Vibrancy of the Pentecostal Movement

This morning I was reading an article from Christianity Today and I was encouraged by 7 prayers the author offered at the end of the article. I encourage you to read Pentecostals: The Sequel. The Pentecostals have been one of the fastest growing social movements in the last 100 years. They are passionate about Christ and serious about reaching the lost.

Here are the 7 prayers:

1. That we may keep Christ and his commission at the center. May we remember the admonition of William Joseph Seymour to lift up Christ and "try to get people saved," because, as Luke wrote: "God has raised this Jesus to life, and we are all witnesses of the fact. Exalted to the right hand of God, he has received from the Father the promised Holy Spirit and has poured out what you now see and hear" (Acts 2:32-33). May we trust God, as the editors stated in the first issue of The Apostolic Faith, "for a mighty wave of salvation among the unconverted."
2. That we maintain the dual dynamics of Word (exegesis) and Spirit (experience) as necessary equipping for mission. "There is no need to choose between a passion for souls and a desire for spiritual gifts," said Donald Gee, one of early Pentecostalism's most respected leaders. "They are mutually inclusive, not exclusive. ...Therefore, we must hold fast to rightly understanding the gifts of the Spirit as a divine equipment for the work of world evangelization."
3. That we lift up holiness of character and turn from the carnal display of human charisma. Pentecostal/charismatic celebrities--some preaching a false gospel of peace, power, and prosperity--need to get back behind Seymour's shoebox pulpit or get off the platform. Missions historian Gary B. McGee has it right: "The Azusa Street revival illustrated the fundamental truth about the acquisition of spiritual power: The desire to love others and win the world for Christ [must] begin with brokenness, repentance, and humility."
4. That we get the life-giving, socially transforming gospel of Jesus Christ out of our sanctuaries and into the streets. As an urban specialist and social historian, Augustus Cerillo Jr. recounts the amazing growth of Pentecostals in the world's cities, yet laments that without a divine miracle, the proportion of Christians in the world's great cities will continue to decrease in the foreseeable future. In an introspective statement both self-critical and self-affirming, Vinson Synan said before the 1987 General Congress on the Holy Spirit and World Evangelization in New Orleans, "We've been in the upper room with our spiritual gifts. But we are supposed to go to the streets with our tongues and healings and prophecies. We believe Pentecostals and charismatics have been raised up by God as shock troops for the greatest final assault on the Enemy."
5. That we humble ourselves and acknowledge all partners in the harvest. Pentecostals and charismatics are not sole possessors of the gift or the Giver. Together with the entire global Christian community, may we prayerfully unite for the power to witness (Acts 1:8).
6. That the Azusa Street centennial will not only be a cause for celebration, but also a time for solemn reflection. We need to think deeply about the awesome task remaining before us and humbly petition our God for another great move of his Spirit in our time.
7. That we will be more excited about the glory of God than about our own accomplishments and growth. After all, where did our "accomplishments" come from? One of the most oft-quoted passages in Pentecostal preaching is Zechariah 4:6: "'Not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit,' says the Lord Almighty."

Categories: God, Church, Missions

Needing real community

This past week we arrived home from Florida and California and now are focused on the task at hand; get ready for Long Beach and move out of our house in Colorado (ready for the move to Mexico). It has been over a month now since we transitioned out from the staff team at CU and most of what we are doing is at home and preparation. What I'm finding is I miss running alongside other staff and students in the journey God has given us. Along the way I have had great friends come over and share life, encourage and challenge me. Just last night a couple of students came over from CU just to talk. I see now more than ever the real need for authentic community. We can't do life, ministry, kingdom work, church without real authentic community.

Yesterday morning my friends came over to share prayer requests, catch up on life and share what God is doing. It warms my soul to be in relationship together. Then yesterday I had lunch with my Dentist, Tom. A long overdue time of connecting. Tom in his perfect timing just spoke some great words of conviction and encouragement, "Steve, you need to listen to God."

Then I read a chapter (Fellowship of the Heart) from John Eldredge book Waking the Dead that a friend Jaeson had sent me. You can read it at the link. Again this is another reminder, I need others to be in life and ministry together. I can't do this alone. God didn't want me to do it alone. People, friends, co laborers, family members and students have all showed me who God is, lived His grace and mercy and spoke words of life and conviction to me. I can't move ahead without these relationships.

Yesterday I was reading from Deut 30:19-20 "Now choose life, so that you and your children may live and that you may love the Lord your God, listen to his voice, and hold fast to him." I'm reminded that I'm also created for relationship and real community with God even before connection with others. I know I struggle in holding fast to God. I want God to be my priority relationship. I want God to meet every need.

I can only imagine you're in the same boat. Wanting real relationships, real life, real hope, mercy, encouragement, love and grace. This comes from being real with God and real with others. It isn't always clean and neat and safe but it is good. Lucy, asks a friend, "Is Aslan safe?" to which the friend replies, "Safe? No, he's not safe...but he is good."

Is this real community safe? No, but it is good!
Categories: God

We're in Florida for Spring Training

A dream of mine and my dad's was to head out to Vero Beach, Florida, Dodgertown USA. This year because of our job change and an opportunity to celebrate my dad finishing 42 days of radiation we headed out to spring training. We arrived on Tues and stayed in the mega Disney resort. The boys loved it and we went swimming, mini golfing and hung out one night in some camp ground and watched a movie with smores and a campfire. All in the Disney wonderful style. We even got a chance to watch the Dodgers play the Atlanta Braves (their spring home is at Disney).

Today we arrived in Vero Beach and headed immediately to Dodgertown USA. What a place with tons of history. The downside of baseball today is that I hardly even recognized the players' names. I long for the day when I was a kid and Garvey, Lopes, Russell, Cey, Baker and others played for the Dodgers for years. But it was a great day. I caught a foul ball in batting practice, Jonathan and Benjamin each got a ball from players. Tomorrow night we're catching a night game and the boys are hoping for a free bat from a player. We'll see. Warm weather, Dodger dogs and peanuts. All of it is making memories.

Categories: Family

Launching Movements or Even Better Watching Them Launch

When I share and talk about our dream to plant spiritual movements all over with a professor at CU and friend of mine, Phil Mitchell, he always reminds me that we're not the ones planting but we just walk into something God is already doing. Such a good insight when it comes to the supernatural power that is needed to see God move in and around us. God is moving and we just need to be available, willing, able to see His movements and then go for it in the power of His Spirit.

I have read a few books and tons of blogs on the organic/simple nature of planting churches/movements. There are many common threads in all of them. I always see a deep need on prayer, faith and the Spirit's power. You see great leadership of those moving out in these adventures. You see humility of letting go control and letting, in a sense, chaos happen. There is also a high value on God's truth and word. Most of these movements see the power of God work through prayer and scripture.

Steve Addison in his blog is one of the best observers and I believe teachers of simple movement/church planting. There at his site you can read tons of simple concepts, observations, tools, and insights on how to plant multiplying spiritual movements. Another friend of mine and mentor (in directly) is Eric Swanson. Eric was the first one to get me on this pilgrimage of recreating, refocusing and re-tooling my leadership and ministry to planting simple multiplying spiritual movements. Back in March I asked him what books I should read on my sabbatical and he loaded a ton on me. They were super influential. Read his blog, Eric Swanson, for great insights on life, ministry, and the externally focused church

A great book on these topics is Organic Church. Neil Cole the author shares tremendous insights and experiences on planting simple churches across So. Cal. and the world. You'll be encouraged and challenged on how you do life and ministry. He touches on 5 P's of planting simple churches.
1. Practice of Prayer
2. Pockets of People
3. Power of Presences
4. Person of Peace
5. People of Purpose
You can visit Steve's Leaders' Tips on a brief discussion of these areas.

Recently I read Shamy and Petersen's book The Insider and was again challenged, encouraged and inspired on ministry and life together. It helped fill in the blanks to the vision and how to's of when Neil Cole says, "Growing Faith Where Life Happens" by planting simple churches or as I use simple spiritual movements.

These two practicioners of doing multiplying ministry share 7 characteristics of an insider, one who is involved in the lives of others spiritually.
1. Taking Little initiatives
2. Praying and Responding
3. Serving Others
4. Conversing the Faith
5. Partnering
6. Letting the Scriptures Speak
7. Midwifing a New Birth.

They cover many things Neil Cole does but I think they explain and put some feet and hands to Power of Presence and Person of Peace. This would be an excellent follow up for you to read.

Why in the world do simple movements? Why plant new spiritual movements around you? Read Changing the Trajectory of the Church part 3 by Eric Swanson to gain some insights and motivation. Read the Gospels and observe the heart of Jesus and hear His words, "I have come to seek and to save the lost." Could you too be part of that same plan? I think so. It is simple. It is needed. It all happens because God is already working. Pray, Listen and Respond.

Categories: God, Movements, SimpleChurch, Church

Cleaning House- getting ready for the move

Since we're moving in 8 weeks and many things need to happen by then today we organized the garage into sections (garage sale, move and store). We are also in the process of renting our house: Visit our House listing




We're also selling our '99 Passport. I will miss this. We need to sell both of our cars since we're needing a new one in Mexico with Mexico plates. Saves us the time and cost of getting pulled over frequently with U.S. plates.

I have also posted a kids snowboard and boots if you know of someone who want one.

Today I spent a couple of hours as well organizing the first batch of books that I have for sell. We are selling almost everything. You can find them on Amazon or right here. Let me know if you want a book or two.

Categories: Family

Training Christians vs. Training Trainers

About a year ago I came across Simple Ways to Turn 30 Disciples into 100,000. I had forgotten about it but remember that it had significant impact on our staff team and the way we thought about our training. Often we just train people to be Christians and not with the ideas of training Christians to train others. Jesus whole 3 year ministry was built upon the mission of reaching the whole world with His love and He did it through training 11 guys to train the next generation.

We can't be satisfied with just getting people to have quiet times, go to Bible study, not sin and go to church. We must aim for, pray for, spend our energy toward raising up the following generation of disciples of Christ.

Categories: Movements, Coaching, God

Lessons from Church Multiplication Centers

Just finished reading an excellent article: Church Multiplication Centers: Best practices from churches that do high-yield church planting. If you have any spiritual entrepreneurial DNA in you, you'll want to read this.

Here are a few snippets from various pastors to wet your appetite:

• "From the top leader through all significant leadership teams, make the spiritual and philosophical shift from a church-growth mind set to a church-multiplication focus."
• "The CMC leaders began with a baseline passion to see lives transformed."
• "To follow Jesus' mandate of making disciples means that healthy organism grow and multiply."
• "For all of them, they exchanged the notoriety of becoming the biggest and fastest growing churches in their region to give away their best and brightest leaders and invest hard-earned financial, logistical and intellectual resources in places they may never see."
• "We are starting churches for the world. That's our context."
• "Am I going to build a big church or build big people?"
• "A lot of the folks we are sending out are homegrown--they came to Christ here, they get trained here and we send them out."
• "We want people who are hungry, not just hired hands--the kind of people who will do it whether you pay them or not."
• "We want to lower the bar on what it takes to do church, raise the bar on what it means to be a follower of Jesus. The world will always be able to compete with our preaching and drama and music. It cannot compete with a changed life."

When and how can we make some philosophical and emotional changes to help bring a church to every person in every neighborhood across the planet is the question I want to be part of answering. Join me?

Categories: SimpleChurch, Movements, Coaching

You want blog updates

A friend of mine, Andy McCullough, showed me how to stay on top of all the blogs I'm reading without having to revisit all the blogs to check to see if things have changed. On my sidebar to the right you see a "keep it fresh" blogarithm link. Sign up with them and they will send you an email when any web page you chose has changed it's content. Pretty simple. You can also just click this:

Categories: Blog

Not a Reader, Listen to This

Yesterday I was shredding documents as we're getting ready for our move so I decided to put on the ipod and listen to an interview with Steve Addison, director of Church Resource Ministries in Australia. Steve is one of the blogs I read the most and impact my thinking about church and movement planting. He is a great student of spiritual movements of the past and has characterized all great movements to have:

1. White Hot Faith
2. commitment to a Cause
3. Contagious Relationships
4. Rapid Mobilization
5. Adaptive Methods

Podcast: Interview with Steve Addison

This short 20 minute interview held by Jay Lorenzen, CCC military Staff leader, is worth it. Evaluate where you're at, where we are at as a church or ministry.

Categories: Movements, SimpleChurch

You want to be an Insider?

I just finished a book called The Insider: Bringing the Kingdom of God into your Everyday World. Wow, kick butt. This is a must read for any follower/disciple of Christ who is frustrated with their walk with God, longing for something more, knowing that God created something more than just their regular treks to church and one who believes that God's love is really attractive to those not-yet-Christian friends of yours. This is even one of the best books for those Christians out there who are satisfied with church, are growing closer to Jesus and even believe they have an impacting ministry. I fall into both categories. I'm blown away by some of the paradigm shifts that Peterson and Shamy have helped me make. If you want to see God move around you, then you got to read this. A great review is found here at the Insider. I encourage you to buy it, read it and make some cool changes in your walk with God and ministry. Christine is reading it right now and constantly is saying, "Wow!"

Here are a few quotes from the book:

• "Our life can be so mundane, with such predictable daily routines--all of which roar along at frantic speed--that we find it hard to imagine anything of larger, eternal purpose actually going on." p. 14
• "A futile life is one lived on an agenda that has no connection with God's purposes." p. 19
• "Each on should remain in the situation in which he was in when God called him....God has something for you right where you are....The work environment is but one more arena in which God can be glorified." p. 61
• "Paul understood that if there was going to be an impact by the gospel in a place, it would have to be through the people of that place more than through the apostolic team." p. 71
• "..It isn't really faith until we get beyond what we can control." p. 131
• "Spiritual fruitfulness does not come out of our feeling strong and self-assured. Spiritual fruit can only come from the Holy Spirit." p. 136
• "He is gathering them from every corner of the every nation to share eternally in his kingdom as members of his household. He has called us to partner with him in this work and has already positioned us to do this. We are an insider to various relationships within which God intends that we glorify, or reveal, him." p. 143
• "If people are going to see the kingdom of God today, they will have to observe it in its citizens. It is revealed as Christ's rule in our heart is expressed in our actions." p. 146
• "We fulfill the law of love by serving the needs of the people wit whom we cross paths." p. 162
• "One of the far-reaching differences between our current ministry practices and a ministry that is committed to serving insiders is that of venue--the place where it all happens. We are accustomed to centering our activities in our church facilities; but insiders need to center their work on their own turf, where the relationships are. Instead of everything supporting the central facility, the facility assumes the supportive role to the ministry of its people" p. 231

That should wet your appetite. Like I said, "You want to be an insider?"

Now I'm off to read an great observation on the church and where it is going in The Next Christendom by Philip Jenkins. This has already been eye opening. It was recommended to me by a great friend, mentor and professor at CU, Phil Mitchell. Another book, In, But Not Of: A Guide To Christian Ambition by Hugh Hewitt, I cracked open last night was recommended by a fellow colleague, Eric Heistand. Good times ahead.

Categories: Books, God, Movements, Church, Missions, SimpleChurch

Changes to our timeline

Over the weekend we got some good advice on what to do with our house and when to rent it. This coming summer we're going to be leaving for Long Beach Summer Project around May 15 and now we're going to attempt to fully move out of our place by then. So this makes our house available to rent by May 20. This does complicate things a tad because we need to get all our stuff that we're taking to Mexico packed in storage by then, sell one of our cars, and prepare for summer project and Mexico city. But this also helps us focus, target a clearer move date and close the chapter on Colorado. So we're renting our place furnished. Most of the furniture we were going to sell we'll leave in the house. This will provide a great opportunity for young professionals, students or a family to move in quickly. Please join us in praying that God will provide the perfect renters.

So we'll go to Long Beach in May, be there for two months, and head to Mexico City (just Christine and I) for a week to rent a house, buy a car and set up phone service. Then we'll return to California, drive to CO, put our stuff in a container or moving truck, sell our other truck, say good byes and fly off to Mexico City. Much has to happen by then administratively, relationally, in our support and in our hearts. We're basically uprooting our lives, purging ourselves of our stuff and having to make many decisions.

Pray for us in this faith adventure.
Categories: Prayer, MexicoCity

The City is Still Big!!

Yesterday I just arrived back from Mexico City with 4 of my friends, Andy, Greg, Mike and Brian from Boulder, CO. Our purpose was to narrow down this megapolis to some reasonable neighborhoods for my family to live, interact and serve the city. Wow, what a task.

We arrived late Friday night after a 2 hour flight delay and headed out for dinner in the streets of Polanco (See the Starbucks on the right). Polanco is one of the swankiest neighborhoods in the city. The sports cars, style, clothing, fashion and homes reminded me of Beverly Hills. Most people would never guess that Mexico City is this nice and rich. I actually have read the cost of living is close to Boston and New York. Ouch!!!

Saturday morning after a few hours of sleep we ventured out on our first Metro experience to the south of the city near the University (Copilco stop) to Coyoacan (pictured right). There we had breakfast with the CCC local team serving at UNAM (maybe the largest University in the world). It was great to hear what God is doing in their lives, the battles they are going through, and the bold faith they have to believe that God will bring the Gospel to all the 250,000 or so students there. They are boldly going out on campus to raise up laborers that will in turn reach their friends, families and departments. They have moved away from a model that just builds big Campus Crusade meetings and clubs. I'm encouraged by their creativity and humility to only work with leaders who will multiply to other Mexicans. They are going for it with all their energy and spirit. I had the opportunity to encourage them and share a bit of the vision God is giving us on how to reach the whole city (1 million students and 28 million people). Then some of my friends encouraged them and we prayed for them to keep going, trusting God and believing in His power. It was cool to see my friends encourage and use the shepherding gifts they have to breathe life into them.

That afternoon I took the guys shopping at Ciudadela and then off to the Zocolo for dinner at Cafe Tacabya (the greatest Mariachi in the world) and hanging out in the 47 story building that overlooks the whole city.

Sunday morning we split our group. Mike and Greg joined me to look at houses with Irma, a local Rental Agent, and Andy and Brian headed off to a local church. The traffic was light on Sunday morning so it was a perfect time to drive in the city. We headed out west of Polanco to Herradura and Interlomas. Mexico City is sprawling so much and people, families, and businesses are heading out to the outskirts of the city to survive, live and work. We looked at 5 places out here. The neighborhoods looked nice, safe and quiet. All the needed facilities are out there. There are playgrounds, parks, shopping malls and even Costco. The downside is that this area is about a 30 minute drive to get close to the center of the city and the metro system. This brought up some good decisions to be made about where we want to live and serve, how we will interact, travel in the city and what we will be doing specifically. I kept hearing from those giving advice that our family needs to live in the suburbs for safety and comfort yet the commute will be horrific for me and the team. That afternoon I felt the weight of the decisions and needed to hear from the Lord. I'm just not sure what is best for us.

Monday I headed back into the city with Daniel (Mexican staff guy with CCC) and Jason (local UNAM CCC leader) to see other aspects of the city after a good hot dog and diet coke at Costco. No joke, the price was $1.50 and Costco is identical to the states. My friends took off to an orphanage to the south west of the city (more below). Daniel, Jason and I drove to AltaVista and San Angel near the University. My desire is to find a home or neighborhood that is safe, near the metro, and retail so that Christine and the boys, while in the city, are not confined to our house. Typically there are housing complexes called 'cerradas', gated communities that will provide this security and location in the city. Driving through the beautiful streets of San Angel we bumped into a beautiful little house/townhome complex that was gated off from outsiders. They were reasonably priced and had 3 bedrooms. After driving for hours throughout the city and looking on the internet with rental agencies I'm finding this city is expensive. A normal 3-4 bedroom home that is safe and centrally located is about $2,000-$3,000 a month for rent. Yowza!!

I believe God is calling us to live in the city, away from the suburbs, maybe with less comforts, and centrally located for travel and interaction with other students, pastors and ministry leaders. At the same time I need to trust God to provide the perfect place and be okay with wherever he calls us. The task seems impossible. We will wait, see and move out in faith to see what God has in store for us.

Tuesday I joined my friends at the orphanage. They spent all day Monday preparing and digging a massive hole to submerge a trampoline into the ground. They had to remove 6 cement flower boxes. That took them all day Monday and I joined them along with the local CCC team on Monday to finish the hole and provide drainage. Physically they were beat up and soon after my body fell apart to 'out of shapeness' and soreness. But about 6:30pm we finished our part and then hired a brick layer to finish the work this week. It was amazing to see the passion and love the workers, teachers and administrators had for these kids at this orphanage. A little bit of the love of God at work through many people. One of my friends Andy is in the process of adopting a child from this orphanage. It was a blessing to see the kids and be a small part of what God is already doing there.

The 5 days away with these friends was a huge gift from God. Andy, Greg, Brian and Mike are good friends and provided me hope, encouragement, challenge and insights into God's heart for me and for the world. I loved our discussions, arguments, honesty and love. I'm excited for the move, challenged by the impossibility of the vision and reminded that this is totally a God sized task that needs tons of prayer and dependence on the Spirit. I'll be heading back with Christine in July for 7 days to buy a car and find a house to rent. In the mean time: tons of prayer, talking with Mexican friends for options and mostly trusting in God.

Categories: MexicoCity