Dave Harder

Exciting Trends

1. Churches Working Together to Identify and Equip New Church Planters 

 One of the trends that I am absolutely loving is the willingness of churches to cross denominational and even theological lines and begin to work with each other. Today we are seeing more and more churches partner together and learn from one another in ways that they never have before. BUT that is not the trend, this is the trend and a very exciting one... Churches working together regionally to identify and equip new church planters. I believe this is one of the greatest hopes we have for the advancement of the Gospel. This will be huge for planters because it will not only help provide some of the financial support they need but the relational, emotional and spiritual support the need as well. 

What are some of these growing networks? Here are few:  Redeemer City to City, New Thing, ARC, ChurchPlanters.com, PLNTD, Vision360, Forge Network, CPC and the  ICF Movement. Of course there are countless more and new ones popping up all the time. Two that just started are the Houston Church Planters Network and the Launch Network in Atlanta. Please note that these networks are not trying to be new denominations, but are helping plant churches in the cities they find themselves ministering and their momentum is changing the game. Also note that some effective city networks like what the Mennonite Brethren are doing in Toronto and Vancouver is denominationally based. 

I truly believe if the church continues to go down the road of partnership (instead of competing with each other) then we are going to see worldwide movements of God like we’ve never seen or experienced. We can accomplish far more by working together than we ever could alone.

2. Leaders will Pay More Attention to Shorter Time Horizons

I love this idea that came from Will Mancini's on Tony Morgans blog. He says "Everything in the vision and clarity space pushes to shorter horizons as the pace of change accelerates. A mantra that Reggie McNeal coined is “Preparation over planning.” The emphasis on leadership is preparing for the uncertainties of the future, rather than trying to predict them. As a result, answering the question, “Where is God taking us?” requires a 90-day focus and a 1-year horizon of shared storytelling like never before. Will other time horizons be important? Yes they will, but not like the way we used to think about it. Read this post on the Five Horizons of Leadership to glean more."

 

 

My Faves of the Week

For you who need some good reading or an introduction to some great blogs here are my faves this week.

David Fitch writes a must read for all Missional Church Planters

If you have ever wondered what the point of worship here is a great worship statement 

Four Temptations Christian Leaders Face

For those wanting to start a missional community but have no clue where to start

And a book that I understand will be a tour de force for the missional conversation and a must order is Missional: Joining God in the Neighborhood by Alan Roxburgh. And what I am listening to these days is Brian Doerksen's new album – “Level Ground”... I am loving it.

Now This Is A Conference!

Greatest idea for a conference yet The Epic Fail Conference! Check out the man behind the conference and the blog post that inspired it.

It is great to see the push back to ministry by the latest book or latest conference. We have lost the point... For those of us in ministry this is a closer reality to what we face and the need to have a space to share openly and honestly and learn from one another... this is the Pastors true need.

Preaching In A Missional Church

We have been processing as a core community what Sundays should look like when a church is focused on mission. The tendency is to drift into what every other Sunday service across the city looks like. Intro - 4 songs - Offering/Announcements - Message - Closing Song. Ya you may see a little different flavour from church to church but you get my point. This last Sunday I saw what it can look like when everyone shares out of their gifting and current reality. God is doing something deep in peoples hearts and we need to give spaces to equip, train, and release them to "preach" wherever they find themselves. What was spoken on Sunday could also be spoken to work mates, friends, and discussed at the pub. Thats missional preaching.

Here is a brilliant paper, “Preaching in the Missional Church” by Ervin R. Stutzman, a professor of homiletics atEastern Mennonite Seminary.

Quick Aside: If you want to get a truly helpful understanding of what missional is all about, listen to Anabaptists! 

In the paper he unpacks a number of distinctives of a missionally-shaped (Post-Christendom) vision of preaching and also addresses the need for new methods of training these sorts of preachers which we are attempting in KLMS.

  

 

All You Need to Know About Missional Community

You know that feeling when you find that resource that puts into words all the thoughts, ideas, strategies you had and you are so grateful someone else wrote it down. This is how I feel about Mike Breen's work Launching Missional Communities: A Field Guide. It is years of ministry and his apostolic genius distilled into one manual. The story of St. Thomas Crookes in Sheffield where Mike was the pastor for a number of years is mind blowing and his ministry 3DM will be a huge help to churches making the shift to becoming more missional or church plants that are desiring more of a missional model.

One of the things Mike talks about a lot in regards to Missional Communities is that they need to be balanced in the way that Jesus’ life was balanced. He had three definitive dimensions to his life, and so with MCs, we should have the same dimensions.

UP: time spent focusing on God

IN: time spent focusing on others in the body

OUT: time spent focusing on those who don’t know Jesus yet

If this is done well in the context of a spiritual extended family on mission together (groups of 20-40), the community, mission and discipleship that occurs through God’s Spirit is stunning.

 

Living Differently - Offense Happens

To not forgive is to let someone rent free space in your head. To forgive is to set someone free and then find out it's you. Rob Bell 

At The Journey we are continuing our study of Ephesians and I thought it helpful to post my thoughts on the series living differently. This last Sunday I was amazed by how Paul begins Chapter 4. Ephesians can be broken up into two segments. The first being one of our identity, our position in Christ. The second is, because of the gospel and who you are in Christ this is how you should live. The order is incredibly important! Christian living always follows intimacy with Jesus. The first outflow of a Jesus filled life Paul addresses is this desire to keep peace and fight for unity. 

If you take the bible seriously and decide to join a community of Christ followers that do life together at some point you will offend one another. People are different in how they think, communicate, and be real we all have bad days where opinions fly a little faster than they should.

Paul in Ephesians new this was going to be challenging so he tells them to "bear with one another in love" and "fight for unity". It is easy to choose independence and walk away or to stew in your anger but fighting for unity thats a whole other way of living that is not modelled too often in our world. The greatest testimony of Jesus being alive is a people choosing to love one another. 

What I know to be true is this:

1. Offence will happen - I tell people in our church "if you stay long enough I will offend you". Others will offend you. It is the choices you make after the offence that matter most.

2. It is not your job to fix everyone - We all can see things in others we want to change. If you are married I know you can relate. We also want everyone to me more like us. What you are saying is I am amazing and if just everyone was like me the world would be a better place... I smell Pride! The reality is people change slow and it is the presence of the Holy Spirit in someones life and their response to his leading that changes them. AND we are all diverse. We need to be patient! Join God with what he is doing in their life.

3. Don't judge motive - When someone offends me I can instantly jump to the unhealthy place of judging motive. The reality is I will never know motive unless I ask and when I ask rarely is someone intentionally trying to hurt me. Most offence was never intended. Which is why Jesus calls us to have mercy based relationships... Believing the best about others.

The discretion of a man makes him slow to anger, and his glory is to overlook a transgression.”    (Proverbs 19:11)

4. We need to ask "Why am I responding this way?" - Too often when offence comes I blame the person that offended me instead of looking inside and asking the hard question... Why am I responding this way? What in me just got triggered? Often it is the wounds of the past or shame in the present that pushes back in an unhealthy way. Once again its why we need mercy!

5. Don't stay angry - The Bible is real clear on this one. Don't go to bed with anger stewing in your heart. It is amazing how a simple phone call asking "What did you mean by that?" or "Did you know that when you said ____ this is how I took it, What did you mean?" 

6. Finally the enemy loves to twist and pervert our words. He is at work to break unity and it is our job to look to Jesus as our example. No matter what we do, he is fighting for relationship with us. Longing for us to be reconciled and restored to the Father and out of that unity with him we will experience the beautiful joy of walking close with others. Be aware that this is a spiritual battle.

Choose to fight for unity today, bearing with one another in love so we can experience His amazing peace.

I can't wait for the next passage, Ephesians 4:11-16 on Grown -Up Christianity. 

What to do about Sundays?

We had an amazing discussion with our leaders on Thursday night and lots of processing has taken place since then. As a church that is committed to Gospel Communities it is challenging to figure out what Sundays are and what they should become. 

Gospel Communities n. and v. 1. Mid-sized groups of people that live out the mission of God together as a family, pursuing the redemption and renewal of a particular community or network of relationships by declaring and demonstrating the gospel in tangible forms.

The issue isn't whether you should have a Sunday Gathering or not the issue is where lies your 'centre of gravity'. The distinctive of  the 'GCM model' (for want of a better term) is that the leading edge has to be Gospel Communities on Mission, rather than a Sunday event with preaching. That event is important and is a great front door for many people, but unless a genuine devolution has taken place what you will get is going to be like any other church.

The problem is that our/MY default is to the Sunday event (because it's actually easier and flows better with our consumer lifestyle) so counter balances have to be in place to resist the drift. Thanks to the Journey for helping be my counterbalance.

What I did learn was it all begins with asking a Question. Don't worry if its the right one because the Holy Spirit will help with the navigation. Just ask the question...

 

A Little $$ Reminder

Saw this on facebook today and loved it so I thought I would share it with you.

It seems that wether you are budgeting for your personal finances entering this Christmas season or budgeting for your church as you enter a new year... Money is on our minds! Hopefully this will encourage you as the year winds up and be a reminder or tune-up if your worship doesn't include your finances.

1. I want a tax benefit. (practical)

2. Following what my parents did. (tradition)

3. I want to include God in my finances. (maturity)

4. I want to break greed in my life. (treasure)

5. I want to break fear in my life. (faith)

6. I love my church & want to support it.  (family)

7. Scriptures says to do it. (obedience)

8. I want to advance the kingdom. (vision)

9. Stewardship – it’s not my money. (Lordship)

10. I love God - it’s part of my worship. (affection)

Followed by a post from a great leader and pastor Steve Murrell

"The Church Just Wants My Money"

Ever heard this line: the church doesn't care about me; it only wants my money?

People who say this are confusing the church with Starbucks or Delta Airlines or Walmart. I'm pretty sure Starbucks, Delta, Walmart, Sunglass Hut, Whole Foods and Burger King only want my money. I'm also pretty sure the church cares about much more than my money.

We don't call our local Ford dealer when our health fails, our marriages crash, our kids rebel and our checks bounce. No, we call our church, our pastor, our church friends for help. And they respond, even if we don't tithe or even tip. (less than half of church attendees give anything in church offerings)

If fact, when we call the church for help in the middle of our crisis, they don't ask how much we dropped in the last offereing, they just help. Why? Because they care about us, not about our money. 

Try walking out of Starbucks without paying and see how much those happy friendly smily baristas care about you. Try driving that Corolla off the lot without paying and see how much Toyota cares about you.  They're the ones who don't care about you; they only want your money.

Away In Whistler - Part I

Kari and I had the privilege of attending the Mennonite Brethren church planting retreat last week in Whistler. We have been engaged in a busy fall so getting away was a God send. I was asking God to renew my Spirit, make clear his vision for The Journey, and bring an increased love and passion to our marriage. And one could not ask for a more beautiful setting to listen and worship.   

Our speaker for the week was Jon Tyson, pastor of Trinity Grace Church in NYC. Each message was relevant to where I was at in my journey of faith and spoke to me at so many levels. Here are some thoughts from my time in Whistler...

1. DRINK DEEPLY and FLOW FREELY

It is easy as a church planter, or anyone I guess, to feel the pressure to focus on so many things... We need to be great leaders, see miraculous power, have great cultural impact, live missionally and incarnationally, and have sound doctrine, and a great marriage and family, just to list a few. The reality is all of these are important but they make great seconds. 

What is First? Our communion with Jesus, this alone is the key to impact and longevity. I must never move away from being rooted and established in his love. SO much of ministry is from the motive of me gaining approval and acceptance instead of from a place of already being accepted. How? Drink deeply and flow freely for this is our life. I continually need to ask How is my abiding life going? Am I sitting with him every morning, long enough for him to wash over me, clean me, define me. Then out of that love join Him, follow Him into my day.

The greatest hinderance to the abiding life is our busyness. What we do, and yes I know you do it, is get up as late as our responsibility requires, work as hard as we can all day in competitive or, for you moms, chaotic environments, come home eat and with a few hours at the end of the day we relax usually in front of the television. The problem... we never RENEW! We need a responsibility adjustment. Your primary responsibility is as a follower of Jesus, so as his follower here are some keys to renewal:

1. Get up early - I will just say it... you sleep in by going to bed earlier not sleeping in longer. We must take responsibility for the morning! Stop sleeping in until 10 min before work! In a world where it is so easy to fall into comparison and competition we need to receive our identity from Jesus. Your worth is found in his love for you. Get up early so you can touch on the core values of your life. Start the day in peace instead of rushing to get the lunches made, kids off to school, and you to work. 

2. Introduce Fixed Hour Prayer - It is so important to thread God's presence throughout the day. Since reading Emotionally Healthy by Pete Scazerro I have introduced fixed hour prayer into my day. No matter how busy the day gets take 10 min 3x a day to be with God. 

3. Ask "What gives you life?" and DO IT! - This is all about renewal NOT relaxing. I imagine if I asked what would renew you, you would not say television, yet thats what we do... If it is going for a walk, reading a book, listening to music, hanging out with friends, painting a picture... do it. Life is for LIVING!

4. Practice Community - In Jewish culture you could only walk so far on a sabbath so they intentionally lived in close proximity to one another so they could enjoy community together, serving and loving one another. We need to develop functional communities where we exist for God and community. Too often this becomes a good idea but it is rarely a lived reality. 

I long for a community that lives on mission, sees miracles, raises up leaders, impacts culture, and has lasting marriages... but this will only happen if we develop a passion for his presence that daily drinks deeply and freely.

How is your abiding life?

Contextualization Is Not What You Think It Is

I normally do not like posting long articles but this one is too important to pass on. I have been following the contextualization debate and I have to say this article by David Watson is the best on the subject I have read to date. Enjoy! 

"There is an ongoing debate around the world regarding contextualization.  This is an extremely complex debate in which many very smart and dedicated people on all sides of the issue have taken interest.  I have mostly stayed out of the debate because I love everyone involved and did not want to alienate myself from the people or the debate.  My concern is that there is a rising tendency to categorize organizations and people by where they stand on contextualization.  This is a very disturbing trend that will cripple our global mission processes.

We have spent hundreds of years doing missions in an environment that stresses denominational/doctrinal adherence and/or differences.  This has led to rivalries, partitioning of countries along denominational lines, confusion, syncretism, and constant sniping at one another.  It is no wonder that those who are not Christian cannot understand us, especially if they are in areas where multiple denominational/doctrinal stances are present.  Now we are adding contextualization into the mix, and this is even more confusing and more detrimental to our Great Commission.

Where did denominationalism come from?  It came from good men who wanted to deal with certain parts of the Bible in their context in a way that would lessen confusion for their leaders and members in that context.  These arose out of conscience and a desire that practices would be uniform in their context.  The problem with this is that as the denominationalism expanded to new contexts it forced the old context solutions on the new Believers in a different context, instead of allowing the new Believers to develop their understanding and practices with the Bible as their guide rather than a doctrinal statement that was developed to address a different context.

What would Christianity look like today if loving, knowledgeable, experienced mentors had focused on making Disciples for Jesus who would obey His teachings in their clearest and simplest forms regardless of personal or corporate consequences?  We are so tied up in what Christianity looks like we have forgotten that it is only real in a deep abiding relationship with our Creator, Jesus Christ our Lord.  This relationship is personal and it is corporate!  Individuals and groups are held accountable to the Lord Jesus for our individual and corporate beliefs and practices.  The prophets and Jesus were harsh with religious leaders whose beliefs and practices did not agree.

I believe that Scripture has within it all we need to be obedient and pleasing to God in thought and practice.  I believe that each leader and each group has a responsibility to practice their faith in a way that best communicates their love and devotion for God through Jesus the Messiah in their own context, without the need for outsiders to tell them how to practice.

The role of the outsider is to introduce the Creator Christ and to demonstrate that our love response to God’s mercy is our consistent obedience to His Word in public and private, in all situations and circumstances, regardless of the personal consequences resulting from being obedient.  God demonstrates His love for us through His mercy (love/mercy).  We demonstrate our love for God through our obedience (love/obedience).

We cannot earn God’s love through obedience.  God’s love is absolute and one cannot have more of it or less of it at any given moment based on any legalistic adherence to a doctrine or the Bible.  God demonstrates His love for us through his mercy (love/mercy).  Those who love God demonstrate their love for God through obedience to His Word and the Holy Spirit speaking into their lives (love/obedience).  What the Holy Spirit reveals in our personal lives will be consistent with the revelation of His Word, the Bible.  We have a group responsibility to scripturally test the personal revelation of any individual before it is adopted as a personal or local group practice.

I appreciate what George Barna and Frank Viola were attempting with their book Pagan Christianity?: Exploring the Roots of Our Church Practices.  However, I disagree with their fundamental premise.  Returning to First Century practices will not cure the ails of the modern church.  Our context is so much more complicated that those of the First Century.  Practices should flow out of Obedience to God in our current context, not out of some context that could not possibly understand the needs of the modern world and formulate practices that would be adequate for all times and places, and all seasons.  The Pagan Practices identified by Barna and Viola were contextual attempts to redeem local culture in obedience to the Word.  The problem came when the results of the process were passed on from generation to generation and from place to place, instead of passing on the process of redeeming local culture in the light of God’s Word.  Redeeming local pagan practices is a good thing.  Making those redeemed local practices the norm for the church in all times and places is not a good thing.  Instead, we should be mentoring leadership to redeem their context, not adopt a foreign expression of a redeemed foreign context.  We should be teaching process from leader to leader and generation to generation, not blind adherence to limited doctrinal responses from Scripture to address local and temporal issues.

We must resist passing on our solutions to our contexts to others as if our solutions are normative for Christianity and will work in every time and context.  What we must pass on is Scripture and a mentoring relationship that will develop leaders who can find the expressions of obedience to the Word in their own contexts in their own season.  Learning from others is a sign of maturity.  Copying others without thinking is immaturity.  The first leads to growth.  The second leads to destruction.

Our current educational processes seem to promote copying practices from the ages instead of learning from the Word of God and applying the principles to each new problem in each new generation in every different place.  Form is not universal.  If you don’t believe this simply look at the different kinds of brooms all over the planet.  Many forms, one function – clean the mess.  A single kind of broom is not suitable to all situations, nor is it suitable to every way different cultures prefer to sweep.  None of us would dream of forcing every person to use one kind of broom for every cleaning environment and every cultural style of sweeping.

Yet, this is exactly what we do with church and missions.  We insist that one form will suffice for all time in every situation.  This is absurd.  This is absurd whether we approach it from a doctrinal position, historical position, or cultural position.  Different times and different places and different contexts require different expressions of obedience to the Word of God.  Notice!  Not a different Word of God, but different expressions of obedience to the infallible and unchanging Word.

It is as wrong for us to contextualize practices for another culture as it is for us to foist our personal practices on another culture.  Contextualization is a local obedience response to the Word of God.  It is a local expression of love/obedience for God in response to God’s love/mercy for them.

I can introduce someone outside my context to the Word of God, assist them in understanding the Word of God, and ask them how they will obey the Word of God in their context; but I must not tell them how to obey.  The moment I move to telling “how”, I am teaching them to sweep the floor my way with my broom instead of allowing them to build from Scripture to Principle to Practice in a way that is relevant to their context.

In my opinion, there is no greater expression of faith in God and His Holy Spirit than to allow new Believers to read the Word, apply the Word, and then build their principles and practices through love/obedience to the Word and the Holy Spirit.  We say we believe in the Holy Spirit, but we act as if He is incompetent to do His part in the lives of new Believers and new churches.  When we have done our part (Show our love for God by being obedient to His Word and teaching other to be obedient to His Word), God does His part in the presence of the Holy Spirit who counsels, inspires, directs, convicts, emboldens us to obedience in the face of opposition and persecution, and grows our faith.

Contextualization by outsiders is not the issue!  Obedience to the Word of God and His Holy Spirit within each context is the issue.  I cannot formulate this for another context or time or place.  I cannot contextualize the Gospel for another.  I can only love, train, and mentor them to formulate their love response to God for themselves and thereby see true contextualization of the Gospel and the development of relevant local practices that demonstrate to the community their love for God and their obedience response to God’s love/mercy.  If I give anything beyond process I endanger the contextualization of the Gospel to a given people, context and time; and I hinder the spread of the Gospel.

My job is to give the Gospel as simply and purely as possible.  Train people to read and learn the Word and apply it to their context in their own ways; to teach them to obey by being obedient and expecting obedience from them to the simple Word of God; and depend on the Holy Spirit to do in them what He is doing in me.  Their job is to receive the Word of God, listen and learn the Word, apply the Word to their own lives, and contextualize the practices that come from the principles revealed in the Word by the Holy Spirit so that others in the context can see and respond to their transformed lives and culture.

I must deculturalize my expressions of obedience to the Gospel so that foreign practices (my practices) will not make it harder for people to hear the Gospel.  Local believers must contextualize their obedience to the Gospel and formulate practices that communicate their love/obedience for God in response to His Word and His Spirit to their context.

The contextualization debate is the wrong debate.  We need to be discussing why we think our peculiar brand of Christianity that was formulated for a particular time and context is relevant to any other time or context.  It is not!  It has become the barrier that is the most difficult to overcome in sharing the Gospel and teaching obedience to the commands of Jesus to new generations in new times and in different contexts.  Our personal preferences for worship, prayer, outreach, governance, clothing, and etc. are meaningless to anyone else.   The only thing that transcends time, space, and context is the Gospel and our love/obedience responses to God’s love/mercy.  Give the Gospel, teach love/obedience, and allow every obedient people to develop their own practices, not adopt peculiar outsider practices that are more barrier than help to those who do not know God."

Other Related Articles:

• Opinion – Contextualization, Personal Evangelism and Disciple Making
• Church Planting Essentials – Exploring Contextualization and Deculturalization

 

Renew Your City

I have always been interested in City Transformation but I have to admit it has been consuming as of late (I guess moving across the country to plant a church that reaches the city has a part to play). But I also have not seen such a concerted effort globally to reach the cities of the world. If you are new to the urban shift and would like to read more this would be a good place to start.

Resources on the City (Adapted from Jonathan Dodson)

Right now I have a desk full of books about the city, the Gospel, and discipleship. Here are some books I have found helpful. 

The City: A Global History – Kotkin’s historical study of cities has become a modern classic. This short but dense work argues that all great cities combined three essential elements–the sacred, the safe, and the busy. Enduring cities have been cities with a strong spiritual-moral center, robust security and governance, and a teeming economy. He sprints through history with these lenses making it a fascinating read.

To Transform a City - I am loving this book! This is an explicitly evangelical attempt to understand what it takes to transform a city. Swanson uses the Lausanne aphorism to chart his approach to city renewal: The Whole Church, Taking the Whole Gospel to the Whole City. It is littered with great quotes, insights, and ideas. He practices city renewal in Boulder, Colorado.

The First Urban Christians – an academic treatment of the shift of early Christianity from a village based religion to a urban movement, particularly through the lens of the ministry and times of the Apostle Paul.

Cities of God - Rodney Stark does great sociology. This book traces the movement of early Christianity into its urban expressions and offers compelling reasons why Christians have historically been at the center of city building.

Planting and Growing Urban Churches -  Harvie Conn knows that if the church is to thrive in the twenty-first century, it will have to take on a new form as it ministers to the millions of unchurched people in our North American Cities. Planting and Growing Urban Churches is still virtually the only available text on church planting in the Urban Context in North America and beyond. In this third edition, readers will find material on the importance of healthy, biblical change in our churches, updated appendices, insight on our postmodern ministry context, and strategies for reaching new population demographics such as Generation X and Y. Pastors, ministry leaders, and church planters will find the information and advice found in this book invaluable as they carry out their ministries.

All Tim Keller’s Writings & Resources at the City to City website 

Specifically The Sermon He Does on Gospel Ecosystems in The City and 

On Creating Movements In the City

You will need to register to listen or download materials. It is free, simple and worth it!!!

Enjoy!

The Baton Was Passed

About 12 years ago, as the churches began to work together to host the Billy Graham Crusade, a group of leaders felt that the Church of Ottawa and Outaouais should develop a cooperation of Christian leaders and churches that would work together towards three purposes: Authentic Relationships, Transformational Prayer and Intentional Mission. It is amazing to see what God has done and how he has used these men and women of God to launch a ministry that desires to see city wide transformation. Recently, the team felt it was time for a refreshing of the vision in order to make a greater impact on our city, and in some sense, re-launch Mission O.  

Last night was a significant night as the baton was passed to this new team of 12 who will carry the mantle to join God on his redemptive mission in the city. It was a significant night on so many levels and was made possible because of these 5 (and many more) key things:

1. The Heart of a True Father - Sad to say it is rare one sees the level of humility, love, passion, and wisdom for this next generation as well as for this city. Men like Larry Brune, Ken Hall, Barry Boucher, David Crowley, and Doug Ward have been carrying the vision and new it was time to pass it off to see sons and daughters run farther and faster than they new they could. Truly inspiring. For the new team coming in it kind of feels like when you leave home for the first time... responsibility kicks in, and you need to call home for encouragement, wisdom, and love. Yes we will be calling!

2. The Desire for City Wide Transformation - Pastors and ministry leaders are crazy enough to actually believe we can change this city. Even in the face of opposition faith seems to rise. I have had countless lunches and coffees with leaders in this city and I leave encouraged every time as we talk about what it would look like to see God's Kingdom - His reign and rule - established in Ottawa. 

 3. Gods Kingdom not My kingdom Mentality - The desire to build ones own Kingdom (church) does not seem to be what motivates the leaders of this city. I am not saying everyone is perfect... we all need to fight against pride and the territorial spirit that comes to divide but since coming to Ottawa 3 years ago I have sensed a deep longing from pastors to work together to see change. We can do way more together than alone. Ministries like OneWay have been instrumental in shaping leaders in this city to look and lead like Jesus.

4. Prayer - I would love to know the countless hours of prayer that have been offered up for the Nations Capital. With the National House of Prayer, City-Wide Worship and Prayer and the other organizations, churches, and ministries that are are their knees crying out for this city. We are at this moment in time because of prayer.

5. God Loves Ottawa - It was humbling to know that God longs to see Ottawa changed way more than I do. I was shocked by the number of times 1998 came up throughout the evening. It was the year the Reeds, pastors of the MET, came to the city, Kerry Kronberg, church planter at Ottawa U, was called to Ottawa, the Billy Graham Crusade, and the launching of Mission O. What hit Kari and I was it was 1998 where we first felt the call of God to this great city (It was also the year we got married!). Little did we know the journey he would take us on to get here but God had planned last night 12 years ago. Amazing! 

Last night shook me to the core. I walked away with greater faith and vision for the city than I have ever had (which is hard to imagine for those of you that know me) but also a weight and responsibility to join Jesus, to lead like Jesus, and to love like Jesus. It is all about him. As Mission O steps into a new chapter in the city I am honoured to serve on such an amazing team with the fathers cheering us on and Jesus leading us ahead.

Summer's 3 R's

What an amazing summer! Not just the weather, which was the hottest on record in Ontario. It is without doubt the hottest I have ever felt in all my 38 years living in this country. But it was a summer of rest, refocus, and relationship.

REST: In the past, summers have been a bit crazy. Kids are home and need entertained. When you go on a vacation you spend so much time packing... then you arrive at your camping spot spend the next day setting up your camping site, the kids don't sleep well which means we don't sleep well, prepping meals, cooking meals then the dreaded unpacking and clean up when you get home. Don't get me wrong I love camping... its just not restful.

This year was different thanks to friends who lent us their camping trailer. Packing and cleaning was simpler and the kids are older so they are off doing their thing while Kari and I talked or read a good book. Our last getaway was at Camp Iawah. If you have never been to camp it is a must. Your meals are all made for you plus you have all the activities to choose from to entertain the family. A truly restful last weekend before the big back to school rush.

RELATIONSHIP:  We had so many laughs as a family! With many memories being created. Catching fish, swimming and playing on the beach, swimming in friends pools to escape the heat, countless games of Uno, campfire songs and tubing on White Lake. It was also a summer where Emily made some knew bff's and Kari and I got to connect with ministry couples and friends. It is a blessing to be able to enjoy friends with no expectations... just being together is enough.

REFOCUS: Going into year two of the church plant I needed some fresh vision and refocusing. God had brought us so many amazing people and great leaders but what was next. The vision was clear but now what? After my time in NYC in the spring it seemed the word "equip and release leaders" was loud in my heart and passion began to grow as I thought about what could actually happen if a small group of people, changed by the gospel, was released in our city. So we are starting our Kingdom Life Ministry School with 13 participants. So pumped to see what God does with us!

I have also known, since being called by God to Ottawa, that I would have a role in city transformation.  Unexpectedly a burning passion for city wide change and kingdom relationships was bubbling and an opportunity came to participate in the refreshing the vision of our city wide ministry called Mission O. I am anticipating quite a ride ahead as we work together towards three purposes: Authentic Relationships, Transformational Prayer and Intentional Mission in our city.

Oh did I say fall is my favourite season for fashion... time to break out the fall wardrobe with its layers and fun! No more shorts and flip flops! 

 

Stuff

As we head on vacation for one last week before a very busy season I will leave you with some great stuff to look at and hopefully thought provoking.

1. Pastor as Rock Star by Ed Stetzer

"Somebody once said, “The Gospel came to the Greeks and the Greeks turned it into a philosophy. The Gospel came to the Romans and the Romans turned it into a system. The Gospel came to the Europeans and the Europeans turned it into a culture. The Gospel came to America and the Americans turned it into a business.” And business is booming. Millions of churchgoers file in to buildings each week, line up in rows like shelves at Walmart, and watch the stage. They come for one purpose: to see a show and hear a pastor."

2. City Transformation - Local Portlanders and good friends, Tom Krattenmaker and Kevin Palau, let you in on their private coffee conversations. How is God moving in Portland? What are the dynamics at play that movements in other cities might resemble? This is what I desire to see in Ottawa...

3. Creating Movement - Tim Keller talks about how to create and sustain a movement

"A movement is marked by an attractive, clear, unifying vision for the future together with a strong set of values or beliefs. The content of the vision must be compelling and clear so that others can grasp it readily. It must not be so esoteric or difficult that only a handful of people can articulate it. Instead, it must be something that all members of the movement can understand and pass along to others. By contrast, "institutionalized" organizations are held together by rules, regulations, and procedures, not by a shared vision."

4. Momentum - Another must read by Seth Godin

5. "Wake Up" from Arcade Fire! A song for our time!    

6. Love this new Matthew Smith Song.

Let worldly minds the world pursue, what are its charms to me?
Once I admired its trifles too, but grace has set me free
Its pleasures now no longer please, no more content afford
Far from my heart be joys like these now I have seen the Lord

As by the light of opening day the stars are all concealed
So earthly pleasures fade away when Jesus is revealed
Creatures no more divide my choice, I bid you all depart
His name and love and gracious Word have fixed my roving heart

A Great Answer To An Even Better Question

Joe Thorn interviewed Johnathon Dodson on the topic of discipleship. He gave a great answer to a question every pastor and leader should be asking.

I’ve included an excerpt from one of the questions below.

What is the biggest mistake the church is making when working to make disciples?

"I can’t answer that question definitively. However, the dearth of suffering, the absence of hope, the trivialization of the Spirit, and the lack of mission among disciples of Jesus is terribly concerning. We have tried to minimize suffering through convenience, eliminate hope through self-made retirement, reduce Jesus to redeemer of the past, and surrendered any sense of discipleship as a call to die to ourselves that others may live. Instead, discipleship has been reduced to having a good marriage, handling finances well, raising good children, securing a future, and knowing your Bible. Our mission is very different than Jesus’ mission, our lives very different than Jesus’ life. This should scare us."

Check out the rest of the Interview

What I Am Excited About

Since my time in New York in the spring I have been busy formulating what equipping looks like in The Journey and it will all be happening this fall. This September we are starting our first training and leadership development program designed for individuals considering a larger role in ministry, primarily in the area of Gospel Communities. It is designed to give participants a realistic experience of life and ministry within the context of the city. 

STRUCTURE OF THE PROGRAM

The program consists of supervised ministry, regular coaching, monthly seminars, as well as leadership in a Gospel Community in an Ottawa city neighbourhood. 

We will meet as a group for seminars and larger experiences as well as with a coach to present case studies of experiences and issues you may face in ministry for instruction, leadership formation and theological reflection.

The program is designed to expose individuals to a range of ministry experiences and needs in the urban environment. We will engage in 

Eight monthly sessions that will address various leadership competencies important for ministry. These sessions will include reading assignments, learning exercises, and occasional writing assignments. 

You will discover how to enjoy a lifetime of going deeper with God, flourishing in community, and seeing how the gospel transforms a city! 

The Course Will…

1. Be done in community, in service. 

2. Be dialogue/project-based not lecture / testing-based. 

3. Will be contextualized to our city. Issues and projects are adjusted by need and cultural setting. 

4. Address the core themes of Gospel – Doctrine – Church – Mission

The material we will be primarily using is from the The Porterbrook Network

The Porterbrook Network has launched a two year program for local churches to train up leaders. Porterbrook Learning helps Christians learn how to serve Jesus and his people better — whether they are church leaders, church planters, or simply Christians wanting to become more mission-focused. The course is flexible and has been designed to be integrated with your whole Christian life in whatever context you’re serving. It’s not theology for theology’s sake: the course is written by practitioners for practitioners.  http://www.porterbrooknetwork .org/

Exciting times for The Journey!

My Church Is Not The Best

I read this at Tony Morgan's site and I had to post it. As I think about what God is doing in Ottawa and the possibilities that could happen if every church carried this posture... exciting stuff could happen. 

"I’m not going to lie, the first time somebody told me I was the “best” pastor or that our church was the “best” church, I was pretty happy. Yes! Fist pump! In your face, Rick Warren! Take that, North Point! How ya’ like me now, Furtick?! Did you hear that? We’re the best!

You see, I grew up with a strong competitive streak. Everything was a competition. I’m not just talking about sports or Atari games (80′s shout-out), I’m talking about everything. My school was better than yours, my team was better than yours, my girlfriend was better than yours, my family was better than yours, and my church was better than yours. That’s right, I said, “my church was better than yours.” Whether it was true or not, that’s what I believed. We’re awesome; you’re not. We’re the best.

But God has been dealing with my competitive streak lately. In 2 Corinthians 10:17 Paul said, “Let him who boasts, boast in the Lord.” Did you catch that? He didn’t say, “boast in your church,” he said, “boast in the Lord.”  Since when did churches start to boast, “we’re the best”? Since when did our churches begin to compete? It’s not Scriptural. It’s not even smart. Instead, it’s a common, man-made, dumb assertion.

As a matter of fact, believing that my church is the “best” is beyond dumb, it’s dangerous.

My church is not better than your church. My church is not trying to beat your church. That’s not what the Kingdom of God is about. Our churches aren’t competitors. We are partners. We are fellow soldiers. We are teammates. I want your church to succeed. I need your church to succeed. Because when you win, we win. When you make a difference, we make a difference.

So I’m learning to refocus my competitive nature. Don’t get me wrong, I still love to compete. I still hate Duke with every fiber of my being; I still take pleasure out of beating kids half my age in basketball; I still  refuse to battle my son in Pokemon because he destroys me; I still race strangers to the check-out line in Wal-Mart, but I’m just learning to keep competition in those places where it belongs. And one place competition never belongs is in our churches. [Tony's note: Please disregard Bryan's comment about Duke.]

My church is great. It really is. The people are wonderful. The music is passionate. The growth is exciting. The vision is contagious. It’s a hot place to be each weekend. But it’s not better than your church. It can’t be. I won’t let it be. Your church is great, too. And it’s when we are together – and only when we are together - that we are all truly at our best."

Thanks Bryan for these convicting yet encouraging words!!

This is a guest post from Bryan Roberts, Lead Pastor of Church Relevant in Bern, North Carolina. 

Just Some Stuff I Found

The family just returned from an amazing week away in the sand and surf and when I am on vacation I love to catch up on the trends. Since my purchase of the ipad this makes the task so much easier. Here are a few that caught my attention:

• Forbes article by Edward Hess: “All growth creates risks that need to be managed.”
• Wired article: “Amazon sells more E-books than hardcovers.” I was one of those skeptics that thought this would never happen but since my first digital download I am no longer a skeptic. The world is going digital people!!
• From TechCrunch: “Netflix is smart to realize that the future is streaming.”And they will be in Canada in the fall... so exciting!
• Ed on Canada: "51% say they would be willing to study the Bible if a friend asked them to"
• Art of Manliness: Admit it men we need help... here is the help you have been waiting for.
• Two Kinds of Schooling: As I prepare for our school in the fall Seth endorses our direction.
• To end it off a powerful tune from The Boss himself. Seems like his inspiration was Isaiah 58:6-12. What are you doing "with these hands"?

Ministry as Idolatry

Great reminder by Tim Keller...

Q: What safeguards should  pastors have in place to avoid the idolatry of ministry fame and the attitude of big numbers equals success?

Tim Keller: If you know it is a danger, that is a very important start. Additionally, when you find yourself unusually discouraged because things aren’t growing or people aren’t listening to you — you have to catch yourself. You have to realize ‘This is an inordinate amount of discouragement, which reveals the idolatry of justification by ministry.’ Meaning, you say you believe in justification by grace, but you feel like and are acting like you believe in justification by ministry. You have to recognize you are making something of an idol out of ministry. When you do experience inordinate discouragement because things aren’t going well, you need to say, ‘It’s okay to be discouraged but not to be this discouraged. This is discouragement that leads to idolatry,’ and you repent.

Additionally, idols create a fantasy world. You may think that you are just thinking about ministry strategy, but it could be you’re fantasizing about success. So be careful about doing too much daydreaming about success, what you would like to see happen. Because it’s really a kind of pornography. You’re actually thinking about a beautiful church and people acclaiming you: be careful about fantasizing too much about ministry success and dreaming about it and thinking about what it’s going to look like.

Everyone Gets to Play - On Creating Movement In a City

Change is difficult and shifts are slow but If we desire to create movement in the cities where God has placed us there must be a shift in how we view church and its role in our cities. Here are 3 things that will hopefully get you thinking different.

1. Every believer a church planter - Do we really believe, in our churches, that every believer is an agent of the King. This is a difficult statement for us to swallow because when we view the church in no way do we see that we are capable to plant a church. The endless programs, teaching, boards, budgets, counselling... NO WAY CAN I PLANT A CHURCH! Our current model of church does not reflect the theology of the priesthood of all believers. The beauty of the gospel is everyone gets to play... Women, Men, Slaves, uneducated, x-cons... Everyone! In the scripture conversion - Baptism is your commission. We need to move people to a Kingdom dream and then to action! I love the Reform church but the focus on Ecclesiology is not helpful. In our high church if you want to go into church planting it will take you 7 years. What? This problem began in the Constantinion era and will not create movement in our cities. What could it look like if you saw every person as a church planter. Everyone getting the chance to play the game!

I am reminded of a great story of a family in California that was fed up with New Years. Every year they wanted to do something fun/memorable and without fail it would end in disappointment. But one year everything changed. As they were sitting in the living room discussing what this New Years was going to look like they had a brilliant idea. Lets get everyone to dress up, decorate their bikes, whatever they want to do and lets have a parade. BUT the one rule in this parade is you have to be a participant. No one is allowed to watch. 

They were excited about the idea and went around to all the neighbours telling them about the parade... the result was amazing. Neighbours joined in and began going around the neighbourhood and if someone came out of the house to watch they were grabbed and brought into the parade. No one could watch, everyone had to participate. Every New Years since this neighbourhood does something unimaginable, something where everyone gets to participate. What if we applied this to the church? With Jesus everyone gets to play in his redemptive plan in the world... He wants everyone to join Him.

2. We Plant the Gospel and Make Disciples Not Plant Churches - The problem is we see church planting as the goal and in reality no where in scripture are we given the call to plant churches BUT we are given the mandate to make disciples. Making disciples is key and then churches/community is the result. If we live our lives with gospel intentionality we will see lives transformed and we don't stop there... we teach them to obey all that Jesus has commanded. And in teaching them to obey they go out and live with gospel intentionality and make disciples that obey Jesus and now you have a vibrant growing reproducing church. Simple isn't it!

3. An Us For Them Mentality - The insider outsider language that we use in the church will not help us create movement. Too much of what we do is focused on those "in" the church but Jesus has called us back out. Do we gather for ourselves or for others? We must get back to the sentness of God and that he sends us out on mission to the world to LOVE others. We must see the beauty in every person and show every human what the Love of Jesus looks like. If we act one way on Sunday but treat people poorly during the week we are missing Jesus. Jesus at the well, with Zacheus, hanging out with tax collectors at Matthews house... the list is endless. He was FOR people. It is my desire to see Jesus in every person, that they are created in God's image. Do you see beauty in people without God and treasure that. If we are objective, their are a lot of mean people who believe in Jesus. I am not trying to say I have arrived, far from it, but I get told me often I am attracted to Jesus in you but why are so many other christians so dogmatic, judgemental and mean?  Can we allow the love Jesus has for people to flow through us? 

For the sake of the gospel and movement in our cities lets embrace the necessary change required...