You cannot defeat men like this. Tell them to keep quiet, and they disobey you. Throw them into prison, and they convert the jailer. Whip them, and they rejoice to be allowed to suffer for Christ. Stone them within an inch of their lives in one city, and they carry on with just the same message in the next. Kill them, and others arise to take their place. Endurance like that simply has to win in the long run. But we do not see enough of it in our western church. There is plenty of obstinacy, to be sure, but usually about the wrong things: church property, ministers who aren’t liked, or style of services.

Michael Green on the endurance of the early church in his great book called 30 Years that Changed the World.

today is that we are not seeing robust disciple-making taking place. You are more likely to find evangelicals affirming that there is more than one way to get to heaven today than you were 15 or 20 years ago. Why? We’ve done great at getting them in the door, but we’ve done terrible at actually growing them up and grounding them in the faith.

This quote is from the most recent edition of Facts & Trends Magazine. Ed Stetzer reports on three important church trends: Decline, Dropouts, and Discipleship.

Recent research of our own area here on the Northshore backs up each of these as a local trend as well. Our Northshore PROBE found that there was a 14% drop in attendance in SBC Churches from 2000-2010 and a 14% drop in Baptisms, with an accompanying 19% increase in population. I think the quote above from Stetzer explains a little bit of the why. Without robust disciple-making, we cannot expect robust spiritual fruit. A recent opinion poll conducted by Turner Research of residents of St. Tammany Parish (see my previous summary of the research here) mirrors research finding from around the country.

• 69% of people asked affirmed this statement: “It doesn’t matter where you attend church, all teach and preach the way to go to heaven.” 33% of self-identified Southern Baptists polled affirmed this statement.
• 84% of people asked could not tell in their own words how a person can become a Christian. 35% of self-identified Southern Baptist polled could not.

Many churches are now rediscovering ways to push more depth from the Sunday morning stage, better ways to assimilate the crowds into small groups and discipling relationships, more organic ways to nurture spiritual formation, and stronger ways to create missional expansion in their communities and world.

What are other ways to create an environment for robust disciple-making in our churches?

More info on the opinion poll data to be released next week.

Matthew 9:36 says that Jesus “SAW the crowds.” Can you see those around you? Their needs? Their lifestyles? Their value to God? Their potential through Christ? In my area, when I looked around I saw 76-90% that are not attending church more than once per month if at all (96% not attending SBC churches). And the number that I’m driving by on my way to church is increasing every year. I see a growing number w/o hope leading to an ever increasing suicide attempt rate and people who are daily recognizing their pursuit of pleasure and ease is a facade. I began to see widows and elderly with no one to take care of their simple household issues. I began to see the multi-housing facilities and parks that takes me a few seconds to DRIVE-BY, but house 30o-500 lives in need of the Gospel.

In Matthew 10:5, Jesus responded to what he saw by SENDING his disciples on mission. He’s done the same today. WE ARE sent not to church, but into the world to give, to love, to share, to serve. Being a member of a church is an important part of life on mission, but it must not be a substitute for responding to and serving the needs around us as disciples, individually and corporately.

Every time there’s a 5th Sunday in a month, our church takes a Sunday – Faith In Action Sunday – to take care of needs we’ve been DRIVING BY for three months. It’s an intentional way for us to encourage life ON MISSION FOR OTHERS and take our message to the world beyond the church walls.

Join us for Faith in Action Sunday in 2012 – January 29th (more info and project list here), April 28th-29th, July 29th, and September 30th. Better yet, open your eyes to the needs around you. Look around as you drive to church this weekend. See the crowds, have compassion, realize that if you’re a disciple Jesus has sent you to this place for this time.

This Faith In Action Sunday we’ll be taking care of a few elderly widows needs, throwing a block party for inmate families at our local jail, painting a house in a neighborhood that’s undergoing revitalization, and more.

Here’s a great list of dozens of ways to be On Mission in your neighborhood, workplace, or community.

• 24%, or 47,611, housing units on the I-12 corridor are mobile homes or multi-unit dwellings. That doesn’t include the 1,300 dorms at Southeastern, and the multitude of institutional settings like nursing homes and retirement centers. Get our full report on Multi-Housing on the Northshore.
• 2%-3.5% of Multi-Housing residents do not attend church.
• Experts say that 4% of the people in a multi-housing complex can be reached by going and inviting them to your church. 30% can be reached by taking your church to them through Bible Studies, Kids activities, congregationalizing inside the complex or park.

How do I start ministering to a multi-housing complex. 3 Tips:

1. Get to know the Management. Ask them, “How can a church help?” Then get ready to respond to needs.
2. Think Incarnationally. How can we bring our church/VBS/Sunday School/etc. to them?
3. Pole your church and see who is already living in local multi-housing complexes. Then work toward commissioning them as missionaries to the park.
4. Look for needs. Be creative. Start Small. Ideas: Block Parties on site, beautification projects, outreach to the vulnerable (elderly, widows, single moms), activities for kids, benevolence ministry.

Jack was jumping from the back of the couch trying to touch the ceiling fan. Hudson, jumping over a 6′ wooden fence. Little girl Corley coming in May. Hopefully she’ll be a tad less adventurous at 5 years.

 ”One of our chief sins is that we school our students in the works of preachers with large churches and then brutally send them into the world of small churches…”

“When you read your church’s bulletin and determine the invitation you offer, you will know whether your church is a community center or the globalizing, wounded arm of the Savior.”

• David Putman wants to Rescue Church Planting:

1. To someone I am a difficult person. Why? It may be that I’m misunderstood or I’m having a bad day or my personality rubs you the wrong way. But we tend to give ourselves the benefit of the doubt, credit for our intensions, and many chances. Do we do that for others? Remember, the merciful will be shown mercy (Matthew 5:7; James 2:13).  I love this scene from the movie Fireproof which reminds us that our relationship with others tends to show us a pic of our relationship with God. The cross was necessary b/c we were enemies of and unable to relate to God. He had mercy, grace, and He made a way. So should we.
2. Hurting People, Hurt People, and are more easily Hurt by People. When we’re hard to live with, it’s usually something deeper. We’re living out of our pain. (James 4:1-3). Don’t fight back at first instinct. Pray for the person, look for opportunities to address the why behind their issues. Don’t pile on the pain for you or them. And when someone irks you or hurts you, don’t point a finger automatically. Ask, “Is there something in me that’s making this appear worse in my eyes than it really is?”

Here’s a few of my favorite books that help us think through relationships, especially difficult ones:

• Fool-Proofing Your Life: How to Deal Effectively with the Impossible People in Your Life by Jan Silvious.
• Friends, Foes, and Fools by James Merrit.
• Safe People: How to Find Relationships that are Good for You and Avoid Those that Aren’t by Henry Cloud and John Townsend.
• Romans 12 is the one stop shop for relational help. Read it, apply it, enjoy life.

Was there ever a time in my life that God completely transformed my life and made me a brand new person – therefore, the following elements are lived through the message of my life:

• Old things passed away (attitudes, thoughts, desires, motivation, vocabulary, lifestyle, actions, reactions) and all things became new (new heart, new love, new purpose, etc.)? YES or NO
• I cannot sin and get away with it without conviction? YES or NO
• I do not love the things of the world (worldly lifestyles, clothes, music, crowd, philosophies…)? YES or NO
• I have a desire to do God’s will in every area of my life? YES or NO
• I cannot continually or habitually practice the same sin? YES or NO
• I love people with all my heart and demonstrate it by giving of myself to minister to their physical and spiritual needs? YES or NO.
• God answers my prayers? YES or NO

By example and proof of your life which is more important?

• People or Production
• Service or Success
• Ministering or “The Ministry”
• The worker or “The Work”
• Quality and depth or Quantity and size
• Prayer and Fasting or Methods and programs

Take the whole inventory by downloading the Guide.

Life hits us like that sometimes I think. If we don’t realize the finish line is ahead, we may give up. You’re at mile 16. You’re tired. You’ve run a long way. Don’t quit, keep going, the race can be completed.

What are you considering giving up on right now? Could it be possible that you’re just at mile 16?

1. He was responsive to the needs around him. In the Gospel of Mark a word jumps out at least 40 times – IMMEDIATELY. He responded to needs without hesitation and demonstrating great concern.
2. He intentionally sought out people with needs. From Zaccheus, the wealthy, friendless, lonely man looking for a slither of hope from the fork of a tree – see Luke 19:1-10; to the woman at the well, who was hardened by broken relationship and a bad reputation – see John 4; to the man by the pool at Bethesday who had been a invalid for years – see John 5. Jesus intentionally walked into these people’s lives and sought avenues to invest and heal.
3. He befriended people others wouldn’t. The religious crowds faq, “Why does he eat with tax collectors and sinners?” http://bible.us/Mark2.16.ESV. Jesus was always at the parties that modern day WWJD? bracelet wearers would say he shouldn’t be at. And you get a sense that these folks loved being around Jesus, AND that he loved being around them.

So, how intentional are you? What did you do immediately this week? Who are intentionally seeking to bring hope and healing to? Who are you investing in that’s far from God and may be hard to love at times?

This month Bridge Church is talking about the 7 Core Practices of Life In Christ-On Misson-4 Others. Check out the other 7 Core Practices and listen to Message #1 and #2 from this series here. Also, check out this great resource full of ideas about how to live with Gospel intetionality – Simple-Ways-To-Be-Missional-eBook from Verge Network.

Join Bridge Church at one of our gatherings on Sunday: 10am at the West St Tammany YMCA or 6pm at Northshore Community Fellowship in Hammond. Other gatherings: 9am at the St. Tammany Parish Jail and 6pm at Oak Villa Mobile Home Park #71.