Be careful what you ask for

So, I've always had this dream of what it would be like to experiment with bivocational ministry. That is, working another job so that you can pay the bills while you're also doing ministry. I've been toying with this idea for sometime developing my skill as a firefighter in the case God might give me the opportunity to earn my livelihood as a career firefighter to pay for my interests in ministry.

Been experimenting with this for a little while recently to see what it might be like to have another job and try to lead a church at the same time. So far it's pretty difficult. But you get better at it as you develop more energy and find routines. The other thing that makes it difficult for me at the moment is that I've had to go to part time paid status with the church but my other incomes aren't high enough to cover the deduction.

I guess in a perfect world, your tentmaking job would pay all the bills comfortably and cover benefits as well. Right now I'm just working two other part time jobs and not bringing in enough to make ends meet. Good news is that this will probably only last for a few months.

Overall it's become a valuable experience for pushing this model of ministry. Definitely helps you understand why being paid full time by a church can sometimes be easier. But in young rural churches and church planting circles I'm not sure that would always be a possibility. So I'm super thankful for the chance to be able to try this out for a short while. Just never imagined this situation would happen so soon after I began asking God for the opportunity. Sometimes it seems like it takes God forever to answer prayers. Other times no sooner does it leave your lips...

Chasing Your Dreams

Learning alot lately about dissapointment. Reaching out to try and do things to see God's kingdom expand. Not always seeing the hoped expansion. No explanation for this. But keep trying regardless. Don't know what else I would do to show my love. Ran into some quotes recently that make me think about this subject.

"I figured from the beginning that it would mean a life of poverty. Because puzzles don't pay much. But I wanted to do puzzles so badly that I was willing to live a life of poverty in order to do it." - Will Shortz 'New York Times Puzzles Editor'

Good quotes don't need an explanation. It's like trying to explain a good joke. If you don't see it, read it again. Here's another from my second favorite blind celebrity (Stevie Wonder is #1 of course).

"I long to accomplish a great and noble task, but it is my chief duty and joy to accomplish humble tasks as though they were great and noble...for the world is moved along, not only by the mighty shoves of its heroes, but also by the aggregate of tiny pushes of each honest worker. - Helen Keller

So I push ahead in spite of the difficulty or frustration hoping to turn a corner at some point to get a fresh glimpse of the mission we're on.

Jogging not blogging

Wow, time flies when you're stinkin' busy. Working several jobs right now to make ends meet and try to save some money for a newer used minivan. Our last two vans were donated but the final one is starting to perish.

What else is new for me? I lost 30lbs in the last 3 months. Was 215 in January and 185 today. Feels pretty good. That's probably why I don't have any free time for blogging because I've replaced it for jogging.

Here's a video that alot of folks have been asking me about. Sent to me by a friend a few months ago and really fit into the tail end of a message I delivered this past Easter weekend.

They will know we are Christians by our...

Apparently, they'll know we are Christians by our buildings, signage, and advertisements.

If we want people to find us we need a great location and enough advertisements to direct them to us. Never mind content. What's important is appearances and first impressions.

What if the people of God were so beautiful and so wonderfully reflected God's beauty that the church became a beautiful place and a beacon of God's light. Could that really happen? Could our love be that powerful?

34"A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. 35By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another." John 13

9"As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love. 10If you obey my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have obeyed my Father's commands and remain in his love. 11I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete. 12My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. 13Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends. 14You are my friends if you do what I command. 15I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master's business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you. 16You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit—fruit that will last. Then the Father will give you whatever you ask in my name. 17This is my command: Love each other. John 15

14"You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. 15Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. 16In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven. Matthew 5

Multi-site church planting is stinking hard!

Let's see... we were really stoked about CTK Silverdale. At our last gathering we had 4 small groups online. We met again last night to make plans on launching an every other week public worship gathering.
Now just recently got the news that most of the members from two of those small groups made a decision to step into an already up and running Saturday night service at an existing church instead of continuing with our vision to do something fresh and new. Everyone admits that they love the CTK concept but the timing isn't right for them at the moment because they want to step into something that is already up and running that they can sit back and enjoy.
Part of the added difficulty is geography. We're all aimed on seeing something start in Kitsap county but we're spread out along a 50 mile stretch from Port Orchard to Bremerton to Poulsbo and Pt. Townsend. And I live an additional ferry ride away on Whidbey Island.
So this hasn't totally botched our efforts but just set us back a little bit as we feel we need a larger core group to go with the plan. Really feel convinced that God is ahead of us on this vision. I would have given up long ago had it not been for the clear call of God in this direction.

CTK Oak Harbor: Pizza Factory take one.
So we pulled together all of our resources and best attempts at advertising. Leaving for India two weeks before the launch probably wasn't the best idea but Christmas only comes once a year. We said all along that Christmas time would either make or break this new launch. The thought was that lots of folks check in to church during the holidays but lots of folks are also out of town. Long story short... lots of folks were out of town.
In hindsight we all admitted two things: we'll need alot more organization on our advertising attempts and we'll need entire small groups to commit to the next go around. We thought maybe since we had several small group leaders & participants represented that would suffice but I think having entire small groups buzzing around it would provide the momentum to keep going.
All said, Pizza Factory was a great learning and faith experience for us all and through the process we grew closer to each other and identified more key leaders.
Back to the drawing board...

Meanwhile, how many times do you keep trying something before you give up? If you get turned down the first time you ask a girl out on a date do you give up dating? Hopefully, our Christ love for people will continue to propel us forward toward this exciting outreach.

A picture's worth...

India Report

Here's a great overview of the recent trip to India through the lens of Dave Browning...

From November 27th through December 10th four of us traveled to India to encourage the CTK leaders there - Pastor Dave Browning (CTK Burlington), Pastor Jonathan Oleson (CTK Oak Harbor),Duane Youngren (CTK Burlington) and Gerard Post van der Berg (CTK Lopez Island). Our time in India was a whirlwind adventure throughout the state of Andhra Pradesh, involving 20 meetings in 10 days, including a large womenʼs conference and four large pastors conferences (1500 pastors in total). We spoke at both CTK and denominational churches. We made presentations at Hindu and Christian schools. We also presided over a dedication of the CTK headquarters in Hyderabad, and a groundbreaking ceremony for a CTK Bible College at Mirasapally. The CTK story is expanding rapidly, and leaders we met were excited about what CTK represents.

Beginning with a shirt.
The CTK story in India began when Yedidya Parker found a Christ the King t-shirt in a used clothing bin on the streets of Hyderabad. Having seen the magnitude of that city (6.5 million people), it is miraculous that Yedidya would find this shirt, particularly considering Yedidyaʼs call from God to rapidly expand His kingdom. Now, a couple years later, it is startling to see CTKʼs logo not just on shirts, but on church buildings, trucks, motorcycles and handbags.

A modern day apostle.
I consider Yedidya to be a modern-day apostle. He has preached in over a thousand villages, many places where the gospel has never been preached before. He has baptized thousands of converts. He has deployed scores of evangelists and pastors. He is courageous though regularly threatened for his witness by both the Hindu and Muslim population. He is revered throughout the country as a man of God who gives himself sacrificially. He follows in the footsteps of his godly father, Abraham Parker, who pastored for many years in Hyderabad in spite of persecution and hardship. Yedidya is the greatest legacy of his fatherʼs ministry, as he is now raising up hundreds of leaders in his wake. Yedidyaʼs family is very supportive in the work. His wife Sondra, daughters Shimeath (18) and Priscilla (17), and son Jeyson (13) and Eg (12) are all very dedicated to the Lord.

An existing relational network.
Yedidya has developed many personal relationships throughout India. We saw approximately 25% of his network during our two week trip. Many of his colleagues are “converting” over to CTK now that Yedidya is affiliated with us. Yedidya is vetting possible leaders as they express interest. He wants to make sure that leaders are willing to sacrifice and are not wrongly expecting financial support, etc. There are approximately 100 leaders on board at this time, but this could easily swell to 1000 in the coming months, particularly now that we have visited and raised the level of awareness further. The Bible College may also prove to be a very strategic development, as it will be the first one in that district of A.P.
Yedidya is shifting in his personal ministry from being a leader of people, to a leader of leaders. Many of the leaders with which Yedidya is working are dynamic in their own right. One man that I met from Tamil Nadu (the most southern state in India) has plans to develop CTK leaders in each of the 18 districts in south India. He has leaders identified in 8 districts already.

A different posture.
The church in India is fractured around competitiveness and denominationalism, and CTK is having a unifying effect because we are “keeping the main thing the main thing” and walking in humility. In one district where we held a pastors conference we were told it was the first time in recent memory that pastors had gathered in that district without the meeting ending in a fight. Everywhere we went we were treated like royalty. We were uncomfortable with this attention, of course, but the Indian culture is certainly a culture of honor. This quality needs to be balanced by the leaders honoring the people. Yedidya made a point of getting on his knees and praying for the pastors at many meetings. This sort of servanthood is being blessed by the Lord and needs to be modeled going forward.

Pakistan, here we come.
While I was in India, I spoke by phone with a prospective CTK leader from Pakistan. While it may be prohibitive for American CTK leaders to go to Pakistan to meet with him, Yedidya is looking to make a trip in the next couple months to support this new leader. India may prove to be an excellent avenue to reach into other Muslim countries, as well.

A technology partner.
Many companies in India are on the bleeding edge of technology. It may be that believers in India end up giving support to the web/technology needs of the entire CTK network. While I didnʼt have time to explore this in depth, I believe that Yedidyaʼs daughter Shimeath may be key to this possibility, as she is top of her class in a technology university

Funding options.
The leaders in India walk by faith and are leveraging the few hundred dollars that we send from America to good effect. With those funds they are not only assisting pastors, but supporting an orphanage, a 700 student Christian school, and sustaining a number of blind believers. Of course, one of the challenges is to see the ministries in India self-supporting, without increasing funding from other countries. One possible option might be to leverage the rising economy in India for kingdom expansion. For example, there is a businessman in India who exports slate, and is willing to arrange proceeds to go toward the ministry. If we can find an outlet for this slate in the U.S. we may be able to develop a viable business strategy to support the expanding ministry in India. Until then I see us continuing to support India with modest resources and then giving them some additional backing for projects like the Bible College through special offerings.

Six parts work, one part rest.
The leaders I met in India are working hard to spread the gospel and build the ministry. I believe we can learn a greater work ethic from them, and that they can greater balance from us. I encouraged Yedidya to take a week off when we left, and his response was, “Can I do that?” There is a sense of passion and urgency that is refreshing, but we also need to plan for the long haul if the Lord tarries.

Future visits.
Yedidya and Sondra intend to come to the Arrows Out Ministry Conference in Mount Vernon February 2nd, and perhaps to invite some other leaders to join them (if those leaders can raise support to come). I would anticipate leaders going to India annually to support the key leaders there.