Insight's from Paul's Ministry

Paul's Light and Direction from Christ

There are many unique and noteworthy aspects of Paul’s missionary work. Paul stands out among the New Testament leaders and church fathers, not necessarily from his specific task but more for his single-minded focus on promoting the gospel and building committed communities. The following are five brief aspects that I believe are integral to the start of a movement: 


First is his concern for his countrymen and their acceptance of the risen Christ as Messiah. This focus integrated perfectly with Paul’s already astute study and breadth of knowledge founded in Hebrew scripture. As a Pharisee among Pharisees, Paul’s tie to the temple and the history of his people drove him to develop some of the most formative connections between Judaism and Christianity. His special care for theology and revelation of grace altered the core of the early church in Jerusalem and formed the majority of the non-Jewish traditions separated from temple and synagogue life. In the same way if we do not adhere to a commitment to "our" people (the socio/political/economic/classes), i automatically question the founding purpose and intent of the service.Not that I condemn it outright, I simply believe our motives need to be questioned if our outward vision is not noticeably in step with love.


Secondly, Paul’s deep reliance on the Holy Spirit and submission to the call of God uniquely setup an unorthodox method of evangelism. Relying on God’s direction instead of some elaborate point-by-point program helped the “church planter” to point to God always as the originator and sustainer of His ministry. Instead of homesteading and overseeing the overarching ministry Paul seems to prefer to proclaim the Gospel message, prepare the new converts for devoted lives to Christ, build leaders, and then move on to the next mission. This allows the most use of Paul’s time as itinerate preacher and “planter of the word”, while remaining true to the initial sending out he experienced from the church in Jerusalem as apostle to the gentiles.(Galatians 2) How can we embrace a "I won't move until the Spirit leads" ministry?


Third, is an unabashed embrace of hardship and sacrifice that seems to be a landmark throughout Paul’s missionary work. Paul teaches one of the most valuable lessons anyone can learn when embarking on a mission that encompasses a lifetime, namely being content in the worst and best of circumstances. From the outside looking in Paul’s ministry appears wrought with catastrophe, abandonments, and let down. However the apostle’s letters are beaming with a hope and brightness that can’t be overcome by outer turmoil. This example of steadfast focus on the work God calls us to is one of the most valuable legacies Paul hoped to achieve, indeed it is the driving force behind countless sermons and convictions among congregations embracing a missional stance in today’s less than engaged world.


The fourth aspect I feel must be addressed is Paul’s concern for the already accomplished work among churches he had left. Even though the desired road to Rome became a passion in Paul’s imprisoned years, his deep connection with church leaders, servants, and even entire households were Paul’s greatest interest. He holds the various congregations up as the crowning achievement of his work, even getting involved in the spiritual derision among the churches. He never pushes aside one ministry for the next, instead he remains connected through emissaries and servants; giving council, relaying messages, and encouraging along the way. This only affirms my belief that we don't leave anyone, we move apart and closer.


Finally Paul lays out one of the hardest pictures to relay to today’s missions based mindset. The Apostle attempts to make no financial demands for His ministry, and instead appealed to the reasonable charity of helping the “struggling church in Jerusalem." While he received support in a variety of ways from the congregations his appeal is never to sustain His own journey. He worked with his hands, providing for himself and was joyed to do so. Paul relates his own work to a runner who doesn’t run for the sake of himself or even glory but for a prize that is only received upon completion of the race. And that prize isn’t financial or physical comfort, but the reception of Christ alone. This mindset would destroy the "industry" of modern church.


From his initial conversion and subsequent outreach to the larger missionary journeys with Luke and Barnabas, Paul stands out among his peers and the generations of missionaries throughout the centuries. I love the section that says, “Four major trips occupy the rest of [Paul’s] life, including hardships everywhere he goes, care and concern for the fledgling congregations planted at almost every stop along the way, and a burning desire to preach Christ where he was not known.”[1] I hope everyone can glean some passion for purpose in the Gospel through studying Paul’s example. While his method is not noticeably formulaic it is, nonetheless, marked by traits that can be applied to our own call and election within the body of Christ.

Confession Confetti

The reward of gospel-centered community isn’t affirmation or praise, or honor. It is a hellbore brokenness before the people (in the open). We are free from condemnation, not the judgment of others but the self imposed darkness of keeping up the lie that we know what we’re doing and that we are doing it all so well.

We must come to terms with the fact that though relief from the pain comes from dogged honesty with our selves; our true restoration comes from honesty with others. It is not our place to hold back and live secretly. 

A good friend of mine says “fail publicly, restored publicly” that way God gets the glory or a life changed and a heart renewed.

I just want the church (God’s people) to be honest and stop hiding behind religiosity. 

Our religious practice is worthless – not because we haven’t learned how to practice correctly but because we’ve substituted practicing it for the genuine, heart-wrenching, glory-producing power of God through obedience. We have traded the brokering and proclamation of freedom for gate-keeping our own bondage and holding others in the same snare. Release yourself from the cycle of secret sin, confess them to each other, believe for each other, and restore the weaker brother. God is good.

You are the Movement

my new blog idea  =/<240 words

People often get the wrong impression when i say things like "we are building toward a movement", or "I don't want a ministry I want a movement." I'm guilty of a lot of things; one of my primary vices is saying the same things continuously with little (or no) exposition.

Yeah, it's shutterstock, So What?

What is this "movement" I'm so apt to throw around in casual conversation? Well, of course we want a lasting/impacting community that is authentic, spirit-led, and reproducible, but the intent of movement (as far as I’m concerned) is not organizational, it is explicitly individual and ever-increasing in measure. I want to see movement in singular hearts that ignites faith into action and action into deeper faith. Make no mistake, there is no reproducible system that is not first individually transformative and gradually tested.

That is all.

Curiosity killed the cat, God brought the cat from death to life. . .

I feel the need to define what it is to be “missional” from a purely one-sided and personal viewpoint. Usually when we talk about missional attitudes or missional paradigms, the discussion leans heavily on the church as a whole and where we hope every disciple ends up (or at least a large community within). But today I just want to say what is pouring out of my heart as it applies to me.

I have inside of me an ever-increasing desire to see God move. And to be perfectly honest it’s 50% selfish ambition, 50% inspired. I’ve lived a life in service to a King, I’ve seen His power manifest through great movements and through the unexpected (maybe even mundane) events of everyday life. These experiences have continually brought me back to a place where I fully admit that I have no idea what He’s up to. And still I seek out His Hand. Now, it’s not my intention to wax poetic, on the contrary, I fully intend to show the practical application of this internal compass.

While I’m under no constraint or obligation to see God “do His thing”, I’m drawn to it. I’m always curious about what He is doing in the lives of others. Not in this monumentally overshadowing (often fictional) thing we’ve affectionately term a “calling”. No, I want to know what He is doing inside of others. For some it may be ministry but in most cases it’s a simple lesson that can be easily explained by open and honest communication. This is where community comes in. If I have truly connected with someone, this process is as natural as commenting on the weather. And I get excited about this stuff. To be more precise I get fueled by this “day-to-day” acting out of what God is doing in us. When I turn the spotlight around and place it on myself in this context I can see God doing the same type of thing in me. He’s teaching me (seemingly) simple lessons by the experiences I go through. In some cases I get it right away and move on to the next, at other [full disclosure=most]times I wrestle with the validity or truth of the thing that God is trying to reveal to me.

Now what does all that have to do with missional. Well, seeing the hand of God move in my own individual life (regardless of the enormity or commonality) births a greater desire to actively give myself to the community God has placed me in, which in turn fuels my passion to promote the Gospel which, of course, compels me to seek out the lost, to heal the broken, give to the poor, and love people. To me missional is this life lived toward others, giving myself away for the promotion of the Gospel. And not the Gospel as a formula, but as a redemptive story lived out by anyone turning away from darkness and embracing the light in any capacity.

That’s how I see it today, it will likely evolve. I’m curious about what it looks like in the actual lives of others.

The Kids Are Not All Right. . .

A Starting Point

I believe we are facing a crucial time in history; a time that will be defined by the very act and focus of the modern church. Much like the Reformation and the Great American Awakening, the course of our societal norms will be shifted in the current generations’ response to the Gospel. As postmodernism phases into the next wave of skepticism or anti-authoritarianism, the unified body of Christ in its traditional form stands at the gates of spiritual awareness and knowledge; ready to bring in or close off the oncoming seekers of truth. There are many issues that go along with this “gatekeeper” role and, I believe, the church as a whole is going to have to bear a more intentional burden of welcoming, training, and sending out the next wave of reluctant converts.

If we are to be effective in this new dynamic there are some communal practices that must be revised and adopted. There are modes of worship that will be adjusted and there are styles of teaching that will shake many of our traditional “senses”. But the end result will be an embracive Christianity that becomes more than a refuge for the old and fearful, more than a retreat for those abandoning a sinking ship (the world), and more than a moralistic daycare for the too-young-to-know-better. This new Christianity will stand for Christ and advance the gospel in ways that previous generations never imagined (and, disappointingly, never attempted).  The church has an obligation to evaluate and restructure its priorities to accomplish this providential and awesome task.

There are four ways I believe that will make the difference when it comes to engaging the current youth paradigm. They are: making Connections, presenting Community, providing Challenge, and becoming Catalysts. [In true minister fashion alliteration is the best form of presenting concepts (Craddock, 1985)] As a program these ideals are lacking but as a baseline for reconsidering or confirming our current models they have enormous potential. It will be up to youth leaders and those that have a heart for what God might do with a generation completely given to the gospel to present these notions to congregations across the world. There are already small pockets already doing so. Reggie Joiner, Andy Stanley, and Brian Haynes are some gleaming examples of moving away from compartmentalized ministry groupings and into a more collaborative and unified pool of experiences that draw congregations into the lives of children, teenager, and young adults alike.(Haynes, 2009)

Making Connections

I could never be blamed for brevity, my writing style is overly conversational, but it goes back to my years in youth ministry. I learned quickly that relating to youth meant literally having a “relationship with youth”. We must connect on a deeper-than-acknowledgement level with children. Think “family”. We are not simply content to know our brothers/sisters/parents/children/cousins (well maybe cousins) exist; we also want to know their aspirations and fears so that we can invest ourselves into their potential. That’s what children and young adults so desperately need from their peers and mentors; they must be validated by relationship and not mere association. The church has miserably attempted to associate with the youth culture while completely missing many opportunities to become part of their story. (Robbins, 2004)

Connections come in many forms; one of the cautions in making connections is attempting to strategize for numbers. There is nothing implicitly wrong with increasing numbers but the second a teenager feels that their value is diminished or manipulated, they will shut down and likely have a negative impact by the rapid fire microcosm of “word-of-mouth” advertisement. Our focus will have to be individually granted, this means larger youth teams and more relational training. Thankfully there have been amazing strides in these areas from Youth training seminars () to entire textbooks on the subject.

Presenting Community

After we’ve become a part of their story it is vital that we become attractional in “our story”. This requires a more directive approach on the part of the local body of Christ. We must get back to being community (tribal?) minded. (Hogan, 2011)  The bible teaches that we were made to glorify God “together” as the church not alone as rigid individuals (Ephesians 3:20-4:12). The New Testament paradigm wasn’t a matter of influence and ability but more an astonishingly simple application of being there for each other in everything no matter what. Kids need to see this as a reality of church. Postmodernism has destroyed the illusion that the church is a benefit to society as a whole, it is up to the congregations of today to retake the mantle that the Holy Spirit lit in that small group of believers in Jerusalem that became the model of change and unification over the next millennia.

Community isn’t about being “touchy feely” or ignoring critical issues. It’s about doing life together! Sharing in the joys and struggle’s of one another. This is a dynamic that a teenager is less likely to abandon in their college years (Kinnaman & Lyons, 2011). Community is a venue for revitalizing all aspects of church life not only youth, as a congregation becomes more unified and interpersonal, the experience of Christian living becomes emboldened by the power of the Holy Spirit in individual lives. Often through accountability and the mentorship/discipleship processes. (Barna, 2011)

Providing Challenge

                This dynamic is the simplest to teach and the hardest to implement. Challenge involves the deeply committed aspect of our spiritual lives. In its simplest form it is a matter for devotionals. Study and meditation are foundational principles in challenging new (and old) Christians. As it applies to youth there are areas where we, as the church, can belittle and even patronize people. We must be careful not to oversimplify the Call of God and His purpose in the lives of people.  We can’t force this mentality into the life of children but it is a severe mistake to not promote and emulate the spiritual disciplines (prayer, meditation, reading, fasting, fellowship, etc.). (Root, 2007)Challenge is a rite of passage (especially among young males).  Creating a sense of healthy pride in accomplishment can be an intentional and spiritual experience. It is our job as leaders and Christians to create and allow that experience to take place in the individual lives of youth. This may take great patience and one-on-one attention, but the end result is integral to continual growth into the college and career ages.

                Becoming Catalysts

                It is vital that youth leaders and workers understand the interconnected relationship of the lager Christian body and the youth programs within that body. This interrelation can then be easily bridged into the life of young people taking hold of personal relationships in Christ. It’s easy to follow the catch-phrase perspective of youth being the “church of tomorrow”, but a shift needs to be made to the church of right now. Musically inclined youth should be encouraged to worship freely (in their own modes without too many restrictions), while astute youth should be allowed to lead or teach in certain capacities; realizing  it is never too early to bring kids into the process of reaching out to others in love. God desires to have an impact in elementary schools and in corporations, treating children like they’re roles are diminished is no way to prepare them for the hardship and sacrifice of the Christian life.

                There is no guarantee that these processes alone will solidify or reinvigorate any youth program; however, carefully considering their implications and application within established or considered models is a step in the right direction. We must take the business of discipling youth more intentionally. There is little room for complacency if we are to be impactful in the generations present in our congregations today.  I’m reminded of a simple adage from a prominent contemporary pastor, “Everybody ends up somewhere but few people end up somewhere on purpose”. (Groeshel, 2006) It is the church’s’ responsibility as a whole to put that purpose within reach of students.

Community can fail (perspectives)

So here's some of the incredible input and advice that others had to back up and give insight into this idea (thanks everyone that helped me organize the background of this):

-it's God's community and He's in charge.

-It doesn't matter if you're seeking community, that's awesome and you'll find it if you are.  The real purpose of community is not to seek it, it's to seek others and bring them into it so “Authentic” community goes to the individual, out of love, and draws them back in.  Unless God (only Him) has called them away, then “authentic” community encourages them, prays over them and sends them out with blessing, and remains available to support and strengthen them in God's call.

-A bigger point of community is not to be sought out, but to go and seek others.

The thing about community is that it’s like a living organism.  Sometimes it's running full speed, adrenaline pumping and all.  Other times, it's in recovery mode (pacing itself, trying to stabilize).  So it expands and contracts like everything else in nature. [Beautiful picture made through wisdom]

 Discipleship [as applied in community] really just depends on how God's Spirit moves people.  Despite our best efforts [or motives, or intentions], God is bigger than this issue and will bring about good fruit in community.

- I am (or "we are") not really the linchpin(s)[.e. the ones holding this thing together].  Community is much larger than little ole' me [or us].  It’s not up to us to hold it together, it’s up to us to hear God and apply His voice to the conversation and climate that He is weaving.

-This "fall" is not necessarily a bad thing.  We define "success" differently than Jesus did in terms of what a successful community looks like.  If Jesus' community was successful (which I believe it was), then we must admit that a truly successful community is one that falls apart from time to time.  It is one where every time it gets too big (or ineffective), Jesus (the Gospel) pulls a few weeds, or even uproots some of the stronger plants (to move them to a larger garden).  On the outside this looks like a complete failure (accident), I know.  But we couldn't have stopped it if we knew it was coming years prior to the crumbling.  In fact, if we could, I'm not so sure it would even be a good thing.  As we have said in our community (about dying ministries), "let the dying horse die!"

- People do community (and accountability) for the wrong reasons all the time.  In fact, we as leaders often fail (depending on the week).  It doesn't seem helpful to insist that everyone always have the right motives when seeking (or returning to community, or seeking accountability).  It seems more helpful to talk about those reasons once they’re "in" (or back in).  Again, our motives are constantly changing colors and deceiving us.  Let us not judge the motives of others too harshly, but instead simply be glad for their participation / return.

-My heart goes out to community everywhere ‘cause it's a hard call. The weight of ministry and relationships is heavy and without a team to bare those burdens it's even tougher.

- Sure it'll look different, but that's ok if it does.  God is going to do what He's done for thousands of years and His will is going to prevail.  As hard as it is to watch it change and even fall apart, the most loving thing I can do for the community I gave everything to is to step out of God's way when He calls me out and let him work on those hearts.  That doesn't mean that on a personal level I abandon them all together.  I still love them, but I love them too much to continue protecting them from what God expects of them.

Community can fail, Community never fails

This is a collaborative exercise, needed input from community outside of my immediate influence to accurately go into this. . . enjoy.

          I’m gonna be brutally honest and let you into my world for a second. I have no idea what to do specifically about this subject; it’s seemingly unavoidable and unnerving at the same time. Those of you that have shared in faith with me know that the last several years of my life have been about promoting, building, and sustaining COMMUNITY. There are many great blogs about it that go far deeper into its meaning and value within the body than I have time to, but what I want to talk about is a little more specific. I want to talk about the cycle, and even more pointed than that I wanna get into the thick of:

“when community starts to fall”.

Now the intricate balance we have learned to strike in leadership is one of growing with people but allowing people to grow outside of your influence also. [Another blog entirely involves growing with people you lead instead of just leading people, but another time-] This is no simple task because inevitably you will have a follower that gets into something so detrimental to their development that you feel that not stepping in is almost promoting sin, but it must be done. If people are not believed in and encouraged to great faith they will always struggle in “little faith”. We never want to see people fail but it’s the price that is paid to make them truly succeed. Now take that a step further, there are ministries and discipleships and a myriad of other things that we pour ourselves into that will eventually fade. The impact on individuals may never be fully realized (good or bad, eternal or temporary) but the first inclination is to step back in and revitalize the movement. I don’t know every step to take but my first impression is. . . NO! Stop. Think about our desires and the call of God. He called you away for a purpose, I know it’s hard, but the movement isn’t yours, it’s the Spirit of God moving in them. There are no bailouts in the Kingdom, a thing stands and falls on the Will of God alone. Of course good stewardship is necessary and should be duly encouraged, but we must allow things to run their course. It’s just as likely that things need to be destroyed to give birth to the next thing God wants to do.

Now I’m probably going to get some push back from this and that’s okay but something that is so incredibly lacking today is the true faith that comes through persevering. People make mistakes and as light or drastic as it appears, those mistakes have consequences. There is a natural cycle in the church; from youth programs to leadership and this experience is universal. Excitement swells, connections are made, influence becomes standard, critical mass is reached, the people revolt, leadership freaks out, there becomes a new norm and from there we either rebuild from nearly scratch or get called away. Now there are many more factors that come into play and the more community reliant a movement becomes the less likely the winding down takes hold and the easier to notice problems and address them with personal devotion/attention. The point is that we must allow leaders to lead, they will always need mentorship, the people will always need a new thing to rally for, but it’s our responsibility as leaders to give everyone the room to grow. God has a lot of puzzle pieces to order, we each have our call, be obedient to the ministry you are called to “Right Now” and avoid the trap of being disappointed about what cannot be sustained. Community will be rebuilt, attacked from a different angle, and flourish through the attack. God is faithful, His way is perfect.

Once again it’s hard to fully gauge this because my view of Community has come into such focus over the last few years, but we will work through this, and as churches become more aware of the filter of community I’m sure we’ll all have some better approaches, but for now trust in what God can and will do through our people. I’m interested in the thoughts of others who have seen vast community decline or change in the last few years, what are your thoughts, opinions, and warnings?

Ink and Islands. . . Tribes (pt1)

We are Tribe.

A tribal people, sects and offshoots from an original kingdom. Unlike states who rely on order, status, and direct oversight, many of us from the faith have chosen a tribal right. It is a curious thing that often leads to tension and misunderstanding but the payoff is infinite freedom in this tribal community. I, myself, am part of a Pentecostal tribe, we tried charismatic for awhile but it lacked a clear enough definition, so we’ve reverted to the old name. I love my tribe, for all it’s faults and admitted problems it is the place I feel the most “at home”. Something a lot of people don’t get about tribalism is the structure, so my intent is to open up some of the picture I see when looking at this from the inside. I’m sure from the outside there is a completely different view (you’ll have to find one of them for that).

First of all let me go into what forms a tribe then we’ll look at some parabolic shared history. First off you’ll have to revert to an eastern mindset (some would say Hebraic) and think Kingdom. This is a hard concept for westerners to grasp, it actually has a lot to do with why the mainstream Christian church is so susceptible to corruption and division based on corruption, lack of biblical perspective of Authority. You often get asked dumb questions not based on reality, people like to say things like, “It’s not okay to break the law, right, but what about when the law contradicts God? “ that’s an interesting philosophical point but a straw man none-the-less. The solution comes in understanding where authority originates and where it filters through. It’s pretty simple at its basis, but becomes more and more complex when you attempt to pick it apart. Tribes come from people who are unwilling to bend to the “exact doctrine” of the state. There are a lot of intricate details in that sentence that should be delved into, but not now so on to the quick:

We have a King, who established a Kingdom, and then invited refugees, brigands, turn-coats, and simple people into its fertile borders. In this Newfound Kingdom one edict was sent down, “You will swear allegiance to the King before and above all else, His word is Law, He is the Lord of life, and you are subject to His Will.” Based on this edict we established homes, built communities, and began to flourish. Someone decided along the way (due mainly to the size of our estates) that some general rules should be set out (you know for order and good conduct). [Now this is the sleight of hand that established the Christian brand of tribalism; notice here how thin the line that is drawn becomes a chasm.] Most agreed to these rules and those who did not simply left these lands. The Kingdom was huge in those days, there was plenty of room and more than enough space to allow everyone to live and grow in the direction they saw fit.

I’ll get back to that story some day but you can sorta see where it’s all going I think.  So now you have today. We are many tribes in the same Kingdom, most tribes are pretty close and intermix pretty well, (some notsomuch) but we advance, we grow and shrink, we change and revert. I love this, love the whole thing, there is great freedom here. I’ll be honest there have been wars, people lost and hurt but most transitions are safe, I have learned to respect my fellow citizens even when their systems seem contrary to common sense. We make the difference in this world as we embrace the purpose of the King. We are a tribal people.