Ohio District Young Leaders Forum
Today (Sept. 11) I facilitated a discussion with a group of leaders from the Ohio District of the AG. We are at the Heartland Conference Center outside of Columbus.
I asked those present to discuss this question: What are the major cultural and leadership trends effecting your ministry right now?
Here is a summary of their responses and some of mine:
1. What does a disciple look like?
To Boomers it’s all about processes, to post-Boomers it’s all about the story of the person’s life (narrative)
2. Why are the unchurched “blind” to what we are doing; we seem invisible.
We will have to deal with them on the level of the Spirit, a perfect task for Pentecostals
3. Young familiities are too busy church.
Maybe we need to do less.
4. Words seem to have different words in my presentations; do you have a glossary. How does all this gell with John Maxwell training?
John provides the “head”, I’m trying to add the heart. We need both.
5. What are the future forms of Pentecost? Will unexpected things be coming?
Three visions of the pentecostal future, all need to concentrate on mission not market share.
6. How do “whatever” people find the Jesus door?
We don’t need a “whatever” gospel. We can be direct.
7. How do sunday am people get a “sent” mindset?
Start small on the inside and work outwards, taking your time.
8. What about righteousness in the hearts of Christians? Shouldn’t we be spending our time reaching nomiinal Christians, and those attending churches that don’t preach the gospel? Don’t we need a revival in the pentecostal church?
We do need a revival. Power flows to mission not to doctrinal distinctives.
9. How does lordship comes into meeting people where they are at? How do we take up our cross and follow?
We shuold bring a radical message. Jesus is a stumbling block, nopt a speed bump.
Welcome to the Reader Forum
Bookmark this article using Remarkable!
Off-Road Disciplines
In Off-Road Disciplines, Earl Creps reveals that the on-road practices of prayer and Bible reading should be bolstered by the other kinds of encounters with God that occur unexpectedly—complete with the bumps and bruises that happen when you go “off-road.”
See Earl on Google Video:
Earl Creps—a popular speaker and leader—is director of the Doctor of Ministry program and associate professor at the Assemblies of God Theological Seminary (AGTS) in Springfield, Missouri. He has been a pastor, ministries consultant, and university professor. Along the way, Creps earned a Ph.D. in communication at Northwestern University and a doctor of ministry degree in leadership at AGTS.
What is Earl doing? View or subscribe to Earl Creps' Google calendar. Or learn how to contact him directly.
Add Earl's Journal to
Join The Leading Edge email list:
A free monthly e-newsletter from the Doctor of Ministry Director, Earl Creps. Offers articles, training opportunities, tools, as well as recommended books, websites and other resources. To receive The Leading Edge enter your email address in the form below or request your subscription by emailing dmin@agts.edu. You can download past issues of The Leading Edge as small PDF files from Resources.
Great answer to question 9 about Jesus as the stumbling block. What I am hearing you say is basically:
Stay true to the message and keep it raw enough so as not to reduce the Lordship issue. I guess this means a deliberate awareness and resolve against the temptation of leaving out the cost of discipleship going into missional conversation.
“Power flows to mission, not doctrinal distinctives”... I remember revival being the crutch of most Pentecostal sermons I heard growing up. If the sermon isn’t connecting or lacks Pentecostal fervor, play the “revival-card” and how much we need it and you can bet that you’ll get some hearty amens. I heard it so much I began to wonder what revival really was.
I did the Brownsville thing. Loved it. But I grow tired of revival being the target. I don’t see anywhere in Scripture where “revival” is the goal. The Good News…yes. A transformed life…yes. Being a witness…yes again. But revival…no. Perhaps we should be honest and say revival just sells better than righteousness or truly loving one’s neighbor. I tend to think revival without renewal is a farce. Then again, I also tend to think I am way too skeptical and could do with some child-like innocence again.
Greetings, i just returned from the 4M at the Heartland retreat center. i took many notes and have many questions. i did however feel ( you can’t help that i know) that i was told, 1. you are not doing enough and 2. what you are doing is wrong.
God has blessed me with the privelge of pastoring a average size AG church 125-140. My question has to do with THE CHURCH. Is it the outreach, (the building itself)...or is it to be the training ground for the outreach of the church, The body of Christ?
Maybe i miss understood. That is very possible. But the ideas and thoughts i heard at the 4M would make the purpose of the church, that i have always known, impossible. A place for the body of Christ to come together for fellowship, breaking of bread and study the apostles doctrines. The unsaved will think that the communion is a weird thing, that the preaching is hard (heck, it’s hard for us believers…it makes us see God’s purity and holiness, which i know I LACK)preaching of the Word is to be encourangement and correction in the manner of our living our lives as missionaries for Jesus. But there is such a thing as church correction. That can’t happen if we are to watch that we are not offending and being too strong in our beliefs, but THEY ARE to happen. Shouldn’t the unsaved and spirtual seekers be ministered to in our LIVES we live 22/6 as well as the “church life of 2/1”, our sunday gathering? (get it 24/7 total!)
I am not saying that the unsaved are not welcome, we just had a pierced and tatooed 35 yr old get radically saved and is here every sunday & wed. He knows that he is welcomed and with a group of people that look drastically different than him, He loves the training ground. He has brought his two sisters and invites people every week.
Some of my questions are related to the young missionary to colorado, who will be here in March of next year, when he said, ‘they think it arrogant of us to say we have the ONE WAY!” Well, we do. I did’nt say it. Jesus did. If he wants to tell Jesus , “You are an arrogant bigot for being the only way”, God help him. My concern is for our young men and women who are not doctrinally trained to answer people as to why Jesus is the only way. They will be influenced rather than be an influence to others. when the young man said, “you can’t just preach the gospel or be apologetic, cause they just don’t care.” Well,...what is left? Or does it not matter, becasue they don’t care. Maybe even the coffee won’t even bring them salvation! (ok…that was a cheap shot!) but serously, we are to be missional, our LIVES in the world should be that. the CHURCH is always to be pure, in Truth, doctrine, and preaching of the Word. If that is offensive to people, then it is doing what it is to do. Making us die to self. seeing our desperate need of a Savior. Seeing the world has already been condemned before Jesus came. i want to see the unsaved get saved. The unchurch be churched? NO. The unsaved must be saved before they will ever find any preaching, true preaching, meaningful. Most of the new motivational speaking and therapists under the guise of the gospel will be cotton candy and rainbows to them.
But a crowd does not make a church. felt needs met may get a crowd, but the Biblical church adressed the issue of sin and the forgiveness from it. Becasue that will always be our enemy.
i keep hearing, “don’t change the message”, and that is obvious. but let’s not change the purpose of the church in mistake of the wanting to re-ignite the purpose of God’s people, our mission. GOD ALONE will build the church. 1. Through the message kept pure. 2. The truth being spoken and LIVED out in love and compassion.
thank you for making me think and re-think.
a servant with you,
harry
Harry…amen!