Lazarus Was Surely a Christian, Wasn't he?

I was speaking at the Plant Midwest Quarterly yesterday and all of a sudden I started talking about the difference between Gospel transformation and moralism.  It just seems that a church youth program with chastity as a goal and not DEEP Christ transformation or a Biblical 12-step with sobriety as a goal and not a DEEP Gospel resurrection feels like we would deem it possible that Christ said, "Lazarus, come out!" and a formerly dead cat walked out of the tomb, past Jesus, said thanks, and never thought of Him again.  Implausible as that sounds, we must so focus on the power of Christ to not only clean up some behavior but to save souls as four new Conquering Addiction courses take off so that someone leaving the 15 week "sober but going to hell" is just as implausible.  Please Father, don't just dust off some wandering sheep; cut them deeply to their soul and save them for Your Glory. May we present such a glorious Jesus that it may be so.

Sober, but going to hell, is not acceptable.

Porterbrook St Louis is Here

I believe that quality churches really pay attention to 2 Timothy 2:2:
"and what you heard from me in the presence of many witnesses entrust to faithful men who will be able to teach others also."
So, if church leaders are serious about releasing teaching of Gospel, counseling in the Gospel, leading in the Gospel, planting churches in the Gospel, they should take this 2 year course and bring the folks they are discipling and releasing to the course.

Steve Timmis, co-author of Total Church, which originated much of the contemporary discussion of Gospel-centered and missional, is the primary developer of the Porterbrook material.  I, personally, do not know of a more Acts 2, 1st century approach to theology and church planting than the Gospel-centered, missional approach of Porterbrook.  If it radically changed that world for the glory of God, then that is the way to roll now.  Click on the syllabus below and you will see four areas of study: Character, Bible & Doctrine, Church, and World. A student receives four one day conferences at the Porterbrook STL learning site which is in Arnold.  Then, the student will study at home and with a local study group in their local communities.  We are hoping to have local study groups meeting in Cape Girardeau, Farmington, Arnold, St. Louis, St. Charles, O'Fallon, and Edwardsville, IL.

This training is very cost effective.  Each year contains 12 courses of curriculum and 4 superb conferences for only about $500.  This is the best $500 that can be spent toward the "making disciples who make disciples" Great Commission!!!  Send your interns, send your ministry leaders, send your missional community leaders, send your elders, send your pastors, send your moms and dads!

We can change the world for the glory of Jesus!
“These men who have turned the world upside down have come here also,..."
Acts 17:6

Lots of ways to follow Porterbrook St. Louis:
Porterbrook STL website is HERE
Porterbrook STL Facebook is HERE
Porterbrook STL Twitter is @porterbrookstl
Worldwide Porterbrook website with syllabus is HERE

Tass Saada, Once an Arafat Man, coming to The Bridge!!

Tass Saada will be appearing at The Bridge Community Church www.bridgelife360.com on July 15.  We are partnering with our friends Mike Harrison and Parkland Chapel of Farmington to make this happen.

The following are excerpts from the foreword by Joel Rosenberg of the Joshua Fund to Tass's book Once an Arafat Man that will be available for signed purchase at the event:

Tass Saada was a killer.
Tass and his closest friends murdered Jews in Israel. They murdered civilians and soldiers alike. They attacked Christians in Jordan. Sometimes they tossed hand grenades at their homes. Sometimes they strafed God-fearing homes with machine gun fire. They once tried to assassinate the crown prince of an Arab country. They nearly succeeded. And they did all of this willingly. They did so eagerly. Tass certainly did.  His nickname was was once Jazzar --- "butcher."  It was a moniker he relished.
He was raised in a world of radical Islam and by his teenage years Tass was a cauldron of seething, roiling hatred.  His family was close to the Saudi royal family.  He once met Osama bin Laden.  He became personal friends with Yassar Arafat, a man he once regarded as a hero, and happily killed in his name.

If the story ended there, we would obviously hesitate to bring Tass to The Bridge and into our homes.  But it doesn't end there.  More from the foreword:

In his amazing grace, God gave Tass Saada a second act. And a third.
....a story of a violent revolutionary who was radically transformed one day by the power of the Holy Spirit and became a man of peace.  At its core, Tass's story is a story of the greatness of our great God. It is the story of a man who fell in love with a Savior who loves Arabs as well as Jews....  His love is so amazing , so divine that he actually offers all of us -- Jew and Gentile alike -- the free gift of salvation through the death and resurrection of his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord. He wants to adopt us.... He wants to bless us. He wants to take care of us. He wants to heal us and make us like him. And, then he wants to empower us to be a blessing to others.  Tass said yes to that love, and he was changed forever.

Tass will tell us about sharing the Gospel with Yasser Arafat, and even about sharing the Gospel with his parents and brothers, AS THEY WERE ACTIVELY TRYING TO KILL HIM.  The stories of Arabs and Jews who were both violently trying to kill each other before salvation that now hug and work together for the glory of Christ will bring you to your knees.  We will hear of huge amounts of Muslim conversions in the Middle East.  And, we will hear how we need to actively support and pray for folks like Tass and his ministry partners who are actively carrying out the Great Commission in a hostile, still deadly, environment.  It takes great courage to bring the Gospel and to plant churches in the middle of the Muslim world.  I love it.

The is easily the greatest conversion story that I have ever been around, and it just keeps bringing great Kingdom fruit. Folks who attend that love Jesus will be blessed, but I believe that God will do great work in the hearts of unbelievers if they will hear the Gospel from this man.
July 15 at The Bridge.  An evening that I don't think we will soon forget.  Put it on your calendar and invite all that you know.

Checklist for Mission Cell Family Living

I put myself through a checklist for missional cell family (missional community) living yesterday.  This is far from a comprehensive list, but it is a continual battle to learn and then teach out the difference between missional living and "1 hour a week, 1 Bible study a week" living.

Check these out:
1. Did I take time to pray for the members of my missional cell & for the future members of my cell?
Can we really claim to love somebody deeply, as a family member, if we don't pray for them?  I did pray for one specific member of the group this week that is having financial issues.  When we understand community, I understand that their financial woes are my financial woes.  I don't have to stress over them, but understand how the Gospel addresses the stress for us to trust Christ, and let the family know that I care.

2. Did I make contact with the members of my missional cell other than the two hour meeting on Thursday night?
This family thing is 24/7.  This is where we live out the New Testament "one anothers."  You know: serve one another, rebuke one another, love one another....."

3. Did I center my interaction with the missional cell on the Gospel?
The life, death, and resurrection of Jesus is the centerpiece of all of this interaction.  I don't want to give them good advice; I want to point them to Jesus, to the cross.  I don't want to just pray for them; I want to acknowledge that Jesus is the one to receive glory in HOWEVER He answers the prayers.

4.  Do I even love these people?
Nuff said.  Heart check.

5.  Did I interact with our target mission?
We welcomed new folks into a fresh start missional cell this week, so it is a great time to engage our culture and our missional target which are the neighborhoods around our home and our new church building.  I did ask some folks to come and join us.

6.  Are we planning a party, something social, to make connections with new people and grow our group?
Yes, but are you?  It is a great time to have a neighborhood bbq as the weather changes and engage your neighbors or co-workers with just an invitation to food and drink.

7.  Do I see all areas of my life: work, school, social, play, grocery shopping, etc. as mission opportunities to invite to missional cell?  Where am I developing friendships with non-believers so that they can come into a safe environment and learn about Jesus? And, is this because I truly love these people that I am establishing relationships with or just because I want to have a big group?  A claim to be missional?
We are all loving missionaries all the time.

8. When we did get together this week, did we worship?  Did we learn to obey the commands of God (Matthew 28:20) or in other words Gospel-center the Bible?  Did we get to know our folks better?  Did we point to the Gospel?  Did we seek God in prayer?  Did we just hang out with some food and drink to the glory of God?  Did we observe communion?  Did we love on non-believers in the group without backing off of Biblical truth?  Was there such an excitement about Christ that folks cannot wait to return?  Did we do anything for the children present to teach them the ways of Jesus?

9. Did you have non-believers present?  If not, why not?
We have had in recent weeks, but they did not show up this week, so it is crucial that we make contact this week and love on them in some way.

See how different that is than a Bible study or a Sunday School class.
This thing is hard work, bloody, messy if it is lived out like we see in Scripture, but it is empowered by the Holy Spirit.  And, man, it is worth it when we see people coming to Christ, baptisms, and then disciples making disciples for His fame.

Good Reminder - We Are in the People Business

Planting churches is a crazy, busy life - emotionally, a roller coaster.  It is hugely rewarding and worth every minute though.  Those of us that lead do need to remember that while it is for the glory of God, it is a PEOPLE thing -- loving God, bringing Him glory, proclaiming His magnificent Gospel, yes, but also loving people.  I sat down with most all of the members of our church in individual coffee meetings (yes, coffee is a membership requirement, ha) over the month of January and some of February.  This was VERY time consuming, but we limited each meeting to 30 minutes, and worth every minute.  The most surprising thing was the depth of the conversation in that short time.  What helped is that I did not hit them with any 'churchy' agenda.  I just asked them to pray for me when they left, and then I shut up and listened.  I reminded them to pray for me when they got in the car when they left, and I prayed for them according to how I heard them describe their life in the Gospel.  IT WAS AWESOME! 

This is a letter from one of the members that says it all:
Hi Tim. Thank you for taking the time to sit down, share, listen, & pray with us this past Monday evening.  We enjoyed it very much and continue to be blessed because of it.  I feel like I really know you now, and hope you feel like you know us a little better as well.  Your love and support of our family means so much!  We are praying for you for continued good health and wisdom in decisions that are coming up, and also for you, Kelley, Justin, and Virginia as you continue to adjust and grow in His will.
We look forward to to being a part of God's plan and sharing in His ministry along with you and our church.
In Jesus' Love,

Keys to Successful Missional Communities

1. Provide good toilet paper.
Nothing says "don't come back" like some Big Lots #8 grade sandpaper.

2. If you throw a party to invite new folks, don't wear a wife beater and short shorts.
That is unless it is an "Eddie from National Lampoon Vacation" party.  That is a bad gig.  For chicks, a formal dress with a pearl necklace like a bad episode of the "Young and the Restless" is bad gig also. 

3. Don't serve extremely cheap coffee.  Nothing says, "GO AWAY" like the dark roast from Dollar General. I'd give 30% of my income to churches who serve Dunkin Donuts.

Hospitality is a spiritual gift.  Let's use it, so that hopefully someday a person who actually agrees to set aside personal preference and come to your home to hang out with a bunch of "hypocrites" might actually sit on a comfortable couch and hear about a glorious Savior and His great Gospel.

8 Hours in Gospel, Community, Mission

We have developed this IDENTITY series at The Bridge that shows our identities as a faith community.  There are lots of ID's of every faith community, but for us, they all center around Gospel, Community, & Mission. And, those three all point to the person and work of Jesus.  All of our material is online at The Bridge Church Website.

Yesterday, we witnessed these three function in an extraordinary way.  Our Imperial Missional Cell (Community) has begun to serve the community on MISSION at a local pregnancy center.  A young lady came in to pick up some maternity clothes as she has found herself pregnant with her fourth child.  The first three children are 12, 8, and 4.  She also got assigned to be counseled, and our cell member and the counselor had the great joy of presenting her the GOSPEL.  They talked extensively about the sinless life, sacrificial death, and glorious resurrection of Jesus for the redemption and restoration of sinners.  This young mom was cut to the heart.  She repented and believed the Gospel and received Christ.

In all of the tears and laughter of this extraordinary turn of events, it became evident that she has no COMMUNITY.  So, she received an invitation to the Imperial cell last night.  She showed up with three children in tow and they ate "with glad and sincere hearts."  And, we studied the "Apostle's teaching, we prayed, we hung out and talked, we found common ground." (Acts 2).  This community scattered, this missional cell family, will be life for her in her pursuit of Christ as she works on Sundays and so her ability to join the large group community gathered will be rare.  However, she will be able to go on MISSION with us in her new life of a 'disciple who makes disciples.'

Within 8 hours, we saw the Gospel take root from the Community going on Mission.  But, if this young lady had met Christ and not had a place to connect, where would she have gone? Instead, we saw the Community re-introduce the Gospel as the means by which the Holy Spirit will raise up a disciple as she was invited to join a family.  This is truly one of the most astonishing things I have seen since planting a church, and I have seen a glorious God do extraordinary things - things that Him famous - Glory to God.  Gospel, Community, Mission - all pointing to Jesus - Wow!