the reluctant leader

SPIRIT-EMPOWERED: What is an Every Nation Church? (part III)

Here’s part 3 of my blog about what an Every Nation church or campus ministry is supposed to look like.

Every Nation Churches and Ministries exists to…
Honor God and establish
 Christ-centered, Spirit-empowered, socially responsible
 churches and campus ministries 
In Every Nation

What does a Spirit-empowered church or campus ministry look like?

In some denominations and traditions the power of the Holy Spirit means falling to the ground after being prayed for. In other traditions the power of the Holy Spirit is something that happened in Bible times, but not today.

When I say we want to establish Spirit-empowered
 churches and campus ministries, I mean churches and campus ministries that honor God by welcoming and celebrating the presence and power of the Holy Spirit in ways that make sense to the culture and community where that particular church or campus ministry exists.

What some people think is the power of the Holy Spirit, might actually be a cultural response to the presence and power of God. Some cultures are emotional; others are analytical. Some are demonstrative; others are stoic. Some loud; others quiet. Huggers, hand-shakers. Loose, stiff. Serious, funny.

Some cultures and communities respond to the presence and power of the Spirit with great exuberance and emotion, while others respond in quiet reverence. Some fall down. Some kneel down. Some bow down. Some stand still. (Some fall asleep, but we probably shouldn't blame that on the Holy Spirit.)

God seems to love the variety. He created it. I think His power can flow through all different types of cultures. But what does it really mean to be empowered by the Holy Spirit?

Here’s what Luke wrote about being Spirit-empowered: you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth. (Acts 1:8)

It doesn't matter if you shout and shake or stand as still and quiet as a marble statue - as long as you are an effective witness to your lost friends and neighbors when your religious experience ends and you go back to work or class. A Spirit-empowered church is a church filled with people who have been empowered by the Holy Spirit to live lives that point others to Christ.   

Luke also wrote this about being Spirit-empowered: After they prayed, the place where they were meeting was shaken. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God boldly. (Acts 4:31)

How about that for a Spirit-empowered prayer meeting - the building shook! As exciting as that building-shaking prayer meeting might have been, the proof that they were Spirit-empowered is what happened when they left the prayer meeting – they spoke the word of God boldly.

We can have world-shaking prayer meetings with all kinds of spiritual manifestations, but if we don’t live as witnesses and we don’t speak God’s word when we go home, then we've missed the point.

I don’t know about you, but I definitely need the miracle power of the Holy Spirit to be a decent witness. Left to myself, my witness would scare people away from God. 

10 Leadership Lessons from My 1st Global Leadership Summit

I don't go to conferences. Ever. Unless I am speaking or hosting. But I caved-in to Every Nation Nashville office peer pressure and attended the Nashville live satellite feed of the Willow Creek Association's annual Global Leadership Summit last week. I'm glad I went. I learned a lot.

Here's my summary based on my top 10 tweets during the conference. Some people take notes in meeting. I tweet my notes. What I tweeted is in bold font. Tweeted quotes are in bold italics. My comments follow each tweet.

1. "Everyone wins when a leader gets better." -Bill Hybels (Lots of winners this week because tens of thousands of leaders got better. Thank you Bill Hybels and Global Leadership Summit!)

2. "I hate cats." -Bill Hybels (I've always respected Bro Bill, but never more than this moment, which was probably the highlight of the whole conference. I felt the power when he made that statement. Wanted to stand and shout HALLELUJAH!)

3. "People in positions of authority need truth tellers... who will walk in the room and say 'YOU ARE WRONG.'" -Condoleezza Rice (My question after this session: why is this woman not running for President? Run, Condi, run!)

4. "The X factor of great leaders is not personality; it is HUMILITY." -Jim Collins (This guy said so many profoundly simple things, it was impossible to capture them all in 140 characters.)

5. "An organization is not truly great if it cannot be great without you." -Jim Collins (What level of arrogance is required to build a church or ministry around a fallen fallible human leader?)

6. "Authenticity trumps cool... Nothing worse than a 50 year old fat preacher in skinny jeans." -Craig Groeschel (Big decision: should I diet, or toss my skinny jeans?)

7. "Everything I say is simple... People need to be reminded more than instructed... Life is simple but hard." -Patrick Lencioni (Lencioni was hilarious, deep and quotable. Not enough space for all the tweetable quotes from his session. One of the rare times when a speech seemed too short.)    

8. Usain Bolt can run. Gabby Douglas can flip. Joey Chestnut can eat. John Ortberg can preach.   #statingtheobvious (After that tweet and one of the greatest sermons I have ever heard, I immediately went to the lobby and bought this book by John Ortberg. Seriously, maybe the best sermon I have ever heard.)

9. "The local church is the hope of the world." -Bill Hybels (It is a good thing I love the local church, because I am a member of not one, but two local churches. One is pretty big and the other is small but growing. One is in Manila, the other is in Nashville. Both are healthy and filled with some of the finest people on the planet.)

10. My Global Leadership Summit summary/conclusion: I get to work with amazing people at Every Nation, Victory Manila and Bethel Franklin. 

It will probably require much less peer pressure to get me to the 2013 Global Leadership Summit.

CHRIST-CENTERED: What is an Every Nation Church? (part II)

Here's part 2 of my blog series called "What is an Every Nation Church?"

My best description of why Every Nation Churches and Ministries exists and what we do:

To honor God and establish
Christ-centered, Spirit-empowered, Socially Responsible
Churches and Campus ministries
In Every Nation.

What is a Christ-centered church and campus ministry?

It seems absurd to have to say that we are trying to build Christ-centered churches and campus ministries. Of course a church should be Christ-centered. However, it is unfortunately common for churches and ministries to be centered on almost everything but Christ.

I have seen churches that are preacher centered, personality centered, doctrine centered, worship style centered, prayer meeting centered, religious experience centered, spiritual gift centered, prophet centered, profit centered, vision centered, building centered, political agenda centered…

Many mega-churches in my city (Manila) are known, not by the church name, but by the name of their bigger-than-life mega-leader – Brother Bill’s church, Pastor Peter’s church, Dr Dan’s church, Bishop Bong's church.

Here’s what Paul said about this idea of being Christ-centered:

"He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together. And He is the head of the body, the church; He is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything He might have the supremacy." (Col 1:17,18)

Ultimately Every Nation exists to honor God and point people to Christ - not for a man, doctrine or experience to take center stage.

Does Christ have the SUPREMACY in your life, ministry, and church?

What is an Every Nation Church?

"What is the key to empowering next generation leaders, and not seeing them eventually run off and do their own thing?"

I have been asked many versions of the above question countless times.

My answer is always something like this: before we empower leaders,we  have to establish exactly what we are empowering them to do. In other words we have to be crystal clear about our mission, vision and values. If we are not clear about what we are building or where we are going - when we empower leaders, they will run full speed ahead in the wrong direction.

But, when we are clear about where we are going and what we are building, we can confidently empower next gen leaders, knowing they know what to do and where to go.

A couple of years ago I had a breakfast conversation with my friend Mel Mullen about what kind of churches we are trying to lead. We both expressed that we don’t fit in the standard “Charismatic” or "Pentecostal" box.

If we are not traditional Charismatic or Pentacostal churches, then what are we?  In response to Mel's question about what kind of churches Every Nation is planting, here’s what I said:

"We want to plant churches (and campus ministries) in every nation that are Christ-centered, Spirit-empowered and socially responsible, and we want to do it in a way that is culturally relevant."

In my next few reluctant leader blogs, I want to explain what I mean by each of these 4 ideas:

1. Christ-centered

2. Spirit-empowered

3. Socially Responsible

4. Culturally Relevant

(This is a slightly edited repost of a blog from Feb 1, 2008.)

A Mosque on Every Corner, the Power of Prayer & Other Reflections on Egypt

I'm sitting in he Dubai airport on my way from Cairo to Manila. A three hour and forty-five minute layover to reflect on my first trip to Egypt. Here are the top 10 thoughts bouncing around my exhausted mind.

1. THE POWER OF KINDNESS. While boarding our Dubai to Cairo flight, Pastor Shaddy Solomon and I were behind a burka-covered woman who was struggling to herd three small children onto the plane while dragging four oversized carry-ons. As Shaddy helped her with her heavy bags she said, "you must be a Christian." The obvious implication was that no man from her religion would lift a finger to help a woman. The kindness of God leads people to repentance (Romans 4:2). I hope we do a better job of demonstrating his kindness to our "cousins" in the Middle East.

2. THE PAIN OF POVERTY. I hate to admit it, but I think I have gotten used to the poverty in Manila. It doesn't bother me like it did 25 years ago. Cairo takes poverty to a whole new level, and my eyes and heart were reopened to the brutal pain of poverty. I hope I never get over it. God's word has so much to say about the poor. And most of it is about what we should do to help them.

3. THE PROSPERITY GOSPEL. Many prosperity preachers do more harm than good. Most Egyptian believers are poor in material goods but rich in faith, and there is much the wealthy West can learn from them.

4. SAUDI ARABIA FLAGS AT TAHRIR SQUARE. Difficult to understand how Egyptians can tolerate Saudi money meddling in their national politics. I can't imagine foreign flags at a political rally in DC or Manila, but they are ubiquitous in Tahrir Square.

5. NO PRIVATE FAITH. Muslim men are not ashamed to publicly express their faith. They kneel and pray five times a day in offices, malls, restaurants, sidewalks and every other place you can imagine. They don't do the personal private religion thing. All public. No shame. I wish Christian men would be so bold.

6. THE BEST BREAD IN THE WORLD! Man should not live on bread alone, but if he does, it should be fresh Egyptian bread.

7. A MOSQUE ON EVERY CORNER. Cairo has Mosques everywhere. And many were built with Saudi oil money. This fact reality tempts me to trade my wife's gas-guzzling truck for a Prius. (I'll keep my VW.)

8. CHRISTIAN SUPORT OF ISRAEL. Christians in the Middle East don't understand the Western church's blind support of the state of Israel, especially when Israel consistently persecutes Arabic-speaking Christians. I don't understand it either.

9. CHURCH AND STATE. When the church becomes more political than prophetic it loses it's voice.

10. THE POWER OF PRAYER. When Catholics, Coptics and Evangelicals pray together, something good is bound to happen. On our last night in Cairo, we attended a 2-hour prayer meeting at a Presbyterian church in Tahrir Square, along with 1500 believers from every church flavor in Egypt. This prayer meeting has been happening every Monday for over 10 years. All this prayer probably had something to do the original revolution, which seems to have been hijacked by the Muslim Brotherhood. But prayer is more powerful than protest and while thousands of Muslim Brotherhood supporters were outside protesting, 1500 believers were inside praying for their nation. Who do you think ultimately wins that battle?

7 Elements of A Healthy Church

I have about 30 minutes for this blog while I wait for my Atlanta to Lima, Peru flight.

As usual I will hit the ground running - four days of training pastors and church planters. The goal of this trip is to help Peruvian pastors understand how to lead a healthy church.

For four days we will discuss and dissect the following seven essential elements for a healthy church.

1. DISCIPLESHIP PROCESS. A simple, duplicable, transferrable and Biblical discipleship process is the starting line if we want a healthy church rather than a religious crowd.

2. EMPOWERING LEADERSHIP. It is not enough for a church to have great leaders. In fact, a strong leader can be a weakness, if that leader is not empowering. Healthy churches empower multiple generations of leaders rather than creating a "Man of God Syndrome" where paid professionals do all the ministry.

3. ENGAGING WORSHIP SERVICES. This is much more than good music. Essential elements of inspiring and engaging worship services include: anointed songs, excellent music, dynamic preaching, theological depth, relevant communication, spiritual power, presence of God, relational connection.

4. FUNCTIONAL STRUCTURES. Too many church leaders act as if organizational excellence and spiritual life are mutually exclusive. On the contrary, well-developed ministry roles and clearly defined lines of authority actually enhance spiritual life.

5. MISSION ALIGNMENT. For a church that is part of network, fellowship, movement or denomination commitment to the corporate mission, vision and values is essential. For churches in Every Nation Ministries, that means a commitment to church planting, campus ministry and world mission.

6. HEALTHY RELATIONSHIPS. It is impossible to exaggerate the importance of relationships. Key relationships that must be healthy include: the pastor and his wife and kids, the pastor and his peers, the pastor and his local leadership team, the pastor and his mentors.

7. FINANCES. Money does not make a church healthy, but an unbiblical view of money will make a church unhealthy. Integrity, generosity and wisdom are the foundations if healthy money management in a church context.

That's it. Gotta run to gate A7...

How to Build a Healthy Church Culture

When I am asked how we do discipleship at Victory Manila, I usually point out that our culture (atmosphere, vibe, values, stories...), while invisible and elusive, is much more important than our system or program. Good discipleship material and good methods do not stand a chance in a bad church culture.

Leadership is all about creating healthy culture.

Last week a Malaysian church planter asked me how to create and build healthy church culture. I gave him the following 2 culture-building words:

1. FOCUS. Rather than trying everything that can be done in the name of God, focus your energy, time and money on the few things that really matter.

2. REPETITION. Constantly repeat core values and mission through testimonies, sermons, branding, websites, social media and every other possible means.

At Victory, FOCUS and REPETITION means we constantly repeat the 4 E's: Engage, Establish, Equip, Empower. At Bethel it's the 3D vision: Devotion, Diversity, Discipleship. At Eaglepoint in Malaysia it is Believe, Belong, Become. At Every Nation it is Church Planting, Campus Ministry, World Missions and Social Responsibility.

If a church or ministry does not have a healthy culture it is because the leaders have not narrowed the focus and repeated the same story over and over and over.

"10 Times Better, 7 Times Hotter & 3 Times a Day" (Sermon Summary)

A couple of weeks ago I preached a sermon in Singapore called "10 Times Better, 7 Times Hotter & 3 Times a Day" from the Book of Daniel. A member of Every Nation Church Singapore who calls himself The Unknown Poet summarized my sermon on his blog as follows...

--------------------------------------------------------------

25 countries were at the Asian Pastors Equipping Conference
To Pastor Steve's "experimental" sermon, none took offense
As he had walked around town just the other day
He noticed many changes, not all were okay
He noted that the world is changing, not always for the better
We mustn't let ourselves the ways of the world fetter
In such a culture, how can we thrive?
How can we please God while we are alive?

Pastor referred to Daniel and the numbers 10, 7, and 3
A few passages from Daniel 1-6 we then did see
Within these six chapters, there are six stories
All are worth reading, none are mere allegories

Daniel and friends were 10 times better, per Daniel 1:20
The Babylonian king preferred them to his magicians aplenty
In a pagan culture, how can one be noticed and shine?
Daniel, in 1:18, did not defile himself when he did dine
No compromise, therefore to temptation he did not fall
Per Daniel 1:12-13 on three friends he did call
Saying "we are better together", with God in their hearts
The group was more powerful than just the sum of parts

Later, in Daniel 3:19, his friends were punished under a new law
The inside of a furnace 7 times hotter than normal they saw
Other gods they refused to serve or to bow to
They honored and trusted God in all they did do
God intervened and save them from the intense heat
Likewise, He loves to step into any fires we may meet
This is doubly true if persecution we do face
For alone, He does not expect us to run the race

In Daniel 6:10, the ruler was Darius the Mede
To his thirty day rule, Daniel did not heed
Daniel continued to very visibly pray
To God, 3 times every single day
This was not something that Darius could condone
So to the hungry lions Daniel was therefore thrown
To Daniel's rescue, God not surprisingly came
As a result, the lions lay down and were tame

How to be 10 times better, Steven did then say
When faced with 7 times hotter, pray 3 times a day
We can get by with a little help from our friends
And of course, help from God which never ends

In summary, so this mathematician will not forget
Adding 3 to 7, 10 I will surely get
Sticking to the math, if I add prayer even more
Onto me, more blessings and protection will surely pour

The Unknown Poet

Do you take notes when you hear a sermon preached?

Last Sunday I preached three services at Every Nation Church in Singapore. My text was John 19:28-30. "The Unknown Poet" was in the first service.

You might enjoy reading his notes from my sermon. His notes were better than mine. Here they are.

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The sermon was delivered by Steve Murrell
A three word summary of the Bible he did tell
Only fourteen minutes would he need
From John 19 : 28-30 he did read

All humanity deals with guilt and shame, Steve did say
Everyone deals with these in their own distinct way
Westerners tend to focus on guilt, Easterners on shame
But this is now intertwined due to the globalisation game

We should ask how Jesus dealt with these on the cross
Focus on His purpose, else His pain was a complete loss
The three words are "it is finished", from Jesus' last breath
They immediately preceded his humiliating earthly death

Start with "it", this is word number one
This is expiation, our atonement is done
For Jesus willingly sacrificed himself for our sin
Over death and the enemy, God did therefore win

Moving on to "is", our second key word
It is definitive, what is done by our Lord
In other words, this is our present reality
Not something that we may or may not see

"Finished" is word number three we heard today
For only Jesus can really have the last say
We are now forgiven, our guilt is gone
So we should not fall for the enemy's con

These three words are but one in the original Greek
"Tetelestai" means "it is finished", a word unique
It was often used to say that a bill was completely paid
So of sin's price we should no longer be afraid

The cross is about Jesus and what He did
Nothing we do can help our sin be rid
With His blood, His work he did sign
Thanks to Him, our future is divine
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http://the-unknown-poet.blogspot.com/2011/10/23-october-2011-encs.html

Every Nation (Not Yet, But Soon)

Now in Singapore at one of our favorite meetings of the year: the Every Nation Asia Pastors Equipping Conference (APEC).

The next four days we have the privilege meeting with amazing leaders, pastors, missionaries and church planters from 25 nations including:
Afghanistan
Bangladesh
Cambodia
China
Guam (USA)
Hawaii (USA)
India
Indonesia
Japan
Laos
Macau
Malaysia
Mongolia
Myanmar
Nepal
New Zealand
Philippines
Singapore
South Korea
South Africa
Taiwan
Thailand
United Arab Emirates
Vietnam

Because of our security protocols I will not be able to tweet or blog about many of the testimonies that I will hear this week, but I ask you to pray for our Asia leaders this week.

We are not in EVERY NATION yet, but we pray that God will send workers for the harvest in every nation. Maybe you are the answer to that prayer for one of the nations.