North Shore Church Planting update
Sometimes I can’t believe they pay me to do what I do. Spent this weekend hanging out and worshipping with church planters from various demographic contexts.
Friday and Saturday I was privileged to conference with our Filippino-American Church Planter Network. Lito Magbanua leads our network and his passion for people to know Christ has ignited a mini-movement in our region. I learned a ton about Church Planting movements and the Filippino culture. International Director of the Philippino Missions Association was our presenter. We talked Church Planting Movements, House Churches, and the need for missionaries and missions monies in the the least reach regions. Most challenging question of the weekend: How do we reach Muslims for Christ? Answer: Increase the witnesses in the Muslim world. Problem: This would also most likely increase the martyrs in the world as well. Still more interesting is that the word for witness and the word for martyr are one in the same in the Net Testament. 73% of the Bibles printed today are printed for the 33% of the world that have much access to the gospel. .5% of mission monies actually go to reaching the 172 billion unreached peoples in the least reached regions. We’ve got a lot to do, and we as Americans have a lot to learn from Asian believers about moving the Gospel through and over obstacles.
Today, our family had the honor of worshipping with and teaching at Stillwater Baptist Church in Hammond. The sign outside said, “Worship Experience, 10am” and it was not false advertising. Stillwater Baptist Church is alive. They are a four year old church that were bounced around by Hurricane Katrina and currently worships in a 2,300 square foot warehouse. Today, they celebrated the signing of a contract on a 12,000 square foot former gym. Lonnie and Frankeya Tucker have led well and are sure to bring in a great harvest for God’s kingdom. I’m looking forward to being back at Stillwater real soon.
The church that I am planting, Bridge Church of West St. Tammany met this
evening for Admin. night. Matt Marrs, our worship pastor is in South Africa for a Mission Trip, so we punted on music and crunched numbers for the glory of God all night. We decided to give away 25% to Missions and try to increase it 2% each year. Glad to be a part of Church Planting efforts in Southeast Louisiana.
“In the case of false reports against yourself…”
A great lie, if unnoticed, is like a big fish out of water, it dashes and plunges and beats itself to death in a short time. To answer it is to supply it with its element, and help it to a longer life. … Your blameless life will be your best defense, and those who have seen it will not allow you to be condemned so readily as your slanderers expect. Only abstain from fighting your own battles, and in nine cases out of ten your accusers will gain nothing by their malevolence but chagrin for themselves and contempt from others. …our best course is to defend our innocence by our silence and leave our reputation with God.
– Charles Spurgeon in Lectures to My Students
Are You Humble?
If you say yes, you’re probably not. Like the church I heard of that gave a ribbon to the Most Humble Man in the congregation. They ran into a problem when he wore the ribbon back the next Sunday. Humility is something we are all developing. Recently I listened to a sermon by Mark Driscoll on this topic. He gave eight helpful questions for testing our humility. Take the test:
- Are you teachable?
- How do you respond to correction and rebuke?
- Do you repent quickly and thoroughly?
- How considerate are you of others?
- Do you give and receive service well?
- Are you constantly aware of God’s grace?
- Do you disagree agreeably?
- How much do you need attention and affirmation?
Get the entire sermon here. Those of you in leadership might want to hear the previous weeks message on Humble Pastors.
Lessons for when it seems it couldn’t get any worse
There was once a little bird that got a late start flying south for the winter. So late, that as he flew it began to snow and sleet and the temperature dropped far below freezing. His wings began to freeze to the point that he could fly no longer, so he made a crash landing. He began to realize that he would die in a pile of snow because he could not fly. Then a cow walked over to him and dropped a pile of manure on him. The little bird thought things had gone from bad to worse, but then realized that the warmth of the manure began to thaw his wings out. In jubilation he began to chirp loudly and constantly. He chirped so loudly and constantly that a nearby cat heard him and ran over, fetched him out of the manure and ate him at once.
Three lessons:
- Not everyone who drops manure on you is your enemy.
- Not everyone who pulls you out of manure is your friend.
- When you’re momentarily stuck in a pile of manure, keep your mouth closed.
Proverbs 27:6 – “Wounds from a sincere friendare better than many kisses from an enemy.”
Spurgeon on Missional Living
Stand in the stream and fish. Many preachers are utterly ignorant as to how the bulk of people are living; they are at home among books, but quite at sea among men, What would you think of a botanist who seldom saw real flowers, or an astronomer who never spent the night with the stars? Would they be worthy of the name of men of science? Neither can a minister of the gospel be anything but a mere empiric unless he mingles with men and studies character for himself. Read men as well as books, and love men rather than opinions, or you will be inanimate preachers.
– Charles Spurgeon in Lectures to My Students.
Am I A Spiritual Person?
Our Director of Mission and Ministries on the North Shore of Lake Ponchartrain, Lonnie Wascom enjoys scoffing at social networking sites and those of us who enjoy them (probably because of his lack of time and inability to get high speed internet at his current location), but he dishes out some great info via an old school weekly email. Here is a thought provoking list he generated recently that grabbed my heart.
Characteristics of Spiritual Christians:
- They do not care who gets the credit as long as God gets the glory
- They do not have chips on their shoulders, but they do take up their crosses daily and follow Jesus.
- They ignore mole hills and by faith move mountains.
- They are not afraid to assume spiritual responsibility.
- The have the ability to adjust without compromising principles.
- They can adapt to a changing world without the world changing them.
Marks of a True and Healthy Church
I had the privilege of conferencing with area pastors here on the North Shore today and we had a productive discussion on what is a true and healthy church. Discussion was led by Pastor Louis Husser of Crossgate Church in Robert, LA. Here’s the list:
What determines a True Church?
- What do they believe about Jesus Christ? Not if they believe, but what they believe. Jesus plus nothing, minus nothing is the right formula for salvation and for the teaching of a true New Testament Church.
What determines a Healthy Church?
- Pastor led
- Deacon served
- Congregational ruled – it was a Baptist group
- Ministry driven
- Worship friendly
- Prayer covered
- Evangelistic nature
- Biblically grounded
- Gift driven / Multi-task ministries around the purposes of the church
- Revival – Transformation and brokenness evident
Two questions for our churches to consider:
- Are lives being changed?
- Are we hauling water to the desert or the ocean?
That final question made the discussion worth our time. I believe it’s the question of the hour for today’s church. Are we taking our message to those who need it. They don’t need more water in the ocean. We need to reach those in the desert of sin/darkness/hopelessness.
Any additions or subtractions to this list?
What is Lent Anyway?
This week marks the beginning of a major religious celebration around the world called Lent. In our area it means FRIDAY’S ARE FOR SEAFOOD! What is Lent exactly? In Brief:
For Roman Catholics, the Eastern Orthodox Church, and other liturgical protestant denominations (those with a continuous history before AD 1500) Lent is the forty day period from Ash Wednesday to Holy Saturday. It is to be a season of soul-searching and repentance. It can be loosely traced to the early days of the church, but was certainly less formal (most scholars believe the time of fasting was two to three days and not forty) and of course much more spiritual. Lent, as we know it today, originated in the fourth century and has changed in practice throughout the years. In AD 325, the Council of Nicea discussed a forty day season of fasting and preparation for new converts to be baptized. In the seventh century, Gregory the Great moved the beginning of Lent from Sunday to Wednesday, now called Ash Wednesday. He is also credited with beginning the ceremony of marking foreheads with ashes, as a symbol of repentance taken from the Old Testament. The practice of fasting during Lent has become more relaxed over the centuries and in 1966, the Roman Catholic Church restricted fast days to Ash Wednesday and Good Friday.
Having moved to South Louisiana just seven years ago, I have observed that Lent is practiced but not understood by many. Even many irreligious people will give up something of value (if you count chocolate, certain adult drinks, coffee, or some other modern convenience that doesn’t really affect a person’s way of life) and will abstain from meat on Friday. When asked the purpose behind this, the person will say, “I’m not sure,” or take a great guess that would fool everyone if they were playing my favorite board game Balderdash. Herein lies the problem with modern spirituality – it’s long on activity and short on meaning and understanding.
Too often we use religious expression, such as Lent, as a means to fit in, to feel better about ourselves, but not to understand and conform to God’s desire for our lives. In many ways Lent illustrates our lack of understanding about God and His will for humanity. Many people give up for forty days what they know they shouldn’t be doing anyway. In the 2002, movie 40 Days and 40 Nights, a single man vows to stay celibate during Lent, but meets the girl of his dreams and regrets being unable to rebel against God’s commands concerning sexual purity (1 Thessalonians 4:3-8) and to “let the marriage bed be undefiled” (Hebrews 13:4) until Lent is over. As this movie illustrates, some people may see Lent as a window of time to be serious about their faith. I tend to believe God deserves and expects 365 days of devotion and obedience, not just forty.
A somber season of soul-searching and repentance, which includes fasting, is necessary for our generation. I don’t search my soul when I give up my favorite commodity but when I understand and get a glimpse of what God has done for me through Jesus Christ. His suffering, His sacrifice, and His love should make us forget modernity for awhile and focus ourselves on repentance and new life that Christ’s death and resurrection make possible.
So how should we view Lent? One 19th Century preacher called it “The Season of the Cross.” I like that. It’s the cross that is the centerpiece of our faith (1 Corinthians 15:3) and it’s the cross that we are called to carry (Luke 9:23). So, join me during the season of the cross and do more than just mark your calendar and do without some material luxury. Let’s increase our awareness of Christ’s love and His desire for our lives. We may find ourselves gaining more, spiritually, than we could ever give up in 40 days.
Church Planting Networks
Planting a new church is one of the loneliest and most vulnerable tasks one can undertake. Momentum can be allusive. Area churches can be at worst territorial, at best uncaring. The needs in the community greatly outweigh the capacity of the team. The loneliness can be stifling.
One solution: The Church Planter Peer Network. Getting together with other planters for prayer, encouragement, worship, and collaboration can broaden the perspective of planters to decrease the role loneliness plays in the church planting process.
Research has shown the validity of church planting networks. In the Church Plant Survivability and Health Study realeased in 2007, by the North American Mission Board’s Center for Missional Research, a survey found that church plant survivability increased by 135 percent when a planter met with a group of church planting peers regularly.
A 2003 study on the effectiveness of the Church Planting Process (meaning an Assessment, Basic Training, Field Supervision/Mentorship, Peer Network, etc.) in affecting attendance at new church starts, a survey of 600 church planters revealed that first year attendance was over 50 percent greater in the churches planted by those participating in a peer network.
As I speak with those that supervise and work with us church planters, the difficulty of getting network participation usually comes up. Why? Let me speak for myself:
- Pride. To be a planter you’ve got to have a bit of an independent streak and that can lead to an arrogance that says “I don’t need others” or “I don’t have time for others” or “I don’t care what others are doing.”
- Insecurity. Church planters are usually forced by circumstances to perform outside of all the boxes and decisions are made with little positive or negative input and uncertain consequences before or after. Insecurity about ideas can make a planter fearful of negative peer criticism, so we stay away.
- Competition. Probably one of the most disgusting things among ministry peers is territorialism and competition. As if one person or one ministry or one approach could possibly reach an entire area with the Gospel.
One of the best things that planting a church has done for me is drive away my independence. I am more certain than ever of my need for God (remember, we’re never alone as we go into the world – Matthew 28:19-20), my need for others, and my desire to invest and add value to those working to expand God’s kingdom through church planting. I’ve planted a church without a peer network and now, planting my second church, I’ll be leaning on peers in church planting for prayer, encouragement, and collaboration.
Friendly Reminders
I thank God for friendly reminders. When it seems the mission I’m on as a church planter in North America is too difficult, too elusive, too costly, too lonely, etc., etc., God reminds me that the opposite is true.
Last night I met with a church planter who is starting churches in a country of 72 Million people and 3,000 Christians. He lives in danger as an underground Gospel worker. In four years he’s had three conversions. I’m praying for him and his family everyday.
Thank You Father for reminding me…
- that I’m not alone in my passion to do what sometimes seems impossible.
- that there are heroes willing to do what others won’t even imagine.
- that your call is to obedience not capitalistic results.
Lane Corley 