Fridays are for Friends & Family 09.25.09

Friday is here, and with it my weekly review of some of the things I’ve come across on the web. This week I’ve been blogging on The Upstream Collective’s JetSet Vision Tour of Asia, headed up by Ed Stetzer and Larry McCrary. While there, Stetzer released a post on his site that transcends the work of just this vision trip. It’s a challenge to “missional” (self-designated) churches that are not involved in global missions. Stetzer’s article suggests ways to correct this “great omission,” as well. You can read his article by clicking here.

A unique time is lining up in my tribe, the Southern Baptist Convention, with the announced coming retirements next year of Morris Chapman (Executive Committee) and Jerry Rankin (IMB), along with the previous resignation of Geoff Hammond (NAMB). Ronnie Floyd, chairman of the Great Commission Resurgence Task Force says the presidential search committees should be mindful of the GCR group as they deliberate future leadership in their organizations. You can read his comments in the Florida newsjournal, the Baptist Witness, by clicking here.

Shaun King, planter/founding pastor of Courageous Church in Atlanta, Georgia, posted an excellent article this week on “10 Free Resources for Church Planters,” on his website. He states, “these 10 FREE resources have helped me lead @Courageous more than any gadget we’ve purchased.” It’s an article every church planter should read. Check it out on his site by clicking here.

Heads up, if you live in the Baltimore/DC area! Catalyst One Day is coming our way. This popular “road trip” tour will be in our area at Grace Community Church, Fulton, Maryland, on November 16. The keynote speakers will be Andy Stanley and Craig Groeschel. Church planters and missional pastors will want to get to this event, if at all possible. You can register by going to their website by clicking here and possibly win a Kindle, too!

My daughter, Sarah, has continued to have new writing opportunities in her work. During the summer she was published in a couple of newspapers in Surrey and with an online news source. Now she’s got an article in her own university’s online school newspaper. You can check out the article here, dealing with nursing student aid and other programs that have been cut in the British Columbia province.

Finally, my favorite sports team, the Boston Red Sox, will clinch a playoff berth sometime in the next few days; the Yankees already have. They play each other this weekend in what could be a preview of the upcoming playoffs. The Boston Globe’s Nick Cafardo suggests five things each team can work on as they prep for the postseason in an photo-journalism piece online today. You can check his ideas out here...and GO, SOX!!!

Reaching those Around the World without Jesus

How do you reach the people of this Taiwan with the Gospel? How do you get beyond the darkness of religion to reveal to them the Light of the World? The key is indigenous contextualization and intentional witness.

Check out this video with Ed Stetzer interviewing Pastor Chen about the ministry of evangelizing Taiwan with the Good News.

The Upstream Collective continues to expose church planters and pastors to the global need of the Gospel and ways that you and I can be directly involved in supporting people and churches like those mentioned in this video. Maybe God’s calling you to help out in Asia, or perhaps, another part of the world.

Pray. Ask the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into the harvest field. Then talk to The Upstream Collective about how you could partner with them in this effort.

Religion is not a Relationship

Have you ever visited an Asian country? If you have, you know that the way life is lived is different from what we here in America experience. Taiwan is one such place.

American missionaries have had a large presence here for many decades. However, the country is far from Christian! People in Taipei, the largest city in the nation, are extremely religious, but their hearts are far from God. They substitute all kinds of things for a relationship with the King. The sad reality is that many of them don’t even know that the Almighty God sent His Son to die on their behalf to rescue them from religion and give them a relationship with him. Check out this video on the spiritual state of Taiwan from The Upstream Collective.

Amazing, isn’t it?

“U.S. Christians spend more on dog food than they do on global missions.”

Wow.

What does that say about us?

Open Your Eyes to the Possibilities

Missions is at the heart of the Great Commission. “Make disciples of all people groups,” Jesus said (Matthew 28.19). Taking the message to the peoples of the world requires determination, commitment and obedience. The motivation to do the same requires more; it requires love, the love Christ demonstrated for all humanity while He walked upon this earth.

Because of this, I have always been passionately involved in missions. I’ve served with a missions agency off and on over the past 30 years and have personally embarked on missions trips to continents across the oceans to the east and to the west. So when I see church planters and pastors who are eager to get involved directly in missions endeavors themselves, it excites me. Why? Because I know that not only will their lives be changed forever for the better; I also know that the Kingdom will grow because someone put the love of Christ above comfort and convenience.

That’s why I’m so excited to be a part of the blogging team of commentators for The Upstream Collective’s JetSet Vision Trip in Asia. I’ve known Larry McCrary for the past decade and Ed Stetzer several years longer than that. I know their hearts for the unreached peoples of the world. And I know that the hunger of their hearts is for you and me–for the church today–to share the vision of Christ for a lost and dying world. “Open your eyes and look at the fields,” Jesus said, “for they are white to harvest” (John 4.35). When you do, then you will begin to see the possibilities!

What are the possibilities, you ask?

Possibility #1: You’ll learn about how God is at work in the world beyond your arena. You’ll realize that the Spirit has gone before you to convict people of sin, righteousness and judgment. You’ll see the evidence of God cultivating receptive hearts, eager to hear the message of Good News. You’ll discover the transforming power of Christ in the lives of native believers, who are often “laying it all on the line” for our Savior and Lord.

Possibility #2: You’ll learn what Satan is doing to try to thwart the Kingdom and our King. Obstacles and hindrances abound. The darkness of sin engulfs many. False religion is everywhere. Hopelessness overwhelms individuals. Ignorance of God’s love and provision in Jesus is plentiful. This enemy must be confronted with the Light of Life!

Possibility #3: You’ll recognize that you have a part to play in the unfolding drama of eternity. Every believer has within him or her the Spirit of Christ and the transforming, resurrection power of the Gospel! Each of us has received the call of God to “go and tell.” Some of us need to tell our neighbors or co-workers. Some of us, though, need to go overseas with a group like The Upstream Collective to see the needs and to reach people who may not ever hear the Gospel unless you and I are willing to go.

How are you going to be involved in the harvest of God?

Through the next week, join me as we “virtually” experience the work of God through missionaries and fellow church planters and pastors as they travel the streets of Asia. As you do, listen! Hear the voice of God as He calls out, “Whom shall I send and who will go for Me?” (Isaiah 6.8). And be ready if and when He calls to respond, “Here am I; send me!“

Fridays are for Friends & Family 08.28.09

Another week has come and gone, and what a week it has been! A couple of months ago I posted about the student missionaries with whom I served in New Hampshire in the summer of 1977. I have continued to “find” more of these colleagues over time; in fact, only four remain undiscovered to date: Valerie Brewer from Mississippi, Debbie Johnson from Maryland, Billy Redford from Georgia and Charlie Westbrook from Oklahoma.

(I'm @2nd table on left)

In the meantime, this week I traveled to Nashville to participate in the new  ”invitation only” Church Planting Leadership Network. The group of about twenty or so leaders representing multiple evangelical denominations included the leaders of the groups responsible for more than half of all of church plants in America annually. Ed Stetzer has written about the group meeting on his blog and you can read what he wrote here and download any of the presentations that were shared with us as well.

So, while I was in the Nashville area, I had the opportunity to “catch up” with two of my former colleagues: Michael Hogue and Christy Brendle. It was great to hear what’s been happened in their lives over the past 32 years since we last saw each other! God has really been doing some marvelous things. Thanks Michael and Christy, for the chance to visit and hear about your families and your lives!

AND if that was not enough, I discovered in this investigative journey that our ‘boss,” the pastor who supervised us that summer at the Agape-In in Hampton Beach, New Hampshire, also lived just a half-hour outside of Nashville. So, Monday night I was able to travel over to fellowship with my first ministry supervisor and pastor for whom I ever served on staff, Rev. William T. (Brother Bill) Jenkins. He and his wife, Hellen, along with daughter Janet, reminisced with me into the wee hours of the morning. What fun it was; serendipitous and meaningful for me like few other experiences in my life.

Thank you, Father, for this special moment in time.

Fridays are for Friends & Family 08.21.09

It’s the end of the week and time again for another “Friends & Family” edition! This week we begin in church planting with one of my colleagues of whom I have the utmost respect, Bob Roberts. Bob, who pastors NorthWood Church in Keller, Texas, recently blogged on “The Shape of Theology” in his own life and how it both affects his behavior and worldview as a church planter and trainer of other church planters. It’s a must read for every new church starter! Check it out here.

Speaking of theology (and social media), Leonard Sweet, author of so many thought-provoking books and articles (Soul Tsunami was a life-changer for me; thanks, Len), recently became a “Twitter-er,” and as is typical with Sweet, he jumped in with both feet and got quickly involved. He recently posted on his site an article that is definitely worth the read in regards to this:  “Twitter Theology: Five ways Twitter has changed my life and helped me be a better disciple of Jesus.” You can get to it from here.

Ed Stetzer on his blog recently interviewed Steve Addison, the Director of Church Resource Ministries (CRM) Australia, and author of a new book, Movements that Change the World. According to Ed Stetzer, Steve “is called to encourage church planting movements around the world and is therefore a student of the history of movements that spread the gospel.” Steve’s book focuses on the five common characteristics found in these historical movements that have had such far-reaching impact. You can read about the book and the movements it studied by going to Stetzer’s site from here. By the way, this book is published by Missional Press, the same company who published our book PlantLIFE, as well.

Web Picture of the Week

Speaking of Dr. Stetzer, I believe he was the one who posted this picture earlier in the week of a chapel service many years ago at Southwestern Seminary in Fort Worth, Texas. Can you tell who it is?

That’s right; Mr. Purpose-Driven himself, Dr. Rick Warren of Saddleback Church in California.  Wow; great picture…

Finally, this week is the LAST CHANCE for my Boston Red Sox to stay in the Eastern Division race of the American League. A pivotal three game series with the Yankees starts tonight at Fenway Park in Boston. After losing all four games last week in the Bronx, the Red Sox must sweep this series or be banished to fight for the “Wild Card” through the rest of the year. As you can see, I’m not ready to write them off, just yet; after all, they’ve won eight games in the series this year to only four for the Yankees. You can read about the series and watch a video preview here. Will they do it? Stay tuned. It all starts tonight at MLB.TV.

Saturday is for Dan Kimball’s Hair, Friends & Family

Well, I wasn’t able to post this yesterday as intended, so I’m going ahead and pretending that today is Friday…only better! And since Dan Kimball is coming to be with us here in Columbia, Maryland next Tuesday, I thought I’d start with a focus on him.

Ever seen anyone get their hair cut in a church service? Well, Dan Kimball has done that and in fact, he posted an article about it on his own blog this week. Click here to read it. If you know anything at all about Dan, you probably know that his “hair” is kind of “a signature” item in his personna (my opinion, not necessarily his). But he has also used haircuts, among other things, to share his faith in Christ with unchurched and unreached people.

Dan’s student colleague and common friend, David Phillips, has posted several items about Dan on his blog over the years. In fact, David and Ed Stetzer have had some fun at Dan’s expense, too. Here’s a picture David created to envision Ed with Dan’s haircut. You can read Dan’s blog where he calls Ed out by clicking here. Hmmm, I’m not so sure rockabilly hair works for you, Ed.

In weightier issues, Stetzer chimed in on multisite churches this week in a significant way. As Ed points out “everybody’s talking about multisite these days.” You can see what Ed thinks, along with Alan Hirsch, and numerous commenters, by clicking here.

On other matters, Joel Rainey, author of Planting Churches in the Real World, posted an interesting item on his blog this week. He declares he’s figured out the “One Vice Guaranteed to Kill a New Church.” You can read about it here.

My wife, Joye, posted a new item on her blog this week about our children and a vacation trip we made to the Magic House in St. Louis. It delves into the issues of truth and shadow in life. Check it out here.

And finally, since it is Mother’s Day weekend, here’s a YouTube video about mothers that I have enjoyed. I hope you do too. Until next week…

Greatest Hits: Year One

Today we celebrate the one year anniversary of the start of this blog, “Moving at the Speed of God.” MSG has been an attempt to do several things: to share some of my story and learning (especially from the Scriptures), to help you see the ministry lessons in real life (often found in sports analogies) and perhaps most of all, to challenge our thinking on church and church planting issues.

We began this blog at our organization’s website, http://bcmd.org/church-multiplication as “David Jackson’s blog” on the Ministry Resources Guide and two weeks later moved it to the current WordPress site. From very humble beginnings (the stats page says we had only 28 “hits” in May last year) to being acknowledged by at least one aggregate SBC blog website as one of the 64 blogs important enough to be included in their March Madness event, my journey with the blog has been exciting and enjoyable. Thanks for your participation and dialogue here with me!

So without further ado, here are the highlights from year one.

Most Viewed Post from “Monday Morning Rewind.” Monday Morning Rewind has been a regular addition for much of the year. It is a weekly post that shares my sermon notes from the previous day’s message.  Take a Look in the Mirror on Matthew 7.1-6 on March 30 from my series on the Sermon on the Mount caught the most interest from visitors.

Most Viewed Post from “Fridays are for Family & Friends.” Another regular week post is my FFF each week. The post on Friday the 13th, Fridays are for Friends & Family 03.13.09 with our BCM/D recruiting video, my daughter’s first sports writing attempt (hockey, no less!) , Dr. Lee’s podcast forecasting the future and church plant Iron Hill in New Castle, Delaware, were highlighted.

Most Viewed Post on a News Item. The inauguration of our new President earlier this year garnered a great deal of attention. However, it was Rick Warren’s involvement, both before the event and as a result of the event, that impacted those who came to my site. Rick Warren’s Invocation at the Inauguration was the most interesting news item I posted for viewers this year.

Most Viewed Post on a Sports Item. Most readers here at MSG know that I’ve a big New England sports fan (Red Sox, Patriots, Celtics). However, it wasn’t any of my articles about these teams that attracted your attention. More than any other, the post about Tim Tebow and the National Collegiate Football Championship Game was read by you.

Most Viewed Post on a Live Blogging Event. BCM/D Annual Meeting: The Pastor’s Conference with Ed Stetzer. Dr. Stetzer attracts a lot of attention whereever he goes to speak. So when he came to our Annual Convention and was the focal speaker at our Pastor’s Conference, my live blogging of that event caused a large spike in viewership both here and at my Twitter account.

Most Viewed Post on Church Planting. The publication of my book PlantLIFE: Principles and Practices in Church Planting by Missional Press received more hits than any other post dealing with church planting all year.  Why Student Ministers Make Good Church Planters is less than a month old post but is a fast-gaining runner-up in this category.

Most Views of Any Post All Year: Surprisingly to me, my 25 Random Things about Me post–essentially just a “cut and paste” job from the Facebook phenomenon last year–has been the most viewed post in the history of MSG!

Most Ignored Post All Year. This post, a very early addition to my blog, reflected on an observation by Alan Hirsch that I actually heard him repeat last week at the Exponential Conference. I have found his thought on this challenging and troubling at the same time. If you missed it, you can read Remove the Queen here.

Most Comments on a Post All Year. There have been a flurry (by MSG standards) of comments to Why Student Ministers Make Good Church Planters since it came out last month. Most of them have been by student ministers actually with some great observations and questions of their own.

Most Searched Item All Year. Ever wonder what people search for on a blog? Well, here they searched primarily for 25 Random Things about Me. Paul Harvey and the rest of the story was a distant second.

Most Referrals to My Blog All Year. Far and away, I received the most referrals (source which led others to this blog) from my Facebook account. But when it comes to other blogs, Wally Yocum’s soundofhearts.blogspot.com has had more visitors click through to my site than any other source.

Most Interesting Notice of My Blog. The inclusion of MSG in the SBC Voices Blog Madness was unexpectedly and humbling. While I am pretty sure I was the last addition to the contest (out of 64 blogs) and I didn’t make it into the second round, I was honored to be included, especially in my first year of posting.

Most Click Throughs. More people clicked through my site to My Twitter account than any other. When it came to my blogroll, more click throughs went to my wife’s site, Planting Home. Joye also serves our organization as our Church Planters Spouse and Family Coordinator.

Most Click Throughs to a Photo. This one stumps me. Of all the pictures I have posted on my site, the one that has attracted the most hits is this picture from a worship experience last year at the North American Mission Board’s Summer State Leadership Meeting.

Most Click Throughs to a Video. The video which has been viewed the most this year through my site has been Our Mid-Atlantic Church Planting Recruiting Video.

Biggest Surprise of the Year. The top two posts in terms of number of hits dealt with me personally: 25 things and about me. I certainly didn’t expect that! But I guess it goes to show that people are not just interested in other thoughts; they are interested in the person connected to them.

So thanks to all of you who have journeyed here over the past year. You’ve made the adventure more enjoyable and satisfying. Here’s to year number two, with hopes that it will be more meaningful, interactive and engaging for us all.

Exponential ‘09 – Day One

I arrived in Orlando Monday morning with my compatriot, Rolando, for the first of four days gathering with a few thousand of the best and brightest church planting leaders from around America. Yes, there are others here too, from the far reaches of the globe, especially since the theme for the week is “The Art of Reproducing Movements.”

We spent much of the day in sessions called “The Idiot’s Guide to Church Planting.” (I know, it seems like type-casting, but I actually chose this track…it seems appropriate.) Led by Vince Antonucci and some administrative experts that have worked the details of church planting in other Virginia settings, the group shared basics essential to effective church planting. It was basically a “basics 101″ type course. Vince did a great job telling his story and focused on how to make sure that evangelism is built into the DNA of every church plant. This is a much needed subject, and in fact, he also seems concerned that so many churches are being started in America and yet, less people are involved in church that a decade ago. His interpretation (and I agree) is that new churches are mostly just reaching other “churched” people who are changing churches, instead of reaching lost people without Jesus–an unfortunate and usually unintended result.

The last two hours of training yesterday were “what” and “how to” details to basic church planting preparation and implementation. Personally, I found it boring and unnecessary, but it may be my experience and perspective speaking. For many who were taking lots of notes, it was obviously helpful.

Last night, Rolando and I went to a dinner meeting hosted by the Upstream Collective, a European church planting initiative. Ed Stetzer and Alan Hirsch were the guests and answered questions that the crowd of 100 or so had submitted previously. Most dealt with missiology, multi-site and missional church (more about this is a subsequent blog post). They were very thought-provoking and challenged a lot of assumptions dealing with church planting models and philosophical underpinnings that are commonly used in America today. It was well worth the investment of time and energy.

Tuesday promises more of the same, with John Burke, Erwin McManus and others on the docket for the sessions ahead. More from Orlando soon…

Fridays are for Friends & Family 03.27.09

Well, we’ve made it to Friday again, friends, and you know what that means: a trip around the web to see what’s been happening elsewhere.  This week’s trip will be more serious than most.

In recent weeks there has been a focus by other bloggers on what’s been happening within my own denomination, the Southern Baptist Convention. There’s far too much being said to cover in one post, so I’ll just list a number of links that have been garnering attention in my world.  By far the “hottest” name in the blogosphere on this topic this week has been Michael Spencer, aka Internet Monk, who has written a two-part commentary on SBC decisions and consequences in Avoiding Death by Nostalgia (part 1) and the follow up article, entitled A Great Commission Resurgence (part 2) .

Dr. Alvin Reid of Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary recently posted a timely and discerning post that I have said elsewhere needs to be read by everyone within my denomination. It is entitled “I Have a Problem” and can be found by clicking here.

Baptist21, another noteworthy blog, recently posted a two part series that speaks to the concerns of younger generation Southern Baptists. Entitled “3rd Generation Conservatives in the Southern Baptist Convention” (part one) and again in a subsequent article (part 2).

My own friend and colleague David Phillips on his blog wrote a response to the Internet Monk regarding a previous article suggesting the coming collapse of evangelicalism. In that article Phillips suggests implications for the SBC if iMonk’s predictions turn out to be true. You can read about his comments in “If iMonk is right, What does the SBC Look Like?” here.

And finally some hopefully good news: Ed Stetzer of Lifeway Research is referenced in an article found in USA Today yesterday, suggesting that the SBC has the opportunity to be more evangelistic in the coming years because the people of our society are not as opposed to us sharing our faith as we’ve previously thought. That article can be found here. This is encouarging, since the SBC’s purpose and heartbeat for decades–maybe from its very inception–has been evangelism and missions.

It’s time to recapture our founders’ vision and focus on the mission. It’s the only way our denomination will once again thrive in coming years.

What do you think?