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The New England Church
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I LOVE THE CHURCH IN NEW ENGLAND, AND I BELIEVE WE ARE LIVING IN A DAY WHEN THE STAKES COULDN’T BE HIGHER AND THE OPPORTUNITIES TO SHARE CHRIST AND CHANGE LIVES COULDN’T BE GREATER!
I love all the churches in New England looking to make Jesus famous one life at a time. One thing that really ticks me off (and there are only a few things:-) is when I hear someone bashing God’s Church, picking apart God’s church (not just my church, but any church that is listening to Jesus and doing exactly what He says – that’s not to say that we can’t point out sin or offer suggestions for improvement, or evaluate, how else will we get better at the mission of Jesus?); but all too often we can get caught up in criticizing the church in front of an unchurched culture – we think we are relating with the unchurched culture but we are only confirming their suspicions. A good friend of mine recently said, “What if New England is the most unreached region in the country because the church is the most divided in this region. It’s time for churches to stop competing against one another and start completing one another.” In fact we are going to partner with a ton of New England churches at the end of the summer for something called www.UnitedLove2010.com. You can check it out!
Here is what I believe about the New England Church (this is an email I recently wrote to my staff):
TheDC will reach New England for Christ because there are a handful of hardcore Christ-learners unwilling to let their neighbors, co-workers and friends die and go to hell. TheDC will reach thousands for Christ because there is a staff team willing to do whatever it takes to reach those far from God with the life altering gospel of Jesus Christ! TheDC will see hundreds of unchurched people every year follow Jesus in baptism because there is a team of committed Christ followers willing to GIVE AND SERVE AND INVITE LIKE THEY NEVER HAVE BEFORE. TheDC will experience life change through hundreds of life groups meeting in homes, pubs, clubs, cafes, and college campuses all around Greater Manchester because we believe that ongoing life change happens best in the context of authentic community.
We will change the spiritual landscape of this great city because we worship a Jesus WHO IS BIGGER THAN WE COULD EVER IMAGINE AND HE IS WORTHY OF OUR ABSOLUTE BEST IN EVERY SINGLE AREA AND HE IS UNWILLING THAT ANY SHOULD PERISH!
We will feed the poor, clothe the naked, house the homeless, and give hope to the hopeless in ways that inspire unchurched people to investigate Jesus and want to follow Him. We will not be a church that simply SPEAKS THE WORD OF GOD, BUT ALSO LISTENS TO THE CULTURE AND FINDS WAYS TO SERVE THE COMMUNITY AND REACH THE COMMUNITY WITH THE GOSPEL.
TheDC will move into buildings 100x our current size and we will see hundreds of people invite Christ into their life for the very first time because you guys REFUSE TO DWELL ON THE FEW WHO LEAVE, BUT REMAIN RELENTLESS TOWARD THOSE WHO’VE NEVER COME! Every available seat is an opportunity for life change, every filled seat is a heart experiencing Jesus!
We will find creative ways to communicate the message of Christ to a culture that is far from God and completely unchurched. We will see the most spectacular sinners be ruined by the cross of Christ and commit their lives to sharing Jesus with all those around them. We will take the gospel far beyond Manchester and start DC campuses all over New England so the most unchurched region of our country can become the most TRANSFORMED REGION OF OUR COUNTRY.
We will give and go to lands far away in order to plant network churches; why should we keep the gospel we have to just American soil, but why not bring Jesus to the ends of the earth. We will impact the poorest of the poor around our globe through partnering with remarkable Christ-centered organizations to be the hands and feet of Jesus through TheDC Global Initiative. We will send teams of DC members and life groups to serve cross culturally in places that have never heard the gospel or don’t have enough resources to keep their own children alive. We will stand for biblical justice and fight against gross injustices such as human trafficking and the sex trade.
We will help young men find freedom from porn, young girls remain pure until marriage, teenagers not to take their own life because their dad has walked out on them, marriages to turn to Christ so they will stop fighting each other and start FIGHTING FOR EACH OTHER.
We won’t GIVE UP, WE WON’T WALK AWAY, WE WON’T BACK DOWN AND WE WON’T BAIL ON THE JESUS WHO CALLED US, COMMISSIONED US, AND CAUSED US TO FIND LIFE AT THE FOOT OF THE CROSS!
We are the CHURCH OF JESUS CHRIST AND WE ARE UNSTOPPABLE!
How to Invite Your Friends to Church, Pt.2
Posted by: | CommentsSo, once we are convinced that inviting people to Jesus through the local church is what Jesus has called us to, HERE ARE A FEW WAYS TO PREPARE FOR THE INVITE:
- Pray: if we don’t pray for people to meet Jesus, then our hearts won’t ever be broken enough to actually share Christ with them and invite them to experience Christ in and through His Church. Also, if we don’t pray for boldness and courage during these times we won’t act, and that could mean someone’s eternity just went up in flames.
- Study: look to the Scriptures for your example.
- Peter provides one way of “invitation” – Peter was very in your face, sort of confrontational. Peter was great at working with “churched” people or the religious Jews (which is why he stayed in Jerusalem).
- Paul was much more strategic and intellectual – He was also skilled with the unchurched (the Gentiles). Paul knew how to become all things to all men so that some would be saved. Paul was the ultimate servant and a great multiplier of leaders.
- Stephen was the “truth teller”. Stephen got to preach one sermon then he was killed, not sure I want that evangelistic style! But Stephen also knew how to speak the truth, even when it hurt (what a great lesson we can learn from this amazing man of God).
- Philip was the “conversationist”; he was able to “slide into any conversation” and turn it towards Jesus. In this case, he meets an Ethiopian Eunuch who is reading an OT prophet and he finds a way to lead him to faith in Jesus Christ.
- James, the half brother of Jesus, was definitely a man of “faith and prayer” (He wrote a lot about in his book, James). James talks about confessing your faults to one another and praying for one another. James knew the importance of being authentic and real about your struggles if you are ever going to win this world to Jesus.
- John was the “lover”. In the gospel he wrote, he quotes Jesus saying, “By this will all men know that you are my disciples if you have love for one another.” Wow!
- So, you see there are different ways to invite people onto this journey with God…BUT THEY ALL COME BACK TO JESUS – YOU AND I CAN’T GET TO GOD EXCEPT THROUGH JESUS. Make sure your invite is ALL ABOUT LEADING PEOPLE TO JESUS. Maybe you use your intellect, maybe you find ways to serve their needs, maybe you have long caffeinated talks at Starbucks, maybe you work on projects together, maybe you have to confront and have some tough love talks – but ultimately your invite has to be all about leading people to Jesus – because only Jesus can change them, only Jesus can heal them, only Jesus can revolutionize their life and this world!
- Speak: I am all for “acts of kindness” but at some point we must attach them to a larger strategy (or intentional plan) of sharing the gospel of Jesus Christ with people and by that I mean SPEAKING THE GOSPEL INTO THIS UNCHURCHED CULTURE. “Random acts of kindness” (which I am for as well) without the expressed purpose of inviting people to hear the gospel, interface with the gospel, meet people of the gospel, or get a gift that ultimately leads them to the gospel is simply “too random” and not really that kind at all. At the end of the day, people who die without Jesus Christ really do go to hell. And our mission as the local church is to make it hard to go to hell from Manchester (in fact, its to make it hard to go to hell from all of New England because our heart is to reach new england with the gospel of Jesus Christ).
- Do: As the church we MUST feed the poor, we MUST clothe the naked, we MUST care for the fatherless and widows, BUT if we don’t ever open our mouths and SPEAK THE WORDS OF JESUS CHRIST into people’s lives then we are really doing them a disservice, because people with a fully belly still go to hell without Jesus, friends with a full wardrobe still go to hell without Jesus, families with a home still go to hell without Jesus. So, let’s not be incomplete in our spiritual mission of sharing Christ – WE MUST DO ACTS OF KINDNESS WITH THE EXPRESSED PURPOSE OF SHARING THE LIFE-ALTERING REVELATION OF JESUS CHRIST!
Tomorrow, I will share 10 PRACTICAL WAYS TO INVITE YOUR FRIENDS TO CHURCH…
Creating a Culture of Excellence, Pt.3
Posted by: | Comments3. LEADERS LISTEN TO CONSTRUCTIVE CRITICISM
If we are going to grow as leaders for Jesus then we must be willing to listen to formative feedback, or constructive criticism.
Many times the thing that keeps us from growing as leaders is PRIDE. We think we already KNOW IT, or we think we SHOULD ALREADY KNOW IT and so we don’t ASK QUESTIONS. Pride keeps us from learning from those further along.
Lots of people can provide constructive criticism, but listening to everybody will lead to insanity. Someone once said, there are two keys to insanity: trying to please everyone and trying to be understood by everyone. Bill Cosby once said, “I don’t know the secret to success, but I can tell you the secret to failure, TRY TO PLEASE EVERYONE.
Although, we can’t please everyone we must find a few trusted mentors and peer leaders that we can lean on, listen to, and be led by during times of pressure, growth, and conflict. Ed Young Jr says, “Conflict + Change = Growth”.
IF WE WANT TO GO TO THE NEXT LEVEL, THEN WE MUST PUT OURSELVES AT THE FEET OF THOSE ALREADY AT THE NEXT LEVEL.
SWALLOW YOUR PRIDE AND LEARN FROM THOSE FURTHER AHEAD OF YOU. As church leaders we REALLY ARE ON THE SAME TEAM. It is time for churches to stop competing and start completing one another!
Seriously, if you don’t know any pastors or church leaders who model this Christ-like attitude here are a few: AnthonyMilas.net, BuddyCremeans.com, JoshuaGagnon.com, PerryNoble.com, MacRichard.com, and Rob Willis. Now, as a young church planter and pastor, this should be easy for me to do, but it still isn’t. But I am a HUGE IDIOT if I don’t submit myself to other great men of God such as these.
For those who have been in ministry longer than me (I have been pastoring for over a decade now) it only gets harder to learn from others because you think you know everything, and the truth is, YOU DO KNOW A LOT; BUT LEADERSHIP ISN’T JUST KNOWING; IT IS BEING. AND YOU CAN ONLY PICK THAT UP THROUGH CONVERSATIONS, NOT CONFERENCES.
IF WE ARE GOING TO GROW AS A FAITH COMMUNITY & LEADERSHIP TEAM THEN WE MUST FIND CONSTRUCTIVE WAYS TO SPEAK TRUTH INTO EACH OTHER’S LIVES. Teams that grow faster and go further are teams that have committed to “speaking truth in love into each other’s lives” (even when it hurts).
THE AREAS WE NEED TO HEAR TRUTH ARE THE AREAS WE USUALLY PUSH BACK ON TRUTH.
