OK. The obvious answer is… my wife grew up here. Then… I like pizza. And… I was too chicken to go to Indonesia.
We all have personal reasons and divine coincidences that have put us in the place where we are in life.
So maybe the better question is “Why do you remain there instead of moving on?”
Why am I preparing once again to begin a new ministry in the “bel paese”?
Well… I like pizza! I'm not kidding! :-)
There are many things that I absolutely love about the Italian culture.
Of course there are many parts that frustrate me from day to day and cause me to turn to Amee and say, “What am I doing here?”
But Italians are the best at so many things; food, fine sports cars, soccer, art, and espresso. And they just generally have a passion and a flare that I enjoy being around.
Italian culture has been so influential in the West. Just imagine if they allowed Christ to transform them and use them to be an agent for good.
Which brings up another reason. The absolute zero awareness of God in the everyday life of an Italian.
They are somewhat aware of religion. Although a very small percentage of people actually practice Roman Catholicism.
But religion is very easy to keep inside the walls of a cathedral. Religion is brought ought for show on special occasions. Religion has no bearing on everyday life and in fact it is the cause of so many problems in the world today.
Less than 1% of Italians know what it is like to surrender oneself wholly and completely to God. Not to a priest or to a culturally acceptable religious ritual, but to the Lordship of Jesus Christ.
I truly believe that many Italians know this in their heart of hearts. And if someone would just tell them in a way that they can understand we would see that indeed God is calling out millions of espresso drinking, soccer playing, Ferrari driving, fun loving Italians.
Monday, January 29, 2007
Friday, January 26, 2007
Innovative churches?
OK, I was cruising around looking at some other blogs and came across this site called Church Marketing Sucks.
My wife is offended by the title. But the article on innovation and influencing culture is pretty interesting.
A lot of good stuff to think about and discuss with my kids tonight at the dinner table...
(Maybe not)
My wife is offended by the title. But the article on innovation and influencing culture is pretty interesting.
A lot of good stuff to think about and discuss with my kids tonight at the dinner table...
(Maybe not)
Thursday, January 25, 2007
Pushing the envelope on Simultaneous Activity
In my last entry I gave my own explanation of Short Cycle Church Planting and the principle of Simultaneous Activity.
Jean Jacques is a real life model of discipleship and leadership development happening concurrently. And I think there is probably general agreement that this can be a profitable approach.
My teammates Phil and Donna Pace were telling me about their own exposure to church ministry. A year after coming to Christ they were asked to lead the youth group.
They felt overwhelmed but accepted the challenged. And it was a very positive growth experience for them.
But what about simultaneous evangelism and discipleship? Is it possible to mentor someone in the ways of the Master before they have actually come to know Him personally?
Last week Edison, the leader of worship in our Italian church, expressed to me his need for more help setting up the A/V on Sunday mornings.
Well let me see. There is Tom, but he is involved in the preaching and other leadership responsibilites, there is John but he has young children and can't get to church early enough. There is Ralph but he is older and you feel bad asking him to do physical labor. Then there are the ladies, but they are mothers and Shirley is preparing for Sunday school.
Why doesn't my worship leader Edison ask one of his unsaved friends to come with him to set up the sound on Sunday Morning?
The invitation might go something like this.
"Ciao Marco. Listen, I know you like music and are good with a mixer. I have this little worship band and we play on Sunday mornings. Would you be able to come and help me out."
Edison has just solved two problems. He's been really trying to introduce faith topics to Marco and he needs help with set up.
Marco will be exposed to the brotherhood and the Gospel and through his service advance the kingdom of God (even though he isn't actually a citizen yet himself).
Is this even possible? Can you have a church with a bunch of "unbelievers" in it?
I think so.
Don't agree? Neither does Edison. Let me hear your comments.
Jean Jacques is a real life model of discipleship and leadership development happening concurrently. And I think there is probably general agreement that this can be a profitable approach.
My teammates Phil and Donna Pace were telling me about their own exposure to church ministry. A year after coming to Christ they were asked to lead the youth group.
They felt overwhelmed but accepted the challenged. And it was a very positive growth experience for them.
But what about simultaneous evangelism and discipleship? Is it possible to mentor someone in the ways of the Master before they have actually come to know Him personally?
Last week Edison, the leader of worship in our Italian church, expressed to me his need for more help setting up the A/V on Sunday mornings.
Well let me see. There is Tom, but he is involved in the preaching and other leadership responsibilites, there is John but he has young children and can't get to church early enough. There is Ralph but he is older and you feel bad asking him to do physical labor. Then there are the ladies, but they are mothers and Shirley is preparing for Sunday school.
Why doesn't my worship leader Edison ask one of his unsaved friends to come with him to set up the sound on Sunday Morning?
The invitation might go something like this.
"Ciao Marco. Listen, I know you like music and are good with a mixer. I have this little worship band and we play on Sunday mornings. Would you be able to come and help me out."
Edison has just solved two problems. He's been really trying to introduce faith topics to Marco and he needs help with set up.
Marco will be exposed to the brotherhood and the Gospel and through his service advance the kingdom of God (even though he isn't actually a citizen yet himself).
Is this even possible? Can you have a church with a bunch of "unbelievers" in it?
I think so.
Don't agree? Neither does Edison. Let me hear your comments.
Tuesday, January 23, 2007
What is Short Cycle Church Planting® (part 2 of a series)?
In 2007 Amee and I will be leading an Avant Short Cycle Church Planting Team back to Italy. This entry is part two in a series that explains this cutting edge philosophy in missions known as Short Cycle Church Planting (SCCP).
At the core of the SCCP philosophy in a high performance team.
The team will rely upon its collective creativity and the power of God to accomplish the task of church planting. But it is guided by five principles that we express in the acronym “SHORT”.
“S” Simultaneous Activity
If you would come to our house some evening you might find me sitting on the couch watching the news, reading a book during commercials, talking to a church member on the phone with music playing softly in the background all while Amee tells me about her day with the kids.
When she finally throws her arms up in frustration I tell her that I’m “multitasking”.
To some extent we all have the ability to do more than one thing at a time. While you read my blog you may be Skyping someone or have the TV on in the background.
Simultaneous activity within SCCP is a bit like this. Instead of thinking sequentially, the team will focus on all phases of church planting concurrently.
For example, when the team arrives in Italy next fall we will go directly to our target area. We will not spend one to two years in a different city for language learning and cultural adaptation.
Real ministry doesn’t start after the completion of language school. It occurs simultaneously.
We believe that those first months and even that first year will be powerful in establishing routines, building momentum and sowing seeds of the gospel amongst the people in our community.
In our current ministry here in Bologna we put the principle of simultaneous activity into practice just last week.
For the last several months Tim has been discipling Jean Jacques. A linear approach to church planting would have Jean Jacques complete the studies set out before us and then upon their completion move him along to leadership development.
But Jean is a doer. He finds fulfillment and meaning in activity. So I had him preach on Sunday. Up in front…leading. When we met later that week for study we had some great things to talk about as we evaluated his sermon and giftedness.
Discipleship and leadership development done all at the same time.
That is simultaneous activity acted out in the real world. Putting this principle into practice regularly on our team will shorten the time necessary to plant biblical, mature, reproducing churches.
At the core of the SCCP philosophy in a high performance team.
The team will rely upon its collective creativity and the power of God to accomplish the task of church planting. But it is guided by five principles that we express in the acronym “SHORT”.
“S” Simultaneous Activity
If you would come to our house some evening you might find me sitting on the couch watching the news, reading a book during commercials, talking to a church member on the phone with music playing softly in the background all while Amee tells me about her day with the kids.
When she finally throws her arms up in frustration I tell her that I’m “multitasking”.
To some extent we all have the ability to do more than one thing at a time. While you read my blog you may be Skyping someone or have the TV on in the background.
Simultaneous activity within SCCP is a bit like this. Instead of thinking sequentially, the team will focus on all phases of church planting concurrently.
For example, when the team arrives in Italy next fall we will go directly to our target area. We will not spend one to two years in a different city for language learning and cultural adaptation.
Real ministry doesn’t start after the completion of language school. It occurs simultaneously.
We believe that those first months and even that first year will be powerful in establishing routines, building momentum and sowing seeds of the gospel amongst the people in our community.
In our current ministry here in Bologna we put the principle of simultaneous activity into practice just last week.
For the last several months Tim has been discipling Jean Jacques. A linear approach to church planting would have Jean Jacques complete the studies set out before us and then upon their completion move him along to leadership development.
But Jean is a doer. He finds fulfillment and meaning in activity. So I had him preach on Sunday. Up in front…leading. When we met later that week for study we had some great things to talk about as we evaluated his sermon and giftedness.
Discipleship and leadership development done all at the same time.
That is simultaneous activity acted out in the real world. Putting this principle into practice regularly on our team will shorten the time necessary to plant biblical, mature, reproducing churches.
Friday, January 19, 2007
Il Vento
It is so easy to live life as though the only reality is the one that I can see, that I can understand, or that I can control.
But the Bible explains another side of reality that is invisible or spiritual.
In fact it says that those who have believed in Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of their sins have the Holy Spirit of God dwelling inside of them.
That's weird.
But I know it's true because I can see and feel the evidence of his work in and around me.
There are so many events that are taking place in my ministry right now that are totally out of my control. Am I ok with that?
And my family! With four young kids the fact that we're all even partially sane is evidence of a divine presence.
It's kind of like il vento.
Check out this video montage that I used while teaching a bunch of Italians about the manifestation of the Holy Spirit in our lives.
But the Bible explains another side of reality that is invisible or spiritual.
In fact it says that those who have believed in Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of their sins have the Holy Spirit of God dwelling inside of them.
That's weird.
But I know it's true because I can see and feel the evidence of his work in and around me.
There are so many events that are taking place in my ministry right now that are totally out of my control. Am I ok with that?
And my family! With four young kids the fact that we're all even partially sane is evidence of a divine presence.
It's kind of like il vento.
Check out this video montage that I used while teaching a bunch of Italians about the manifestation of the Holy Spirit in our lives.
What is Short Cycle Church Planting (part 1 of a series)?
In 2007 Amee and I will be leading an Avant Short Cycle Church Planting Team back to Italy. This entry is part one in a series that explains this cutting edge approach to missions known as Short Cycle Church Planting (SCCP).
Two dual-core 2.5GHz PowerPC G5 processors all in one machine! That’s two processors that clock at 2.5Ghz each and they’re dual core, which means they each have two sides to their brain. It’s called the quad because it’s as if there are four processors! This is the computer of my dreams.
In computers it all starts with the processor; that chip inside the box. And at the core of Short Cycle Church Planting (SCCP) is a well-equipped, diverse, high performance team.
Avant is looking for 8-10 people with a variety of gifts, abilities, and perspectives who can thrive on change and excel in a dynamic environment.
Our team's mission will be to plant a movement of churches in the city of Genoa within 5 years. So we will be counting on the synergy produced in a creative work context.
The high performance team is a fundamental difference between how we have experienced church planting in the past and SCCP.
Traditionally, ministry focused around the individual church planter. Even in situations where there were multiple missionaries present, each one was a church planter and used certain skill sets thought to be useful in church planting.
Not any more. No single person on our team will be the church planter. The team as a unit is the church planter and each individual contributes uniquely to the process.
One member may be a people magnet, another may be practical with technology, another may be a Bible teacher, and yet another may find fulfillment in working through bureaucracy and logistics.
As a team we will win, together. Together we will train and strategize while still in America. Together we will depart for Italy. Together we will study language. Together we will continually evaluate our progress and approach. We're even talking about a pooled financial support system.Together we will plant multiple churches in a shorter period of time.
So the team is important. Like the processor inside my computer, it is the brain from which everything else flows.
Pray for our teammates, Phil and Donna Pace, Andrew and Natalie Debelaks, Dustin Mahoney, and a couple of others who are still discerning God's leading in their lives.
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