December 15, 2009
For the latest, most complete and comprehensive report on international students studying in the United States, check out the Institute of International Education’s summary page for the 2008-2009 academic school year here.
Amazing numbers. Great harvest field.
~ Reach Students … Disciple the “Nations” ~
December 12, 2009
Bindu Choudrie and her husband, Victor, have been used of the Lord of the Harvest to plant thousands of simple, organic churches in India. And the multiplication of churches continues.
In an article entitled “Simple Church – Bindu’s Response,” John White, a house church coach in Colorado, shares some of a conversation that he had with Bindu about leadership in church planting movements.
It’s a very short article, but one that I think you’ll find interesting.
It can be read here.
December 6, 2009
Earlier this year I wrote two articles on the book, Church Planting Movements – How God Is Redeeming a Lost World, by David Garrison and posted them on my other blog, tangiblethoughts.
Since I continue to think, study, and pray about CPMs, I thought that I would refer you to these two articles. You can find the first article, Church Planting Movements by David Garrison here and, the second, In Every Movement, here
December 2, 2009
Neil Cole wrote a very interesting and insightful paper on the missionary strategy of the Apostle Paul that I have just discovered and read. The paper was written in 1998 and is entitled “A Fresh Perspective Of Paul’s Missionary Strategies.” The sub-title really speaks to the content of the paper. It is “The Mentoring for Multiplication Model.”
In the introductory section of the paper, Cole writes,
This article will examine Paul’s missionary methods, and demonstrate that he improved upon their effectiveness and fruitfulness with each journey as he focused more concerted energy in mentoring and multiplying leadership.”
Cole then walks us through the missionary journeys of Paul, showing us from Scripture how the Apostle’s strategy for ministry and leadership development matured with each journey.
The first missionary enterprise was carried out by a two-man team – Paul and Barnabas. By the time of the third missionary journey, Paul understood the need for the multiplication of leaders for the work of the ministry and the spreading of the Gospel. He then established a teaching and training ministry at the School of Tyrannus in Ephesus which, in essence, was a “regional church planting saturation strategy” training school. From this school, according to Cole, church planters were sent into Asia Minor and churches, such as the one at Colosse, were started and established. The men who had been trained in the school and served as the Asia Minor church planters are, per Cole, the elders that Paul addresses in Acts 20.
Neal then shows us how Paul, years later while under house arrest in Rome, continued to minister the Gospel, mentor believers and multiply ministry leadership.
The thrust of Neal’s paper, based on the ministry of The Apostle, is that if we are going to effectively reach our world for Christ, we must place an emphasis on the raising up, mentoring, and multiplication of leaders for the work of the Kingdom.
“Out of the harvest … For the harvest”
Read the paper in its entirety here.
November 29, 2009
If you live in the Bryan-College Station, Texas area, or are a student enrolled at Texas A&M University, I’d like to invite you join me for the start of a book reading and discussion group that I would like to begin after the first of the year.
The book club that I am proposing will focus on the subjects of organic church, church planting and church planting movements, and missional ministry. These are subjects of great interest to me and that I have passion for. I believe that there are others in the community who share my interest in and passion for them as well.
Among the titles that I would include in our reading list are:
It is my prayer that as books that address the above subjects are read and discussed, and as the group prays together, the Lord will use our time with one another to increase our vision for the Kingdom of God and encourage us in our prayers for and participation in missional ministry and church planting.
November 26, 2009
Last night I was going through some files of church planting-related papers and articles that I have collected over the years and found an article that I was excited to read again.
The article is entitled “Lessons on Evangelism for North America Church Planting.” I first read it in 2005 when I found it on the Church Planting Village website of the North American Mission Board (SBC).
The author of the article, a missions professor at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary by the name of Dr. Morgan, writes about three particular principles and lessons found in CPMs that are occurring around the world that he believes “can be especially useful in establishing an evangelistically effective church plant” in North America.
The three principles are:
Under the “Immediate Deployment” heading, Dr. Morgan makes a reference to the “T4T” (Training for Trainers) “system” of training new believers how to share the Gospel with their networks and organic (natural) connections. I was interested to see the reference to T4T, something I had forgotten was included in the article, because I have recently been exposed to the T4T material and am currently working my way through it and the accompanying facilitator training material.
While we know that CPMs are the result of the activity of the Lord of the Harvest, these three principles can, and should, be intentionally integrated into the ministries of established and new church ministries. If we do so, I believe that we would discover that our churches are more effective in their making of disciples, the spreading of the Gospel, and the starting of new churches that penetrate and saturate our communities and world for the cause of Christ.
Read the “Lessons on Evangelism for North America Church Planting” article here.
November 19, 2009
Movements That Change The World is a great little book that I first learned about while perusing one of the church planting blogs that I visit frequently.
In the book, author Steve Addison writes about and discusses five core characteristics of missionary movements that he has discovered as he has studied Christian movements throughout the ages and around the world. These core characteristics are : 1) white-hot faith, 2) commitment to a cause, 3) contagious relationships, 4) rapid mobilization, and 5) adaptive methods.
Addison makes two statements in the Introduction of the book that established the tone of the book for me.
The first is his very succinct definition of a “movement”:
In general, movements are informal groupings of people and organizations pursuing a common cause. They are people with an agenda.”
The cause that we are concerned with here is the cause of Christ and the agenda is the expansion of His Kingdom on earth as it is in Heaven.
The second statement is:
In the renewal and expansion of the church, the breakthroughs always occur on the fringe of the ecclesiastical power – never at the center. In every generation, in some obscure place, God is beginning something new. That’s where we need to be.” (p.33)
And that is exactly where I want to be.
Below are a number of quotes from the book’s chapters as well as some of my own comments on each characteristic.
Chapter 1 – White-hot Faith
Church history is not made by well-financed, well -resourced individuals and institutions. History is made by men and women of faith who have met with the living God. Without faith it is impossible to please God. (p.36)
You can run an institution with systems of command and control, but Jesus founded a movement…. A passionate faith is at the heart of every dynamic missionary movement. It is the greatest resource. Today, where Christianity is expanding quickly in the developing world, it is often the only resource.” (p.49)
Chapter 2 – Commitment to a Cause
Movements that change the world deal with the ultimate issues. They are causes that make demands on followers. Apathy changes nothing, and it is the surest sign that a movement, organization, or society is in decline. Change takes place because people care enough to act on their deeply held beliefs. They choose ‘to live divided no more’.” (p.56)
Addison points out at the end of the chapter that commitment does not necessarily guarantee the rightness of a cause. Any one of us can think of evil causes and movements that were and are characterized by the commitment of their adherents.
But we are talking about the cause of Christ, His glory, and His Kingdom. So, the author reminds the Christ-follower that “Jesus expected the same unwavering commitment from His disciples …. to make the same sacrifices and demonstrate the same commitment that He did” to the will and purposes of God. (p.65)
As we make this commitment to Christ and His cause, we must remember that Christ said if we are going to be His disciples, we must deny ourselves and take up our crosses daily, and follow Him (Luke 9:23), and that unless we place Him above all others and all affections, we cannot be His disciples (Luke 14:26,27).
Chapter 3 – Contagious Relationships
This chapter, and the next, were my favorite chapters in the book. In fact, it was as I was reading this chapter that I decided to read The Bridges of God by Donald McGavran (posted on below) because of the emphasis of both on “people movements,” organic connections, and the multiplication of churches.
Here are several of Steve’s quotes from this chapter.
Like a virus, the Gospel travels along the lines of preexisting relationships.” (p.72)
Christianity’s spread was fast and spontaneous; it happened without a centralized coordinating agency.” (p.73)
Christian conversions followed networks of relationships. Missionaries often led the way, but their ministry focused on making initial contacts with members of a social group. Once some insiders were converted, they became the key to the Gospel spreading throughout the rest of the social network, ….” (p.74)
New religious movements fail when they become closed social networks. For continued exponential growth, a movement must maintain open relationships with outsiders, and it must also reach out into new, adjacent social networks.” (p.75)
These quotes in the chapter are followed by two insightful sections on “principles of contagious relationships” and “Jesus and contagious relationships.” Addison notes that “Jesus recruited His band of disciples through relationship networks” and that He “…turned individual encounters into opportunities to touch whole social networks.” (p.81)
If this was Christ’s missionary-relationship strategy, how much more should it be ours as we seek to reach our world for Christ?
Chapter 4 – Rapid Multiplication
The rapid mobilization of leaders and new churches are the subjects of Chapter 4.
A few pages are devoted to the teaching of Roland Allen, the Anglican missionary, best know for his Missionary Methods: St. Paul’s or Ours? and The Spontaneous Expansion of the Church. From Spontaneous Expansion, Addison lists Allen’s conditions that inhibit the spontaneous expansion of the church and those that enhance its expansion. Pretty interesting stuff.
The author then makes reference to Jesus and His ministry of mobilizing workers and leaders.
Jesus’ model of training assumed that the disciples did not know something until they had learned to obey it. Jesus’ teaching was obedience oriented.” (p.97)
This statement of Addison is characteristic of much of the material that I have been reading lately in which much is made of the need for obedience-based discipleship in our churches and church planting endeavors today. It is one thing to know about God and the Bible; it is a radically other thing to obey God and His Word.
I have read or heard the following question asked at least twice lately as I have been studying CPMs:
”Why is the United States not experiencing church planting movements like those occurring around the world?”
The answer: Failure to “obey every command that I have taught you.” (Jesus)
Chapter 5, the last chapter of the book is entitled, Adaptive Methods
Addison declares that it is important for movements to be flexible in their use of methods because “adaptive methods enable a movement to function in ways that suit its changing environment and its expansion into new fields.” (p.106)
The thought is furthered when the author states that,
Movements that drift away from their core beliefs are always at risk, but so are movements that regard the way they currently function as sacred.” (p.110)
I believe that this thought can not only be applied to materials, methodologies, and strategies, it can be applied to church form as well (traditional program based-design, contemporary, seeker, etc.)
Ralph Neighbour, pastor and cell church authority, wrote about this matter of adaptation (at the church level) in his book, The Seven Last Words of a Dying Church – “We’ve Never Done It That Way Before.” In the book, Neighbour tells his story, and that of the church he pastored in Houston, Texas, West Memorial Baptist Church, as it adapted and transitioned from a traditional, program-based design church to a small group-based church, and then, to a cell-based church in an intentional effort to better reach and ministry to its surrounding community and regional area.
A couple of last quotes from this chapter come from Addison’s discussion of “Jesus and adaptive methods.”
Jesus trained His disciples in a way that was reproducible and transferable. He did not place unnecessary restrictions on who could be trained and entrusted with significant ministry. He expected faithfulness to the Gospel in word and deed, but there were no artificial academic or institutional requirements for trainees.” (p.115)
Jesus did not come to found a religious organization. He came to found a missionary movement that would spread to the ends of the earth.” (p.115)
The Early Christians … wanted to win as many people as possible to faith in Jesus Christ and gather them into communities that became mission centers as they eagerly awaited His return.” (p.115)
Paul argued for cultural relevance, not cultural relativism (I Corinthians 9:19-23).” (p.116)
An important element in Paul’s strategy was the establishment of new churches. He did not just win converts, he gathered them into communities of faith.” (p.116)
This chapter includes a great chart in which Steve compares “Unsustainable Church Planting Strategies” with “Sustainable Church Planting Strategies.”
Finally, in conclusion from the Conclusion:
What would it look like to align your life with Christ’s command and join a missionary movement that will one day reach every tribe, every language, every people, and every nation? … What needs to change in you (in me)? What do you need to do differently? (p.128)
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Hey, thanks for hanging in with me on this post, even if you had to come back and visit the blog two or three times in order to get it all read. It was pretty long.
But, I hope you have gotten something of a sense of what Steve Addison’s book is all about. If you’re interested in such things I would encourage you to pick up a copy and read it for yourself.
God bless you as you commit yourself to being swept up in God’s great movement to reach the nation’s for Himself.
November 17, 2009
The “Nations” Are Here: Fall 2009 Edition
I have just obtained the Fall 2009 international student enrollment figures for Texas A&M University in College Station, Texas. My family and I are involved in a home-based ministry to students from the “nations” who are pursing their academic careers in our community and these numbers are always very interesting to us.
The report shows that the international student population at A&M (Main Campus) has increased since the 2008-2009 school year.
The Fall 2008 international student enrollment was 4,484. This year’s total (Fall 2009) international student enrollment is 4,560.
The top five nations represented in this year’s international student enrollment (including financially “sponsored” students), and their numbers are:
Of these students, 3,646 are enrolled in graduate degree programs, while 824 are enrolled in undergraduates studies. The remaining numbers are enrolled in other studies and programs.
We are always mindful that the community’s international population is much greater than the university enrollment numbers would suggest. Many of the University’s students are married with children and are visited, often for extended periods of time, by parents and siblings. There is no way that we can accurately place a figure on the total number of internationals living in our community, but it is huge.
As I have written in earlier posts on this blog, we believe that the Lord of the Harvest, in His sovereignty, has brought the “nations” to our campus so that they might hear the saving message of Jesus Christ and come to know Him as their personal Savior and Lord. These new believers will then be discipled in the faith, as we are commanded to do by Christ in Matthew 28:18-20, and equipped for ministry and service (Ephesians 4:11-14). We will also seek to start organic, simple churches that will reach into the respective nationality groups and networks of the new believers and model a simple form of church that can be replicated and reproduced in any culture, setting, or nation.
These new believers will be used of the Lord, in their respective professional and academic fields as church planters, Bible teachers, pastors, and evangelists to reach their networks, people groups, and nations for the Lord Jesus Christ.
Please pray for the many to be led to faith in Christ and for us as we commit ourselves to reach and disciple the “nations” who are studying at Texas A&M University.
November 12, 2009
This Saturday, November 14, the Brazos Valley Worldfest 2009 will be conducted in College Station, Texas.
The Worldfest event is conducted annually to celebrate the international diversity and heritage of the Brazos Valley in central Texas.
The event celebrates international awareness by offering cultural displays, international cuisine, dance and music performances, children’s crafts, educational competitions and many other activities of interest.
International students from Texas A&M University will also have booths and information that will represent their nations and cultures.
So, if you would like to travel the world without leaving town this weekend, join us at Worldfest on Saturday.
Visit Worldfest’s website here.
November 12, 2009
In my recent post on The Bridges of God by Donald McGavran, I promised that I would share with you a number of quotes that caught my attention as I was reading through the book. As you read the quotes below, please remember that The Bridges of God was published in 1955.
The quotes pertain to church planting and church multiplication. I share them because I have been involved in the start of traditional, program-based design churches but am now increasingly interested in and convinced about the importance of starting rapidly multiplying churches that result in Church Planting Movements.
My prayer is that the reading of my earlier post on The Bridges of God, along with this post, will whet your appetite to learn more about what the Lord is doing around the world through CPMs, and what He might desire to do in and through you in the ministry of church planting.
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If there are ways to make disciples of panta ta ethne – all nations – without People Movements, it would be interesting to hear about them.” (p.99)
The missionary enterprise is using a strategy of an era now closing. It should switch to the strategy of the era now beginning. It has depended heavily on the mission work. It should depend heavily on multiplying congregations in new peoples.” (p.106)
Rapid discipling of entire tribes should be accompanied by an even more rapid production of an indigenous, self-supporting ministry.” (p.113)
Nothing could be better for missions than a bold strategy of actively supporting reproductive churches.” (p.135)
Missions would function with new life if their aims were radically pruned and they rededicated themselves to the business of planting self-propagating churches.” (p.135)
Evangelization which takes no account of this complex social structure and simply invites all ‘Americans’ to become Christians in existing congregations and denominations is chained to slow growth. Only an evangelization which sees the mosaic and encourages the myriad individuals who make it up to become followers of Christ in their normal social relationship has any chance of liberating multitudes.” (p.159)
And, in conclusion,
… the essential task of Christian Missions (is) the discipling of ethnos after ethnos till the Great Commission has been carried out.” (p.171)
