Commended to the Word: Equipping leaders for ministry impact … around the world

Germany (Engstingen): 2010, Day 12

We stayed in a quaint mountain hotel with a breakfast bar specializing in natural foods; not natural as in tasteless, but whole milk, homemade yogurt and jams, a fresh juicer machine, baked-on-premises breads, etc. Oh my, but I ate allot. Pamela stayed in the hotel to rest while I went off to continue the seminar with church leaders in Jurgen’s church, and with the church planting pastors from the nearby region.

Since I no longer pastor, I’m able to say many more things in a more direct manner than I was able to speak. No one could accuse me of having a vested interest in describing the biblical elements of what church is supposed to be. I’m not in the unenviable position most pastors are in: wanting to lead people in a particular way (vision), but not wanting to resort to commands (heavy authority) to get them there. I do not have to get anyone to follow my ideas from the scriptures, so I can more freely share those ideas—and let people choose whether or not to incorporate them in their church paradigm.

For instance, most church leaders want to know how to get more people to volunteer. That goal seems pathetic—too small—in light of our mission. I believe we’re supposed to raise up able ministers who are each readied to minister to others, and who are prepared to do to/for others what was done to/for them. Yes, encouraging people to volunteer at church to work on some aspect of the program is an important step along the way. But the ultimate aim of church should not be so small to simply get free workers in church.

I wanted people to serve as training for ministry. Since serving and ministering are the same exact word, tooling people for service, and getting them in the habit of saying “Yes” to opportunity, is all part of teaching them to hear God’s prompting and agree to it. I do not mean that asking someone to help clean up after the picnic is synonymous with God asking them to pray for someone. But it’s curious, through the years, I’ve seen a direct correlation between people’s eagerness and willingness to do mundane service jobs and their openness to being used by God to serve others.

True, there are some people who are only too willing to be used by God in large, ministry arenas, yet those people avoid mundane service. But I would argue that those great ministers are not really serving people with their ministry prowess—they’re serving themselves!

When people develop in their ministry, starting from simple, less-than-exciting, not-noticed-by-others chores and then “graduating” into more “spiritual-looking” ministry, they don’t usually have struggles with pride. On the other hand, when people move too quickly into what’s called “ministry” and don’t start with lots and lots of serving, they often become distorted in their grandiose thoughts about themselves.

God will continue to fill us throughout our ministry lives. That’s why it’s so important that we keep emptying ourselves by pouring ourselves (time, resources, energy, etc.) into others. If I don’t pour much of myself out, there isn’t much room for God to pour in anything fresh into me. Non-serving Christians grow stale very, very quickly!

How great to be able to say that sort of thing to a group of people. No one could accuse me of being manipulative or controlling or self-serving because I wasn’t encouraging anyone to serve in any capacity in an enterprise involved with me. Since I’m not in any way saying, “Serve me or serve my church,” everyone who hears what I say must wrestle with the concepts biblically. Is what I’m saying in the Bible, or not? No smoke-screens. No blame-game. No accusations. No hurt or rejection. No suspicion of motives. Nothing but a question, “Is this in the Bible even if it makes me uncomfortable?”

God’s ways are counter-intuitive. Try to preserve your life, time, money, family, etc., and you will lose it. But give yourself away, sow liberally, let God protect your resources and you will find unbelievable bounty. Keep finding new and additional ways to serve the purposes of God by serving the people of God. I believe that. I preach that. I practice that!

What do you believe?

Germany: 2010, Days 10-11

DAY 10

Our last day in Bochum was a fabulous combination of conversations, culminating in the evening with a leaders’ meeting for Volker’s church. He kept telling me all day that he didn’t know how many people would show up, and I figured it would be 12-20 or so. But apparently, word got out from the night before, and people kept coming. More and more people. Until nearly 50 people were crammed into the small fireside room (complete with a fire that nearly melted the young ladies who had been forced to sit on the hearth because there were no chairs.

The air was electric with anticipation. People were smiling and laughing even before I got started teaching. Volker had a look on his face that said (to me, at least), “Who are you people, and what have you done with my normal congregation?” I had been telling Volker, over the previous 36 hours, that I did not believe it was true that people were “too busy” with life to be engaged much in ministry, volunteering and serving. He said to me, “Alright, Daniel, you’re right.”

Every time God put a scripture in my mind, I spoke about it, and it was amazing how everything tied together by the time the evening was done two hours later. The only “down” moments of the night came when a very religious man tried to ask questions to scuttle the basic premise of my teaching—that God can and does use anyone who is willing. I cheerfully deflected his stern religiosity by thanking him for his questions, then answering in exactly the opposite manner he had hoped for. I was careful to salt my answers with an abundance of scripture—and humor.

That always knocks religious thinkers back on their heels…

DAY 11

In some ways, this was the most stressful of all our days thus far. It wasn’t anything that anyone did or said. It was simply the tight schedule for the three trains we had to take in order to reach our next destination. The lag-time we had—for disembarking one train, running along the platform, down stairs through a small tunnel, up stairs to the correct platform to get on the next train—was 8 minutes, 6 minutes and 10 minutes. It made the “Amazingt Race” on TV look like child’s play!

Pamela did her best, and we made all our connections, but the toll on her body was unfortunately high. The irony was that this was the first day of the trip when she didn’t wake up with a massive headache. She had some energy, and we hoped it was a turning point for her health. But no…

Nevertheless, we arrived in the nearest city (with a train station) to where Jurgen and Gudrun live in Engstingen—on a plateau of the Swabian Alps (Google that!). We’ve known them since 1995 (I think) when they were living in Switzerland, attending Matthias Nowak’s (Delta) church. They have been attempting to introduce (into Germany) the kind of church they experienced in Switzerland. It has not necessarily been an easy assignment. Pamela and I feel like we know them as friends, so it’s especially enjoyable to be visiting them in their town.

Pastor Todd came here on a mission team over three years ago, and we’ve sent mission teams to their church, but this is my first visit. I’ve actually wanted to visit before, but it never worked out. Due to a rearrangement of our schedule/itinerary, the seminar I’m doing here has ended up being attended primarily by leaders from their church. A few church planters and potential planters have come from nearby Baden-Baden, but I’m free to speak more about the nature/philosophy of church—and how our cultural definition and form of church so often leaves pastors and members frustrated.

Why, for instance, do so few people volunteer to help? Why don’t most churches produce even enough leaders to handle needs in the local church—much less, be able to export leaders to other churches? So, I explored these and other such topics all afternoon and on into the evening. More than once the translator had a difficult time translating what I said because she was laughing so hard she couldn’t get the words out.

Oh, by the way, as I sit here at breakfast typing this journal, it’s snowing lightly outside—on March 12…

Germany (Bochum): 2010, Day 9

Jan, Pamela and I took two trains to arrive in Bochum, one of the cities in a heavily industrialized part of Germany. In many ways, the area reminds me of eastern Pennsylvania and other parts of the northeast (US), where a changing economy and the loss of manufacturing jobs, as well as the decline in steel production, has produced new levels of life-style—much lower than people had expected. Volker Heidelbach, the pastor here and the Foursquare overseer for this part of Germany, told us he deals with lots of depression and feelings of futility in people. The churches struggle to find anyone with enough time/energy and willingness to step up into spiritual leadership.

When the bottom has dropped out in your career and your expected lifestyle, it’s hard not to grow pessimistic—even cynical—about everything in your life, including church. Forced to work more hours to keep their jobs and stay afloat in the hard economic times, more and more people (including pastors) have dropped out of church, especially out of leadership roles. Two of the churches in the area lost their pastors in the last year. In both cases, the pastors claimed “burn-out” and both chose to adopt the lifestyle of the rest of their countrymen (work hard and spend weekends trying to relax and recover for the coming week).

Volker asked me to share about the difficult experiences I’ve had in ministry—the disappointments, the betrayals the suffering, etc. I would hardly know where to begin in that list because to be a leader IS to be disappointed in what many people do or do not do. To be a leader IS to experience betrayal and abandonment by the very people into whose lives and for whose ministries you have poured yourself out. To be a leader IS to suffer relationally, emotionally (and every other way imaginable).

The hardships of spiritual leadership is a subject I could speak long and authoritatively about. But Volker’s hope for such a teaching from me was that it would somehow encourage the lay and pastoral leaders of the area churches to feel better in their pain. I do believe it helps to learn that our struggles and our pains in ministry are normative; that is, they happen to everyone who seeks the welfare of others. But I also believe that it helps us even more to have a “theology of suffering;” in other words, to know what the Bible says about the role of suffering in ministry.

I realize it sounds rather ponderous and heavy to speak about a “theology of suffering,” and my sharing was anything but that. Oh, we laughed quite a bit between the sobering points, and I will admit to “hamming it up” a bit more than usual. It was funny enough having Jan as my interpreter—the planned-for interpreter got sick at the last minute, so Jan had to fill in. I think everyone enjoyed seeing their president forced into some very funny antics as he sought to translate not just my words, but my mannerisms…

My theory about the lack of leaders in churches is quite simple:

1. Jesus told us to pray for more leaders/shepherds because He understood that God chooses to do most of His work through individual people, and most miracles are the result of someone praying, speaking, going or otherwise engaging in ministry to another person;

2. When the shepherds/leaders are removed, the sheep scatter and become prey to wild beasts (evil influences); therefore,

3. If the enemy can reduce the number of Christians who are willing to be leaders, he can retard the growth and the ministry effectiveness of many, many believers.

4. That’s why Jesus emphasized discipleship—developing believers who follow Jesus (of course), but who also lead other believers into becoming those who lead still others.

Leaders/shepherds/servants-to-others are the core component for church. Without strong, servant-hearted leaders, a congregation will never be any real threat to the powers of darkness.

So, I reminded my new friends that even the least in the Kingdom of Heaven is greater than John the Baptist. Even if we feel like we’re inadequate for ministry, even when we feel like we’re not ready, it’s very difficult to convince God that He has made a mistake in asking us to lead others. All the long-term excitement and joy in the Christian life is found in serving the purposes of God by serving the people of God.

Germany (Diepholz): 2010, Day 8

Some years ago when the Lord told me He needed “B-Track” speakers to go to the smaller venues, and encourage pastors/leaders who don’t normally get encouragement, I happily gave myself to the idea. In fact, years and years ago when I was first involved in Foursquare Germany, I was viewed with a measure of criticism and suspicion by some US missions leaders—primarily because I did NOT visit (or speak at) the larger “works” usually visited by US pastors. Was I doing my own thing, they wondered. Did I have a personal agenda at odds with official policy?

The instance when those concerns were voiced to me most particularly was after a trip in the late 1980’s when I intentionally opted to spend time with a small church, rather than put in an appearance at one of the bigger churches frequented by US missionaries and mission teams. How ironic that the pastors of that tiny church, Tino and Vera, were at the seminar for pastors these many, many years later.

The fact, therefore, that we didn’t have many pastors/leaders at this regional training event did not discourage me in the least. On the contrary, as I reminded these pastors, the more your church grows the fewer and fewer people you should pastor personally. The real goal of ministry is NOT to minister to as many people as possible—but to minister through as many people as possible. I believe that extra ministry/training poured into a few men and women will, in the long run, multiply into more ministry to more people than if I gave lots of extra training to large groups of people. It’s counter-intuitive, but it is what I believe.

Interestingly, we spent a good chunk of the morning on one Bible story that had been on my heart to share. I presented thoughts based on the scripture, then asked for their impressions, questions and observations. It was quickly apparent that this text held many prophetic answers for the specific situations several pastors were facing in their churches. Because I didn’t have a teaching agenda, with an exact “sermon” to fit each time slot of the day, we were able to mine the riches of the text and allow the leaders to apply those truths today.

As is almost always the case, leaders’ questions eventually come around to asking about how to get more people to volunteer for the work of church. As always, I tried to connect Jesus’ greatest desire for His people (being discipled) with our greatest need as leaders (getting volunteers). I believe there is a direct correlation between how much and how well we disciple—and how many people engage significantly in the work of the ministry. I have never encountered leaders who actively, personally discipled their followers but who lacked volunteers. Or, putting it another way, I have never spoken with leaders who lacked volunteers, who also claimed to be good disciplers.

Late in the afternoon, before I went back to the hotel to be with Pamela, I spent time with Ulrich and Monika, talking about all the challenges they face moving into a much larger facility and growing a larger congregation. Ulrich told me that many years ago, after he just returned to the Lord from a 10-year detour, God used my manuscript on church-planting (“Delta Recourse”) to inspire him to consider pastoring—a calling he had resolutely refused for years.

We had a delightful talk, along with Jan, and after a couple hours Ulrich thanked me for confirming and firming many new thoughts for his leadership. He is, as Jan put it, making a huge change in his paradigm about leadership.

When I returned to the hotel, I saw that poor Pamela had suffered greatly from her latest malady—a terrible eye infection. The infection had spread to her upper cheek and the whole area under her left eye, causing the skin to swell out like a giant blister. What do we do? How do we handle yet another physical setback? We never know the answer to such questions, so we just stay the course—and pray. Lorrel, our doctor daughter insisted that Pamela send her a photo of her eye, so she could check it out and have an ophthalmologist friend of hers confirm that it was not something needing immediate emergency attention. We believe, now, that it is somehow related to her current sinus infection (malady #5)…

Germany (Diepholz): 2010, Day 7

We spent most of the day (9am-2pm) traveling north by train to Diepholz. As we went further and further north, the amount of snow on the ground increased considerably, so it was like riding on the train in the old movie Dr. Zhivago. The trains were very comfortable and warm, so the journey was pleasant and relaxing. Pamela played “Worder” on her iPhone while I read a science fiction novel—that was getting really good just as we arrived at our destination.

I was supposed to call our host pastor, Ulrich Wellbrook, just before we arrived, but each time I dialed his number I got a recording in German, of course, telling me who-knows-what, followed by a busy signal. We were met on the platform of this small village train station by Renate, Ulrich’s sister, who explained that he had lost his cell phone recently. That cleared up the mystery about the recording.

Renate took us to our hotel, so we could get a bite to eat before I went with her back to the church where the pastors were gathered. Unfortunately, it was nearly 3:00pm, and the kitchen in the hotel was closed until dinner. Pamela gamely made do with a cup of tea, as Rinate and I drove off. Pamela wasn’t feeling quite well enough to come with me to the meetings, so she elected to make herself comfortable in our large room.

We met in the old building the church has been using for the last few years; they move into their new facility in the next week or two, and I was very excited for them about that. In Germany, the so-called “Free Churches” (i.e., non-Catholic and non-Lutheran) are considered cults; consequently, it’s quite a challenge for them to find landlords willing to rent facilities. Most people know how difficult it is for pioneer churches in the US to find adequate, affordable facilities. Imagine how much harder it is for our friends in Europe, where the church-as-we-know-it, is shunned and vilified as a cult.

They had lots of left-overs from lunch, so I had no problem filling my plate with salads, breads and “schnitzel” (deep-fried pork chops). By 4:00pm, Jan had joined us (he had come on a later train), and we started our informal discussions about church and discipleship. Among those attending the seminar was a couple, Tino and Vera, I met in the late 80’s when I first traveled to Germany to help establish Foursquare Germany. I remembered sleeping in their home on the floor many years ago. They are the only other pastors still active in Foursquare from those days.

I shared with all the pastors one of the most transforming moments in my ministry. A few years after we planted Coastlands, I had a particularly discouraging Sunday. The service simply didn’t work. The message was flat, the worship never went anywhere, the people didn’t respond to me or to one another. It was a total brick! For the umpteenth time, I told God, “I quit!”

“Just for the record,” He replied, “What, exactly are you quitting?”

“This,” I said, pointing to the remnants of the service, as the crew was dismantling our weekly setup arrangement of chairs, partitions and equipment.

After a moment of silence, I punctuated my reason for quitting by adding, “It isn’t working?”

“What isn’t working?” God inquired.

“Church,” I shot back. “Didn’t You see what a dud this service was? And where are all the people who usually come? We had so many new people and not enough regulars to even make the newcomers welcome.”

“I think it’s working quite well,” He replied. “You’ve done a good job of training people, and that’s why I’ve sent them elsewhere—and given you a whole new group of people to train just like the last ones!”

“Oh, and by the way, church will always be like this—broken and in need of people to help do the work. That’s the whole point: broken people get healed in the process of helping fix what’s broken in church…”

From that day to this, I have understood two basic truths about pastoring:

1. It’s a myth to imagine I’ll ever pastor a church that works well. The needs of church and finding people to be engaged in the process of serving others is a perpetual and never-ending reality. That’s not because God won’t answer our prayers, but because He wants me to use the work/needs of church to help fix people—not the other way around. People are not what I need to have a great church; a broken church is what I need to produce great people.

2. Many, if not most people will be leaving the church at some point in the future. They may leave happy or sad, on good terms or bad—but they are leaving. So, what can I give them before they go? How can I add to their readiness for that inevitable departure. What would I wish some other pastor had put in people who move to Santa Cruz and start attending Coastlands? My assignment is NOT to make sure everyone stays in my church. My assignment is to fulfill my particular part in getting them better tooled for their ministry future—after they have left me.

Germany (Mainz): 2010, Day 6

It shouldn’t be a surprise to anyone that I love church—the activities, the gathered people, the worship, the noise, the practicing worship band, the classroom preparations by teachers and the drop-off of kids to those classrooms. I love the smell of coffee, the sound of friends greeting one another and the general sense of expectation so many have that God will speak to them today! I even love church buildings and the way different congregations put their unique touch of the facilities God gives them.

Can I just say, I had a blast at church this morning! The Mainz Foursquare church is a congregation I’d be so happy to join. It’s well-pastored, and I could feel the health as I stepped out of the car—even before I got inside. Things felt normal, healthy and vigorous. The life of Jesus is being lived out in many, many people, and there was a groundswell of newness everywhere. The people I spoke with, though necessarily limited by my inability to speak German, were infectiously warm and eager. I know part of the reception I experienced had to do with me being the “guest speaker” and an obvious newcomer.

But people were gathered for a reason; the church is a place of refuge, recovery, welcome and belonging.

As is true in Switzerland, the welcome and announcements followed an initial song, and then we proceeded to the rest of the worship set. I really like that pattern because it gives the pastor an opportunity to greet and embrace the congregation—and to set people at ease. Though I couldn’t understand much of what Jan said, I thought to myself, “This is a good pastor.” He made everyone feel safe and expectant at the same time. I told him after the service that his “presence” and persona communicated a great deal to newcomers.

We were served communion in a very unique manner. The whole congregation was invited to the front whenever they felt like they wanted to take communion, so groups of people came up and formed a large circle of about 80 people, filling the entire space. A handful of individuals then offered bread and the cup to each of those in the circle. When the first group was done, another group of about 80 people came forward to receive in like manner. It took three groups to serve the whole congregation. It was beautiful to see both community with fellow saints and intimacy alone with Jesus happening at the same time.

My interpreter, a lovely young lady named Anna, did a fabulous job! She followed all my antics and mannerisms, and even did a good job at sound effects to go along with my story-telling. Everyone laughed lots, and after service, several people told me how much they enjoyed having fun in church—but “the message wasn’t just funny, it really spoke to me.” I told Anna later that she should consider becoming a professional translator!

Susanne, Jan’s wife, had felt prompted to read aloud one of the exact scriptures I used in my teaching, and she told me later how well my message addressed one of the big “issues” they’re dealing with in the church. Only the Lord can arrange those sorts of things… After service, Jan, Susanne and I went to lunch, and I shared my impressions of their church (at their request, of course). I’m delighted with the developing friendship between us, especially since I have been out of the picture in Germany for so many years since I was involved in the late 80’s with the founding of Foursquare Germany.

Later that afternoon, I power-walked from our hotel to the old part of the city. It was very cold outside, but a brisk walk soon warmed me up to a tolerable temperature. Pamela still is not feeling too good, but we’re hoping she’s on the mend now. She kept sleeping most of the rest of the day/evening, and it was very pleasant just to be together in a beautiful setting watching it grow dark outside.

Germany (Mainz): 2010, Day 5

After another feeding at the breakfast buffet, it was time for me to begin the work of this trip in earnest. Over the next 10 days, I will be offering seminars to Foursquare pastors/leaders and church planters in several regions of Germany. Jan’s thought for my tour is that many more lay leaders in the churches will be able to attend a seminar if it is held close to their home—as opposed to in some far off city. Since the real hope for any Movement’s future rests in what happens to the not-so-obvious and yet-to-fully-emerge leaders in its churches, we must keep working hard to find ways to help develop, train and inspire those leaders.

For the most part, future church planters and pastors will come from the ranks of lay leadership in existing churches. Not every local pastor knows how to inspire their leaders to “go” into a future beyond the limits of the local church they currently attend, and sometimes it’s just helpful for an outside voice to communicate, “We believe in you” to the many, many leaders who support their local church. That’s why my topic of conversation will mostly center around how leaders can better make disciples, and how leaders can mobilize workers/leaders to help in the ministry.

I believe that God leads people a little at a time, one step after another. If we want to end up with many lay leaders who eventually decide to “go for it” and lead congregations of their own, we have to begin the step-by-step process now. A faithful Sunday school teacher who gets inspired to lead the Sunday school program and mentor other teachers is taking a huge step toward their future. Someone who begins to volunteer is taking a similar step. Few people leap from non-participating church-goer to church planter!

Jan picked me up, and as we drove to the church where the seminar is being held, he gave me the rundown on which churches were participating. In all, seven churches sent one or more leaders—sometimes the pastor alone and sometimes with a whole team.

My main challenge–aside from cultivating relationship with people who don’t know me from the man on the moon—was to stay true to the prompting God gave me to eschew preparation, to stay away from producing a tidy outline with several bullet points about inspiring and training disciples/volunteers. I know how much Germans like nice, orderly presentations, but I also know God knows best! But I was tempted to have my day figured out ahead of time.

The fifty or so people attending the day’s discussion came from a wide spectrum of ministry engagement. There were pastors looking for keys to mobilizing others; lay people who had no idea why they were here; cell group leaders; administrators; etc. It was instantly clear to me that the eclectic nature of the audience required I find common ground. So, I began by discussing a church-wide truth: most leaders feel completely unqualified for what they’re doing. They feel like imposters, but they don’t want to rock the boat by actually resigning their position.

We had a good laugh reading their mail!

Unfortunately, our training model in church is based on a premise that makes people feel perpetually unqualified for leadership. No one comes right out and says so, but how we train people communicates one major fact: “You need to know what you don’t yet know!” Yikes. No wonder people feel like they don’t know enough to be a leader. If they always need to learn what they don’t know—in preparation for ministry that they will one day do—they will always know that they need to know more before they minister.

Can you see what a vicious cycle that is? There is no way that a normal, thinking person can ever conclude that they are now ready to minister!

My premise for ministry preparation goes more like this: “You already know many things. Jesus has taught you allot. He wants you to learn more, of course, but what He has already taught you is enough for you to be able to minister to people right now. The only things you need to know to minister are those things you’ve already learned. In other words, teach what you’ve been taught—and don’t worry about what you don’t yet know.”

That is a far more hopeful and do-able training/ministering partnership to offer to people.

The seminar lasted until 4:00pm, at which point I went back to the hotel, told Pamela about the day, took a short nap and got back on my computer. At 8:00pm we had a delightful dinner with Jan and his wife, Susanne, as well as Tom and Inga Haase, pastors of the church-plant sent out by the Mainz church a few years ago. Oh we laughed and carried on like old friends, as we swapped stories and explored subjects that pastors love to talk about.

Once again I was reminded of the strength we can find in true fellowship—and why I’ve kept returning to Europe (and Asia and South America) for all these years: pastors need, and relish opportunity to simply share their common triumphs and pains with other church leaders. What could be better than this—to be sitting in a great restaurant in the heart of Germany with German friends whose life-aims are identical to ours?

Of course, I enjoyed the opportunity to speak at the seminar today, but I couldn’t help but think how pathetically small some ministers’ perspective on “ministry” really is. The thrill of going to another place is NOT really in getting a chance to monologue to a crowd; the thrill, the spiritual oomph can be found far more in the dinner conversation with friends who call upon the same God—only in a different language.

Germany (Mainz): 2010, Day 4

Pamela and I enjoyed the breakfast buffet again, only this time we ate nice and early (7:00am)! That’s a great breakfast-time! Upon returning to the room, she promptly went back to bed, and I spent several hours working and reading. Poor thing; her jetlag is still going strong, and she couldn’t stay awake throughout the morning. Around noon, we packed up, checked out and waited for a young intern from Jan von Wille’s church to pick us up. Jan and his wife Susanna, are the National Leaders of Foursquare Germany.

Nida, the intern, moved to Germany from Afghanistan with her parents when she was three years old. After high school, it’s fairly common for young people to seek practical training in a business like the one they’d like to work in later in life. On the drive from Frankfurt to Mainz, Nida explained that she was not a Christian, but she wanted to work for a church to learn more about God. We had a delightful conversation, and I sensed she is actually more of a believer than she may yet realize!

Our new hotel is called “Favorite Hotel.” It is situated in a forested area near the Rhine river, so our view is pleasant through two large windows overlooking a lawn and the woods. Once in our room, Pamela again went to sleep for the bulk of the afternoon while I read—and fell asleep myself! Eventually, it became clear that Pamela was not up for the dinner engagement planned with Jan, so I met him myself.

We had the most fantastic conversation over a most interesting dinner that began with warm, freshly-baked dark bread, butter and thinly sliced ham as an appetizer. Jan and I talked about the US church, the church in Germany, our lives, (our wives who both have lingering, chronic health issues that severely limit their strength and engagement), our hopes for ministry, etc. Though Jan and I have had brief encounters in the many years I’ve traveled to Europe, it is only recently that God has opened the door for us to become better friends. Our conversation—and the developing relationship—is definitely the highlight of the trip so far.

THINKING ABOUT “APOSTLES”

As I mentioned yesterday, the situation in the church-at-large has me thinking about many things, and among those issues I seem to keep encountering in my travels all over the world is the subject of apostles. It is a biblical term—though I think many people today use it in a way that doesn’t align well with the heart and intent for the designation I find in the Bible. It’s a word that is undergoing redefinition in the church world, and will probably become more commonly used among believers in the years ahead. That’s precisely why, though, I have a bit of trouble with its use in the church today: nobody really knows what it means; they just know it’s impressive. We don’t really have good parameters for determining who is and who is not an apostle—or even what is supposed to be true of people who are called apostles.

But if/when a leader is referred to as an “apostle,” the very lack of precision about what it means causes everyone to feel some sort of special veneration is due to the person using it (or allowing its use) to describe himself. The term “pastor” usually means that the person is or has been leading a church; it’s mostly a vocational identification though Christians generally give a pastor a certain measure of respect and honor because of it. The term “apostle” doesn’t carry that vocational implication, so it’s difficult to know when it should be applied to someone. “I pastored for 22 years” means something to people; it says I took care of and led a congregation. What does it mean to say, “I apostled for 22 years?”

Bottom line, apostolic ministry is concerned with laying doctrinal foundations upon which others can build their ministries. It should be evidenced by a larger-than-normal number of sent-disciples (i.e., people who received formative training and were then sent, themselves far beyond the edges of a local congregation).

Well, here’s what I wrote to our Board about the suggestion that our movement should be led by apostles:

WHOM SHALL WE CALL AN ELDER OR AN APOSTOLIC LEADER IN OUR MOVEMENT?

Up until 10-15 years ago, Foursquare was blessed with a few apostolic leaders (all of whom were pastors) who laid out foundational doctrines for the rest of us; they spoke at our camps, conventions and district conferences. Though they differed remarkably from one another, their overlapping messages added to our Founder’s teaching (“Why, it’s the Foursquare Gospel!”) and ministry practices (Holy Spirit empowered spirituals and miracles).

Where are those sorts of teachers today? Truly apostolic leaders, in my opinion, lay a doctrinal foundation upon which others can build. Too easily and too often our denominational eyes have been drawn away from cement slab foundations (of doctrines and truths) upon which all can build. Instead, we celebrate “Here’s what I constructed” ministries and high-rise structures that cannot be built upon by any save their current leader. We can join them and/or copy what they have done, but they do not really offer us any biblical instruction or understanding with which we can launch out into entirely different settings to establish new works.

We’ve gone from teaching profound insights in the word of God to offering models for how to do (grow) churches. Because of this mentality, large-church pastors are called (not necessarily by themselves) “resource pastors,” whether or not their teachings and biblical understandings are even known, much less widely anticipated, by our pastors throughout the nation and world.

If some are calling for apostolic leaders to help shepherd our denomination, let’s at least be careful to define those sorts of people from a more biblical measure than how big their churches have grown. After all, few of the early apostles pastored churches…

Perhaps it’s a case of “sour grapes,” but I deeply lament how far our decision-making has tilted toward large-church pastors when few of those fine leaders have shaped our Movement with their teachings.

Germany (Frankfurt): 2010, Day 3

Due to the huge time difference between Germany and California, our “Day 3” on this trip wasn’t the third full day we’ve been gone. But to maintain some sanity in my travels, I adopt the days’ spread where I travel, as opposed to the days that have actually transpired back home. Sleeping at such odd and unplanned times of day while trying to adjust to the new time zone doesn’t help at all, in terms of keeping track of what day it is today. Such are my torments while traveling around the world!

Pamela spent the day in bed again—other than joining me for a great breakfast buffet and splitting a nice entrée and salad (and chocolate mousse) at dinner. I sallied forth on a couple occasions to power-walk through the area around the hotel. I took one long excursion to where I remembered the main shopping area to be. It was beautifully crisp, the air was cold and clear and I thoroughly enjoyed traipsing around incognito (though the guy in Starbucks asked me what I wanted in English, not German). Unfortunately, my newer pair of shoes created a blister on my toe, and I was forced to add a limp to my non-tourist disguise for the last 30 minutes of my walk (hobble).

The good news was that I cleaned out almost all of my email back-log, and for the first time in a couple weeks, I feel more on top of my work, rather than under it where I’ve been. Whole new piles of it will develop each day, but once in awhile I enjoy feeling as though I’ve fought work to a standoff!

THINKING ABOUT FOURSQUARE

Having all these oddly awake hours in the day/night—but not having much I can do while thusly diminished in my capacities—I get to pray and think allot about many, many things. I’m thinking lots about our Movement, Foursquare, knowing our Cabinet has been meeting to vet (evaluate, examine, scrutinize) possible candidates for denominational president. We’ll have elections at Convention in June, but picking a president is only a small part of the decision process we’ll need in order to chart our course for the future.

We’re facing what I call institutional drift, and I recently wrote our Board on the subject. Here’s a small portion of that letter for those of you who are interested in the “organic” side of ministry:

All movements drift; every organization requires seasons of reinvention and recalibration if they want to remain true to their founding purpose. Because things (in our world) keep changing, we must keep changing things (in our organization) if we want to keep a steady course. Although some Christians presume that their churches and organizations are immune to this rule, an unbiased examination reveals that churches and denominations go through the same predictable cycles that businesses and corporations pass through.

All this to say, we have NOT necessarily done anything particularly wrong to find ourselves, as a Movement, facing questions about our identity and our mission. Rather than viewing our situation as a crisis—or the result of an attack by the devil and/or blunders by leaders—we ought to see the present unsettledness as a great opportunity to offer our current churches (and many others) a compelling portrait of what it means to be Foursquare.

DRIFTING MEMBERS

When members of a denomination (or church) begin to drift from the mainstream, it is usually due to one or both of two factors:

1. The members have a distinct calling or vision of their own that supersedes their connection to the denomination (or church). Fulfilling that vision becomes more important than working toward the denominational vision. Perhaps the two visions are inconsistent with one another. Perhaps the larger, denominational vision has not been clarified. In either case, the members who leave a denomination (or church) do so believing they have “heard from God’ (i.e., they feel constrained to pursue their calling, and it no longer coincides with the denomination’s direction—or lack thereof).

2. The members disagree with, or feel ambivalent toward, several of the core values, beliefs or practices of the denomination (or church). For instance, they might disagree with what the denomination prioritizes in its spending or staffing, what it requires of members, what it teaches, or how it arranges itself to face the issues of today, as opposed to yesteryear. These are not simply disagreements with a single policy or decision. The incompatibilities between the members and the denomination (or church) are usually long-standing, and they concern deeply embedded values, practices or beliefs. In other words, patching over one dispute rarely resolves the underlying conflict.

THINKING ABOUT COASTLANDS

That got me thinking about how excited I am these days with all the developments at our church. Pastor Todd and Hilary are leading us all in a renewed passion for our core values as a church. Most of the amazing change in atmosphere is spiritual, of course, the result of repentance and God’s victory over some strong demonic attacks against us (Jezebel, pride, etc.). But a big part of it is Todd’s decision to recast the vision for our church. What do we believe, and what makes our family distinctive (not better) from other churches in Santa Cruz? I haven’t been this excited about things since the transition three years ago!!!

Everyone feels the pulsation, the renewed excitement and the reconnection with our values and with one another. These next few months may be the most important of the last few years, and I am so proud of everyone who has begun to “pitch in” and work together to remake our family. This is what I always hoped I had taught my flock for all those years…

Germany (Frankfurt): 2010, Days 1-2

Looking back over the last ten days, while sitting in our hotel in Frankfurt, it’s a bit difficult to believe we actually made it to Europe as planned. Following a fantastic KWAM at Coastlands with nearly 90 young adults from Foursquare churches throughout the west, getting revved up for more ministry leadership—and a few days in the office getting caught up on work, I got very sick with some kind of deep cough and sinus infection. I haven’t been that sick for many, many years. I was a virtual prisoner in my room for eight days, without feeling the energy to even watch the news or the Olympics!

I finally got antibiotics on Saturday, and they have definitely helped turn the tide, but I’m still not feeling up to full capacity. Don Passerino picked Pamela and me up at 8:00am on Tuesday in the midst of heavy rain, and despite the terrible traffic, we made it to SFO by 10:00am, a couple hours before our plane departed for Chicago then on to Frankfurt. We arrived in Germany on Wednesday morning about 10:00am and took a taxi to the hotel. I have to say the flights were miserable for me because I was so stuffed up. And when we landed both times, my ears felt like they were going to burst from the pressure.

Pamela has had her own health challenges on top of those she’s already had for years, so I’m just very happy she was able to actually get things packed and come along with me for this month-long trip. Once we got to our room, we fell asleep in that weird, jetlag way. I got up a couple hours later and went for a nice long walk in the frigid air (36°). I remembered staying here a couple years ago, so I knew where to walk. Part way through my stroll, I stopped in a quaint coffee shop to get a latte and read a copy of the IHT. That was most enjoyable—reading a paper, drinking coffee surrounded by the chatter of another language I do not speak.

I continued my walk past the University of Frankfurt, main campus, and on to the hotel. It helped the jetlag feeling. I napped again, since Pamela was still asleep, but got up after an hour. Eventually it was dinner time, but Pamela was feeling too poorly (and not hungry enough) to go to dinner with me. I walked to an Italian restaurant that I remembered from my last visit. It had great pizza back then, so I wanted to give it a try this trip, too. Glad I did. It was exceptionally good crust and bread, etc.

Pamela was reading a book when I returned. So, we relaxed for a couple more hours before I called it a night at 9:30pm. I have no idea how long she kept reading, but when I awoke at 1:30am, she was asleep. I turned out her light and went back to sleep until 4:00am. That’s the one good thing about jetlag—it gives me extra time for my prayers each morning…

Peru: 2010, Day 11

Not surprisingly, considering the age of my younger roommates and my many-more-years than they of practice, I was the first one awake in the morning. My late night trepidation grew to a stark realization as I walked past the guy’s prone figures and observed the number of flies resting on the bed sheets covering them. In the semi-darkness, I counted eight on Ryan, and I guessed as many had taken up residence on Niki. Where my friends had gone when I got up, I didn’t want to know.

Fabio warned everyone not to drink the water, and my experience is that if local people are told to stay clear from the water-as-drink, I should not even let a drop into my mouth—as a splash in the shower sometimes gains access past our lips. That wasn’t going to be difficult, at least not this morning because we had only cold water (as was true for the rest of the camp). I didn’t relish a cold shower this early, so I opted for something less extensive with the sink. While shaving, I noticed several red dots on my face. And then my arms. And legs. And feet.

Fleas, and other delegates at the bug convention, must have been carried away with the novelty of room-service because they gorged themselves. At least the welts were small and didn’t itch.

After a very pleasant time with the Lord and my Bible, sitting in the tropical air, it was time for breakfast (a fried egg and two rolls with butter and jam—yum). Ryan and I weren’t sure which of us would speak first, but Fabio made the decision for us when he introduced a surprised Ryan to everyone. He did a great job, keeping the teaching active and applicable for everyone. This is only his second trip out of the USA, and his previous missions experience didn’t involve teaching.

Ryan’s message? Don’t miss the chance to work with others and go for it when you encounter the divine moments to do something. Already, without any collaboration with Fabio and without pre-planning on our parts, a theme for the conference was emerging.

Little steps. Little seeds. That’s what rolled around in my heart, so when it was my turn to do the following two sessions, I focused on those phrases. We took a fresh look at the story of Naaman the leper, contrasting the bigness and mightiness of Naaman with the smallness and weakness of the servants. If we are willing to do a big thing for the Lord, we ought to be even more willing to do little things at His behest. Mustard seeds, being least in the Kingdom and being ourselves rounded out the morning.

Everyone lounged about in the afternoon—many heading to the pool or the beach, and some of us electing to hang close to the shade and the grass. I managed a good nap and several excellent conversations. The guys did a fabulous job of spreading themselves out into our Peruvian friends. Niki had the definite advantage over me and Ryan because he speaks Spanish, but we managed to find various people who knew enough English to translate our words.

UNEXPECTED DEVELOPMENTS

My sense of things had been growing all week, and the day confirmed the thoughts of my heart—but not in a way any of us expected. Both Fabio and Mariella have seemed more exhausted than normal, and despite my vigorous attempts to modify the week’s schedule to give them more rest and more family time, they’ve insisted, “It’s okay.” Additionally, the leaders they have worked so hard to raise up this past year all seem “ready” to shoulder more responsibility.

The scripture, “faithful in little; master of more” kept coming to my heart, and I coupled it with Fabio’s words about planting seeds and each person supplying their part. I also learned some details about the structure of Foursquare Peru that make it quite different from the polity in most other Foursquare works, and putting more pressure on the central church in Lima (including Fabio’s leadership).

I asked permission from Fabio to meet with all the pastors and the national board—without him present. He willingly gave me permission and arranged for the meeting. I stressed to them all that I had no official position, nor was I making any statements except as a friend of Foursquare Peru. My extensive travels and my close connection with many national Foursquare churches gave me a context that they might want to consider. The particular observations I made, as well as my suggestions for changes in their national church are not mine to share publicly. But they involved fairly massive restructuring.

Everyone thanked me for loving them enough to say things. They appreciated my candor and my attitude. Both Niki and Ryan appreciated being there to hear my thoughts and to see the Peruvian pastors’ reactions.

Late in the afternoon, Niki asked me if I had heard about the “incident” at the pool. “No,” I replied. Niki then relayed what happened. Fabio was swimming under the water, as he likes to do, holding his breath long enough to go two pool lengths before coming up for air. But this time, he rose up out of the water before completing two lengths, and his eyes were rolled back. People quickly got him out of the water, and though he seemed fully recovered, he could not remember what happened. He also had a horrific migraine headache.

Pedro, one of the doctors who attends the church, and I conferred a bit, and I certainly agreed with his strong recommendation that Fabio see a specialist as soon as possible. It is impossible to tell what is due to what—from stress to more serious complications. Pedro told me that he had urged Fabio to seek medical attention before, but “you know how pastors can be.” Yes I did. Stubborn. So, without any official sanction, but with lots of love in my heart for Fabio and the Foursquare church of Peru, I made an executive decision.

If I needed any additional confirmation, I got it immediately after worship when some of the pastors called Fabio up to pray for him. The rest of us prayed while they laid hands on him. After a few minutes, I saw Fabio slump forward a bit even though he was standing. I got up to bring a chair for him to sit, and by the time I arrived, he was mostly limp. We got him in the chair. Dr. Pedro and I looked at each other while praying in the Spirit, and I could tell by the way he was holding Fabio’s wrist, he was checking his pulse.

Not knowing people’s experience or theology, I wanted to wait long enough to discern if Fabio’s condition was what some people call being “slain in the Spirit,” or if it was another physical episode—or if it had sinister spiritual roots. In their zeal to pray, people were crowding too closely, so I moved them back to give Fabio some air and allow Mariella to hold his head.

I knelt down and called his name a couple times until he opened his eyes. “Fabio, are you still with us?” I inquired.

“Pray. Pray in tongues,” he pleaded. So we did.

Another few minutes went by, and Fabio began to say, “No” repeatedly.

There is no manual for this sort of occurrence. We have to move in discernment and wisdom, but no one I know feels very wise or discerning when the two realms of reality cross into one another so starkly. Was the “no” voiced by a demon protesting the torture it felt from our Spirit-directed prayers, or was the “no” a cry from Fabio’s spirit protesting the machinations of an evil spirit?

“Fabio. Fabio,” I exclaimed quietly, “What are you saying?” (Hint: If he knew what he was saying, it wasn’t another’s voice speaking through him.)

“It’s a very strong demon, and I’m trying to resist it.”

I raised my voice in the authority of Jesus Christ, and proclaimed a “line in the sand, cutting off that spirit, refusing its entry. “In Jesus’ Name, we say, ‘No to you and your work!’”

Within 15 seconds, we all felt a sudden release—a sudden calm engulfing the tempest of just moments before. Fabio opened his eyes and simply said, “Thank you.”

The retelling of any such spiritual encounter will always suffer in accuracy, not because of silly attempts to exaggerate, but simply because we lack the spiritual sensors to detect everything going on and we lack the language to describe what happened (even if we could sense it all). However, our fears to label things as spiritual, and our reluctance to tell such stories has bred, among many spiritual leaders (and their followers) one-dimensional descriptions, lopsided and distorted by natural-only explanations. We do not battle merely physical foes.

I took the evening to explain what had happened and to draw everyone’s attention to a passage God had laid on my heart earlier in the afternoon. It’s found in 2 Corinthians 12:14-15—

Here for this third time I am ready to come to you, and I will not be a burden to you; for I do not seek what is yours, but you; for children are not responsible to save up for their parents, but parents for their children. I will most gladly spend and be expended for your souls…

It is the perfect picture of a spiritual leader, a great portrait of Fabio and Mariella. The time was now for other leaders to step up and carry the load. Leadership is a choice to accept responsibility to seek what is best for others, and to pour our life out for them. In this regard, anyone can be a leader. Everyone can be a leader, and that’s what Foursquare Peru needs right now.

After the teaching I announced that in consultation with Fabio’s church leaders, we were “forcing” him to take two weeks off work to rest, be with his family and go to the doctor. Everyone thought it was a brilliant idea…

Peru: 2010, Day 10

After a good debriefing with the guys about all they had experienced among the pastors/leaders in Peru, we spent most of the morning on Wednesday catching up on email and other sorts of work. By noon, we checked out of our hotel and trekked the block-and-a-half to the church building, where the hustle and bustle of many people getting ready for a retreat was in full swing. The sound equipment had to be loaded in the van; registration lists needed to be checked—and rechecked. Though I had no responsibilities whatsoever, I could still feel that excited pressure I used to have on me before the events like this we did at Coastlands.

Amidst the sounds and flurries of volunteers and staff transporting the “church” to another location, I remembered several such “readyings” of my church when so many people worked together to prepare a place, a way for others. How many men’s or women’s retreats did we have in all those years? We arranged family campings, conferences, VBS, seminars, beach Bar-B-Q’s and baptisms, etc. So many faces, so many friends through the years…

But I digress. I was simply glad to have good internet access, so I could keep pounding away at the wall of work that threatens to collapse on me if I do not give it constant attention. Ryan and Niki both did well in connecting with people—after I encouraged them that only essential computer work ought to compete with real people for their attention. “Don’t follow the example of this older guy thirty years after his first missions trip and one year after first contact with new friends in another country,” I admonished them. From their attention-to-humans behavior for the remainder of the trip, I think they caught my not-so-subtle suggestion.

In fact, our transportation to the camp offered the guys extra practice. Everyone other than Fabio and Mariella and me rode to the camp in a large bus. We had several issues to discuss in the car, and the guys were then able to get started on the relationship side of their trip to Peru.

The retreat center was located about 60 miles south of Lima, between the coastal highway and the beach. While the highway is very nice, most of the off-ramps are simply dirt roads that begin abruptly at the edge of the asphalt. Fabio announced, “We’re here,” and he meant it! While I was looking ahead for the off-ramp, he simply slowed the car and turned onto the road. The complex consisted of several bungalows, and meeting/eating main building, grass and a few trees. Compared to the congestion of the city, it was an ideal setting for everyone to play (in the pool or on the beach), rest and reflect.

Fabio was worried because he had to put us three guys together—something he knows we almost never do on a mission team. I like everyone on our mission teams to be interspersed among our friends in the country we’re visiting. But the accommodations here were such that “several” people would be sharing common sleeping quarters, and if we stayed with our friends, we were likely to “see our cousin’s underwear.” He was also concerned that the thin mattress on the concrete slab would prove too uncomfortable for my back. Isn’t it delightful to have people concerned for our comfort? I laughed with him about the arrangements, and told him I was not THAT old!

Besides, the point of separating our teams is not a legalism, but an intentional attempt to counteract our natural tendencies to stick with what makes us comfortable—as opposed to stretching ourselves toward what makes us impactful. Spending our nights together, having all the in-between conversations that roommates get to have, was one of the highlights of my trip! No surprise. We talked about so many things, and I kept digging into the years of my travels, dating back to my first missions trip to England, Wales and Scotland in 1981. Challenges, Changes. Confrontations with my own carnality, with spiritual powers and with other people’s stuff.

Fabio led the evening’s session with a brief overview of the theme: “The Time to Grow,” taken from Isaiah 54—stretch out your dwelling place and prepare for all God has in mind for your future. Fabio emphasized two points in particular. We will only grow if we all work together, each of us supplying what we’re intended to supply according to God’s design for our ministry. Also, we will reap according to what we sow.

Since this is a family camp, the many kids and teenagers, who are on school holiday, took full advantage of being away from bedtime routines. They played (and made plenty of noise) long into the night while their parents talked and laughed in small groups all around the grassy area, near the snack pavilion and wherever else a chair or a ledge made good seating.

Niki, Ryan and I eventually turned the lights out, but not before we discovered that the numerous flies and fleas and mosquitoes that greeted us upon our arrival earlier in the day had, apparently, sent word to their fellow bugs that a convention was on. The air, the walls, the floor, the bedding, the bathroom and the windows teemed with late-night activity. As we went down for the night, I had the eerie sensation our little roommates were just getting started.

Peru: 2010, Day 9

Niki Tshibaka, who—along with Kelly (his wife)—pastors the Alexandria Foursquare church, arrived last night about midnight. He was scheduled to travel with Ryan and me throughout our journey, but Kelly had a miscarriage and Niki wanted to be with her. God will see them through, of course, but such times of sadness are still sad. No manner of true spirituality removes weeping over weep-worthy tragedies. That’s why scripture encourages us to weep with those who weep. We don’t wave our hand over them, mumble religious platitudes and banish their pain.

We sit and hold their hand. We love alongside them. We wait, patiently, until they want to talk about what has happened. We offer them the security and stability of our embrace. We DO NOT scramble for our own security by trying to dismiss their pain! Since life on this broken planet is sometimes interrupted by tragedy, then it only makes sense that “ministry” ought to be, at times, interrupted too.

Both Kelly and Niki felt very restful about him rejoining our trip. Ryan and Raul, one of the men in Fabio’s church, picked Niki up at the airport—while I slept in my room. Sorry, Niki…

THE DAY

For the past many months, as I’ve tried to be obedient to God’s instructions for me, I have gone into most meetings with pastors WITHOUT any prepared notes or determined course. I certainly have many passages of scripture on my heart for each venue, and most of the passages I’ve studied extensively in the past. I do not want to give a wrong impressions—either that I’m so spiritual, I don’t need to study/prepare; or, that I think the best preaching entails “winging it” in the name of the Spirit.

For nearly 40 years, I have been an avid reader and student of the Bible. I weight virtually every decision in life and ministry on the scales of scripture, and any course of action I settle upon has been informed by a verse or two from the Bible. I read it and study it a lot!

But, God has asked me to trust His leading more than my preparation. Time after time, one scripture has led to another, and I take a winding course through session after session. The same happened during the course of the day. I asked Niki to share about their loss, and I followed that with a look at Psalm 139—about how we are uniquely and wonderfully made.

I told the pastors that one of the biggest keys to truly successful ministry is ministering out of who we really are. If we simply obey tradition or adopt some forms of “church” or ministry that do not align with our calling and composition, we’ll get frustrated—and snap or quit. I put them through a few exercises, dialoging with one another about their “calling” and their passion in ministry. How were they slightly different than other leaders? What promises had they received when they first surrendered their life to ministry calling?

All of us could feel something deep, special, spiritual taking place. There weren’t any of the usual church-service markings—no worship, no preaching, no announcements, etc. Just love-in-action. True fellowship as the couples became vulnerable to one another. As they spoke their life-stories into the eyes of fellow leaders who were as desperate for acceptance and belonging as they were.

At the very end of our day, Fabio announced that he was going to license each of the members of this seminar. They had been hand-picked by him to attend, and God told him to “take the risk” to grant ministerial licenses to them. The protocol for licensing is not yet established, and the movement here is still very much at the beginning stage, so the national leader has more latitude to do things like this than might be true in more established national churches. Fabio spoke directly into the heart of each couple/single as he announced their name. We heard about struggles, faithfulness, sacrifices, faith and many other Kingdom elements.

The air was almost electric. Time seemed to freeze. The focus was so poignant, so deep, so spiritual that we hardly wanted to breathe for fear we would miss even a fraction of a second’s attention. After many rounds of applause from the little group—as each minister received her or his license—Fabio presented Mariella with her license. His words to her were intimate, personal and wrapped in the years of hardship they have secretly endured on behalf of others. Listening to his words, and hers in reply, was like watching a vein of gold thrust its way out from the surface of the ground! We nearly lost our footing and fell headlong into the richness at our feet.

Love. Love. Love. It was everywhere! Love for God, love for one another, love for churches and country. And people…

The floor of sanctuary where we sat on simple chairs was still unadorned concrete. Children were still squirrely in the room next to us. The temperature had not cooled nor was it less humid. Some people rushed off to make phone calls or visit the facilities. To the natural eye, nothing changed as a result of our days together.

But for spiritually trained eyes, these days were historic—and nation-shaping. The Foursquare church in Peru, with its unique calling and character, gave birth. We witnessed Kingdom-come in Lima. What a privilege for Niki, Ryan and me to be there in their Upper Room when the wind blew mightily…

Peru: 2010, Day 8

Even though our taxi picked Ryan and me up at our hotel at 5:30am, Lee wanted to drop by to say good-bye and give us (Ryan) some letters to mail when we get home. Ryan has made a great heart-connection with Chile, and I imagine he’ll be back here many times in the years ahead. We got to the airport, grabbed some coffee and talked about cell groups until boarding the plane. Roughly four hours later, we landed in Lima.

Fabio Padilla, the national leader of Foursquare Peru, met us and drove us to our hotel (the same Hotel Marques where Collin, Terry and I stayed last year). About 45 minutes later, Fabio and Mariella took us to a fantastic lunch at a great, local restaurant. They did not have any menus in English—always a good sign! We had a sampling of Ceviches, raw fish soaked in lemon juice with onions, etc. It’s the Peruvian national dish, and Ryan is still learning to love it!

I had such a great time reuniting with Fabio and Mariella. We caught up on our lives and the ministry here. Though they just moved into a new flat two weeks ago and are preparing for convention, they were very encouraged—though tired. After lunch we went to the church and spent the afternoon in an informal dialog with the pastors and prospective pastors. It was supposed to be a Q & A session, but it’s always a bit nervy to ask questions in a group until everyone gets comfortable.

So, I just launched out on any subject that came into my heart. I began by talking about suffering and the Book of Ecclesiastes—how “all is vanity” is neither the statement of a depressed person, nor the moralistic diatribe of a condescending preacher. It’s simply a warning that life “under the sun” on this side of eternity is fatally flawed. It’s broken. Its days are like the new toys given to a child at Christmas—before long they will break!

Pastors often have an unrealistic and unbiblical hope that their church will “work” and their people will always be happy and supportive. When reality strikes, when things in church break, when people leave in bitterness, when problems persist, pastors feel as though they have failed. That discouragement drives them from the pulpit. Pastors who falsely imagine their faith and prayer will insulate church from the brokenness of our world are in for a rude awakening.

Several of the pastors were noticeably affected by that simple message. I added thoughts about suffering, especially from 1 Peter 5 when Peter tells his friends that the best way to resist the devil is to endure sufferings that come upon us because we serve Christ. And it is AFTER (not before) we have suffered that God, Himself, confirms, strengthens and establishes us. You could feel the lights going on all over the room…

We had dinner with Fabio, Mariella and their three kids. I suggested that the kids should pick the restaurant, so we ended up at a KFC. The food tasted like KFC.

Chile: 2010, Day 7

Most church services happen Sunday evening, so most of the day I stayed in the hotel. Ryan and Lee went into the city center to shop and sightsee, and then picked me up at 1:00pm for lunch. We ate at Lee’s favorite burger place, “El Corral” (I’m probably butchering the spelling). Believe it or not, we had to go the food court in a mall to eat. I think the chain of burger places (like Burger King) originated in Columbia. The burger was good! Beef in South America generally tastes different than the beef we’re used to in the US; I believe it has to do with the grain/grass the cattle eat.

Lee encouraged me considerably by telling me he had never seen such openness to an outside speaker—it was as though everything I felt led to address was penetrating deep into the leaders’ hearts. I had been a tad worried that my boldness to say things about the church-at-large and the Foursquare church in Chile had perhaps been too forward. Quite the contrary, Lee assured me. In fact, the president, Pastor Alen, called Lee and asked if he could come with us to the church service where I was scheduled to speak that evening.

Wow, what an honor that he would want to come. Pastor Alen told Lee he wanted to hear me preach (since he had heard me theorize). I got the feeling that he was hoping to see much of what I had taught, at the seminar, put into practical application. Besides, the hour drive in the car would give us lots more time to share. Pastor Alen totally subscribes to the same hope for the church that Lee and I long for. He’s 71, and still fired up about learning more as a leader of Jesus’ church.

By the time Ryan, Lee and I finished lunch and coffee at Starbucks—and all the debriefing about the seminar—it was time to get back to the hotel to prepare for the evening services. Part of our debriefing time was setting dates in 2011 for my return. Pastor Alen has asked me to come back next January to conduct a follow-up seminar of church planting and leadership training. Additionally, he wants me to be the plenary speaker at their 2011 Convention in October.

CHURCH SERVICE

“Everyone has her own feel,” Hilary said long, long ago when she and I disagreed on whether or not the bath water was too hot. That philosophical perspective, learned from my daughter nearly 30 years ago, still serves me well when I’m in situations that seem tortuous to me—but fulfilling to others. Add to that childhood innocence the simple Bible perspective that each person stands or falls before their own Master (i.e., God), and I find it fairly easy to tolerate activities and mentalities that I personally find odd. Likely, in others’ eyes I’m as “out there” as they seem to me.

But my celebration of others’ freedom to do what they believe is good or right, and my enjoyment of great diversity in the Body of Christ does not mean I agree with how everyone does what they do. Take, for instance, the 3+ hour church service Lee, Pastor Alen and I attended Sunday evening. It’s not a pattern for church I would ever follow.

After a long drive and great conversation in the car, we arrived early, as requested by the pastora (Spanish title for a female pastor) at a church in one of the “suburbs” of Lima. The pastor’s husband showed us around the building, pointing out new construction adding to the sanctuary. The pastora served us sandwiches and cantaloupe juice (delicious) as we chatted. For no real reason, I offered the observation that worship and worship-leading get a bit out of balance sometimes—and almost take over the church. The pastora replied, “Well, I hope you like to worship because we sing for a long time.” I didn’t think more of it until later—after we had been singing for over an hour.

There were four solo numbers or “specials” not counting the offering song. The band and singers comprised one-quarter of the entire congregation, and their equipment filled 20% of the entire sanctuary. 140 minutes after the service began, and long after everyone had run out of energy, the pastora invited Lee and me to begin the teaching. I shared the Bible passage on my heart, and did my best to connect with the people. I was tired; they were tired…

Though I was hugely impressed with the sacrificial and dedicated service this woman has given to establish this church over the last 32 years, I was saddened by the fact that such a time-demanding and music-oriented service will not bring the kind of life-transformation she wants in her congregation. How can we raise up spiritual leaders who are personally transformed and equipped to teach the Word of God if most of what we offer them as “training” is a concert or Christian karaoke club and call it church?

Chile: 2010, Days 5-6

The basis for most of my conversations with these men and women in Chile came from an experience I had nearly 40 years ago. I was 17, and a freshman at UCLA, when I had an “altar experience” of God speaking to me, not in an audible voice, but in an unmistakable way, nonetheless. These many years later, I can give words and definition to what happened that late October afternoon, but at the time when God revealed a truth to me, I don’t think I could have explained it to anyone. It’s taken years to fully appreciate the seed He planted in my heart that day.

I believed in Jesus all of my life, and from the moment I invited into Him my heart at age five, I understood about my sin and His sacrifice on the Cross. I was a believer in Jesus Christ, and as such, I was also a fairly moral person. Or, should I say, I had good Christian morals even though I was a typical freshman guy subject to all manner of temptation and missteps. At least, I knew when I crossed boundaries into sin.

But that was it! My Christian experience up to that point in my life contained only two dimensions: beliefs and morals; good doctrine and good ethics. People would have called me a “good Christian” (even if I told them about my slips and indiscretions). I believed the right things and (usually) did the right things.

In late 1970, God revealed another dimension of believing life. There was much more to His Kingdom-come in my life than simply good character and good theology: He wanted me (and all of us) to be a more active ministry agent—introducing His will and way to the world around me. I chuckle now, so many years later, to think back on how revolutionary the concept of “ministry” was to my “good Christian” paradigm. Church had simply taught me what to believe and how to act; it formed my character and my theology. But I had never heard—or, at least, never understood—about my ministry.

Being a “good person” and having the right perspective about doctrines in the Bible are a great beginning, but God wanted me to “minister” to others.

The last thing on my mind at the time—and even after He spoke to me—was imagining He wanted me to become “a minister” or a pastor. This wasn’t a “call” to the ministry. He simply wanted to use me to accomplish spiritual things in other people. Yes, He still wanted me to believe that Jesus would come again, and that I should “turn the other cheek” and refrain from lying. But He was adding a ministry dimension to the equation: He wanted me to tell people Jesus was coming again; He wanted me to comfort those who were struck on both cheeks, as well as to challenge those who were striking others. Not only should I refrain from lying, but He wanted me to pray for people who were bound by a lying spirit.

Good to read my Bible; even better to teach people what I read. Yes, let Christ be formed within me and shape my character to be more like His. But also yes, disciple other people and help them become more like Jesus. Repent of my own sin, but share with others the process I go through when I’m turning away from temptation. Being changed by God and becoming an instrument He uses to change others.

Unintentionally, pastors focus almost exclusively on good doctrine and good character, virtually ignoring effective ministry. They want their flock to become “good Christians,” with good morals and theology. The unstated, but clear, message is simple: “Believe and act correctly—and your ‘calling’ as a Christian is complete.” That day in the dorm, I knew my Christian life was not complete. I had hardly begun. From then on, my assignment was to pass along lessons learned, to make disciples, teaching them whatever Jesus taught me.

THE RETREAT

It’s not as simple as I make it out to be, but I believe the most fundamental flaw in how we do church—and the reason we raise so few leaders in our churches—is tied to that understanding I came to by revelation 40 years ago. If we fool people into believing that our Christian faith is mostly about theology and morality, they will feel no compulsion to become more effective ministry agents. We leave them feeling okay because they believe in the Holy Spirit and don’t cheat (too much) on their taxes. They come to church to hear teaching that will add to their beliefs about the things of God, and that will remind them to avoid sin. Rarely, however, do they hear teaching that increases their know-how to discern a spirit, give a prophecy, use scripture to counsel a friend or lead a Bible study.

In order to produce more leaders, pastors must grasp the centrality of this third dimension of Christian living. Maturing people in Christ must include developing their ministry skills and understanding, as well as their ethics and theology. The church-at-large has defaulted on ministry training for most people; consequently, it has adopted the unbiblical notion that few are called to ministry.

How I read the New Testament is that the growth of the whole church and the spread of the gospel depend on each (and every) member learning how to minister to others according to its unique design and function. Everyone is to be involved in the disciple-making business.

Over the course of the three days, I watched these godly, humble servants of the Lord, these couples who have unique leadership in the Foursquare family in Chile. Time after time, as I developed the simple logic of getting everyone mobilized and trained for ministry, the delegates at this seminar closed their eyes, slumped their shoulders, dropped their chins, covered their eyes—with realization.

Standing in front of them, I watched what seemed like a slow-motion replay of that day in October 1970. I witnessed men and women, powerfully overcome by the Spirit of God—just as I was long ago. It was like being commissioned afresh, given a new assignment that will cost us our lives…

PROPHETIC WORD

During the seminar, I intentionally looked for opportunity to speak a word of wisdom, give prophetic encouragement and otherwise move by revelation—but to do so in the most casual, informal and relaxed manner possible, just to debunk the religious notion that revelational gifts all happen explosively and dramatically and loudly. Coming back into the room from a bathroom break, I suddenly received a word for Alen, the President of Foursquare Chile. It was a picture—with two separate scriptures that “interpreted” the picture I saw (the actual word is Alen’s to tell, and it isn’t appropriate for me to disclose).

I took several minutes to put the purpose of prophecy into plain words (from 1 Corinthians 14:3)—to build people up, to encourage them along the way and to assure them God has a way even when all seems lost. Then I explained why scripture was important in a prophecy (as opposed to just having a picture.)

Sharing the prophecy with Alen in front of the others took no more than 30 seconds. Almost instantly, he dropped his head and began to weep, and the whole room was so moved by the truth and rightness of the word, that everyone’s eyes flooded with tears—even my young translator! It literally took their breath away. So simple. So hope-giving and inspiring. Neither loud nor tumultuous, this gentle word spoken to a faithful servant rocked the Foursquare church in Chile!

Those aren’t my words. They are the words of the leaders afterwards. The words of the missionaries, who exclaimed, “This changed our destiny in this nation.” It was like living through a massive earthquake—only this shaking built and constructed things in the spiritual dimension, as opposed to destroying and knocking things down in the natural arena.

So, I continue to pray as I have for 40 years, “Teach me, Lord, what to believe. Help me be more like You in my heart and deeds. And make me a better instrument of Your Kingdom-come wherever I go.”

FAREWELLS

Such affection. Such bonding. Already Pastor Alen and Lee have invited me back one year from now when each of these couples will invite two other couples to join the paradigm-changing dialog. I can’t wait…

Chile: 2010, Day 4

Relatively speaking, this was quite a relaxed day. Ryan and I spent the morning in our hotel room working, and at 1:00 our taxi picked us up to go to the airport. Lee met us there, and we checked our bags for the 90 minute flight south to Temuco, a city roughly in the middle of the country. I told the guys that I would sleep on the plane—as I often do—so they had a long conversation about something (not quite sure what since I dozed in and out of it) until it was time to touch down.

Lisa had driven down to Temuco earlier in the day with the National President of Foursquare, Alen and Rosita Joo, as well as my young translator, David, and someone else, so she picked us up at the small regional airport where we landed. The drive to the retreat site took just a few minutes, but that’s all it took to get us into the countryside. The terrain and vegetation here look much like southern Oregon or California north of Redding. Ryan is in his element here because he grew up in southern Oregon. He kept commenting on how familiar everything felt to him, and I told him I believe God sets up those sorts of confirmation to let us know we’re on the right track.

It’s warm, but not hot like in Santiago. All I have is a light warm-up jacket, so I hope I don’t get too chilled in the evenings. That’s one of the biggest challenges to traveling as I do: on the one hand, I want to travel light (one bag that fits in the overhead storage on a typical plane); on the other, I sometimes have to navigate between vastly different temperatures or levels of formality.

THE RETREAT

Pastor Alen (pronounced a-LANE) and Lee have invited me to lead a discussion on church planting. The Foursquare church has existed in Chile for 60 years and they have about 120 churches. But according to pastor Alen, they are not growing like many other groups are. Few Foursquare churches are being planted, and the president wants to change that fact. I assured him that we’re not planting many Foursquare churches in the U.S. either. But Lee felt that I might be able to stimulate the thinking of these national leaders with my story at Coastlands.

We enjoyed a fantastic dinner, cooked by one of the ladies in Lee and Lisa’s church. I forget the name of the dish, but it’s very typical of Chilean cuisine: it’s a beef broth soup in a large bowl, along with a slab of beef, a potato, a hunk of squash and a thick cross-section of corn on the cob. The correct way to eat the dish is to finish the soup first, then proceed to the squash and potato and meat. Along the way you stab the cob with a fork and gnaw off the corn a bit at a time. Delicious!

We began with a couple worship songs, and then Lee asked each person to introduce themselves—and a bit about their ministry, especially as it related to church planting. I was delighted to have both husbands and wives at this seminar, so we got the “real” story about ministry! I am glad to report that, for the most part, the Chilean Foursquare church holds to one of our most basic, founding principles—the suitability of both men and women for active leadership within the church: pastors and pastoras!

After everyone shared, it was already 9:45pm, but Lee assured me that the Chileans could easily go until 10:30 or 11:00. Alen exclaimed, “The night is still young!” So I began to tell my story.

Curiously, I started with what happened to me my first year in college when I recognized that my childhood faith consisted only of belief and ethics; even though I wavered, I held to timeless truths about God and I had good morals. But at 17 years old, I received revelation that God had more for me than a moral code and a set of doctrines: He wanted me to be one of His agents on earth. He wanted me to minister to people in ways that would change their lives.

As I began my tale, my heart was strangely moved to share several fairly radical thoughts with my new friends (I’ll try to enumerate them for you tomorrow). About 30 minutes into my sharing, Lee asked if he could put my thoughts on the white board, taking them out of narrative (story) form and into an outline. Alen, the president, piped in too, saying, “I’m still thinking about Daniel’s first point, and he has already moved onto two others!”

Oh my! I was watching a radical paradigm shift take place before my eyes. God was shaking some of their most fundamental thoughts about ministry activity and training.

Chile: 2010, Day 3

Warmer, more windy and smoggier today. At least that’s what my intuitive thermometer tells me…

Ryan and I had a nice little breakfast in the patio atrium of the hotel. The coffee was so weak coming out of the large pot, I thought it was tea! But otherwise, we had a good time chatting about life, church and Foursquare while we ate. It’s summer-time here, of course, and that means great fruit: apricots, oranges, cherries, etc. I ate more than my fair share of the fruit.

Most of the morning was consumed with desk/computer work, but at lunchtime (1:00pm), Lee picked us up to go eat (again). We charged Ryan with picking among the many restaurants at a large outdoor mall complex, and he admitted that he doesn’t like making those sorts of decisions—ones people can complain about later. I know what he meant, so between the three of us, we settled on an Asian place where they offered Japanese, Thai and Chinese dishes. Yum. I had green curry chicken with steamed rice.

We talked and talked—mostly about missions, where we are as a denomination, and ministry philosophies. Two hours went by before we knew it, so off we went to a Starbucks for coffee and more dialog. I went back to the hotel for a nap and (later) my power-walk, while Ryan and Lee did a little sightseeing and shopping.

After dinner (I had another Chilean salad and some baked sweet potato), it was time for the Bible study that Lee and Lisa lead every Wednesday night in an apartment complex near their home. I loved being there, thinking back on all the little Bible studies I’ve led since 1970 at UCLA. These are real Kingdom activities—cell groups, Bible studies, infant church plants, etc. I do not mean to imply that they are MORE Kingdom than larger meetings and bigger church settings. But I do mean they are of equal importance and value.

Lee asked me to teach the study for the evening, and I had a blast talking (okay, and acting) my way through a few texts. But the essence of what I felt prompted to share had to do with humility—especially acknowledging the limitations of our human reasoning when it comes to Kingdom activity and breakthrough. Little did I know—but found out later from Lee—just how timely that word was for two of the people in the room.

Interestingly, those two were the two people for whom I had a specific prophetic word! One of the two came to me after the meeting and asked for my counsel about a huge specific in his life. With Lee’s help and translation, I spoke with him for several minutes, then felt led to pray for his deliverance. It was quick and quiet—but life-transforming for the man. Later Lee marveled aloud about God’s amazing goodness to focus what I said to the man, so that “in ten minutes, the core issues in his life were addressed.” Only God can help us move with such revelational insight.

Thank You, Lord. Open my eyes and ears all the more to receive Your words and counsel for others…

Chile: 2010, Days 1-2

I got up early, as usual, and went to the office for a couple of hours before heading back home where my buddy Dave Mann picked me up at 10:00 to drive to SFO. We talked so much that the drive felt about 15 minutes long. About 20 minutes from the airport, I got a call from American Airlines informing me that my scheduled flight would be delayed due to weather, and if I stayed booked on it, I would miss my connection in Dallas to Santiago. Getting a courtesy call from AA is one of the huge perks I get as an elite frequent flier. The woman arranged for me to get a seat on an earlier-but-delayed flight to Dallas. How nice of her and good for business!

That meant I was a bit rushed at SFO but I had lots of time on the ground in Dallas. Upon arrival, I got a very sad text message from Lindsay (who is in Switzerland visiting her sister (and brother-in-law) and her new niece, Lilly. The message informed me that Niki Tshibaka, one of the young pastors joining me on this trip, had to return home because of a medical emergency in his family. Just after I read that, my phone indicated I had a voicemail message. It was Niki, calling from Lima, Peru, informing me of the same.

So, I alerted our host in Chile that he did not need to pick Niki up at the airport, and I called Kelly, Niki’s wife, to talk with her about the situation. As always, in the face of traumas and tragedies, I felt so inadequate to help, but I learned long ago it is the attempt to comfort and express care that makes most of the impact. Sometimes words are inadequate! Explanations and theologies fall short of comforting. Idea-laden statements are NOT what most people want or need in times of sadness and deep disappointment. In a way, love itself doesn’t answer the big cosmic questions, but I don’t think those big questions end up being the real ones, anyway.

We just want to know that we’re not alone facing the cosmos.

THE COSTLY APPLE

I went to the Admiral’s Lounge (sounds like a dockside bar) to do some work. They offer basic refreshments to us weary travelers, and sometimes, as was the case today, they put out fresh apples. My flight schedule was a bit strange, so I had to make a decision about how much I would eat waiting for the 9:10pm flight out of DFW to Santiago. If I ate a regular meal like my stomach wanted me to do, I wouldn’t be that hungry for the Business Class meal 90 minutes after take-off.

I grabbed two apples—one for then and one for later on the plane. However, after the meal, I slept most of the flight, and I didn’t eat the second apple. I didn’t think anything about it and actually forgot that I had the apple in my backpack. I went through passport control, passed customs and was about to exit when I realized I had to put my bag and pack through another screening device. I didn’t put two and two together: it was an agriculture screening device. Sure enough, they found my apple!

The man was quite pleasant, and I was too! I thought he would simply throw the apple away. He didn’t. he took me and my errant apple to a side area where he filled out a form, copied my passport and told me to wait for an interview with the inspector. I had signed a declaration that I had no food-stuffs with me. I just forgot! But the people waiting for an inspector, like me, realized the Chileans take this seriously. Like Australia and New Zealand, Chile has a strict no-foods import policy.

I waited over an hour before I was finally granted an interview. They filled out more forms—one declaring the food was illegal, one weighing the apple and announcing that it would be destroyed, and one announcing my fine! I had to pay over $200 for the contraband apple!!

Part of me wanted to rise up in indignation and outrage. “It’s just an apple!” I was being treated unfairly. I was being made to wait an unreasonable amount of time. Etc. But a scripture came to my mind, giving me an entirely different perspective on my apple:

Why should any living mortal, or any man, offer complaint in view of his sins? Lamentations 3:39

Yes, it was an accident that I forgot to throw my apple away before I went through the inspection. Yes, I am a nice, sincere, relatively “good” person, but I had broken the law in Chile. Whatever my motives, my intentions, my jovial forgetfulness, I was guilty. Probably my biggest surprise throughout the ordeal was that I really was not going to get grace from the officials. Because of Jesus, and His grace to me over and over, I haven’t had to “pay” for my wrongs.

Even when I told the official, “I’m sorry” (which she typed into the report), it made no difference in the fine. And the fine had to be paid in cash. So I had to be escorted to a nearby bank machine to withdraw that much money. There I was, a violator of the law being paraded before the world on my death-march to the machine and back to the customs office…

THE REST OF THE DAY

When I finally emerged from customs, Lee Schnabel (missionary) and Ryan Coffey (pastor in San Antonio) were waiting. I relayed the whole story as we drove to our hotel. Ryan and I got settled in our room, and they we went to lunch with Lee and his wife Lisa.

It was so much fun getting caught up on Lee and Lisa’s life. I was Lee’s college pastor at Church on the Way years ago, and we’ve had a good connection in all the years since. Lisa grew up in Brazil and Venezuela, where her parents were missionaries, so her cultural perspective is decidedly not typically American. They both have a heart and dream for the work in Chile that is to offer aid to the national Foursquare church leaders—as opposed to retaining some sort of leadership over those leaders.

We talked and talked about a million things, then rested for a couple hours before having dinner and talking and talking again. Lisa’s parents are visiting, so about 8:00pm we all went to a great steak place to gorge ourselves on meat and Chilean salad (tomatoes, onions and olive oil). Too stuffed to breathe, we walked back to Lee and Lisa’s apartment in the spectacular summer evening, then drove back to our hotel where we promptly called it a night.

Minneapolis (Eden Prairie): 2010, Days 3-4

Day 3

George and I managed to fill the entire morning with conversation about church in general, ministry and his congregation in particular. But that was after we filled our bellies in a fantastic breakfast restaurant called The Pancake House. It is one of those places that only serves breakfast (they close at 3:00pm), but oh what breakfasts they serve! I am a breakfast guy. I love to eat a huge meal first thing in the morning. So I am not a novice at breakfast, not a once-in-awhile have a little something before 10:00am person. But the menu was beyond anything I’ve ever seen. It was the perfect “greasy-spoon joint” with a marvelous family-feeling decor.

In the evening, I had the fun of eating dinner with about 30 of the influencers in the church. Afterwards, I shared some of the ministry thoughts that I have been focused on these last months—the kinds of things I share with pastors. I can see that George and Christy have done a good job nurturing their leaders and bringing them along within a common vision. That isn’t always easy to do when a growing congregation begins to attract and adopt members whose ministry and church backgrounds are dissimilar. Everyone was friendly, and I felt quite at home.

Day 4

I’m doing my best to ignore the two-hour time difference and stay on California time. That means, of course, I wake up at a later time than I’m used to waking. I still find the late wake-up disorients my day—not so much my sleep cycle or quotidian clock, but just the number of awake hours before noon. George, Christy and Scott (one of the key leaders) took me to the same breakfast place. I had a stack of 49’ers pancakes. They were so large in diameter, they spilled over the edge of a very large plate. That made the butter and syrup difficult to apply, but I was a committed applier—and eater. The were thin and incredibly delicious, perhaps the best pancakes I’ve ever eaten.

From there we went back to the church to meet with a couple dozen Foursquare pastor-couples, as well as one couple leading an independent church who are interested in Foursquare. I approached the morning without doing anything to prepare notes, etc. I wanted to dialog with the pastors, and make our interaction more informal (and hopefully led by the Spirit).

Remarkably, I didn’t run out of things to say. After lunch I continued along the same vein of thought, but the session included a few of George’s leaders. In some ways, the mixed group (i.e., pastors and non-pastors) was additional confirmation that leadership, maturity and ministry do not differ from one group to another. Regardless of title, we can do amazing things if we abide in Jesus. Earlier in the morning, when I went around and introduced myself to people before the sessions started, I was struck by how many of the ladies quickly disavowed being pastors. (“Not me. My husband is the pastor!”)

We do have different roles to play. I was once the designated pastor of a congregation. I am no longer a pastor (I guess). My assignment has changed. That means I end up in different places with people than before, but wherever I find myself, and for whatever reason I end up next to people, I still function in exactly the same manner as I did when people called me pastor. “What can I do” is always more important than “What is my title.”

In the evening I spent a couple more hours with George and Christy. They wanted to be home in time to put their son to bed, so they dropped me off at a Mexican restaurant near my hotel. I had dinner and walked back to watch football…

Minneapolis (Eden Prairie): 2010, Day 2

From 5:30am until 4:00pm, my day was spent in an airport or an airplane, so when I arrived in Minneapolis and was picked up by George Cooper, I was ready to be unchained. I did a good walk on the treadmill at the hotel where I’m staying, then met George and Christy for dinner.

Oh, wow! They took me to one of their favorite dinner places, where we enjoyed chopped-salad as an appetizer, then got down to the serious dishes. I had a Peppercorn (crusted?) fillet and wood-fire heated vegetables—plus half of a cherry-apple pie a la mode (with caramel drippings). Did I mention it was good?

As good as the food surely was, the treat of the evening wrapped around our conversation. George exhorted me earlier in the evening—in the best and most gracious way—that my voice was welcomed and sought by pastors like them. I should never be dismissive of the place God has given me to counsel, advise and mentor younger leaders. That’s a fine balance, isn’t it? Not being dismissive, but not becoming presumptuous.

Of course, the main reason I travel to places like this, is to spend time with the pastors and leaders. But the best of the best, in my heart, are the very personal, real conversations I get to have with pastors trying to navigate the realities of life/ministry. I love talking to leaders about the practics of ministry and church leadership, but those principles aren’t as vital as the how-do-we-process-this-thing in our lives questions I get from young couples who are still arriving at answers.

I know of no greater privilege, other than leading someone to the Lord. I am invited in! Hearts left vulnerable by life open to listen. What a trust. What an honor…

So we talked about some of the things they are facing. I told stories of how I had experienced the same, and how Pamela processes things (slightly) differently than I do. None of the conversation even touched upon “issues” between them, or typical marriage/family stuff. They have a good accountability structure around them and among other leaders. Sometimes, though, it just really helps to talk to someone different, in order to get another “take” on matters before us.

I was glad to be another set of ears and lips that Jesus could use to bless His servants. I know that can sound pious and quasi-religious, just a platitude or a lofty and noble idea. But such a simple investment in such a leader-couple will return multiplied dividends in the Kingdom. Cameras don’t flash, reports don’t get written in such one-on-one encounters.

But looking back on my decades in active leadership ministry, I know such dinners would have made all the difference in the world to me. It’s the Golden Rule ministry guide: though it may not even be noticed to many others, if we do for others what we wish someone would do (or would have done) for us, we won’t ever be far off the mark of life-changing ministry.

Afterwards, it was back to another of my hotel nights.

LIFE Pacific College: 2010, Day 1

Isaac picked me up at 5:00am, and took me straight to the airport. Since I was flying Southwest Airlines to Ontario, instead of my usual AA, I did not have the advantage of any elite status to grant me the little perks that save time. I’m not complaining—just explaining why we didn’t have time to stop for the coffee we both wanted. The flight to Ontario was uneventful; I napped and read the paper. Upon landing, I was picked up by two students from LIFE, who brought me to the college for my first meeting of the day.

My dear friend, Angie Richey, who serves as the leader of LIFE’s recruitment and relations department, had arranged several meetings for me with various staff. But before the formal meetings began, I got to attend chapel and hear another good friend, Glenn Burris (our interim denominational president) share with the students some of the “issues” that hinder our ability to hear from God. He also showed a short video describing just how rapidly technology was reshaping our world. The connection was clear: today’s ministry students must listen carefully to Jesus’ instructions for how to keep turning the world upside-down.

Afterwards, several of us went to lunch to brainstorm about “Student Life” and “Residential Life.” That meant everything from ASB retreats and community ministry to the dorms and RA training. I’m not sure my thoughts were that helpful, but at least they stirred the pot and got people thinking a little more out of the box.

From lunch, we came directly back to campus, where I had brief opportunity to speak with a student who hopes to church-plant after graduation. That was fun for me because I don’t meet many leaders these days who take active interest in starting churches. It seems like our denominational zeal for pioneering new churches isn’t close to what it was years ago. I don’t like sounding old, but neither do I like remaining silent when I think our Movement has become sidetracked from its calling.

Those thoughts accompanied me to the next meeting that was already in progress. Angie had invited the NextGen district leaders from three Southern CA districts to talk with her and her interns about how the college, especially her department, could serve at camps and other activities. I made a rather dramatic entrance, nearly spilling coffee on an unsuspecting student and tipping the number of chairs-to-bodies over the limit—so another student had to exit the room to find another chair.

Angie got the meeting back on track, and I loved what I heard for the next several minutes. The district officials (they would shoot me if I called them that) were in a real-deal conversation, an actual dialog with LIFE officials. Two distinct segments of our larger family were discussing how they could work together. Because they were all close enough in age to one another, they viewed themselves mostly as members of a common generation. Therefore, their primary points of identification were NOT in which department they served. They looked for common ground in serving.

David Pinkston, another young friend of mine—and one of the district reps—shared several of his insights, and I was reminded of how ten years ago, he was among the young leaders who helped me pull together what we called GenXchange, a venue much like our present-day KWAM. Both David and Marcus (another of the reps) told me that, over the last few days, they had been speaking with my son, Evan, about lots of ministry ideas. I love that! Not just that Evan is in the mix (of course that thrills me as a father). What encourages me is that these younger ministers are talking to one another and taking advantage of one another’s wisdom/experience.

My next meeting was one of the most important of the day. Dr. Robert Flores and his administrative team agreed to meet with me to discuss an idea I have for international students. It would involve special screening by national Foursquare leaders to select the finest candidates; it would connect key local churches in the training process of these international students by arranging simultaneous involvement in some kind of internship; it would require significant funds from donors who are willing to partner with other nations. BUT, if it flies, we could see dozens on international leaders-of-the-future get a solid theological education, coupled with strong local-church ministry tooling.

Those students would eventually return home, all the more prepared for immediate pastoral ministry, and their connection with one another, as well as their developed friendships with their counterparts in the US Foursquare church, which will help unify our Movement around the world.

There are still many questions to answer, many needs that loom large enough to scuttle the possibilities, but I was encouraged by the meeting. I’m ready to take the idea to other friends at FMI, NCO and in other nations of he world. So stay tuned!

KWAM

In February, over 80 young adults from around the country will come to Coastlands for KWAM, a weekend of intense discipleship, leadership development and fellowship among active-in-ministry men and women in their 20’s. Publicity for the event has been almost exclusively word-of-mouth. We have 80 registered delegates—not a large turn-out if our goal was a big event. But KWAM is a counter-intuitive venue—one that aims at profound interaction among those who attend. It’s more like a ministry lab than a conference. The premium is on lasting friendships and enduring lessons for ministry. I’m trying to pull these young people into the ministry mainstream, so they come to see themselves as fully-vetted, adequately equipped leaders whose day has come (already).

As part of the learning process, I’ve been working with an ad hoc steering committee of young leaders. They have done all the real work to pull this off; I have merely added some “thought behind what we’re doing” to demonstrate some of the complexities of public ministry.

For instance, last night we had to make a decision—do we extend the registration deadline, or close registration? We decided to close it, and inform all late registrants that they will have to wait for the next KWAM. That’s radical, and not at all in keeping with usual church culture. We also had to decide on sleeping arrangements, specifically whether or not we will house married couples with one another. All the housing accommodations are in homes of the host church (they had mobilized the congregation and were prepared for over 150 beds in dozens and dozens of homes). Since the committee is serious about connecting registrants with as many people as possible, they took a radical posture and decided couples will NOT be housed as couples, but “girls with girls, and boys with boys.”

I can hear the reactions already…

Two other young friends, John and Natasha, drove me to my hotel at LAX, from where I’ll fly early to Minneapolis.

Seattle: 2010, Day 6

I awoke with a great sense of anticipation for the day’s events—speaking at Mill Creek Foursquare Church, lunch with Phil and Emily Manginelli and an afternoon/evening with Chris, Jen and the kids. But I was tired. My morning wasn’t quite long enough to do everything I hoped to do, so I already felt behind schedule when I arrived at the church. Never-mind. Once I got among the humans, I forgot all about being behind.

Both services went well. The church has grown since I was here last, and, as I told Chris and Jenifer later, it seems like many of the “empty pockets” I sensed before have all been sewn together—like someone pulled giant draw-strings and cinched up the spiritual unity. The congregation is getting to know me as a regular visitor, and that (plus Chris’ very, very warm intro) gave me almost instant access to their hearts. We laughed our way through one of the biggest stumbling points for most believers—“How do I relate to the Law, and why do I still feel guilty?”

After second service, I went with Phil and Emily and their infant son, Jacob, went to PF Chang’s. It’s one of Emily’s favorite restaurants, and mine, too! We were not moderate in our intake of food. But the real fun was in our conversation. What an honor to have a small place of love and affection in people’s lives that enables me to “speak” hope-filled words into their unguarded heart, to be invited beyond usual walls of doubt or cynicism.

I was reminded of what a pastor-friend from Gettysburg, Geri Chester, told me last year when Pamela and I sat with a dozen young lady-ministers. In so many words, she admonished me, “You have a voice to us, and we listen to you. Be very careful what you say…”

Bowling

Once back at the church to get my car, I was met and escorted to my hotel by the entire Chris Manginelli family. They took me bowling in Bellevue, where Microsoft is headquartered. After a very poor start, I managed a respectable 153. Most people don’t know that I was in numerous bowling leagues between 8th and 11th grade. I even have my own bowling ball somewhere in the garage (I haven’t touched it in 30 years).

Seattle: 2010, Day 5

Another bowl of cereal with banana and a couple cups of coffee got me started on a fabulous day. I spent the morning doing email, calendar and other work-related tasks. Despite the fact that it is, indeed, work, I love having the chance to get caught up (somewhat) on things that otherwise keep piling up when I’m on the road—which is almost all the time. I got to spend all morning just doing work. No interruptions. No calls. Nothing else wanting my attention. Glorious.

Lunch

At lunch, Tim Poetzl, who pastors a church north of Everett, picked me up and took me to a restaurant called Road House. It’s like a rustic Sizzler with lots of hearty meat dishes. I had a Bison Burger. The meat of buffalo tastes mostly like beef, and I was happy with my selection.

Tim and I spoke about some of the dynamics of transitioning into a pastoral position. His church is almost exactly the same size as Coastlands was when I stepped aside from pastoring it, and I think Tim appreciated having someone with whom he could compare notes. We also spent time on other subjects, like the difference between his generation’s perspective and the mindset of my generation.

As has been happening in many conversations lately, we eventually turned the conversation toward denominations, in general, and Foursquare, in particular. All of us pastors, at one time or another, have had to wrestle through what it means to be part of a larger fellowship of churches. How should I relate to it? What ought it do for me and my church? What do I gain from association with the larger body, and does that compare favorably with what I give up to be part of it?

In some ways, the questions have counterparts for individuals in our churches who ask why they should bother “joining” our churches. Most pastors, today, do not emphasize formal church-membership, but all of us still want to know who are the people who identify with our body—and call it home. As a leader, I have always wanted to be able to say to others, “Do as I am doing. Follow my example.” Before I could encourage people to join my church, I wanted to have joined a denomination.

But Tim and I thought alike on those general issues. What intrigued us (well, at least, me) centered around the legitimately asked question, “What has the denomination done for me—or other pastors?” The unspoken assumption behind the question is that a denomination ought to do things for its churches and pastors. Tim and I agreed on that point. Absolutely.

But the way I stayed sane, in the midst of my years when the denomination failed to do much for me—and actually caused me great grief—was to remember the baseline rule for Kingdom ministry: “Do to others what you wish done for you.” Therein lies the great secret, the REAL reason for being part of a denomination. The very things I think it ought to do for pastors becomes the guideline for what I, in my small way, attempt to do for pastors.

Afternoon and Dinner

No sooner had I finished lunch, than I zipped over to see Chris and Jenifer Manginelli and their adorable kids, Emma, Eli and baby Luke. Jenifer and I are collaborating on a booklet I plan to publish soon, so we spent some time mapping out our editorial strategy. That and playing with the kids took up most of the afternoon. Then it was time to go back to the hotel and wait for my dinner partners.

Nate and Jennie Poetzl took me to a very interesting Mexican restaurant; the food was unusual but excellent. I actually felt like I was in a gourmet Mexican restaurant highly influenced by continental cuisine. Jennie, Nate and I were so quickly and so thoroughly engrossed in conversation, I wouldn’t have minded if we were eating McDonald’s. I almost felt badly because the food was of such little interest to me, compared to getting to know and “feeling” my newest friends.

I was struck by how similar our thoughts were, and though they nicely inquired of me about many subjects, we could just as easily turned the conversation around the other way. I was struck afresh with why I want to keep building relationships within Foursquare for myself and for others. It’s so enriching and encouraging to know I’m not alone. I may be crazy or “out there,” but I have friends who are “out there” too—well, at least, I can see some of my friends from where I am!

I couldn’t believe when the night was done. In my heart, I was just getting started…

Seattle: 2010, Day 4

By the time I got to the Seattle airport, rented a car, drove north of Seattle to Everett and got to bed, it was 11:00pm. Morning came early. I grabbed a bowl of Raisin Bran cereal (with some sliced banana) and a cup of coffee before I navigated my way to New Life Church, using my iPhone map as my guide.

Nate Poetzl, pastor of this several-thousand member church, had invited nearly twenty area pastors to spend three hours chatting with me about church, leadership and discipleship. Interestingly, of the fifteen guys who showed up, only one was over forty years old! I was thrilled simply to be in the same room with so many pastors under forty; I had nearly despaired that our Foursquare family had almost completely lost its appeal to younger pastors. But here in one room were as many guys as I could want for a truly meaningful dialog.

I knew some of the guys, but not most, so Nate did his best to introduce me to them—when none of us really knew why I was there or what I planned to say/do. I invited myself, as part of the trip to Anchorage, to simply come spend time getting to know Nate. We had communicated a bit by email in previous months, and it just seemed like a good idea to me (and to Nate) for us to get some face-time. Nate, in turn, invited some of his friends to share the day with me, so there we were.

It took all of two minutes before several prophetic images (and scriptures) flooded into my mind, so I just started talking. (What a shock!) One topic led to another, and one answer to a question spawned several more questions. Before we knew it, it was lunchtime. The church had kindly arranged for box lunches, so we grabbed our choice-of-sandwich lunchboxes and kept right on talking until 2:00pm. What a blast.

A Different World-View

I was struck, for the hundredth time, by one of the contrasts between this generation and my own. (Well, there were two contrasts, but the other one was for their ears only, since it was a bit corrective/challenging.) More than once, I tried to step away from answering a question, not because I was shy or timid in my perspective, but because I didn’t want to prejudice their thoughts by offering my views as “expert” just because I was older. Finally, one of the guys came right out and said that he (they) wanted to hear what I thought because I was older and had been around for a long time. He (they) wanted the benefit of my experience, and didn’t want to come to conclusions on their own!

My generation never thought like that. We want(ed) the old guys to disappear as fast as we could usher them out the door…

These young pastors grew up in a world that changed the game rules constantly. These men are not cowards, but the overload of information and the dearth of ministry models/mentors have left them a bit bewildered (or cynical). As a generation, they are capable of profound thought, tempered by uncertainty. It’s as though they have a built-in humility because they have learned they can’t be certain about anything. Their grasp of things is far more global and interconnected than that of my me-first-and-only egocentric peers. [I don’t mean we’re necessarily arrogant; I simply refer to the fact that we see the world from its center (i.e., from where we stand) out.]

I’m grossly overstating the matter, but I think my young friends tend to view the vast and multifaceted world from the vantage point of their (little) corner, far removed from center stage; they do not see the issues and complexities of church or life or politics laid out evenly and manageably, or sorted into handy categories, around them. “Me” is the first data point for Boomers; we start from that fixed, stable, secure coordinate and work our way outward, relating the life-issues we encounter back to ourselves.

For my young friends, the starting points (life, stuff, whatever, etc.) shift and swirl uncertainly, so their tendency is to retreat from the mainstream in an attempt to create their own more-manageable reality—and become detached from, as well as critical/cynical about, the bigger picture.

The tragedy, as far as Foursquare is concerned, is that we’re missing out on what our friends would bring to the table if they were actively encouraged/recruited to offer advice. I think their view of the world—as a fragmented kaleidoscope of micro-cultures and impossibly complex issues—is far closer to today’s reality than the outdated world-view of us older people. That means our church-thought, from the soon-to-be irrelevant ministry models to our strategies for evangelism and discipleship, isn’t being informed or shaped by the very ones who understand how most people think.

The heartbreak isn’t as small as “a whole generation of people are missing in our churches.” It is pathetic that few of our churches have any sizeable population of young adults. But that’s simply a symptom of the bigger malaise. As a Movement, we aren’t thinking very well because younger thinkers—there are lots of them—who think the way most of the world now thinks, have NOT been brought to the table and convinced that their thoughts are crucial to us.

New Life Staff Meeting

What a treat in the late afternoon to have opportunity to speak to another pastor’s staff—and tell them all the things I tried to tell my own staff through the years. Mostly, to say thank you, and to encourage them to see themselves as God does: people who are working behind the scenes (invisibly) to help ministry happen to people who might never be able to say thank you.

I shared several thoughts about how the Lord connects His greatest need (more laborers engaged in ministry) to our greatest need (volunteers to help church work). The secret to more workers is more discipleship. What does it mean to have disciples? How will I know if I have any disciples? What do I need to know to qualify as a discipler? These were the topics of our conversation.

I must admit I felt a bit badly about speaking at a meeting late on a Friday afternoon, because I presumed the staff (nearly 40 people were there) had been required to attend. “At least refreshments were provided,” I thought consolingly. I later found out that the meeting was completely voluntary. That brought a smile in my mind, especially when my comments, their questions and my answers filled the entire 90 minutes before the end of the work day. I departed very, very encouraged, and profoundly satisfied with a day so well-invested.

Anchorage: 2010, Days 2-3

Day 2

It snowed gloriously—at least to a Californian—all morning, but since it stays dark until after 9:00am, Dick and I enjoyed a winter wonderland night-time atmosphere after breakfast. We both had sourdough pancakes (they weren’t very good, actually) and great coffee to jump-start the day.

At 9:30am, Jim picked us up at the hotel, and while driving to the church, he wanted to show us how much traction his 4-wheel drive truck (with studded tires) could get on the icy roads. So this 65-year old teenager gave us a good display as he punched the accelerator on the mostly deserted streets. How funny.

Both Jim and Yvonne are such joyous, gracious people. I can see why the Lord has given them entry into many people’s lives—especially their friendship with the native people and pastors. I think this conference, which was originally intended primarily for the ministers who work among native peoples, has morphed into something slightly different, but equally as beneficial. Pastors and leaders from many different denominations and independent groups have ended up attending.

It’s a great reminder that we are one Church. When the fellowship/input opportunities for ministers are limited, when pastors face such obvious obstacles in the culture and surroundings, when they are in the presence of their spiritual enemies and relentless darkness—denominational/church differences quickly fade from importance…

Much of the day I focused on the biblical guidelines and purposes for prophetic words and revelation—and I offered these dear leaders four specific words of wisdom that God had put on my heart for several of them and their situations. It was a fabulous time all day long, and so many verses and Bible concepts kept flooding into my mind/heart, I was a little disappointed that I didn’t have more time to share. But in the afternoon, one of the native pastors, Mike, shared with us. It was really good! He talked about how God, in His undying love, wants us to keep low and live in places of seeming insignificance—so that He can use us significantly.

The kingdom of God, all the extended family we have among believers in every nation of the world, offers a vast array of styles, emphases, perspectives and assignments. Getting to travel as much as I do, being in and among churches from diverse continents, I count it quite a privilege to enjoy the differences. I suppose it’s like children: they are remarkably unlike one another, yet they all bear striking resemblance to their parents. An Eskimo woman doing a dance of praise, a Bible-college trained North American Indian, a pastor who suffered through a divorce 30 years ago and found ministry in Alaska, a church-planting prospect from Puerto Rico, a German missionary-turned-businessman—and so many other life-stories all reflect Jesus.

I may have taxed everyone’s energy and stamina in the evening gathering (although several people remarked quite the opposite after the session). I really, really wanted to talk about the Law and Grace (my hot topic for 2010), but by the time we had finished with the earlier portions of the evening’s program, it was  close to 8:30pm. Jim and Yvonne had told me earlier it wasn’t unusual for meetings in the villages to go until after 10:00pm. So I took the plunge; we started exploring God’s Word and didn’t finish until 9:30pm. At least no one fell asleep…

Day 3

After another early breakfast with Dick, I returned to my room to prepare for the day and reflect on the Bible passages the Lord had laid on my heart to share. It wasn’t long before Jim came to the hotel to pick us up and take us to meet with Yvonne at a Starbucks to talk about some potential strategies for this amazing state of Alaska. Because of their long and loving history here, Jim and Yvonne have earned the respect of many different groups of believers, especially native leaders.

I simply wanted to add my voice to the chorus of people who look to them as safe, sensible Kingdom elders; my heart was to encourage them to steward their God-intended influence and use it to keep promoting Native American leadership in the body of Christ in Alaska. When we speak to people about their lives (future) and about God’s good hand upon them, it’s a very sacred thing—and one to speak about with great care and humility. Seeing people who are in the place where God has so obviously placed them encourages me to keep seeking the Lord to be sure I’m where He wants me to be!

If the Kingdom is truly like a mustard seed, and it is—then Kingdom activity and enterprise will also resemble mustard seeds—in size and growth pattern. That’s why God’s people, His servants wonder so frequently if what they are doing is making any difference in the world. We don’t (trans)plant trees, we bury seeds! Seeds that don’t spring up into instant saplings! Seeds that, if rightly planted, disappear from our sight. Seeds of promise—which simply means no obvious return (as yet)…

I was so glad to be an encouragement to Jim and Yvonne, about where they were in God’s purposes—and possibilities for how to focus more exclusively on building the Body of Christ in Alaska, so that it more closely resembles the peoples of Alaska.

Closing Sessions

At the beginning of events like this conference, I’m always tortured because I prefer to speak to people out of the context of true relationship and connection with them personally. Not knowing anyone in the beginning puts me at a disadvantage, or, perhaps more accurately to say it means I have my work cut out for me: while I certainly want to impart timeless truths from the Bible that in no way depend on me, my assignment from the Lord has always been to “get into relationship” with people. To keep my spiritual sanity and to fulfill my calling, I feel compelled to start a relationship, more than to preach a sermon.

The catch is that by the time a conference is over, I feel torn up inside because I feel like I’m parting from good friends—and we were just getting close to each other. Jim and others “hinted” at just how outlandish it was to imagine a Californian guy finding acceptance (surviving) in the harsh culture and climate of Alaska. (Two different leaders asked me how I was so tan!?!) An unknown speaker in a conference setting that was aimed at native leaders, but open to anyone, is not a prescription for hugs and kisses.
But there I was at the end of my time with my new friends, telling them the story of how Jim baited me with fish to accept his invitation to come. I turned down the fish but jumped at the opportunity to visit because he told me about ministers in and among the native villages, and I wanted to bring bread and fish to them.

I also told everyone about the real reason I came to this conference. Unbeknownst to anyone except my parents and my wife, I was consumed with and fascinated by a topic for most of my childhood. I loved the North American Indians, and I read, studied and learned everything I could about the different tribal groups in the lower 48 states. One year for Christmas, my parents gave me a huge book, sort of an encyclopedia of the stories of various tribes—and their grievous interaction with whites. Did you know, for instance, that “white man’s disease” (small pox) killed more native Americans than bullets did? Or that, to this day, there has never been a treaty–between our government and any tribe(s)—whose provisions we have fulfilled? We broke every treaty we ever made!

By age 13, I probably knew more about those who lived in the Land (long before Columbus “discovered” it), than the People themselves or some college professor. Even in college, I took every class I could find that dealt with native Americans. My point in telling that was not to offer a patronizing embrace of  another culture—as though to dismiss any reason for our differences. I wanted to convey to everyone—not just the native leaders present—that the God who calls us from the womb, is also the God who superintends much of our life experience, and points it toward our future ministry.

What traces of God’s calling can we find in our life histories? Many, if we know how to look for them.

The highlight of the whole conference came at lunch, when I gathered with all the pastors/leaders at Jim’s request, to talk about future ministry possibilities. I was one of four speakers at the conference; Miike, Mary and Will (their white people’s names), all native leaders, were the other three. The day before, one of the delegates ( a dear white man married to an Eskimo) asked me when I would return to Alaska to speak again. I demurred and deferred and didn’t answer him because it isn’t my place to presume and invite myself back. That would be up to others. His question was a little awkward, but well-intended.

At lunch, I was seated across from Mary and Will, and next to two other Alaskan natives (one who had been raised from the dead a year ago, and the other who offered to send me instructions for how to make the killer salmon spread we were enjoying for lunch). At one point, Will addressed me with everyone’s attention: “Daniel, you said you could not return to Alaska without an invitation. Today, I invite you. I invite you to come back to our land and teach us.” I nearly wept.

At the end of the afternoon, just before Jim and Yvonne took me to the airport, Jim asked all the native pastors/leaders to surround me and pray/prophesy over me. They formed a hesitant circle, but stood back from me a step or two (in respect, I think). So I asked them to please come close and touch me while they prayed. They did. Did they ever…

P.S. I’d like to include pictures but I can’t get my photos onto my new computer from my iPhone…

Anchorage: 2010, Day 1

Dick and I got an early start on our trek to the northern climes; Lynne brought Dick to our house just before 5:00am, and within moments, Brenda Miller (our ride to San Jose) pulled up. We all decided we wanted Starbucks, so off we went for steaming cups of java. Brenda, who was my assistant for years and helped me pioneer my district back East, got me talking about several denomination and district-related matters. She and I have discussed such things many times before, and I talked so much, I hardly had time to drink my coffee. That’s what’s great about old friends and long-time comrades-in-arms—it’s so easy to slip back into those great, familiar patterns.

We managed to find the airlines’ drop-off point at San Jose. The airport is under major reconstruction, so it changes every week. Also, we were flying Alaska Airlines, not my familiar AA. That meant no frequent flyer perks or shortcuts. Our flight was delayed an hour due to mechanical issues, so we missed our connection in Seattle. That called for another cup of coffee, right Dick?

But it also meant we had to scramble for available seats on the next flight. There weren’t’ many. I had no idea so many people traveled to Alaska in the dead of winter! I ended up one row from the back—on the window side—pressed into my tiny place by a surly young man next to me, who openly displayed his displeasure about life and this flight. The 3-hour flight wasn’t especially pleasant, but it did give me opportunity to nap quite a bit.

When we arrived in Anchorage, we were met by Jim Brenn, the pastor who invited me to come for this conference several months ago. He brought me a huge, orange winter jacket, the kind that’s good for minus temperatures! OK, it didn’t have fur trimming around the hood, but wearing it made me feel like a real Alaska guy—and it made me hot in the airport. Jim told us they were having a hot spell these days because it was in the 20’s outside. Nice hot, nice hot…

Yvonne, Jim’s wife, met us at a local eatery (I forget the name of the place) where we were told “No on ever leaves here hungry!” Good thing, too, since it was now 3:00pm, and other than a muffin early in the morning before leaving for the airport, I hadn’t had anything but coffee. I enjoyed my salad and a 1/2-pound burger; Dick really enjoyed his 1/2-pound chili burger and fries…

It was such fun listening to Jim and Yvonne’s story about how they ended up pastoring a Foursquare church. They are the divisional leaders for Alaska, and both are ordained ministers. Their passion to see breakthrough, especially among the native people of Alaska, was deeply moving. Because they confront so many dark things, they also have a healthy appreciation for and understanding of spiritual wrestling, rescuing the captives from the clutches of various spiritual “strong men.”

The Conference

That evening, we started the conference. From what I gather, Jim has collected most of the other 6-7 Foursquare pastors from around Alaska, numerous ministers and leaders from other ministries who live nearby, and several native ministers whose primary emphasis and battleground lies among the 400+ villages of indigenous peoples throughout the vast stretches of this massive state. Those were the couples who most drew my heart when I agreed to come. Imagine the challenges of one such ministry—traversing the 2,000+ miles of the Yukon River, entering village after village with a guitar and playing to draw a crowd to hear the gospel!

What distances—both geographic and spiritual—these Kingdom-bringers must travel…

Before my time to speak, one of the native women, in full tribal regalia, danced an interpretive dance declaring the praise of God. It was so powerful, and such a great reminder to us that people’s culture can be one of the best vehicles for delivering the Good News of God’s love. Too bad that Christians allow unfounded superstition to declare all “native” elements unfitting. I certainly did not feel that mentality here (actually, quite the opposite), but I wonder to what extent the gospel has failed to penetrate some cultures of the world simply because “western-European” styles and mindsets unintentionally insisted on stripping peoples of their cultural identities.

Jim and Yvonne followed a native tradition of presenting guests of honor with a welcome gift—in my case, a hand-carved ivory necklace of a whale’s tail! I joked with everyone about how it sanctioned me to tell a whale-of-a-tale…

After the service, one of the leaders expressed her thanks by saying, “The teaching gift always messes me up…” She meant Bible verses act as appropriate restraints to prophetic messages, and people who move mostly in discernment, intercession, prophetic healing, etc., can too easily become too loosely attached to Bible teaching. She meant it as a compliment; I took it as confirmation of the direction I feel led to go these days.

Sri Lanka: 2009, Days 12-13

The last days and nights of this trip were as uneventful as they were long.

I departed from Colombo, Sri Lanka, early, early Monday morning at 1:45am (that’s right, AM). I flew 3½ hours to Bangkok, where we were forced to remain on the plane while a cabin crew cleaned it and we boarded more passengers for the next  flight—3 hours to Hong Kong. I was on the ground for just under two hours before taking the 14 hour flight to London, where I arrived at 8:00pm on Monday night. I had a short night in an airport hotel before I was off for the 10 hour flight directly to SFO.

I was home in Santa Cruz on Tuesday by 4:00pm.

Sri Lanka: 2009, Days 10-11

Day 10

Belen served us fresh fruit (mango and pineapple), scrambled eggs, toast and jam for breakfast, and despite the fact that I have enjoyed Sri Lankan food immeasurably these last days, I suppose one never loses one’s taste for the food of childhood. I must confess I wolfed down every morsel, and I heaped an extra measure of jam on my toast.

Before long, it was time for us to go to the church leaders’ meeting. Two or three times a year, depending on how frequently an overseas guest is able to stay for the weekend, Leslie invites his key staff, as well as some of the professionals in his congregation, to a training morning. Wow! This group was incredibly easy to talk to—meaning, they were so eager to hear what I had to say. No fighting. No resistance. No skepticism. I almost felt like things were being drawn out from me simply because they wanted to hear more.

Every child of God is supposed to have a certain measure of alertness against false teaching, and as is true in every culture, there is some need for a “foreign” speaker (that’s me) to build credibility. No one can expect instant acceptance. But the rapport between us was obvious almost from the beginning. I believe that was due partly to Leslie’s validation of me in his introduction, but mostly because they are a well-taught group. The more sound and grounded people are in solid Bible-truth, the less susceptible they are to deception—and, hence, the less they need to “be on guard.”

Honestly, I don’t remember, specifically, anything of what I said to them the first hour. It went by so quickly and effortlessly, it’s just a blur. During the second hour, I spoke about the common lies we hear about ourselves as ministers. I took my comments from Nehemiah 4 when Sanballat asks several mocking questions of the Jews who are rebuilding the city walls. As long ago, so today, we who seek the welfare of others will hear belittling and despising comments about ourselves.

Challenges to our capabilities, our motives, our worthiness and our meager contribution are not unique to us or to this day. Such are doctrines of demons that hate our involvement to do others good.

Young Adult Service

Back at the hotel after lunch, I napped for a couple hours until I was picked up by pastor Hiram, the leader of the Young Adult service that meets every other Saturday night from 6-8pm. It has grown to nearly 80 teens-to-20s. They meet in a rented community hall with cement floors and stucco walls, so let’s just say I could easily have heard the worship band without my hearing aids! They had testimonies (very impressive), communion, worship, announcements and a message from the guest (me). I was struck (impressed) by the percentage of young go-for-it guys.

Since Hiram had gone off to see his oldest boy’s Christmas program at school, one of his assistants handled the service. The whole team did such a good job! I assured these young people that I knew there is nothing more pathetic than an old guy who either doesn’t realize he’s old—like he hasn’t looked in a mirror in years—or who tries to be young despite his advanced years. Well, that got us off to a great start, and I just launched into a Bible story that captures one of the most basic ways in which the Kingdom works: seek first the Kingdom, and decide that you want what God wants more than anything else. I don’t think it was a story that was very familiar to them, but they enjoyed letting me tell them all the twists and turns of the episode when Elijah passed his mantle to Elisha.

After a lovely dinner at Hiram and Radisha’s home (it was decorated so nicely with Christmas décor), it was back to the hotel for my last night of sleep in a bed for many, many long hours to come. But more on that later…

Day 11

Over the course of the day, I spoke at three different locations to congregations that are all part of Pastor Leslie’s central church in Colombo. Believe it or not, the first of these congregations meets at the Russian Embassy’s cultural center! That’s right, they rent from the Russian Embassy—a 10-year lease. You can imagine all the fun I was having with that fact in my heart before and during service. What a kick!! The meeting place was absolutely packed with 200+ people who sat on tiered levels like an old lecture hall or theater.

The pastor had heard me at the Pastors’ conference, so he wanted all the kids and youth to stay in service to hear me. I felt honored, and began my teaching with the old joke about the poor little boy who couldn’t sit still or be quiet in church, so his father slung him under his arm and marched out of the church down the center aisle in order to spank him. As he was being carried out of the church, he looked people in the eye and said, “Pray for me!” I will admit I hammed it up just a bit more than usual, and the kids sitting near the front were wide-eyed and laughing through much of the message.

Soon, Pastor Leslie will start another congregation out from this one to relieve the over-crowding. That’s his model for church-planting: start meetings with a few people from an existing church, target unbelievers and appoint a couple as local pastors to handle on-site care and logistics. Leslie travels to each of the four existing congregations three of four weeks per month. In this way, he disciples a pastor while growing a congregation.

We rushed out of service while everyone was concluding in prayer, and drove to the next venue for the service that was already in progress; it was the main service of the main church. We arrived after worship and announcements and just in time for a testimony by a Sri Lankan missionary to India who has started over 30 congregations in less than two years. So great to listen to him—a guy who was an “enforcer” with local gangs before he was saved. He shared how he had been thrown out of Bible college and sent to a province as punishment, but that’s when his ministry really took off!

This service was also completely full. Pastor told me to talk as long as I wanted; “They’re used to it,” he added. So I went for it—nearly an hour! And how we laughed! But more than one person commented to me about how effective the acting and humor were in making a point and having it remembered. “You’re easy to listen to, but you make us think a lot.” Pastor Leslie told me I have a very distinct and different sense of humor. (I think he likes it…)

After church, Belen, Leslie and Blessie, their oldest daughter, took me to a great Chinese restaurant. Blessie knew people there (I think she knows people everywhere), so she ordered her favorite dishes for us. Scrumptious.

That evening, Belen took me to my last venue—another of the congregations, but this one met in an old Church of Scotland building. It is a typical high-church building, constructed in the form of a cross with a long and narrow pew-filled seating area. I was sorely tempted to climb up in the “crow’s nest” perch to speak because it was impossible to see faces in much of the congregation while standing on the floor up front.

I did abandon the pulpit and came out into the center aisle to try making better connection with the people. I think it helped. This congregation, like the other two, is English-speaking. Leslie’s church (including all the off-shoot congregations) is comprised of many professionals and well-educated people who studied abroad. It was hard to keep remembering that I was in Sri Lanka, except it was so hot and humid (compared to Santa Cruz)! I wasn’t exactly fresh-as-a-daisy when I finished speaking. TMI, I know, but it’s my journal…

The evening and my visit to Sri Lanka ended in Leslie and Belen’s home where they offered me fresh fruit and marvelous conversation. We’re exploring several ways that we can partner in future ministry—including offering training seminars in healing and deliverance ministry; work on his foundation that provides benevolence to war-torn parts of his country; and, developing discipleship/training resources for pastors-in-training all over the world.

Who knows? But taking one step, one more step at a time is the only way to find out.

Sri Lanka: 2009, Day 9

I find myself regretting, already, the ending of this pastors’ camp. It still amazes me how God can knit people’s hearts together so quickly and so completely. I agree with Kurt’s words, as he accepted a farewell gift from all the pastors: “You have captured my heart!” I had the privilege of speaking all morning and again in the evening, so it gave me quite a chance to open my heart and God’s Word to them about the many different ways in which God leads us to engage in ministry. Not every prompting to action comes to us as a revelation or a prophetic word.

When I speak at pastors’ gatherings, my desire is to offer them a blend of three ingredients, and to the extent that I’m able to deliver those three, I gauge my effectiveness or “success” at the events. Most importantly, I want to open the Word of God to and for them, convincing them that the Bible really does have an answer for every situation in life and ministry. I strive to be, first of all, a Bible teacher who keeps referring to text after text and verse after verse.

Secondly, my hope is to speak prophetically. This sometimes means getting and giving specific words of prophecy, words of wisdom and words of knowledge. These timely and particular words may be for an entire movement or for individual leaders; in either case, I follow the slightest suggestion in my heart to speak them. But often, I’m simply speaking revelation into situations about which I know nothing. Little tangents come to my mind while I’m talking, and I’ve learned, through the years, to follow them. Why is my heart drawn to one Bible story? I don’t over-think it, I just elect to teach what comes to me.

Lastly, I want to be practical in my instruction. Pastoring is a really hard job. The pressures from people, the concerns about finances, the need to get and cast clear, seasonal vision, the humungous issues in people’s lives, the complaints, etc.—these come at pastors in such numbers and in such an unrelenting manner, that it is sometimes hard just to keep going. One of the biggest pressures on pastors is the lack of clear modeling by older pastors who can give younger ministers “permission” to say and do things. A respected leader’s handling of various pastoral situations can really help a younger pastor figure out what to do in his or her current situation.

That’s why I felt so encouraged during this time in Sri Lanka. Many pastors expressed their appreciation and commented on exactly those three qualities in the teachings.

The Snake

At the conclusion of my teaching, just as I was wrapping up the days with a couple sentences about God’s Word to these faithful men and women, the Enemy manifested his displeasure by sending a poisonous snake slithering out from the bushes, across the grass and into our midst. I noticed a commotion among some of the listeners, and thought, at first, they were swatting away a big bug. But as several people backed away and one man began to shove aside chairs while stomping his foot repeatedly, I knew we had a situation.

Pastor Leslie had begun the conference by relating a dream he had about a giant snake laying in wait for him and the church. We had prayed against that pending attack. Now at the precise moment we were concluding the conference, a deadly snake tried to creep in to do us harm. Praise God, the snake was killed. We tread on the serpent’s head and threw the lifeless creature back into the bush from whence it came.

The point was clear to everyone. That was no mere coincidence. That was a potent message attempted first by the Enemy, but cut off and reinterpreted by the Lord: though enemies like the serpent will try to stop us, Jesus will give us the victory!

After we had dinner and gave our farewells, Leslie, Belen and I drove back to Colombo where we arrived just after midnight. Before long, I was asleep…

Sri Lanka: 2009, Days 6-8

Day 6

It was a special treat to get to visit with Volker and Kurt during our big breakfast. Having them here, all the way from Switzerland, personally meant a lot to me. Volker has previously visited Sri Lanka four times, bringing VBS and Children’s Ministry teams, so he is quite familiar with the hotel where we’re staying, as well as with the local culture, etc. I proved to be the most adventurist eater because as long as I know there are no internal body-parts, I like trying almost anything. I could not even guess at either the names or ingredients of my “breakfast.”

We talked for a long time, then Volker suggested a walk along the seaside. I thought it would be too hot, but Volker prevailed on Kurt and me to take the walk. I was correct. It was too hot. But once we were on our way, we picked up a bit of sea-breeze that made the walk tolerable—until we were stopped by several army and policemen who were halting all foot and vehicle traffic near a government building close to our hotel. The uniformed guys—as well as the plainclothes officer—made it very clear not to even proceed a few feet. So we stood for about five minutes and baked in the sun.

Leslie and Belen Keegel met us an hour later for lunch and we ate at a sumptuous lunch buffet. I asked especially to be directed in what and how to eat foods of Sri Lanka. As you would imagine, there was lots of rice, some curry dishes, spicy side dishes, sauces, stewed meats, etc. I ate many different things, and all of them seemed to agree with me nicely.

Thus fortified, we drove about 90 minutes north into the country to the open-air camp site and retreat center where the conference is being held. Actually, we stopped first at the living compound where we are sleeping; it’s about 20 minutes from the conference ground. Both facilities are similar—several bungalows that serve as communal sleeping quarters surround a grassy area dotted with palm trees. At the meeting facility, the “lodge” consists of a thatched roof over a cement slab large enough for 300 plastic chairs to be pressed together for seating. The walls, obviously, are left open for any breeze that might come by…

When we arrived at the camp, the service was just about to begin, so we took our seats in the first row of those plastic chairs and waited just a moment or two before the worship began.

The Foursquare church in Sri Lanka has both Singhalese and Tamil members. These are the two primary ethnic groups, but they are extremely segregated from one another. The Tamil are mostly in the north (west), whereas the Singhalese are in the south. They are completely different races of people, and their languages differ. That means that at these larger gatherings of pastors, the worship songs are sung twice—once in Singhalese and once in Tamil. All announcements, prayers, etc. follow that same pattern.

This also meant the translation of my preaching was done twice, too. I spoke, the Singhalese translator spoke, and he was followed by the Tamil translator. Trust me when I say that takes a bit of getting used to! But somehow, we managed to make it through the evening. Frankly, I’m not sure how much of what I wanted to say actually came across, but that was mostly due to me losing my train of thought (or getting too many thoughts) in the lag time between translations.

All in all, though, I would say it was a good start for my first visit to the Foursquare Church of Sri Lanka. Over the years, I have heard so many incredible things from fellow pastors who have traveled here, so I’ve been really excited to get a chance to be among them. They contend for the miraculous like almost no other group/nation I know in Foursquare.

After the service, at 8:30pm, we had dinner. It was an amazing array of rice, chicken, vegetables—and bananas for desert.

Day 7

Here in Sri Lanka, our day begins at 7:00 when Clarence, one of the young men who drives for Leslie, brings us hot tea with milk and sugar. Though the Swiss guys have not developed a taste for tea—especially not with milk and sugar—Leslie and I, in particular, enjoy it very much, thank you, indeed! Half an hour later, breakfast is served in the dining complex. If you aren’t inclined toward dining with insects, this might not be the dream vacation spot; a rather large gathering of red fire ants has taken residence at the entryway, and their scouts do an admirable job searching out the entire building, looking for food.

For breakfast this morning, we had small hot dog wieners, a fried egg, white sliced bread with butter and jam, garbanzo beans, fresh bananas and fresh papaya juice. The five of us sat while we ate and told stories and laughed. Leslie and Belen have certainly had their share of experiences! I was reminded once again of just how long it takes to end up with a national testimony—how many trials and tribulations we must go through in order to end up really making a difference in the world. It’s too bad that our Americanized gospel is so fat on “me-blessings,” and so thin on “me-sacrifices.”

I taught for three hours in the morning (with a break half-way through), and I managed to find a little better rhythm with the dual translators. I kept on the theme of the “seed words” from the Lord, and how they are the secret to everything. We don’t need all the “supplies” we generally focus on for ministry (i.e. money, buildings, staff); what we need, instead, are clear words from the Lord that we can simply believe. The Word, itself, makes a way for things and brings about its own fulfillment. We looked at Abraham and the prophet Zechariah—both of them examples of just following God’s Word.

In the afternoon, we came back to our residences and napped for awhile. Although most of us are not regular afternoon nappers, a nap in this climate is almost essential to survive. The heat and humidity absolutely drain us. I don’t notice the drain very much until I sit down; then it’s hard to stay awake.

Kurt was asked to take the first hour of the evening sessions, and he did such a good job! Even though this was his first with-translation speaking (and he spoke in English, not Swiss-German), he was so clear and measured in what he said. He gave everyone a personal example of how a “word” grew and fulfilled itself in his life. And as he told Volker and me earlier in the afternoon, he felt very led to talk about how personally God knows and speaks to each of us.

His talk set me up for my session and allowed me to reinforce the importance of following specific words. I also shared a prophetic picture concerning the season the movement was in; I described the kind of double fireworks that set off an initial burst, but is followed by numerous secondary bursts, as the streamers from the first arch into the night sky. However, I actually saw a third series of blasts that came from the secondary ones. I related the picture to the ever-increasing spread of the gospel in Sri Lanka by three generations of men and women who each followed specific words from the Lord.

Our temptation, I warned them, is to keep relying on the initial obedience to carry things for too many years. What brought their leaders to a place of fruitfulness was the specific word they believed; what brings fruitfulness in successive generations is NOT a repetition of the activities initiated out of obedience long ago, but present (and probably different) activities born out of fresh obedience by those founders’ sons and daughters of faith.

Before the evening ended, Leslie asked several of the Tamil pastors who have lived in the war zone for the past few years—and have only in the last few weeks been allowed to travel freely to other parts of Sri Lanka—to share their testimonies. They told tales of unbelievable hardship, heartache and devastation from the war. Caught between an army that was bent on suppressing the rebels at any cost to civilian life, and rebel forces that conscripted children 11 years and older for forced service in the fight, parents and non-partisans fled from one area to the next amidst constant shelling, sniping and bombing.

I have never heard stories of such horror: indiscriminate murder, burned villages, rape and kidnapping, cruelty and inhumanity. But these faithful church leaders kept preaching the gospel and caring for people despite the loss of their families, injury, capture, and threat. It was like listening to additional chapters from the Book of Acts. God delivered them from numerous “certain-death” situations and saw them through the months of near-starvation, constant attrition from gunfire and disease. I was so humbled to even get to listen to these giants of faith…

Day 8

On this day, we heard even more testimonies of God’s leading, deliverance and provision from various pastors who have been out of touch with the rest of the Foursquare family for a few years, due to the severe spiritual and political situation in the Tamil areas of the country. Now that the war is over—a war in which the rebels intentionally used innocent people as shields to absorb the bullets and bombs of the army, and the army engaged in wholesale, indiscriminate shelling against civilian targets—hundreds of thousands Tamils are confined to massive refugee camps with as many as 80,000 per camp. They are allotted 10 liters (about 2½ gallons) of water per day, and their diet consists almost exclusively of rice and lentils.

Singapore and Sri Lanka: 2009, Day 5

Even though I haven’t pastored in three years, and I travel so much of the time that I have difficulty knowing what day of the week it actually is, Mondays still have a flavor about them that makes them unlike any other day. In the old days when I did pastor, Monday was my day off. I wasn’t exactly perfect in refraining from work completely, and especially in the years since all the kids went off to college, I would frequently “go into the office” on my days off. But going when you want to go—and staying only as long as you want to stay—is different than working.

I came to think of Mondays as my project days, a chance to get caught up without anyone or anything pressuring me: no appointments with people, no phone calls to return, no meetings, etc. That’s still how I like my Mondays.

I awoke just before 5:00am. I was excited to tackle a big project that I hadn’t had time to do. As some of you know, I’ve written half of a book on Gift-Mixes. It’s called God Wants You to Be You. In Australia almost two years ago, when I had a five-day break in my speaking obligations, I wrote the bulk of this half manuscript. I’ve been telling myself to finish it, but to no avail. Recently, I opted to send what I have done to a publisher, thinking perhaps if I had a contract to finish the book, I’d actually do so.

The publisher has expressed enough interest in the project to ask me for a chapter outline. This is a very common practice in the publishing world, and as counter-intuitive as it may seem, publishers do NOT want authors to write a book—and then submit the manuscript for consideration. Publishers really only want one or two chapters plus the chapter outline, detailing the essence of each (proposed) chapter’s contents. In my case, that meant going back through what I’ve already written to extract the main point of each chapter I have already written. A bit backwards, but then, again, I don’t write from an outline. I just take off writing and let the work take shape as I keep on writing.

For instance, here’s what I wrote about a chapter one:

Chapter 1—YOU HAVE PURPOSE FOR BEING.

Every one of us wants to have our lives count for something—to make a lasting difference in the lives of others. No wonder the feeling that we don’t quite measure up, plagues us. We struggle unnecessarily in ministry when we compare ourselves with others—as though God has a preferred personality and ministry profile.

People have a hard time thinking of themselves as gifted because their specialties seem insignificant compared to super-sized saints.  Oh, sure, the “you” He originally designed has been disfigured and marred over the years by bad choices you made and things that were done to you, but the essential fabric of who God intended you to be is still there, and the Lord delights in what He made.

A portion of the components He arranged in your very being is your Gift-Mix. Your Gift-Mix is your capability, your empowerment from the Lord to function in a certain way and, ultimately, to fulfill the role that He intends for you on earth. When you learn to function the way that you were designed to work, not laboring under futile attempts to be like someone else, or to do things like others do, then you will bring incredible blessing into the lives of other people.

I managed to do the complete outline in the morning after I had another “continental” breakfast downstairs. I was the first—and only—breakfast eater at 6:00am. I was the first with every fruit bowl, every yogurt dish, every loaf of slice-your-own bread, every scoop of multi-grain cereal, every pot of coffee. I felt like a rich landowner eating his breakfast amidst the splendor of his estate home. It was a meal fit for a king—a king who would not long stay fit if he ate like that every day.

Lunch

I met George Butron for lunch, and we had a great time talking about the dynamics he’s encountering as pastor of such a sizeable congregation. Averaging just over 600 people each Sunday, his church is healthy and full of vision, but it doesn’t function like a church of 200 or 120, etc.  Since 600 was the size of the congregation I led for all the years at Coastlands, I had several thoughts and observations for him. I could feel his excitement and the sobering sense of responsibility that sits on a leader who dares step into that arena. People don’t realize just what a pressure-packed and difficult assignment it is to lead a congregation. Praise God for our pastors all over the world!

After lunch, I proceeded on another power-walk, only this time I walked through a huge underground mall that is connected to at least two above-ground malls. A guy could get lost in that maze of shops, passageways and escalators. Funny how I seemed to be moving along at a clip a bit more rapid than most of the other people…

The it was back to the hotel and off to the airport, where I read in the lounge for a few hours until my flight left for Sri Lanka at 9:30pm. I slept the entire flight, so when we landed almost four hours later, I was in one of those deep sleep holes that are so difficult to climb out from. But I pressed on through Immigration and Customs to emerge in the large reception hall. As soon as I entered the room I spotted Leslie Keegel (the National Leader of Foursquare in Sri Lanka) and Volker, who is on a sabbatical from his duties in Switzerland. But there, also, was Kurt Ekler, another  of my pastor-friends from Switzerland! How fun.

We drove back to Colombo to our hotel, and before we called it a night, Volker, Kurt and I chatted in the lobby. In this nation, where 72% are Buddhist, 15% are Hindu, 7% are Muslim and 8% are Christian, it was quite surprising to see the lobby filled with Christmas trees and Christmas music!

Singapore: 2009, Day 4

My decision to just have a cup of coffee and a pastry for breakfast was thwarted by one simple reality: no coffee place nearby the hotel was open. That meant I absolutely had to eat at the massive buffet in the hotel. I did control myself enough to tell my waitress right away that I was opting for the continental, as opposed to full/hot breakfast. By continental, I mean there was enough food to feed an entire continent—everything from deliciously ripe papaya to Swiss muesli with an assortment of organic cereals; from freshly baked bread that would be considered good even in Switzerland to cheeses and jams and passable butter.

Oh… and I did get my coffee—a whole pot of it while I read the Sunday paper outside in the warm-but-not-too-warm tropical breeze all by myself. The rest of the breakfast eaters opted for the air conditioned interior. Here is the view I had of nearby empty tables—and the remnants of my feast. Church.

As I mentioned earlier in the journal, George is a Foursquare missionary, and has been for many years. A few months ago, however, he became the pastor of a charismatic Baptist church with the full blessing of FMI and the Baptist board. The church meets in a commercial building where they purchased six bays that have been remodeled in a most extraordinary manner. Picture the 3rd level of a giant parking structure with commercial bays located on either side of a roadway that runs from one end of the structure to the other. The church got the six bays on one side of the through-way, and they use it as the connection between the adjoining bays.

It’s brilliant! They lease half the space they actually use each Sunday; the other half is provided by the structure itself. Maybe one or two cars drive by each Sunday, so it’s very easy for the people to simply move aside to let the cars pass. An architect in the church helped design things for them, and what they have done with their space is as clever as anything I’ve seen in the church world.

About 30 minutes before service begins, one of the pastors leads all who are assembled in concerted, directed prayer for the service, for the people who will be attending, and for other aspects of the whole church program. We were led with such an excellent balance of spiritual insight, practicality, passion, sensibility and scripture! I was truly ready to go home after the prayer-time because I felt so fulfilled. The worship team accompanied our prayers, and more than once we all sang and worshipped in our heavenly languages.

I couldn’t help but wish that many Foursquare churches would have even a fraction of the Spirit-led intercession and ministry manifested in this Baptist church. Just goes to show, doesn’t it, that labels and identifiers rarely tell much of the story. Once the service began, we had three worship songs followed by all the announcements, offering time, etc. Afterwards, the worship began again. There was a tongue and interpretation, as well as a vision shared by one of the leaders about my message—that had yet to be preached. Wow!

When it was time for me to teach from the Bible, I was so primed and ready to go, I couldn’t talk fast enough to convey all that was in my heart. It seems that everyone really connected with my message. Oh we laughed. And laughed. But I think everyone got the point.

After service George asked me to share a bit about my book, Enjoying Your Journey with God because his cell groups will be using it as their base curriculum for five months beginning in January. Initially, the meeting was only for cell leaders and (in the vernacular of Coastlands) Cluster leaders. But George opened it up to anyone who might like to come hear more from me. I think nearly a hundred people showed up! George even announced from the platform that I would be a regular speaker at their church, so I guess that means the Lord gave me a special connection with this congregation…

Later in the afternoon, I went on another power-walk to try compensating for all the extra food I’ve been eating the last couple weeks—in Hong Kong, Korea and Disneyland. And since I had such a good walk, I felt no twinge of guilt, at all, when George, Joyce and their two youngest sons accompanied me to Outback Steakhouse for another big meal. We had so much fun talking about stuff. Both Gregory and Garrett are as bright as their parents, so we were not lacking in witty exchanges. So marvelous to get to see families who have made the Kingdom their first priority; contrary to the myth, it’s not the people who try to protect themselves and their family from getting over-used in the church who end up with healthy children, it’s those who keep giving themselves away…

Singapore: 2009, Day 3

I awoke just after 6:00am feeling remarkably refreshed and in-sync with the time-zone. I have no idea how that has happened—or how long I will be tuned into the quotidian cycle at this point on the planet—but, hey, three cheers for no apparent jetlag! I walked to where I had remembered seeing a Starbucks sign, only to discover that it was inside a mall that was not open at that time of the day. So, I had to content myself with hotel room coffee and an apple before George came to pick me up.

We went to an old school facility that the government happily leases to various community action groups—mostly Christian organizations that feed the poor, teach English to immigrants (many, many from Mainland China). We had breakfast in the kitchen facility where a Charismatic Catholic group distributes 300 free meals each day. They served us Pratta bread (like a thick flour tortilla) and chicken curry. We also got hot tea with condensed milk and sugar—delicious! The “we” was a small group of local Foursquare pastors and some of their leaders. George had asked me to share on anything that came to my heart.

So I did!

We talked mostly about discipleship and how it really is so much easier than people make it out to be. I told them a bit about my history and my passion to be a mentor—as opposed to a magician, someone who mobilizes other people into ministry, not someone who mesmerizes a crowd with feats of ministry prowess. My thoughts seemed to be very timely for everyone, and several of these leaders expressed personal thanks for what I shared because it really spoke to them and/or reminded them of their assignment.

A few hours later, a few of us went to lunch and talked some more. It was after 2:00pm when I got back to the hotel. I decided that I really needed to resume my habit of taking a good long walk each day on my trip, so I changed into my “running gear” and headed off in the general direction of the shoreline. The hotel is in a construction zone, so many of the streets that would have led me to the water’s edge were currently blocked off. I eventually managed to find my way. Because I came a back way, I wasn’t aware until near the end of my promenade that I had been walking in an area that was closed off to through traffic.

I should have been suspicious at the lack of people anywhere in this teeming city-state. I literally had a gorgeous water-front walkway to myself for almost the entire 60-minute walk. OK, so it was 86 degrees and over 95% humidity at 3:00 in the afternoon, and not too many right-minded people would be on a power walk that time of day in this climate. But I loved every “water”-drenched moment of my hike. I guess I didn’t fall into too bad of shape over vacation because I was able to do the whole walk without noticeable strain.

Around dinner time, George picked me up again, and we went to an informal gathering of some of his key cell group leaders. A new pastor has taken over responsibilities for the cell group ministry of the church George now pastors. It’s a charismatic Baptist church that is quite happy for George to be ordained in Foursquare; so even though his church isn’t Foursquare, George still is. Anyway, the new cell group pastor, Howard, is trying to develop the relational connections between the cell leaders. We didn’t stay long, but it was great to meet these heroes in the church—men and women who undertake the most important job in the kingdom, caring for sheep.

Jetlag finally began to take its toll, and I conked out shortly after 9:00pm.

Singapore: 2009, Days 1-2

Sitting at the nicely apportioned desk, complete with a yellow orchid in a slender vase that accents my view of the Singapore skyscrapers and its lush green foliage, the last couple of days blur into an endless series of plane trips. Having just returned from two weeks in Asia only nine days earlier, I flew all my family (kids and grandkids) to Disney World for a much-needed vacation. It was fabulous—one of the best we’ve ever had as a family, and we have had some great ones in the past.

Unfortunately, the vacation fit directly in between the first trip to Asia—and this second one! Less than 24 hours after getting back to California, we flew to Orlando, and within 14 hours of getting back from Florida, I was off to the airport for the long, long flight to Singapore. It’s actually two flights: 12 hours to Tokyo, 45 minutes (total) on the ground rushing through security and back onto a plane; and 8 hours more flying to Singapore.

I arrived at 12:53am. That’s right, AM!

George Butron, our FMI area missionary (and a good friend), met me at the airport, so I could give him the two boxes of Enjoying Your Journey with God (EJG) books that he wants to have for his cell group leaders when I do some training for them on Sunday. George has ordered several hundred of the books because he’s taking his whole church through it during the first couple of months in 2010. He will preach out of each chapter in successive weeks, and he’s having all of his cell group leaders concentrate on the same chapters, week by week. The books he has ordered are coming from the Philippines, where we printed several thousand last year to give to every Foursquare pastor. They had enough left over, so they have shipped books to George.

I find this all very exciting because it was my dream from the very beginning when I wrote EJG: to have it used as a discipleship tool in the hands of leaders who are just beginning their leading/pastoring assignments in the kingdom. I think it is an excellent resource for personal training and spiritual development, obviously, but beyond the benefit I had hoped it would offer every believer, I hoped it would further enable and equip people for their main role—developing others.

The more I travel the world and the US, visiting and dialoging with church members, leaders and pastors, the more convinced I become that we have taken a wrong turn. Our priorities and perspectives in the church have deviated more and more away from our great commission.

Church growth (i.e., getting a bigger and bigger congregation), as a primary goal, has developed church programs and leadership mentalities that stress “getting people to come” to meetings—whether or not those meetings add to people’s inspiration or enablement to do their spiritual job (i.e. sharing with others what Jesus has shown them). I’m not critical of gatherings, services or meetings per se. They are simply the wrong target, the wrong point of evaluation, the wrong reason for “having” a church.

The purpose for church is supposed to be to mobilize an ever increasing number of people into personally active ministry-to-others. Putting it another way, I do NOT believe that the goal for church is congregational or communal. The goal for church, as a meeting-up-place for the called-out-ones, is to engage believers for when they go back out. Just like our family gathered for a fantastic vacation—and will be together with lots of celebration at Christmas—so does a good church family revel in its togetherness and family distinctives. But how dysfunctional would our family become if its members simply looked forward to the next time together, and did not function in all their family-bred dynamic in the in-between times.

The quality of a family can be observed when they’re together interacting and enjoying one another. But can it really be said that a family has done its job well without observing how the children conduct themselves outside the walls of the home? Did I invest all the time, love and instruction in my children primarily because I wanted to have good Christmases and holiday gatherings years hence? How paltry and pathetic such a motivation would have been!

In our family, the kids learned how to navigate life, how to conduct themselves with wisdom, how to finish well, and a host of other skills. The proof of my parenting rests outside our home and beyond our property line. So it should be with our church families…