became a missionary—sent with the gospel message.

The Great Commission was not the first announcement regarding His mission that Jesus made. He made several statements during His earthly ministry that are recorded in the Gospels. “Each statement carries a nuance of its own yet supports, rather than displaces, the redemptive nature of the Great Commission.” (John Edmund Kaiser, Winning on Purpose, Nashville: Abingdon Press, 2006, 55.)

Dr. Ray Bakke has observed that many people try to make conversion the logical and chronological priority over all other mission statements that Jesus made. He warns that there is a danger of establishing a canon within a canon or a red letter edition of priority that Jesus did not make. When anyone prioritizes salvation as the highest mission, they create a hierarchy where the evangelist is the most important role in vocational ministry. However, the call of the evangelist is only one of the gifts given to the Church; there are also apostles, prophets, pastors, and teachers.

Bakke concludes that Jesus’ mission as stated in His first sermon in Luke 4:18–19, should never be the enemy of His last sermon in Matthew 28:19–20. In other words, to “preach the gospel to the poor…to proclaim release to the captives…to set free those who are downtrodden” is not less of a priority than the Great Commission to make disciples. Since the Great Commission includes Jesus’ instruction: “teaching to observe all that I commanded you,” it certainly includes Jesus’ mission in Luke 4 which is targeted toward the poor, captives, and downtrodden.

In evaluating Jesus’ mission, one must observe the pattern of Jesus. As He traveled among the villages, He trained His disciples to do what He was doing. Yet when He left, He summed up the mission He was giving to His disciples in the Great Commission in Matthew 28; that commission to make more and better disciples remains the mission of the Church today. “The object is not to find them, gather them, or improve them. The object is to make them.” (John Edmund Kaiser, Winning on Purpose, 59.)

Jesus has sent every believer as a missionary with the gospel together in community with other Christians to visibly and incarnationally display and proclaim who Jesus is to those in the culture around them. Every Christian is a missionary. Every neighborhood and workplace is a mission field. As Dick Hillis, missionary to Asia and founder of OC International (formerly Overseas Crusades) has said, “Every heart with Christ, a missionary; every heart without Christ, a mission field.”

Summary

The term missional is all about being a missionary everywhere you are! It is about doing “missions” by aligning your life with the redemptive mission of Jesus in the world. It is adopting the posture of a missionary in order to engage those in the culture with the gospel message.
Being missional is rooted in the missio Dei. Mission is not primarily an activity of the Church, but an attribute of God. God is a missionary God. “The Church is sent into the world to continue that which he came to do, in the power of the same Spirit, reconciling people to God.” (Lesslie Newbigin, The Gospel in a Pluralist Society, Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1989, 230.) Jesus said, “As the Father has sent Me, I am sending you” (John 20:21). Every believer is sent by Jesus with the gospel together in community to those in the surrounding culture for the sake of the King and His kingdom.

In order to fuel missional movements across America, believers in local churches need to stop viewing missions as something that happens overseas. They must align themselves with Jesus’ mission in their own neighborhoods and communities.

Note: This article was originally included in a doctoral dissertation: David J. DeVries, Missional Transformation: Fueling Missional Movements that Transform America, D.Min. diss., Bakke Graduate University of Ministry, Seattle, WA, June 2007. “Gaining A Missional Perspective” is the first chapter which clarifies missional distinctives. Key components of Missional Transformation outlined in the dissertation include: 1) Adopt Missional Thinking and Behaviors, 2) Remove Obstacles, 3) Seize the Mission, 4) Exegete the Culture, 5) Incarnate the Gospel: “Be Jesus”, 6) Multiply Disciples, 7) Equip Disciplemaking Missionaries, 8) Establish Missional Communities/Churches, 9) Mobilize Leaders, and 10) Fuel Movements.

For further understanding, see the following posts:

• What does "Missional Living" Look Like to Me?
• Missional Distinctives
• A Missional Heart
• Missional Christianity in America
• Failing the Mission
• Transforming Missional Values into Missional Practices
• Missional: It's About Being Sent
• Missional: It's About the Cross

In addition, consider these posts that are part of the missional synchroblog:
Alan Hirsch
Alan Knox
Andrew Jones
Barb Peters
Bill Kinnon
Brad Brisco
Brad Grinnen
Brad Sargent
Brother Maynard
Bryan Riley
Chad Brooks
Chris Wignall
Cobus Van Wyngaard
David Best
David Fitch
David Wierzbicki
DoSi
Doug Jones
Duncan McFadzean
Erika Haub
Grace
Jamie Arpin-Ricci
Jeff McQuilkin
John Smulo
Jonathan Brink
JR Rozko
Kathy Escobar
Len Hjalmarson
Makeesha Fisher
Malcolm Lanham
Mark Berry
Mark Petersen
Mark Priddy
Michael Crane
Michael Stewart
Nick Loyd
Patrick Oden
Peggy Brown
Phil Wyman
Richard Pool
Rick Meigs
Rob Robinson
Ron Cole
Scott Marshall
Sonja Andrews
Stephen Shields
Steve Hayes
Tim Thompson
Thom Turner

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I love assessing church planters. I believe that it is a vitally important step in the design phase of starting a new church. Without assessing a potential church planter, it is difficult to predict if he will be effective in planting a new church.

My wife and I have been assessing church planters together for many years. We use the process developed by Dr. Chuck Ridley over 20 years ago. (I was actually assessed by Dr. Ridley before I started Lake Hills Church in Castaic, California.)

If you would like to schedule an assessment for a potential church planter, you can find more information here.

Also, you might enjoy watching this interview with Ed Stetzer where he talks about the value and importance of an assessment process for church planters (click here).

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I love coaching leaders. I had a great coaching appointment this morning with a church planter who actually took action steps since our last appointment. That was extremely satisfying.

Another of my coaching relationships with a church planter is coming to an end this month. I will miss our phone appointments twice each month. I will stay available to encourage him in the journey, but I won't have the same active role.

Next month I am starting a new coaching relationship with a church planter who just got married this past weekend and is moving to a new community to start a new church. He is eager to learn and get started with the coaching sessions.

As I reflect on this, I am reminded that coaching is one of the most rewarding things I do in ministry. It is such an awesome privilege to come alongside a leader and help them to focus more intentionally on being effective in the areas that God has called them. And each coaching relationship goes through different phases. Joel Comiskey has written an article on The Five Stages of a Coaching Relationship. While he focuses specifically on coaching cell leaders, I believe that his insights can be applied in a variety of coaching relationships.

I'm sorry to say it, but no coaching relationship develops to perfect levels of openness and communication overnight. Instead, most coaches pass through predictable stages of highs and lows, which can be understood as a series of coaching stages. The following is a brief walk-through of those stages, including practical advice for growth. (read the rest here).

The Five Stages are:

1. Romance
2. Reality
3. Resistance
   
4. Resolve
5. Reward

I'd like to add a thought here about the importance of ongoing evaluation of your coaching relationships. There is incredible value in taking time to assess what's happened so far, and to learn from the coaching experience. At predetermined points for evaluation, you can determine if goals and expectations have been achieved - and if a change in direction or focus is necessary. You can opt to end the coaching - or re-contract for an extended period of time.

Here are some excellent evaluation questions from the Coaching 101 Handbook (by Logan and Reinecke):

• How do you feel this coaching relationship is progressing?
• In what ways has this coaching relationship met your expectations? In what ways has it not?
• What elements were most helpful to you?
• In what cases would you have liked to see me take a different approach? Elaborate.
• How would you evaluate your own role in the coaching relationship?
• How could you coaching relationship improve?
• What is next in our coaching relationship?

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At a recent meeting with pastors in Fort Collins, Colorado, I had the opportunity to lead a conversation that focused on living missionally. One of the pastors, Ben Yarbro, made this insightful statement:

"We treat the gospel as data - as information to be given to someone."

The gospel isn't for information - but for transformation!



See also: Incarnating the Gospel

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Running alone is good! Running with others is better!

A few months ago I decided to enter my first 5K race. I finished the course in 32:42--not too bad for a 43 year old who has made fun of running for the past 20+ years. At first I was nervous as I lined up with everyone else at the starting line. Yet when the race started, there was an incredible thrill as we started out. And even though a lot of people passed me, I finished the race and didn't stop once to walk. That was a great accomplishment for me.

As I've become more intentional about running, I'm grateful for contact and conversations with other runners. We can share challenges, stories, and best practices. I'm not ready to be called a "runner" - but I'm running. I mentioned yesterday that I am looking for ways to join others as I run. I know there are a lot of benefits to not running alone.

And of course, I also know that there are a lot of benefits to not planting a church alone. You are more effective with a team. However, not only do you need team members who are working together with you to start a new church--you also need to connect yourself with other church planters who, like other runners, will inspire, motivate and encourage you to be your best!

Again, I want to highlight some practical suggestions from the Runner's World article by John Hanc, "Team in Training" (June 2008, pp 39-40). Here are five proactive steps from this article on running applied to church planting:

• Pick the Right Group - "You'll have a more positive experience-and likely see better results-if you join a group that meets your training needs and personality." Find other church planters near you that will help you develop as a church planter. Go out to lunch together. Pray together. Share stories, struggles, challenges, and best practices. Make sure you connect with those who share a similar approach or strategy (you don't have time to battle about your ministry philosophy). If you can't find a group that already meets, start a group or network.
  
• Train with Faster Runners - Find church planters who are already effectively engaged in "missional practices" and "let them push you to a new level." Be a learner. Learn from those who demonstrate spiritual maturity and have a track record of making disciples. It might be helpful to connect with those who are a few months or a few years ahead of you in the church planting experience. (When I was starting Lake Hills Church in Castaic, CA, I drove 60 miles one way to meet with a group of church planters at In-N-Out once a month to find encouragement and support. This was incredibly valuable and I highly recommend connecting with "faster runners.")
• Recover with Slower Runners - "It's a fine line between improving by running with better people and breaking down by running too often with faster runners." If you are hanging out with church planters who are so far ahead of you in the process, you may find yourself discouraged at times. Although we know "it's not about numbers" - it's hard not to focus on how many people are...showing up to worship, or becoming Christians, or being baptized, or joining small groups, or.... There are times when you may need to "recover" with others who are just starting the race--or even choose to invest in their development.
  
• Know When to Go Solo - "If you find yourself annoyed or discouraged, skip the group runs for a week. It's normal to need a break." There are definitely times when the support you need will not come from other church planters, but from getting some time alone with God. When I would get away for a day alone with God - or take a personal retreat, it would often refresh and restore me in ways that being with other church planters never could. I strongly encourage church planters to take a day or half-day away monthly. I have really enjoyed just driving out to the beach and sitting and reflecting on this question: "God, what do you want me to do?"
  
• Share Advice - "Information exchange is an important part of what makes running groups valuable." Keep learning. Ask questions. Discover from other church planters what is working and what is not working. Share what God is teaching you. Be available to help others. Don't be afraid to ask for help.
  

Partnering with other church planters for support as you start a new church can help you avoid burnout or failure. "Run the race to win." (1 Cor 9:24)

http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/missionalchallenge/~3/303800719/team

Starting churches is more effective with a team of committed Christians who together experience community, embrace the cross and engage the culture with the gospel.

I watched Hoosiers (1986) the other night. I had never seen it. (If you haven't seen it - it's about "a coach with a checkered past and a local drunk who train a small town high school basketball team to become a top contender for the championship.") I loved the way Coach Norman Dale was able to develop the basketball team. At the first practice he tells them,

"The five players on the floor function as one single unit. Team. Team. Team."

Unfortunately, as Christians in America we don't often function with a high value on TEAM. Instead, we value individualism. And we approach our spiritual growth individually - even privately. We fail to function as "one single unit."

I think church plants would be much more effective if Christians were practically and visibly committed to functioning as a TEAM. Then the world would see Jesus in us. That seems to be what Jesus was praying about in John 17 - "My prayer for all of them is that thye will be one, just as you and I are one, Father--that just as you are in me and I am in you, so they will be in us, and the world will believe you sent me." (v. 21)

Recently I've started running. It's been amazing how much better I am at it then when I first started. I wouldn't call myself a "runner" yet - but I'm getting there. My longest run was last week - 9.3 miles. Woohoo!!!

I'm learning more about running from those who run. They are encouraging me, training me, coaching me, and motivating me to run. Recently my father-in-law (my biggest inspirations toward running) passed on a couple of Runner's World magazines. As I started reading about running and runners and best practices, I came across an article on "Team in Training" (June 2008, p 39). The author, John Hanc, states: "Running with a club can improve your fitness--if you make the most of the group dynamic."

I've approached running as an individual sport. Running with others is difficult. I'm a little embarrassed that my pace isn't faster so I'd rather run alone. Yet this article inspired me to consider the benefits that you gain from running with others. One runner quoted in the article notes: "Running with a group makes workouts easier. You feed off each other." Another runner adds: "I wouldn't be running at the level I am without the team. It's hard to train with intensity by yourself." As I continued to read the article, I was convinced that I need to find others to join when I run.

Then -- I began to consider the same principles emphasized in the article being applied to a church planting context. How will planting with a team maximize your effectiveness in church planting?

http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/missionalchallenge/~3/303167171/thre

In my studies at BGU, I met Jim Henderson in one of my classes. He has written an interesting book called Jim and Casper Go To Church. He is particularly interested in helping Christian to take ordinary attempts to reach "lost people."

In this video, he interviews three "lost people" and who reveal their thoughts on being "lost" and relating to "born again Christians." You can watch the video here.



How often do you have conversations with those who don't belong to Christ?
How do you think they view you as a Christian?
What ordinary attempts could you make to reach them with the gospel?
What prevents you from proclaiming the good news?

Check out www.off-the-map.com.