Category Archives: Links

September 27, 2011
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“The 10 Second Rule”

(The below isn’t something I wrote–just something that really resonates with my heart.  I wanted to direct you all to this resource because of that. More info can be found by click here.) (It’s a simple rule for a revolutionary … Continue reading →

September 21, 2011
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 I recently wrote an article for Mission Frontiers.  This is an excerpt with a link to the full article.

 

Jesus bypassed the cumbersome religious structures and irrelevant worship practices of his day, and started something living and organic. The word “organic” is a good one to describe a spontaneously reproducing simple church movement because it describes something that grows naturally, without artificial additives. It consists of elements that exist together in natural relationships that make growth and multiplication possible. That is how a simple church movement grows: it is not a top down hierarchical organization, but a movement held together by people who share the same vision and values. I have observed that successful churches in the conventional church model can actually be a hindrance to a simple church planting movement.

Notice the way Jesus got the disciples exercising gifts of leadership from the outset, before they were “ready.” Jesus didn’t wait for disciples to be born again, baptized, trained theologically and supervised under a safe religious system with guaranteed controls before He was involving them in leadership. He got them out telling others about Him within a few weeks of being with Him (Matt 10:1–14). He led the movement He began from underneath, very quickly involving the disciples in leadership assignments without mentioning positions or titles. He had a radically different paradigm from that of the religious leaders of His day, and of our day as well. He was training them to lead before they were actually born again, in our evangelical understanding of what that means. After all, the journey of discipleship doesn’t start when a person comes to faith in Christ, but long before.

To keep reading, please go here.

July 28, 2011
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There is a must read post by my friend Carl Medearis on CNN about why we should stop evangelizing and start talking about Jesus. I encourage you to read it and give me your feedback. It is provocative, engaging and of critical importance. Carl makes some very important distinctions we should give serious thought to… 

Many evangelicals have turned their faith into a religion that they want others to join, which Carl believes – and I agree – is not why Jesus came to earth nor what he taught while he was on the earth. 
If more people learn to initiate spiritual conversations about Jesus that lead to mentoring people to faith in Jesus and growing in their faith with others in new faith communities, something exciting would happen on this planet. That is what we are about in All Nations. 
Carl believes Jesus transcends all religions and calls people to himself… and when they respond to him, that Jesus allows that person to grow in their relationship with him while they are still in their mother culture and religion. By staying in their religious and cultural context people are able to lead many more people to faith in Jesus; in effect they become bridges to Jesus. 
The opposite approach to staying in your context when you come to faith in Christ is referred to as “extraction” – i.e., it is best to extract people from their culture and religion. The belief behind this practice is that people will fail spiritually if they stay where they are, they are too weak; and they will compromise theologically, they are too ignorant. 
Sally and I have left people in their context when they journey to faith in Christ since we started working in the drug dens of Afghanistan and the streets of Amsterdam. We saw prostitutes and drug addicts stay where they were, grow to be powerful men and women of faith, and lead many others out of their addictions and brokenness. They didn’t continue in their sin, but they stay in relationship with those they knew and loved, their family and friends. It was hard for people, true enough, but people developed a more mature faith grounded in the culture where they came to faith. It is sad to see people lose contact with family and friends and adopt a new “Christian” culture that cuts them off from the very people God wants them to influence. 
We wouldn’t say to a banker or politician to leave their culture and vocation if they came to faith. Why? Because we believe God is big enough in this person to help them overcome temptations of greed or power and live faithfully as a follower of Jesus where they are. Yet, we immediately assume a Muslim or street person must leave their life situation. 
Church planting movements are exploding on our planet today, and one of the reasons is church planters and disciple makers have learned the power of a changed person remaining where they are to influence others for Jesus. 
In the end, it comes down to a matter of trust. Do we trust the Holy Spirit in people? Do we trust God to work in their life context? The reality is, whether we trust God or not, God is working in the lives of millions and millions of people right where they are – all over the world. 
Perhaps it is time for some of us to catch up with how God is reaching and changing people to follow His son Jesus, without them joining a religion called Christianity. Regardless, please follow this link to go straight to the CNN article by Carl Medearis if you would like to read his article and give this some more thought. 

 

February 12, 2011
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My friend, Carl Medearis, has addressed the situation in Egypt in this insightful letter. Lots to think about and pray for. Above all things. 


Dear Friend,

Ben Ali of Tunisia steps down. Hosni Mubarak of Egypt steps down. But wait…. Hezbollah take over Lebanon. Hamas gain control of Gaza (old news). The Muslim Brotherhood grows in strength. What do we make of the recent political events in the Middle East – and the ones that will come soon?

I did a radio interview yesterday with NPR and here’s what I said: A helpful, even though simplistic, paradigm to view the Middle Eastern political situation is this – there are pro-Western and pro-Eastern forces in each of these countries. Mubarak was pro-western, but totally corrupt. Fatah (Arafat’s old party) was pro-Western, but totally corrupt. Harriri in Lebanon was pro-Western, but totally corrupt. The Royal family of Saudi is pro-Western, but….you get the idea. So when the people have a say, they will overthrow the governments that are stealing their money and elect a more Islamic and pro-Eastern government. (Pro-Eastern could mean pro Syria or Iran or pro Brotherhood or Hamas).

So you might be wondering why has US foreign policy backed these corrupt governments in the Middle East? One reason with two points: they tend to provide stability! Which does two things – it allows us to extract the black gold we need to live on and the stability decreases the threats to Israel.

The next question would be – What drives US foreign policy in the Middle East? Stability. For our oil and for our friend – Israel. Is that good or bad? I don’t know – it just is. But when the people in these Arab countries have their say, they will likely ignore these US concerns. Hamas, Hezbollah and the Muslim Brotherhood will, in fact, have more say in these countries. And then we will need to think about how to deal with that.

Like me, you are probably NOT a politician. We are simple citizens seeking to follow the way of Jesus in humility and grace. We are citizens of his Kingdom… the Cross, the power of yeast, a pearl hidden in an oyster, buried treasure… The way of the Kingdom is seldom reflected in political overthrows and such. It doesn’t mean that we shouldn’t rejoice for Egyptians – we should. But we can’t be distracted by what’s happening there thinking that it necessarily reflects the Kingdom of God in that land.

Please join with me in praying for the church – the hands and feet of Jesus – in these countries. That they would have power and grace and truth. That the visible we are seeing on our TV’s would translate to the spread of God’s invisible Kingdom.

Thanks for your partnership,

carl

PS I will share two stories with you from the National Prayer Breakfast on my blog:www.carlmedearis.com/blog. Feel free to share them with others.