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Reflections from EN 2010 world conference

I spent last week in Manila at the Every Nation 2010 world conference that hosted 18,000+ delegates from 50 countries. (Every Nation is the family of churches and ministries that GBCK belongs to.)

Here are some reflections in no particular order:

•  The Gospel is growing and bearing fruit around the world, especially in closed countries where Christianity is illegal.

•  Our #1 mission is to make disciples whether you are in the U.S., Asia, Europe, Africa, or wherever; this is our mandate.

•  God uses the ordinary person to do the extra-ordinary work of the Gospel.  All it takes is humility and reliance on God.

•  We must learn how to put down and let go of offenses if we are to pick up and carry the cross of Jesus and fulfill His mission.

• Every Nation, Every Campus: Reaching the next generation is imperative.

•  The Philippines is hot!

•  The Gospel shows us what's broken, and shows us the solution to our brokenness. We must never stop preaching the Gospel.

•  Each one reach one:  who am I reaching and believing to come to faith in Jesus?

•  The local church is God's chosen tool for reaching the world with the Gospel; it's through disciples not organizations that people are reached for Jesus.

•  Put away my excuses, my pettiness, and my hang ups, and get about the Kingdom business of making disciples by leading them to develop their faith, deepen their connections, and to devote their lives to God's mission.

Thoughts on leadership and ministry…

Yesterday we had a great "round table" meeting of the Hawaii Every Nation pastors.  We meet almost every month and it's such a valuable time of sharing, inspiration, and fellowship.

Here are some takeaways from our discussion:

• Get people in their right lanes so they can function and serve effectively.
• You need people who can get things done, but you also need leaders.  (For me, you need people who not only can do stuff, but who can think things through.)
• It's necessary to move people through their seasons of life, especially in a leadership context.
• Choose relationships over methods.
• Just because there's a lot of activity doesn't mean there's fruitfulness.
• Patience, it's God's church and he's working at his pace not mine.
• What I do now will shape my ministry 40 years from now.
• Leaders impart values.  You can never let up on imparting the value of reaching others for Jesus.
• God is always working on the man of God. (As I grow the church grows.)
• People want to hear your heart
• Embrace the process of developing my philosophy and theology of ministry. (What do I believe?)

Great quote on the Resurrection

If Christ had not risen, B.B. Warfield notes:

“…what would enable us to say, He was able to pay the penalty He had undertaken? That He died manifests His love and His willingness to save. It is His rising again that manifests His power and His ability to save. We cannot be saved by a dead Christ, who undertook but could not perform, and who still lies under the Syrian sky, another martyr of impotent love. To save, He must pass not merely to but through death. If the penalty was fully paid, it cannot have broken Him, it must needs have been broken upon Him. The resurrection of Christ is thus the indispensable evidence of His completed work…It is only because He rose from the dead that we know that the ransom He offered was sufficient, the sacrifice was accepted, and that we are His purchased possession."

The Person and Work of Christ, p. 544

Some thoughts on faith

"A lack of faith in God doesn't diminish God's greatness, it denies it."

"Faith in God puts God's greatness on display.  The flip side, God is still great even when we are faithless."

Just some thoughts after reading Luke's account of Jesus delivering the demon possessed boy after the disciples could not.  Luke 9: 37 - 43.  Placing our faith in Jesus exalts what Christ did for us and recognizes what we can't do for ourselves.