djackson's blog

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So I was reading a book entitled "11 Innovations in the Local Church," by Elmer Towns, Ed Stetzer and Warren Bird over the weekend, in anticipation of Neil Cole's visit with us and came across a very provocative thought. 

In the chapter on Organic Church, attributed to author Stetzer I believe, he tells of another well-known Christian author and speaker Alan Hirsch, and an illustration he uses to talk about "the church."

Neil Cole is one of my heroes in ministry.  He "gets it."  He understands that movements don't happen in systems that are based on buildings, money and professional ministers. 

This weekend Neil has been with us here in Columbia, to train current and future church leaders in the values and priniciples of organic church life and leadership. 

Some of the thoughts he has shared are listed here:

...There are two kinds of Christians in the world:  those who live the adventure and those who only read about it.

We received word yesterday morning that our firstborn, Sarah, will have to leave Canada--"deported" is the word she used--because her paperwork for renewal of her immigration status was incomplete.  As you might imagine, she was devastated, and our hearts broke for her.  So far away, so little we could do, she depended on friends to put her up for the night and get her to the airport so she could come home to live with us for a while.  With only the clothes on her back, she arrived subdued and in shock last night.

How do you spell s-u-c-c-e-s-s?  We 've assumed for way too long that "nickels and noses" are the key benchmarks to success in church life.  I say assumed, because for decades now, these are the things that we "report."  Whenever we talk with our colleagues, this is what we share; whenever we send information to the denomination, this is the information we give.

This has been a big week in the life of our family.  All three of our children have had, or will have, significant changes coming to their lives. 

Sarah, our firstborn, received final acceptance into the Applied Journalism program at the university where she had previously been accepted in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.  She is at Kwantlen Polytechnic University as one of only twenty-two students accepted into the program.  Joye and I, as you can imagine, are very proud of her.

Last night I was given the opportunity to attend the Orioles-Red Sox baseball game here in Baltimore.  Anyone who knows me, knows that I am a HUGE Red Sox fan.  And as luck would have it, one of our best players was on the verge of an historic achievement.  Manny Ramirez, the eccentric, "I'll do it my way" leftfielder, had the chance to join an historically small club of baseball titans: those who have hit 500 or more home runs in their career.

Yesterday while our family was traveling together from my son's baseball practice back home, we were listening to one of his history tapes (he's homeschooled).  This particular one dealt with the significant changes that shook the world in the late 1800's.  It mentioned among other things the creation of both the Salvation Army and the Young Men's Christian Association (YMCA) and their dramatic impact not only on England, where they originated, but also upon the world.  I was reminded that both organizations started with an evangelistic intent, seeking to share the Gospel in

Church planting is really hard...not just hard work; it's also hard on life.

I was talking to the spouse of a church planter yesterday, and she was relating to me her feelings that they hadn't accomplished what was intended or expected.  I tried my best to reassure her, but to be honest, I don't know if she heard me or not.  At times like this, feelings dictate to us most of what we are experiencing.

Recently, one of our church planters announced in my presence that the book, "Choosing to Cheat," by Andy Stanley had revolutionized his ministry.  I was delighted to hear it.  We give that book to all of our church planters when they attend "Focused Living for Church Planters," the preliminary training event to our Basic Training experience.  The premise of the book is simple:  every person has the same amount of time at his or her disposal.  The choices we make with our time will prioritize certain responsibilities and roles we have, while