I know it’s strange. I know it’s unreasonable and crazy and foolish. I know. But I’ve often been troubled by my perfect childhood . . . there it is. As I’ve grown up and listened to the stories and testimonies of those for whom life has been hard, there’ve been many fleeting moments where I felt cheated of a background that may have lent itself to a more fruitful ministry, especially in a place like Weaverville. “If I’d had it rough like that guy, I’d have had a better chance to share the gospel with him,” goes the thought. “He’d listen to me because he’d recognize I understand his pain. Then he’d wonder why I was different.” I’ve often asked God why I’ve had such a sheltered life. How does a sheltered life find any common ground to offer the meaningful hope of the gospel to broken lives, to haunted lives?
One of these broken lives came into my office today. I can immediately see he’s one of those men I can’t hope to relate to. He’s a Vietnam vet. There are a lot of helicopters in Trinity County, and as he sits in my office armchair where I seat my guests to put them at ease, he looks anything but. He tells me that whenever a helicopter flies overhead, he flinches. He has to fight the urge to hide.
His neck and back have been shattered. I can’t keep track of how many surgeries he tells me he’s had. He won’t take the pain medication because it makes him mean, and he’s tired of being mean. “I can’t see their faces,” he says quietly, “but I killed a lot of people in Vietnam. It’s a hard thing to feel worthy of love.”
He’s been through a divorce . . . he caught his wife cheating on him. Trust no longer comes easy, he tells me. I sit in the much-less comfortable seat opposite the man and pray furiously. If I pretend to understand, he’ll know me for the sham I am. I feel like he can see right through me, and I haven’t even said a word. I’m still thinking of something to say when this unlikely messenger from God settles my long silent question. “I know I’m a lot older than you,” he observes with a wry smile, “and I know I’ve seen a lot more in this world. I’ve been through a lot that you haven’t. But I’m here because I know you’ve seen what life is supposed to look like, and I don’t know where to start. I’m hoping you can help me get started on the right track.”
The common ground we shared was grace! The grace of God saved us both. The grace of God granted me a healthy history and heritage that seems to draw broken people to me. And the grace of God brought us together in that office meeting so I could keep pointing a broken life to Him for healing. We’re scheduled to begin working through the “Starting Point” class together next week. Thank you, God, for my sheltered life.
Please continue to pray for me, my family and your Outpost brothers and sisters as we lean heavily on God for His guidance every day.
Surrounded By Grace,
Josh, Outpost – Weaverville CA
Posted by: Debbie Schermerhorn
| @ December 5, 2008 10:10:50 AM MST ( ) |
This past summer of 2008 the basketball universe was restored to its proper order when the USA Men’s basketball team won the Gold Medal. It was not the most talented team ever assembled. That would arguably go to the 1992 Olympic Team known as “The Dream Team.” But after watching the U.S. take Bronze in 2004 something needed to be done.
I attribute the turnaround to “a team emphasis” instead of simply getting the best individual players together and trying to win on sheer talent. The 2008 “Redeem Team” took a different approach. They assembled players who could play together—not as individuals, and that reminded me of a good book entitled Doing Church as a Team by Wayne Cordeiro.
This is a simple, yet very useful read and will help involve your entire “Team.”
Terry Barrett, Church Multiplication Consultant
Church Multiplication Director, South Pacific District
Posted by: Debbie Schermerhorn
| @ December 5, 2008 9:58:30 AM MST ( ) |
Barack Obama is elected president. Pelosi and Reid are calling the shots in the legislative branch. Gays are marching in the streets across California. AIG, many banks, and car makers have their hands out for cash as the U.S. walks an economic tightrope. Then there are the people in your churches in default or foreclosure, resulting in shortages in giving. Many local churches beg the question, “What does God mean by this?”
In November at our district superintendent Fall Leadership Conference, a team of us asked the “What does God mean by this?” question. No, we don’t have the perfect answer but here is a quick list of what we do know. Look over the list and give us your feedback.
- Radical multiplication will not happen primarily from paid professionals.
- We believe that success in our churches must be measured by reducing “lostness” in the communities we serve.
- The C&MA cannot do this alone—we must partner with others.
- We need to lean hard on the job training for ministry leadership.
- Identifying and developing leaders becomes our #1 priority.
- We must return to the original C&MA core DNA.
- We must see adding holistic/soul-winning disciples as THE priority.
- Developing organic ministries is a must BUT accountability will be critical to sustainability.
Dwight Smith (Dwight will be our speaker at General Council for our Church Planting and Health Directors Breakfast on May 27th) identifies six threshold behaviors that must be instilled into the genetic code of our churches:
- People growing in their relationship with Christ
- People telling their grace story on a regular basis
- People knowing their spiritual gifts and employing them both inside and outside the church
- People living in a way that exhibits the fruit of the Spirit
- People obediently living a God-directed standard of Biblical stewardship
- People accepting responsibility/accountability for reaching lost people around them.
There is so much more to talk about, but enough for now. I need your feedback! Jon Rich and I are digging deeper into all of this along with Dwight Smith and will be opening up discussion as we gather several times with all of you in 2009.
Posted by: Debbie Schermerhorn
| @ December 5, 2008 9:31:47 AM MST ( ) |
The classic book by Robert E. Coleman, The Master Plan of Evangelism, Second Edition, Abridged.
Order your copy today!
Posted by: Debbie Schermerhorn
| @ October 14, 2008 11:03:10 AM MDT ( ) |
Northwestern District celebrated another church-planting launch this month. North Star Church in Hibbing, Minnesota launched on October 5, 2008—things went really well! They had 75 in attendance with two adult salvations and two adult rededications. Church-planting Pastor Tim Maki is preaching through 1 John, and his series is called the The God Journey.
“Life is a Journey in which we walk together. This is how we were made. Not to be isolated and alone, but together—experiencing the journey. As the North Star is that constant that has been used for centuries as a guide, Jesus Christ is our spiritual North Star, that constant, that leads us and is with us on the Journey. While following Jesus Christ, we at North Star Church are becoming a spiritual family that will walk together through life. We call this The God Journey and we welcome you to join us.”
Their hope was for 100 people, but as one of their 21-year olds said, “Ya, but we prayed back in April for 70-75 for our critical mass number and God did it.” Their worship team has really come together in the last month, and their Children’s Celebration and Nursery are top notch. Thanks for praying. All glory goes to God!
Northwestern district also celebrated their newest “developed” transition out of church-plant status on September 14, 2008. Under the leadership of Pastor Keith Pugalisi, 36 charter members (pictured above) of New Song Alliance Church took this step. Following the official meeting, more than 130 people congregated for worship and celebration’among the crowd was former Alliance missionary and Crown College faculty, Bill Conley. New Song was birthed by Rev. Randy Junker and the Grand Rapids Alliance Church as part of their vision to be more effective in reaching the 20-somethings of this northern Minnesota community—truly the fruit of a generous “churches planting churches” philosophy.
Posted by: Debbie Schermerhorn
| @ October 14, 2008 10:58:29 AM MDT ( ) |
In the early seventies The Master Plan of Evangelism was required reading for my pastoral ministries degree. I read it then and remembered it was pretty good. I read it again last week and its effect on me was profound. Grab it again, read it, and pass it around. Listen to this nugget on the work of the Spirit:
“Evangelism was not interpreted as a human undertaking, but as a divine project which had been going on from the beginning and would continue until God’s purpose was fulfilled. It was altogether the Spirit’s work. All the disciples were asked to do was to let the Spirit have complete charge of their lives.”
After another time through the book I ordered copies for all my pastors and staff and starting handing them out.
Posted by: Debbie Schermerhorn
| @ October 14, 2008 10:51:38 AM MDT ( ) |
by Paul Becker
What is a vision? A vision is a God-given picture of His preferred future for you and your ministry.
What does God want you to do? Are you seeking a vision from God? How can you plan to see your vision fulfilled? How can you work your plan so that your vision becomes a reality? This book can help you find your answers!
Rev. Paul Becker is Founder and President of Dynamic Church Planting International. DCPI is focused on equipping leaders to plant dynamic churches worldwide and was founded in 1995. In its first eleven years, the Lord used DCPI to train over 19,000 leaders to establish churches in 76 nations. At the end of 2007, there were over 1,400 volunteer DCPI trainers and leaders actively equipping church planters in 35 nations. May God receive all the glory!
Paul has planted four churches and mentored more than 50 church planters. He is the author of four books including The New Dynamic Church Planting Handbook.
Order your copy today!
Posted by: Debbie Schermerhorn
| @ September 12, 2008 12:12:10 PM MDT ( ) |
There, I said it. Whenever my wife Debbie and I are on a trip and I miss an exit or make a wrong turn I will admit that I am slow to ask for directions. So I compensate for being lost by driving faster. Don’t tell me that you don’t do the same thing. Statesman and outdoorsman, Daniel Boone was asked if he was ever lost while making his way through the wilderness. “I was never lost,” he said. “I was bewildered for about four months one time, but I was never lost.”
So what happens when you create your own vision? You wound yourself and any who follow you. Paul Becker tells us in his book, Seeing Your Vision Come True, that you will end up unfulfilled, frustrated, and defeated.
When we dream up our direction and fail to slow down and listen to God day in and day out we miss out on the greatest opportunity of all time—that being to drink in His direction. The apostle Paul bears down and tells us to be confident that He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus. David is described as a man after God’s own heart. Sure wasn’t because he was perfect! In II Samuel 2:1, David asks the Lord the question, “Shall I go up to one of the towns of Judah?” The Lord answered, “Go up.” David spent a lot of time listening to God and he enjoyed it…probably learned it as shepherd boy.
Finally, here is the dilemma that I find myself in time and again. I get so preoccupied with what I want and want to do that I don’t slow down and listen. For some time now I have been carving out specific times to listen and guess what, my hearing is getting better. The best part is that the intimacy with God is SO REFRESHING. Don’t create your own vision…slow down and hear!
Posted by: Debbie Schermerhorn
| @ September 12, 2008 12:10:23 PM MDT ( ) |
As most of you may have heard by now, I will be taking over responsibilities as the South Pacific district superintendent. What does that mean for national church planting? The goal is to turn a difficult situation into opportunity. As Gary Benedict says, “we plant churches or we die!” So the Alliance has asked me to consult and make certain we keep moving forward. Here are some of the strategic highlights.
sXt . . . On the front burner is the continuation and regional development of the sXt (Strategic Multiplication Training). We just came from a great event hosted by the Southeastern district where we had 40+ planters and wives trained. I will be working directly with Todd Sovine in the Central district as he puts together a local sXt in Ohio. On the schedule is the sXt in Phoenix, January 26–29, 2009 with more to follow.
Church Planter Assessment Centers . . . we have launched Southwest Church Planting (SWCP) complete with bi-monthly forums for church planters and spouses and a twice annual four-day assessment center for planters and their spouses beginning in October 2008. Northwest Church Planting (NWCP) is run by the Pacific Northwest CPD, Randy Shaw. NWCP already operates two assessment centers each year. The focus will be to launch Midwest Church Planting, Northeast Church Planting and Southeast Church Planting all with forums and assessment centers. The training has already begun. Let us know if you would like to attend one of these assessment events, observe, and be trained to take it back to your region. We are ready to help!
Annual CX Advance for CPDs and CHDs . . . The third week of April 2009 we will be traveling together to Orlando for the Exponential Conference for church planting. We will add on one day at the beginning of the conference for C&MA fellowship, brainstorming, vision casting and debriefing. Please save April 19 for travel, April 20-21 a.m. for our Advance and April 21 p.m.-23 for the Exponential 2009 conference. Mark your calendars now for this excellent event. If we register together as one group, we can save $20/person. More details to follow. Here’s the link to check out the upcoming conference—www.exponentialconference.org
Church Health for Multiplication . . . Dale Edwardson will remain onboard organizing and coordinating our work toward developing healthy churches with the goal of seeing them become parent churches. GHC training will continue to happen in concert with sXt.
Initiative and Grants . . . Dollars are still being allocated for initiatives like the ones above along with new concepts, coaching, and strategic ideas. Grants for new church starts are not going away. Grants for sending your church planters to a mission field are staying in place. Grants for establishing Church Planting Centers will be a priority. It is true that this year and last we have suffered financial cutbacks. However, I am confident that we will turn this corner.
Regional Strategies . . . We are working on regional strategies with the eventual objective that grants will be reviewed and approved by regional teams across the country. More about this will be coming as we gather in April 2009.
Your Voice, Our Voices . . . We are the ones to best beat the drum for church multiplication. At next year’s Council I will be working as an MC for all the speakers bringing church planting to the forefront throughout the event. As the consultant for church multiplication, I will keep shouting the need to our president, Gary Benedict, and our vice president, John Soper (veteran of numerous church plants). As a DS, I will unite with many of our superintendents who are also veteran church planters and church planting directors as “squeaky wheels” for multiplication.
I told Gary Benedict after he said, “we plant churches or we die” that I will hold him to it. That is, I will hold him to the planting churches part, not the die part. He said, “I want to be held to it!”
Posted by: Debbie Schermerhorn
| @ July 2, 2008 10:44:06 AM MDT ( ) |
I got the book on Tuesday and finished it up by Thursday morning. It crushed anything on TV and especially the political news. Though I will confess that I watched my Angels (La Angels of Anaheim) beat on the Phillys and any others trying to get into their way. But I digress! Death By Meeting by Patrick Lencioni is written as a fable. Compelling and lot’s of fun. The fact is, it is time to bring our meetings to life and effectiveness. Grab it, read it, use it—but don’t give it to your leadership. Let them think you are the genius who conceived of the great ways to breathe life and effectiveness into your meetings.
Posted by: Debbie Schermerhorn
| @ July 2, 2008 9:46:36 AM MDT ( ) |
The Havenors are at home. We are planted in the urban center of Fort Wayne, Indiana. It is a neighborhood with century-old Victorian homes, 50s-style bungalows, mature trees and lots of lost people. It is exactly where we want to be. The surface images can fool you. On the outside, this area looks like any other older neighborhood. A closer look, and a set of ears, will tell a slightly different story.
We were prayer-walking recently on a beautiful early spring evening. I was impressed with the whole idea of outward calm and inner turmoil. I began to pray, “Lord, it looks so calm and peaceful here . . .” ready to add my insight that outward appearances can be deceiving. I never got to finish that statement—and didn’t need to. At that moment five quick pop-pop-pops shattered the quiet. “. . . Uh, except for the gunfire.” We laughed at the perfect timing.
No, this isn’t Beirut or Baghdad. It isn’t Harlem or Watts or Houston or South St. Louis. But it isn’t exactly the New Jerusalem, either.
Missionaries should never go where it’s safe or where they aren’t needed the most. We are right where we are supposed to be.
Against the backdrop of severe economic distress, hopelessness, drugs and violence, there are people here like you and me. They long for the kinds of friendships that bring life. The ministry upside in an area like this is unlimited. Friendships and community ties are natural occurrences here. Warm weather brings people outside on the porch. You can’t walk two blocks without stopping a half-dozen times to talk with your neighbors.
Like any missionary has to do, we are also adjusting to the local language. The high school about ten blocks away has over 50 languages represented. Talk about diversity! But there is a neighborhood lingo, too. We call this area the ‘hood not because it sounds cool to use in a newsletter. It’s what the locals call it. As Bob works at the auto parts store five blocks away, he regularly hears customers talking on their cell phones telling the other party that they are finishing up at the store and then “goin’ back to the crib.” Goin’ back to the crib is the local shorthand for “Upon finishing this transaction I shall return to my domicile.” Crib is still a little edgy for us, but I think we prefer it and the lifestyle that goes with it.
Bob banged out a total rebuild of the bathroom and kitchen. Sue painted the whole interior, refinished the kitchen cabinets, and is busy on the yard. We have a lot of work to go, but most of the hard stuff is behind us . . . as far as the house goes, at least.
What we have to concentrate on now is building our team and making disciples. Ah, it’s good to be home!
Read the rest of Bob and Sue Havenor’s prayer letter»
Posted by: Debbie Schermerhorn
| @ May 16, 2008 12:16:07 PM MDT ( ) |
There's a word that makes people want to run: give. Our fears have taught us that to give anything is to be left with less. But the best things in life come from giving.
1. You give when you learn to forgive.
2. You forgive when you know you've been forgiven.
3. You're forgiven because God gave.
So the “Key to Everything” is giving.
Jack Hayford will show you how to give the right thing at the right time in the right way for the right reasons. The Key to Everything unlocks the door to living in the spirit of God’s releasing grace. You will be released to give as you have received, forgive as you have been forgiven and serve as you have been gifted.
Posted by: Debbie Schermerhorn
| @ May 16, 2008 11:51:35 AM MDT ( ) |
Out of every eleven people how many do you suspect attend an evangelical church in the United States each Sunday? The number is one. This hard fact is not based upon a survey, but on the study performed by the American Church Research Project administered by author David Olson. Our own C&MA is part of this study which helps us to identify with the burden and solutions revealed in the new book, The American Church in Crisis.
The pattern of growth in new churches stays in positive numbers for the first ten years of their existence. Nationwide, after a church reaches birthday number eleven the growth is less than 1% on average. The American Church in Crisis does a lot more than declare the state of the church, it offers solutions. Pick up copies of The American Church in Crisis for yourself and your leadership team.
Posted by: Debbie Schermerhorn
| @ May 16, 2008 11:40:40 AM MDT ( ) |
You must create launching pads for the distribution of people for the purpose of equipping and empowering them to invade their communities. Here are some viable steps in no particular order.
Step 1: Natural circles of influence—Help everyone recognize their natural circles of influence, such as: sports teams, work, clubs, the golf course, mom’s clubs, the coffeehouse, schools, children connections and yes, their neighbors.
Step 2: Intentional circles of influence—Brainstorm and encourage the development of new intentional circles of influence such as volunteer work, some of the items from step 1 and everything and anything that comes to mind.
Step 3: Divine appointments—Instruct the people to pray for, expect, pursue, recognize and engage in divine appointments.
Step 4: The Gospels and Acts—Recommit your preaching to the Gospels and The Acts of the Apostles.
Step 5: Offsite opportunities—Multiply and make time for offsite opportunities as a corporate body by reworking your priorities.
Essentials for Engagement to be executed at the training base—better know as your home church . . .
- Strength and Survival Training—Tools and instructions for fully developing personal spiritual health that will result in self-feeders.
- Air Cover—Intercessory prayer base for protection, wisdom, and empowerment.
- Troop Support—Accountable relationships provide the necessary backup.
- Mission Support—Resulting from continuously communicated and updated vision for extreme focus on the task.
- Troop Morale—Celebration of THE VICTOR and the Victories.
Posted by: Debbie Schermerhorn
| @ May 16, 2008 11:21:33 AM MDT ( ) |
Will you take the opportunity of our lifetime for the sake of LIFE? Dwight Smith is engaged in ministry worldwide and speaks a message that is apostolic in nature. Frankly, I believe him. What I am about to share with you is what I am hearing from Dwight and confirmed by what God is over and again speaking into my life. The time for casually approaching this message is over!
The apostle John records the promising and piercing words of Jesus, “I come that you may have life and that you may have it abundantly.” I am pursuing the Lord asking to have Him drive this reality to the front of my consciousness.
Today there are about 27 million evangelicals attending church regularly in the United States. This represents about 9% of the total population. One out of eleven (source: The American Church in Crisis - Osborn).
There are 54 million MORE Americans in the U.S. today than there were in 1990. Compare that to the number of evangelicals and you must conclude that we are aggressively losing ground. That’s right we are aggressively losing ground and to make it worse—it is either on purpose or out of ignorance. It is a decision of the church to lose ground. Be angry with my assertion, but hear me all the way.
Dwight Smith astutely declares that “we organize our churches to collect people, not to invade our communities and cultures.” Herein lays the decision to look the other way and keep our churches content and unchallenged.
Back to John 10:10, every person who has been given new LIFE in Jesus Christ is promised abundant LIFE. Now, this is something that they will not experience by merely sitting in our churches, adding to our numbers. People are carefully and specifically designed to carry out God’s mission which is to bring LIFE, abundant LIFE. Ten out of eleven are not claiming the promise of eternal LIFE. Too many of the remaining, one out of eleven that have received Christ and the forever promise, are disconnected from the abundant part.
I agree again with Smith when he lays out God’s missional intent. “The God intent of the gathering moments in the church only set the environment . . . we must put instruments in place that force people down the path of invasion.”
There is no way that in three or four hours per month of teaching that your people, intended by God to be invading soldiers, can advance beyond a sedated conscience seared by growing spiritual obesity. If by now you are angry enough to cover your ears, well that is your prerogative. If you want to enter the fray of battle read the following article, “The Church . . . A Place for Distribution,” highlighting the strategy for full engagement. Your church will never be the same and you and your people will be on the road to become all Christ intends.
Posted by: Debbie Schermerhorn
| @ May 16, 2008 11:16:25 AM MDT ( ) |
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