Research for Outreach

I was fortunate enough thanks to God's mercy to have an announcement placed on the local Christian Radio Station.

It made me wonder... just how far did the announcement possibly travel?

That's when I found Radio-Locator.com.

I got this rough map of the station's "reach" geographically. I'm sure you can do the same for your press releases.

I think the "local" reach area is pretty sound. No pun intended.

I don't think it reaches all the blue lined areas except at night maybe. But I'm not travelling too much then.

I think this gives a pretty good estimate of our potential "parish" conceived in its broadest fashion, i.e. the center of our county.

By the way, here's where I draw my understanding of the parish, not the supposed model usually described as "people who owe me a hearing".

Street Pastors Tackle Disorder

From the BBC

"Street Pastors" are a great idea. Where do I get my blue cap and jacket?

The idea for the street pastors originated in Jamaica when churches joined forces to take their values into the streets and tackle the growing tide of gang culture, guns, drugs and violence.

It was pioneered in London by the Reverend Les Isaacs in 2003 and since then has been set up in Birmingham, Leeds, Leicester, Southend and Wrexham with some interesting results.

Figures from the Ascension Trust, which was set up to co-ordinate the project, show a 74% reduction in street crime in Peckham, south London, since the street pastors began their patrols and a 95% reduction in Camberwell.

Image courtesy BBC

Tell Me The Story Of Jesus

There's a resurgence of telling Bible Stories.

It's under the concern for "Orality"... no, that's not a form of foot in mouth disease.

It's a preference for learning via means other than reading and writing.

Even in "literate" nations, as many as 50% of the population is estimated to prefer learning through means other than books and taking notes.

When reading about the phenomenon at sites like OralBible.com, one can get the impression that we're talking about people sitting around a flickering campfire. But studies show that an oral preference is very likely to exist amongst people who spend their time sitting around a flickering computer screen instead.

That metaphor of flickering campfire for primarily oral learners and flickering computer screen for secondarily oral learners or oral preference learners comes from one of the highly skilled practitioners in the Bible Story Evangelism field - Jackson Day who used Bible stories to plant churches amongst the highly educated in Brazil. His website is BibleStorytelling.org

Funding the Church as Abbey

Chuck Warnock is fond of discussing the concept of the "Church as Abbey".

One of the traits of the Celtic abbey (or monasterium or minister)was that they were self sufficient economically though as Chuck's comment mentions, sometimes that economic independence came through the benevolence of a benefactor.

Let's brainstorm some possible ways to fund the "Church as Abbey".

How might they be economically self-sufficient? Leave your comment and I'll add it to the list. Note... the enterprise funding the abbey may not be on the abbey's premises.

1. Paid Daycare/School
2. Thrift Store
3. Coffee House
4. Social Security Disability Representation (see Note 1)
5. Agricultural products (see Note 2)
6. Software development - Can you say "Broderbund"? Yes that brand was started by a Hutterite offshoot to fund their communal lifestyle. I think they were bought out a long time ago, but you get the idea.
7. A "Middleman" for local producers (see Note 3)
8. Bakery
9. Local/Regional Publications selling advertising
10. Bookstore
11. Non Profit Credit Union (see Note 4)

Note 1 - Yes, it's possible to be paid to represent persons filing for Social Security Disability... persons with a medical background or other related training may do this. One doesn't have to be an attorney. Truly disabled people though really do need help getting through the bureaucracy. Here's a resource to discuss what takes place: Social Security Disability and the Legal Professional (West Legal Studies)

Note 2 - My guess is that intensive crop production and the growing interest in local food supply may make this more viable than you'd think. Here's a resource to allow a small experimental start in the process: CA$H from Square Foot Gardening

Note 3 - you see this in groups promoting "fair trade" all the time. But it can work for promoting the wares of local crafts people in the US too and using the "abbey's" network (or a network of abbey's pooling their products to create a "catalog")

Note 4 - Non profit credit unions still generate revenue to fund salaries and pay overhead. Creating a non profit community development credit union is really a multi church project I think. I wish there were a network of churches linked by such a credit union to stop the pay day loan businesses through service instead of regulation. Regulation will just drive people to unregulated lenders. Local churches operating as "branches" could offer job support, financial counseling, Christian nurture and support while people enter into programs to help them escape the pay day loan trap. I think this is brilliant but alas, no benefactor has arisen to help fund my dream!

Here's a hard reality most of these discussions never mention: the problem with any idea of this nature is that many ministers tend to think of making money in any form as evil and greedy. If that's the case, your economic self-sufficiency project won't get very far for very long. It would be good for more ministers to have a hand in running a business and seeing the work it takes to meet a payroll or pay for inventory. They might really develop a respect for their congregants who don't get to read their favorite books at "work".

Steve Sjogren On Your Life Message

This is a quote from part of an article by Steve Sjogren. Frankly it was a relief to hear for many ministers in their 40's.

So it's not just a midlife crisis?!


That's a relief!

From CROnline

I have coached close to one thousand planters and frustrated mid-career ministry people to the end that [they should] discover the unique, seminal focus they alone can can carry out. My experience shows that the earliest one discovers that focus is in one's mid-30s, but usually not until one is in one's mid-40s. Tragically, ministry commonly destroys people [before] they reach that point of discovery... they "grow weary of doing good" as Paul warns against. The majority, even those with significant gifts, quit before they discover their unique contribution to the advance of God's kingdom.

The Cure Of Souls - Eugene Peterson

This is an excellent article titled "The Cure of Souls" by Eugene Peterson.

Read the whole article.

Here are some quotes to demonstrate, I trust, it's worth.

It should be clear that the cure of souls is not a specialized form of ministry (analogous, for instance, to hospital chaplain or pastoral counselor) but is the essential pastoral work. It is not a narrowing of pastoral work to its devotional aspects, but it is a way of life that uses weekday tasks, encounters, and situations as the raw material for teaching prayer, developing faith, and preparing for a good death. Curing souls is a term that filters out what is introduced by a secularizing culture. It is also a term that identifies us with our ancestors and colleagues in ministry, lay and clerical, who are convinced that a life of prayer is the connective tissue between holy day proclamation and weekday discipleship.

How we speak about "the ministry":

Running-the-church questions are: What do we do? How can we get things going again?

Cure-of-souls questions are: What has God been doing here? What traces of grace can I discern in this life? What history of love can I read in this group? What has God set in motion that I can get in on?

St John Vianney's Pastoral Plan

St John Vianneys Pastoral Plan retells the story of Fr. John Vianney (1786- 1859)- or St. John Vianney to the Roman Church - who is called the "patron saint of parish priests".

I was first introduced to this man's example by a charismatic episcopalian priest who was attracted to Vianney's gift of spiritual discernment which was described to me as a prophetic intuition that God used to bring people to repentance.

This article however does not address that subject or even acknowledge it. (Making me wonder about the first representation I received! I've lost the web site addresses where I read them!)

Instead, this study delves into what faithful ministers can do to serve the Lord and revitalize a parish.

It focuses on what pastors can be responsible for - their ministry in public and private - not that which they cannot be held responsible for, i.e. charismatic and prophetic gifts which are the Lord's to dispense.

So in this way Vianney becomes a Roman version of Richard Baxter or possibly Vianney's Lutheran contemporary in France Oberlin who likewise ministered during a time of France's struggles with the aftermath of the French Revolution's growing secular influences.

This article comes just in time for ministers of our day serving in the midst of America's resurgent unbelief.

May the Lord bless it to us all.

As you read the article with discernment, perhaps you'll note some of these gems and perhaps many more:

When we hear about pastoral plans, we often think first of implementing some packaged program motivating parishioners to “get involved.” St. John Vianney’s plan did not begin with the parishioners in what they needed to do, nor did it begin with what he needed to implement for them. He began with what he needed to do within his own life.

Coming upon the boundary of his new parish for the first time, Father Vianney knelt down and prayed. He was acutely aware that the mission given him was completely beyond his ability. If his priestly ministry was to be fruitful, it would come from Jesus working through him. For this reason we find him face down on the floor of his church early in the morning and late at night begging, even crying, for the grace of conversion for his parish. “My God,” he was heard to pray before the tabernacle, “grant me the conversion of my parish; I am willing to suffer all my life whatsoever it may please thee to lay upon me; yes, even for a hundred years am I prepared to endure the sharpest pains, only let my people be converted” (p. 118). Only a priest who understood himself as a true father, and not a hireling could utter such a prayer. A hireling easily finds a way to avoid responsibility while a father takes responsibility. If the people were not holy, it was his responsibility to do something about it.


When the people began living their lives centered on God and not on work and pleasure, the symptoms of destitution and loose living began to disappear. One deacon related that Vianney did not begin by saying, “I’m going to end poverty in Ars.” Rather he began with a campaign to honor the Lord’s Day. This point does not insinuate that it is “either or” solution: either focus on Sunday or act in a more direct manner to alleviate society’s problems, but the solution is “both and.” Without the primacy of orienting one’s life toward God, however, the other efforts at societal reform, though noble, will not ultimately succeed. It should also be noted that his efforts required much time and patience. The rebuilding of respect for the Lord’s Day and the closing of the taverns took eight years of ceaseless effort, and even so was not completely successful. Nevertheless, a majority did re center their lives on the Lord, and destitution largely disappeared.

To convert the people of Ars, Vianney did not have to become a psychologist, a bureaucrat, or a social worker. The effectiveness of his plan also did not come from his charisma or “cult of personality.” He was simply their priest, the Curé of Ars. All that was required was that he strive to become the man and priest Jesus had made him to be.

Proud People Hard Times

I had a proud man come talk to me today. He's worked all his life until the most recent plant shut down.

It's been almost 2 years and he hasn't been able -as we say down South - "Buy a job".

He represents hundreds here.

He then asked me about help with his light bill. Probably for the first time in his adult life, he's not able to pay it.

So I referred him to the folks who do help in this instance.

I pray for Godly ingenuity and entrepreneurship to come to this county.

Even more, I pray that our hard times will make us cry out to the Living God whose blessings and kind providence in the past we have taken for granted.

In our poverty, may Jesus Christ be exalted, our hearts weaned from the world, and our affections pointed to God the Father's glory that will sustain us until our labors have ended.

Who Are The Poor?

I recently have kept running across the bold assertion that "God favors the poor and so we must work to alleviate poverty". (It reminds me that I should probably reread George Grant's book Bringing In The Sheaves.)

But back to my subject.

Usually the episode of Jesus speaking in Nazareth in Luke 4 is a frequent proof text for these assertions as our Lord quotes the prophet Isaiah. I noticed that we all assume we know who the "poor" are. So who are they?

I've noticed we assume that the poor are whoever some arbitrary government income chart declares are "under the poverty line". They may have cable TV, smoke $50 in cigarettes per month, drink and dope all night long but they are hungry and show up at the food bank asking for help.

Are they the poor Jesus talks about?

I'm all for helping the truly poor our Lord spoke of.

Can you tell me who they are?

I've been trying to help the ones I thought were poor for quite some time and am pretty sure I haven't found them on many occasions. I think I found some people I've helped again and again who - had they they money and opportunity - have the attitude necessary to be the Rich Man who goes to torment in Luke 16. They don't care about anyone but themselves or about anything but their problems.

So I offer this word of warning.

If you're planning on getting into helping the "poor", prepare your soul. Keep focused on Christ and obeying Him because you'll beat your head against a wall plenty of times thinking you're helping the poor when you're just enabling their self-destruction. I don't think that bothers some. "Jesus" for them seems to serve as a political rallying cry to rationalize the government's increasing ownership of everything since they've done so well already (not!). When that happens the poor just become "pawns" in a bigger game to be paraded out and pimped as needed to justify an agenda. But really help them? As individuals? Only a loving church - not a new "program" can do that.

When I hear Jesus mentioned in that way, as a slogan, that Jesus isn't the Lord I know whose death and resurrection enables sinners to be reconciled to a holy God and then transformed by the Holy Spirit.

So who are the poor and how do I know I'm helping them?

I've worked in rural poverty for the last 7 years and am the local board chair for a FEMA funded "Emergency Food and Shelter Program" (Your county has one too I suspect... check http://efsp.unitedway.org ) and, also, am burned out.

I am struck at the ingratitude and sense of entitlement of the so called "poor" and the general unwillingness of most of them to lift a finger for themselves but instead see how many people they can get to do something for them first.

It's ironic: I work with an office full of social workers (I'm bi-vocational) who'd eat canned dog food and work 3 jobs before asking someone for help and who spend all day and will bend over backwards to help people who won't work at all. Yet these "poor" people will cuss you out for not giving them whatever they want when they want it.

As I've preached through the lectionary in Epiphany I couldn't help but notice a juxtaposition between Luke 4 and Nehemiah 8.

Jesus speaks in a synagogue of people we'd consider dirt poor by modern standards and who would be the instant object of our charitable help. And as we helped them we'd say we were doing it because Jesus wants us to "care for the poor".

Yet Jesus said to these very people we consider the "poor" that they weren't going to see his miracles, and they tried to kill him for it. I'm sure they were "under the poverty line" by all modern standards of wealth but they must not have been the poor. I say that because Jesus didn't go out of his way to help them because of their unbelief.

So who were the poor the prophet spoke of if not these dirt poor Nazareth dwellers? I think Nehemiah 8 was a good choice to juxtapose with this text...those "poor" in Nehemiah's day left everything they might have accumulated in exile to return to the Land to restore a holy nation. When Ezra read the Law of God, they wept bitterly in repentance when they heard God's Word for their sins. They truly were "poor in spirit".

On a variety of occasions in Ezra-Nehemiah, you see the people NOT asking for the king's help because they don't want God's Name to be mocked.

The poor it seems are the "poor in spirit"... the repentant... those who hunger and thirst - Jesus says - for justice or righteousness, not just for their "piece of the pie".

In the New Testament church they were widows without support, orphans who could not fend for themselves, and travelers to Jerusalem for Pentecost who stayed to be discipled in the message of Jesus and who had left their livelihoods behind to attend the feast. Collections were taken up for victims of famine. But those who wouldn't work - even for good theological reasons like the imminency of Christ's coming - weren't to be fed.

In the post apostolic church that conquered the empire, the poor served in Jesus' Name were still widows without support and orphans, the sick who had nobody to care for them, and also the infants left to die of exposure.

Jesus in Matthew 25 said to visit the prisoners, but let's be honest, that's a bit different than the guy who held up a convenience store and shot the clerk. Usually those kind of criminals were killed. It was political prisoners who were imprisoned then... and unlike today's lock ups with 3 meals, free GED classes, etc. those prisoners didn't eat unless people from the outside brought food.

I'm not saying not to help prisoners, I just wish the people who use the name of the "poor" to promote their agendas and bind the Christian conscience weren't the same ones who complain about the alleged "separation of church and state" and shut down proven Christian programs like those of Prison Fellowship.

I admit. I need Jesus to revitalize me... I am burned out.

I need discernment so I will help the truly poor - those who cannot help themselves so I do not encourage the lazy to destroy themselves and never trust in the Living God. Why should they if I'm here to give them a hand out and never bring up the issue of God and the inevitable issue of God's transforming power?

Why Are There So Many Orphans In America?

Anthony Bradley has a thought provoking post on the incidence of orphaned children in foster care. He posits: "America Only Has A Dozen Or So Christian Families, Right?" Obviously if we had really Christian families, these orphans would have homes by now?

Here's more:

Giving money to homes is good but actually taking in orphans, which was a regular practice in the early church (when people were poorer), is the BEST
context for orphans. Adoption is the best option for multiple reasons (John
14:38; 15, Rom 8:23).

Leaving children as orphans is not necessary in America. A group home isn't better than a family. Again, what happens to the kid at 18-years-old? The Christian church could probably put an end to the foster care system in America in about 2 years.

We need long-term solutions: covenant families engaged in personal, sacrificial mission to their local community out of their local church.

Christians in the first centuries of the church believed that they should rescue children left exposed to the elements or hungry animals to die. That's why the church grew so fast too. These infants were raised as Christians. Why? They practices James 1:27 - "Religion that is pure and undefiled before God, the Father, is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world."

The Micah Fund is one organization that "provides financial assistance for qualified adoptive parents for the payment of fees to those agencies who are committed to providing quality services to birthparents, their children, and prospective Christian parents." This defrays the often prohibitive cost of an adoption.

It's service area is limited to Minnesota.

One like it is needed in every state.

But even more - Christians who see Christian parenting as a "ministry" are needed in every church!

I think Dr. Bradley hits the nail on the head when he says that if reformed Christians spent the same time, zeal, money and anguish on this issue as they have attacking the theological hobby horse de jour the problem would be well on the way to being resolved.

Photo courtesy Anthony Bradley

Family Integrated Churches

Dr. Voddie Baucham, Jr. helps lead Grace Family Baptist Church - a Family Integrated Church. Dr. Baucham is a reformed baptist.

Here he answers the question... "What is a Family Integrated Church?"

Read the whole page to see how this works out in dealing with both families and singles and how it affects church programming and evangelism.

In general this is a sound approach and very reformed in its emphasis. The family is to be redeemed. As they note, planning for singleness and broken families is essential because of the fallenness of this world and the fact that our Lord warned that the Gospel and allegiance to His Lordship would, in fact, separate families.

He puts it like this: While we believe the ideal family involves two loving, godly parents, we do not consider single-parent families inferior to traditional, nuclear families. We understand that many people find themselves raising children without the help of a spouse for a variety of reasons beyond their control, and we embrace these families (Deuteronomy 10:18; 16:14; 24:19-21).

Because we are sinners, it is essential that we remember that this method of ministry like all the others are subject to idolatry.

It's easy to be smug when we recognize the Big Church's idolatry towards its building and lust for the biggest Dog and Pony show they call "worship".

But there's also a very subtle idolaltry related to feeling oneself to be "family centered" though I believe they can make a much better case for it than the mega church can for theirs.

The "family centered" approach CAN wrongly be used to justify single family house churches that have no connection to other Christian families around them. I've seen this breed isolation, exclusiveness, and an actual self-excommunication because the family assumes all the prerogatives of the church for itself, including the sacraments. Such families can - in the name of "protecting their family" - become heretical (theologically by wackiness and not just socially isolated) because it's just "them and the King James Version" or really their favorite far away profit who exerts no personal pastoral ministry to them at all . I've also seen that some men who consider themselves "family centered" do so to justify not any form of legitimate fatherly leadership but to justify tyranny, arrogance, and an unwillingness to listen to any "Preacher" who might disagree with their novel idiocies. There is also a tendency when such families are isolated from the church and never rub elbows with families that are less "perfect" to look down on others, try to keep their kids "pure" to the point of Pharisaisim, and so forth. At least that's what I've observed.

Dr. Baucham's model with its church centeredness is not the subject of my concern. It's the isolated families downloading sermons and considering themselves autonomous from the larger Body of Christ that are my concern.

Dr. Baucham's model should be more widely implemented in the church. The extremes I've noted are not the result of Baucham's model. They are caricatures - albeit factual ones - of this valuable model! And these caricatures are merely the opposite and miniscule extreme of the larger problem in our society of fatherlessness and the larger problem in the church of male passivity, homes not practicing the Christian faith Monday through Saturday, and the church's programming aping whatever the secular educational hierarchy suggests. (We must remember that professional education as a secular profession had the goal of alienating children from their families and the church because they "knew best". The church has betrayed its mission by failing to proclaim the Lordship of Christ over all education and allowing secularism to gut education of any transcendent content - but that's another posting or hundred. )

Here's another quote I agree with: One of the biggest distinctions of a FIC is the absence of age-graded ministries. We do not have segregated youth ministry, or children’s ministry. First, these ministries are not part of the biblical church model. The Bible is clear on whose job it is to disciple children... parents. Second, these ministries can work against the biblical mode. Parents who are relieved of their discipleship duties tend to become dependent on those who have taken over the job. Finally, these ministries have failed. We are losing 75-88% of Evangelical teens by the end of their freshman year in college. And as Dr. Alvin Reid has noticed, “The largest rise of youth professionals in history has been accompanied by a decline in youth evangelism effectiveness.” Ouch! But it's true isn't it... the more we've hired "youth ministers" with goatees, the less get's done because we're trusting the youth minister and abdicating parental responsibility!

People do grasp at such caricatures of "family centeredness" though to minimize the importance of implementing the things we should be learning from Family Integrated Churches.

Note: Rev. Anthony Carter's blog brought Dr. Baucham's work to my attention.

"Advocate For The Homless" Bumbling Officials Help Starve The Homeless

A self proclaimed "Advocate for the homeless" from Fairfax County, Virginia called the food police on some grannies who were making soup and corn bread at home for their church and then feeding homeless people for free, but obviously not through the "proper" homeless advocacy channels.

Between the "advocates" - grant seeking whiners who don't want competition from churches and who don't want "compassion" to be anything more than grant money channelled through their grubby hands so they can get a hefty cut of it whether the poor are helped or not - and the "health department" whose actions give people no option but to eat out of dumpsters, is there anyone really helping the homeless here?

Too often "Compassion" has become an industry to fatten the wallets of "advocates" and extend the power of bureaucrats. What's been lost in the equation is anything that might reconnect people who are alienated from both Jesus Christ and society back to both... like the personal help of little old ladies making home made soup.

Thankfully 2 pastors are speaking out...

Rev. [Judy] Fender added, "They've set up a situation that you have to have a $40,000 kitchen to feed someone who's going to get their food from questionable sources at best."

Rev. Kathleen Chesson said her First Christian Church would not obey the rules. "Our agenda is to feed the hungry. We're going to feed the hungry. That's it."

Evidently adverse publicity has let the soup kitchen reopen - for now.

Note: This news I've linked to here jibes perfectly with an article I read today on who the real skinflints are... the ones shouting loudest about "caring". More "homeless advocates" I presume.

How Do You Respond To The Good News Ee-Taow

How do you respond to the Good News of Jesus? Is it so "old hat" to you that you really need to get your kicks some other way?

Is the message of Jesus - to your way of thinking - just for "Sunday School kids"?

When was the last time that the message of your sin and mine laid on Jesus brought tears to your eyes?

When was the last time that the message of Christ's righteousness reckoned to you lead you to outrageous rejoicing?

If the time frame for either answer is "not recently", you need to watch Ee-Taow the story of the reaction of the Mouk people of Papua New Guinea as they hear the Good News about Jesus Christ for the first time.

You'll be amazed to see the story of the Zook family as they leave an idyllic lifestyle many idolize in the Amish country of the US (though they themselves were not Amish) to take the gospel to people who had never heard about Jesus and who lived in fear and self-degredation.

In true incarnational fashion, the Zook family (after overcoming their own hurdles to get to the mission field) did what all missionaries do when coming to people who have no written language...they learned, listened, and befriended until they could understand the people and convey their love. Then they began translating the key stories of the Bible into the Mouk language. It took quite some time.

They taught through the key stories of the Old Testament for over 2 months without ever mentioning Jesus using words, pictures and drama.

They recorded the stories and the Mouk listened to them again and again on hand powered cassette recorders.

Then when it came time to finally tell the story of Jesus, the Mouk sat and listened 2 hours per session, twice per day for 2 weeks.

Their response to the Gospel was amazing and convicting.

I strongly suggest getting this 2 part DVD for jaded Western Christians for whom the story of Jesus seems too "mundane". Why do we assume our people even "know" as much about Jesus as they do now? Most haven't taken the time to learn as much as they have.

May God use it to awaken them to the truth and the joyous good news of Jesus.


P.S. Don't we have to do the same thing as the Zook's even if we speak the "same language"?

Leadership must be in for the long haul

This is a quote from the Presbyterian Global Fellowship blog on "Wilderness Leadership".

This kind of missional leadership is slow. It is not fast. Missional leaders are not one minute managers. We are lifetime managers. We don't lead people with a fast food drive thru rush mentality. We lead with calendars, seasons, and years. Missional leaders know that any real, significant change can't happen quickly. It needs time to ferment. It simmers slowly. People are not square pegs that we can force into round holes. They are fellow travellers on the journey. Sometimes they are obstinate, for sure. And sometimes they are as unreasonable as their leaders. But God knows, that the dramatic shift in the North American church will not happen overnight. It will happen in a generation. Wilderness leadership is not just about waiting for a generation to die off. It's about raising up a new generation, that learns from the old generation, and then figures out how to get out of the desert.

Why She Is A Deaconess

From Life of the World

Mrs. Patricia Nuffer, a Deaconess Intern at Concordia Theological Seminary, Fort Wayne, Indiana, is now working on a proposal for the “Hands of Mercy Training Center for People with Disabilities” to be tested during a five month trial in Yambio, Sudan. The picture of holding Maria’s hands, disfigured through leprosy, is the inspiration for the name of this project. She hopes this will be a model for other churches in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Sudan to follow in reaching out to people with disabilities.

Here she holds the hand stumps of a woman with advanced leprosy.

When you read her story you begin to understand why so many hospitals bear the name "deaconess" in their title. Without Christian compassion there would never have been hospitals. They were never known until the coming of Christianity.

The vocation of the deaconess (alternately called the "parish nurse" for groups not comfortable with that name) dates back to the New Testament of course (Romans 16:2, 1 Timothy 3:11) but was revived in Germany in the late 1800's. It spawned the nursing and Red Cross movements as the students of the movement took it's principles to the battlefields of that century.

The nursing "profession" is its secularized form, but the Christian ministry and calling of the deaconess is much needed in our day.

By divorcing the nursing profession from its Christian roots, we've in practice taught one and all that healing is separated somehow from the providential care of God and the church.

And because nursing is considered a profession, it reaches only those able to afford hospitalization or to visit a doctor.

If we want to personalize care to the poor and make it independent of their ability to pay, we need to revive the ministry of the deaconess or parish nurse and her training must be more than what it offered by the nursing profession. It must be grounded in doctrinal and theological training in addition to nursing training so that it is a ministry done in Jesus' name and it must be funded as a ministry of the church not dependent on the recipient's ability to pay or have medical insurance.

What must be done to revive this wonderful ministry?

The Reformed and Missional Doctrine Of The Parish

One of the theological fads of the church growth movement is to equate the doctrine of the "parish church" with a non apostolic, "come serve me" mentality of doing church.

It's usually linked to another favorite whipping boy, the doctrine of "Christendom".

These two doctrines are used to "prove" the Church expected people to come to it and was not interested in being "apostolic".

But the "parish system" need not be "non apostolic" at all.

There's a clue to that in a source Reformed people should know. After all our most famous confession is the Westminister Confession. Celtic Christianity scholar Ian Bradley reminds us that the phrase "minster" derives from the more ancient term monasterium - the missional base of operations from which to penetrate a geographical area with the gospel. The monasterium was devoted to worship, praise, the training of leadership and the preservation of knowledge from which to send mission teams. This model saved civilization once when Europe was going "Post Roman". Why wouldn't it work again in "Post Christian" America?

A missional doctrine of the parish doesn't see it as a doctrine teaching the privilege and prestige of the Church and, by implication, the obligation of the masses to fawn before the Church and kiss the Bishop's ring. Instead the missional understanding of the parish is held because of the confession that Jesus Christ is Lord of all and over all and the right of people within geographical reach of the minster to hear the Good News of Jesus Christ. It should go without saying it is based on the Great Commission of Matthew 28:18-20.

Click here to open an adobe acrobat file discussing, in essence, the Reformed and Missional Doctrine of the Parish. It's an actual mission philosophy for a small missions agency working in Peru.

Bible Stories as English Teaching Tool (ESL/EFL)

In the U.S. the question of "illegal immigrants" occupies the daily news - at least if there's a political campaign on the horizon.

The church of Jesus Christ exists within a tension - not encouraging people to break the law of the land but also called to "welcome the stranger" because we Christians realize we ourselves are pilgrims and strangers in this world.

So whether your church is surrounded by illegal aliens wanting to learn English or legal aliens in the form of students, business owners, etc. these resources may help your ministry.

Most "English" courses focus on the "rules" of English. What they don't give people is practice in reading or speaking simple English.

These tools are being used in Southeast Asia but might as easily be used here in the United States if reaching out to folks wanting to improve their English.

They're based on the concepts of Chronological Bible Teaching and Chronological Bible Storytelling.

The book A True Story is fairly short - about 150 pages - and can be printed without royalty if following the author's guidelines. Download the zipped file here. There are also simple guidelines for using these materials as well.

We are making these books available, with no charge, to anyone who wants to take the time to help a non-English-speaking person. Teachers in more that 60 countries are using and reproducing these books, or even parts of a book, to help their students. If you are looking for an activity to enrich your life, this is a golden opportunity. Try downloading one of the books listed below (we recommend starting with "A True Story"), and help another person read and understand it. The books are not on various grade levels. Comments and constructive criticism are always appreciated.

Note: Many of the resources at the Chronological Bible Storytelling site are from Southern Baptist International Mission Board missionaries. The nature of these stories should not require too much adaptation if any to your particular denominational context.

Related Links:

>Teaching English Language Learners The Good News

>English Lessons from the Book of Mark I - student edition

>English Lessons from the Book of Mark I - teacher edition

Or here...

New Diaconal Opportunity Via NationalSOS.com

Part of the "attractional" ministries of our Lord were his healings and public feedings.

In response to our Lord's example, the missional church has always been the diaconally active church starting in the Book of Acts and continuing throughout history. Public education, hospitals, the rule of "law", and the advance of science are all attributable to the abiding impact of Jesus Christ.

The concept of Disaster Relief is no different...it owes it's inspiration to the diakonal ministry of the Church.

Communications failures in the wake of 9-11, Hurricane Katrina and the threat of terror attacks or the possibility of other local disasters that might, for instance, disable cell towers or telephone lines inspire a voluntary nationwide effort called NationalSOS.com .

By planning ahead and using inexpensive Family Radio Service hand held devices costing $10 to $30 (or more expensive Ground Mobile Radio Service radios that require licensure) and coordinating with local ham radio operators, it's entirely possible to create a decentralized alternative communications system for use in emergencies that take advantage of the 100 million FRS radios already sold to the public, 70,000 GMRS operators, and 700,000 Ham Radio operators.

A working model of the NationalSOS concept is being formed in Washington, DC no less, the DC Emergency Radio Network.

Guidelines to make the networks operate in a uniform manner already exist.

What's lacking is organization on a local basis so people who already have these units are trained to access the system during an emergency.

Undoubtedly many churches already have men in the diaconate who are Volunteer Fire Firghters who'd be ideal to help communities put this program into action, help people be trained, and drilled on its use.

In the postmodern world, the church can either inflitrate a "beehive of people" to share the gospel or - in this case - create a beehive of people. In this case that would be people concerned about emergency communications.

Churches that are centrally located are ideal settings to host the training meetings and the participants are either people who need to hear the Gospel or people are already part of the church and who need your encouragement to labor in God's Vineyard.

Let's be honest about another reality... the estrangement of many men from church. They feel alienated if they can't teach, sing, or speak in public, especially if they consider themselves "working class".

Does Christ's kingdom have no place for them? Of course not! Look at Peter, the fisherman!

Harness men's propensity to "protect" their loved ones by involving them in an outreach like this. While they might feel awkward inviting other men to a Promise Keeper style emotional share-a-thon, they would probably feel different about inviting other men to church to learn how them to help their community.

This is an amazing opportunity to reach out to people in every community of the US. Will we use that opportunity?



From NationalSOS.com:

In the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, a major contributing factor to the tragic loss of life was the near total breakdown of communication systems. When electricity, telephone, and cell phone services failed, people were unable to let neighbors, family, and rescuers know of their dire situation -- and some died as a result.

Purpose(ly) Driven Off from Church - It Doesn't Have To Happen

Recently the Wall Street Journal and Baptist Press have noted a disturbing trend.

Pastors wanting grow their church into a mega church and looking to Rick Warren's "Purpose Driven Church" seminars for the instant recipe mix are leaving split churches in their wake. Life long church members with years of service to a particular church are finding themselves ousted as troublemakers and rabble rousers if they oppose the new measures.

But it's not fair to blame Rick Warren's Purpose Driven Church methodology or any methodology really. The spirit of Diotrephes can manifest itself in many forms, though many prideful pastors seem to be using Warren's words as a pretext for their self-exaltation. We did hire them to be the Messiah, right? (Oh wait, I think He's already come! That's why there was a church there in the first place!)

I remember reading Warren's book and I remember the part that could be taken to "prove" the need to drive off rabble rousers.

As Warren was building Saddleback from scratch as a church planter, new visitors attracted to his nascent church would say things like "At ___________ we used to do ___________". Since he was building the church from scratch and he had the investment in the church, not they, he'd suggest they may be happier back at their other church. I'll bet many times the left the last place in a huff and it was probably good advice not to seek a "geographical cure" for their personal inablility to get along at church.

When Messiah wannabe pastors though come to a church where they were invited to be a shepherd, the situation's entirely different.

It's the long term members who have the investment in the place.

Their attitude is "he acts like he wants to be here, but we'll give it a few years." That's why folks say it takes 6 years in a church to have maximum impact. Till then, the people still wonder if you'll be gone on the next train.

So when Messiah II (the new preacher) comes in, unpacks his bags, and starts changing things before he even remembers anyone's name - whether it's to help the church be "Purpose Driven", "Liturgical", "Free in the Spirit", "Evangelistic" - you name the symptom in front of the disease of pride - and tries bending people who don't trust him to his iron will, the manure's going to hit the spreader.

I chalk most of these splits in the name of trying to be "Purpose Driven" to pride, foolishness, and utter lack of love. Some of these people posing as pastors can taste success so badly they'd excommunicate their mother from the church as a "rabble rouser" if they didn't coo like a dove after every sermon. They're just climbing the ladder of "pastoral success" and looking for the right rung to launch their mega church reputation from.

But it doesn't have to be this way.

I ran across the blog of a pastor whose writing exudes pastoral love and concern. The man purposely chose a small church - and to minister to other small churches in his area - because of his heart for the small church.

When I checked out his church's website, lo and behold, he lead this small church to be "Purpose Driven".

Do I think his church's adoption of Rick Warren's methodology will cause a split?

No.

Why?

He's not pompous, arrogant, or self-centered! That's why. It used to be called having a "pastor's heart". That's not discussed much in the CEO model of the church.

So he's going to use the method to revitalize his church and the cluster of churches he has influence with.

God bless those pastors who are doing what they feel to be the most faithful things to build up the body of Christ.

They'll do so with a pastor's heart that seeks the lost sheep without driving away the "ninety and nine".

MTV Style Youth Ministry Is Out Dude!

MTV Style Youth Ministry is OUT... the Bible is IN says the Christian Post.

We could never compete with Disney anyway, but we preachers are good at making fools of ourselves. So why not try that too?

Thankfully the teenagers are smarter than we'd give them credit for. But, then, by definition, they'd have to be smarter than we thought if we assumed "ministry to teens" meant trying to answer the question "What would Beavis and Butthead do while wearing a W.W.J.D. bracelet?"

One surprising finding that Fuller Seminary's Center for Youth and Family Ministry revealed in an ongoing study was that teens attend youth group because they like their youth pastor and to learn about God. Those reasons were listed by the majority of the surveyed students. The Barna Group found the top reason listed among teens for attending church was to "understand better what I believe."

Students also said they wanted to have more time for deep conversation and also desired more accountability in their youth groups. Games or other activities were not a desired priority. (emphasis added).

Sadly, by the time we figured this out, a generation may have gone down the drain.

The question is: will we challenge youth to be more than "slogan Christians"?

A local church in our presbytery had a youth group who got sick of giving toys at Christmas. They kept getting asked for "Xbox's" and "Playstations" and they didn't own them themselves. So their youth director wisely got them involved helping some people who really needed help and who appreciated getting clothes and food for Christmas. That became life changing and helped the kids peel off the middle class materialism and ingratitude we tend to suffer from.

Reformed University Fellowship has done a good job helping college age youth reconnect with the great post-reformation hymns set to new music, complete with occasional archaic language retained. In the process, they have learned the theology of the hymns.

Forever Grateful Music has put 80 to 100 scripture passages to modern tunes to aid scripture memorization.

I find that most Christians - even ones who've been in the church "all their lives" and are no longer teens - need to reconnect with the rich history of the Christian Faith in general and their own church's tradition in particular. Ministers to all ages need to help people learn a Christian worldview for the first time and break out of the dumbed down sentimentality that passes for the faith of the apostles, prophets, and martyrs in our churches.