A pox on both your houses

I had a lesion removed from my leg today.

It was quite unseemly and my wife had been begging me to get it checked out for a long time.

You see the warts and want to remove them.

I often say that this is why I went into church planting. I wanted to avoid all the mistakes that others made. Oh the foolishness of youth.

Well, I came across an article today from a church and pastor that really get it.

He seeks to excise one of the big warts marring the face of the evangelical church today.

What ever happened to the priesthood of the believer? Why is ministry always relegated to the professionals?

Ministry is seen as happening only on Sunday mornings where a bunch of people come into a place and watch the professional minister/s perform.

Often this critique is used to reflect poorly on the membership. Why don’t they get out of their pew and do something?!?!?!

But the criticism should fall squarely upon the shoulders of the people on the platform.

Many “professional ministers” cultivate (maybe unwittingly) the attitude of Rush Limbaugh, “I was born to host, and you were born to listen.”

While the ministry of the preacher/teacher is extremely important to the health of any local church, it is not by any means the only one.

In fact it’s purpose is to equip the body for all of the other ministry that happens during the other 167 1/2 hours each week.

This wart has become so obvious to me, living and working in Italy where the culture is predominately Roman Catholic.

Italians have very little use for religion. But in the moments that they do, they want the priest to come and do everything for them. The quicker the better.

He blesses your house. He baptizes your baby. He serves you the Eucharist. He forgives your sins.

It is a service performed by the professional clergy. And evangelicals are just as prone to the same thing.

Check out the article by Gary Vanderet of the Peninsula Bible church in Cupertino, CA here.

Committee vs. Team

Let’s face it. Committees are a joke. You laugh when you hear about them and you moan when you are asked to be on one.

I’ve noticed a trend recently. Churches are changing the names of their “committees”. It is no longer the missions committee but rather the missions team, or global task force, or team for global impact, etc.

This is a good idea given the negative connotations of a committee. But really, what’s the difference between a team and a committee?

While chatting with my teammate Dustin the other day we identified two main differences from our personal experience between committees and teams.

It seems that committees are based upon deliberation. Six people get together in a room and talk about an issue. They talk and talk. Talk is focused on the politics of the decision, past procedure, or minute detail. Then the issue is tabled until the next meeting, when they will talk some more.

After a period no shorter than 3 months the committee renders a decision.

The decisions that come out of committee are usually safe, compromising, and do not effect positive change.

In short, committees talk a lot but don’t ever get anything done.

On the other hand, properly functioning teams are based upon roles, and each team member fulfilling their role at the highest level possible.

Discussion becomes pointed as each person offers their unique perspective. This moves debate and makes it interesting. It also allows the leader to quickly see all of the angles to a problem and available options.

The result is a quicker decision.

But not just any decision. A more strategic one.

Properly functioning teams have a purpose. Whether it is a football team that wants to win the Super Bowl, a team of scientific researchers who must develop a more effective drug for fighting a disease, or a church missions team whose heart is see the expansion of the church in unreached parts of the world, teams have a reason to exist.

Each decision made by a team is intended to enhance effectiveness in fulfilling its purpose.

So while committees are based upon deliberation, teams are based upon action.

Pray right now for Team Italy One as we meet regularly to make decisions. Pray that we would always move beyond deliberation to strategic action.

Please Pray for Charity

It has been a situation that we never thought we'd have to deal with. It never really crosses your mind.

You grow up together. Their life is kind of inseperable from your own in time and space. Your memories of them are forever young.

You just don't imagine your siblings facing death when they haven't even reached age 30.

Yet here we are. Amee's sister Charity has been battling a life threatening illness for more than 50 days now.

One of the most frustrating things is that they don't even know what it is. There is a lesion on the brain stem. It could be the result of a stroke, a cancerous tumor, or a rare inflamation.

The only thing certain is the physical and emotional agony that Charity is wrestiling with. And the emotional roller coaster that her family is on as they ask why.

Would you pray for Charity, her husband Jeremy, and their two girls Isabella and Sofia?

Pray that God would bring respite. Pray that He would bring healing. Pray that He would protect them from the attacks of the enemy.

Go here to follow the daily updates.

Sometimes I look back on time and think to myself, "what have I done?"

What happended to this last week. Where did these last 6 months go?

On May 24th Amee and I celebrated 10 years of marriage, and I ask myelf, "What have I done?"

What have I done to be so blessed with a beautiful woman who loves me? Who am I to have a woman that not only loves me but loves God even more?

Amee is the best wife and mother that I could possibily dream of. Where have the last 10 years gone?

To celebrate we spent 4 days in St. Louis. I went to my first ever Cardinals game. We toured the downtown, went up the Arch and rode up and down the Mississippi. We also spent a day at Six Flags.

It was the best 4 days that I've had in a long time. I felt like we were able to reconnect in a way that isn't possible with 4 kids running around the house.

I am so thankful that God has revealed His grace to me by giving me Amee and allowing us to do life together.

Visiting Churches

Yesterday we were able to reconnect with friends and supporters at Christ Community Church in Beatrice, NE.

We just had a wonderful time. I am always ecouraged when I see churches that are alive and doing God's work in the world.

I would like to give props to Pastor Jack Magness who had more than 40 junior high and high schoolers in the front rows of the auditorium engaged in his sermon from Hebrews 12:1-2.

I was also impressed by several of the individuals that I talked with back at our display table.

One guy in particular shared some incredible stories about a trip he'd taken to Asia within the last couple of years, transporting Bibles and witnessing to worshipers at a Buddhist temple.

He has six kids by the way. No one should say they can't serve.

Afterwards we were graciously hosted by the Bird family. They treated us so well.

My teammate Phil Pace has also blogged about the joys of christian fellowship while on missionary deputation. Click here to read his first person account.

There are many places where God's church is good and growing.

Why Genoa, Why now?

Genoa, Italy is home to 3/4 of a million people and is one of the most important port cities in the Mediterranean. Genoa is a passageway between Europe and Africa yet there is no effective gospel witness. Not one other foreign missionary agency targeting this strategic city.

Applying the Avant principles of Short-Cycle Church Planting® we will establish a network of Italian churches that rapidly reproduce themselves and transform the surrounding region.

Our goal is not to plant the perfect church but rather to proclaim the gospel early and often, form core groups of believers, and empower them to take their local church to more meaningful levels of maturity.

We value speed and Italian involvement.

To that end we have already formed a strategic partnership with an Italian couple who will join us in Genoa in March of 2008.

Francesco is the fruit of Tim and Amee’s ministry in Bologna. He has a passion for evangelism and over the past two years has been actively involved in leadership and discipleship.

Recently married, Francesco is now completing biblical training by correspondence. He shares our vision for explosive church growth and is stepping out in faith as he moves to Genoa leaving behind a stable job and family.

A strategic city, a strategic partner, and a prepared team. Now is the time to act. By targeting Genoa, Italy we will make a difference in time for eternity by rapidly planting and developing churches where none exist.

Join with us today by giving a one time donation of any size. Click on give now in the links menu to participate in our "Race to a Thousand."

What a great team!

Phil
Donna
Dustin
Andrew
Natalie
Alicia
Sheila
Tim
Amee
...and all the kids

We are Team Italy 1 and we've all been getting to know each other this week here in Kansas City at the Avant International Service Center.

Our 2 weeks of training have been organized around Patrick Lenzioni's book Five Dysfunctions of a Team.

The first dysfunction is a lack of trust. The most fundamental need on any team is trust between the members. It is the foundation upon which all of the other stuff happens.

So we've been doing activities to create it: sharing our life stories, defining our strengths, and pointing out potential weaknesses.

What's become clear to me is that we might have to change the name of the team from Team Italy I to Dream Team Italy I.

God has assembled such a wonderful variety of people; quality people that beautifully express their individual personalities.

Alicia might be introverted and accomodating but instead of coming across as a "wallflower" she comes across as a sweet personality that makes everyone feel good.

Dustin might be extroverted and attention seeking but instead of being intimidating he is the one who cracks jokes and keeps it positive.

Does that make sense?

Another team might have a good mix of personalities, but just having diversity doesn't mean that those personalities are being expressed in a way that compliments the whole team. Not so with Dream Team Italy 1.

On Monday we begin talking about the fear of conflict. ;- )

Ministry presentation sample: part deux

I'm often asked, "What do you do exactly?" Here is a visual attempt at summarizing the past couple of years of ministry in Bologna.

I love Italia!

I've been working on my ministry presentation. Here's a sample of part 1.

Next week when we're down in KC I hope to get some great shots of the team to add to the mix.

What are you doin'?

Here is a video tribute to the March blizzard of 2007.

In Bologna we hadn't had any snow and next winter in Genoa there probably won't be any either. So I consider this God's personal gift to me...

Let the games begin!

I love this time of year. Spring training. If we could just get some weather here in Omaha to go along with it.

Today the first games were played in the Grapefruit League to which my beloved St. Louis Cardinals belong.

And they started off with a win.

The most impressive part were the 3 scoreless innings pitched by Adam Wainwright who is looking for a spot in the starting rotation this year.

You might recall that Wainwright was the Cards' closer during their playoff run last year.

Here's to hoping for back to back Series' titles.

This is a shout out to my teammate Dustin, a long-suffering Pirates fan.

Good to the last drop...

Pop quiz.

Which coffee maker always uses the slogan "Good to the last drop"?

a. Folgers
b. Maxwell House
c. Sanka
d. Starbucks

Go to the end of the blog to discover the answer.

As we wind down the last week of ministry here in Bologna we can definetly say that it has been good to the last drop.

This afternoon while packing boxes I got a phone call from my coworker, Sheila, who was the bearer of great news.

A girl who's been what you might call a "seeker" decided that she was ready to give over her eternal destiny to the Lord Jesus.

Her mom got saved a couple of years ago and was one of the first success stories of New Hope church. Then on Sunday her sister got baptized.

Seeing the changed lives of the others challenged her to finally give in to the convicting of the Holy Spirit.

For me it was an awesome reminder of what this is all about... to the last drop.

(If you answered b. Maxwell House you are correct)

Malaga, Spain

It's been over a week since I've been able to blog.

I actually felt some withdrawal symptoms.

Or maybe that was because I wasn't getting my morning cappucino.

I was away to Malaga, Spain for a regional council meeting and sacrificed some the simpler pleasures in life. In exchange I spent 12 hours a day talking policy and stategy for Avant Ministries in Europe.

I really needed that cappucino.

Why Italy?

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.

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)

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.

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.

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.

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.

Welcome to Genoa

Mark Bruner, Avant director of Short Cycle Church Planting, recently spent a week with us here in Italy. The purpose of the trip was to identify a location for Team Italy that we will lead in the fall of 2007.

Milan? Turin? Bologna? Genoa? Pescara? How do you decide where to go in a country with 30,000 towns and villages absent even one evangelical church?

Rewind to early June of this year. Adele Johnson, another Avant colleague, spent nearly a month doing survey work in the "beautiful country."

Among her many questions she frequently asked, "If you would come to Italy with a team of 7 or 8 missionaries to evangelize and start new churches where would you go?"

There were many, many different answers. And after a bit of investigating we would discover from another source that in fact the said city was already adequately being reached (at least to an extent that it tumbled on our order of importance) or didn’t meet some of the set criteria.

But one place that was mentioned repeatedly by a variety of Italian leaders was the province of Liguria, provincial capital, Genoa.

So when Mark came we traveled three hours north through the Apennine Mountains and talked to folks on the ground there.

And we found what we were looking for.

Genoa is a port city of more than 700,000 people, famous for being Christopher Columbus' hometown. There is a university with 45,000 students. And tons of international traffic, many headed to Africa.

Yet, there is no foreign missionary activity. There are a handful of evangelical churches ranging from 30 to 100 people but none that appear to be growing or with a vision to reach their city.

According to the Alliance for Saturation Church Planting a fully discipled nation is one in which there is a local church in every neighborhood, village and community (a church for every 1000 people).

Genoa currently has approximately 15 churches ranging from mainline Waldensian to full gospel apostolic. This city falls a bit short of the ASCP suggested 700.

We feel peace and purpose with the decision to go to Genoa. And I believe that with God’s power in five years we will turn that city upside down with the good news of Jesus Christ.

Click here to view pictures from our various trips to Genoa.

Go and make disciples...

We had an awesome time as a church family the other day!

We celebrated with Silvestro, Giovanna, and George as they gave public testimony of their faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.

I was especially pleased to share this ministry experience with my Italian brother Francesco.

View the video here.

Grace Filled Missions

I just returned home today from Rimini, Italy where I attended Missione 2006.

The purpose of this first ever nation wide missions conference was to motivate italians to get involved in God's global work.

In order to accomplish this goal they had mission representaves to promote their respective organizations, workshops to answer many questions that Italians had regarding cross cultural ministry, and George Verwer, founder of Operation Mobilization, to challenge us twice daily.

If you have every seen George Verwer speak you know that there really is no one else like him. But there was one theme that kept coming through which really stuck with me.

In his famous simple yet powerful style George talked about the importance of grace, love, and acts of mercy in modern missions.

The gospel is essentially a love story with God as the sovereign author. The Lord Jesus is the main character. And we retell it to the world when we love our neighbor as ourselves.

Our greatest argument for Christ is a changed life and heartfelt compassion for the most needy among us. This is grace incarnate.

View photos here

High Risk Faith

Recently I finished reading Erwin Raphael McManus' book Chasing Daylight.

What an incredible challenge to any person's faith!

So often my goal is to avoid failure and minimize risk. I then wonder why God never does anything amazing in my life.

Abraham followed the call of God on his life, left the land of Ur and went "without knowing where he was going."

This is the kind of reckless faith that can unleash the power of God. This is the kind of faith that I want.

But the message is gets even deeper.

Reckless faith like that of Abraham assumes the possibility of failure. It's possible that I won't succeed, and yet this is what makes it so exciting.

It's like the friends of Daniel who refused to bow to the king's image. "Our God will deliver us out of your hand O King. But even if He doesn't, we are not going to worship the golden image."

There is no false promise of health, success, or fame. Just uninhibited adventure.

In the spring our family will embark on this sort of adventure, attempting to do in Italy what has never been done here before.

Along with a great team of coworkers we will attempt to ignite a church planting movement, multiple churches in less than five years.

High risk, but even greater reward.

Getting Started

As the popularity of blogging grows it seems to me that it just might be a really effective way to let all of our friends and family out there keep up with us while we're in Italy.

I may include the latest news relating to our minstry with Avant or I may share some things that God's been teaching me in my life.


I'll also try my luck at getting Amee to occasionally post a few things as well in order to add variety and certainly to improve the content.

As we progress in this experiment I'd love to get everybody's feedback so that I can measure its effectiveness.

So...we'll see you in the blogoshpere.