JJS: Contextualizing Contextualization

The Rev. Jason Stellman, an erstwhile Calvary Chapel church planter and contributor to The Blog Of Which We Do Not Speak and current minister in good standing with the Presbyterian Church in America, has written a short but very spot-on critique of the whole “we gotta contextualize the Gospel” mindset here.

On Small Churches

Great article by Chuck Warnock here.

Let's face it: small churches, like Rodney Dangerfield, get no respect. Or at least very little. Small congregations typically are viewed as stodgy, dead, or sick—that last one according to a very prominent church consultant who will remain anonymous.

I am sure we could find small churches that would live up to each of those perceptions. But I have also seen larger churches exhibit the same characteristics. Why is it, then, that small churches get such a bad rap? Numbers. Small churches don't have the numbers to validate their success, and our culture is all about numbers, even in ministry.

Here's an example: last year a prominent denomination offered a "small church" conference. Just offering a small church conference was a minor miracle, but guess who was asked to speak? You guessed it—large-church pastors. The clear message to those small-church pastors who attended was, "Come to this small church conference and we'll teach you how to make your small church into a big church.

Great article. Go read it.

Measuring Success

Chris Elrod hits a homer here.

Leadership is for Sissies

Okay; I just grabbed a second to catch up on my blog reading - it's been a wild whirlwind of a month, trying to juggle the church and my day-job-to-support-my-habit so that I can keep diapers on my boy, so I haven't had much time to do much of anything else.

Oh, except for reading a lot; you get to do that on planes & in hotel rooms & stuff.  While I don't mind TV (after all; hockey season's coming up), I vastly prefer to read. So my "extra-cirricular" entertainment reading has been stuff by Jack McDevitt (sci-fi writer; I just finished Eternity Road and Infinity Beach, both of which were just flat-out awesome), Robert Charles Wilson (his book Spin - oh...my...goodness was it good... Probably the best speculative sci-fi I've read in a very, very long time; I can't wait until the sequel is released in e-book format), Peter Hamiltion (The Dreaming Void - sequel series to the Commonwealth Saga and set 1500 years after the events in Judas Unchained - Pete's perhaps my favorite modern author, with McDevitt a very close second), Stephen Baxter (light on character development, but loooooooooooong on plausibility and taking our current cosmological and physics understanding to the limit - great speculative fic, Vacuum Diagrams was a great summary of the truly epic sweep of his Xeelee Sequence) and others.

But other than that, I haven't had time for much of anything else.

So after a discipleship meeting this morning with a great brother, I fired up my blog reader, and found this absolutely awesome pearl over on The Blog Of Which We Do Not Speak which I think succinctly describes the critical key differences between "leadership" (which so very many in the Growthinista camp are all a-goo-goo over) and servant leadership - which is a very exceedingly different sort of thing altogether.

LeaderMan: Wants a platform on which to say something

Servant Leader: Has something to say

———–

LeaderMan: You almost feel you know his family, because he’s your Leader

Servant Leader: You allow him to influence you, because you know his family

———–

LeaderMan: Wants you to know he’s a Leader

Servant Leader: You’re not sure he knows he’s a leader

———–

LeaderMan: Loves the idea of the Gospel, and the idea of The Church

Servant Leader: Loves God and the actual individual people God brings across his path

———–

LeaderMan: A great speaker, but self-described as, “Not really a people person.”

Servant Leader: Makes himself a people person

———–

LeaderMan: Helps you find where God is leading you in his organization

Servant Leader: Helps you find where God is leading you

———–

LeaderMan: Gets together with you to talk about his vision

Servant Leader: Just gets together with you

———–

LeaderMan: Resents “sheep stealing”

Servant Leader: Doesn’t get the “stealing” part, since he doesn’t own anyone to begin with

———–

LeaderMan: Wants the right people on the bus

Servant Leader: Wants to find the right bus for you, and sit next to you on it

———–

LeaderMan: Shows you a flow chart

Servant Leader: Shows you his whole heart

———–

LeaderMan: A visionary who knows what the future looks like

Servant Leader: Knows what your kitchen looks like

———–

LeaderMan: If it’s worth doing, it worth doing with excellence

Servant Leader: Not exactly sure how to even calculate “worth doing”

———–

LeaderMan: Talks about confronting one another in love

Servant Leader: Actually confronts you in love

———–

LeaderMan: Impressed by success and successful people

Servant Leader: Impressed by faithfulness

———–

LeaderMan: Invests time in you, if you are “key people”

Servant Leader: Wastes time with you

———–

LeaderMan: Reveals sins of his past

Servant Leader: Reveals sins of his present

———-

LeaderMan: Gives you things to do

Servant Leader: Gives you freedom

———–

LeaderMan: Leads because of official position

Servant Leader: Leads in spite of position

———–

LeaderMan: Deep down, threatened by other Leaders

Servant Leader: Has nothing to lose

I absolutely love this list, and I'm printing it out and framing it in what passes as my office to be a continual reminder.

I have no time - or patience - for "leadership."

So go to all the seminars and coaching networks and hoedowns and interpretive finger painting classes as you'd like.

But in my opinion: "Leadership" (as it is currently defined and as is currently all the rage) is for sissies.

A must-read

In this blogpost, a church planting pastor bares his heart, and in the process offers a resounding critique of modern American Christianity® Inc.

HT: Vee

Things They Tell Church Planters That Are Simply Wrong

...aka, "Open Letter to the Growthinistas, Pt. 1.875."

One of the things that I believe strongly in is reading/listening to dudes I don't already agree with.  I like reading fellow Calvary pastors' stuff - and I do.  But I need to read the stuff from other streams that I'm not directly a part of, for two major reasons:

1. To fight the natural tendency towards provincialization in thinking that happens when one drinks from his own bathwater, intellectually speaking, and, close on the heels of the first reason:
2. To be challenged in my thinking. I already agree with myself; because it's simple human nature to have blind spots in our thinking, and by definition we can't see our own blind spots, it's a great habit to get into to read/listen to/interact with as broad a range of thinking as possible to constantly challenge your presuppositions, and hopefully thereby identify and deal with those blindspots.

Being that I'm no friend of Emergent, I specifically choose to read as much of their stuff as possible (by the way - not for the purpose of proving them wrong; if that's the motive, stop; you're not thinking, you're reacting - and besides, the ECM is hugely self-defeating anyway), and one of the ECM sources I like to read is the Next-Wave e-zine.

Next-Wave is a great resource; it's a mostly-regular online publication where ECMmers contribute mercifully short articles on subjects near and dear to the Emergent heart.  (I say "mercifully short" because, due to the inherent limitations of articular writing, they're largely forced to actually focus their thoughts, eschewing their habitual obfuscatory grandiloquence, and for the most part restricting their wonted overuse of bromidic ECM catchphrases like missio dei, neo-monastic, and incarnational...zzzzzzzzzzzzzzz...)  I try to read it whenever it's updated; in doing so, I have shaken my head in mystified disbelief more than once, chuckled at the apparently not-obvious-to-them pretentiousness of it all just about every time...and been deeply challenged on more than a few occasions.

I have also read stuff that I have, to my deep and abiding shock, been 100% in agreement with.

Honestly...didn't see that one coming.

It turns out, however, that many ECMmers actually have some good stuff to say; some of it is even marginally orthodox.  You can imagine my surprise.

This month's issue deals with "Church Pirates" - you know, the kind that Ed Young knows and loves.

...or, wishes he didn't know and doesn't love too much.

...or...whatever.

But tucked away in this month's missive (and I haven't read all of it yet) is a gem of an article by a Vineyard church planter, titled Things They Tell Church Planters That Are Simply Wrong.  It is, incidentally, simply right.

He comments on some of the things he's heard as a church planter that have proven to be out-of-kilter with what is truly true.  Things like:

• It's all about Sunday (hint: no it's not)
• If it's not working, your signage or location is wrong
• What counts is attendance, baptism and signups for membership class (hint: Jesus leaves the ninety-and-nine to minister to the one - what about that, eh?)
• For the first two years, work as hard as you can without burning out
• The goal of every pastor should be to be full-time paid (wouldn't that be nice... ;D )
• Some people are just scaffolding people
• Gather a crowd first, figure out who the disciples are later

This is a stunningly good article by a brother I probably wouldn't agree with much on...but who apparently loves Jesus and "gets it" when it comes to a true Kingdom (not kingdom-building) viewpoint.

I give it eleven thumbs up.

Session 2 - Bob Caldwell

• It's amazing what an environment of faith,
  love, and truth can do.


• We limit ourselves to ourselves too much.


• Paul had a heart of great boldness in God,
  but with great conflict.




• The people who had wanted his help style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'>initially, turned on him & lit
  into him


• "The last time I was sent somewhere
  by God, I got my head kicked in!"


• ...but is it worth it?


• ...it is if you're called.




• Can't look back - keep fighting through style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'>for the sake of the people God called
  you to.


• Conflicts are part of the ball game - they
  don't go away.


• "If you think about it, most of us
  (pastors) just aren't all that sane."


• The devil would love you to
  "play church."


• Satan hates your guts.


• Conflict is a gift - it's a great purifier
  - it will either crush us, or draw us to the Lord.


• This isn't heaven - so get up & fight


• "We have been approved by God to be
  entrusted with the Gospel" - & that's wat drove Paul on.


• Am I seeking to please God...?


• If I'm seeking to be approved, I style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'>will
  be tested.




• Everything I want to trust in I want to be
  tested


• What's more powerful, more important than
  the Gospel?




• Does the Gospel own my heart...?


• My relationship with this Book (the Bible)
  is a heart thing.


• I would rather teach a small little sermon
  that had real faith than a fancy one with sophistication that draws men to
  my
  imagined greatness.


• Don't despise the day of small beginnings.




• That Bible study for 5 people is just as
  important to God as one for 5000




• What is it that's holding me back?




• Does the Lord have my heart, or have I
  let it grow cold...?




• A local church, to not labor in vain, I
  must have a mother's affection for the people.




• Does my son ever thank me for changing
  his diapers?


• ...see how this applies to the ministry?


• It's not about being appreciated - and I
  probably won't be




• Pastors have to be "non-quitters"
  - but also gentle.


• God would fan the flame of someone who was
  about to go out.


• There are many bruised people - treat them
  with gentleness, not brutality.




• We can't be too busy not to cherish the
  people & be gentle.


• Chuck seems to love everybody - style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'>even
  the bruised.




• Give not just the Gospel, but my style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'>life,
  too




• When you give your heart to people, yoire
  going to get hurt.


• Paul wasn't a disconnected professional.
  Many of the people you give your life for won't like you.




• style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'>Do it anyway style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Tahoma;mso-fareast-font-family:Tahoma'>.
  






• Fathers invest in their kids and don't
  expect anything in return.


• The Gospel is what it's about - not me.

Open Letter to the Growthinistas, Pt. 1.75

Okay, I don't care who you are...THIS is funny...

HT: Vee @ Living Journey

Ten Things I Like About Chris Elrod

Alrighty, then. For starters, a confession: The title of this blogpost was originally going to be a take off of the Ten Things I Hate About You movie... but I can only think of one thing I hate about Chris Elrod:

THINGS I HATE ABOUT CHRIS ELROD
• I am not him. Darn it.

...so that title wouldn't have really worked.

Oh, well...

Chris's latest blogpost, Ten Things I'm Learning is good. Really good.

Darn it.

"Leading The Small Church"

On the subject of Big Churches vs. small churches vs... really small churches...

A good comrade-in-arms on the frontlines of ministry, Jim Bomkamp of Calvary Chapel Green Bay, e-mailed me several months ago with an offer. He'd found a book that had really revolutionized his view of ministry & pastoring small churches.

"Dude," he said to me, "if you'll read it, I'll buy you a copy and send it to you."

"Sure," I replied. "I'll read it."

"No, dude, I'm serious; I'll send it to you if you'll read it."

"Okay," I replied, somewhat taken aback. "I'll read it."

"No, dude, I'm serious..."

"OKAY already, I'll read it!!!"

...and so it went for a while, back and forth, forth and back, back and - you get the picture.

Jim sent me the book.

I read the first page, then we moved into our new small yet tiny house. I subsequently misplaced said book.

Jim, after reading my original "Open Letter" post, reminded me of the book. Sheepishly, I dug through a thousand myriads of boxes in our moist yet musty garage, and found the book again, and began to read it as I had previously... said... I would...

...eventually...

Okay, Jim was right. This book should be required reading for any pastor - whether a small church or BIG CHURCH pastor.

The book is Leading The Small Church by Glenn Daman, and I'd like to give it about a billion thumbs-up.

Some quotes from the first two chapters:

When culture defines the theology of the church, the question is no longer, "is it biblical?" RAther, the question has become, "is it relevant and practical?" Jesus, however, in preparing His disciples for leadership, drew a sharp distinction between biblical and secular leadership. This difference is not peripheral - that is, dealing only with the applicaiton of principles; it is essential, penetrating to the very core of the way leadership is understood, and affecting both purpose and process.

The emphasis on external organizational growth has had a devastating affect on small churches and their pastors, who often view themselves as second-class citizens. Responding to the siren call of corporate success - size and numbers - and surrounded by examples of apparntly successful megachurches, small-church pastors undervalue the essential biblical elements of community and relationships, and never quite feel successful. They become discouraged, wondering whether the glory of God has departed, leaving them to stagnate without any hope of experiencing God's blessing. As a result, low morale remains one of the most pervasive problems confronting small churches.

What Eugene Peterson warns against may be evident in a church of any size: "The pastors of America have metamorphosed into a company of shopkeepers, and the shops they keep are churches. They are preoccupied with shopkeepers' concerns - how to keep the customers happy, how to lure customers away from competitors down the street, how to package the goods so that the customers will lay out more money." It is no wonder that the pastorate has fallen out of favor with people entering ministry.

Nowhere have cultural perspectives had a greater impact on the church than in the perception of what it takes to be a successful leader. No one enters the pastoral ministry with the view of becoming a failure. All pastors strive to attain success, and feel incredibly guilty if they come up short. Pastors of small churches often wonder whether their churches would grow if they worked harder, prayed more, were more skillful in ministry, or if their congregtions were more open to new ideas. But the reason why pastors struggle in small churches and often become discouraged is not because of their work ethic or the inherent nature of small churches, or because their congregations are unwilling to change; it's because they have an inadequate view of what constitutes successful leadership.

{In listing out and answering some misperceptions about the ministry, including "Successful Pastors Are Growth Agents," he speaks to the misperception that "Successful Pastors Serve Large Churches," where he states the following:} Although it sounds usnspiritual to say it, many people believe that the larger the congregation the more successful the pastor. Thus, pastors of large churches are invited to speak at conferences so that pastors of small churches can learn how to beocme more effective (i.e., build larger churches.)

Although what God has accompllished through large churches should never be minimized, the lesson of the parable of the stewards is that size has, in God's eyes, nothing to do with success (Matt. 25:14-30). Nor does the size of a congregation reveal the reality of God's blessing. Instead the greatness of a church is determined by the manifest presence of God (Hag. 2:1-9). And the greatness of church leaders is determined not by their achievements but by the reality of God in their lives.

What the church needs today are more shepherds, not more visionaries. We need more churches in vital relationship with Jesus Christ, not bigger churches with bigger programs (or smaller churches with smaller programs). We do not need new paradigms for leadership. Instead, we must return to the ancient, biblical paradigm, the one in which pastors are spiritual caretakers of God's people, and are more concerned about the spiritual health of the congregation than about agendas, programs, and status.

Because we desire to see the church grow, it is easy as small-church pastors to become methodological junkies, always in search of a new method that will enable us to be successful in ministry. We deceive ourselves into thinking that if we could just find the right program, or the right combination of ministries, our church would be freed to grow. Consequently, we go from one seminar to another, read one book after another about "successful" churches, and implement the latest "church growth" strategy and vision. Instead of discovering the right approach, however, we leave in our wake congregations that are exhausted by tring to jump to the latest "vision" that we have for our churches.

All we can do is faithfully apply God's Word to the needs and issues of our people. All we can do is point them to the Cross. Those of us who minister in small churches can derive - or ought to derive - enormous relief and freedom in this truth about our roles as pastors. It is not up to us to grow the church, and the size of the congregation is not indicative of success; the success of the church does not depend on our wisdom, our abilities, or even our spirituality; rather, the success of the church depends on God. We are merely vessels through whom God works to accomplish His purposes. This is why faithfulness rather than methodology or skill is central to pastoral leadership.

I could go on, but then I'd be typing out the entirety of the first few chapters.

Good book. Get it. Read it. Love it.

Open Letter to the Growthinistas, Part 1

Eighty percent of church plants fail.

I hate that quote.

Hate it, hate it, hate it.

I hate it with perfect hatred, mostly because it betrays a fundamental flaw in modern thinking - a fatal flaw which manifests mainly in how most people (and by "people" I mean Church Growth Experts^® and Wannabe Church Growers^TM) view the relative terms "success" and "failure."

This flawed thinking pervades even the very movement that I love and identify with.

Bottom-line, "success" equals nickels 'n' noses.

Period.

At the end of the day, that's what constitutes "fruit" to these guys.

About two years ago on another blog that I initially interacted on rather regularly, a junta of Growthinistas hijacked the discussion and pretty much verbatim decreed that if your church isn't growing numerically, then just pack up and go take up yak herding. You'd be better off, and so would your community - since, after all, without a certain critical mass no gathering of people can properly be considered a real church, by gum...

Since that time, I've encountered gobs of stuff from fellows like-minded to the abovementioned coterie of Searcy acolytes, and the bottom line is always the same: Taking a cue from Octavian, the driving maxim is EXPAND OR DIE.

There are no other options.

Which, when you boil away the attempted spiritualspeak carefully wrapped around the concept, and gaze unflinchingly at the underlying foundational principle of what constitutes "success" in the arena of the church, you find that what they mean is: nickles 'n' noses.

Oh, there's a loud hue and cry that that's not really what it's about... you'll hear:

We're in a WAR, man! We're supposed to be reaching AS MANY PEOPLE AS POSSIBLE! Where am I missing it?

It's just the Great Commission, dude!

If the Spirit's really moving, then people will be drawn to it!

...etc.

For those who fall into this persuasion, "results" (again, manifested ultimately as nickels 'n' noses) are the raison d'être of the church. And thus, those who are showing results are to be commended for the results' sake, doctrinal or praxis issues aside. The sine qua non for those who hold this thinking is growth - everything else is of secondary importance.

Thus, the heroes of the faith for Growthinistas, those who they admire and look up to and seek before all things to emulate, are those whose churches experience phenominal, explosive growth.

I have heard one pastor's stuff pushed so often in the last few years, I cringe whenever I hear his name or anything relating to a "journey." On the recommendation of a brother-in-arms who I otherwise respect, I signed up for this particular pastor's "Church Leader Insights" newsletter. And I grieve when even those who ostensibly identify with the Calvary Chapel movement laud the thinking and methodology of this particular fellow, whose sermons (which are guaranteed to cause explosive growth in your church!) you can purchase (for a modest fee), including the not-at-all-nickels-'n'-noses-oriented-how-silly-of-you-to-even-mention-it-you-ignorant-boob classic, The Stewardship Seminar, which promises:

First time givers are taking a leap of faith! How should you respond? What can you do to help them give again? Discover how to turn first time givers into faithful givers in this innovative 3 disc Stewardship Seminar with Resource CD.

...and which you can download for the modest, TBN-Praiseathon-rivalling fee of only $47.

...and I though John Avanzini was bad.

But since this fellow's church is growing, and since that's the be-all-end-all for far too many of my compatriots in ministry, all else can be forgiven.

And believe me: the "Stewardship Seminar" stuff I quoted above is probably among the least troubling thing I've read that this particular dude's peddling.

And on the list goes; so long as a pastor is an effective rainmaker and can catalyze numerical growth, that's the primary and enduring test of fruitfulness, and all else can be forgiven and explained away.

On a listserv for pastors that I also used to participate in rather regularly, a discussion arose about a certain Southern California pastor who recently called Syria a "great nation," over why nobody should really ever criticize him since, after all, "his church has the largest number of conversions ever!!!"

Again: Nickels 'n' Noses. So long as you have those two, you have and automatic pass on all else.

Therefore, when seeking to plant a church in a given community, what are consulted are things like:

• demographics


• cost-benefit analyses


• strategic forecasts


• etc.

One pastor, who ostensibly identifies with the Calvary Chapel movement, went so far on his blog several months ago as to advocate planting churches primarily in larger population centers (to the explicit exclusion of all else), specifically because that's how you'll get maximum bang-for-buck.

So, back to the quote I opened this post with:

Eighty percent of church plants fail.

I believe, in the strongest possible terms, that this quote was stated from the perspective of someone who is, however marginally, aligned with the Growthinista perspective. And I believe that many church plants do fail - in the sense of giving up, closing the doors, and pulling stakes - as a direct result of Growthism. That is, since we don't have multiplied thousands (or at least a couple hundred) noses and the axiomatic abundance of nickels attendant thereunto after our second whole year of existence, well... we've failed, so let's try something else somewhere else.

Yak herding, for instance.

I cannot even begin to express my heartache that this attitude has gained ascendancy not only in the Church at large, but even within certain (and very influential) elements within my own Movement.

I defy the very underlying premise which girds the concept inherent in the quote.

What is a failed church plant? Can church plants fail?

Yes, they can.

The fail if:

• the Word is not taught


• the Lord is not exalted


• the Spirit is not present to minister


• the people are not encouraged to grow in Christ

All else is in fact secondary at best - including nickels and noses.

Therefore, even a "successful" church plant can be considered a failure - large numbers and ever-expanding budgets notwithstanding.

Likewise, even an "unsuccessful" church plant - even one where the local body ultimately decides after long, agonized seeking of the Lord's face to disband and become part of other fellowships - can be (and should be!) considered a success.

I believe that what we need, now more than ever, is men willing to fail spectacularly for the sake of the Kingdom.

If the most effective method for expanding the Kingdom is church planting (and I tend to agree that it is), then our push should be for sending more men out with the express purpose of scattering the seed of the Word with little if any regard for personal empire building. In my neck of the woods here on the Lakeshore, I'd rather see a hundred "tiny" churches then one church of thousands. I'd rather see a hundred men go out with eternity stamped on their eyes and hearts, reaching into their several communities with the Word of Life, ready and willing to plant the flag of the King and die there if necessary fighting back the encroaching darkness - regardless of any man-centered and man-invented criteria of "success."

If any of those churches grow to several hundred or even several thousand - all the better. If they don't - great, too! The few dozen families who partake in the life of each church plant learn to grow in grace and in the Word stronger than if they hadn't been reached at all in the first place.

And what if a church plant, after seeking the Lord's face, realizing that their call to be an individual, local expression of the Body of Christ has come to an end and that they should graciously close down and disperse into the larger Body, closes their doors in the same humble obedience that led them to open them in the first place? Has that church plant really failed?

Depends, I suppose, on what criteria were used to determine that they should fold up.

Pastors are called to be stewards of God's flock. The pastor is never and should never try to be the focus of the life of the Body. And I don't read anywhere in the Bible that it is said that it is required of a steward to be "successful." Or that it is required of a steward to be a "rainmaker."

It isn't even recorded that it is required of a steward that he be found "fruitful".

Instead, I read that it is required of a steward that he be found faithful.

This is the key, critical difference between a shepherd and a hireling.

The hireling runs away when things turn difficult.

The shepherd stays with the sheep until (if necessary) the bitter end.

One of my heroes in the faith, and rolemodels for ministry, is pastor Bill Woolley, shepherd of a "tiny" Calvary Chapel in the Upper Penninsula. Bill has faithfully labored in the field the Lord called him almost for more years than many of the newbreed Growthinistas have been alive, and has experienced little but setback, heartache, betrayal, and pain... and the fellowship there has never grown into anything even remotely resembling a "successful" church plant (by Growthist standards). Yet he keeps plowing. Every year he struggles with the temptation to quit... and every year the Lord basically nails him on it and lets him know in no uncedrtain terms that for him to quit would be an act of disobedience to his calling. So he keeps faithfully plowing.

Bill will never speak at a national conference - he's not "successful" enough.

Bill will never have a national "ministry" selling his sermon series at $40 a pop.

Very, very few of my fellow pastors would look up to him as a model of ministerial success.

More's the pity.

I can think of very few who would continue to stand in the face of the adversity that Bill's been called to endure. I have heard large-ministry, successful pastors who I actually like and listen to pretty much admit the same.

I made God a deal when I came to {x city}, that I'd give Him a year to do "something," then I'd go try elsewhere...

After a year, I called back to {the CCOF coordinator of the time} complaining about how nothing was happening, and he said, "hey, come on back, then. I've got a dozen guys who are dying for the chance to serve God in a small church like yours..."

If we don't have men who are willing to plant churches and plow in fields that will - let's face it - never produce the "successful" "fruit" that the Growthinistas pine after, then the thousands upon thousands of souls who will - agian, let's face it - never be reached by a "successful" megachurch will continue to go unreached for the Kingdom.

I believe (and here's the bottom line of this particular Open Letter) that both ends of the spectrum are called for and needed in the larger Body of Christ: the Big Successful Churches, and the teeny tiny church plants that "could."

Some will only be reached by large churches.

Some will only be reached by small churches.

Some churches, by the sovereign grace of God, are blessed with (numeric) growth.

Some churches, by the sovereign grace of God, are blessed with (numeric) non-growth.

Let each be faithful to serve God in whatever capacity He choses - the experts and pundits be {mild Mark Driscoll colorful language omitted}.

Cows 'n' Stuff

Have I mentioned yet today how much I like this guy...?

Funny, humorous, and yet... all-too-often painfully true.

Yikes.

Chris Elrod: Things I Wish I Had Known About Church Planting

Church planter Chris Elrod answers the question, "What things do you wish you had known before you planted your church?"

The Vision of the Sickle

I'm going to steal shamelessly from fellow pastor Troy Warner, who related on another blog a vision that was related to him by a friend whose father is a retired minister...

One day while Mr. Whit was in prayer for the ministry he was serving in God gave him a vision of a large field of wheat that was ready to be harvested. In the field he saw three huge combines coming through and harvesting large amounts of the fruit. He was excited to think that this may be prophetic of what God had in store for his ministry. He saw men like Billy Graham on these combines and asked the Lord where is mine? The Lord replied by showing him a sickle and saying I haven’t appointed you to plow to using a combine. I have appointed you to go and glean the edges of the field where the combine can’t go. There is precious fruit there that I don’t want to be lost.

"What if...?"

Thought-provoking post over at simplemindedpreacher by John Vlk, "What If?"

It begins with this query:

What if you work and labor for years at the church God has called you to, and you see no increase? Will there come a day, you determine it’s time to throw in the towel?

This is a question that I myself have struggled with for a long time.

Also, Daniel Fusco grapples with this on his blog.

Mike Foster: Geppetto's Quandary

Very good blogpost here by Mike Foster, a church planter with the Acts 29 Network down in deepest darkest Cincinnati; a critique of a lot of modern church planting - or, should I say, church "launching".

Good stuff.

How About Some Respect for Smaller-sized Churches!

Browsing through the Christian & Missionary Alliance church multiplication blog, and ran across this article commenting on smaller-vs.-larger churches, and what their denomination's perception of the future of church growth looks like.

Interesting insight... and as a pastor of a teeny-tiny, itty-bitty little church (with huge heart), I found the article to be a breath of fresh air and an encouragement in what can otherwise be a very discouraging subject...

"6 Years Later..."

Wow...  talk about a great post. 

This one from Bob Franquiz is... well, stellar.  In it, he's looking at a picture of himself and the group gathered at their first Sunday service there in the Miami area, when they were a brand-spanking-new church plant.  He ponders what he'd be able to say to the kid in the picture who is himself six years ago, and then proceeds to list out the nuggets of wisdom he'd love to pass on to his antecedent self.  Utterly good stuff, stunningly convicting gems, great, great post.

Wow.