Amazing Love How Can It Be

Good Friday.

Not a lot of extra words are needed today on my blog.
The bible speaks profoundly to us about today.


You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Romans 5:6-8

Today we remember what Jesus Christ did for us on the cross.
It is indeed a Good Friday.

Thank You Lord for your sacrifice.
Thank you Lord for your amazing love.

Led

I decided to make a series out of "Led". I hope you enjoy it. It is really about some things I have observed in the scriptures regarding the role of the Holy Spirit in missions. So here we go.

I have always been intrigued by how early the early church had an “issue”.

But as the believers rapidly multiplied, there were rumblings of discontent. The Greek-speaking believers complained about the Hebrew-speaking believers, saying that their widows were being discriminated against in the daily distribution of food. Acts 6:1

A solution was found

So the Twelve called a meeting of all the believers. They said, “We apostles should spend our time teaching the word of God, not running a food program. Acts 6:2

The early church leaders needed to find other capable men to help in the ministry.
Look at the criteria they chose.

And so, brothers, select seven men who are well respected and are full of the Spirit and wisdom. We will give them this responsibility. Then we apostles can spend our time in prayer and teaching the word.” Acts 6:3,4

• Well Respected
• Full of the Holy Spirit
• Wise

I heard long ago about the Four C’s on bringing on a team member. I have long sense forgotten who came up with this. Please accept my apologies. I know it was not I.
I am not that “C”reative.

I have used this before with Psalm 78:70-72

Their Character
Their Calling – A sense of “oughtnes”
Their Competency – Their abilities to get the job done

And if these “C”s check out then

The Chemistry they have with our team. Are they a good fit?

Here is a mistake that we often make. We want to know all about their competency and calling. Some organizations/churches place a huge emphasis on callings while others place a huge emphasis on their competency. BUT, it is in their Character where we see again the role the Holy Spirit plays in their life. Does the Spirit lead them? Do they exhibit the qualities of life in the Spirit resulting in the fruits of the Spirit found in Galatians 5:16-24?

I need to add an outcome after this situation was resolved.

So God’s message continued to spread. The number of believers greatly increased in Jerusalem, and many of the Jewish priests were converted, too. Acts 6:7

Europartners

Recently I met with Dominique Faessler who is the President of Europartners which is headquarterd in Wetzikon, Switzerland. I had met him several years ago in Madrid where I was involved in one of thier groups. I was able to go to his offices since I live only one hour away and we had a cup of coffee and talked for a while.

Europartners is a movement of local independent organizations in Europe. It forms the European branch of Christian Business Men's Committees (CBMC) International. You can find out more at thier site. Their vision is to see a movement of God among business and professional leaders in every nation, resulting in lasting life change that continues to multiply. They have groups in quite a few countries in Europe. One thing that I like about the organization is that they work hard to develop leaders from the host countries.

Their mission is to present Jesus Christ to business and professional people in Europe; enabling them to manage their business according to biblical principles.

Thier strategy is:

Prayer - praying and expecting the Lord to work in lives
Relationships - Building trust and friendship
Outreach- Presenting Jesus Christ and taking opportunities to witness
Visiting - Following up on people and helping them in their workplace
Investing - Spending time with people to help them discover God in their lfe
Discipleship - Helping believers to grow in Christ and join a church
Equipping - Teaching believers to apply biblical principles in their daily business

If you are working in Europe in the marketplace you may want to see if they have a group in your area.

I feel led ..

Okay. That is a bad attention grabber. I have heard that a lot over the years and I bet I have said it a few times as well.

"But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you. And you will be my witnesses, telling people about me everywhere—in Jerusalem, throughout Judea, in Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” Acts 1:8 (New Living Translation)

I have been thinking a lot lately on the role of the Holy Spirit in our mission endeavors.
Several things have probably stirred this up a bit for me. Maybe I will get to that later on in another post. But I need to start here.

We talk a lot about being a church that is in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria and the utter most parts. Some churches use that as their strategy plan for missions. But that is not my point either in this. The part that I some times leave out is the role of the Holy Spirit in mission.

As believers we have the Holy Spirit living in us.
What does the Holy Spirit do in the life of a follower of Jesus Christ?

convicts us of sin

comforts us
gives us hope
gives us boldness
and gives us direction.

These are all significant but it is the direction part that is extremely vital in mission.
“As we Go” (sidenote: This is the title of my book that I have been writing for a year but cannot seem to complete) about fulfilling the Great Commission we have the promise of the Holy Spirit to lead, guide and direct us in the church. This is pretty cool.

More soon….

life questions

This morning we took our "little girl" to Zurich to catch a plane for the states. She is spending her spring break this year visiting a couple of the schools that she has been accepted to and also trying to find a job for the summer. I cannot believe she is now 18.

As my wife and I watched her go through passport control it made me think of some questions:

• Am I really old enough to have a 18 year girl?

• Is she really going to graduate high school in June?

• Did the stock market really have to go down so much this year? Not a good year for it.

• Have I been a good steward of these 18 years that we have had with her?

Not to sound like a country song or even "cat's in the cradle" - it does not seem that long ago when we taught her to ride a bike and how to ride the metro in Madrid all by herself. Thankfully there is a Starbucks at the airport in Zurich. It is located next to the passport control and I was to ease my pain with a cafe au lait as she went to board the plane.

and to my girl.... Good luck this week. We will be praying for you.

think and act globally from day one

In the 90s I was involved in church planting in the states. I had some awesome experiences and I think God used what we did in some terrific ways.

Since being overseas from 2001 I have often wondered what would be my "do -overs" or "mulligans". I like this term in golf for it means when you hit a bad shot (for me that is quite often) then you ask for a mulligan. Some people simply take the mulligan. This is where it is good to play with someone else who is a believer (in mulligans that is).

The big "do-over" for me in church planting would be this. I would engage
our new church in missions internationally from day one. In fact this has
been our theme so far this year as we have been involved in some conferences
for church planting.

Here is where I need your help if you are willing. We are working with Lifeway Research on a
survey (it only takes 5 minutes) where we ask a series of questions for
people involved in church planting. We want to learn from church planters
about their past, current and potential involvement in global missions. We think we
can get some good information that will help us help new churches in the
future regarding missions.

If this is you, would you take a few minutes to help us with this research?
You can find the survey at www.theupstreamcollective.org

Let it Snow!

Kandern. Basel. Marsielle. Zurich. Adelboden (Switzerland). Prague . Atlanta. Birmingham. Richmond. All of these places have two things in common for me. I have been there in 2009 and it has snowed in each place while I have been there. I am sitting in Richmond Virginia this morning in mid March and it is snowing. I cannot believe it. I have always asked for a winter of snow. I think I have finally received my wish. I do not know if I will ask for it again in 2010. I may ask for beaches and sun.

I have been a real slacker in my writing lately and I am sorry. I hit the busy season of events and conferences that we have put on or spoken at. Not to mention 100’s of meetings in between. I am excited (can’t believe I am saying this) to get back into my study of German. I am also excited about some opportunities I see locally for ministry. Pray for me as some of these things unfold.

ALSO - I am very excited to be back with my wife and children.

I want to tell you about a dinner that is coming up in April that if you are attending the Exponential Church Planting Conference that I would love for you to attend. We are hosting along with Christian Associates International a dinner with Alan Hirsch and Ed Stetzer. The two guys are a couple of good friends and great speakers / authors and influencers of all things missional. I have asked them to come together to talk about the idea of planting a church together. What would it look like? What considerations would they make if they were planting a church together? What conversations would they have? If you are going to be in the Orlando area on Monday night April 20th at 6:30 pm and you want to attend this dinner please sign up at www.theupstreamcollective.org . The cost is 10.00 and that is to cover the cost of the meal.