Lesson Learned: When I was in the Army we use to have a saying, "No plan ever survives the first bullet fired." Church Planting Movements are much the same. There's plan "A" and then Plan "B" through "ZZZ". Don't get me wrong, we need to have a plan and the simpler the better. But we also need to be flexible as the Holy Spirit leads and the messiness of movement occurs. SEMPER GUMBY
Lesson Learned: Our disappointments, failures, and even suffering can all be very beneficial in uncovering our true motivation.
Lesson Learned: As much as God has shaped and redefined our definition of success through the #NoPlaceLeft vision, we must be careful to do the same with our definition of failure. To me the #NoPlaceLeft vision is a God thing that we cannot make happen without His power and grace. Our responsibility is to obey Jesus commands in sharing the gospel, making disciples, being the church, and leading the way He has designed us. If we have been obedient and faithful in these things, we have not failed. Lack of results may or may not be our fault. It would do us well to let Jesus shape our definition of failure just as much as success as we pursue the #NoPlaceLeft vision.
Lesson Learned: Most of you have heard me refer to the "Jesus Community" that existed before Acts 2 as the church. I want to let you know that after some study on the birth of the church, I'm going to conform my ecclesiology to the traditional point of view. My question was, "What does the Bible say about the timing of the birth of the church. The answer primarily came thru 1 Cor 12.12-13 and a study of pentecost (Exodus 34:22; Leviticus 23:15-21; Numbers 28:26; Deuteronomy 16:9-12, Exodus 23:16) and it's significants in Messianic prophecy. So I stand corrected, the church was born on the day the disciples were baptized in the Holy Spirit and these were the first fruits of Jesus' ministry. As a leader and teacher I want to be held to high standards of Biblical interpretation and I'm always open to discussion and correction. A question still remains; What role does the example of Jesus and His community play in our definition and function of church. Acts 17.11
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| Don (Second from the left) and Randy (Far Right) |