It’s Official: I Know Everything!
This morning, my five year old son, Jackson, asks my wife a question that she couldn’t answer. She asked, “Do you think I know everything?” His very honest response, “No, Daddy knows everything!” He’s a very smart boy (Grin). Of course he’ll be learning in short order that I do not know everything and chances are there will be moments when he’ll think I know nothing at all before he heads off into the world as a man. However, as Father of a five year old, I have a tremendous responsibility. Not only does he think I know everything, but he’s learning what is important, what is valuable, how to talk, how to think about God and others, and much more from me. If you’re a parent you have that same responsibility. The good news is you don’t have to know everything. Be consistent, live with integrity and passion, and stay connected to the one who does know everything (Proverbs 2:6-8) and you’ll do OK.
Father, help me be a good steward of my little boys impression of me. Help me lead him in the right direction. May he learn from my example that nothing is more important or valuable than you, that others are more important than himself, and when I fail (because I don’t know everything) may he see me humble before you.
Good Words on Discerning Calling
Reading John Maxwell’s 21 Most Powerful Minutes in a Leader’s Day. It’s a 21-week daily devotional of how Bible characters demonstrated the 21 Laws of Leadership. Week 4 is about Nehemiah and the Law of Navigation (Anyone can steer the ship, but it takes a leader to chart the course). In talking about Nehemiah’s burden/vision/calling to rebuild the wall around the city of Jerusalem, Maxwell gives some good questions for discerning a personal calling:
– Does a person or a project constantly come to your mind as a concern?
– Do you seem unable to escape the needs of this concern?
– Are you constantly trying to challenge others to be concerned for this person or project?
– Do you migrate to books, sermons, or people that focus on your concern?
– Do you repeatedly give time and resources to meet this particular need?
– Does your concern move you to the point of tears?
– Do you have gifts and abilities to meet the needs associated with this concern?
– Does your concern increase or decrease with time?
Worth Reading: Spin-Off Churches
Much needed book written for those contemplating sponsoring a new church and for those that should be. This book leaves few stones unturned when it comes to the issues surrounding church planting, including theology, history, answers for nay sayers, models/approaches, scenarios, hardships, funding, etc. This church planter is praying for gigantic royalties for Harrison, Cheyney, and Overstreet.
Some interesting quotes thus far:
– …church planting is not for us, it’s for God. We do it so God will have a people to worship Him!
– If the American church is content ministering to whoever happens to show up each week, she misses her missiological purpose.
– A church must not be measured by its seating capacity but by its sending capacity.
– …fulfilling the Great Commission is the ability of the maturing church to be able to reproduce in healthy fashion.
– …we have replaced missional zeal with the practice of organizational birth control…Because most churches across our convention are childless. Recent research found out that only 3% of our Southern Baptist churches ever sponsored or planted a new church.
– Churches that plant churches are not focused on turnout, but rather on reproduction and multiplication.
– There is case after case of sponsoring churches approving building programs while the mission pastors of plants they sponsored were struggling far below the poverty level.
And for fun… The Top Ten Signs of a Broke Church Planter:
10. American Express says please leave home without it.
9. You are considering robbing the food pantry.
8. The long distance providers no longer call asking you to switch.
7. You rob both Peter and Paul.
6. You clean your home hoping to find change.
5. Right now a lottery ticket looks like an investment.
4. Your bologna has no first name.
3. You have begun washing Styrofoam plates and plastic forks.
2. You have a lovely basket of McDonald’s condiments in the middles of your kitchen table.
1. During the Lord’s Supper you go back for seconds.
A lot of great info here. This one will stay close to my desk for a long time.
Also check out Tom Cheyney’s site www.planterdude.com.
Travelogue: Chiapas, Mexico
I had the privilege of spending last week with a few other Christ followers from Hope Church in Covington, LA, Willow Bend Church in Plano, TX, and Oak View Baptist Church in Irving, TX, serving and supporting the Tzotzil Church Planting Movement in Chiapas, Mexico. We traveled 1,500+ miles and saw 30+ people give their lives to Christ while treating 250+ medically. We traveled to two rural villages where churches are being planted among the Tzotzil Indians.
The food was incredible – “Tzotzil Wheat Energy Drink”
The scenery was breathtaking – Along the border of Guatamala
In the Lacandon Jungle
We missed the turn for our resort, but still had adequate housing – TENT CITY!!!
What an honor it was to be used of God to serve and share with such beautiful people. Please pray for the Tzotzil Nation in Chiapas, Mexico.
Please pray for the Tzotzil Church Planting Movement and its leaders. For more info visit http://www.tzotzil.ovbc.net.
A Church for Matt
Every now and then God reminds me of the importance of church planting. Matt D. walked into our church in 2007, with hair in a pony tail, cutoff blue jean shorts, not a few tattoos, and a lot of baggage from his fair share of reckless living and sin’s consequences. I watched as God worked in Matt’s life and remember well the afternoon that he shared with me that he knew he needed God and that he wanted to make Christ the boss of his life. A few weeks later he was baptized in a similar pair of cutoff blue jean shorts, demonstrating to the world his new life in Christ. What we didn’t know at that time, was that cancer cells were slowly taking over Matt’s body and would lead to illness and death just six months later.
Rewind back six months – How would your church respond this Sunday if a guy like Matt walked in?
This question is one I will think about every week now for a couple of reasons:
“the Lord appointed a great fish to swallow up Jonah” – Jonah 1:17
This Sunday, we will begin a series of messages at our church on the Old Testament book of Jonah. We will not be covering the science of how a man can live in the belly of a whale or fish for three days. If you are one that must have scenarios here are a few informative articles on the question:
– Jonah and the Great Fish by Don Landis
– Jonah in the Whale by Jimmy Williams
I personally like the humorus story of the atheist who asked a lady if she really believed the Bible to be true.
“Yes,” said the lady.
“Then.” Said the atheist, “tell me how a whale swallowed Jonah, as a whale’s stomach is no bigger than a man’s head.”
“I don’t know,” said the lady: “but when I get to Heaven I will ask him.”
“What if Jonah is not there,” said the atheist.
“Then you can ask him,” said the lady.
Smile.
Resources for Answering Other Religions
Our church is in the midst of a message series called “Answers: What to say when…?” This past Sunday we took on what to say when you interact with people from other religions. In follow up, I wanted to share a few of my favorite websites for dealing with other religions. So, here they are…
– Christian Apologetics and Research Ministry
– Apologetics Site of the North American Mission Board
– Alpha and Omega Ministries
– Watchman Fellowship
Feel free to share any others you may have.
So, you want to be a church planter?
Am I called to church planting or do I just want to do church in a cool way? Read here.
What can I expect as a church planter? Read here.
Are your priorities in the right order as a leader / church planter? Read here.
These articles have informed me about the past six years I have spent planting a church. These are some things I wish I would have read seven years ago.
Worth Reading: The Multiplying Church
The Multiplying Church by Bob Roberts, Jr. Just finished Bob Roberts latest book and I’m sad it’s over. I loved this book! As a church planter, Bob Roberts speaks my heart language and gives me permission to continue pursuing my call and passion to see new churches planted all around the world. This is a must read for church leaders! Here are a few quotes that set my heart’s temperature a little hotter and made me think:
– “The future of faith in America (and anywhere in the world, for that matter) is not tied to planting more churches, but in raising up of mother congregations of every tribe, tongue, denomination, and network that are reproducing like rabbits.” (page 18)
– “The hope of the future of the church in the United States really is not in raising up more preachers; we’ve been doing that in high style for the past hundred years. The hope is in pregnant mother churches.” (page 18)
– “The highest demonstration of maturity for a local church is when it multiplies. Only something alive can reproduce, and it will do so only if it is healthy.” (page 61)
– “Churches that see only their own agenda and refuse to live in the broader context of the universal church will never be a part of the coming global church planting movement.” (page 65)
– “…missions isnt’ something you do – it is an expression of who you are.” (page 74)
– “As pastors…if we fail – or more likely simply refuse – to aggressively plant churches, God will hold us deeply accountable for using the church for our own end as opposed to extending His glory to the ends of the earth.” (page 87)
– “Every believer is a church planter. The lowest common denominator in all church planting is the disciple.” (page 105)
– “How sad that we’ve settled for a growing campus instead of striving for a transformed community.” (page 109)
– “Any vision that doesn’t require your entire life isn’t a vision; it’s just a thought.” (page 172)
– “Converts may grow a church, but disciples change the world.” (page 172)
Well worth reading. Also, check out Bob Roberts blog – www.glocal.net.
Resources for Family Devotion
As a Father of two young boys, I desire to impart to them a vision for God’s glory, an understanding of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and a heart for the spiritual and physical needs of the world. One practice our family has adopted to this end is a weekly time that we call FAMILY WORSHIP. We read the Bible, sing praise songs, and pray for the needs around us. How tragic it will be if we teach our kids to pitch and catch, to dance and tumble, to hunt and fish, to bike and board, to watch TV and dress fashionably, but don’t instill in them eternal truth.
Here are two resources that we are currently using in our FAMILY WORSHIP that can help you impart truth and vision to your young children:
The Big Picture Story Bible by David Helm and Gail Schoonmaker
This book tells 26 Bible Stories in creative fashion with unique and colorful illustrations. It tells the complete story unlike many Children’s books that skip over the Fall and the Crucifixion. It’s been a great tool thus far for our family.
Window on the World by Patrick Johnstone and Daphne Spragget
A great resource for anyone with a passion for worldwide missions and a desire to pray for God to open doors around the world. Also a good tool for basic geography. The book gives a 1-2 page summary of a needy and/or unevangelized nation of the world appropriate for early elementary kids and adults. Our oldest son Jack gets to pick a region each week and we read about the needs and pray for the missionaries and churches working in that region. Of course, Jackson’s favorite nation to read about and pray for is Madagascar because of this…
So, if you’re a missionary serving in Madagascar, you should know that there is a five year old boy and his family in Louisiana that are praying regularly for you.
Let me know if you have other good resources that may help parents impart the glory of God to the next generation.
Lane Corley 