Author Archive

Posted on June 25, 2010 - by Larry - 1 Comment

The Temple

Been reading through the book “A Godward Life” by John Piper as part of my devotion in the mornings.   I use it as a supplement to my bible reading. I like to read the Bible through each year though I must admit I do not always make it.  There are portions that seem to be harder to get through but that is just being honest and probably another post.  I have found  daily bible reading plans helpful. Here is one from the Journey Church in St. Louis called Engage Scripture.

Recently I read:

¹⁹Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, ²⁰ for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body.

1 Corinthians 6:19-20 (ESV)

My mind instantly rewound to when I was in college and made some steps in the right direction regarding my spiritual life. I was not always making the right choices in many areas of my life. One of the men who was discipling me at this time really challenged me with this verse. It meant a lot to me then and it means a lot to me now.

As a follower of Christ the Holy Spirit resides in me. My body is a temple. It is not only what I do but also what I think and say that needs to be considered. All of these activities should be honoring to God not appalling.

I talk a lot about  how the Holy Spirit guides us in mission (Acts 1:8).  But, I need to also remember that the Holy Spirit is involved in all areas of my life.

A couple of questions to consider:

What verses do you keep going back to?

and why are they important to you?

Posted on June 22, 2010 - by Larry - 3 Comments

The Bench

Normally I use park benches to stop and tie my shoes while on a run or something.

This morning I realized that you can actually stop and sit down on them. What a novel idea for someone to put a park bench in a strategic place. I love living here in Germany. We have a lot  of benches where I live. Often they are on top of a hill so after you climb you can sit and rest or I guess enjoy the view.

I realized this morning that I do not stop and enjoy the view enough. As I was walking hurriedly through our town going from one place to the next I noticed a park bench. I decided not to stop though but thought that  could be nice sometime.

Then I just a couple of turns later as I was going into another building I noticed another bench. I was beginning to get the hint but I resisted the temptation. All of sudden I started seeing benches everywhere. Maybe we just have more park benches per capita or even more benches than people in our village. I don’t know. I need to research that.

I finally got the hint and just sat down for a bit. It was hard to do. It felt weird. I almost felt lazy.

I did not even tie my shoe. I got out my journal and wrote a few notes but mostly just sat and took a break. It dawned on me that I need to do this more often. I do not have enough “margin” in my life.  Margin is unplanned space on my calendar. My life is often too crowded to with stuff going on that I think is important. The thought I had this morning was this.

Without margin I think it is hard for me to live missionally. Without margin it is impossible to find the time to simply “be” and not always “be doing something”. If this is the case then I do not have time for those really cool conversations with my Father and with others around me about Him. I do not have time to just be still and know. I do not have time to enjoy what our Father has created.

Posted on June 15, 2010 - by Larry - 1 Comment

Key Business as Mission Components

I have the opportunity to talk with quite a few of our Skybridge Community members. We are indeed a community in various stages of our journey here in Europe.

• We are pastors looking at this as a viable way to send workers to the field.
• We are marketplace workers looking for a job in Europe.
• We are workers already living in Europe.
• We are cross-cultural workers who are trying to plant churches and disciple people who want to integrate marketplace place workers into our strategies.

I see these five components essential in our community.  In the words of a European businessman who is a follower of Jesus recently told me: “Please tell them to find jobs and come to Europe. We need this type of worker here.”

The Sending Church

One of the first things you should do if you sense a desire from the Lord to move to Europe (or anywhere for that matter) and work is to talk to some key people in your church. Maybe it is your small group leader, an elder or a pastor. I believe it is important that you have the support of your church in this endeavor. We love Acts 13 and the story of the Antioch Church. The Holy Spirit called out Saul and Barnabas for His work. The church prayed and fasted and sent them off. The church was part of the sending process. It was not an individual effort on the part of the missionary.

Just as people who serve with mission sending organizations need the affirmation, support and blessing from the church you need the same. Your sending church can pray for you. They can help support your ministry. They can provide you with spiritual and strategic accountability and they will hopefully desire to partner with you while you are here.

The Job

Another key component is finding a job. Perhaps you are already in an international company that would allow you to move to Europe. Most people find themselves trying to find a job in Europe. This is where networking comes in. What are your marketable skills? What job do you currently have? Can you find that same type of job here? Where can you look for a job in Europe? Can you find an international internship? Start a business? This can be a very tough stage in your desire to live overseas. It is rarely as simple as it sounds. It may take a year or so for this to happen, but do not be discouraged. You can take advantages of links that we may post, utilize our discussion board, talk to people already on the ground in the city you are wanting to go to.

Preparing to Live and Work in Europe

I believe the time to start preparing to live overseas is now. Start learning about your city. Start interacting with people who live there. Read everything that you can get your hands on regarding Europe and the country where you are wanting to live. Pray a lot and enlist some close friends to pray with you on this journey. There are also some excellent books and workbooks regarding living incarnationally in your city.

Try out aspects of living that are different then what you normally do. Take the bus. Walk a lot. Shop in “mom and pop” stores. Anything that you can do to put you more in touch with urban living will be time well spent. We also have a section in our site called The Reference Library. We have over 25 downloadable articles for you to read and interact with. We also would love to dialog with you on these on our site. We also can set up a Skype conversation about a topic of your choice. Just let us know how we can help you in this phase.

Local Ministry

One key success factor is for you to be connected to some sort of local ministry or community here in Europe. This could look different depending on where you will be living. We have some cities where we have other Skybridge workers where you could connect with on a regular basis in a missional community (see below). You also may find a local church where you can worship and serve. You may find some cross cultural missionaries that you can work with in starting small groups or churches. Whatever the Lord leads you to do we find this local component a essential to life overseas.

Missional Communities

While Skybridge is a virtual community in many ways, we do have some places where our members come together to pray, for accountability, to encourage one another and to work together on projects in a local setting.

We also have two retreats a year where you will have the opportunity to gather together with other Skybridgers from throughout Europe where we can share ideas, learn new skills in living missionally, pray for one another and encourage one another.

Posted on June 7, 2010 - by Larry - 0 Comments

A BIG reason why

I must admit one of my favorite videos from our trip is this one.

Why?

This is one of the BIG reasons why I do what I do at Upstream Collective.

If I had one “DO OVER” in my church planting time in the states during the 90s it would be that I did not do enough to help our new churches think and act globally from day one. It was not in the DNA as Joesph says here in this video. Take a look at why I love this video.

Jet Set London // Paris – Joseph and Johnny from The Upstream Collective on Vimeo.

Being involved in God’s global vision for me was always in the future tense.

We become involved in missions once we …..

We need to find ways to encourage church planters to be involved globally from day one. If you have an interest in finding out some ways you can help us do this then contact me at larry@theupstreamcollective.org.

Posted on June 4, 2010 - by Larry - 0 Comments

Next Steps

I am often asked “what are our next steps in global missions as a church”?

Before I give a quick easy as 1,2,3 answer (smile) take a look at this short video. One of the first things that needs to happen as a church is to figure out “to whom is God sending you?” This video is a good recap of London. Is God preparing you or your church to go  to London ? If you have interest please email me at larry@theupstreamcollective.org

Stay tuned below for some next steps?

Jetset London // Debrief #1 from The Upstream Collective on Vimeo.

What are some next steps to engage globally? Here are some possibilities!

Never assuming but prayer and being obedient to the Holy Spirit top the list.  Google, conversations with strategic people on the field, Divine appointments, scanning various opportunities abroad, etc… can all be important in gathering information to pray over and consider.

Your Church is also important - What is the make-up of your church? How has God uniquely equipped your church to engage in a place. God gave the Great Commission to the church so I believe he has also equipped your church to do just that.  Taking a  good look at who your congregation is and what are some experiences they may have would also be an important next step. The Upstream Collective is developing an online survey for churches to take that will help in this area. It is in beta testing at this time.

Adoption - They can adopt a cross cultural missionary or a national church planter or pastor already on the ground on the field. I have written some about this on this blog in earlier posts.

Partnership - They can create a partnership with a mission organization or network in the city or amongst a people they feel led towards. They can come along side of them in a variety of ways. One of the things we can do is make some strategic introductions if you need help in doing this.

The Sending Church – Others may feel they have the people and resources to mobilize efforts to become a sending church to that city. They may adopt a particular neighborhood as Branchlife Church is doing.  A place to look if you have interest  in adopting a neighborhood in London is this site.

I think a key question your church needs to answer here is how do we have an incarnational presence on the field? Is it by sending teams on short term trips, partnering with an existing strategy, planting a church, sending over a team of people to live, etc…  Another possibility is to find people in your church who may simply find a way to transfer to a global city in their regular job and be salt and light in the marketplace and community that they live in cross-culturally. For more information on some ideas and resources on this see The Skybridge Community.

Whatever your next step may be I would be more than willing to talk with you and help you in any way that I can.

More soon on Jet Set London / Paris!

Posted on June 2, 2010 - by Larry - 0 Comments

Why Europe?

Taking some time this week to review my time in London and Paris for our Jet Set trip. We had an awesome trip. Very excited about how God is using this time together.

As I took a look at the videos several things jumped out at me. I hope you will take a few minutes to take a glimpse at them.

The first one is a short video of Caleb Crider, the co-founder of The Upstream Collective. He talks in London and gives a great  explanation  on “Why Europe”.  I often find myself having to answer this very question regarding missions in Europe.

We see three streams of culture converging in Europe making it a challenge for mission endeavors.

1. An incline of the post Christian worldview

2. An decrease in institutional Christianity

3. An increase in the influence of Islam

Caleb also talks about what we hope to accomplish at “The Upstream Collective”. Hope you will take a look.

Jet Set London//Paris – The Vision from Ed Stetzer on Vimeo.

Posted on May 24, 2010 - by Larry - 0 Comments

member care

We do a lot of things on these trips. Our days and evenings are quite intense. We keep on the go a lot. We log in a lot of miles each day on foot and in the subway.

We also try to go to fun places in the city. We also spend a portion of each day we spend a portion of the day having missional conversations about various topics:

Who lives in the neighborhood?

What does church looks like here ?

What ministries exist in the area and who are they geared towards?

As we have walked around a lot in London we really see the world living here. It is quite amazing.

The opportunities abound here to be a part of planting churches amongst people groups from all over the world.

One of the most interesting conversations that we had today was with a person who does member care with a mission organization. They help overseas workers with a variety of issues.  Life overseas can be a challenge. Crisis can happen. Stress can take it’s hold. After all you are not living in your home culture.  Member care workers provide a lot of necessary help to missionaries and missionary families. They are  valuable members of the missionary community.

As I listened to him speak to the group I was also reminded how cross cultural workers need to have sending churches that will help them, pray for them, encourage them, hold them accountable, provide resources, get involved strategically, etc..  I was encouraged later as I talked with several of the pastors on this trip who are saying that their church wants to adopt workers.

More from London soon. Please take a look at a few videos from the trip at www.edstetzer.com.

We also have some pictures from the trip so far on www.theupstreamcollective.org

Posted on May 21, 2010 - by Larry - 0 Comments

Jet Set Trip: London / Paris

Today we start our jet set vision trip to London and Paris.

We are extremely excited about this trip and looking forward to what is in store for us.

We have some pretty neat appointments set up along the way. We should be able to follow along on www.theupstreamcollective.org and www.edtstetzer.com for videos and some podcasts as we journey along. You can also follow my twitter and facebook. You can also follow The Upstream Collective on twitter and facebook.

Though I anticipate we will have a lot of fun along the way it is really about watching the church think and act as a missionary. We hope lasting relationships will be formed with these pastors from the states  to people working in these cities.

Last night several of us who are already here  walked around the city.  I am always amazed at how many people here speak English as a second language. There are people groups from around the world in this great city. I hope you will take some time these next few days to pray for the people here. Thanks.

More soon

Posted on May 14, 2010 - by Larry - 0 Comments

More than Money!

I am adopted. Some of you may know this about me. I was adopted when I was almost 2 years old though my adoptive parents took care of me much earlier. I am a huge advocate for adoption. I am thankful that my parents chose me and gave me a home.  When I was a pastor in the states I actually served on a local board for Bethany Christian Services in our city. It was a very meaningful time for me and a way I could honor my parents who adopted me.  I am so thankful for people who adopt children. They are my heroes. Every child deserves loving and caring parents no matter where they live. Now that I think about it I may even start writing some posts about adoption.

BUT since this is part of my series on developing partnerships with churches I need to transition to this topic. Here it goes!

I also think that every missionary deserves a loving and caring church that they can call home. Some of my readers may think this is a no-brainer. However,  you would be surprised how many workers do not have a place they can truly call home. They do not have a church that supports them by:

Praying for them in specific ways

Giving care to them

Holding them accountable spiritually and strategically

Supporting them

Being involved in their ministry on the field

Simply talking to them and being interested in their work.

These six things can make such a difference in the life and total health of a missionary and his / her family. In many ways these workers need a church who will adopt them and call them their own. I know this may sound silly but I do not think so. This is my big question to every potential worker coming on the field: “Do you have a sending church and how are they involved in sending you?” My question to churches who are sending out someone is “how do you plan on staying in touch and how to you plan on supporting them in ways other than financial assistance?”  Churches please do not simply outsource this to mission agencies. Most missionaries want your involvement even after they are on the field.  I would add that we all need your involvement.

As I have written before about Acts 13 and beyond there was a connection to Paul and the sending church Antioch. There was an on-going relationship. This is vital to the life of the worker in my opinion. Missionaries need more than money!

I am not going to start an adoption agency for workers but if you need help with this let me know. If you are a church looking for a person to adopt or if you are a worker needing a church to adopt you please let someone know.

I will do all I can. Feel free to email me at larry@theupstreamcollective.org

Posted on May 7, 2010 - by Larry - 0 Comments

Madrid Favs!

Last weekend my wife and I were able to go as sponsors to Madrid. We tool a  small group of high school students from where my wife teaches here in Germany. We had loads of fun. We were able to see some of our old Spanish neighbors. We were able to see friends we use to work with. We were able to hang out with some people from the Skybridge Community.

We also were able to give the students a taste of Madrid both in culture and in food.

I decided to take some photo shots of my favorite foodie places. I missed a few places but got most of them. You can find them in the gallery located at the top of the site.  Before you take a look you need to realize that I am not a photographer so I really should not be in the gallery. smile but true.

But give it a look anyway. Here you go!

1. San Gines – for super Churros and Chocolate. Best if eaten after midnight.

2. Jose Luis – for yummy tapas. Locations throughout Madrid but my favs or in barrio de Salamanca and La Moraleja.

3. Cafe de la Oriente – a good cup of cafe con leche next to the Palace gardens

4. La Mallorquina – Great pastries in Sol. You cannot eat just one of napolitano de crema.

5. La Campana – Unbelievable Bocadillos de Calamares just outside of Plaza Mayor. Also only for 2 euros.

I know you may have your own favorite places so feel free to post.