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August 29, 2007

 

 

 



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In this Edition:
Article Headline
Practitioners: Bryan Gallant, Atlanta
Back Talk: The Squarest of the Square
Calendar of Events
Resources & Ideas
Got a tool, resource or seminar that you like a lot? Share it with us at BestPractices@ameritech.net.
To the Point:

"Praise almost seems to be inner health made audible." 
C.S. Lewis
"Almost but not wholly saved, means to be wholly lost." 
Ellen White, COL 118
"Not once should feeling be allowed to get the mastery over judgment" 
Ellen White, 2SM 91
"Trust God from the bottom of your heart; don't try to figure everything out on your own. Listen for God's voice in everything you do; he's the one who will keep you on track." 
Pr. 3:5,6, The Message
"Thank God every day that He gave us Jesus." 
Ellen White, SD 238

Quotes this month courtesy of Reggie Phillips. Got a favorite quote? Send it to BestPractices@ameritech.net. 
Gallant
Practitioners:
Bryan Gallant, Atlanta
As I was driving to Toledo not long ago, I saw a huge Islamic mosque right next to the freeway. Islam has grown in North America. If you've not met Muslims in your community, you will. I asked my friend Bryan Gallant of Enoch's Passion (a ministry to Muslims, and to Christians who want to befriend them)
"What's the foundational principle for reaching Muslim people?" LGS

My studies were interrupted when my Muslim friend and his wife asked if I could take them to the Atlanta airport. The favor would use nearly 8 hours of my time (travel there and back, twice).  After a temporary spat with the enemy, who was tempting me to protect my time, and my finally choosing in favor of my conscience, I said yes. Upon arriving at their home, the wife said, "I am so glad you came! I had an agenda in asking you to take us!" They needed some straight Bible answers, and did not trust anyone else to ask.

Later, in a never to be forgotten moment, she asked if it was possible for her to love Jesus without having to be "Christian" (as she had seen it represented by some churches: pork eating, loose morals, alcohol, idols, no modesty, breaking the commandments, etc.). 

At that moment I was forever convinced that my time is God's time. I thought how eternally sorry I would have been had I said no to their request. The rest of that trip was nothing short of a divine journey that took us far beyond any airport. As each mile drew us closer (while I prayed for God's Spirit to speak, and for more traffic to delay us) God enlarged our views of who He is and what His word teaches.  I will never forget that precious day, knowing that the God who begins such things, brings them to completion!

That day would never have come, though, without a deep friendship already in place.

Muslims do not normally ask such questions. In a world of misinformation, fragmentary lives, and busy-ness posing as godliness, have we forgotten the need for love and relationship? Could it be that the best practice needed today to span the ever increasing gap between Muslims and Christians, as well as to display the glory of God shining in the face of Jesus Christ in these last days, is simply genuine love exhibited in tangible ways and invested time? 

Sure, Muslims need to know that Adventists are the people of The Book, people they can trust, people who live by the grace of God in moment by moment submission. But that knowledge requires relationship, not just information! 

Find out more about Bryan's ministry at the Enoch's Passion website. To schedule a seminar, write Bryan at enochspassion@gmail.com.

Are you or a colleague doing something especially interesting and innovative in ministry? Tell us about it at BestPractices@ameritech.net.

John and Karen Cress VideoBest Practices Video
Listen as pastors John and Karen Cress share how an introverted, divided and broken congregation was transformed into a healthy growing congregation by empowering members to use their gifts toward mission and ministry.

Back Talk:
Responses to The Squarest of the Square on the Coolest of the Cool
Last issue's editorial on cutting edge ministries drew a mixed reaction from BP readers. LGS
  • It seems to me that followers of Jesus, like Dan Smith, like our early SDA church fathers and mothers, need to be commended for their willingness to push the relevance envelope. Jesus was so relevant that He was able to impact the culture ahead of its time. Typically we Adventist are stuck somewhere in 1844 (or maybe 1845) focusing on maintaining our traditions of how to dress, talk, walk, sit, stand, listen, eat, etc. to the point that the world is passing us by. Here's a sobering thought: What do you get when you have a Seventh-day Adventist who shows up at a party where there is alcohol (to which he was invited!), doesn't condemn anyone, hangs out with prostitutes on a regular basis, and spends more time with "sinners" than "saved" people? Answer: A follower of Jesus Christ.
    Matthew Gamble
  • Our preachers in many circles right now are and have been playing the 'wanna be' game. A few years back it was Promise Keepers and then Bill Hybels and the Willow Creek model. Then came the Purpose driven thing and we chased down that path. Now we have 'organic churches' and 'simple churches' etc. The truth is we are not going to win souls by copying what the world is doing. We can try our best to imitate and 'adventize' the methods but they are still a copy of the 'real' thing the world is doing. We are in an age where Christianity is whatever you would like it to be. When will God's people realize that we have the most 'cutting-edge' message ever given to mankind? When will we stop playing catch up and start standing up for what we know to be true?
    Jared Smith
  • "The Squarest of the Square" was hard hitting, thought provoking and, I assume, threatening for many who may be unable to accept the avant garde in Christianity. Like you, I believe we need both--the imaginative and the traditional. The definition of cool is to know exactly where and how God is using you. After all, God is a God of diversity! I have enjoyed every issue of Best Practices.
    Karen Cress
  • Why would I turn to Christianity for the same kind of entertainment I can find in the world?  (The world's stuff is always better, in that regard, anyway.) Perhaps the answer is this: such religion can appease the conscience of double-minded individuals who love the world but don't like the idea of going to hell. Seldom will you find a genuine "worldling" who buys into that shtick. It's almost always some prodigal who rejected the religion of his upbringing and can't shake the pangs of guilt (but he still wont come home!). No matter how much we "jazz it up," people without a religious background find such secular "church" services shallow and trite. The only appeal is that such Christianity is almost entirely devoid of Christ. "Christ's method alone will bring true success." Meet the people where they are, (not acting as they are) and bring them to where they are not--a sanctuary separate from the world. Moreover, brother Loren, your praise for this popcorn pastor is just the sort of report that is dividing the church deeply out here. I often have to answer the charge that NAD leadership has apostatized. You are not helping any. The Bible, not to mention the Testimony of Jesus through his humble servant, clearly condemns such irreverent and worldly practices.
    Adam Hendron

  • Right on, Loren!  You express a view that can only be held by Adventists who are secure in their faith and identity.  Contextualization need not result in cultural relativism or religious universalism.  Our incarnational witness requires that we live out the unchanging Gospel in rapidly changing cultural settings.
    Raj Attiken
Events
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NAD Church RESOURCE Center
Best Practices is an e-publication of Vervent
NAD CHURCH RESOURCE CENTER
Editor: Loren Seibold
Senior Pastor, Worthington Ohio Seventh-day Adventist Church