From Melodee, Tabitha, Mike and I to you and your family,
Happy
Thanksgiving!
Remember that we show our thanks by the way we give!
“In all things I have shown you that by working hard in this way we must help the weak and remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how he himself said, ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’ ” (Acts 20:35, ESV)
Visit most any urban church in America and you will often find a small group of people rattling around in a large facility. The “glory days” for the church have passed them by and things are currently being held together by the barest of means.
If you look and listen carefully, you will find many signs of the impending death of that local church. But, like many other topics in life, no one speaks of the elephant in the room. What are we avoiding?
#1 – Infrequent adult baptisms
Adult baptisms indicate conversions … life is happening on a missional level. When there have been few to none of these in the recent past, death is lurking at the door!
#2 – Reluctance to participate
Whatever the reason for the attitude, when people disengage from the ministry to and mission of the church, forward momentum ceases.
#3 – A desire to decide
Coupled with the reluctance to participate, an urban church often has to deal with people who would rather tell others how to live and do church. Such hypocrisy taints the spirit of the body and people flee such manipulation, thus shrinking the resources and size of the congregation even more.
#4 – Acceptance of entropy
With less, the church services and facilities deteriorate. Since the Gospel is “go and serve,” the urban church now stands as a statue to a by-gone era in the midst of a teeming metropolis of lost people.
#5 – A hostility towards innovation
Arthritis sets in to the small group left and any new movement causes an eruption of the inflammation that plagues God’s people. Stakeholders nix any new idea for fear what remains will be lost.
While no one seems to speak of these things, they are crushing the urban church. Innovation and a fresh wind of the Spirit are needed to restore the vision and mission of Jesus Christ in the local, urban church. Eagles In Leadership exists to help you live and thrive in the changing setting of your urban center. If you would like to learn more, feel free to contact us at admin[@]eaglesinleadership.org.
Four men, one calling: To serve and protect. As law enforcement officers, Adam Mitchell, Nathan Hayes, David Thomson, and Shane Fuller are confident and focused. Yet at the end of the day, they face a challenge that none of them are truly prepared to tackle: fatherhood.
While they consistently give their best on the job, good enough seems to be all they can muster as dads. But they’re quickly discovering that their standard is missing the mark.
When tragedy hits home, these men are left wrestling with their hopes, their fears, their faith, and their fathering. Can a newfound urgency help these dads draw closer to God … and to their children?
Filled with action-packed police drama, COURAGEOUS is the fourth film from Sherwood Pictures, the moviemaking ministry of Sherwood Baptist Church in Albany, Georgia. Riveted moviegoers will once again find themselves laughing, crying, and cheering as they are challenged and inspired by everyday heroes who long to be the kinds of dads that make a lifelong impact on their children.
Protecting the streets is second nature to these men. Raising their children in a God-honoring way? That’s courageous.
Welcome back to the Transformed podcast. We are honored to have Alan Hirsch with us on the podcast today!
Alan is the founding Director of Forge Mission Training Network. He is the co-founder of shapevine.com an international forum for engaging with world transforming ideas. He leads Future Travelers, a learning journey applying missional-incarnational approaches to established churches and is an active participant in The Tribe of LA, a Jesus community among artists and creatives in Los Angeles.
His experience in leadership includes leading a local church movement among the marginalized as well as heading up the Mission and Revitalization work of his denomination. Alan is and adjunct professor at Fuller Seminary and lectures frequently throughout Australia, Europe, and the U.S.
Known for his innovative approach to mission, Alan is a teacher and key mission strategist for churches across the western world. His popular book The Shaping of Things to Come (with Michael Frost) is widely considered to be a seminal text on mission. Alan’s recent book The Forgotten Ways, has quickly become a key reference for missional thinking, particularly as it relates to movements. His book ReJesus is a radical restatement about the role that Jesus plays in defining missional movements. Untamed, his latest book (with his wife Debra) is about missional discipleship for a missional church.
We are aware there are some audio imperfections in this interview – Alan’s connection wasn’t the best. However, we know you will learn a lot if you turn up the volume and stay focused to this great discussion.
We are giving away TWO copies of Alan and Deb’s book, Untamed as well! Check out these simple rules and tell your friends.
To be eligible for a FREE copy …
1. Just sign up for the Eagles In Leadership blog notifications (Right side of this web page) if you are not already signed up.
2. Make a comment below this post on the web page indicating your desire for the book and how you would envision using it.
3. Deadline for the free copies will be October 15th.
Winners will be notified after the contest concludes.
It seems every time Eagles In Leadership is asked to come and help an urban church, one of the key issues strangling the life out of that faith community is their church governing structure. Notably, you will find the current version of their constitution dating from the 1940s or 1950s – usually the post-WWII years when church planting was in a growth surge.
This is understandably so; polity is usually cultural and often tied to the origins of the congregation – we reproduce what we know. However, as someone wisely pointed out, “This isn’t the ‘50s anymore!”
How can you tell if your governing structure needs a retool?
Urban churches need a structure that addresses where they are now! If we can be of help to you in structuring your church for the 21st century, please, let us know!
You can email us at transformed [at] eaglesinleadership.org
Thank you for tuning in again to the Transformed podcast! Today we welcome Matt Bell back to the program. Matt is a personal finance writer and speaker.
He is the author of three books: Money, Purpose, Joy (September 2008), Money and Marriage: A Complete Guide for Engaged and Newly Married Couples which was published in March of 2011 and Money Strategies for Tough Times, which we will talk about today.
Matt has been quoted in U.S. News and World Report, the Chicago Tribune, and Kiplinger’s Personal Finance magazine, has written for ChristianityToday.com, writes the Matt About Money blog, and has been a guest on several nationally syndicated radio talk shows.
Matt is a return guest to Transformed! His first interview about Money, Purpose, Joy can be found here.
In today’s episode, we explore how you can successfully navigate the challenging times we live in and how to get to a better place with your personal finances.
We know this episode will be a great help as Matt talks with Matt about …
Many of these topics are from Matt’s book, Money Strategies for Tough Times.
In these tough times, Matt encourages you to pick up a copy of Matt Bell’s book, Money Strategies for Tough Times. We know this resource will help you take charge of your financial life.
Matt talks about home mortgage help from the government. Click here for that website.
We are giving away TWO copies of Matt’s book, Money Strategies for Tough Times as well! Check out these simple rules and tell your friends.
To be eligible for a FREE copy …
1. Just sign up for the Eagles In Leadership blog notifications (Right side of this web page)
2. Make a comment below this post on the web page indicating your desire for the book and how you would envision using it.
3. Deadline for the free copies will be September 15th.
Winners will be notified after the contest concludes.
Artwork Credit: seekingyahweh.wordpress.com
Editor’s Note: We continue our series of blogs for those who are reading the Bible with us cover-to-cover this year. Interspersed with our thoughts on our daily reading, we want to provide some tips about reading the Bible in general.
Jeremiah, God’s Message of the Coming Babylonian Invasion to the Defiant Nation of Israel!
Have you ever told someone that what he or she was doing was going to end badly, but they refused to listen? Maybe you were talking to your kids, your friends or someone at work. No matter how much you encouraged them to think reasonably, they refused. And then, it happened … the disaster or crisis you predicted. And they seemed to be surprised!
That is exactly what is happening in the book of Jeremiah. Written over the last four decades of Israel’s national life, God instructs Jeremiah time and again to speak to the power brokers and the politicians of his day. The message is quite simple: If you don’t change your ways and live like the Lord God Almighty has already prescribed for you in the Law (Genesis – Deuteronomy), then the nation would be conquered by the Babylonians and the people would be carried off into captivity.
It is amazing how alike things can be, despite there being almost 26 centuries between us and these accounts. Politicians of that day didn’t listen to the religious leader Jeremiah. Are you shocked? You shouldn’t be!
Despite God’s warnings through his messenger – the Prophet Jeremiah to five administrations (Kings Josiah, Jehoahaz, Jehoiakim, Jehoiachin and Zedekiah), the nation continued to worship God with lip service but live their lives like He didn’t exist.
You can capture the heart of God, his love, frustration and disappointment as you read passages like this:
“Then the Lord put out his hand and touched my mouth. And the Lord said to me, “Behold, I have put my words in your mouth. See, I have set you this day over nations and over kingdoms, to pluck up and to break down, to destroy and to overthrow, to build and to plant.” (Jeremiah 1:9–10, ESV)
Note the abundance of words that denote the “removal” of the current before the planting of the future can occur. This mission was set to create conflict from it’s inception!
God is clearly upset and wants to get to the bottom of this relational break-up. Listen as He questions …
“Hear the word of the Lord, O house of Jacob, and all the clans of the house of Israel. Thus says the Lord: “What wrong did your fathers find in me that they went far from me, and went after worthlessness, and became worthless?” (Jeremiah 2:4–5, ESV)
“If a man divorces his wife and she goes from him and becomes another man’s wife, will he return to her? Would not that land be greatly polluted? You have played the whore with many lovers; and would you return to me? declares the Lord. Lift up your eyes to the bare heights, and see! Where have you not been ravished? By the waysides you have sat awaiting lovers like an Arab in the wilderness. You have polluted the land with your vile whoredom. Therefore the showers have been withheld, and the spring rain has not come; yet you have the forehead of a whore; you refuse to be ashamed. Have you not just now called to me, ‘My father, you are the friend of my youth— will he be angry forever, will he be indignant to the end?’ Behold, you have spoken, but you have done all the evil that you could.” (Jeremiah 3:1–5, ESV)
“If you return, O Israel, declares the Lord, to me you should return. If you remove your detestable things from my presence, and do not waver, and if you swear, ‘As the Lord lives,’ in truth, in justice, and in righteousness, then nations shall bless themselves in him, and in him shall they glory.” For thus says the Lord to the men of Judah and Jerusalem: “Break up your fallow ground, and sow not among thorns. Circumcise yourselves to the Lord; remove the foreskin of your hearts, O men of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem; lest my wrath go forth like fire, and burn with none to quench it, because of the evil of your deeds.” (Jeremiah 4:1–4, ESV)
Again and again throughout this compilation of messages, arranged to express and explain the heart of God through forty years of consistent urgings, one central truth reverberates: God loves you so much that He will wait until your grandchildren reach out to Him and He will bless them with the blessing He had reserved for you, if you choose to refuse Him!
““For thus says the Lord: When seventy years are completed for Babylon, I will visit you, and I will fulfill to you my promise and bring you back to this place. For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will hear you. You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart. I will be found by you, declares the Lord, and I will restore your fortunes and gather you from all the nations and all the places where I have driven you, declares the Lord, and I will bring you back to the place from which I sent you into exile.” (Jeremiah 29:10–14, ESV)
Jeremiah is the last attempt by God to bring His wayward children back to His love and care. As you read it, remember their refusal broke Jeremiah’s heart as well and often he wept until there were no more tears. Thus is the heart of God and His messengers to rebellious, stubborn people.
It is our hope that this background information helps a bit as you read on in the Bible.
© 2011 Dr. Matthew Lee Smith, All rights reserved.
For daily insights into the passage we are reading together each day, you can follow Dr. Smith on Twitter and on Facebook.
You can obtain more help from the FREE Bible reading schedule on our resource page. In His Image is a daily devotional that also follows our reading schedule and expresses the Biblical truth: “God Created You to Love You.” You can find this resource on the side bar of our website.
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Host a Reaching Your Community In Your Generation Seminar!
The world around us changes approximately every 18 months! Such change brings great challenges to our mission. Eagles In Leadership has designed a weekend to help you energize your congregation or organization to fulfill the Great Commission in your community. You can bring this weekend to your church or organization!
The weekend revolves around four key messages:
We are so pleased you have returned to the Transformed podcast!
In today’s episode, we welcome back Tom Cocklereece, author of Simple Discipleship, which we talked about recently (here’s the link to that interview).
Today we talk about a companion to the book, and it’s called Simple Discipleship: The Disciple-Maker’s Toolkit. You can purchase the toolkit in Kindle here.
This toolkit is filled with all sorts of ideas, advice and practical tools. We know you will enjoy this interview.
You can learn more about Tom’s ministry by clicking this link.
Simple Discipleship is on Facebook as well!
Matt encourages you to pick up a copy of Tom’s book, Simple Discipleship and it’s companion Simple Discipleship: The Disciple-Maker’s Toolkit. These resources will help you reach your community in your generation.
In today’s episode, we want to explore effective ministry in rural areas. Matt would tell you that many of the truths in this episode apply equally to urban ministry as well.
Shannon O’Dell has focused on vision, attitude, leadership and innovation to watch God work in amazing ways! When called to his rural Arkansas church of 31 God began to work so that today they are a multi-site church of several thousand.
His book, transforming church in RURAL America, Shannon centers on 5 principles that bring transformation to any smaller church desiring to reach their world in their generation.
This book in a blueprint for transforming church and Matt wants to encourage you to pick up a copy of Shannon’s book, transforming church in RURAL America. We know this book will help you move forward for God to reach your world in your generation.
We are giving away TWO copies of Shannon’s book as well! Check out the rules in and tell your friends.
To be eligible for a FREE copy …
1. Just sign up for the Eagles In Leadership blog notifications (Right side of this web page)
2. Make a comment below this post on the web page indicating your desire for the book and how you would envision using it.
3. Deadline for the free copies will be August 15th.
Winners will be notified after the contest concludes.
In this passionate discussion, Matt and Shannon talk about how you too can work with God to transform your church – whether it is rural, suburban or urban.
You can learn more about Shannon here.
You can sign up for Shannon’s blog here.
You can learn more about Brand New Church here.
You can purchase transforming church in RURAL America here.
By Dr. Russell Moore
The Christian response to immigrant communities in the United States cannot be “You kids get off of my lawn” in Spanish. While evangelicals, like other Americans, might disagree on the political specifics of achieving a just and compassionate immigration policy, our rhetoric must be informed by more than politics, but instead by gospel and mission.
I’m amazed when I hear evangelical Christians speak of undocumented immigrants in this country with disdain as “those people” who are “draining our health care and welfare resources.” It’s horrifying to hear those identified with the gospel speak, whatever their position on the issues, with mean-spirited disdain for the immigrants themselves.
This is a gospel issue. First of all, our Lord Jesus himself was a so-called “illegal immigrant.” Fleeing, like many of those in our country right now, a brutal political situation, our Lord’s parents sojourned with him in Egypt (Matt. 2:113-23). Jesus, who lived out his life for us, spent his childhood years in a foreign land away from his relatives among people speaking a different language with strange customs.
In so doing, our Lord Jesus was re-living the life of Israel, our ancestors in the faith, who were also immigrants and sojourners in Egypt (Exod. 1:1-14; 1 Chron. 16:19; Acts 7:6). It is this reality, the Bible tells us, that is to ground our response to those who sojourn among us (Exod. 22:21; Ps. 94:6; Jer.7:6; Ezek. 22:29; Zech. 7:10). God, the Bible says, “executes justice for the fatherless and the widow, and loves the sojourner, giving him food and clothing. Love the sojourner, therefore, for you were sojourners in the land of Egypt” (Deut. 10:18-19).
This is much more than a “political” issue, abstracted from our salvation. Jesus tells us that our response to the most vulnerable among us is a response to Jesus Himself (Matt. 25:40). God will judge those who exploit workers and mistreat the poor. No matter how invisible they seem to us now, God hears (Isa. 3:15; Amos 4:1; Jas.5:4).
This is also a question of our mission. There are upwards of 12 million undocumented immigrants in this country right now, and many more in the Latino community who came here legally. If our response to them is to absorb the nativism and bigotry of some elements of society around us, we are showing them a vision of what the Bible calls “the flesh” rather than the Spirit. If our churches ignore the nations around us who are living in our own communities, we will reflect 1970s Bible Belt America rather than the kingdom of God which is made up of those from every tribe, tongue, nation, and language (Rev. 7:9).
It is easy to lash out at undocumented immigrants as “law-breakers,” and to cite Romans 13 as reason to simply call for deportation and retribution. But this issue is far more complicated than that. Yes, undocumented immigrants are violating the law, but, first of all, most of them are doing so in order to provide a future for their families in flight from awful situations back home. Many of them are children (as our Lord Jesus was at the time of his immigration).
And, even given our nation’s Romans 13 responsibility to maintain secure borders, the message our nation sends to those across our borders isn’t clear and univocal. As Southern Baptist leader Richard Land puts it, there are two metaphorical signs on our border: “Keep out” and “Help wanted.”
This isn’t to say that there aren’t real political challenges here. I agree that the border should be secured. I support holding businesses accountable for hiring, especially since some of them use the threat of deportation as a way of exploiting these vulnerable workers. I support a realistic means of providing a way to legal status for the millions of immigrants already here. But there are many who disagree with me, and for valid reasons.
The larger issue is in how we talk about this issue, recognizing that this is not about “issues” or “culture wars” but about persons made in the image of God. Our churches must be the presence of Christ to all persons, regardless of country of origin or legal status. We need to stand against bigotry and harassment and exploitation, even when it’s politically profitable for those who stand with us on other issues.
And, most importantly, we must love our brothers and sisters in the immigrant communities. We must be the presence of Christ to and among them, even as we receive ministry from them. Our commitment to a multinational kingdom of God’s reconciliation in Christ must be evident in the verbal witness of our gospel and in the visible makeup of our congregations.
Immigration isn’t just an issue. It’s an opportunity to see that, as important as the United States of America is, there will be a day when the United States of America will no longer exist. And on that day, the sons and daughters of God will stand before the throne of a former undocumented immigrant. Some of them are migrant workers and hotel maids now. They will be kings and queens then. They are our brothers and sisters forever.
We might be natural-born Americans, but we’re all immigrants to the kingdom of God (Eph. 2:12-14). Whatever our disagreements on immigration as policy, we must not disagree on immigrants as persons. Our message to them, in every language and to every person, must be “Whosoever will may come.”
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Russell Moore is the Dean of the School of Theology and Senior Vice-President for Academic Administration at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. This article is reprinted by permission from his blog.
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Hope Enabler is the real-life story of one Christian parent’s struggle with a runaway child and the hope that God enabled her to have during the darkest moments of that struggle.
