Month: October 2007

I just returned from a three-day ministry trip to Manhattan, New York. I had the privilege of speaking once again in Freddy Noble’s church. Pastor Freddy leads an exciting Southern Baptist cell church that is having a powerful impact in Manhattan.

Pastor Freddy told me that the first twelve years of pastoring the church were dark and difficult. Board members tried to control the church. God gave Freddy the grace to pray for the problematic leaders. They eventually left the church on their own accord. Pastor Freddy slowly transitioned the people to the cell vision. Now there are 50 cells and 400 people attending the church each week. The last three years have been refreshing and God-anointed.

Pastor Freddy is a student of the cell church. He’s read all the cell church books and networked with enough cell church pastors to know the key principles. Yet, he’s more than a student, he’s also a practicioner. He personally leads a cell in his house, which has multipled. He told me that lately two non-Christians have been attending his cell.

Pastor Freddy is also willing to adjust to make the cell church work. For example, the church followed a particular cell coaching structure, but when they found that it wasn’t working, he changed it. He realizes that principles have to be worked out in the nitty-gritty reality of the church’s life or they have little value.

I was also excited by the incredible evangelism testimonies during the seminar. Cell leader after cell leader (especially from pastor Noble’s church) shared stories of friends and neighbors receiving Christ and being transformed through the cell group. I felt that the best part of the entire seminar was hearing the testimonies from the cell leaders.

No doubt that pastor Freddy, like all of us, longs for more. He sees his own faults and inadequacies. Yet, from an outsider’s perspective, I was impressed that he’s willing to pray, work hard, and make the necessary adjustments to their cell ministry. God is responding in a wonderful way.

Joel

Joel’s recent blogs on the writings of Roland Allen have been super!  Looking forward to Joel’s book concerning church planting.  Thanks Joel.

Allen writes, “My prayer is that we’d not make excuses for our lack of risk-taking, but that we would learn to trust God to raise up disciples.” 

I post this blog to those who are pondering the risk of church planting.  Maybe you are considering planting a cell church or funding a new cell church.  The “risk” factor is immense, isn’t it?  I trust you have studied cell church planting and you feel like you have a good grasp on what it takes.  I affirm you for your preparation.  I trust that God has birthed in you the desire to participate in such an endeavor after much prayer…talk time with spiritual mentors….study of the scriptures, and more.

I want to share briefly how I believe God gave me the “green light” to plant a cell church fifteen years ago.  First, did I believe that God was asking me to plant a church?  After months of wrestling with this question, I believed the answer to be “Yes.”  Next, was my wife supportive of this idea?  We talked, she prayed…I gave her plenty of time and she said, “Well, okay- let’s do it.”  Third, what did my spiritual mentors and ministry colleagues think of the idea?  I chatted face-to-face with them and gave them plenty of time to pray and give me their counsel.  They were very supportive of the idea.  Finally, I waited.  I don’t remember for how long, but I wanted to see if the desire and passion would increase over time, or go away.  God granted to me a great excitement for church planting.

Are these questions and thoughts perfect and complete?  Not at all.  I’m sure one could throw in many other facets of considering whether to plant a church like a church planter’s self-assessment, personality tests, etc.  These are all perfectly fine, just not my own experience.

What I’m saying to you today is ponder Allen’s words above.  Are they applicable to you in the context of church planting?  Maybe they are words that are most applicable to the cell you currently lead.

What risk is God asking of you?

Comments?

by Rob Campbell

www.cypresscreekchurch.com

 

For the last several blogs I’ve been examining the writings of Roland Allen, a famous missionary strategist (1868 – 1947). He noticed the tendency among the Anglican churches of his day to make people dependent on paid clergy. Allen writes,

The facts are these: St. Paul preached in a place for five or six months and then left behind him a church, not indeed free from the need of guidance, but capable of growth and expansion. For example, according to Ramsay, St. Paul preached in Lystra for about six months on his first missionary journey, then he ordained elders and left for about eighteen months. Professor Ramsay calculates that St Paul did not stay in Thessalonica more than five months, and he did not visit the place again for over five years, yet he writes to ‘the church of the Thessalonians’ and speaks of it as being on the same footing as ‘the churches of God in Judea.’ At Corinth St. Paul spent a year and a half at his first visit and then did not go there again for three or four years, but he wrote letters as to a fully equipped and well-established church” (Roland Allen, Missionary Methods: St. Paul’s or Ours? p. 84).

When we read about the Paul’s amazing feat, we often scratch our heads. How did he do this? Were these people already moral, spiritually prepared people? Why didn’t Paul take more time for baptismal classes, Christian Education cycles, etc.? Allen continues:

We commonly attempt to alleviate the sense of oppression by arguing, first, that his converts were people wholly and totally different from ours, and then, that as a matter of fact he did not really leave them, because he was constantly in touch with them by messengers and by letters.” Yet, the facts indicate that they were people totally from heathen backgrounds, steeped in heathen philosophies. The backgrounds of the people back then make those today look very civil and righteous. And today we even have the entire Bible printed for people to read and use. Paul didn’t have that advantage. Nor was it Paul’s practice to leave someone behind, although Luke appears to have stayed behind in Philippi. Yet, even though Paul was in touch with these congregations, there’s a distinct difference with having a paid person in one place all the time. This was simply not the case with Paul. ” (Roland Allen, Missionary Methods: St. Paul’s or Ours? p. 85ff).

I have to ask myself whether I’m allowing people to become overly dependent on me. I have the tendency to plant the church around myself and never really leave it with anyone. I need to remember the necessity of planting Christ’s church, so that it can freely multiply. My prayer is that I could establish a church planting center of doable church plants. Allen writes:

One of the ways that Paul taught the people was through mutual encouragement. Allen says, “The meetings of the church were gatherings for mutual instruction. Anyone who had been reading the book and had discovered a passage which seemed to point to Christ, or an exhortation which seemed applicable to the circumstances of their life, or a promise which encouraged him with hope. . . produced it and explained it for the benefit of all. . . . Paul would draw the people out to instruct one another, rather than converting them into hearers. By this means St Paul was always calling out more and more the capacities of the people in the church (Roland Allen, Missionary Methods: St. Paul’s or Ours? p. 85ff).

We have the tendency of making hearers of our people. The people turn into hearers of the word rather than doers. The church is so weak in North America because people can check in and out after hearing the gospel message. There’s not a strong connection between cell, celebration, training and leadership.
Comments?

Joel