India

My wife and I are heading to India! Traveling early tomorrow morning! Please pray that we will have a safe, rewarding and refreshing trip…

Saturation Church Planting

Saturation Church Planting (SCP) is about Discipling A Whole Nation (DAWN).

It’s about the whole Body of Christ, taking the whole Gospel to the whole World.

This is so that we can fulfill the Great Commission: ‘Make Disciples of ALL Nations.’ (Matt 28:19-21)

To fulfill the promise of Jesus and hasten the Return of the King; ‘This Gospel will be preached throughout all the earth then the end will come.’

It involves spiritual mapping and strategic research that identifies unreached people groups and places.

This leads to end-visioning using the WIGTake Question (What’s it Gonna Take to see a church within easy reach of everyone within this people group/place?)

What will it look like when the task is completed? 

• A fully discipled nation is one in which there is a local church in every neighborhood, village and community of man (a church for every 1000 people) 

In the UK there are just over 60 Million People (less than 10% ‘go to church’)

Doing the Math- this would mean the need for at least 54,000 churches

How can this be achieved?

Part of the answer lies in mobilizing for the initiation of Church Planting Movements (CPM’s) within every region, place and people group in the UK

Church Planting Movements (CPM’s)

Church Planting Movements (CPM’s) consist of churches reproducing churches within a people group (PG).

(just as people reproduce people, or better yet, as rabbits reproduce rabbits)

Multiplication is the New Math in church-planting! This is replacing addition and wins out any day! It’s not about how many people ‘go to your church’ or can be added to your congregation! It’s also not about division (starting ‘new churches’ with disenfranchised christians or by ’sheep stealing’). But it’s about the Great Commission- filling the whole earth with the knowledge of the Glory of God. Making disciples of ALL Nations!

Multiplication on a grand scale requires simplification using the KISS principle (Keep It Simple Stupid)

Complex things Break Down

Simple Things are easier to Multiply

So, if it is not easily reproducible don’t do it! This requires ruthlessness. What is good can get in the way of what is best! Are our processes reproducible?

CPM’s are about reproducing disciples, leaders, churches and movements (in that order)

David L. Watson (who has helped initiate several CPM’s worldwide) defines a Church Planting Movement as:

• 100 churches
• Started within 2 years
• 3 generations deep (including daughter and grand-daughter churches)
• With indigenous trained leadership

This requires a form of church that is:

• Obedience-Orientated Discipleship Based
• Simple
• Viral
• Reproducible
• Indigenous

Our Vision (Mission Britain) is to Partner with those who are willing to die to multiply in order to see CPM’s initiated throughout all 12 Regions of Britain!

Anyone Interested?

Intermission- North West

I am currently on mission up in the North West of England (21st-27th Oct 09)!

You can follow my journey by clicking HERE!

Movements that Change the World

This is a very inspiring book! Steve Addison writes in a very fluid and easy-2-read style about movements that have happened throughout history and movements that are taking place right now!

He identifies 5 key factors in the spread of movements:

1. White Hot Faith

Passion is the fuel that fires individuals God uses to ignite movements!

2. Commitment to a Cause

Purpose: A shared common commitment/shared interest motivates people to move together

3. Contagious Relationships

People: Ideas spread most rapidly from person to person and from group to group

4. Rapid Mobilization

Involved: People are put to work as soon as they enter the movement

5. Adaptive Methods

Organic: Movements utilize forms that are flexible enough to sustain and advance momentum

Have You Read This Book? What did you think?

The Rabbit+The Elephant

Just finished reading Tony+Felicity Dale’s new book: ‘The Rabbit+The Elephant’

I highly recommend anyone interested in simple church to get hold of this book!

The book includes chapters on Discipleship, Leadership, Church Multiplication, Finances and Evangelism!

Tony+Felicity have years of experience in practicing and planting simple churches. There is a wealth of wisdom within these pages! I am still meditating over some of the principles outlined espeacially in relation to starting groups with non-christians!

Have you read this book? What are your thoughts?

Obedience-Based Discipleship

Making Disciples involves teaching them to OBEY (Matt 28:19-21)

We have spent a lot of time teaching all kinds of things. But have we taught people to OBEY?

The important part lies not merely in the hearing, but in the obeying.

Neil Cole writes about investing in ‘Provenness not Potential’

He makes the observation that there are over 6 billion people on the planet, all have potential.

So choose to spend time mentoring/coaching those who will actually act on what they are learning.

Paul instructed Tim to pass on what he had learned from him, to Faithful Men who would in turn pass on to Others (2 Tim 2:2)

What are you doing about the things you have learn’t from Christ?

Who are you mentoring?

Who are they mentoring?

Start a Church in Your Home, Work or Leisure

 

1. Who Can Start A Church?

Matt 28:19- We are ALL called to MAKE DISCIPLES by going, baptizing them, and teaching them to OBEY

As we do this Jesus WILL build His Church

Church=A community of Jesus disciples

So we are to Make Disciples and Jesus Will build His Church

2. Where Can We Start A Church?

Three Areas We can Immediately see communities of disciples formed:

• Home
• Work
• Leisure

HOME:

 

Open your home and offer hospitality. Welcome your neighbours or people in your community. Or enable christians to gather together in your home (Acts 2:42-47).

WORK:

God has sent you as salt+light in your workplace. Why not gather Christians in the workplace at least once-a-week (lunch-time?) to pray together for the workplace. You could go further and see yourselves as the church-in-the-workplace. This would involve beginning to care for one another and exercising your gifts and ministries there! You may want to go even further and begin to influence the lost in your workplace!

LEISURE:

Where do you like to hang out? What hobbies do you have? Is there a particular pub or cafe you like going to? How about making disciples there? Can a christ-centred community grow up in that environment?

3. What Do We Do As We Meet @ Home, Work or Leisure?

a. Jesus-Centred: This is what makes the community/group a church and not just a social gathering

b. Bring+Share: To summarize what a church does when it meets together, we use this phrase ‘Bring+Share’

(Acts 2:41-47, 1Cor 14:26)

Bring+Share FOOD

Bring+Share a thought, a word, a revelation, a song, some poetry, a CD, a teaching (whatever your are gifted with)

Bring+Share finances/resources/property

c. UP:IN:OUT (relationship triangle)

For a Christ-Centred Community/Emerging Church to be balanced their needs to be these 3 relationship/focuses:

UP: Relationship to God as a community (Love the Lord your God- Great Commandment).- Prayer

IN: Relationships with each other in the group (Love your neighbour as yourself-Great Commandment)- Community

OUT: Relationships to the lost/world (Go into all the World and Preach the Gospel)-Mission

Newforms Day (Somerset, South West)

9 of us met today in Somerset, South West UK.

In the morning session we reflected on the ‘Pioneer/Planting Pattern’ found in Matt 10

In the afternoon we challenged one another to ‘Start a church in your Home, Work or Leisure’

Then explored ‘What is Church?’

We ended the day asking each other ‘What is the Next Step of obedience Jesus is leading you into?’

followed by prayer, prophetic words and laying on hands empowering

Apostolic Passion

Here are a few thoughts from Floyd McClung on Apostolic Passion (from his book ‘U C Bones I C An Army’)

‘Apostolic teams are focused. They are not satisfied with just over-seeing the affairs of a local church!’

‘Apostles are pioneers by calling, but they start new churches to fulfil their calling.’

‘The early apostles had courage. They were known for their boldness.’

‘If being an apostle means doing what Jesus did, it involves loneliness, persecution, and ultimately, death. It takes courage to follow his example.’

‘Apostolic passion- if you are not willing to fast for it, give up sleep for it, suffer for it, and spend time with people who don’t follow Jesus, you will never find it.’