Preparing for the Future

Question: What would like to see us doing to be better prepared for your arrival as our new pastor? (Submitted by Interim Senior Pastor Chuck Pitts, name used with his permission.)

Response: When I received this question from Chuck I felt so blessed that the question was asked, but I didn’t really have an answer. The first thing that came to my mind was to humorously respond with only two words. “Pray hard!” However, as I thought about it, there was nothing humorous at all. I think that’s what we all need to be doing, but what precisely should we be praying about?

One of the things I’ve learned along the way is that our anticipation of something is never equal to the actual experience of that something. In the video that was shared with the congregation on May 4, I told you that I climbed Mt. Blanca a couple of years ago. Before I climbed Mt. Blanca I knew it would be both hard and rewarding. While I was climbing it the actual experience gave new depths to my understanding of “hard and rewarding.” The experience was not exactly what I anticipated, both in terms of the difficulty of the nearly two day trek as well as the rewards I experienced, including the satisfaction of actually achieving the task and of seeing the beauty and creativity of God in his creation. I don’t look at Mt. Blanca the same way today as I did before I climbed it.

As we come to this new chapter in the life of RCF and therefore a new chapter in all of our lives, we do so with anticipation. Each of us have some picture, consciously or subconsciously, painted in our minds of what the future looks like. Attached to those images each of us have assigned certain expectations. Without even realizing it we begin to act according to those expectations. There is nothing at all wrong with that. However, what can derail us from being the church God wants us to be is when our individual perceptions of that future begin to collide with each other. Someone thinks the chairs ought to face North instead of South when we worship. Someone else thinks the donuts should be bought at Crispy Crème instead of HEB. Of course those are ridiculous examples, but when it comes to issues like style of music, length of service, number of ministries, what the pastor should or shouldn’t do, what a member should or shouldn’t do, it can become very serious. These kinds of things tend to surface when a new pastor comes to a church, so here is what I want all of us to be praying about.

First, we need to have a unified vision of what God wants to do for and through our church. We’ve already come into agreement that God wants us to build a highway to fulfillment and maturity in Christ. This is the vision I laid out for you when I was under consideration to become your next Senior Pastor, and so your affirmation of me to be your pastor is an affirmation of that vision. Still, there is a lot we don’t know about what that looks like. Are we talking farm to market highway or are we talking Autobahn? Will there be defined points of entry and exit or can people get on and off anywhere? What kind of vehicles will we build for people to use as they travel this highway? Will there be a limit to the types of vehicles? All of these questions still need to be answered. So I would like all of us to begin taking ten, fifteen or more minutes to simply ask God what he wants our church to look like? What part in the winning and discipling of the world does he want us to participate in? We need to be careful not to assume we already know as we ask to leave the door open for God to show us what he is doing.

A second question we all need to ask is to seek God for what role he wants us to play in bringing that to pass. Is God calling you to be part of the setup team or perhaps the worship team? In nearly every church I know there is always a need for more people to minister to children. A ministry to children carries double benefit as that ministry not only reaches children, but enables us to reach adults as well. Maybe he wants you to lead a small group. Perhaps he wants you to show up early every Sunday to lay your hands on each chair and pray for the person who will occupy it during worship. I don’t know what it is, but I do know one thing for sure. God did not bring you to this church just be a consumer of its ministries. He brought you here to be blessed and to participate in the ministries of this church in order to bless others. You need to ask God how he wants to use you to do that.

You can be sure I will be seeking God to understand how he wants me to lead as your pastor. Where does he want me to get involved? What does he want me to do and what does he want me to delegate or leave undone? These may seem like strange questions if you’ve never thought about it before, but ask any pastor. There is always more to be done than can possible be done, so the question every pastor must face is where does God want me to apply the gifts and graces he has given me for ministry in order that the church moves effectively and efficiently in the direction he wants us to grow.

There’s an old line from a song that I love. “The future’s so bright I have to wear shades.” I believe our future holds great promise for the kingdom. As we continue to seek God and his desire for our future, he will draw us even more tightly into one accord with each other and down the path toward our God-given destiny. Together we will avoid the things that could derail us by focusing on the one sure thing that will securely keep us on track – the love of God for us and for all!

Objections, Questions, & Doubts

Question: I went to a video presentation by Erwin McManus the other day that I think will enable me to verbalize my "objections" to simple church. I put "objections" into quotation marks because they are more of questions and doubts than objections. McManus' presentation was based on his book entitled The Barbarian Way, which I have ordered but not read. His premise is that the church has tamed Jesus and the Christian life. We live a controlled life, and the church serves to control that life, when Jesus talks about freedom and liberty. I know that those words are all loaded words, but what I hear Jesus saying to me is that life is not simple. Therefore, if we seek to make church simple then we have narrowed the exciting journey of life into a simple process. I can not visualize that in a way that makes me comfortable. I am not a simple person, nor a system person. I fear that simplifying the church will produce a caricature of the wild, mysterious life to which I believe Jesus has called us. The suburban church has in many ways sucked the life and power out of the gospel, and I find it difficult to see how simplifying the church gives life to the church or the kingdom or the world or us. Help me see that.

A personal note from Ed: The only hesitancy I had about using this forum to address questions was the limitation of written exchanges when compared to the opportunities face-to-face discussions offer. This is particularly true of this exchange. If these same issues were raised in a verbal conversation, I am sure the initial statements and my responses would have a very different feel than what they will have in writing. Part of the reason for this is in this case I am responding to statements rather than questions. The only way I can respond to statements is to agree or disagree. Some people will mistakenly see that kind of response as harsh rather than it simply being the respectful “to-the-point” discussion of ideas it is intended to be. Too often, we think if people reject our ideas they reject us. Therefore, we hold back in our discussions. This has the net effect of dulling our thinking. One of my best friends is my good friend precisely because he and I can argue passionately about ideas while never doubting our loyalty, commitment and love for each other. We sharpen each other’s thinking. I trust that this is the environment of RCF, and that my comments will be taken in this light.

Response: As I have stated before, I am not committed to utilizing “Simple Church” as a blueprint for RCF, even though God used it to confirm much of what he planted in me. What I am committed to is ensuring the ministries of RCF connect seamlessly to one another as we build a highway to fullness of life in Jesus Christ. From the very first moment people connect with RCF, I want them to sense that we know where we are going. We know how to get there, and we want them to come with us. If we do it right, they will be able to see exactly where to merge onto that highway we will build in order to join us in the journey. My conviction for taking this approach is not located simply in the philosophy of yet one more successful church leader’s approach to ministry. Instead it is founded in a conviction that God has used all my past ministry experiences, both positive and negative, my education, my understanding of scripture, the friends he has put in my life, and more to shape this approach to ministry within me.

Even though I am not committed to “Simple Church” as the model for ministry, a good part of your concern seems to be based upon the word “simple” and your application of it, so I think I do need to address it a bit. It seems to me there is a misunderstanding about what is meant by “simple.” As you are well aware, many of our words have different shades of meaning. In this context, simple means focused or streamlined. It is used in reference to the basic process God uses to grow all believers to full maturity so they can experience the fullness of life he wants for them as well as be effective advocates and expressions of his love to others. This is nothing more than an organizing principle around which we build ministry. Every effective congregation is committed to certain organizational principles. Two of the most well-known principles are the seeker-friendly church and the purpose driven church. An organizing principle is nothing more and nothing less than that which we bring to bear on how we approach ministry.

The organizing principle God has called me to focus on is a process approach. Where are people at now? Where does God want them to go? What are the methods he sets forth in scripture to get them there? How do we interpret and apply those methods at RCF in a way that one step effortlessly leads to the next? How do we make sure that this process is clearly visible and understood by all who come to be a part of our fellowship? Please, excuse me for saying it this bluntly, but there is nothing simple, in the way “simple” is commonly understood, about figuring that out and applying it.

Still, Jesus was a proponent of life with God being simple. Consider the context of Jesus’ ministry and from whom his major opposition came. His opposition came from those who complicated a life with God by building rules upon laws and adding interpretations of those rules on top of it all. Part of what set Jesus apart was his simple approach to a life with God. “Do unto others as you have them do unto you.” “Love God with everything you’ve got and love your neighbor as yourself.” These well-known paraphrased statements of Jesus were about removing the complexity that had been built up by the well-meaning professional clergy of the day and simplifying truth so that others could understand and engage it. Does that remove all ambiguity, mystery and complexity from our lives? Absolutely not! But it is the natural tendency of all human beings to make life more complicated than God intended it to be.

To move on to another aspect of your concerns, I think I see some confusion between the management and control of ministry and the management and control of life. You write, “His [McManus] premise is that the church has tamed Jesus and the Christian life. We live a controlled life, and the church serves to control that life, when Jesus talks about freedom and liberty.”

I have no doubt that some churches do seek to control the way people live. I’ve been in one or two and heard horror stories about a lot more. However, while some churches are overly controlling, the church of the New Testament does not exist to control life. The church is the instrument God uses to nurture believers and communicate his character, including his love, to the world. In order to do that effectively, the church has to be focused on those tasks. To focus on that mission is to focus the ministry of the church. When we focus the ministry of the church on teaching people how to connect with God, we are not defining for them how that will be expressed in their lives. What we have defined is the “delivery system” we believe God has determined to be the most effective way to communicate truth and nurture people in that truth. This produces no caricature of the life to which God has called us but enables us to live that life with clarity and power.

I was perplexed by your reference to an Erwin McManus presentation as providing the framework to help you voice your objections/questions/doubts about what you think I am advocating. While I have not read any of McManus’s books, he is a frequent contributor to one of my favorite podcasts and is also referenced there quite frequently. I’ve listened to a couple of extended interviews with him and viewed a brief video clip of him speaking. In one of our meetings here in Alamosa, one of our members read a rather lengthy section of his “The Barbarian Way.” While I would not consider my knowledge of his work vast, there is nothing I have ever heard him advocate or attributed to him that would contradict the approach to ministry I see in scripture – even when he speaks of complexity.

In an attempt to gain a better understanding of your concerns, I dove into the archives of my podcasts to again listen to those interviews and review that short video clip. I also searched the internet to try and expand my understanding. In doing so, the very first thing that popped up in my search was the following McManus quote taken from his book, “Uprising.” Unfortunately, the author failed to include the page numbers in his citation.

Several years ago I was mesmerized by the amazing talent of a classical pianist named Chris Crossan. After playing a wide spectrum of music, spanning from Beethoven to Bach to the Beatles, he invited an admiring student to come up and play. The student seemed a bit off balance by the invitation. It wasn't that he was timid before audiences; it was that he didn't know how to play the piano. But Chris insisted, almost as if missing the most important part of the information. Chris kept emphasizing he was free to play anything he wanted. Again the student, in somewhat embarrassed manner, explained that he didn't know how to play the piano. And then Chris pressed his point.

Although the student had the opportunity, he really didn't have the freedom. Opportunity and freedom are not the same thing. Chris's freedom to play the full spectrum of music, to passionately express the music within his soul, was only available to him as a result of years and years of discipline. Discipline can be confused with conformity. Many times we run from discipline or at least resist it because we feel we are being forced to conform in the most negative sense of the word. No one wants to be a clone. No one's life ambition is to be a carbon copy of someone else (except, of course, all those Elvis impersonators). Yet the irony is that when we forsake discipline in our attempt to avoid conformity, we lose our potential to be truly free. The course set before us offers the freedom that comes from a discipline of the soul. There is a gauntlet you must be willing to pass through. At first the pursuit of character has the feel of learning scales, but soon what is formed becomes music to your ears. Without character all you're doing is playing the radio. When the character of Christ is formed within, you are no longer simply an echo but a voice.

Since I don’t have the context, the application I am making may not have been McManus’ point; however it is true for my application nonetheless. The reason why we will be disciplined and focused in our ministry process, embracing some ministries while excluding others, is precisely so that people will not only have the opportunity, but the freedom, to live the wild, mysterious life of which you speak. It is incumbent upon the church to provide an arena that encourages and instills the core truth and experiences that are foundational for every believer. Other approaches that embrace every good and worthwhile ministry idea that comes down the track actually are the ones that, in their complexity, reduce the gospel and suck the life out of it. When we choose to focus exclusively on New Testament methods, and wrap them in 21^st century, Cypress Texas culture, we are actually availing ourselves of the power inherent in God’s ways by refusing to allow them to be watered down. When people come to RCF to drink of the life-giving water of Jesus Christ, I want them to be drinking from a fire hose rather than a water fountain that barely has enough strength to push the water up out of the pipes.

I’ve never heard the term “suburban church” which you use to refer to a particular style of ministry to which you object. If I infer your meaning correctly, what I believe God is leading us to establish, in fact what I am committed to establishing, is anything but the consumer oriented, cookie cutter approach that so many suburban churches seem to emulate. We will not be a carbon copy of what some Pied Piper church is already doing. We will learn from them, but we will, following the lead of God and empowered by the Holy Spirit, blaze the unique trail God has designed specifically for us.

Transition (Part 2)

Question: Earlier I was asked this question. “Receiving a new pastor can feel a little unsettling. Do you have anything in mind that might help ease the transition?”

Response: I was at a track meet today in which my youngest daughter, Kathryn, was competing. Those of you who have been a spectator at a track meet know there is a lot more waiting than spectating. Even though I had taken a book to read, my mind was more focused on the questions I have received and the responses I gave. As I thought about this question, I realized I left out the most important thing – and I had even preached on it the day before!

Psalm 37 begins with the words “Fret not,” or “Do not fret.” Three times in the first nine verses of the Psalm we are given this instruction. Unfortunately, when I am agitated enough over something that I am already fretting (worrying or anxious), I need a little more than to know I shouldn’t be doing it in order to stop. What I need is a positive activity to replace the activity that I should not be doing. In the psalm God gives us several things to focus on that will keep us from fretting.

Beginning in verse 3 we see we are to…

1. Trust in the Lord

2. Do good

3. Dwell in the land

4. Delight yourself in the Lord

5. Commit your way to the Lord

6. Be still before the Lord

7. Wait patiently for the Lord

8. Hope in the Lord

I want to draw your attention to the very first one, “trust in the Lord.” Many times we think we are trusting in God when what we are really doing is trusting in what we think God ought to, or is going to, do. That is not trusting God. That is trusting in our own opinion.

When we trust God, we are not trusting in a particular outcome as much as we are trusting the character of God. We are trusting his love for us, his wisdom and understanding, and his objectives for our lives. Even though God blesses us with some understanding of what he is up to from time-to-time, there is never a time on this side of heaven when we fully and completely understand God or his ways. That‘s what makes him God and what makes us fallible people.

It is unsettling to receive a new pastor. It is unsettling for the pastor to go to a new place. If we determine together that God wants us to share life and ministry as people and pastor, then let’s actively place our trust in him to the degree that any feelings of unsettledness have no place to land in our hearts and minds.

Biblical Personality

Question: If you were to describe yourself (getting to know you better), who would you consider yourself to be most like in the Bible?

Response: Wow, this one is tough, because I don’t know that there is one person in the Bible with whom I completely identify. What I am going to do here is point out some traits that were exhibited by different people in the Bible that remind me of me, but please know I don’t think I measure up to the full stature of who we know these people to be.

In some ways I feel like I identify with Paul, not because of his powerful ministry, but because it seems to me I understand the way he thinks. As I study the New Testament, I have a much easier time tracking with the portions of scripture that God used Paul to write, than any other book in the New Testament. While I do not believe I have the maturity or insight that he obviously had, I do believe my mind must work a lot like his worked – just not as well.

For the last year, or so, I have felt a strong affinity with David, but not as giant-killer, military hero, or king. I have felt like the David who was left out in the field when Samuel showed up to anoint one of Jesse’s sons King of Israel. While from a human perspective he was overlooked, God had him right where he wanted him to prepare him for his future ministry. While I would never mean to imply that the people I am currently serving as pastor are any less important than any other group, I have come to believe that God brought me to this place not only to serve them, but for things he needed to build into my life for future ministry assignments. As a matter of fact, God used a very special time of prayer to confirm that through someone who did not even know me or know I was thinking this. Sometime I’ll tell you about that, but not now as it would make this answer too long.

Nehemiah is one more that I identify with on the positive side of things. Nehemiah is, perhaps, the ultimate biblical administrator. What I love about Nehemiah, and hope is true in me, is he saw a need, sought God, put together a plan to address the need, inspired people to act, and accomplished the monumental goal of rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem in just fifty-two days. Along the way he faced stiff opposition and social injustice, yet even in the face of those problems he was able to see the steps that were required, stir up belief in others that the task could be accomplished, brought to the table the organizational skills that were needed to get the job done, and then successfully executed the plan while dealing with unanticipated obstacles.

On the less than positive side of things I identify with the impulsiveness of Peter. I once heard Jack Hayford say, at best, the Gospels only account for twenty-one days of the life of Jesus. I’m not sure how scholars came to that conclusion, but over the years I have come to trust Pastor Jack’s scholarship and integrity. Now with that in mind, the number of times we see Peter speaking or acting impulsively is amazing. Sometimes I am like that with the things I say. Before I realize it or think things through, more often that I would like to admit, my mouth is open and words are gushing out that should have been mulled over a little bit before I spoke them.

Also, on what may be the less than positive side of things, in some ways I find myself identifying with Thomas. I would not call myself a doubter. In fact, I believe the Lord has given me a good deal of faith, but I can, at times, be very pragmatic. There are those times I want evidence that something is going to work or has worked. Even though Thomas’ issue was a problem with believing that Jesus was alive, I think as a leader and administrator he would have wanted goals that were measurable and procedures that had proven reliable. He would have been pragmatic. While in some ways this trait may be admirable, if overemphasized it leaves no room for the mystic aspects of our faith – those times when God moves in ways that would not have been pragmatically possible.

I just remembered something else that’s pertinent to your question. There is a personality profile test called “The Biblical Personality System.” The last time I took it the inventory identified me as “Leader/Decisive/One Who Strengthens,” (IDC for those who know this system) and compared my personality with Ezekiel, Habakkuk, and Jude. The comparison to Ezekiel was with regard to his use of verbal skills to vividly and clearly communicate a message from God whether anyone listened or not. The comparison to Habakkuk centered around concern for people, a desire for answers, attention to detail, his task orientation, and his tendency to be slightly impatient. Jude is also centered on his concern for people and his desire to keep people focused using logical reasoning and vivid examples. I don’t know how accurate these comparisons are, but it is at least a little bit more insight into what I am like and what drives me.

Transition

Question: Receiving a new pastor can feel a little unsettling. Do you have anything in mind that might help ease the transition?

Response: In graduate school I wrote a lot of papers. Most of them I don’t even remember, but one stands out. The paper assigned in my introduction to pastoral leadership class was, “What Every Pastor Needs to Know About ____________.” Every student filled in the blank with whatever they wanted to research. I chose stress.

I don’t know if it was because it was my first semester of seminary or because I was studying something I wanted to study, but I went all out on the topic. Not only did I comb the shelves of our library, but I used our interlibrary privileges with the University of Kentucky to spend hours in their medical library studying stress. I learned a lot.

One of the things that astonished me was learning that stress was produced not only by unwanted change, but wanted change as well. Prior to the paper, I would have thought only “bad” change produced stress. While your question uses the word “unsettling”, a pastoral transition, good or bad, is certainly a time of change and therefore a time of stress.

Most of the research on pastoral transitions focuses on a pastor’s decision, or a church’s decision, for the pastor to leave. There is also a fair amount of writing focused on how a church should function and call a new pastor during an interim period between pastors, but there is very little written how a church and pastor should proceed once a new pastor is selected. Still, having been through a few pastoral transitions, both as a pastor and as a person who was impacted by the transition, I do have some thoughts that will be helpful.

1. People and pastor have to be as clear as possible about who they are, their hopes, their dreams and their expectations. Choosing to be appropriately open, vulnerable, and transparent will help foster good communication and dispel any fear of the hidden or unexpected while building an atmosphere of trust.

2. It’s hard to trust someone when you don’t know someone. While we know a lot about each other, we do not yet really know each other. While we’ve talked a lot about what I will or won’t do as your Senior Pastor, what you really need to know is who I am. That can only come through personal experience. Therefore, we need to invest a lot of time in creating opportunities for us to get know each other, informally. I’m confident that as you get to know me, and I you, any unsettled feelings we might have will be replaced with joyful expectation of what God is doing.

3. As I already mentioned, change creates stress. Only 15% of the American population embraces change. The remaining 85% refuse to go along with change with varying degrees of resistance. As we work on our ministry design, building, and other critical issues, we must be strategic and careful not to overwhelm people with change nor frustrate others with a lack of progress. That’s one reason why a team approach to leadership will be important. A team is in a better position to strike this balance.

Accountability Team / Prayer Partner

Question: Do you have an accountability team/prayer partner in your present church?

Response: If by accountability partner you mean someone I meet with on a regular basis that I report to regarding my habits and thought life, then the answer is no. However, I do have several friends that know they are free to ask me about anything at any time. Usually they never have to ask. If I am struggling in an area I usually approach them. Most of these friends are pastors.

Within the local church, our Elders pray for and with both, Mendy and me regularly. Among my leaders here, there are some we are closer to than others. We share our more personal prayer items with them.

Outside of New Life Alamosa Mendy and I have two couples to whom we usually turn for prayer about major issues in our lives. These couples also pray for us regularly just as a matter of supporting us.

On a somewhat related matter, one of the things we are moving toward here in Alamosa is to put in place what are called “Overseers.” These Overseers would consist of three to five pastors of other churches that I would nominate to our elders for selection as overseers. Their role would be to pray for the church and for me, but should there be some question of inappropriate behavior on my part or a failure to perform my duties, our elders would contact the Overseers. The overseers would investigate the matter and depending upon their findings, they would either exonerate me or determine appropriate disciplinary measures. In a worst case scenario they could remove me as Senior Pastor. I like this approach for several reasons.

1. It’s high on accountability.
2. It protects the congregation from having to discipline their pastor. In those situations where congregations have had no other vehicle to rely on but their personal discernment, the church often suffers horribly and seldom recovers.
3. It also protects the church from a politicized process.

While it is certainly not a requirement, at some point I will visit with RCF’s MLT about putting a similar process in place, should I become your pastor.

Inspiration

Question: How do you know the difference between something God inspired and self inspired?

Response: After all the years I’ve been a believer, I still struggle with this one from time to time, however there are several things I keep in mind.

1. Is the inspiration consistent with the written Word of God? God will never lead you to do something that is inconsistent with His word.
2. If it is something God is calling me to do, is it consistent with the spiritual gifts he has given me?
3. Very often, when God is inspiring me to do something, if I look back into the previous months, maybe years, I can see a pattern of thinking or events that has led up to the moment in question.
4. Even though I am not always sure, there are times that I am sure. Those times have to do more with how the inspiration comes. I can’t describe it. It just comes in a way that I know that I know it’s God. That’s very helpful when the inspiration might require immediate action with no time to go through the normal patterns I might employ to discern whether or not it is God’s voice or mine.
5. What does my wife think?
6. What do those whose counsel I’ve learned to trust say?
7. What do my intercessors say?
8. Last but not least, when I know that I am working hard at hearing God’s voice, I trust his ability to speak and not my ability to hear.

Child Evangelism Fellowship

Question: How familiar are you with the ministry of CEF? How do you see the ministry we do through CEF fitting into the "Simple Church" model?

Response: I am more familiar with CEF (Child Evangelism Fellowship) than most parachurch ministries. I helped out a small church for a while when their pastor resigned. They were connected to CEF and I had several discussions with their CEF missionary. I think it is a wonderful and important ministry doing great things. I particularly like the Bible Club idea. I think that approach is much more effective in reaching kids, and parents, than most of the outreach things we do in children’s ministries. I am thrilled that RCF obviously has a relationship with CEF.

How does it correlate with a process-based ministry design? First of all, we would have to have our process defined before we could identify where and if any particular ministry fits into a model. We don’t, so that makes it difficult to answer. However, we are talking about a model for defining how we will function as Ranch Community Fellowship. Parachurch organizations, by definition, are organizations that function alongside of but outside the structure of a local church. Therefore the model we define to organize the church will not directly impact CEF. Obviously, though, both want to bless the other, so how does that happen?

Even though we have yet to define a process that RCF will commit to for making disciples, we know that every disciple needs to be in ministry. Ministry is not optional, so part of the process we define will consider how we move people into hands-on ministry. To help people embrace ministry, we might find ourselves putting together a menu of ministry options that would be put before people, with one of those options being to join a team of people who are working with Child Evangelism Fellowship.

I am not sure how RCF and CEF currently relate to each other. However I am confident about this. The more intentional we become in defining and implementing our process for making disciples, the more people we will see getting involved in ministry. That means there will be an even greater number of people that will come alongside those already involved in CEF to help with that ministry.

Baptism

Question: What are your views on water baptism, as Pastor, when and how would you direct this discipleship process?

Response: I grew up in a tradition that practiced infant baptism as well as believer’s baptism (baptism after professing faith in Christ). As a young man in college, I began to feel the need to be baptized by my own choice rather than the choice of my parents and for that baptism to be by immersion. One night in an Assembly of God Church on Kanawha Blvd. in Charleston, WV I shared those feelings with an Elder of that church. He suggested there was no reason for me not make that move and since the baptistery was full, why not do it right now. I took him up on his suggestion and it was one of the most powerful moments of my young life.

Largely due to that experience as well as my understanding of God’s process for making disciples, I will administer baptism only by immersion and only for those who have come to faith in Christ. Recently I did make an exception though.

I baptized a 90 year old woman not long ago. She was concerned about her physical ability to dip down under water and then to come back up without injury, even though I would have been helping her. In her case, we sat her in a chair. I filled up a five gallon bucket with water, and poured it over her. She beamed. The church cheered. It was a precious moment in her life and one of my most precious memories of my time here in Alamosa. If I had been legalistic on the form of baptism, we, and she, would have never had that moment. I am confident God took delight in the moment, as well, for he is always more concerned with what is going on in the heart than he is the exterior form of things.

I’m not sure what you mean by how would I “direct this discipleship process?” If I did not answer the question in what I wrote above, please send it again with a little more explanation to AskPastorEd@gmail.com. Thanks

World Evangelism

Question: In view of the Simple Church Process. how do you see world evangelism working at RCF Church ?

Response: The ultimate goal of a process-based ministry is a life that is truly transformed by the grace of God. Perhaps the greatest evidence of that transformation is when people involve themselves in helping transformation occur in the lives of others. We must always be involved in making disciples, and while we are most responsible for those nearest us, making disciples knows no geographical, political, racial, or religious boundaries. When it comes to world evangelism, I think the US church has a greater responsibility to make that happen than the church in any other nation.

There are some staggering statistics out there regarding the number of full-time Christian workers in the United States compared to the number of full-time Christian workers in other nations. The same is true for financial resources. No nation on the planet is already as evangelized as the United States yet more resources in terms of people and money are spent on the US than anywhere else. The Gospel message is readily available in the United States to anyone who wants to hear it, but that is not true elsewhere in the world. With the vast resources God has granted the US church, we have a greater opportunity and responsibility to reach others. Having said that, how do I see the RCF role working within the context of a process-based ministry?

I need to start with a disclaimer. Since we have not yet defined the process and their corresponding ministries, you need to understand that this is only an idea and not a, “It’s going to happen this way,” answer.

The church needs to structure and facilitate mission to other places. If I correctly understand what you are doing with your Mexico ministry, what I mean by “structure” is very much like that. The church structures a mission opportunity in which everyone is invited to participate. By facilitate, I mean the church allows and encourages individual members to develop their own mission opportunities and recruit a team from within the church to support them in that.

By the way, I like what I think I am seeing with the Mexico ministry. I think I am seeing not a one-time shot but an ongoing partnership in ministry. It also appears to me that a significant portion of your resources for world mission is going into this particular ministry. I like that. I am much more in favor of concentrating resources in one area to make a significant impact than I am in favor of diffusing our impact by spreading them out over many places.

Having said that, I would still like to develop a relationship with a ministry that is strategically focusing on a people group connected to the 10/40 window. The nations within the 10/40 window are the most under-evangelized people in the world. If I am the pastor of RCF, I want our church to be making a difference in some of the darkest places on Earth.

Simple Church

Question: What is meant by “Simple Church”, and how does it fit into your understanding of how we “do” church?

Response: “Simple Church” is the title of a book by Thom S. Rainer & Eric Geiger that I recently read and found helpful. However, the concepts found in that book were in my heart long before a friend introduced me to it. Before having ever heard of the book, God had led me to “get back to basics” so to speak. I’ll get back to what I mean by that in a second, but it will be helpful to give you a little background first.

A couple of years ago, I found myself struggling on where to focus my energy. That struggle was in regard to both where to focus on ministry within the church and what ministries to connect to outside of the church. Few people realize how much it takes to support to just one ministry within the church. The ministry objective has to be defined. The leadership structure has to be determined. Leaders have to be recruited and trained. Funding, both in terms of how much and who controls it has to be clarified. How do we publicize it? Who is our target audience? What are the reporting structures? This is to say nothing of leadership’s involvement when some sort of conflict or misunderstanding arises.

Multiply all those aspects I mentioned above, plus the aspects I might have left out, by each ministry in the church. Now add to that all the worthwhile, well-intentioned ministries and organizations that focus on people outside of the local congregation and you can easily see every pastor’s and every church’s dilemma. There is no way to do everything that will bless the heart of God and be a blessing to others, so how do we make those choices?

There is an old quote attributed to Oswald Chambers who supposedly said. “Good and better are enemies of the best.” My personal belief is many of our churches, including churches for which I have been responsible, have neglected the best in favor of the good and better. The primary purpose of the church is to win people to a life saving relationship with God that is made possible through Jesus and empowered by the Holy Spirit. That is the best, and we have neglected making that happen by focusing on the good and better.

Now this is where God’s leading me “back to the basics” comes into play. God drew my attention to Acts 2:42 in a new way.

Acts 2:42 (NIV) ⁴² They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.

I began to realize that these four processes (becoming biblically literate, developing committed relationships with other believers, worshipping God, praying) were the core processes or activities of the church. As I read past verse 42 I saw acts of God’s power and love, including evangelism, manifesting in that first gathering of the church. My conclusion was that their relationship with God was nurtured in such powerful ways that their lives overflowed with his love and power. Another way of understanding this is to see it as God replacing our hearts with his heart, and then nurturing his heart within us so that our lives overflow with expressions of his love and power. (Ezekiel 36:25-27) That is true ministry.

So long before I ever heard of, let alone read, “Simple Church,” God had put it in my heart to streamline the ministry of the church to impact people from the inside out. I was already trying to articulate how these things fit together. So when I finally came in contact with the book, “Simple Church,” it only confirmed for me what God had already put in my heart.

The order that happened in is important. It means that as I pursue the establishment of a process-based ministry, I am not trying to implement a good idea I read about somewhere and thought I would try. I’ve been there and done that. It never works. Rather I am being true to what God is leading me to do. I am pursuing a ministry model God has first put within my heart.

I am grateful to the authors for their research and clear articulation about how God is moving in other churches. Their book has helped me understand and articulate some things about what God was already putting in my heart. However, I am not committed to a Simple Church model. I am committed to a process-based model. The best writing I have found to date on that is found in “Simple Church.”

That may seem like an insignificant distinction to some, but I don’t think so. What it means for me is that my conviction for how we do ministry is based on the revelation of God and not the research of a couple of authors. Now I ask you, which is the more sure foundation, what God is doing in other places, or the personal revelation of God for your ministry. When it is the research of others, your foundation and approach to ministry only lasts until it does not seem to work or the next good book. When it is the revelation of God, you can go forward with a much greater conviction and confidence in ministry.

Vision and Mobilization

QUESTION: "Where there is no vision, the people are unrestrained..." (Proverbs 29:18) How would you share the vision you feel like God has given for the church; and how would you mobilize the church to work out that vision?

RESPONSE: The purpose, vision and mission in my heart for RCF is for us to build and travel a highway to Christ-likeness and fullness of life while inviting others to join the journey.

Within the heart of every human being is a desire for a fulfilling life. I’ve yet to meet the person who wants to be miserable and unfulfilled. I’ve met many people who seem to be resigned to being miserable and unfulfilled but none who intentionally made it a life goal. In John 10:10 Jesus said, “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.” Fulfilling, or abundant, life is what Jesus offers, and therefore it must be what the church is about.

Experiencing the fulfilling life Jesus offers begins with a willingness to reject our approach to life in favor of living life in the way Jesus made possible for us to live. To use customary church language, we repent of our sin and make Jesus Lord and Savior of our lives. The instant that happens we cross over from eternal death to eternal life.

Even though this is a significant step with eternal ramifications, the adventure is just beginning. We are now disciples of Jesus Christ, or as some would say, Christ-followers. We are now embracing a new and exciting life, and there is much to learn. Our thoughts, attitudes, and behaviors begin to be conformed to the character of Jesus Christ. While our salvation is instantaneous, the transformation of our character into Christ-likeness and its accompanying fullness of life is a process. That’s why we are exhorted in the New Testament to put on Christ, run the race, work out our salvation, etc. These images all speak to the idea of an ongoing process of Christian growth.

The church is clearly the vehicle through which God communicates his love to others, his desire to rescue people from a life of misery and death, and to nurture people in his love. When I spoke at RCF on April 6, I talked about the initial rescue as a spiritual heart transplant with God placing his heart within us. The activities (processes) that the early church was devoted to in Acts 2:42 are what we do to nurture that heart so that it overflows in expressions of God’s love and power.

The things we need to do to nurture God’s heart within us include becoming biblically literate, worshipping God, building committed relationships with other believers, and developing intimacy with God through prayer. As we do these things the heart of God will be so powerfully nurtured within us, that our lives will overflow in expressions of His love, including acts of service and verbally sharing His love with those who don’t yet know him.

As for mobilizing the church, I would work with you to first discern what God’s process is for making disciples. It will, no doubt, include the elements found in Acts 2:42 that I discussed above along with providing opportunities and training wherein people will be further equipped to express the love of God. For each aspect of the process a primary ministry will be defined to do two things; meet the objectives of that particular part of the process while leading people into the next step. We will work to bring all ministries in line with the process and then single-mindedly bring all the resources of RCF to bear only on this process. This is where we will distinguish ourselves from other churches.

Other churches clutter their calendars with all kinds of ministries with no thought of how the ministries are connected or of God’s process for transforming lives. We will never be satisfied with simply seeing growing numbers in our primary worship service(s) or the amount of money in the plate. Our satisfaction will come from seeing people move through the process knowing that their lives are being transformed by God as they do. As their lives are transformed, our capacity as a church for reaching out to even more people grows.

As we identify the process and define the corresponding ministry we need to help people naturally move from one aspect of the process to the next, we will recruit and develop team leaders, according to the spiritual gifts and ministry passions God has given them, to implement and lead those ministries. Those team leaders will meet with me individually and collectively to hone our understanding of the process and our ability to seamlessly help people move through it so that they can experience, not just talk about, the fullness of life found only through Jesus Christ.