ie:missional teaching. glocalizing. living. serving. repenting. incarnating. loving. repeating.

October 10, 2007

What are the Questions?

Filed under: Mission — Marty Duren @ 7:50 am

The previous post had to do with the need for churches to engage UPGs. The discussion, which was very good, raised a thought: What are the questions we need to be asking about UPG engagement? We will never reach the answers we seek until we are asking the right questions, so what are they?

Here are some of mine: How do we connect the financial resources of the west with the peoples of the east without creating dependency?

How do we get churches to realize that there is no “or” in Acts 1:8?

How do we get pastors to realize that there is no “or” in Acts 1:8?

For what will American churches be held accountable regarding the mission dei and our role in it? (I can think of the English language, ease of travel and wealth for starters.)

What is the best way to affiliate churches into pods for engaging UPGs?

In the last comment section, Caleb said,

“Somewhere along the way, the churches handed that responsibility over to the parachurch professionals and allowed themselves to become â??volunteersâ? in the IMBâ??s program, deferring to the organizationâ??s strategy and missiology.”

How do we change this?

Ken said,

“I have spoken to pastors who see missions as a drain on their budgets instead of a call from God to work with Him in being glorified among all the peoples ( with an s) of the earth.”

How do we change this?

I have had the most success in sitting down with pastors who are already visionary and casting the vision of God’s mission worldwide. We have international partnerships currently that have involved three churches near us and another on board for T–a. This has just seemed better for me than going to the Monday morning “Pastors’ Conference,” talking to a bunch of bobbing heads and going home frustrated.

October 6, 2007

The Local Church Engaging Unreached Peoples

Filed under: Leadership,Mission — Marty Duren @ 7:33 am

Over the last couple of days I’ve been at the Catalyst Conference held at the Gwinnett Arena just a few miles from my home. It was good to see Kevin Bussey and Chuck Bryce both of blogging fame and reconnect with some pastors and friends who I had not seen in a while. The conference, IMO, was good but not outstanding. It seemed that the speakers were given less time than in years past and many of the speakers were repeats from Q that I had attended earlier this year.

Yesterday, there was luncheon hosted by the International Mission Board of the SBC. I was able to see some old friends, folks that I met during my earlier travels to the trustee meetings. Our staff was blessed to sit with an M from Barcelona and hear just a bit of his story. We also got to know the co-pastor and two members from Grace Community Church in Clarksville, TN.

The meeting was hosted by the multi-talented and apparently multi-purpose Ed Stetzer whose topic was “Speaking in Tongues.” Since we were not all SBCers in the room (at least I don’t think we all were), I thought we might see a demonstration, but no. His subject, of course, was that some from every nation, tribe, tongue and people were going to bring praise to God in eternity and what were we doing about it??

He quoted an estimate that 3,000 additional missionaries (I assume from any and all denoms) could engage all the remaining unreached peoples in the world. This is thrilling, but is it the answer? Following the conference, it dawned on me that my denomination has more than 3,200 church in Georgia alone. The national structure of the Southern Baptist Convention has more than 45,000 churches. Unless my math deceives me (and that is a distinct possibility), that is 15 local, SBC-related bodies of Christ for every UPG left on the planet.

Let’s assume for a moment that NO more M’s are sent through agencies, but instead, churches large and small partner together in groups of fifteen (“pods”) to adopt and engage these peoples. Let’s assume that agencies are willing to spend some of their manpower on training these churches in missiological principles that better prepare them for engagement. Let’s assume that these churches restructure their giving to create the UPG as a level one priority, even if it means cutting the fat from the denom portion of their annual budgets. Let’s assume that some M’s on the field become the hands and feet of this “Pod” of churches who commit to send teams regularly until a viable church planting movement happens, or until viable “church at Jerusalem” is begun.

There are enough churches in Georgia to engage all the remaining UPG’s. There are enough in the southeast to engage them multiple times over. Why are we waiting for another 3,000 people to commit full time?

October 3, 2007

Kept, Book Review

Filed under: Books,Missional — Marty Duren @ 8:58 am

Kept cover Pastor, helper, friend, thinker, innovator, student, prolific source of IT information and unofficial tech support for many bloggers across America, David Phillips has added a new title to his resume: author. The recently published Kept is a devotional commentary on the book of Jude. Very readable at a scant 80 pages, Phillips uses a mix of scholarship and easily accessible teaching to explore this sometimes enigmatic penultimate book of the canon.

Included is David’s own translation of the book of Jude, which, paragraph by paragraph, also serves as the intro to each chapter. I would recommend this book to any lay person as a short intro to Jude or to a pastor looking for a supplement to his own study series. It is available at Missional Press Story for a mere $7.49 through the end of October.

As an aside, Publishing Mogul should also be added to the list of David’s titles as Missional Press is his own brainchild. If you are considering publishing an academic work, commentary or book otherwise missionally aligned, but have been put off by the daunting prospect of a bunch of money up front, consider Missional Press. The book that I am co-authoring, Journeys, will be released by Missional in the upcoming months and I have been very impressed with the process and the product. Check it out.

September 29, 2007

Honeydo, Honeydone

Filed under: Life — Marty Duren @ 5:49 pm

Every man knows what the “honeydo” list is.  “Honey, do this.  Honey, do that.”  It’s the list of things that typically drive wives absolutely batty because, in a house of near perfection, all that can be seen is that black mark on the baseboard or that puncture in the sheetrock.

Of course, most honeydo lists are not that minor; many of them are major: the shutters are falling off the house, there is a tree growing in the gutter, the house needs painting inside and out, the furniture is falling apart, the brakes are squealing, the engine is knocking and on and on.

We’ve been in our current house for about 7 and a half years.  That’s how long my honeydo list had become.  We had stuff in the basement that needed to go to the dump, a trey ceiling to paint, hardwood flooring to finish, trees to cut down, mulch to load and spread, and more.  So I took an entire week off to do nothing but honeydo’s and got about twelve separate projects done.  Of course, there are a couple of more that just got started and may not be finished until the next honeydo week rolls around.

Sonya is a great project manager.  We had some furniture that needed to be recovered.  She went on the internet and studied a few sites, bought the appropriate tools and spent about a week recovering an ottoman and a loveseat.  She refinished the cabinets in our master bathroom and created the textured painting that adorns the walls.  She has the ability to look at a project and say, “That will take about ten hours.”  Then, she will break it up into five 2-hours segments and be done in a week.

I look at a project and say, “That will take about ten hours.  Heck, I ain’t got ten hours–I’m going to the mall.”  Thus, I end up with a week long honeydo list.

Can anyone else sympathize with this?  Who is the procrastinator in marriage (if you are married) and which style represents you if you are single?

September 22, 2007

Great Songs for Missional Churches, 1

Filed under: Missional,Music — Marty Duren @ 8:32 am

Have you ever purchased a CD or downloaded it and played it through a few times only half way listening? Have you ever had the experience of hearing a song for the first time after hearing it many times? Perhaps because of sermon prep or a book you’d been reading or a conversation, but something about the lyrics of the song grabs you and demands your attention. That recently happened to me on the song, “Tears of the Saints,” by the group Leeland. It is a song that we will be doing in church soon.

The song is available on iTunes. If you want to watch a video of it being performed at Creation 2007, there is a link on the above site and you’ll need to endure a 30 second registration at MonsterPod. Here are the lyrics:

Tears of the Saints

There are many prodigal sons
On our city streets they run
Searching for shelter
There are homes broken down
Peopleâ??s hopes have fallen to the ground
From failures

This is an emergency!

There are tears from the saints
For the lost and unsaved
Weâ??re crying for them come back home
Weâ??re crying for them come back home
And all your children will stretch out their hands
And pick up the crippled man
Father, we will lead them home
Father, we will lead them home

There are schools full of hatred
Even churches have forsaken
Love and mercy
May we see this generation
In its state of desperation
For Your glory

This is an emergency!

There are tears from the saints
For the lost and unsaved
Weâ??re crying for them come back home
Weâ??re crying for them come back home
And all your children will stretch out their hands
And pick up the crippled man
Father, we will lead them home
Father, we will lead them home

Sinner, reach out your hands!
Children in Christ you stand!
Sinner, reach out your hands!
Children in Christ you stand!

There are tears from the saints
For the lost and unsaved
Weâ??re crying for them come back home
Weâ??re crying for them come back home
And all Your children will stretch out their hands
And pick up the crippled man
Father, we will lead them home
Father, we will lead them home

September 20, 2007

Five Things God Does Not Know

Filed under: Humor — Marty Duren @ 7:54 am

Courtesy of George G. Hunter.

God does not know:

How many holy orders there are in the Roman Catholic Church.

Who’s running the Southern Baptist Convention.

What the Presbyterians are thinking.

What the Methodists are doing.

What the Pentecostals are saying.

September 19, 2007

The Future of Mission

Filed under: Gospel,Mission — Marty Duren @ 9:06 am

A recent Christian Post article entitled Should Churches Tithe Membership to Reach the Lost? piqued my curiosity as it touched on some thoughts I had recently been turning over in my mind. From the article:

The IMB is urging Southern Baptists for 3,000 more active missionaries around the world for a total deployment of 8,000. There are currently 5,000 missionaries and 200 new missionaries are scheduled for dispatch to overseas mission fields in 2007-2008.”Adding 3,000 new missionaries might be a difficult task if we were starting out with no resources, but the truth is that those 3,000 new missionaries are already sitting in our churches, and the finances to support them are already in our pockets. Itâ??s not a hard task,” Fort said at a Southern Baptist missionaries gathering last week, according to the IMB.

Questions: Are Americans best suited to serve as M’s in closed countries?

With the greatest transfer of wealth taking place in the current passing of generations, what does the influx of that money have to do with world mission?

What is the best use of that money?

What is a workable strategy when many willing people are in countries that have less affluence and less financial support?

Is the role of churches to provide M’s through agencies or to connect more directly?

Thoughts?  Anybody know where all of this is heading?

September 14, 2007

3:10 to Yuma, Movie Review

Filed under: Culture,Movies — Marty Duren @ 9:55 am

I went yesterday to see the new 3:10 to Yuma starring Russell Crowe and Christian Bale. As most now know it is the remake of the 1950’s classic starring Glenn Ford and Van Heflin, based on a short story by prolific author Elmore Leonard. (See Rotten Tomatoes reviews here, Focus on the Family here, and ScreenIt here.)

The movie itself is not merely a western, not even like Unforgiven or Pale Rider. There is a psychological bent to this film and a type of redemption, though it clearly falls short of actual spiritual redemption in Christ. Christian Bale is Dan Evans, a Civil War vet who, having lost a leg, is now trying to make a go of it as a rancher in Arizona (the reason he chose AZ is not revealed until late in the movie). Russell Crowe is the suave but demented and deeply wicked Ben Wade, the leader of a gang of thieves who specialize in high dollar stage and train robberies. Their paths intersect early on in the story and form the basis for the action and exploratory dialogue that form the remainder of the film.

The story hinges on whether Evans will be able, with a diminishing posse, to deliver Wade to the town of Contention and get him aboard the 3:10 prison train to the Yuma pen. The entirety of the story seems to take place across the space of about 48 hours. If you favor high action like the more recent Die Hard movies, then there might be too much talking in Yuma; if you favor lots of talking, then there may to much violence and blood.

I personally evaluate movies like this as to whether there is clarity between the evil and the good. On one level here, there is: Wade, though a Bible quoter, is completely and thoroughly evil. He is as manipulative and cold and Hannibal Lecter ever dreamed of being, and, sans one sequence, can never be trusted. The problem with Wade, as several characters discover, is that he can laugh with you while talking about “the weather” one moment and end your life the next. It is unfortunate to me that the typical Hollywood pattern of a Bible quoting killer is used, though, in an unusual twist, the reason is actually made plain and it’s foundational to the criminal’s twisted conscience.

On another level the clarity is more murky: the hero is obviously operating in the realm of common grace, not saving grace. As a matter of fact, the “good guy” knows no scripture at all, though his family does observe their gratefulness to God in a blessing led by Evan’s wife (played by Gretchen Mol). Unlike Talladega Nights where everything having to do with God is played for laughs, this scene is utterly serious as the family gives thanks to God while one at the table ignores it. In the final resolution, as motives become completely clear, it brings out the most redemptive portion of the story and displays a moving portrait of the lengths to which Dads will go to win their sons.

3:10 to Yuma is rated “R” for language (including the “f-bomb” twice), violence and bloody gore including graphic shootings, an exploding horse (yep), and a bullet removal.

September 9, 2007

Running the Race

Filed under: Devotional — Marty Duren @ 9:18 pm

The date was May 6, 1954 when the unthinkable happened. Considered to be beyond the limits of human endurance, three men had challenged themselves and, from three different continents, challenged each other to run a sub-four minute mile. Australian John Landy, American Wes Santee and British medical student Roger Bannister were all chasing the holy grail of track. Scheduled to run at Iffley Road, Oxford, England, Bannister watched as the cloudy weather threatened to ruin his chance at the record. Finally, just as he was determined not to run, the sky cleared and a rainbow shown through prompting his coach and training partners, Chris Brasher and Chris Chataway, to decide (via vote) to go ahead with the attempt.

The effort was to work this way: Brasher and Chataway were to run as pace runners to help Bannister, who had the best shot at breaking the time barrier, run at a consistent 1 minute per lap for 3 laps keeping enough in reserve to run a final lap of 59 seconds. When the gun fired start, Brasher moved into the lead and stayed there for two and a half laps. At that point, beyond spent, Chris Brasher gave way to Chris Chataway who moved from the third spot, passing the cruising Bannister, into the first position maintaining the pace speed. Finally, with about 230 yards to go on the bell lap, Bannister moved to the outside, passed his pacing partner and used his finishing kick to cross the line in 3:59:4, immortalizing himself in what Sports Illustrated referred to as the greatest sporting accomplishment of the 20th century.

This post, however, isn’t about Bannister; it’s about Brasher and Chataway and what it means to run the race. Chris Brasher was a steeplechase runner and not really the kind of distance runner that had a legitimate shot at that record. Chris Chataway was a world class distance runner and, if memory serves, eventually ran a sub-four minute mile himself. But on May 6, 1954, both of them lost the race. They did their jobs, but they lost the race. The reason they lost was not because they were less than talented runners, but they could not sustain the rate that Bannister could. The plan was that they would pace Bannister so that he would have his best shot at running below 4:00, but this meant that they would be running at Bannister’s level and not their own. IOW, they were not running their own race, they were running Bannister’s race. He won, but they lost.

The writer of the Hebrews said in 12:1, “Let us run with endurance the race that is set before us.” Sometimes lost in our concern for endurance is the need to run our own race. Often Christians and even pastors tend to look at other believers and think, “I wish I could have what they have.” Many pastors spend so much time wishing to run the race of another pastor that they neglect the race that God has placed before them to run. I can never run my own race with endurance and run it to finish well if I am consumed with Andy Stanley’s race or Erwin McManus’s race. God has given me a race to run and I cannot be simultaneously focused on “Jesus, the author and finisher” of my faith if I am focused on the runners around me.

September 7, 2007

Taking the Plunge

Filed under: Communication,Misc — Marty Duren @ 10:42 am

Well, after months of waiting, I purchased a brand new 8GB iPhone yesterday! This thing is soooooo cool and works just the way all the previews indicated. I’ve used all the functions and have yet to be disappointed. The only real “downside” so far is that the screen smudges easily and will not clean with a shirt sleeve; it appears that the best thing beside the included cloth wipe is a Kleenex.

Since I had no PDA or iPod in the past and my phone was reaching the breaking point, this was not only a “cool factor” decision, but also a sensible business decision as well. I am sorry that Art Rogers is still stuck with that Treo of his. Have sympathy for Art today and a moment of silence, please.

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