One of our supporting churches is making a 2 or 3 minute video of our ministry, to be shown to their congregation on their “Missions Sunday on April 27.  Thank you to Clint Loveness, video production minister of Highland Oaks Church of Christ, for flying here from Dallas to get the footage.  Clint did an excellent job of making our people feel at ease in front of his camera.  He got several hours of footage to choose from for his project.  If it turns out well, we may use it to show to other groups as well. 

Categories: video
No Comments »

I highly recommend you check out some Bible study tools being presented right now by Paul D. Watson on his blog.  I met Paul at a conference in June.  God has used Paul and his family to start (and train others to start) explosive church planting movements in many so-called “unreachable” regions of the world, including India, China, and the Muslim world.  Some of his posts on this topic include:

How To: Inductive Bible Study

Inductive Bible Study in Prison

Inductive Bible Study Training Video

Three-Column Bible Studies

It was Hector and Roxy’s* first time to read the Bible.  When we taught them this simple method, they were so excited to realize

Show me more… »

Categories: video
2 Comments »

I have lived in several neighborhoods throughout Los Angeles County. While I loved each and every place and neighborhood that I have previously called home, if I had to choose a favorite I would choose East Hollywood, where I am currently living. The video I’ve included is called “This is East Hollywood” and was made by my friends in the East Hollywood Neighborhood Council. It gives a great overview of the area and its shops, schools, places of worship, areas of recreation, hospitals, and of course many amazing restaurants. It also highlights many of the reasons why I love living here. I love the diversity, accessibility (lots of places I like to go to are within walking and biking distance, easy access to public transportation (relative to other LA neighborhoods), fewer chain stores and lots of mom and pop shops, and I regularly hear multiple languages spoken including Tagalog, Thai, Armenian, Mandarin, Russian, English, and Spanish. That is by no means an exhaustive list of the things I love about this area but to sum it up I feel like I live in a place that has a “soul and heart” if you can attribute that to a neighborhood. Many places I’ve been to feel like they lack heart and soul and instead appear to me as some type of test tube creation.

Yeah, there are downsides to this place too and plenty of things I would love to see change and improve. The downsides go hand in hand with the upsides though. Part of what makes this area great is that it was not created in a test tube and it grew up and out in a very organic and perhaps even chaotic manner. My hope is to be an asset to this community and to give back in ways that benefit all those around. I am excited to live here as a follower of Jesus and to share His good news. At the same time my prayer and desire is that all people will be blessed by Christ’s presence in this community whether they choose to follow Jesus or not. I really don’t know how that may manifest itself though the possibilities are endless. In a year I’ll likely be able to look at previous entries to this blog and see very clearly how Jesus is blessing this community through those that love Him and are living their lives in pursuit of Him.

Enjoy the video. This is East Hollywood and I’m glad we can share it with you.

Categories: video
No Comments »

Ed, Katie, Meri and I are listening to a series of podcasts and videocasts by David Watson, a missionary whose work is written about in David Garrison’s book, Church Planting Movements: How God Is Redeeming A Lost World.  (I met David Watson last month in Dallas when I attended a Missions Resource Network-hosted workshop that he presented to Church of Christ missionaries and church leaders.)  While the focus of Watson’s talks is on training ordinary Jesus-followers to start church planting movements, almost all of his podcasts deal in some way with helping people draw a distinction between the gospel of Jesus Christ and the “Christian cultures” we have created.  (A very important distinction to make even - or especially - in America!) 

Watson’s stuff is biblically-based, full of real-life stories from the mission field, and yet practical and down to earth for the “average Joe”.  If you’re like me, you’ll find yourself stretched and inspired!

If you grew up in the U.S. and are passionate about joining God in ”redeeming a lost world” (starting in another country or your own), I strongly encourage you to listen to these podcasts and watch the videocasts.  You can check them out here. 

Show me more… »

Categories: Christian culture, books, video
2 Comments »

(These principles were gleaned from an extensive study of successful and failed church planting movements in multiple countries around the world over several decades.  Thank you to church planting expert David Watson for teaching me these principles at the Dallas workshop in June.  More of David Watson’s material can be viewed here.) 

— 

Counter-intuitive things you must do when starting a church planting movement…  

ž      Go slow to go fast

ž      Focus on the few (or one) to win many

ž      Share only when and where people are ready to hear

ž      A new/inexperienced insider is more effective than a highly trained, mature outsider

ž      Start with creation not Christ

ž      It’s about discovery, not preaching or teaching

ž      Obedience is more important than knowledge

ž      Let the lost lead the Bible studies

ž      Disciple to conversion, not convert to make disciples

ž      Prepare to spend a long time but anticipate miracle accelerations

ž      The best time for a church to plant a new church is when it is new

ž      Buildings kill church planting

ž      Paid local leaders kill church planting

ž      No personal evangelism so that masses will hear

ž      No mass evangelism so that the masses will hear

ž      Focus on ordinary people not professional or vocational Christians

ž      Expect the hardest places to yield the greatest results

ž      Small for-profit projects often yield much higher long-term access and goodwill than charity or free services  

—

Okay, some (all?) of this goes against my traditional church experience.  The way some of them are stated as absolutes even rubs me wrong.  But this apparently is the difference between planting churches and starting church planting movements.  Is the Western world really ready for this view of “church” and this kind of approach to missions?  I argue yes, but it’s going to be difficult!

Some of these principles obviously need a bit of explanation precisely because they are counter-intuitive.  As I have time, I will unpack the ones that are resonating most deeply with me and our experiences so far in East Hollywood. 

But that will have to be in a week or so from now.  In the coming days I’ll be sharing photos and descriptions life in East Hollywood.

Categories: video
No Comments »

If you have not already seen the “Shift Happens” video, you need to watch it.  As House2House founder Tony Dale recently commented on it, “This is the world that each of us is now a part of, whether we choose it or not!  No wonder the Lord is allowing the church landscape to change at such breathtaking speed.” 

When my church planting coach Larry Deal shows this to churches, he likes to ask, “What are your personal responses to these shifts in our world?  According to God’s Word, what do you think ought to be the response of Jesus’ followers?”  How we react (with fear of change or inner peace, with feelings of preparedness or inadequacy, etc) can reveal a lot about us. 

What are your reactions? 

Categories: video
No Comments »

When you get a chance, check out another video by House2House.com on How to Lead a Workshop.  It hits at something that is characteristic of the simple church movement.

Show me more… »

Categories: video
2 Comments »