Worth Reading: Live Sent by Jason Dukes
There is a hunger among young Christian leaders for something more. Not necessarily more or bigger crowds or church buildings. But for more and deeper community. For authentic relationships in and outside of the church. For a greater impact on people that are far from God. And for a return to defining church as a WHO, not a WHAT. It will be OK with us if that results in big crowds and buildings, but not at the expense of community, authenticity, kingdom impact. Jason Dukes, in his book Live Sent: You Are A Letter, expresses what I feel so many are looking for today. As a Church Planter and network leader (check out www.reproducingchurches.com), Jason is leading a charge for the church to give ourselves away intentionally. That’s how he defines living sent. The imagery of living as a letter sent by God to the world is simple and key to understanding who we are as followers of Christ. As Jason says, “Sunday mornings cannot be viewed as just ‘fueling stations’ any longer. They must be viewed as POST OFFICES, gathering and sorting mail in order to send out those letters into daily culture.” An essential message for the 21st Century church that wants to make a deep impact in the lives of people. Great question: Is our lives and churches like the “draft” folder in our email inbox? Saved but not sent. “We must go beyond just gathering. We must gather to send.” The book outlines a great process for every Christian and leader to use to assess where they are spiritually. A few of the topics: rethinking church as a who not a what, knowing the value of every Christian to God’s mission, what hinders us from being sent, contextualizing through relationships, getting rid of our safety addiction. Also, Live Sent is filled with stories of real people doing just that. Even includes the story of a brother from my home state, Rob Wilton with Vintage Church, Uptown New Orleans. As a Church Planter or Pastor who desires to have an impact, this book will help chart the course.
Here are a few of my other favorite quotes:
- “He did not go to the cross because we were lovable. He went to the cross because He loves us, and it is His love for us that makes us lovable. It is His pursuing love that makes us valuable.”
- “The most crippling issue hindering us from ‘being the church’ is our insecurity to think we need more than what Jesus did…”
- “The health of a local church is actually not based on the number who ‘attend’ but rather the way in which people love one another and are walking relationally in life.”
- “The story of the church is far greater than what happens on Sunday mornings.”
- “Which address means more to God? The address of the church building? or the address of the world?”
- “If we are to see disciples made, we must engage people in genuine friendship. Multiplication cannot be programmed. It happens. It blossoms.”
- “church leaders must be willing to measure success not by how many they can draw and manage, but by how many they can release…”
You can follow Jason on Twitter. Also, follow Reproducing Churches the network he helps orchestrate along the Gulf Coast. Also, Jason blogs at JasonCDukes.com.
A few Discipleship Tools for Kids
Loving the Jesus Storybook Bible by Sally Lloyd-Jones. Really makes the stories in the Bible come to life in a way that spurs imagination and conversation. This morning we read the story of the hidden treasure from Matthew 13. The way the author described the treasure led our three year old to want more – “Was it heavy! Let me see it!” Always hard to stop with just one story.
We’ve kept a little book called My 1st Book of Questions and Answers by Carine MacKenzie around our dinner table for the past six months or so. Set up as a Catechism for young kids. Great for initiating further conversation about faith.
This summer I’m going to start a discipleship track with Jack, our seven year old. We’re going to use the Wheel
Illustration by the Navigators. He’s agreed to do it only if his wheel could be the Monster Truck version, which could also have some spiritual implications I’m sure.
Also looking forward to having him with me on several Faith In Action projects through our church this summer. Debriefing the plight of other peoples lives / why is there pain and evil in the world, has been a great faith builder for he and I.
Please share other ideas for discipling/connecting faith with family.
Galatians Highlights
Finished up our Series of Messages on the New Testament book of Galatians yesterday at Bridge Church. I had a lot of fun tracking through it this Spring and found myself again convicted, changed, and reassured by the Word of God. Here are a few highlights from the series:
- The Gospel = Jesus’ sacrificial death, because of our helplessness to save ourselves, for our rescue from sin’s penalty. Galatians 1:3-4
- Distorted and Different Gospel – 1) “To be right with God you have to become a __________.” Doesn’t matter what goes in the blank. 2) Jesus + __________. Adding to the work of Christ.
- When you see the real Gospel you realize that nothing in your past is sufficient for salvation. Galatians 2:1-14
- Christianity is about BEING, not DOING. It’s about who you are because of what Christ has done, not WHAT you do. Galatians 2:15-21.
- If you say, “I’ve got to do more to be saved” (go to church, be a good person, recycle, etc.), what you are saying is that Christ life, death, and resurrection was insufficient and ineffective.
- Two ways to live: 1) By the Law – “I’m trying to be a good person.” 2) By the promise – “Understanding that I can’t be accepted by God on my own, I put all my hope in Christ’s accomplishments. Galatians 3:13-14.
- In Christ, there is POWER TO BECOME something brand new. Not based upon what you look like or what you do. Galatians 3:26-29; John 1:12-13.
- Practical Outcomes of a False Gospel: Idolatry, Disunity, Impure Motives for serving. Galatians 4:8-20
- Legalism is a lethal dose of self-salvation and pride. The Gospel shocks self with its irrational generosity and free grace.
- You might be a legalist if: 1) You devalue the work of Christ and love of God, 2) You feel an obligation for you and others to be perfect, 3) You feel a sense of insecurity with God because you are not perfect, 4) You hinder and belittle the growth and progress of others, 5) You’re offended by the thought of loving and serving sinners as Christ did. Galatians 5:1-15
- A legalist can’t trust God to change someone from the inside out.
- The Spirit of God produces “whatever it takes” and “I don’t care who you are” kinda love. Galatians 5:22-23.
- The Set Free life means death to impression management, death to risk management, and death to self-salvation and self-reliance. Galatians 2:20, 5:24, 6:14.
Download individual messages here, or subscribe to our podcast on Itunes.
“Her children rise up and call her blessed” Proverbs 31:28
On March 26th, I took part in the memorial service for one of the most remarkable women that I will ever meet. She was my grandmother, Lorene “Jack” Francis. Hers is an incredible story: 11 children, 30 grandchildren, 40 great grandchildren, 50+ years of marriage, a successful business built, and countless lives touched through service and friendship. The statement I’ve heard all of my life about my Grandmother is, “I don’t know how she did it all.” There’s another woman in the Bible that we can say that about. The Proverbs 31 Woman. Characterized by her great value (v. 10), trustworthiness (v. 11-12), her diligence and hardwork (v. 13-19, 24), her generosity (v. 20), her wisdom (v. 26), and the good that she brings to her husband (v. 11, 23). Friends and family of Jack Francis were a witness to this kind of life. Here are a few specific characteristics of our Proverbs 31 woman that I will never forget:
1) Her love and devotion to her family. She remembered every birthday, celebrated every good report card, and served as a rock of confidence to all her family. To know Grandma Jack was to know that you were valued and loved without condition.
2) She was a devoted student of God’s Word. I would be Dr. Corley by now if I had her appetite for reading and learning. As a young pastor one of my favorite things to do was to bring up a passage I was studying and listen to her talk of sermons different pastors preached and books she’d read about that or apply the truth to some situation in the world today. And she was a person that was always humbly grappling with faith issues. She never stopped learning and submitting her life to God’s word.
3) She was generous. She was a consistent and faithful contributer to her church, to numerous ministries and missionaries, and to anyone who had a need. All my life I’ve heard from people who were going through difficult financial times and would have some cash slipped into their hand by Mrs. Jack. Her pastor told me that he was sent countless times on missions of mercy to deliver money or food to people in the community from an anonymous donor that was Grandma Jack.
Because of these realities, her life, her name, her example will not be soon forgotten. The Francis family has been given an incredible gift: a Godly legacy to follow.
“the offspring of the righteous will be delivered” Proverbs 11:21
“in the fear of the Lord one has strong confidence, and his children will have a refuge” Proverbs 14:26
“The righteous who walks in his integrity – blessed are his children after him” Proverbs 20:7
The question is, will we pick up her mantle and carry it forward?
And as for the question, “How did she do it all?” Without a doubt, her “secret” was her deep and abiding relationship with Jesus Christ. Her love, devotion, generosity were a product of that relationship.
Today I am fulfilling Proverbs 31:28 – “her children rise up and call her blessed.”
And I believe the backstory of my life begins with her. Like another young Pastor at the outset of a great movement of God, I believe it can be said of me: “I am reminded of your sincere faith, a faith that dwelt first in your grandmother Lois (coincidentally Grandma Jack’s middle name) and your mother Eunice and now, I am sure, dwells in you” 2 Timothy 1:5.
An Observation: Why does multisite work?
“Multisite church is not church planting.” Many seem to be warming up to the idea of multisite ministry, but there are holdouts who continue to object using the above phrase. Wherever you stand, you have to admit that it appears to be working in a lot of places. Many reasons for this, but one in particular that comes to my mind as a strategists in rural/suburban North America: OWNERSHIP. When a church sends out its name and logo, its pastors face on a screen, its significant financial investment, and its vision for people to be saved and influenced for Christ, failure effects everyone, so it’s not an option.
Working in the area of church planting over the last 10 years, what I’ve observed is usually there is only one person that owns it all: THE PLANTER. If it succeeds, he’ll be written about, applauded, and used to promote offerings. If it fails, we’ll forget it ever happened and hope he and his family land on their feet. No skin off our backs.
Don’t get me wrong, I believe the planter must be out in front of everyone else in ownership of a vision, but if significant obstacles are faced and momentum doesn’t come easy, he may find himself alone. As Church leaders, can we really say we own the needs of the lost in our community if failure of a church plant or sister church would be pain free and perfectly acceptable? Can we say that we are fighting a good fight if we shield ourselves from the risk associated with penetrating the kingdom of darkness through church planting and reaching the unchurched?
I’m praying for the courage of the Apostle Paul. Drug out of town, stoned, left for dead, a failure, he GETS UP and goes back to finish the task. Why? OWNERSHIP.
Romans 1:14-16 (ESV) – “I am under obligation … I am eager … I am not ashamed of the gospel.”
More Like Falling in Love
Love this song by Jason Gray. Fits well with our current message series at Bridge Church on the book of Galatians. Hear the song here. We’re incapable of producing righteousness on our own. Religion is about rules, lines, statements. Christianity is about a love relationship with Christ that leads to transformation.
Give me rules
I will break them
Give me lines
I will cross them
I need more than a truth to believe
I need a truth that lives, moves, and breathes
To sweep me off my feet
It ought to beMore like falling in love
Than something to believe in
More like losing my heart
Than giving my allegiance
Caught up, called out
Come take a look at me now
It’s like I’m falling, oh
It’s like I’m falling in loveGive me words
I’ll misuse them
Obligations
I’ll misplace them
‘Cause all religion ever made of me
Was just a sinner with a stone tied to my feet
It never set me free
It’s gotta be…It’s like I’m falling in love, love, love
Deeper and deeper
It was love that made
Me a believer
In more than a name, a faith, a creed
Falling in love with Jesus brought the change in me
Leadership is Lacking when…
Love this list from Dave & Jon Ferguson’s new book Exponential: How You and Your Friends Can Start a Missional Church Movement. Take the test…
- I wait for someone to tell me what to do rather than taking the initiative myself.
- I spend too much time talking about how things should be different.
- I blame the context, surroundings, or other people for my current situation.
- I am more concerned about being cool or accepted than doing the right thing.
- I seek consensus rather than casting vision for a preferable future.
- I am not taking any significant risks.
- I accept the status quo as the way it’s always been and always will be.
- I start protecting my reputation instead of opening myself up to opposition.
- I procrastinate to avoid making a tough call.
- I talk to others about the problem rather than taking it to the person responsible.
- I don’t feel like my butt is on the line for anything significant.
- I ask for way too many opinions before taking action.
Amen and Ouch!
Product of the Spirit
Finishing up our Galatians series in a few weeks. This weekend spent some time talking fruit bearing.
“the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,gentleness, self-control” – Galatians 5:22-23
Do you find it hard to love those who won’t or can’t love you in return? Are you often overwhelmed by life’s circumstances and unable to see God’s goodness in life? Do you give up on people easily or often write people off as unchangeable? Are you unmoved by the needs of others? Do you seldom put your faith to action by serving? Do you jump in an out of commitments and struggle to stick with people and projects? Do you feel the need to have control of situations no matter the cost? Are you easily overcome by temptation?
If you have wisdom enough to see and admit that any of these are true then you’re seeing the gap between what your life is producing and what God’s Spirit will produce in you if you yield to him.
The spirit of God produces “whatever it takes” and “I don’t care who you are kinda love,” inward joy and belief that is unchanged by outward circumstances, a willingness to stick with things and people at all costs, a heart of irrational generosity and compassion that drives a response to the needs of other no matter who they are, a loyalty and dependability that has the end in mind, submission to God over emotions and selfish desires.
Praying for the Native American Awakening
Several Louisiana churches have gotten plugged in with an Awakening happening among Native Americans. I’m looking forward to partnering with Woodhaven Baptist Church in Tickfaw to plant a church among Native Americans in Macy, Nebraska. Today is a big day for the ministry as the tribal leaders will be deciding what to do with the church building that the core group has been using. Praying they decide to leave it in the hands of our church in the area. Please pray with us…
Benefits of Sponsoring a New Church
In Ed Stetzer and Warren Bird’s new book Viral Churches: Helping Church Planters Become Movement Makers:
A study of church-sponsoring churches showed that the typical sponsor fared quite well from the experience. Worship attendance increased 22 percent for the five years after sponsorship of the church plant. Financial giving to the local church increased 48 percent over that same period, and designated gifts such as toward foreign missions giving increased 77 percent.
Seems like I read something one time about giving and it will be given unto you. Now where did I hear that?
Lane Corley 