TIDBITS FROM DAVE
Observation #1 There has been a movement over the past several years among some churches in the U.S. to eliminate the senior pastor position and adopt a team approach to leadership. David Fitch, one of the proponents of this model, argues that it doesn’t make sense to build the leadership of a church around a single personality, that no one pastor possesses all the gifts needed to lead a church, and that a single pastor may succumb to tunnel vision. You can read his arguments here (part 1) and here (part 2). It’s also interesting to read through the comments and see the varied responses to this concept.

Observation #2 I received a call last week from a “head hunter” (recruiter) who’s been employed by a large church in the area to find a person to fill a staff vacancy. The church is looking for a mission pastor who will be charged with melding together the church’s local and global ministry. I’m wondering if more churches will move toward bringing the oversight of local and global ministry into one staff position.

Observation #2½ I find it interesting that in the past year I’ve received several calls from “head hunters” employed by larger churches to fill staff positions. These are not denominational representatives but rather outside persons charged with finding the right candidate to serve a particular congregation. While some of these head hunters have been pastors or persons with some kind of religious affiliation, I find it very interesting that churches are choosing to hire these totally distinct, outside professionals to find the right fit for their congregation.

Observation #3 A friend of mine attended the National Pastor’s Conference in San Diego a couple months ago. In reading some of his impressions, I found it interesting that what stood out to him most were the moments when the multi-media projectors were not blaring and the band was not playing. He was not carried away by the throng of pastors singing or the excitement of the stage personalities dancing but by what the calls the “Quiet Graces at a Loud Conference.” He writes, “For the second year I have been blessed by a soft-spoken, gray haired sage. This morning it was Eugene Peterson. In the same bland ballroom Peterson opened the Bible to share his reflections on prayer. There was nothing spectacular about his presentation, but it carried the gravity of a godly life.” Might the pendulum be swinging back in the other direction? My friend is 30 years old.

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ONE PEOPLE WITH A PRICE TO PAY: REFLECTIONS ON ACTS
Recently, I (Dave) have been rereading the early chapters of the book of Acts. I’d like to share a couple thoughts that have hit me as I’ve read these chapters.

First, in chapter 14 we join Paul and Barnabas in Iconium, located in the interior of modern-day Turkey. At Iconium a great number of Jews and Gentiles responded to the gospel and believed, so in this chapter we witness the further expansion of the church. It must be noted that in its effort to reach the peoples of the world, the early church went from a totally Jewish church—a church which only every once in a while tiptoed outside the lines to give witness to a Gentile here and there—to a church such as that in Iconium that saw the melding together of two totally difference races and cultures of people. It is an incredible change! A change that stirred, as we know, more than a little controversy, but a beautiful change that honors the love of God for all peoples! Indeed this is the theme of these verses—God's heart for people of all nations.

For over 2,000 years the wonder of that organism called the church has been its ability—when filled with the Spirit of God—to meld people of divergent backgrounds together to be one people. Gender: men + women=ONE PEOPLE! Age: old + young=ONE PEOPLE! Race: Asian + African + Latino + European + North American=ONE PEOPLE! People of different intellectual levels + people of different economic classes=ONE PEOPLE! Every time I say a word or commit an act that excludes or denigrates one of these categories of people, I sin against the doctrine of the church, which calls God’s people to be ONE.

Second, as I read through these first chapters in Acts, I am reminded how often a great price is paid when individuals that call and obey. In 2 Cor. 11:23, as Paul tells of his “Acts experiences,” we are told that five times Paul was bared to the waist, stretched over a rack, and struck 39 times with a steel-edged whip. Historians say many men died under such a beating. Of those who survived, many men lost their sanity, while others were so humiliated by this beating that they went out and took their own lives. Paul had this experience five times. I receive emails every day from organizations that monitor persecution of Christians around the world. Persecution takes many different shapes and is a daily occurrence in our world today. The subject lines on these emails read: “New Believer Jailed in Mexico for Receiving Christ; Christians in India Face More Attacks as Lenten Season Ends; Muslim Extremists Set Church on Fire in Nigeria; Persecution of Christians Rising in Karnataka, India.”

These principles have caught my attention as I read through Acts because of dear friends both here in the U.S. and on the other side of the world. Here, I have had to make a decision in working with the African American church in Memphis. Do I send my African American brothers and sisters alone into new global opportunities or do I go with them? I have chosen to go with them because I believe the alternative continues to keep us apart and fosters a separatist attitude. The book of Acts paints a very clear picture of what the church is to be, and this conviction has cost people dearly as it drives some to go to all nations and others to go to all people groups at home.

On the other side of the world, the price paid by those who take seriously God's call to proclaim the gospel to all nations is so evident in Sri Lanka these days. This is the nation with which I am most connected. My friends in Sri Lanka continue to suffer terribly. The pastors and their families in Jaffna seem to top the list of those who are paying a dear price for refusing to abandon the call of God on their lives.

So we do not withdraw as those who have no hope, but move forward knowing that we stand in a great company of believers who have in the past and in the present stood firm in the midst of difficult days.

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"For now the winter is past; the rain is over and gone. The flowers appear on the earth, the time of singing has come, and the voice of the turtledove is heard in our land. The fig tree puts forth its figs, and the vines are in blossom; they give forth fragrance." Song of Solomon 2:11-13 NRSV

"Those who contemplate the beauty of the earth find reserves of strength that will endure as long as life lasts. There is symbolic as well as actual beauty in the migration of the birds, the ebb and flow of the tides, the folded bud ready for the spring. There is something infinitely healing in the repeated refrains of nature--the assurance that dawn comes after the night, and spring after the winter." - Rachel Carson, in The Sense of Wonder

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Innovation in Mission: Insights into Practical Innovations Creating Kingdom Impact
Edited by Jim Reapsome and Jon Hirst; 2007 Authentic Publishing
Reviewed by David Korb

This book is a collection of essays on innovation trends and solutions in the world of missions. Topics covered include innovations in church mobilization, kingdom business, member care, short-term mission, media missions, strategic planning and partnerships, and online learning. I think this is an important book to read if you are interested in understanding more of what is happening in missions today. However, I do believe it must be read with the understanding that these essays do not give the final word on any topic, but rather serve as an introduction, demonstrating how that particular author views the changes taking place in his or her area of expertise.

Let me give you a couple examples of insights I gained from reading this book. In his essay addressing kingdom business, Joseph Vijayam writes, “The problem with the secular worker going into missions is that, typically, he or she is someone else’s employee, and the fact remains that no one can serve two masters. …The great advantage of kingdom business is that the businesspeople concerned are self-employed within limits. ..What then is the difference? The difference is a matter of starting point. The missionary starts at the mission end of the spectrum and goes into business; the businessperson starts at the business end and goes into mission.”

The chapter on member care discusses innovation responses to the issues of financial needs, health care needs, and savings and pension programs, among other subjects. The chapter on short-term missions discusses the explosion of short-term missions and then addresses the possible future of this phenomenon. Addressing the question, “What is the future of short-term mission?” Roger Peterson writes, “Should the Lord tarry, the next few years will likely challenge the mission community at-large to grapple with these three changes: (1) fields will limit their short-terms to proven groups; (2) schools will offer formal, for-credit training in short-term mission methods; (3) new short-term mission networks will bypass traditional networks in attendance and membership numbers.”

I think these outlooks are certainly worthy of our consideration. I recommend this book as it will challenge and expand your thinking in the area of mission.

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