NEW HOME for RTBM BLOG

Hey, listen up! RTBM has a new home. CLICK HERE!

This is the last post for RTBM at this location, so be sure you re-bookmark the new address once you visit the new site. A new location, a new look, and a new attitude!

Hope to see you soon in our new home!

Interesting Question

Last week during our Strategy Coordinator Church Training, I was asked a question that was both new to me and caught me somewhat offguard. The question was basically, "Why do we believe that Prayer Walking is a valid missions activity or strategy since we have no biblical evidence to support such a practice?" Others privately mentioned to me that they had heard of conversations in the states that believe it is not appropriate for volunteers or missionaries to be part of this application of a prayer strategy. Before I chime in, I would be very curious to hear what you think and how you would have responded to the question.

On a completely different issue, I want to go ahead and begin to warn you that I am working on moving this blog to a different site. I hope to have the new site completed soon.

7 Questions

Since I have been overwhelmed this week with our SC Church Training, posting a new blog has been pushed way down the "to do" list. But knowing that I need to keep new information flowing, I've decided to promote myself and direct you to another blog. I was requested to respond to 7 questions from a missionary perspective. You can read my responses by clicking "HERE".

Book Tag

I've been "book" tagged by David Rogers and with my limited exposure to many bloggers, tagging others will be difficult. In the meantime, here are my responses.

1. One book that changed your life: The Normal Christian Life by Watchman Nee.
2. One book that you’ve read more than once: The Servant Leader by Ken Blanchard & Phil Hodges.
3. One book I’d want on a desert island: Other than the Bible, The Ultimate Survival Guide by John Wiseman.
4. One book that made me laugh: Farside, by Gary Larson.
5. One book that made me cry: I honestly can't remember the last time I cried reading a book.
6. One book that you wish you had written: "Mere Christianity by C.S. Lewis.
7. One book you wish had never been written: Beyond Good and Evil by Fredrick Nietzsche (actually all of his writings but the request was for one book).
8. One book that you are currently reading: "Blink", Malcolm Gladwell.
9. One book that you’ve been meaning to read: Walking From East to West: God in the Shadows by Ravi Zacharias.

I tag Greta, Wayne @ ekklesia, Brent Davis, Brent Dix

It's Training Time!

Beginning tomorrow, August 10th, our region is hosting one of our Frontliner's Conferences immediately followed by our Strategy Coordinator Church Training. This event is being held in Leon, Mexico. The Frontliners Conference that I have mentioned in earlier posts is our version of a Missions 101 or Strategic Directions 101 course for U.S. churches and volunteers sharing with them many of the basic principles that we have been discussing for the past several weeks on this blog. Our SC Church Training is a training event that begins the process of preparing a church or group of churches so that they will be able to engage a people segment and become the missionary to that people segment. We assign SC Churches to places where missionaries are not.

This is an exciting and challenging time as we help folks who truly have a heart for missions know how to more effectively take on the missionary task. The emotional and intellectual rollercoaster ride that these participants will take is unlike any other missions education process I have ever been part of before. We literally, in many cases, completely shatter their view and perspective of missions before rebuilding a new way of thinking and doing. From an educators perspective it is really more fun than someone should have.

We would really appreciate your prayers during the next 10 days as we work through these two training events. I am hoping to give some updates along the way as well as continue our discussion on RIN and missions education in general. We present the R.I.N. Strategy of Missions on Friday to this group.

I do wish all of you who read this blog regularly could be with us this week. All that we have been discussing really comes to life as we see everyone's personal experience and understanding of missions interacts with the information presented. Maybe some other time. Below I have attached a list of the session titles so you can at least get a glimpse into the progress of thought that takes place during this training.

Remember, It's not about us!!!


Every morning begins with a time of Praise, Prayer, and Worship

FRONTLINERS CONFERENCE
Day 1:
Why Frontliners?
Remember Those Without Hope & Without God in Their World
The Word of God
The Works of God
Missions and the Missionary Task
Small Group Debrief of Day

Day 2:
The Greatest Commandment & The Great Commission
The R.I.N. Strategy of Missions - 3 sessions 45 min per session
Worldview Issues & Orality
Small Group Debrief of Day

Day 3:
The MAC Region Strategy Coordinator Church Model
Questions and Answers from Frontliners Topics

STRATEGY COORDINATOR CHURCH TRAINING

Every morning begins with Prayer, Praise, and Worship

Day 1:
Field Trip to the Highlands of Jalisco, San Juan de Los Lagos
a view of world class lostness up close and personal
Debrief Field Trip

Day 2:
The SC Church: Thinking Like an SC Church Planter - 2 hours 15 min
Acts Workshop - Defining What is Church - 3 hours
Overview of Master Plan Development and Endvisioning

Day 3:
Know Before You Go: Logistical Contingency Security
Worldview and Cultural Adaptation
Effective Prayer Strategies I
Effective Prayer Strategies II
Effective Gospel Saturation Strategies
Volunteer Team Logistical Helps and Hints
Small Group Debrief

Day 4:
Biblical Evangelism: Evangelism That Leads to New Churches
Obedience Based Discipleship: T4LT Workshop
Mid-way Checkup: Questions That Just Can't Wait
Israel Rodriguez: A Mexican Pastor's Perspective of Church Planting

Day 5:
Man of Peace Church Planting Model - most of day
Understanding Latin American Catholicism
Small Group Debrief

Day 6:
Spiritual Warfare
Issues Unique to the SC Church
Accountability Relationships with the MAC Region
Review and Final Thoughts
Graduation and Commissioning Service

Shine More Light, Generate Less Heat

Romans 14:4 "Who are you to judge the servant of another. To his own master he stands or falls and he will stand, for the Lord is able to make him stand."

One of my favorite authors and speakers is Ravi Zacharias. I have heard him often say when entering a debate or presenting a lecture that it is his desire, "to shine more light on the topic and not to generate more heat." I wholeheartedly agree with this position when discussing difficult and emotional topics. Too many times "we" fall into the trap of making our disagreements personal and about personalities rather than focusing on the issues of the topic itself. When this happens we have begun to lose perspective and will find it difficult to truly listen and learn from others concerning issues of great importance. There still rings a lot of truth in the saying, you can disagree without being disagreeable.

I personally take to heart the words of Paul in Romans 14:4. The caution he gave then is still applicable for us today. We all need to take great care in judging other servants of God. As Paul goes on to say in verse 12, each of us will give an account to God for our actions. We often tread on dangerous ground when we begin to judge the motives of others without fully understanding all of the variables in their thoughts and actions. So how do we challenge one another in a way that is honoring to God but allows for honest disagreement?

First, there has to be a sincere desire to seek the truth. Truth is not subjective and truth is not based upon sincerity. Atheist are very sincere in their beliefs, but they are still sincerely wrong. And this also applies to Christians. Sincere belief in a position or practice does not make it true or right. All of our thoughts and actions are subject to scrunity based upon the Truth of Scripture. If someone sincerely says, God told me it was okay not to forgive my father for what he did to me.", we know that this cannot be true and must be challenged from a spirit of love and concern to help another believer.

Second, Paul gives us another admonition or exhortation later in verse 19 of Romans 14. He states, "So then we pursue the things which make for peace and the building up of one another." Our goal when discussing opposing views with Christian brothers and sisters is not to win the debate, but to bring peace which comes when our desire is to build up one another. Our discussions should not be seen as a competition but rather as another opportunity for us to develop a greater level of unity within the body of Christ. For an excellent look at this go to David Roger's post entitled, End-Vision.

Third, we must be willing to allow for multiple expressions of truth. For example, when studying CPMs, one of the elements common in all CPMs is that of house or cell churches. Well, not exactly. We in our region have a CPM taking place among the K'ekchi' of Guatemala. And although it is true that their church planting practices begins in a house, they quickly move into a building as the local body grows. It's just that they have figured out how to do this rapidly and without outside resources. So when we teach CPM principles we do not say that your work has to be in a house. The truth is that we want the Gospel to spread through a people group as rapidly as possible. How this is done can vary from people group to people group.

Fourth, we need to stand on biblical principles when we attempt to challenge the positions and actions of others. Now, I'm not talking about challenging another brother or sister caught up in sin. But how do we determine what is the right thing to do or what is the wrong thing to do when discussing missions strategies? Our first point of reference must be Scripture. If Scripture seems to be silent on a topic then we must be sure that our answer or position still is not contrary to other Scriptural principles. This is why in this blog and in our training we do the best we know how to do to tie everything to Scripture. Not proof texting mind you, but genuinely applying Scriptural truth and principles to our efforts.

Lastly, we must all continue to learn what it means to show grace. When I read the Gospels, I have often wondered if Jesus ever paused and just shook His head when one of the disciples would say something contrary to what Jesus had just taught. Or when they asked what seems to be a really dumb question. Jesus exhibited a tremendous amount of grace and patience as He trained and disciple His group of 12. We need to learn how to do the same as we debate and discuss important issues of the day. I will admit this one is not easy for me but I hope that I am learning.

I am writing this post to give all of us, including myself, a reminder that no one of us is the guardian of all truth. We are all on a pilgrimage of learning and changing, as we seek to be more like Jesus every day. So it is truly my desire that as we continue our discussions on this blog and on other blogs that we will practice being thermostats and not thermometers. That we will show one another a great amount of grace when we say something off the wall. And that we will not be too quick to judge, but seek to understand.

Missions is a highly emotional subject. I can not tell you the number of times I've seen tears roll down a person's cheek as the expressed disagreement with something we have said. Many of us are passionate about what we do and we frustrate easily when others can't see the world exactly like we do. I truly believe in my heart that we will see changes that will impact the lostness of this world at even greater levels when we all learn how to shine more light on our discussions and generate less heat.

The Many Voices of Missions

DISCLAIMER: If you are easily offended by straightforward and honest discussions of highly emotional topics dealing with missions and mission activities, please be aware that this post and the subsequent comments will more than likely challenge current thinking and practice. It is not the intent of our discussion to be offensive, but to hopefully shed light on an issue that literally holds the eternal destiny of millions in the balance.

I have been encouraged by several who know me and others who only know of me through this blog to continue the discussion of the differences between missions and ministry as well as the R.I.N. Strategy of Missions. For some background, please refer to my earlier posts entitled: The Morphing of Missions & Ministry and "Missions and The Missionary Task.".

The February / March 2005 issue of SBC Life featured a two page spread entitled, "Fulfilling God's Mission for Your Family". Overall the article is an excellent treatment of how to involve the entire family in mission focused activities. The issue that concerned me when I first read this piece was the definition of missions given by the author. In his fuller explanation of missions he comes back around hits some key points that we all would agree as being part of the missions task. However, it is the thinking behind and the application of the following quote from the article that I would like to address in this post.

Page 12 - "Simply put, missions is living out your faith in obedience to what God has gifted and called you to do. It's fulfilling the God-given passions of your heart. Missions is Christianity -- in action -- where you live, work, and play."

To be fair to our SBC constituency, they are bombarded with a multitude of voices and messages that many times are contradictory. This is especially true when it comes to missions and understanding the missionary task. Today, modern missions education is primarily based in two areas of church life. The occasional appearance by an RLM - real live missionary and the volunteer missions trip. The challenge for us this that of these situations offer more of an emotional perspective of missions rather than dealing with the reality of missions.

Add to this the conflicting voices about what missions is and how one can participate in missions activities. If you go to the Baptist Press article entitled, Families on Mission, you will read one perspective of missions. If you take that perspective to an IMB missionary in most places in the world, they will probably look at you as if you are from Mars. The focus and practice of "missions" in the U.S. context stands in stark contrast to principles and strategies being employed around the world. Here are some other examples of what I am hoping to communicate.

1. How does someone who has spent years working on "mission" construction projects in the U.S. adjust what they know and do to an international setting focused on church planting movement strategies where buildings are either not allowed or desired?

2. How do we convince people who are accustom to taking pictures of what they did at the end of the week that Prayerwalking is a needed and strategic missions endeavor?

3. Does it not confuse people when one model of missions is presented and practiced in the states and a completely different model is practiced overseas? On another blog recently a discussion was held concerning the merging of the SBC's two missions agencies into one. Putting aside the politics of such an endeavor, the challenge of which missions philosophy and practice would prevail would indeed raise many voices.

Even when you get past both mission sending agencies of the SBC, state conventions have their perspective of missions, local associations have their perspective of missions, and even some churches determine what and how they will be involved in missions. The challenge again is that each one of these can be completely different from the other. And you don't think this is a issue? And I have not even put on the table para-church mission organizations that are increasing their presence and influence in churches.

Several years ago my regional leader and I drafted a letter to our missionaries stating that we wanted to begin moving away from using temple construction as our primary church planting strategy. That we needed to look for strategies that would accelerate the spread of the Gospel. One or our dear colleagues felt it was important to share this with some volunteers who then sent it through a larger volunteer communication network. Whoa! The response both my RL and I received was emotionally charged and filled with anger. Once you got past the emotion, the issued really boiled down to the fact that these good-hearted men and women of God knew only one way to do missions and to suggest another was on the verge of heresy.

The reality is that when IMB missionaries who are committed to CPM strategies begin to advocate for this view of missions, we are swimming upstream in waters of differing and contradictory positions. Go to the internet and look up mission projects or volunteer mission opportunities and read what is being published. Missions has shifted from what does our efforts do to impact the lostness of others to how am I going to feel if I get involved with this project. The "it's all about me" virus has definitely taken control of much of the missions promotion and education. And this is the pool from which we draw volunteers and missionaries. This is why the above definition of missions scares me. The focus is on me, not a lost world.

It is also true that in the late 90's we made a major shift in how we implement mission strategy at the IMB. Unfortunately, most of our SBC churches still have no clue as to what that shift was and its implications on how we do missions. So let me close this post by saying, it is not my intention to point fingers or throw stones, but to simply say that it seems imperative that we find more venues for mission strategy discussions and find a way to increase the level of missions education in our local churches. If we don't, the level of discontent and discord over how to do missions will only grow and work to separate us as the body of Christ rather than being a rallying point.

If missions continues to be defined as "anything I want to do in the name of Jesus", the impact of this position is that less people hear about the good news message of salvation rather than more and missions continues down the road of being more about me and less about those who still have not heard. Missions has to be focused on taking the Gospel where there are no Christians and where there is no vibrant church. Read Mark 1:32-39, Romans 10, The book of Jonah, Romans 15:18-21, and finally, 1 Corinthians 10:33

"just as I also please all men in all things not seeking my own profit but the profit of the many, so that they may be saved."

Missions Is Not About Me!