Church planting - Dave Lawton

Encounters with 'Isa Masih'

Movements start with Jesus encounters.

 

It is commonly said that we are living in unprecedented times.

More Muslims have come to Christ in the last few decades than in the history of Islam itself

 

I cried and marvelled as I watched these videos that show some remarkable stories of our dear Muslim brothers and sisters having an encounter with Isa Masih

 

Grab a coffee and watch one (or more) of these testimonies. Each one goes for 1/2 an hour or more.

 

Khosrow (Iran)

 

Khalil (Egypt)

 

Mohammed (Nigeria)

 

Dini (Indonesia)

 

Ali (Turkey)

 

Ihamdalilah!

 

These videos and more can be found on http://www.dreamsandvisions.com/

 

A Must Have Book

 

Paul Peirson's book The dynamics of Christian Mission is a must have book for those called to understand Jesus movements.

In this book Peirson discusses that Mission movements have normally been the result of renewal, and movements appear to have arisen on the periphery of the broader Church. Those who have responded to the missionary call have always been a minority, often perceived with disdain or rejection by their societies and even their churches. Yet they have persevered, and, despite their apparent failures, God did "exceedingly abundantly" above all they had hoped. They are like seed that are sown which produce a great harvest.

Think of the significance, at the time of the event, of a condemned man dying on a cross outside Jerusalem, or a man on death row writing letters in a Roman prison.

Some key ideas he presents are

• Movements happen on the edge of churchly structure
• These mission movements come out renewal
• The key Leader, who has had a 'profound life with God' is a key catalyst to movements.
• In these movements Leadership moves from structure (Elitist and institutional) to the grassroots  - the empowerment of all believers.  
• Movements have come out of a rediscovered truth (E.g 16th century Calvinism reacting against superstitions of a corrupt medieval church and the Pentecostal movement with the 'new' revelation of the Holy Spirit).
• Both the local (Modality) and the mission structures (Sodality) are essential to the completion of the mission of the Church
• The mission does not change but the context does, calling for new methods.

I Intentionally and Unintentionally Got Alienated

I like what my friend Kumar Abraham writes...

Jesus met me in my early teens. I then had four circles of influence. My family (five siblings and parents), about ten teens in my neighborhood with whom I played cricket, had fun and lived selfishly; about ten nominal Christian mates in my church and another ten in school. That is a total of about thirty-seven relationships.

God did use my sister and myself in our family and all of them have now found the Lord. But I intentionally and unintentionally got alienated from the rest. Instead I drew very closely to the youth group where I met Christ and insulated myself from the “evil influences” around me. I was still excited to serve God and share the gospel to the youth around me. Looking back I find I had to share the gospel the hard way and not through all the natural relationships, God had providentially placed around me.

 After forty-three years I see things clearer now! I see it in the master evangelist Himself, our Lord. Jesus seems to have done it easily. ”The first thing Andrew did was to find his brother Simon and tell him, "We have found the Messiah" “… And he brought him to Jesus.” (41-42).  ^“… Jesus …finding Philip, he said to him, "Follow me”…. Philip found Nathaniel” (Jn. 1:43, 45 Were these also brothers or just good friends? Why is Nathaniel not mentioned again? Is this Bartholomew? Mt.10:3; Mk. 3:18; Lk. 6:14 Some scholars do not think so).  After the calling of Andrew and Peter in Mt. 4:18-20, “Jesus saw two other brothers, James… and his brother John …. and immediately they … followed him” (Mt. 4:21-22). Then in Mt. 9:1, 9 “Jesus …came to his own town (Capernaum?)…. saw a man named Matthew ….”Follow me, he told him, and Matthew got up and followed him.”

Andrew, Peter, Philip and Nathaniel were from Bethsaida (Jn. 1:44). James and John fished on the same Sea of Galilee. The chances are that these six were all connected to each other and were friends. Matthew was from Capernaum which was nearby. Nothing is mentioned as to how Thomas, James son of Alphaeus, Thaddaeus, Simon the Zealot and Judas Iscariot were enlisted. According to Robert Coleman in the Master Plan of Evangelism, all except Judas Iscariot were Galileans.

Spheres (circles) of influence:

1.      (We all have a) Family. “Jesus … said, Go home to your family and tell them how much the Lord has done for you, and how he has had mercy on you. So the man went away and began to tell in the Decapolis how much Jesus had done for him. And all the people were amazed (Mk. 5:19-20).

 2. Where you live most of your days, school, home (neighbourhood), work environment, recreation; building long term relationships of love, caring and trust. “While Jesus was having dinner at Matthew's house, many tax collectors and sinners came and ate with him and his disciples” (Mt. 9:10).

 Think about all the relationships that you are surrounded by. … the place where God has placed you. This is the natural venue to share your faith. Basically, where you are for six hours or more when you are awake. Ask God to show you who might be receptive to you. Continue and/or begin long-term friendships. Pray the Scriptures into them. Pray that God will begin to work in their lives supernaturally. Wait patiently for appropriate moments when opportunities will arise to share Biblical values, your testimony and the gospel.

 Find a friend or a group to pray with. 

Acts 2:44-45 Generosity

I believe in generosity! This seemed to mark the early Church. The Jerusalem Church (Acts 2:44-45), the new 'gentile' church in Antioch (Acts 11:29-30) or the Macedonian Church were all were examples of extreme generosity. The Macedonians even gave beyond their means (2 Cor 8:1-2), out of their poverty, to Paul's offering for their poorer brothers in Jerusalem. Church historians tell us that the early Church were exceptionally generous with their resources and welcomed each other with rich hospitality. They were radical in their response to the poor, giving and caring for those on the edges.

In hard times we need to remember the example of the early Church.

I like this story found in leadership Network.

On Friday, February 27, 2009, the stock market hit its lowest mark in more than a decade.  That same weekend, during worship services at Cross Timbers Community Church (Argyle, TX), Pastor Toby Slough made the following announcement:

"If you need money today to feed or house your family, please take money out of the offering plate, rather than putting money in." In response to his bold and generous words, the people of the church gave their biggest offering ever.

Let's go and fail together!

Let's go and fail together! This is what Spenser, one of our team said, when I shared with them some of the vision I think God is giving us. We are focusing on the Western suburbs of Melbourne, the poorest and most needy and unreached part of the city. The more we prayed and heard from God, the more we have realised the the challenge is not simply to plant a Church, but to saturate the whole region with church planting. The real question has become how many Churches are needed? 200? 500? I shared that God is setting us up with such an audacious vision that we are bound to fail. And their response? It was 'Let's go and fail together!' It spoke of abandonment to God, of faith, of shooting for the stars.

I like what Theodore Roosevelt said...

"It is not the critic who counts: not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles or where the doer of deeds could have done better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly, who errs and comes up short again and again, because there is no effort without error or shortcoming, but who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, who spends himself for a worthy cause; who, at the best, knows, in the end, the triumph of high achievement, and who, at the worst, if he fails, at least he fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who knew neither victory nor defeat."