|
Quick Links...
|
|
Featured Resource: Boundless Faith, by Robert Wuthnow
"The situation in which American church members now find themselves is one of unprecedented opportunities for engagement in the experiences of people whose lives are quite different from their own." So says Robert Wuthnow in his new book Boundless Faith; The Global Outreach of American Churches. Wuthnow, a professor of Sociology at Princeton University, takes a scholarly look at the effects of ever-increasing globalization on the American church and its approach to missions. He notes that American churches have already responded in positive ways - with giving to overseas ministries having increased by 50% within the last decade, and numerous members involved in short-term missions trips or other forms of cross-cultural outreach. He also points out that greater exposure to other countries, peoples, and cultures has changed the way the U.S. church goes about setting policies and priorities for missions programs. For example, with a greater knowledge of slavery, religious oppression, and other social justice issues around the world the church is more concerned with a holistic approach to missions which goes beyond evangelism and community relief.
In the final chapter, Wuthnow states "The future of American Christianity's engagement with globalization depends on coming to a clearer understanding of its past." I can only agree. With the resources (and with it influence) possessed by the American church, we have a tremendous potential for good. But if we are not careful and sensitive in our approach we can continue to be seen as arrogant and imperialistic. In the end, this book is not for everyone. It is high on research and theory, but rather lacking in practical application. Even so, pastors, missions leaders, and others concerned with the present state of world missions - and the American church's involvement in it - will find value in Wuthnow's analysis and observations.
Reviewed by Jerrid Stelter, Contributing Writer/Researcher
|
|
Sixteen:Fifteen believes prayer is essential for successful church missions coaching. We depend on and value the prayer of our friends and partners as we meet opportunities and face challenges.
Would you commit to help us pray?
Here are some specific ways you can pray:
- Pray for our two new regional missions coaches, Steve Harling in Denver and Paul Harper in Atlanta - that they would be used by God to unleash the missions potential of churches to reach unreached peoples. Pray that the Holy Spirit would give them the power and insight needed to coach effectively.
- Pray for the Bedhini Kurds of Iraq, an unreached people group, recently engaged by Grace Church in Kansas, a church we are coaching. Grace will unveil their vision in full to their congregation in September - pray that people of Grace are moved to pray, give and go as never before. Pray that the word of God would run swiftly and be glorified among the Bedhini.
- Pray for our annual September fundraiser which we have themed The Gathering. Pray that God would use this event to help supply all that we need to fulfill the growing opportunities He has given to us.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Greetings!
Time is Full Once Again!
Galatians 4: 4,5 (KJV) "But when the fullness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law, To redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons."
Over 2,000 years ago when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth His Son. His sovereign preparation had paved the way for the arrival of the Savior. Pax Romana, brought Roman Roads and Roman peace. From history's view point the Roman Empire itself had prepared the world for the Gospel. An amazing road system connected city with city and all cities ultimately with Rome. This trade, travel, and information highway was used to proliferate the Gospel throughout the world's population centers. There was one dominant language: Koine Greek. Its descriptiveness made it perfect for writing the Scriptures, but it was also spoken and read by almost everyone. There were Hungry Hearts; world religions had failed to meet the ache of men's hearts. These and other circumstances were the backdrops that lead to a massive spread of the Gospel. God shouted into History.
Time is full once again and a massive spread of the Gospel is underway...God has engineered extraordinary circumstances and supplied His people with critical Great Commission resources: Technology, globalization, world-wide travel capabilities, churches everywhere taking ownership of the Great Commission rediscovering their ultimate purpose to Treasure Christ and to make Him Known, a focus on targeting and reaching unreached peoples, a growing unity leading to unprecedented partnerships among churches and missions organizations...and this is only the beginning. God is preparing to Shout Into History once again. Or to borrow from C.S. Lewis' The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe: "Aslan is preparing to roar...you might want to cover your ears."
-Matthew Ellison,
Chief Ministry Officer, Coach |
|
Jerrid Stelter Interviews Matthew Ellison
 Jerrid: You've been talking a quite a bit lately about the term "Fullness of Time". Why are you so strongly impressed that we live in a historical time?
Matthew: I think the similarities to the Biblical "fullness of time" are everywhere. Though the civilization is much larger than it was during the first century, in many ways it's smaller. Whereas news used to take weeks or months to reach people, Michael Jackson's death was reported all over the world less than an hour after it happened. I think that God is bringing about globalization so that the message of His Son can reach all corners of the globe in ways that it never has before.
Jerrid: How do you think local churches ought to respond?
Matthew: I think churches ought to take advantage of our ever-shrinking world by tapping into their potential to reach those in far away places. The days of just sending money away to distant lands are over. Local churches can, and I believe must, step up to the plate and take a more active role in world evangelism.
Jerrid: How do they do that?
Matthew: First off, is to simply be aware of what is happening. Not only is technology and transportation making the world more accessible, but God is also doing an across-the-board work in local churches, giving them the desire for greater involvement in international ministry. They also need to be aware of the unprecedented amount of resources available today. With some 6 million evangelical churches in the world, there are more than 600 churches for each Unreached People Group left in the world. If even a small fraction of those churches would mobilize and focus their energies and abilities in specific areas the impact would be staggering.
While churches have the resources, the desire, and the access to technology, they often don't know how to move from a supportive role to an active role in world missions. This is where we can assist. Through the missions coaching process we can help churches assess their present efforts, establish a biblical foundation for their church's missions mandate, discover and articulate their unique missions vision and team them up with ministries who have experience and expertise in various areas of missions. When those elements come together, members of local congregations are empowered to involvement and even ownership. I believe that people never truly own what someone else does for them, so intimate involvement in missions will create a greater heart and passion within churches.
Jerrid: Practically speaking, what does globalization and technology mean for churches and missions?
Matthew: The possibilities are almost endless! Your short-term missions team can "tweet" updates and prayer requests, supported missionaries can visit your church on a Sunday morning via webcam, video feeds can give your congregation a much better view of the ends of the earth than traditional slideshows, you can sponsor (or even set-up) web-based outreaches - I think we are really just now beginning to scratch the surface of what is possible.
Jerrid Stelter is a Contributing Writer/Researcher for Sixteen:Fifteen. |
|
Sixteen:Fifteen Wecomes
New Church Coach, Paul Harper
 Would you share a little bit about your journey with Christ?
My life was greatly influenced by my father, grandmother and a southern gospel group (4 Pentecostals and a Methodist)....became a Christ follower as a junior in high school...mentored by my pastor, Donnie Stewart and a Southern Baptist evangelist, James D. Watson...served as evangelistic music director for James Watson during my college days at Mississippi College.
Where have you served in ministry to prepare you for mobilizing churches through church missions coaching?
After marrying Ellen Gray in 1976, I served as Praise and Worship leader for the next 10 years during which time I also acquired a number of hours toward a masters in music at New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary as well as (60) hours of accounting and business law.
We moved to Chattanooga, TN in 1986 where I served as Executive Pastor, Woodland Park Baptist Church....while there I also served as Director of Pressing On Ministries (media ministry of Woodland Park) and Director of The International Congress on Revival, an international ministry to pastors primarily serving in Europe, Africa and Australia...it was while serving with ICR that God gave me a passion for the world and became burdened that many churches had a "Jerusalem only" mentally with no real strategy to reach across the street or around the world.
In 1996 I joined Global Focus, a missions mobilization movement founded by Dr. Larry Reesor, as it's first vice president...left for a while to serve as Executive Director for the Stephen Olford Institute in Biblical Preaching...continued to serve on board of Global Focus...returned to Global Focus in 2000 as Vice President of Global Partnerships...established partnerships with 24 other organizations and Global Focus Leadership Teams in 22 countries....resigned Global Focus in January, 2009 to establish own ministry that allows me to serve with 1615 on a contractual basis.
What got you interested in becoming an associate church coach missions coach with Sixteen: Fifteen and why are you joining the team?
Coaching is a great fit for my gift mix....coaching for the last (8) years and seeing the light bulbs come on in the hearts of God's people and missions team when they realize they can really make a difference when they become intentional in their missions strategy, is absolutely awesome...helping mobilize the 80% in the discovery of God's purpose for their lives in light of Mark 16:15 is dynamite!...serving with 16:15 allows me to take coaching to a new level as we engage the local church and it's leadership with the unreached peoples of the world...am draw by the Holy Spirit to the heart of 16:15's leadership and motivated by the God-sized vision of mobilizing 1,ooo churches to reach 1,000 unreached people groups in the next 10 years!!
Let's say that someone asks you five years from now what impact your church coaching has had among churches. What would you hope to be able to say by the grace of God?
I would love to be able to say that I personally coached the leadership of (25-50) churches through the 3D process who would adopt (25-50) unreached people groups....and for those churches to serve as a model to influence (5) other churches each to do the same...thus influencing (125-250) churches to walk through the 3D process and adopt an unreached people group...at the end of the day to play a significant role in helping the church leadership to change the DNA of their churches from a "Jerusalem only" perspective to a global perspective and helping their membership find God's purpose and plan for their lives in light of The Great Commission!
Paul is interviewed by Barry Lawrence, Director of Church Coaching
|
|
|
Thank you for your partnership in the Great Commission.
|
|
Some of the people groups engaged through Church Missions Coaching:
- The Silver Palaung of Burma
- The Fra Fra of West Africa
- The Iraqi Arabs of the Middle East
- The Middle Atlas Berbers of Morocco
- Arabic Muslims of North Africa
- The Guaymi of Panama
- The Rabinal Achi of Guatemala
- The Tarahumara of Central Mexico
- The Kurds (undisclosed region of the Middle East)
| |
|
