We need a few good men

The following was composed by my co-worker, Gary Floyd.

We need a few good men! In fact, we need a lot of men and their families.

We need a few good men. Actually, we need 180 good men. We are looking to plant 45 congregations in Region 2 which involves southwest Washington and the Olympic Peninsula. It is a mostly rural area with the major cities being Bremerton, Longview, and Olympia (state capitol). Some Region 2 communities are commuter communities for Olympia, Seattle, or Tacoma. The population of 987,337 lives in 11 counties and is mostly comprised of white, Hispanic and Native American people groups. Northwest Baptist churches reach 0.3% of the population; our goal is to impact 2.0% within ten years.

We are also looking for 45 churches outside of Northwest Baptist life who will partner with us for the long haul. Our greatest need is prayer, especially for church leaders in Region 2 to hear and respond to God’s call to multiply disciples. We also need churches to pray that God will call out four men from their church who will come and invest their lives in planting a new church in Region 2.

We are looking for men (and their wives) between the ages of 28 to 45. Four men will work to develop one church plant. These men must have a sense of call to live and work in their communities. They are men who resonate with Dr. Jeff Iorg's message in Phoenix. Some would call them bi-vocational but they are not. Bi-vocational assumes that one day a person will become totally dependent upon a ministry vocation to support their family. These men will always be seen living and working in their communities – it creates instant access and credibility. We are asking these men to commit to ten years living and working in the Northwest, planting a church that will impact at least 200 people per week and make disciples who will plant other churches.

We had a team of college students working in Silverdale, WA this summer helping us gather community data and build relationships. We will have three teams next year identifying more communities. Being able to place four men in Silverdale in the next 18 to 24 months would maximize the church planting possibilities there.

This is our ministry picture for Region 2. Any insights or observations you have would be greatly appreciated. Your prayer and partnership is invited.

Commit to faithful men who will be able to teach others

Many challenges face us as we move into the future as the network of churches we call the Northwest Baptist Convention. The staff reduction in 2012, the financial challenges we face and the necessity to change in order to effectively penetrate the lostness of our culture are among those challenges. Our partner, the North American Mission Board is sharpening its focus which has had a significant impact on the resources we receive from them and how we will use them. These realities have catalyzed the changes to our NWBC staffing. We are saddened that we will lose a team member in our region. Jon Beard brings many talents to our team and he now faces the challenge of discovering new avenues of ministry.  It is tempting to look at these challenges and changes and see only the clouds of winter. However, I have peeked into some other windows and have reason to believe that the future is bright.

I see a bright future when I look into the experience of pastors and church leaders who are pouring their lives into the lives of faithful men. (2 Tim. 2:2) The hope of the NWBC is the churches. In many of those churches, pastors are spending time with selected men, investing in them and developing leaders, who will in turn, develop others. I have sat with pastors in three separate “pastor clusters” in recent weeks and there I have discovered that many of them are meeting with groups of three, five and even ten men in their church, mentoring them and training them to become the leaders who will step up in church leadership and even step out and begin new ministries and churches that will impact our region with the gospel.  This has been one of the choruses we have repeated as our RT² has met with leaders. “Choose five men” we have challenged, and teach them to become disciples and to lead others also.

Elisha learned from Elijah, the twelve disciples learned from Jesus, Timothy learned from Paul. The Bible and church history is filled with examples of mentoring relationships that resulted in leaders developing leaders who changed the world. The future of the NWBC is in the churches, the bride of Christ. I see a great deal of hope, a bright future as pastors step up and pour their lives into faithful men who will be able to teach others also!

Why a Church Assessment?

Why should your church have a church assessment? Why do you look both ways before you cross the street?   … to evaluate where you are, where you are headed, identify any danger, and make wise decisions going forward.  An assessment is a tool that can help us evaluate and set a course for health.

There was a season in my life when I was accruing tools of all sorts. In college I accrued landscaping tools like rakes, shovels, mowers and trimmers. I was the only tenant in our grassless apartment complex with two push mowers and a riding lawn tractor. Next I gathered and assortment of mechanical tools to keep them operating. In another season I picked up a variety of power tools like saws and drills etc. Then there was the parsonage with the wood burning stove that required a chain saw and a ¾ ton pickup truck.  As a pastor I gathered a different assortment of tools. A collection of many books was followed by communication tools like a personal computer (an Apple IIC), phones, PDA’s, and upgrade after upgrade. 

As a denominational minister I have continued to tool up, to learn skills and processes that may help me do my work more effectively.  Our regional team, along with church leaders is continually learning and employing tools that will promote church health and effective disciple making.

One such tool helps us come along side your church leadership and assess the health and condition of the church. Transformational Church identifies the strengths and challenges in a local church. We can then leverage the strengths to face the challenges before us.  It just may be the right tool for the job to launch your church into a bright and hopeful future. 

Sermon Collaboration: Receiving the Gift

I am working on a message to preach on December 26th. I'm working with several texts (see list below.) I want to communicate what it means to receive a gift - perhaps to appropriate the gift. Somehow I want to communicate that to receive the Gift means so much more than taking advantage of the benefits. Instead, to appropriate the Gift means that we embrace all that we know about the Christ Gift.  

• When I receive the gift of Christ and enjoy the benefit of grace, I will also extend grace. 
• When I enjoy the benefit of love, I will extend love. 
• When I experience the benefit of forgiveness, I will also extend forgiveness.
• When I experience ...

The idea of conduit is here as well.

John 3:16 (HCSB)
¹⁶ “For God loved the world in this way: He gave His One and Only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him will not perish but have eternal life.
Romans 6:23 (HCSB)
²³ For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
John 17:11 (MSG)
¹¹ For I'm no longer going to be visible in the world; They'll continue in the world While I return to you. Holy Father, guard them as they pursue this life That you conferred as a gift through me, So they can be one heart and mind
Acts 5:31 (MSG)
³¹ God set him on high at his side, Prince and Savior, to give Israel the gift of a changed life and sins forgiven.
Acts 2:38 (MSG)
³⁸ Peter said, "Change your life. Turn to God and be baptized, each of you, in the name of Jesus Christ, so your sins are forgiven. Receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. 

What do you think? Does this resonate with you? How would you communicate this message?  I will greatly appreciate your input, whether you are a "preacher" or not. If you are still working on that after Christmas sermon, perhaps we will collaborate and share the same message on the same day. 


Please reply here so we can all benefit from the discussion.

The Culture Within

I was recently asked to respond to the question: What is the greatest challenge facing the church today? Of course there are many challenges we face. The economy continues to present a challenge as many churches have fewer resources to work with. It is easy to identify the increasingly secular bent of the society we live in, however how do you explain that other religious groups are growing such as Islam and Mormonism? They live and move in the same climate as we do.

My best answer right now is that the greatest challenge churches face is the culture. However I am speaking about the culture in our churches. There are some great stories unfolding in some churches in the Northwest, but we also recognize that there is a lot of unhealthiness as well. What is it about the culture within the church that is such a challenge?  One challenge is a need to preserve the past. We like what we did before. We may have seen success. Even if it did not bear much fruit, it is comfortable. Part of that challenge is generational. Every generation does things differently and has differing preferences. Another part of that challenge is that we are not comfortable with the people we exist to reach. We don’t think much of them. In fact, we don’t even like them.

Last August, my wife and I took a jet boat excursion on the Columbia River. As I engaged the first mate, Jeremy, he told me that he had been raised in a divided family. Half of the family was devout evangelical Christian who was fully engaged in church and even started a school. The other side of the family was agnostic. They did not deny the possibility of a god but they did not see God as personal or engaged in this world. His observation from growing up in this divided family was that the agnostic folks were kinder, more forgiving, more loving and less judgmental than the Christians. As a teenager Jeremy was totally opposed to Christians though he has become more open now (in his 20’s.)  I apologized and said I’m afraid there were times when I was that guy.

Our greatest challenge is to change the culture of our churches to reflect that we do what we do to reach the people who are not here yet; to be a people who are known for our love for one another, love or our enemies, and love for the people who have not yet received Jesus as Lord and Savior.

I know: there are bursts of light and we are making some progress, however we have a long way to go. Lord, teach us to love God, love one another and to love our neighbor.

The Incredible Power of Alignment

The San Jose mine collapse on August 5th has led to the demonstration of absolute alignment that is resulting in the rescue of the thirty three miners held captive 2000 feet below the surface of the earth. I reflect as the 4th miner is emerging from the rescue capsule. Over the past 69 days, the rescue effort has been focused on the singular purpose of saving the miners. Below the earth, the miners were focused on survival, with the belief that their co-workers would not give up on them. They were all aligned on one purpose.

Imagine how absolute alignment on a singular purpose can launch you forward in your life or in your church.

Sowing Seeds

   I look forward to this time of year because I love to watch things grow. These days I buy my fresh picked corn, but I am still watching it grow. I drove by the local field where my corn grows and was encouraged by the rows of corn plants because they represent the future; they represent the harvest we will enjoy at summer’s end. 

   We are a full year into the Strategy for Renewal of the NWBC. People ask, “How is it going?” and “What do you do now?”  The short answer is that we are working to build relationships that encourage and empower the churches toward a spiritual vitality that results in healthy churches and planting healthy churches.  We are coming along side local churches and pastors to discover together what healthy churches look like.

   How are we doing this? By sowing ideas as we come along side the pastors and ministry leaders. What does church health look like in your ministry setting? What would it look like if your church were to become a partner in planting a church, a new congregation in the next three years? How does the discipleship process happen in your community of faith? What does the path look like for a person to come to faith in Christ; grow and develop and become engaged in ministry to impact their world?  How do you develop leaders in your church setting?  

   We are seed sowing, idea planters; partners in the process; looking toward the great potential in every setting.

⁶ I planted the seed, Apollos watered the plant, but it was God who made the plant grow. ⁷ The one who plants and the one who waters really do not matter. It is God who matters, because he makes the plant grow.
1 Corinthians 3:6-7 (TEV)

   We join you in the labor of ministry where ever we have opportunity. That the gospel may advance in our territory.