WHere I work

View Man Of Peace Development Andy & Lynn in a larger map

Church Planting Differences?

"While it is safer to plant a church in the West, it may actually be simpler to plant one in Iran. Go to a church planters' conference in North America, and you will hear about budgets, programs, marketing campaigns, and the need for a good worship set. Attend a conference for Iranians, and you get a different picture. They'll talk about starting by sharing Christ with friends and family, gathering new believers for a weekly Bible teaching and fellowship, and then encouraging and praying with them to go and share with their friends and family."(Elam Ministries, Issue 2, 2010)

Having experienced both sides of the conversation, here is the principle difference.

Church in North America Conversation - Centered around MEGA (How to get big) Talking mostly about the "stuff" and how to organize it, do it.

Church on every other continent - Centered on Multiplication (Regardless of size)
Talking about the needy people around them and who will go there and share life with them.

Extraction Evangelism!

A good example of the problems of an evangelism-driven church can be found in Argentina, a country that has been experiencing revival since roughly 1982 when it lost a war with Great Britain. Gifted evangelists like Carlos Annacondia, Hector Gimenez, and Omar Cabrera sprang up at that time and had massive evangelistic rallies of almost unheard-of proportions, counting the “decisions for Christ” by the tens of thousands. However, since that time these men have had to honestly ask themselves where all those people are now. Pastors in a
Argentina have found it difficult to incorporate the many people who made decisions for Christ into existing or newly planted churches.

A September 1996 study done by DAWN Ministries revealed that Argentina then had one of the lowest church-planting rates in Latin America. The large number of converts had simply not translated into church growth. There must be a missing link. “Evangelism which pulls individuals out of their family context and provides no new context is half-baked and may well do more harm than good,” says Australian missiologist Alan Tippet.’"

(The House Church Book. Wolfgang Simson. Barna, 2009, pg xiv)

Simple Thing Go a Long Way in Africa!

We have been looking for ways to significantly Help the poor in Africa.
Something that was
1. Simple - easily used and maintained. Even kids could do it.
2. Economical - A modest investment that provides long term Sustainability.
3. Easily Repeated/Scalable Locally: Easily transferred to other villages without outside funding.

We finally found the single best way to help the bottom billion poorest people on earth. Most of whom are subsistence farmers. We have been doing this since 2009. However, we are now scaling up for a massive project in Mali.

These simple kits doubble the income for $1 a day families in Mali. Bringing food security into a region with 8 months of drought, next to the Sahara Desert.

Experience The Heartbeat of an African Village!

Ever wonder what it would be like to live and work in Africa? If you are drawn to the continent of Africa, particularly the much less known West Africa, read this book.

"Nine Hills to Nambonkaha: Two Years in the Heart of an African Village" by Sarah Erdman Amazon

This book is set in Northern Ivory Coast, around 1997, incidentally while I was living in the country too. (Was was there in 1995, through the first Christmas Coup in 2000, and locked down in 2004 in the bush for some time.)

To Understand what life is like in a former French colony/West African country, south of the Sahara (Sahel), this is a a highly recommended read.

She describes the patterns of life and death, work and rest, roles of men & women, the state of women in the village, cycle of dry to rainy season, incessant number of non educated wandering kids always at your door, very well.

If you wonder just how simply can one live in Africa, the Peace Corps shows the way. One can live very economically in Africa. The more we adopt local life, food, and rhythms, the more economical it becomes. Renting big villas, running AC's, and basically living and eating like a westerner can be costly.

Not all can live as simply as others, and unfortunately, most internationals never experience sleeping in a village much at all, hidden away in the central city villa, sojourning out to do their job and go home at night.

This book is smooth and well written to the rhythm of life there. Great detail, but not laborious. I was nodding my head on every page with shared understanding.

The only weak point is the book is Sarah's desperate lack of understanding of her own world view, even her own "christian faith". Makes it hard for her to go deeper into understanding the worldview of the locals. She just touches the surface of describing what they do, but has little insight or understanding as to why it is done. She takes pathetic stabs at it while having a total lack of understanding about the local "worldview", and offers little insight into how it is shaping the people before her, at the most foundational level. She never probes past the surface of this and looses some of the richness of insight about the people that could have been expressed. Typical of many kids her age fresh out of university! Having not probed their own worldview let along possessing the ability to express another persons. But most westerners don't even know what a worldview is, let along have any ability to articulate what theirs might be, and how it affects what they see, experience, or write. So most will not miss it in the book at all.

The feel of the rhythm of life in the village she captures is very exceptional.
All future interns will be required to read this book.


A second book highly recommended and read among the peace corp is

"Monique and The Mango Rains" by Kris Holloway Amazon

Similar story only set in Mali, West Africa. Shorter and less details, but still a good read.


Travelers, Short-termers, and visitors to Africa of any kind need this kind of read.

Buildings Are Dictating Our Theology

I found this quote to be insightful. Our reliance on church props really is a testament to how weak our fellowship really are. We are being manipulated by our model.

We advised church planters to watch for the problem of buildings. It seems most churches that don't have their own sanctuary building urgent folder to getting one, but we're not so sure this is always necessary. Church planter Andrew Jones cleverly says, any church. They cannot get by with the buildings, finances and paid experts is not for me being church. Having a building, some shared money, and some paid staff doesn't preclude you from being ineffective church, but if your church would be lost without them, there is a core problem....
And more than that, once the building has been erected, the church program and budget are largely determined by it. In order to service the mortgage, the church has to keep the pews filled in the offerings up, and so the pattern of the attractional mode is reinforced and confirmed. Next time you attend a church service, listen to all the language that betrays a belief that we come into the building the church building to "meet" God. Subtly the building starts to direct the theology presented in it. We build a sanctuary in which to worship God, and in that building slowly and enforces a sacred versus secular worldview upon us." (The shaping of things to come. Michael Frost and Alan Hirsch 2003 page 69.)."
(The shaping of things to come Michael Frost and Alan Hirsch 2003, pg 69

"Pretty" Women And Men Hear This For the Ladies/ Daughters in Your life

For the great beauty of a woman comes from the depths of her soul inside. And the outside is simply a gift, the ability to hold that beauty in your arms. Cherish the inside and hug and care for on the outside too. The last minute is a powerful.

Is it a good path?

African Proverb

"When a road is good, it is used a second time."

How would this speak to us as a church, one wishing to grow, but finding people just don't wish to walk this path we are on?

Putting Life To Rest!

This just made me think about many things for many hours!


"Woman's job is giving life; men take care of putting it to rest."

Sarah Erdman. Peace Corps workers Observation made about African funeral tradition in northern Ivory Coast

A true Friend

"A true friend is someone who sees the pain in your eyes while everyone else believes the fake smile."

When We Loose The People Because Of Seeking High Quality Show

"Any Christian can do this. You don't need to have inordinate skill or unusual abilities to make disciples. You don't need to be a successful pastor or a charismatic leader to make disciples. You don't need to be a great communicator or an innovative thinker to make disciples. That's why Jesus says every Christian must do this.
One of the unintended consequences of contemporary church strategies that revolve around performances, places, programs, and professionals is that somewhere along the way people get left out of the picture."

(Radical, David Platt kindle line 1266)

They Don't Want to Come Back to Church - Now What?

Invited people to church who simply have no interest in coming back? They said, "I tried that and it does not work for me."

Notice they said "Church" does not work for me". By that they mean this kind of church really is not for me. They said nothing bad about Jesus. Interesting, is it not? Is it possible our church culture can be a barrier to learning about Jesus? If you ever worked in other cultures you soon realize much of our "church Culture" is foreign and meaningless to many whole tribes, and ethnic groups of people. Same is true here also.

What is the response of the newest, hippest, live band, most amazing program, church, to people who have "Come to church" and find they really can't drag them back to this?

Then what?

Is there anything after that?

Nope! 99% of churches and church people will say, "Well, we tried".

We truly believe that church is a "one size MUST fit all".
We are learning that is not true. And like good missionaries, we are contextualizing the church for a new context. The diversity in expression will have to be accepted as some point because it has nothing to do with changing the doctrine or ordinances. It's simply letting church be what it should be. A peoples natural cultural expression of Faith in Christ assembling in his name. We don't tell them how that should look.

"As we’ve already pointed out, the relationship between the traditional Christendom mode of church and the world around it can best be described as being fundamentally attractional. The church bids people to come and hear the gospel in the holy confines of the church and its community. This seems so natural to us after seventeen centuries of Christendom, but at what price and to what avail have we allowed it to continue? If our actions imply that God is really only present in official church activities—worship, Bible studies, Christian youth meetings, ladies fellowships—then it follows that mission and evangelism simply involve inviting people to church-related meetings.

In fact, this is one of the core assumptions that the attractional church is based upon—the assumption that God cannot really be accessed outside sanctioned church meetings or, at least, that these meetings are the best place for not-yet-Christians to learn about God. (Blog note: would never say we "believe" this. we know its not true. However, iit is the lens by which we act, and criticize , with, so it is what many "believe") Evangelism therefore is primarily about mobilizing church members to attract unbelievers into church where they can experience God. Rather than being genuine “out-reach,” it effectively becomes something more like an “in-drag.”

Now, we are not suggesting that people can’t experience God in a church service. Of course they can, for in the preaching of God’s Word and the worship of God's people his true voice can be heard. But if the church limits God’s agency in this world to particular times and places that the vast majority of not-yet-Christians have no access to, or no desire to attend, then the gospel is effectively hobbled. God becomes mute to the vast majority of people in the Western world,
people who cannot interpret the church culture that has effectively imprisoned the good news within its cultural system. The only means to evangelize people becomes organizing little “patrols” to go into the world in order to rescue them and bring them back to the safety of “church.” Many westerners in our post-Christendom era report that they’ve tried church and found it wanting. If they don’t want to go back, what then?
If they won’t come to us, we have to go to them.

(The Shape Of Things To Come: Innovation and Mission For The 21st- Century Church. Michael Frost & Aln Hirsch, Hendrickson, 2003. pp 41-42)

Hunger & I

‎

"If I am hungry, it is a biological problem; if my brother is hungry, it is a spiritual problem"

Russian theologian Nicholas Berdyaev

What Are Chruch Planters & Missionaries Planting?

"In fact, it's more often than not been the case that Sunday services are planted rather than missional Jesus communities. "

(The Shape Of Things To Come. Michale Frost, Alan Hirsch. Hendrickson, 2003. pg 18)

I have served on Church planting organizations, and rubbed shoulders with many missionaries on the field. At times I have to say we accomplish only having a Sunday service going. However, these people have no real sense of any mission in their mind. These are the church plants that fail, not necessarily because of the weakness of the church planter, but because of the actual people who are "Non-Planted".

Accountants Mobilize For Mission

Mission not for select few. But for all.

for lunch with Steve, a businessman in our faith family, it's obvious we have different callings in our lives. He's an accountant; I'm a pastor. He is gifted with numbers; I can't stand numbers. But we both understand that God has called us and gifted us for a global purpose. So Steve is constantly asking, "How can I lead my life, my family, and my accounting firm for God's glory in Birmingham and around the world?" He is leading co-workers to Christ; he is mobilizing accountants to serve the poor; and his life is personally impacting individuals and churches in Latin America, Africa, and Eastern Europe with the gospel.
Steve and others like him have decided that they are not going to take the command of Christ to make disciples of all nations and label it a calling for a few. They are not going to sit on the sidelines while a supposed special class of Christians aceomplishes the global purpose of God. They are convinced that God has created them to make his glory known in all nations, and they are committing their lives to aceomplishing that purpose.

(Radical, David Platt, kindle line 1043)

Christian Spectators - or - Christians in Training

Is church something done for me, and to me? How about a training ground, instead of a show where I come and fold my arms to watch so I can be entertained and enriched.

Your Leaders were given to you to help train YOU. Not do "it" for you, and to you. If you're not ever going to get in training to live the love and life of Christ with your family, friends and neighbors go skiing instead. We've got more things to do than do "it" to you, and for you.

"It was he who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers, to prepare God’s people for works of service...." Ephesians 4:11 - 12 (NIV)

"An evangelists fruit is not a convert, but more evangelists. Strangely enough, exactly the opposite of this biblical model has become the norm: specialist teachers, evangelists, pastors..... move about at breathtaking speed, constantly overworked and under stress, with more than just their blood pressures in danger.

They give seminars and speak at conferences where they present the latest state-of-the-art discoveries in their specialty areas, but they are doing exactly the opposite of their true God- given task. Instead of equipping God’s people for the ministry they are performing it for them. Instead of teaching people how to teach, they are just teaching. Instead of equipping people to be evangelists, they are simply evangelizing.......and then leaving—and seldom leaving disciples behind."

(The House Church Book. Wolfgang Simson. Barna, 2009, pg 63)

Witch Doctor Bewitches No More

"One brother, Raden, shared his testimony. With a fiery look in his eye and an intense tone in his voice, he said, "Before I became a Christian, I was a fighter. I learned ninja, jujitsu, and a variety of other techniques for taking people down."
I nodded. I was making a mental note: Don't mess with Raden.
He continued, "One day I was sharing the gospel in an village with people who had never heard of Jesus.
I was in one house sharing Christ with a family, and the witch doctor from the village came to the house." Witch doctors and magic men are common in villages like these. They hold sway over entire communities with their curses and incantations.
"The witch doctor called me out," Raden said. "He wanted me to fight him." Raden smiled as he confessed, "My first thought was to walk out there and take the witch doctor down.
But when I turned to go outside, the Lord told me that I no longer need to do the fighting. God would do the fighting for me."
So Raden walked outside, pulled up a chair, and sat down in front of the witch doctor. He told his challenger, "I don't do the fighting. My God does the fighting for me."
Raden recounted what happened next. "As the witch doctor attempted to speak, he began to gasp for air. He was choking and couldn't breathe.
People came running to see what was wrong, and within a few minutes the witch doctor had fallen over dead." By now the entire village had crowded around the scene. Raden said, "I had never seen anything like this, and ! didn't know what to do.
But then I thought, I guess this is a good time to preach the gospel." Raden smiled and said, "So that's what ! did, and many people in that village trusted in Christ for the first time that day."
(radical, David Platt)

Do All Mission Minded people Move Overseas?

In all this missions talk, you may begin to think, Well, surely you're not suggesting that we're all supposed to move overseas.
That is certainly not what I'm suggesting (though I'm not completely ruling it out!).
But this is precisely the problem. We have created the idea that if you have a heart for the world and you are passionate about global mission, then you move overseas. But if you have a heart for the United States and you are not passionate about global mission, then you stay here and support those who go. Meanwhile, flying right in the face of this idea is Scripture's claim that regardless of where we live--here or overseas--our hearts should be consumed with making the glory of God known in all nations.................Because from cover to cover the Bible teaches that all the church--not just select individuals, but all the church--is created to reflect all the glory of God to all the world. Because every single man, woman, and child in the church I pastor is intended to impact nations for the glory of Christ, and there is a God-designed way for us to live our lives here, and do church here, for the sake of people around the world who don't know Christ.

(Radical: David Platt, line 1089)

Blueprint Church & Bad Photocopies!

I live, plant, promote and desire simpler church! This reminds me of how we try to "Design Church", in our image. Worth reading!

"Imagine a young boy unwrapping a new puzzle and immediately trying to put the pieces together. Out of the puzzle box he pulls a picture of a red race car, (He loves red race cars!) Excited, he tries to assemble the pieces according to the picture. But somehow the pieces do not seem to fit as they should. He tries to make them fit better by bending them or tearing off an edge here and there, but something is still not right. Finally his father comes to the rescue. Dad takes the picture of the red race car and turns it over. Lo and behold, on the other side is a picture of a beautiful tree, the “original” picture depicted in the puzzle. The race car is only an advertisement for another puzzle made by the same company! The boy sighs with relief and starts to put the pieces together according to the new original; within minutes it is done. What was wrong before? He had all the right pieces, but the wrong original. He had unquestionable and honest motives, but quite simply the wrong blueprint.

Is this the situation of a large part of Christendom today? We have all the right pieces: the Word of God, people, houses, prayer, motivation, money. But could it be that we are putting them all together according to a wrong original—our very own beloved red race car? Has the unthinkable happened? Has someone cunningly slipped us an impractical blueprint? Do we stand transfixed in front of our spiritual photocopiers (Bible colleges, publishing houses, seminaries, or leadership programs), continuing to hit that green button in an effort to make copies of what we are convinced is a biblical, canonized, unquestionable, firsthand original? I can imagine that Satan, the enemy of the church, has no problem with even the most fervent evangelistic mission activities or programs, as long as they are all about making copies of red race cars—our traditional pattern of church that makes no serious threat to his claims on humankind.

Maybe the time has come for us to stop bending pieces and tearing them apart in an effort to make them match our picture of what the church should be and instead allow God to recreate church in all of us. It might start with us reexamining our blueprints and turning over our originals."

(The House Church Book. Wolfgang Simson. Barna, 2009, pg 1-2)

Are You Consuming Your Church? Sanctioned Inactivity

I need to know more, I need to learn more, I need to grow up more, I need to become more comfortable with....., I need....... I need...... I need..... and never get around to serving.

We actually provide people with a Sanctioned Inactivity in Church today.When
2 Peter 1:3 says : " His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness..."
Notice the past tense here. We have already been given everything we need. We don't need anything more to serve. That total provision was given to us the day we were saved as the Holy Spirit (God) came to reside in side of us. Certainy we ned to grow "more and more" (DO a NIV search) but the seeds are planted and growing.


If you knew enough to accept Jesus, we now know enough to share how to accept him with others. The silly excuses we make. It's not a lack of anything other than a lack of will, or desire, or obedience, or love, that keeps us from missional living. I know this is true, because I have been there too.

If you have Jesus you have his mission. Can't have one or the other. Package deal.

"Consumerism is based on the belief that I can’t help others until I help myself, that my own wants and needs trump the needs of others"

(Tangible Kingdom. Hugh Halter, pg 151. 2008, Jossey-Bass)

Indian Skinned Alive

"Since that day countless men and women in the history of Christianity have died for their faith. Some of them were not just hung on crosses; they were burned there. Many of them went to their crosses singing.
One Christian in India, while being skinned alive, looked at his persecutors and said, "I thank you for this. Tear off my old garment, for I will soon put on Christ's garment of righteousness."
As he prepared to head to his execution, Christopher Love wrote a note to his wife, saying, "Today they will sever me from my physical head, but they cannot sever me from my spiritual head, Christ." As he walked to his death, his wife applauded while he sang of glory."
(Radical, David Platt)

West African Proverb!

"When an old man dies, the library burns"

(West African Proverb)

80% of the world population are oral learners. Many of the peoples we work with speak oral languages, never written.

How true this proverb is.

Cultural Blinders

"The most basic procedure in a study of culture is to become a master of one's own. Everyone has a culture. No one can ever divorce himself from his culture. While it is true that anyone can grow to appreciate various different cultures, and even to communicate effectively in more than one, one can never rise above his own, or other cultures, to gain a truly supra-cultural perspective. For this reason, even the study of one's own culture is a difficult task. And to look objectively at something that is part of oneself so completely is nearly impossible."

(Lloyd E. Kwast "Understanding Culture"ph 397, perspectives 4th Ed)

Critique Personal And Cultural Assumptions

"Following Jesus has a very clear cost. And the cost includes living a life that sometimes runs contrary to the culture around us. Serious believers who want to go deeper in their discipleship must be willing to constantly critique both personal and cultural assumptions for the sake of becoming more like Jesus."

(Untamed. Alan & Debra Hirsch, Baker Books, 2010, pg 14)

Women's Job Is To Give Life; Men take Care Of Putting it To Rest!

From Cote D'Ivoire village. She writes very well and describes Africa Like I have never seen before. I felt like I was back there on every page. Vivid and real. Her last phrase of this paragraph fascinated me and lead me to ponder a whole evening. It's about a village funeral.

"The wails subside, and three women carry out a tiny bundle. The old men stand in a line facing east, with the imam in white at the middle. He calls out a prayer in a clear tenor. Goutoumaya takes the baby and turns south, toward the cemetery. The men fall into place in single file behind him. The women follow. It's a long, tight procession, silent and quicker than the regular pace of village wandering. As we near the empty marketplace at the edge of Nambonkaha, the men stride on. As if a cord has snapped, the women curl off the path, the ones in front leading those behind to peel off to the side and find shade. Just as women don't kill the chicken for dinner, they don't go near the cemetery.
Woman's job is giving life; men take care of putting it to rest."

(Nine Hills To Nambonkaha: Two Years In The Heart Of An African Village. Sarah Erdman. Picador, 2003, Pg 191)

You Owe Someone........!

"Every saved person this side of heaven owes the gospel to every lost person this side of hell."

(Radical, David Platt, kindle line 1057)

Models and Strategies With Guaranteed Results

"This is where I am most convicted as a pastor of a church in the United States of America. I am part of a system that has created a whole host of means and methods, plans and strategies for doing church that require little if any power from God." (Radical, David Platt)

"Not Called!" No Just Not Interested/Listening

"I'M NOT CALLED" I wonder if we have in some ways intentionally and in other ways unknowingly erected lines of defense against the global purpose God has for our lives. It's not uncommon to hear Christians say, "Well, not everyone is called to foreign missions," or more specifically, "I am not called to foreign missions." When we say this, we are usually referring to foreign missions as an optional program in the church for a faithful few who apparently are called to that.
In this mind-set, missions is a compartmentalized program of the church, and select folks are good at missions and passionate about missions. Meanwhile, the rest of us are willing to watch the missions slide shows when the missionaries come home but in the end God has just not called most of us to do this missions thing. But where in the Bible is missions ever identified as an optional program in the church?"

(Radical, David Platt, kindle line 1025)

Describes Western Gospel To. "T"

"Haven't you heard of the power of positive thinking? I can become a better me and experience my best life now.
That's why God is there--to make that happen. My life is not going right, but God loves me and has a plan to fix my life. I simply need to follow certain steps, think certain things, and check off certain boxes, and then I am good.

Both our diagnosis of the situation and our conclusion regarding the solution fit nicely in a culture that exalts self-sufficiency, self-esteem, and self-confidence. We already have a fairly high view of our morality, so when we add a superstitious prayer, a subsequent dose of church attendance, and obedience to some of the Bible, we feel pretty sure that we will be all right in the end"

(Radical, David platt)

God is Off His Mountain?

"I remember sitting outside a Buddhist temple in Indonesia. Men and women filled the elaborate, colorful temple grounds, where they daily performed their religious rituals. Meanwhile, I was engaged in a conversation with a Buddhist leader and a Muslim leader in this particular community.
They were discussing how all religions are fundamentally the same and only superficially different. "We may have different views about small issues," one of them said, "but when it comes down to essential issues, each of our religions is the same."
I listened for a while, and then they asked me what I thought. I said, "It sounds as though you both picture God (or whatever you call god) at the top of a mountain. It seems as if you believe that we are all at the bottom of the mountain, and I may take one route up the mountain, you may take another, and in the end we will all end up in the same place."
They smiled as I spoke. Happily they replied, "Exactly! You understand!" Then I leaned in and said, "Now let me ask you a question. What would you think if I told you that the God at the top of the mountain actually came down to where we are? What would you think if I told you that God doesn't wait for people to find their way to him, but instead he comes to us?" They thought for a moment and then responded, "That would be great." I replied, "Let me introduce you to Jesus."

(Radical, David Platt)

New Church Plant With 30 Baptized People To Graduate

"I was in Indonesia, the country with the largest Muslim population in the world, teaching in an Indonesian seminary. Before they graduate, the students in this seminary are required to plant a church, with at least thirty new, baptized believers, in a Muslim community. I spoke at their commencement ceremony, and as the graduates walked across the stage, I was captivated by the humble yet confident look on their faces. Every one of them had fulfilled the church-planting requirement. The most solemn part of the day was a moment of silence for two of their classmates who had died at the hands of Muslim persecutors."
(Radical, David Platt)

We Think We Save Others.

"An old preaching professor used to take his students to a cemetery every semester.
Standing on the perimeter overlooking scores of headstones, he would ask his students in all sincerity to speak over the graves and call people from the ground to rise up and live. With some embarrassment and an awkward chuckle or two, they would try it. Of course, one by one they would fail.
The professor would then look at his students and remind them of a core truth in the gospel: people are spiritually dead, just as those corpses in the cemetery were physically dead, and only words from God can bring them to spiritual life"

("Radical", David Platt)

A Chosen Incarnation!

There are many people moving into meaningful kingdom ministry by getting outside the fellowship and walls of the church. It's costing them, in terms of the institution of church, but what they are gaining is far too precious for them to give up such a movement. It's become more about a world of unbelievers all around them, than about themselves, or managing the institution.
They have gotten to the heart of what they have been looking for after years and years of service within the traditional track. Let's give permission for people to seriously move outside the walls, into darkness. They still know they still need fellowship with the "Church" around Acts 2:42. However, they do not need to "show up" at all the activities of "Your Church", free them to be an extension of the kingdom to that new little corner.

"Such people are all humble; they don’t rely on past experience or present ministry posts to define them. They grapple honestly with their financial stability and at times make incredible readjustments in order to spend time with the unchurched. Sometimes they get fired; often they are are misunderstood by those they leave in order to go with God into the world. These types of people are the ones who decide not to go to the next religious leadership conference so that they can stay home and go fishing with a friend who doesn’t know Christ. They leave the church office so they can do their work at Starbucks in order to meet someone new. They intentionally look out their window and see a neighbor and decide to act like they’re going to get their mail, just so they might strike up a conversation. These are the ones who embrace the fear, breathe, and then walk back into tension.
(Tangible Kingdom. Hugh Halter, pg 33, 2008, Jossey-Bass)

There is something about the above quote that makes me smile.

Sit Down Hang Around

"... people in Western civilization no longer have time for each other, they have no time together, they do not share the experience of time. This explains why Westerners are incapable of understanding the psychology of sitting. In villages all over the world, sitting is an important social activity. Sitting is not a 'wast of time' nor is it an manifestation of laziness. Sitting is having time together, time to cultivate social relation"
- Andreas Fuglesang