One of the thoughts that I had was this. “I was more concerned about the production of our new church than I was  about the reproduction of disciples.”

This comes from some reflections that I have had over the last months in speaking and teaching in various venues. I feel that when I was planting churches here in the states back in the BIG 90′s that I became quite proficient at planting church services. Sunday came around every 7 days and we had lots to do in order to pull a Sunday service off. I wanted the production to be excellent.

The problem with that is that the Great Commission does not say go out and plant churches services.

It says: Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them inthe name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, ²⁰teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” Matthew 28.

Sometimes we get far too worried about the church plant and forget a couple of things that are important on the front end.

Planting the Gospel

Making Disciples who make disciples

I believe when these two elements occur healthy churches emerge (church planting).

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?

I continue to be fixated on Acts 13. I am also thinking of other places in the New Testament where it talks about giftedness. Romans 12, 1 Cor.12, Ephesians 4 just to name a few.

What is the purpose of spiritual gifts?

We see in scripture it is to build up the body of Christ. It is not to showcase our own talents and abilities.

A body is organic.
It is growing.
It is alive.
It is reproducing.
It is maturing.

All of these descriptions of the body can play a part in the church’s mission(al) activity. In Acts 13 we see some believers with identifiable gifts. There were prophets and teachers. So having gifts and those gifts being affirmed was an important part of the church and still is today.

I believe as the church matures and reproduces it should be able to identify, affirm, equip and send out those in the body for ministry in their community and in to the world.

I like this pattern in Acts 13. I think it shows how spiritual gifts come into play in missions and how the Holy Spirit calls people. It also shows how the church affirms that calling and sends people out. It all works together.

I have often thought of God’s call on a person’s life. I think I have been guilty of thinking of “calling” or “being sent” as an individual’s response to God’s call on their life. When I read Acts 13 I see the church doing what was normal to them: worshiping the Lord and fasting. The Holy Spirit spoke to them and gave them an assignment.

You (the church) should dedicate Barnabas and Saul for the work in which I have called them do. This “leading” was to the church. It was in community. It seems that the church doing what was normal to them received instructions on how to be responsible to the Great Commission. They were to send out two of their very gifted men.

The church continued to pray and to fast on this matter and then they laid hands on them and sent them out.

I wonder what conversations did they have as a church during that time?

What conversations did they have with Barnabas and Saul while they were going through this process?

Did they have a church planter assessment done? (I had to write that since that was my job some years back.)

We do know is this was the first missionary journey of Paul. They were sent out by the Holy Spirit. They were confirmed by the body of believers known as the church. The two (Holy Spirit and Church ) should not be separated in our missionary ventures.

What Jesus did on the cross was accomplished!
He conquered sin and the grave.
He is risen!

The Bible says it best:

¹After the Sabbath, at dawn on the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to look at the tomb.

²There was a violent earthquake, for an angel of the Lord came down from heaven and, going to the tomb, rolled back the stone and sat on it. ³His appearance was like lightning, and his clothes were white as snow. ⁴The guards were so afraid of him that they shook and became like dead men.

⁵The angel said to the women, “Do not be afraid, for I know that you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. ⁶He is not here; he has risen, just as he said. Come and see the place where he lay. ⁷Then go quickly and tell his disciples: ‘He has risen from the dead and is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see him.’ Now I have told you.”

⁸So the women hurried away from the tomb, afraid yet filled with joy, and ran to tell his disciples. ⁹Suddenly Jesus met them. “Greetings,” he said. They came to him, clasped his feet and worshiped him. ¹⁰Then Jesus said to them, “Do not be afraid. Go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee; there they will see me.”

Camping out to me is like flying across the Atlantic in coach class. I am not talking about the fireside time or eating. That is the fun part. The not so fun part is trying to sleep on the hard ground and in this case with five 13 year old boys. The ground is hard, you hear a lot of noises in the woods plus you hear boys trying to see who could make the loudest and grossest noises from their bodies.

I always enjoy the morning after a camp out.

This day was no different. It reminded me about a time when I was college student. I was participating in an outdoor wilderness adventure. We were on the Appalachian Trail for 10 days. We had to do a 24 hour solo experience. No food, No one around you and overnight in the mountains. I noticed at the spot they dropped me off at had a sign that read – Warning: bear sanctuary. That was a sign of comfort. NOT!

I figured the best way to get through the overnight part of this was to sleep through the night.
I found the safest and highest place. I settled in. It was dusk so I figured I would go to sleep and wake up at daybreak. No problems. Life is rarely that smooth for me. I was able to go to sleep without problems and I woke up and felt refreshed. Plus, it was bearly (no pun intended, smile) light. The problem was that instead of it getting lighter outside it was getting darker. I had taken a 20 minute nap. I could not go back to sleep. So the rest of the night was quite difficult. I longed for the daylight. I anticipated the morning where I could see what was around me. I kept reading the sign about the bears in my mind and I know I heard footsteps (it was probably a large squirrel)

This to me is Saturday after Good Friday. Waiting for Daylight and what comes in the morning.

Because of the LORD’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail.

They are new every morning;
great is your faithfulness.

I say to myself, “The LORD is my portion; therefore I will wait for him.”

Lamentations 3:22 – 24

Not a lot of extra words are needed today on my blog.
The bible speaks profoundly to us about today.

You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Romans 5:6-8

Today we remember what Jesus Christ did for us on the cross.
It is indeed a Good Friday.

Thank You Lord for your sacrifice.
Thank you Lord for your amazing love.