Good Words on Emotions in Church Planting and Ministry
Church Multiplication can seem similar to warfare. There are lots of days filled with single motive of perseverance. They are punctuated by threats to the very existence of the new congregation and rewarded with outbursts of blessing and growth. The process never actually gets to “feeling right.” If you wait until it all feels right, you probably won’t do much of anything…
From my perspective, each season has only looked victorious as we looked back on it. But it never feels quite right while we are going through the day-to-day activities of evangelism and church multiplication.
Ralph Moore in his great book How To Multiply Your Church.
In other words, “Just Do It.”
Are You A Transformational Leader?
Had the privilege of attending a Transformational Church seminar several weeks back with Bruce Raley from Lifeway. This list really has stuck with me ever since:
Check out the book Transformational Church by Ed Stetzer and Thom Rainer.
Church Planting on the Northshore – Update
My full report published in the Northshore Baptist Association Book of Reports for 2009-2010.
It’s been a joy and privilege to serve the Northshore Baptist Associations in 2009-2010. We’ve had a great year of plantingand harvesting. Here’s a report from several of our missions:
- Light by the Lake Filippino Mission, led by Pastor Lito Magbanua and sponsored by Northside Baptist in Slidell. Light
by the Lake has Worship Gatherings in Slidell, Kenner, Baton Rouge, Gulfport, and Mobile. They have also, recently held Worship Gatherings and conducted outreach on the property of Talisheek Baptist Church, which has been closed for almost 10 years. Contact them at 985.201.7538, lightbythelake@gmail.com, 61141 Hwy. 1091, Slidell LA 70458. - Calvary Spanish in Slidell, led by Pastor Franciso Saavedra and sponsored by Calvary Baptist in Slidell. Calvary overcame several challenges this year with Pastor Francisco’s health and issues related to their current meeting place in Slidell. Pray that God will open a door for a new location for them. Contact Pastor Francisco at 985-774-7009, 1615 Old Spanish Trail, Slidell LA 70458.
- Iglesia Cristo Redentor, led by Pastor Humberto Medina and sponsored by FBC Mandeville, celebrated their 4th Anniversary this year with 120+ in attendance. 985-626-3217, humberto@fbcmandeville.org, 1895 Hwy.190, Mandeville LA 70448.
- Cristos Para Todos, Natalbany & Grace Spanish in Folsom, led by Pastor David Prichard and sponsored by Natalbany Baptist and Grace Baptist. We are grateful for David Prichard and the incredible work he has done expanding our ministry to Hispanics on the Northshore. This year, he will be retiring and leaving behind two healthy congregations that are ready to go to the next level. Thanks Pastor David! 985-902-9947, davidpri60@charter.net, 25 Whitmar Dr., Hammond LA 70401.
- Bridge Church / West St. Tammany Mission, led by Lane Corley and sponsored by Bedico Baptist Church. Bedico sent a team of eight from its congregation to reach out to the growing communities in West St. Tammany. Bridge Church is currently meeting at the West St. Tammany YMCA, as well as leading worship gatherings at the St. Tammany Parish Jail and Oak Villa Mobile Home Park in Covington. 985.893.3922, lane@bridgenorthshore.com, PO Box 1336, Madisonville, LA 70447.
- Crossbrand Cowboy Church, led by Randy & Tammy Smith and sponsored by Crossgate Baptist Church in Robert, completed their first phase facility this year and baptized 50! Wow! They meet every Sunday afternoon and Gathering include horse back riding, rodeo, and the biggest item in their budget is Stock Feed. They are doing an incredible job reaching the population segment that wears boots and hats. More cowboy churches are needed on the Northshore in my estimation. Contact Randy and Tammy at 985-878-2699 or 985-215-8702.
- Stillwater Baptist, led by Pastor Lonnie Tucker and sponsored by Woodland Park in Hammond, renovated and moved into a new building in Hammond. They are preparing to officially constitute and become a full member in our Association. 985-340-4906, ltucker@stillwaterbaptistchurch.com, 104 Angeli Drive Hammond, Louisiana 70401.
- Jesus the Center in Slidell, led by Ramon Sams and sponsored by Calvary Baptist in Slidell, moved to a new location this year and continue to reach new people in central Slidell. Contact Pastor Ramon at 985-285-8483, rsam@bellsouth.net.
- Also, in 2010 we celebrated with two of our church plants as they constituted and moved from mission status to full membership in our Association. Congrats to Thompson Road Baptist, sponsored by Calvary in Slidell and Pastored by Randy Boyette and Crossroads Church in Hammond, sponsored by Trinity Baptist and Pastored by Asah Hudgins.
Reaching the Northshore and North America for Christ is too big a task for one church. New Church Multiplication is one of the best ways for us to work our fields to the edges. And every church can get involved. I’m looking forward to working with our new Church Multiplication Team in 2011, as we continue to glorify God by cooperating in kingdom ministries to fulfill the Great Commission.
Good Advice for Church Staff Members
Our 8-year Old Takes On the Big Bang Theory
Hey Dad, the other day I was reading this book about science and it didn’t say that God created the world. It said that it was just a bunch of gas and dust that came together and earth came out. But that don’t make sense, cause we’ve got a lot of gas and dust in our house and it doesn’t create anything.
Keeps talking…
But then I thought, who made the gas and dust?
Exactly!!! Smart kid! Like his dad I suppose…
Reminded me of this story:
A summit of scientists believed that because they now had the power to create life, God was no longer needed. So they all decided that someone should go and tell God. One man volunteered to go. One day he climbed a mountain and called upon God. “God! We humans now have the ability to bring people from the dead, we can create our own life, we don’t need you anymore so you can leave us alone.” God listened to the scientist and nodded his head. “Okay, I’ll tell you what, if you can really create life, let’s have a competition, if you can create a better person than me, I’ll go.” So the scientist agrees and begins to collect some dirt to make his person. God simply watches him and finally asks him what he’s doing. “I’m using the dirt to make a person.” God smiles, looks at the scientist and replies, “Go make your own dirt.”
A Radical Yes
Great Testimony from a recent Missions Venture from the Northshore to Romania.
what really struck me on this trip is the grip that religion has on the country. (By “religion,” I mean a set of rules that people try to follow to please God – in other words, legalism.) As I stood on a street corner waiting to catch a bus, everywhere I turned I saw churches and steeples and monuments and crucifixes and other external signs, but not much freedom or joy.
Having such a keen mind, I said to myself – this is going to take a miracle. Doesn’t it always? For example:
Donna, a 20-year-old hotel receptionist, couldn’t fathom how she could have a personal relationship with God, much less how the creator of the universe could live within her. Having been raised by a Catholic mother and a Romanian Orthodox father, she knew and agreed (intellectually) with the basics:
– yes, I am a sinner
– yes, I am separated from God because of my sin
– yes, I believe Jesus Christ is the son of God
– yes, I believe that he died on the cross to pay for my sins
– yes, I believe that he was buried and rose againBut when it came to actually vocalizing that she wanted to put her faith in Christ as her Savior and Lord – that she thereby wanted to receive the free gift of eternal life – she balked. “You can’t just say yes,” she said, “it must be a radical yes!” Amen. It takes a “radical yes!”
As we continued our discussion, Donna came to understand that the only way to have eternal life is to receive it and that the only way to receive eternal life is to receive it by faith in Jesus Christ. When this realization hit her, she said, “yes, I want to receive this free gift.” I asked her, is that a “radical yes?” She exclaimed, “YES, A RADICAL YES!”
What a great reminder from a young Romanian girl who saw the light. We are born of the Spirit as a result of God’s divine influence on our hearts, which causes us – by grace through faith – to utter in our own way a “radical yes.” And the way we are born is the way we should walk, continually responding to God with a “radical yes.”
Thomas Keiffer lives in Mandeville and serves as a Church Planter with E3 Partners. Contact him about future missions trips or speaking engagements at thomas.keiffer@e3partners.org.
A few Interesting Stats on Church & Religion in the US
From the current issue of Outreach Magazine:
- More than 25 million people in the US have never heard the Gospel (Ralph Moore, How to Multiply Your Church)
- Only 34% of adults believe in absolute moral truth (Barna).
- Only 27% of adults are confident that Satan exists (Barna).
- For most churches the largest worship attendance occurs between the 15th and 20th years of their life cycle (Gary McIntosh, Taking Your Church to the Next Level).
- 2010 growth by denominations – 1) Mormon Church, 1.71% to 6 million, 2) Roman Catholic Church, 1.49% to 68.1 million, 3) Assemblies of God, 1.27% to 2.9 million. Every other mainline denom in the US decreased (National Council of Churches).
- Every year 2.7 million church members fall into inactivity (Schaeffer Institute).
- Residents of the south make up half of all the nations small group attendees (Barna).
- 28% of Americans believe religion is old-fashioned and out of date. Up from 7% in 1958 (Gallup).
- Christian Church attendance is 2 times higher in the South and Midwest than it is in the West and Northeast (David T. Olson, The American Church in Crisis).
Interestingly enough, these #’s reported in Outreach’s Annual 100 Largest and Fastest Growing Churches in America edition. Neil Cole notes in his book Church 3.0 that almost every statistical category for evangelical life and Biblical morality and spirituality is decreasing in America except one – the growth in the number of mega-churches. Correlations? or is it only that growth of our churches is not keeping up with the national birth rate? Whatever the case, we’ve got work to do.
Paul vs. James
Touching on Faith and works this weekend at Bridge Church. Remembered these charts that I found helpful about the different motivations for the teachings of Paul and James. While Martin Luther thought James to be a “strawy epistle” and some use it to defend works based salvation, I believe they were dealing with different sides of the same coin. What is the place of works in the believers life?
Deeply Loved, Definitely Flawed
Quotes from today’s message on God’s love.
“I am more broken and sinful than I ever dared to believe and at the same time because of Jesus, I am more loved and accepted than I ever dared to hope.” – Tim Chester
“There is tremendous relief in knowing that His love is based at every point on prior knowledge of the worst about me, so that no discovery now can disillusion Him about me, in the way I am so often disillusioned about myself…” J.I. Packer in Knowing God
God’s love for you is not based on anything that you can do or not do. It’s based completely upon the work of Christ.
Message audio, notes, and discussion guide here.
Lane Corley 