Meeting of the 14

We have been teaching our 14 CPs about having a goal, or end vision for their ministry. We know that God's purpose is that His glory would cover the earth as the waters cover the sea. Hab 2:14. God's goal, or end vision is in Revelation 5:9 and 7:9- for every nation, tribe, people and language to receive and worship Him at the throne in heaven. They voiced their goals for certain people groups and languages they are already working with. We have taught them that they must have a plan- steps working toward the completion of their end vision. For, example, if we have even a simple goal of buying vegetables, we have specific steps we have to accomplish in order to get to that goal. First you must get dressed, put your shoes on, get your money, then go out the door, walk to the rickshaw, take a ride to the market, arrive at the market, and then accomplish your goal of buying what you need. Each step must take place in order to get to your goal efficiently. Putting on your clothes in the rickshaw is possible, but not practical. Walking around your house 2, 5, 10 times before getting in the rickshaw is possible, but wastes time. In the same way, we must put together steps in our ministry toward accomplishing our goal. The first step we are teaching them is how to find where your minsitry should start. We should have an entry plan for the first of 5 parts (Entry, Gospel, Discipleship, Church Formation, and Leadership Multiplication) of our CPM master plan. There are many ways of doing a certain thing, and while all those things are possible, doing many of them is not always practical, and we can easiliy lose our focus. Each step in a CPM must be thought out, and then each step must also be done well in order for the CPM to grow and grow quickly. Choosing one thing and doing is well is much better than trying to do many things and doing them just OK. Their entry strategy we have been teaching them to use, comes from Luke 10:1-11. We call it our HOP (House of Peace) strategy for Entry. Pray and go- let God lead you to the place he wants you to be. Jesus told them not to take extra things (bag or sandals) because we need to rely totally on Him to provide for us, and to allow someone in the place God is leading you to be able to show mercy on you. For blessed are the merciful, they will be shown mercy. Jesus also said, don't greet anyone on the road. When God has revealed to you the place you should go and bring the Good News, you should go directly to that place. Don't stop. Would a farmer who has precious seed to be planted in the field he has prepared stop on the way to that field? He has a task, and he knows how important and urgent it is that seed needs to be sown, and in that specific field. Once in the village, prayerwalk, and let God lead you to the person of peace. As we learn in Acts 17:26-27, God has determinied the times set for them and the places they should live, and that they should seek God. They are ready for the Good News. Or, they have a need that can be met through prayer, so that the power of God can be revealed to them, and then the salvation can be shared with them. But most important, get into the house. Let the person of peace invite you in and display his mercy upon you. Eat and drink what is put in front of you. Begin to develop the relationship, and then share the Gospel. Stay in the house! Once the Gospel is shared, and they decide to accept the salvation Jesus has offered to all people, stay with them. This is where discipleship starts, as well as church formation and leadership multiplication. From the very beginning, they are modeling how to reach others with the gospel.

This week, my team member and I were able to bring our 14 disciples/CPs in to our city, as we have scheduled every month for the next year. We have visited all of them over the past month in their homes, and given them action items to complete. The meeting is an iron on iron session, where we come together for more teaching as well as sharing praises and prayers about what is going on. Many of the brothers in this meeting were excited to share what has been happening in their ministry since the last meeting. Many of them have toiled many years in ministry and have struggled to see fruit. Since sharing with them the Luke 10:1-11 strategy, they have put it into practice already. Some have prayed for family members of people, and God has shown great healing in order to open doors for them. Others have simply prayed for God to lead them to a POP, and have been invited into the house and shared the Gospel. The 14 are so excited to see something working so quickly, it is going to be incredible to be visiting them in the next month to see what kind of impact God is making through these obedient 14 men.

Many of them have developed a master plan, and they have very specific strategies in each of their 5 parts in order to move toward their goal. They are thrilled to put these things we are learning together into practice, and see fruit like they have never seen it before in their ministry. Next is discipleship and church formation. I will cover this in more detail in future posts, as well as how it is happening among the 14.

Draw the Net

Last week, I was visiting with 'Paul', one of our 14 CPs. 'Paul' has toiled in his area many years. He has built a church on the side of his house and has 10 members. He also disciples 2 CPs in his area. His strategy has been to go door to door and sing praise songs and do bible drama skits as a means of sharing the gospel. He also preaches over radio broadcast and megaphone from his rooftop. Over the many years, he has seen little fruit, and he has been discouraged. Biblically, he is a sound believer, and his foundations in the Lord are solid. He has a real burden to reach the lost people of his area, but has not been able to see a movement of Christ among them yet. A couple of weeks ago, we held our monthly meeting of our 14 in our city. My partner taught Luke 10:1-11, that we should pray for God to lead us to the right place, then go and pray as you go that God will lead you to the person of peace He has already put in that place (Acts 17:26-27). This is the entry strategy phase of what we are teaching our 14. 'Paul', as soon as he came back to his area, put this strategy into action. God led him to a village and he began to share with a group of 35 people, all interested in the Gospel. He was so excited to see some results so quickly, that he is really sold out to do this everywhere he goes now. He said that no missionary has ever been to this village, and no one here has ever heard of Jesus before now.

This village of fishermen, have been listening to bible stories for the last few weeks, and always asks for 'Paul' and his son to come back, even trying to keep them overnight to keep preaching. No one has accepted yet, but the visits continue twice a week. I asked if they shared the salvation of Christ and asked if anyone wanted to receive it. He and his son, who has been going with him, said they did not want to ask yet for fear of getting run off. I used the analogy of a fisherman who had a large catch of fish in his net. Should he just let the net stay in the water for fear of losing the catch, or should he draw his net and pull in the ones in the net, even though a few get away? They answered, the fisherman should draw his net. I told them, in the same way we can share the Gospel with people, but if we do not ask them if they want to accept the salvation, they will not know what to do. I told them that they must do this in this village, because these people dod not know what to do with this new knowledge you have reavealed to them. God has led you to this place, and has given you an opportunity to give the Gospel, and draw the net by asking the question "Do you want to receive the salvation Jesus has offered to all people?" Some of these 35 people are ready, and that the question has to be asked, even if only one accepts. That would be your person of peace that God has led you to. Do not worry about all the others, the seeds of the Gospel have been planted in them, and they will respond when ready. 'Paul' and his son understood this, and did commit to drawing the net to find the people among this group who will become followers of Christ, and who they will begin to stay with and disciple. Praise God for giving this opportunity for 'Paul' to see fruit in this way. Pray for 'Paul' and his ministry, that this will be an encouraging springboard for him, and also for him to share in upcoming meetings with the other 14 his successes.

I was also able to share my testimony with one of their relatives. They have share with this young man many times, and he has shown interest, but never has been asked the question of accepting and following Jesus. God gave me the right words to say, and after hearing the Gospel, he accepted Christ. I was so excited, not just because of a new family member in the body of Christ, but that 'Paul' and his son were able to see how we draw the net. I explained later, that if I had just stopped at the Gospel without asking the question, this young man would still not know what he needed to do. God gave opportunity for 'Paul' to see this in action, so that he can go and do it. Over the next month, he will be going to new areas that God leads him, and putting the Luke 10:1-11 strategy (HOP- House Of Peace) to work, as well as taking his 2 CPs with him to model it for them to also do. God's word is so good. How do we ever stray from what is written in it, and try to do our own thing?

Science

I love science. I love science fiction. I am a huge Trekkie. This stuff about the Large Hadron Collider sure has come upon me quickly. I never knew they have been building this huge thing in the Swiss alps for the last 25 years. It seems pretty cool, and could probably advance science in our generation with the things they discover. Very interesting, except for the fact that there are many other scientists that believe this will bring about the end of the world. We know, as followers of Christ, Jesus said, "And the Good News about the Kingdom will be preached throughout the whole world, so that all nations will hear it; and then the end will come.
(Matthew 24:14). I think, unfortunately we are far from the end. There are hundreds of thousands of UUPG's, people groups who have not heard and are not even engaged with the Gospel by anyone. So, the end is far away, and only God knows the exact time it will come. However, we rejoice as the body of Christ that we have our names registered in Heaven. And we must strive to reach those who have not heard the Good News of salvation.

Anyways, preaching aside, I wonder what it is about us boys? What is the fascination we have with taking things apart, breaking them apart to see how they work or how they can be fixed or what parts are inside? I had this fascination when I was a boy, and still have it to some degree. I would take apart my electronic racing cars, Stretch ArmStong, etc just to see what was inside those things to make them work. I never figured it out, but I had a bunch of toys that didn't work anymore because of my curiosity. My son has inherited this curiosity. He has a bunch of toys that are taken apart and do not work any more. Power Ranger figures have no arms or legs, cars have the wheels off, things like that. That makes me think of these scientists in the Alps with this contraption ready to possibly blow the top off the Swiss Alps by smashing sub-atomic particles to see what will happen, and if the Big Bang Theory is really relevant. I believe in the Big Bang Theory. I really do. I believe that God said "Let there be light, and there was light. And it was good." If that's not enough of a Big Bang Theory, lets just believe we were created by an accidental smashing of particles. That seems pretty believable! I would rather believe we were created by a loving Heavenly Father than to believe we are an accident.

Field Time!

No, I'm not talking about football- but I am looking forward to listening to some over the Internet. There is only so much cricket a good old American sports fanatic can take!

Anyways, I just returned from the field spending time with 'Mark' (pseudonym) one of our 14 CP's. Normally, we are to spend time with them 1 on 1 when we come to them, but he had brought 8 of his CP's that he is training to for me to teach some things to them. I really had planned on meeting with 'Mark' only, and had nothing prepared. So, I winged it. I asked them questions. I needed to know what kind of training they have had, where their ministry is, how many churches they oversee, are the leaders they are discipling also discipling others to become leaders- basically interviewing them to measure maturity and get a feel for their theology. The first issue that came up which seems to come up a lot here among believers- what is a disciple? So I ask the question to the group- is there a difference between disciple and believer? All said yes. They told me that they believe a true committed follower of Jesus and His teachings is a disciple. A believer is one who only believes but does not follow. So, we looked in the bible at the requirements to be a believer. I ask them to read Romans 10:9 "If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved." All agreed that to be a believer is to do these things. When you confess that Jesus is Lord, what are you committing to do? You are committing to following Jesus only. When you commit to follow a lord, what does that make you? His disciple. AH-HA! They solved the problem themselves, by looking at God's Word. I think I saw light bulbs blink on, I'm not exactly sure. I could tell they all understood though. I restated that we should always look at the Bible for answers to our questions and not rely on another man's word if it is not Biblically based. This passage of scripture does not give levels of becoming a disciple, and does not recommend a good theologically sound bible college before you truly become a disciple of Christ- you confess and believe, and it is by grace you are saved, not works or knowledge.

Another question I asked them was if they were performing baptisms. They said yes. I asked if their CP's they were training were performing these things too. Most said no, that they themselves were doing the baptisms, Lord's Supper, etc. I asked them why, and they said that some were not ready, that maturity was not there yet from some of them, and they were waiting. I told them it was OK if their CPs personally were not ready to do these things yet, but the CPs should be told by their leaders (them) that they (the CPs) have the authority to do these things. We then read 1 Peter 2:9- "But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light." In most religions, Hindu, Muslim, Buddhist, Catholic, I asked them who were the people who perform the rituals and ceremonies? Priests was the answer. I then asked, "in this passage, what does it say that all believers/followers of Christ are?" Priests came the answer. So, who can do the ceremonies like baptism, Lord's supper, etc.? All believers. Again, we looked at scripture together to get our answer, and they found the solution themselves. I told them that they were doing good work, but growth would never really take off the way they want it to unless they allow their leaders to take responsibilities. They need to let them loose to do the things God has given them the authority to do. I will be most interested in our next meeting to find how much they have moved forward in these two areas.

There is much potential in this small group, and all have had many trainings, but we stressed to them that we need to focus on one thing and do it well rather than try many different things and do them so-so. We shared end visions together, and I told them that if we are to reach the end visions they wanted, they needed to focus their strategy and stick to one thing. 'Mark' is obviously our point man in this group, and I stressed to him how important it was to model for these guys and teach them the things we will be teaching him over the next year.

There are some other things that happened in our meeting- one young man just happened to be brought in by 'Mark' as he met him on the street and rented him a room. He is 18, not a believer, and we got to talking about his future. God really hit a home run on this one, because the young man started by saying he knew all religions and respected them, but they were not for him. I began to share the Gospel with him, using the method we use and teach, in front of all we were meeting with that evening. After sharing, he accepted Christ, and is now a new creation! Not only that, but every one of these CP's got to see how to we share the Gospel- the way we teach it. That could not have gone better. Praise the Lord!

Before leaving, we gave 'Mark' some action items to complete before we meet again in one month. Pray for 'Mark' over the next few weeks as he is putting the strategy we are teaching into action- a strategy that is new to him. We studied Luke 10:1-10, by praying and going to find the person/house of peace God has put into place already, according to Acts 17:26-27. He will do this to some of the places he has been as well as one new place. He is also going to take a couple of his guys with him to model it and have them do the same while he watches. This is called our HOP House Of Peace strategy (more details on this later).

I told 'Mark' that we were not doing this to shame him or tell him he is doing anything wrong, but we simply want to help him and equip him to be able to see progress to his end vision for his district. He understood completely. Pray for his continued obedience and that he can really pour into the 10 CP's he is working with to all become great builders of the Kingdom. God's endvision- "For the earth will be covered by the knowledge of the glory of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea." Habakkuk 2:14.

BPI- A Must for CPM Training

Well I and the family have been doing our best to survive the rains, floods, start of homeschooling BOTH kids- one in 6th and one starting Kindergarten. Tough enough on its own, but in a foriegn country, I have to admit, is a monumental task. My wife has done a great job juggling the 2 kids schooling, and my daughter has really toughed it up by being self starting- mostly. She is doing well, and getting used to doing things on her own, and then my wife checks all her work and helps her understand what she just finished. I have been home preparing for upcoming trainings, so have been able to help with some of the schooling.

We went to another city for BPI- Best Practice Institute, training Strategy Coordinators in CPM work. It was an 8 day course that our company puts on and any GCC, national CPM partner and company personnell can attend. Company personnel are required to take the course. For someone who has trouble organizing thoughts and plans of action, this gave me real tools to use in the upcoming work we are going to be doing the next year. It also gave me much clearer vision to do what God is calling us to do here, and with the daunting task of reaching 90 million strategically through our focus people group, I have a much better understanding about how CPM should work through the biblical model given by God. I am way fired up to really pour these best practices into our 14 CP's in the coming year, and as the bible says in Mark 4:26-29, God will cause the growth of the CPM whether we sleep or get up. That gives us an enormous responsibility to have faith and trust that God will bless the sowing that we do. It is an exciting time, and the BPI was just what I needed at this time. Once training starts, I and my partner will be splitting and going separate ways to meet with our CP's to train and equip them to train others to also become trainers of others (2 Timothy 2:2). I cannot wait to give updates on progress. Anyone who still reads this blog, I apologize for the lack of updates lately. Just not much going on, but when it does, you will have much to read. I promise to keep updates frequent. All I need is a promise that you would pray for us, and the task we are trying to accomplish for God.