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.
Fun Family Reunion (Pics)
Got to spend some time this weekend with my Francis family peeps in LaSalle Parish. Roasted Hog, Good Music, Inflatable Water Slide, fun rope swing, plenty of catching up, and a little Skyping with cousin/soldier in Afghanistan. Fun Day.
“I was in prison and You came to me” Matthew 25:36
One of the goals for our current church plant in West St. Tammany Parish was to develop a sustained discipling presence at our local jail (which houses over 1,100) and to connect with their families on the outside. We have been able to walk with a group of guys through Celebrate Recovery, we’ve began a Sunday AM worship gathering at the Jail complex, we hope to launch a state approved Faith based recovery program this month, and we have seen several families of inmates plug in with Bridge Church. I have personally enjoyed being involved in these ministries and seeing the transformation in lives of men on the inside. Why? Two reasons at 10pm on Thursday night:
- The goal is community transformation. To transform a community requires a willingness to go to the dark corners with the light. What good is it, if our church grows, but the community continues to deteriorate. Reducing recidivism and bringing hope to the inmate is one way for churches to push back darkness in our communities.
- The heart of Christ – “I was in prison and You came to me.” Christ’s example to us was, whatever it takes, and that’s how he desires for us to live.
Last weekend, Bridge Church, sponsored the first ever Family Day at a local Work Release Center. It was great to see the second part of that goal coming to pass as we connected with families of inmates. It was also great to see members/partners of Bridge Church giving themselves in service to the prisoner.
Here’s part of a recent letter received at our church, written by an inmate in a local jail:
“Thank you for your part in bringing something so goo to a situation that is mostly filled with loneliness and loss and despair.”
“It is lonely here as a Christian and you coming here and bringing the Spirit you have is bitter sweet. It just magnifies the lack of it in so many others we are forced to live with. So, thank you for the time you spend with us.”
Glad to be part of a church that reflects the desire of Christ – “I was in prison and You came to me.”
Fall Ministry/Church Planting Conference Opportunities in the Southeast:
- Ridgecrest On the River, New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary, Sept 11. Focus is on Sunday School, but this year James Welch will be leading breakouts on Church Planting.
- Live Sent, Lakeland, FL, Sept 17-18 Speakers: Alan Hirsch, Jason Dukes. Cost: $25.
- Catapult Conference, Mobile, AL, Sept 22-24. Speakers: Alan Hirsch, Reggie McNeal, Mike Slaughter, Music by Derek Webb. Cost: $150.
- Principles of Church Planting and Church Revitalization Workshop @ NOBTS, Oct 18-22. Taught by Damian Emetuche. Oct 21, Gary Irby from Seattle Church Planting, will be teaching on Partnership Development, Legal & Financial issues in Church planting, Planting Opportunities in Seattle, and Q&A time. Register through the New Orleans Seminary to receive credit for the class.
- Replicate Conference, NOBTS, Oct 29-30. Speakers: Bill Hull, Tony Merida, Chuck Kelley, Tim LaFleur, Don Wilton. Cost: $59, $29 for students.
- Annual SE LA Church Planting Celebration Banquet, Friday, Nov 12. Time and place TBA.
- Exponential Conference, Orlando, FL, April 26-29, 2011. Current Registration: $99. Never too early to start prepping for the National New Church Conference in April.
Are there others?
What’s Worse than a Cat 4 Hurricane? #Katrina
In reflecting upon Hurricane Katrina, many of us realized that though our lives were devastated there were many positive effects. I can’t count the times I’ve heard from people that Katrina helped them and gave them a new outlook on life. Many admit that Katrina was an eye opener. What’s worse than a Hurricane Katrina? Sin and selfishness.
- Katrina opened my eyes to the needs around me. Sin and selfishness blinds me to the needs around me. Many people realized for the first time that they could help others and that there was joy in helping others.
- Katrina opened my eyes to my need for God. Sin and selfishness blinds me to my need for God. God’s address is at the end of our rope. Katrina brought many Gulf Coast residence to the end of our ropes. Some for the first time. That’s the beginning point for building a healthy relationship with God and others.
- Katrina brought me closer to God & others. Sin and selfishness distances me from God & others. We now know our neighbors and realize that we need them and some of us even realized that we like them!
The good news is that we don’t have to go through a Cat 4 Hurricane to have our eyes opened. We can humble ourselves, come to end of our rope, AND let go and find ourselves close to God, close to others, and making a positive difference on those in need around us. God provided a way for us to know this life through Jesus Christ (1 Peter 3:18). He suffered for us (1 Peter 2:24), taking our pain and guilt and death. My eyes have been opened as I’ve looked to Him (2 Corinthians 4:6).
Bridge Church’s First Building
Our first building is now operational. It’s not your traditional first phase building for a one year old church. It’s actually a residential mobile home located in one of the largest mobile home parks in St. Tammany Parish. Our church will not meet their regularly, but will use it as a base of ministry, allowing two ministry minded students to live there instead. As they, do life together with the park, we’re believing that Bible Studies, Worship Gatherings, ministry to families, and to those in need will blossom in the coming weeks and months.
For me, it serves as a statement about our philosophy of ministry. A more incarnational approach, taking church to the community instead of demanding that they come and find us. Multi-housing ministry experts tell us that if a church simply does outreach to a multi-housing complex, it can expect to reach 4% of the population. But if a church actually takes church to property they can reach 30%. So far, our church through outreach has had 2% of the population of this park attend our services. Through our first phase building, I’m praying for 30% +.
Thanks to our partnering church Fairview Baptist in Coushatta, for helping us obtain the mobile home.
