We jumped - and here's where we landed

For many years, we have felt the Lord speaking to us about change.

When I was approaching my sixtieth birthday (and feeling a bit low about it), I attended a conference where three men independently approached me over two days and made the same statement to me: “You are about the enter the twenty most powerful years of your ministry.”

We knew we had a choice. Stay where we are, focus on the local church, maintain our financial security and gradually fade away. Or… throw our security away, leave where we are and sow ourselves into the kingdom of God around the world in whatever way God called us to do, making our latter years our most reckless and hopefully most effective for God.

And so there really wasn’t any choice.

A year ago in a blog I described it as jumping off a cliff.

Over that time we looked at all the options available to us, did everything we could to explore them, and came up with nothing we felt at peace about. In the meantime, I had committed to resigning the leadership of my church and moving away to give my replacement some space.

In a moment of utter desperation six weeks ago, knowing we had to leave, knowing we had nowhere to go, and knowing we were running out of time, the Lord graciously showed up. I felt God speaking to me about Stratford, Ontario.

What, Lord? I don’t even know anyone there!

Six short weeks later, and with many remarkable things happening in between, we have committed to moving to Stratford, and we have bought a house there. Our own house, in which we raised our 8 kids, is on the market. And we are being warmly welcomed by the leadership at Jubilee Christian Fellowship in Stratford, a church with a worldwide vision, and a church which, in its history, has affected the world in many ways since its founding by our friend John Arnott in 1981.  As friends of Jubilee, we can remain part of our worldwide Newfrontiers family of churches and serve across networks as well as nations.

So what’s the plan?

We will divide our time three ways, between our base in Canada (from which we will serve churches here), the Firm Foundation churches in the USA, and the various churches in the UK we have many long years of relationship with. I am publishing my book on foundations of faith this summer, books on suffering and manhood after that, and others to follow. The blogs will continue, and I hope will be a blessing and encouragement to you who read them.

That’s the plan. But more fundamentally, what is the vision?

Our vision is to raise up a generation of leaders who will impact the body of Christ around the world, and to leave a legacy of faith, power and integrity in spiritual sons and daughters who will change this world for Christ for many, many years after we are gone.

Please pray for us. And if you feel called to support us financially, we are setting up ways in Canada, the USA and the UK for you to do that as of July 1. We don’t as yet have enough money to live on, but we know God will look after us as he always has.

One thing I know. God is faithful. I believe it was William Carey who said this: God’s work, done God’s way, will never lack God’s provision. That is as true for you as it is for me.

And as for us... we’re getting ready for the best twenty years we’ve ever had.

Watch the company you keep

What kind of people do you like to be around? What kind of people should you be around? It’s worth asking the question.

Elaine and I have just returned from two weeks in northern England. We enjoyed a whirlwind tour of seven churches, and were encouraged to see the grace of God at work in all of them.

During that time we had the privilege of staying with couples who were absolutely full of two essential ingredients of healthy leadership - faith and vision. It was a feast to move from home to home and listen to the stories of how God met these folk, often in the midst of impossibly faith-stretching situations.

Here’s a “taster” of what we found. Different couples are involved in the different stories.

Lack of money to pay the bills? No problem, they pray and God provides, often at the last minute and in completely unpredictable ways. No house to live in? No problem, they pray and God leads them to a non-Christian landlord who rents the house at less than half market value. No venue for the church to meet in? No problem. They pray and go to an absolutely beautiful facility which doesn’t rent to churches and is very expensive. After a brief conversation with the manager, he decides to rent them the facilities, and at less than half the going rate. Immigration issues? No problem, they pray and at the very last minute God gives them the documentation to stay in the country. Need a building for a 24-hour house of prayer? No problem, they pray and God sends them to a Jewish businessman who renovates a damaged building in a strategic location at great expense and then rents it to them, complete with large meeting room, storage area, beautiful kitchen, foyer and washrooms, for less than $400 a month. Need more people for a church plant? They pray, and a couple comes because God sends a visiting speaker from the other end of the country totally unfamiliar with local churches into a church service they are attending who walks up to them and says one word, which is the name of the church plant! Can’t afford a house to live in? They pray, and God gives them a completely gutted and renovated house when the vendor decides to knock $60,000 off the selling price. Got a small church but desperate for a place to meet? They pray and put an offer in on the city hall. This one’s in progress, but I have a feeling the mayor is on his way out the door!

At the end of the trip, we realized there was a cumulative effect to being around all these people. Our faith was increased and our vision was expanded. And at our last stop, we received a commissioning from very dear friends to move into a new place where God will do great things.

And I want to add one important detail. These are people taking massive steps of faith and common-sense defying risks because they felt God told them to in order to extend his kingdom. They are not people with a couple of expensive cars in the garage and lots of money in a pension plan. They are out on a limb for God. And God is meeting them.

Coming home, I was sitting in the car praying, and asking the Lord to fuel my faith and feed my vision. He can do that in many ways, but one of the ways is to be around people of faith and vision.

Those of us in Christian leadership wind up giving out a fair bit to folk who really need our help, and that’s the business we’re in. But often we forget that we also need to be fed. That happens, obviously, as we pray, read the Bible and worship. But it also happens through the company we keep.

Facing some big steps of faith ourselves, I felt God sent all these brothers and sisters into our lives at just the right time. We received far more than we gave.

Nothing much is accomplished for the kingdom by people unwilling to risk their personal comfort and financial security. Who needs faith when you can do it yourself?

I want to be found in the company of those risking everything.

Because that’s where miracles are found.

What happens when the preaching dies?

In church circles I move in, we talk all the time about Word and Spirit. And I often wonder whether we really know what we are talking about. Has it become just a phrase without a lot of meaning?

The first problem is this. Why are Word and Spirit presented as two separate entities? Think about it for a minute.

We talk about having Word and Spirit churches as if we’ve achieved a wonderful situation where we have the best of all possible worlds.

But why then, I ask, is the preaching in many churches so unsatisfying?

It’s probably because we’ve separated the Word and the Spirit.

Let me explain.

In his commentary on 2 Corinthians 3, John Calvin made the point that nobody can understand the Word of God without a revelation of the Spirit of God.

Do preachers cry out to God for a revelation of the Holy Spirit every time they prepare a Biblical exposition? Does the Holy Spirit fill their hearts and minds with divine illumination as they study the text? Does he give them ways to make the Biblical text powerfully applicable to the people to whom they are speaking? Do they preach with fire in their belly? Do they so pour themselves out they feel drained at the end?

Or are they just giving nice talks and with minimal effort and preparation?

And think about this one thought. How many preachers believe for a divine and supernatural moving of the Holy Spirit as they are preaching?

Charismatics are great at believing God to move during a great time of worship, or as people come forward for ministry or prayer afterwards.

But they are lousy at believing God to move as they preach.

Part of the reason is because they fail to put the high value on the preaching of the Word that God says we should. They fail to prepare adequately. They think 15 or 20 minutes of seeker-sensitive superficiality is enough for God to say what he wants.

And then they say they believe in Word and Spirit churches.

No.

Not good enough.

Listen to what Paul says: We are stewards of the mysteries of God.

And listen again: the job of the preacher is to bring to light for everyone what is the plan of the mystery hidden for ages in God.

And how is this mystery made known? By the Spirit.

Read 2 Corinthians 4 and Ephesians 3 right though and ask God for understanding.

So what do I get out of all this?

Very simply this: that the Word of God is a mystery which can only be made clear by a revelation of the Spirit which comes to the preacher and then comes to the people through his preaching of the Word.

We need churches where the Holy Spirit invades the heart of the preachers and teachers, pours revelatory understanding of the Word into them, and makes the Word a sword so powerful it does the job it was designed to do and cuts to the very heart of those listening, convicting and encouraging and changing them as they listen.

Preaching is not meant to be an academic lecture. Nor is it meant to be a collection of nice thoughts. And it is certainly not meant to be a brief afterthought to worship.

Preaching grasps a weapon so powerful that it may hurt you if you misuse it. Preaching is taking hold of divine fire. But first that fire must consume the heart of the preacher.

When that begins to happen, we will have the kind of reformation Calvin saw, where the Word, set on fire by the Spirit, changed the course of history.

Let’s believe God for churches where the Spirit of God, through imperfect earthen vessels, uses the Word of God to accomplish the purposes of God.

And that is where the fire will fall.

The big man syndrome

“In your movement, you like the big man.” This was another Christian leader’s comment regarding the movement I am part of. Though the comment was probably made in jest, it disturbed me.

The extent to which it is accurate is open to debate, but as they say, there is no smoke without fire. I don’t believe this guy had an axe to grind. He was merely describing what he saw.

So we have a issue. You could call it the “big man syndrome.”

Here’s what it is. Direction and decision-making are referred back to somebody who sits on top of the pile. Everyone defers to that person. The larger a church is, the more likely it is to fall into this situation, if only for the reason that megachurches are often built on the personal ministry of pastors who become so powerful they cannot be challenged. Until disaster intervenes, as it sadly too often does.

The same thing happens with movements, though the title of the one at the top may range from bishop to president to apostle, depending on your theology.

With a good leader, the damage, though real, may be limited. But when an insecure person reaches the top, the shrapnel from wrongful control due to self-protection and self-promotion cascades down the chain. People, churches and movements are hurt, sometimes critically.

This is a particular problem with newer movements and churches, which tend to be built on the foundation of relationship. Relationship is a good thing, but trust can be abused when there are no safeguards. Older movements may be encrusted with tradition and institutionalism. That often isn’t great, but it does provides protection from the big man syndrome because there are all sorts of counterbalances (synods, presbyteries and the like). Even the Pope, as I’ve been reading lately, has limited power to change the Catholic church.

What is wrong with the big man syndrome is the damage it does to the Biblical view of relationship, and in particular to the consistent teaching of Jesus and the apostles on servant leadership.

Jesus compared himself to a servant waiting at table, not the one being deferred to. Paul described a genuine apostle as one at the end of the parade, not the parade marshal. Peter told leaders to serve as humble examples, not to seek position or power.

When I look at the life of Paul, it strikes me that his ministry always involved extending the boundaries of the kingdom. He never sat at the top of a movement or ecclesiastical pile. He was too busy moving on to the next place to establish a hierarchy involving the previous places. He exercised authority out of his position in God, not out of his position in a church movement.

My friend Jason Reid spent many years in the Royal Navy specializing in submarines, attaining the same rank as James Bond (but without the extras). I asked him how leadership in that context works. Here are three things I learned from him. Submarine command in the Royal Navy “is predicated on an implicit trust between the Ship’s Company and their Commanding Officer.” He is a servant (despite some of the huge egos involved), not a tyrant. The job of the commanding officer is first to keep everyone safe, and in the process to get the team to its destination. He is not there to build an empire for himself, but to put the interests of the mission before his own (“mission command”). His ability to share leadership with the three department heads on the vessel is critical to this mission. He is a delegator, not a micro-manager.

A great leader is always in the business of empowering and enabling others, always in the process of raising up and giving away. Success is successors.

Authority is a good and necessary thing. The cure to its abuse is not anarchy, but correct use.

Perhaps we could learn something from the Royal Navy? We also want to keep people safe, and get them to their destination.

And remember this. There is only one big man in the church.

His name is Jesus.

The day I almost gave up

I remember so well the day I almost gave up.

We had experienced a major division within the church which looked completely unresolvable. The division was both doctrinal and personal. Twenty years of my life were about to go up in smoke and I could be out of work with no place to go.

It was garbage day. As I walked down the driveway carrying the garbage out, I realized two things. First, the only thing I had strength to do was to put one foot ahead of another and get the garbage to the end of the driveway. Second, that was in fact all that God required me to do that day.

And in that instant, I learned the first secret of never giving up. Don’t stop moving forward. It’s as simple as that. Why is this so critical? Because it’s the simplest way of acting as if you still believe God has a plan for your life. You may not know how he’s going to deliver you, and all your emotions may be shot to pieces, but deep in your spirit you still believe he is God and he will come through for you. Even if you can only move one small step ahead, just do it. The steps will add up, and eventually the darkness will begin to lift.

The strange thing is that it was something I loved -- the church -- that brought me to that place of of despair. I am convinced that both the problems and the answers for our lives often revolve around church. Let me try to explain.

The Bible presents the body of Christ as the place of healing. It is the place where we are loved and cared for, and also the place we are discipled and corrected. So far so good.

When people become Christians, they bring all their own baggage along with them. That includes you and me. It isn’t acceptable for us simply to complain about the problems people have. Church is the place where those problems begin to be fixed. In the process, a mess usually occurs. How could it not? This is where love and patience is required, just like in any family.

But when those problems are not handled with maturity and integrity, it isn’t long before the enemy shows up. That’s when the mess can turn into pain and hurt.

There is no such thing as a spiritual vacuum. If church stops becoming a healthy place where people receive healing, it quickly becomes a toxic place where people get hurt.

The devil does not play merely to win, he plays to destroy. The best strategy he has of winning is to destroy the place God designed for healing. In effect, he bombs the hospital.

If the first secret of not giving up is to keep moving forward, the second secret is not to give up on God’s plan for his church. That’s hard, because it involves believing for others, not just for yourself, and for others who may at this minute be hurting you. At that awful time, I cried out to the Lord to save the hospital and the people in it -- including me and my family. And he did. He acted very quickly and very powerfully. It was a supernatural intervention. To this day I give thanks for it.

I have watched with great dismay the shrapnel hitting people when churches or movements divide or break up. Why should we be surprised at the hurt that causes? What difference is it from the way children are affected for life when their parents break up? Family break-up is often caused by selfishness. How sad it is when the same selfishness invades the family of God. You can give up and walk away. But remember this. If you walk away and church implodes, who will be there to help you when you hit your own personal wall?

It takes a decision of the will to keep moving forward when things are very bleak in your own life. But if you do make that decision, God will come in behind it and help you. And it takes energy to step into the breach when the enemy is ripping your church apart. But if you do, God will come to your aid.

Bob Mumford once said these words to a room full of leaders: “There isn’t one of us here who hasn’t thought of giving up. The difference is some of us have not.”

The very point the battle is hardest, the point where you are tempted to give up, may be the moment the battle is about to turn.

Never give up. You won’t regret it.