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NorthWood--You Guys Are The Real Deal

For me, the only normal thing about Thanksgiving last week was getting up, having my personal worship and running. After that it all changed. Nikki, Ben, Jill, Ti and I decided this year to spend Thanksgiving working at a church in the inner-city of Haltom City and then coming home and eating a late lunch around 3:00pm, with just our family. Normally, people from all over the world, or seminary students, are in our home. We wanted it to be just us so we could work and not make anyone feel obligated.

We headed down to the center and, as we arrived, people were already lined up outside the doors and in the parking lot--it was only 10:15am. As I got closer, I realized they were the workers--not people waiting to be fed. They were on the other side--some dressed up as nice as they could--with their families. I got inside and found the guy in charge. He was overwhelmed with all the NorthWood people there to help. At first he said, "Everyone is going to have their own individual server this year!" A few minutes later, he was telling me there are way too many. People were still arriving--some seeing the long line of workers were turned away at the door--they couldn’t even get in to volunteer.

All the volunteers were brought in and I told them, "No pastor could be more grateful to be the pastor of a church than I am today. You guys are just incredible." We called several other shelters to send our people but they were all full with workers, as well. We wound up sending a few hundred people home. It led us to thinking two different things. First, we could probably man several homeless centers and places. Second, we need to continue to develop our work in the inner-city to a point that we can lay a model over every domain of the inner-city.

Yesterday, I got to brag on you guys even more. Keep it up. As I was leaving the shelter one guy told me, "You know, maybe Thanksgiving is changing--maybe it’s more than just turkey and football!" Let’s pray

I'm so proud of NorthWood – not many churches would be willing to do what you guys do!!!!!!! Whether it’s starting churches here in the U.S., working in the inner-city, working in Puebla, Mexico – or sweating in Hanoi – you guys simply rock. Some people talk about just doing stuff and have tons of ideas – you guys do it. Your credibility is your fruit – that’s what John said it should be.

This entire month has been surreal – seeing and hearing from people directly affected by what you’ve been doing in low places and high alike. Whether it was all of us being moved to tears by Olga from the Academy at West Birdville, or ready to storm the gates with Gary Haugen for justice, or being thanked by Dzung Tran and Chris Seiple (globalengage.org) and challenged to move it ahead in Vietnam – WOW!!!

While in Vietnam Bush spoke about the future of Vietnam being bright – and it is. But while he was speaking – my home was filled with exchange students who are now in college that had lived with our church members – who were engaged with Dzung and Chris. I was with the future of Vietnam. It is very bright.

Thirty years ago – what Dzung, Chris, and I did on Sunday would have been unheard of – if not rare today. But thank God – times they are a chang’in. I wonder what Vietnam will be like thirty years from now? Here’s some predictions of the kids you see in the picture:

Our Vietnamese exchange student son Ti will invent the first gasless car, become a millionaire and build us a villa on the Red River north of Hanoi!

Dang, will become the General Secretary of the United Nations – and redistribute nations according to tribes.

Chi, will become the first woman President in Vietnam!

Liz, will build hospitals throughout Vietnam and improve health 100%.

Hein, will sell her grandfather’s sculptures, become a billionaire, start the Art Institute of Vietnam.

Tuan will found Macro-Hard communication modules, making computers obselete and will single-handed end world poverty!

All of you will do something significant – I believe that.

The parable of the talents in the kingdom is what’s happening. But, with impact comes more opportunity, and with that comes more sacrifice, giving, and investment. Let’s stay on our knees, our faces toward heaven, our hearts soft for God and people, our sleeves rolled up, and see what God will do.

I heard this guy saying something at the board meeting of the Institute for Global Engagement where Chris Seiple is President, "First, do what is necessary. Second, do what is possible. Then, expect the impossible." I like that.

Look forward to sweating with a bunch of you this Thanksgiving Day at The Christiasn Center in Haltom City to serve over 1,000 meals to homeless and needy people. We’ll be working from 11am to 1pm. Contact Chuck Langford at 817-808-0713 if you can help.

Partnership To Aid Missions in Vietnam

   

Article by  MARK AGEE

STAR-TELEGRAM STAFF WRITER -  SPECIAL TO THE STAR-TELEGRAM/EMILY HUGHES

Tran Dzung, left, a Vietnamese diplomat, and NorthWood Church pastor Bob Roberts have joined with a nonprofit to help provide aid to the people of Vietnam, including building schools and clinics and improving water supplies. www.northwoodchurch.org

KELLER -- Former Marine Chris Seiple acknowledged the strange situation in which he found himself in the pulpit of NorthWood Church in Keller on Sunday morning.

"What are a former jarhead, a minister and a card-carrying Communist doing working together to help the people of Vietnam?" Seiple said. "It's a story only God could write."

Seiple is president of the Institute for Global Engagement, which advocates religious freedom around the world. He joined Vietnamese Deputy Ambassador Tran Dzung and NorthWood's pastor, Bob Roberts, to tell the 2,500-member congregation of their partnership.

NorthWood has been performing humanitarian missions in the Communist nation for more than a decade, including building schools and clinics, and improving freshwater supplies. Vietnam is officially atheist.

"We're not allowed to proselytize," Roberts said. "We don't need to. We don't hide our Christianity. The people there see what we're doing and they see what we're about. ... People don't just want to hear about your faith. They want to see it in action."

The nonprofit institute works with governments to promote religious freedom through diplomacy. Seiple said the institute is promoting the "NorthWood method" -- "people-to-people grassroots diplomacy, from the bottom up" -- to other churches.

Dzung, who says he doesn't believe in God, said he didn't know what to expect at an American church. He said he was pleased to see many of the congregation dressed in traditional Vietnamese garb they brought home from mission trips.

"I feel very comfortable to see all of these friendly faces," Dzung said. "What they have been doing is great. It's really helping the people."

NorthWood Church is trying to raise $450,000 by Dec. 31 to fund a permanent office in Hanoi.

The institute, with help from Dzung, entered into a memorandum of understanding with the Vietnamese government this year that Seiple said will allow the NorthWood method to be spread to cities and villages throughout Vietnam.

"What we're doing is very transparent. We're coming through the front door," Seiple said.

"It's a part of the natural evolution that Vietnam is going through towards religious freedom," he said. "What we have done is just the beginning. We are just getting started."

ONLINE:

www.globalengage.org

Eat Your Food

My Mom worried too much about me eating my food! When I was little, she’d say, "Eat your food, there are starving children in China!" As if eating my food was going to help them?

What would the Chinese mothers say to their children today? "Read your books! Do you want to grow up as behind as the Americans?"

Church Multiplication - The Tithe of Movement

This week, I spoke to a few thousand pastors in North Carolina on church planting. It is as if the church is arthritic in this regard. For now, it’s the work of a few highly committed churches across the U.S. that are discovering what it means to mother churches, the most neglected and, perhaps, second most important aspect of multiplying churches, after discipleship. Churches always agree they should start more churches. Everyone is always "about to do it" when we finish this building, this program, another thousand, . . 

We have no control over movement .  That’s all in the hands of the Holy Spirit. But we have massive control over multiplication. Multiplication is the obedient response of the church to start other churches. Movements emerge from small trickles of multiplication that begin to merge into a single stream over time. I may pray for a movement, want a movement, but the reality is I have no control over that--it’s in God’s hand. However, I’ve got a lot of control over multiplication. Trying to help pastors understand this isn’t always easy. Too often, the interest of the church is tied to the interest and priorities of her leaders--that being the case, what does that say?

I tried a different tactic with these pastors. I asked them, "What if a church member came up to you and said, "Things are tight and I’m not going to tithe pastor. I want to. I’m planning to. Down the line I will. God has laid it on my heart. It’s the thing to do. But right now – I just can’t. Pray for me that God will provide the funds for me to tithe and when the time is right I will." How many pastors would say, "No problem, I understand. The Lord bless you and we’ll pray real hard for that to happen!" NO WAY IN GOD’S GREEN EARTH!

The pastor would say, "Obedience is obedience. When God commands us to do something we have to do it no matter how hard it is. It’s in God’s word. We can’t expect God to bless our finances if we aren’t obedient to follow them. You don’t wait to get a lot of money to tithe, you tithe when you don’t have a lot and God will provide for your needs. The principle of stewardship is when you’re faithful over a little you become a vessel for more to be faithful over."

Church multiplication is the tithe of the church that has the potential to lead to movement. You multiply because you should. You multiply because you’re alive. You multiply because the kingdom of God is bigger than you. We pray for revival, another Great Awakenning, movements--we’re not even obedient in multiplication--why should we expect God to reach down and "zap" us with some might blessing when we aren’t even obeying him in the small things? It’s absurd.

Ben & Ashley

Sunday afternoon my son proposed to his girlfriend, Ashley Goodin, and she accepted. She graduates in December from Mary Hardin Baylor in Belton after having student taught there. We like her a lot. She loves working overseas and has been to Thailand with her church from Temple, TX a few times. She has a great family, a good base, and will do good in life. When I left East Texas, I left a lot of things there, looks like I’m going to have to learn to like country music! Ben had been saving to buy her ring. I’ve watched him hold the box with the ring, tilting it different ways to see the light catch the diamond in it and watch it sparkle. He still seems like a little kid to me--his toy is just a heck of a lot more expensive! Proud of you Ben and Ashley – here’s my free advice to have a meaningful life together:

First, get premarriage counseling as quick as you can. You’re both gifted, both headed somewhere. It’s possible, just possible, both of you may be a little stubborn – not that yu, Ben, got that from your parents! You have to merge your personalities, your goals and dreams--all of it. It takes work and you will expend a lot of energy doing it, but pre-marriage counseling,  though no guarantee of a perfect marriage, will help you identify things you need to start working on early so you can enjoy your marriage.

Second, know where you’re going and map out a plan. Otherwise, you may just wander from here to there never knowing for sure where you should be or what you should be doing and waste a lot of time. However, be ready to adjust a lot and enjoy whatever is placed in front of you – you never live a moment twice.

Third, learn to have fun together beyond just "being in love." You’ll go through phases of "passion" in your life together. You should have different interest – yet there should be things you enjoy a lot to do together. Find a type of movie you both like. Go to a music concert every once in a while that’s live. Do different things – stay out of a rut. When you’re working – learn to make fun especially during those times – whether you’re in a city and there’s something to see – or you’re in a rural area and there’s a mountain to climb – schedule time to enjoy to life or it will pass you by.

Fourth, and most important – in everything see God. The highs and lows – successes and failures – God is there. To do that requires a commitment to spiritual disciplines as daily prayer and worship and a daily discipleship of obedience. Just being Christians doesn’t guarantee a successful marriage – both of you being disciples does.

I love you both – love passionately – dream big – rock and roll -

Pastor - Catalyst

I had an incredible time last week in 2 meetings in 2 cities with 2 domains of society. One domain was that of pastors. Several of us came together to see how we can engage society together. They represent several denominations and styles of church, but what’s exciting is they all realize none of them have the whole package. We all need each other. I pray it’s a movement. Several do networks and other things. I get excited thinking about the traction that could be gained from all of us coming together.

In my worship time this morning, in Streams in the Desert, I read about David Brainerd, a missionary to the American Indians who was impacted by Jonathan Edwards. They buried Edwards’ daughter beside him, though never married they were engaged and she never married. Some would say a life wasted--not at all. Henry Martyn. from Cambridge, read his biography that Jonathan Edwards wrote and became a missionary to Turkey, and died at the age of 31. These guys’ lives far outlived them. They were missional to the core.

Our missional living is just too easy and too quick to qualify. Both then and even now, in the East, to follow means something. What is a pastor who really wants to be missional? In "The Starfish and the Spide,r" it spends a lot of time talking about the catalyst. A friend of mine describes pastors who want to reach their cities as catalyst. It’s a good description. Bishops, elders, deacons, pastors, apostles, teachers, prophets--if the New Testament were being written today, I’ll bet another descriptor would be "catalyst!"

Here’s a new definition of pastor:

Catalyst: The nexus point in a local church for the mobilization of the entire body of Christ to engage the whole of society with the whole Gospel of the Kingdom for the complete and radical transformation of lives and the community.

That’s my first stab--what do you some of you pastors and church planters think?

At Alan Hirsch’s prodding, I just read The Starfish and the Spider by Ori Brafman and Rod Beckstrom. Great read and good insights. It’s the whole idea of decentralization. I’d put it high on the list to study. They study groups like Ebay and others that are fairly decentralized in their operations and leadership.

When I first began to study movements and observe them a few years back, I had a wrong paradigm in my mind. I thought in terms of organization vs movement.

Most religious organizations I was a part of actually inhibited movement and when it was encouraged it was only in the "ordained" channels. That’s not right. Everything has some amount of organization. Even Ebay has an organization. There are people at the top of Ebay making lots of money!!! The question isn’t do you have an organization, but how the organization operates. Does the organization centralize or decentralize its operations? When the organization exists for itself and all it’s indicators are for it’s own well-being then you have an inward institution. When the organization has a structure that facilitates involvement, you have the potential for movement.

Having got in on the tail end of the boomer seeker movement, there were many good things about it--but some not so healthy. I’d say the same about the postmodern movement. The same will be said of the missional movement, I’m convinced. That doesn’t mean we shouldn’t be missional--that’s what I’ve given my life and ministry for. Boomer religion gave us consumerism. Postmodern religion is giving us confusion. Missional faith is in some instances leading to chaos. I was with a significant man in the Northeast who was in a "missional" house church setting that grew and then imploded. He said the thing it valued in relationships and intimacy and smallness actually became the thing that undid it. They’re looking for a school in which to meet. I think we’ll be seeing movement all over the place and who knows where it will finally settle down, or if it will settle down! It takes a good ten to fifteen years after a movement to evaluate its impact.

Institutions are the result of past movements. They maintain the lessons of a past era that should go into our understanding of life. When those institutions, however, don’t allow for future growth and development, they ultimately die. I heard someone say that the only hope of institutions is movements--they cause institutions to readjust or die.

Merging trends and history—both are important to properly diagnose the present and respond in a way that ensure a future to our faith. Focusing only on the trend makes faith a slave to religious opinion polls. Focusing only on history makes us try to revive the past--which is a death sentence. I think I’m learning what Len Sweet means by ancient-future faith. This is why the Kingdom matters so much to me. It’s the only thing that’s stable, the only thing that makes sense, the only real movement that lasts. It finds expression in many forms, many institutions, many kinds of people. Something else for me that’s huge--the Kingdom starts not by responding to what’s wrong--but to what’s right that should be attained. There’s hope in that message, not anger or despair.

Peter & Paul--Who Was Really Missional?

In my early walk with God, I got out of the Jesus stories and into Paul. That was where the really heavy stuff was. The Jesus stories were for the little kids! As I began to discover the kingdom, I went back to the Jesus stories and his teaching. I just found this 1942 leather bound copy of the words of Jesus. Next year I’m going to read it a lot, I think. Jesus was a radical--living His life and doing what He said is nothing short of way out there.

Paul, as a theologian, is brilliant. Interpreting Paul, apart from Jesus stories and teaching, is dangerous. We build religious systems and intellectual discourse but not a viral and powerful faith. Peter is accredited with having established the church--in Jerusalem. Paul is accredited with expanding the church throughout the known world of his day. Peter was impulsive and given to anger. Paul was controlling and given to anger.

Some would call me Peter. I don’t like it. Not because I’m not impulsive, but because I didn’t stay in Jerusalem. I left East Texas and Dallas for the world. That’s what Paul did. Some would call me Paul. I start all these churches. But, I’m not the organizer Paul was--I’m more of a figure-it-out-as-you-go kind of guy.

Why did Paul accomplish so much more in spreading the Gospel than Peter? Why did Paul leave his home and engage the world so much? What made Paul’s faith spread and Peter’s stabilize? Though both men lived their lives on the line and would ultimately die as martyrs, Paul lived with that on a daily basis more than Peter. He wasn’t as political, perhaps as tactful, not as worried about the Jews, even though he was one, and even, at times, getting cross--be it with Barnabas or John Mark. Why? Because life would probably be short--the mission was massive--and there was no time or place for cry babies. It was a serious endeavor. It demanded his all and the all of those that were around him. Without that mindset, I doubt the Gospel of the Kingdom would have ever gotten off the ground.

The more Paul traveled, the more cultures he encountered, the more hardships he faced, the more he was forced to think, reflect, evaluate and see his faith developed. There’s something about getting your face shoved up against the wall that makes you serious. This is true in other parts of the world.

Could it be our only hope in the West is to, by choice, put our lives on the line to be a servant to others? What would that do to us here if we did that?

Requirement For Pastors - Imitate Me

I tell our interns often, "your qualification for being a pastor can be summed up in two words--imitate me." It’s what Paul said and others in the New Testament. It was the idea of living the Christ life--the kingdom life lived out in everyday life. Look at the New Testament qualifications for being a spiritual leader--most have to do with character. Last week, we talked about it. It doesn’t mean we’re perfect--Paul certainly wasn’t--but it does mean there is holiness and integrity, and, when failure occurs, we deal with it quick and honestly and up front.

With the recent failures of Ted Haggard and two other pastor friends of mine, living it could not be more important. It is wrong for us to thing that just preaching a great sermon qualifies us for spiritual leadership. It doesn’t.

This morning I spoke with a 73-year-old former pastor named Paul Powell. He likes to refer to himself as a country preacher. He "ain’t" no country preacher. He told me about this quote from a guy named Biggs. "Burn brightly but don’t burn out. Powell then gave a good "Baptist preacher" outline with 4 words with I:

1. I am not invincible. I can get sick, sin, weary
2. I am not immortal. I am going to die
3. I am not indispensable. the Kingdom keeps going without me
4. I am not an island. I need friends around me

Bob: Paul do you deal with this stuff?

Paul: I’ve been in the ministry over 50 years and always did.

Bob: Do you ever deal with it today?

Paul: You bet-- sometimes it’s so hard I fear I won’t go on.

Bob: How do you keep going and prevent burning out?

Paul: I’m more sensitive to it today than ever. I used to live in denial--not anymore.