I’ve posted HERE, HERE, and HERE about the ways that small groups are difficult for you whether you’re introverted or extroverted.  In closing, here are a few things to remember:

1. Being introverted or extroverted isn’t a sin. It’s just how God made you.  Don’t let anybody criticize you for your wiring in this area.

2. The Church needs both introverts and extroverts. Without both, things can get out of balance.

3. You need small group life. When the Bible talks about our need for authentic community (see Acts 2:42-47; Hebrews 10:24-25; the “one anothers“) it doesn’t distinguish that need to just one personality type.  The Church is a diverse body with diverse needs…but we all have the need for community, because our need for community is rooted in God’s design, not in a personality type.  Our need for community is not a result of the Fall (though it’s certainly complicated by the Fall), rather rooted in the fact God lives in community (the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit living in perfect community at all times) and has designed us with that need.  Using your personality isn’t a valid excuse to not plugging into the life of the body of Christ (the Church).  There will be difficulties along the way, for sure.  And at times, you’ll find yourself wanting to back out because it’s too tough.  But when you press on through that difficulty, I’m convinced you’ll find biblical community life-transforming.

Find a group of people.  It may be 3.  Or it may be 23.  But find a small group of people that you can grow with, that love you, will encourage and admonish you, and that you can serve.

Whether you’re and introvert or an extrovert.

In writing about how modern churches often present what an appropriate response to the Gospel should be, David Platt says

We already have a fairly high view of our morality, so when we add a superstitious prayer, a subsequent dose of church attendance, and obedience to some of the Bible, we feel pretty sure that we will be all right in the end.

The modern-day gospel says, “God loves you and has a wonderful plan for your life.  Therefore, follow these steps, and you can be saved.” Meanwhile, the biblical gospel says, “You are an enemy of God, dead in your sin, and in your present state of rebellion, you are not even able to see that you need life, much less to cause yourself to come to life.  Therefore, you are radically dependent on God to do something in your life that you could never do.”

The former sells books and draws crowds.  The latter saves souls.  Which is more important?

Taken from Radical, Taking Back Your Faith from the American Dream by David Platt, p. 32

I’m reading through The Tangible Kingdom: Creating Incarnational Community by Halter and Smay.  Thought this quote might challenge some folks:

Advertisements by their very nature are intended to coerce thinking and behavior.  They are neded when there is no personal relationship between the seller and the potential buyer.  This type of coercion is expected when you’re trying to decide what beer to drink or car to buy, but it’s highly offensive when people try to tell you important truths without any tangible relationship.

[...] Paul shares his insights on posture [the nonverbal forms of communication that accompany what we say] with those who were coming to faith in 1 Thessalonians 2:7-8, “But we were gentle among you, like a mother caring for her little children.  We love you so much that we were delighted to share with you not only the gospel of God but our lives as well, because you had become so dear to us.”  An expanded paraphrase might be, “Because we found ourselves emotionally attached to you all, we couldn’t just preach at you.  We knew you needed time to process your faith, and the only way to help you understand the big picture was to stay with you longer.  We knew the message would make more sense if you saw it lived out in our lives.”      –pp. 40-41

When you think of “sharing your faith,” does your mind immediately go towards speaking?  Or do you think about doing life together with people?

Jason and Kerby Harpst go to Grace.  They’re small group leaders.  They’re key volunteers in Grace Acres.  And we’re sending them out, to Costa Rica, in June.  To be honest with you, they’ve become such a vital part of Grace that we hate to see them go.  However, we rejoice with them as they are following God’s lead and leaving life as they know it in America.  If you haven’t met Jason and Kerby, I hope you get to one day.  Until then, I thought I’d post some questions to help you get to know them.

1. Where are you going in Costa Rica?
We are going to the small town of Villas de Ayarco, which is in the mountains about 45 minutes southeast of the capital city of San Jose.

2. What will you be doing while you’re there?
We will initially work with short term teams that come to Costa Rica as the Volunteer Team Coordinators for the Abraham Project.  We will also work with the children that live in any of the three orphan homes that are part of the Abraham Project.  Our vision is to set up a sports outreach program for the children and teens of the local community, where the average family lives at the “extreme poverty” level.

3. Why Costa Rica?
Costa Rica is a place we have both visited before and we saw a great need for our help.  The Abraham Project, in particular, is in need of help to expand on their vision and to reach more of the hurting people of Costa Rica through the love of Christ.  With such a high cost of living, so many of the people cannot afford food for their children everyday and the local communities are filled with drugs, prostitution and gang activities.  It is too easy for young children to get involved in these activities that are all too common for them.  If they have an alternative choice to devote their time, such as a sports program that is based in the love and need for Christ in their lives, then they have a bright future…spiritually and socially.

4. Do you see this as a temporary thing, or something more permanent?
This is a permanent move.  As we surrender to God’s calling, we feel this is a permanent move.  Not a permanent move to Costa Rica in a sense, but a life devoted to what ever God has planned for us.  Where ever He leads us in the future, we will follow in effort to reach more people around the world for Christ and expand His Kingdom.

5. What did you do prior to committing to going to Costa Rica?
I have my Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in Mechanical Engineering and I have worked for both the Trane Company and General Motors Corporation.  My wife, Kerby, is finishing her degree in Special Education this spring.

6. Why not continue doing that?
To be honest, it would be easy to continue my work as an engineer and having Kerby work as a school teacher.  We could live comfortable lives and have a great place to raise a family in the United States but that would be our plans not God’s plans.  God has specifically asked us to give that up, and go share our love and hope we have in Him.  God calls everyone to a different path in his plan to spread the great news of Christ; some are called to only short term mission trips, some are called to support full time missionaries, some are called for local missions, and some are called to go as full time missionaries overseas.  For us, we fit into His plan as a family that will go and tell people about Christ.  It will not be easy, but we know God will provide for our needs.

7. Have you been to Costa Rica before?
I have been to Costa Rica seven times.  Six times for short term mission trips and once in January for a “pre-moving” trip and to meet with the pastor and others we will work along side with at the Abraham Project.  Kerby has been to Costa Rica twice before.

8. How do you feel uniquely gifted for what God’s calling you to do in Costa Rica?
As an engineer I am very organized which will help in the Team Coordinator aspect of our work in Costa Rica.  Additionally, Kerby will be teaching English in the daycare center at the orphanage.  With her specialty in Special Education, it will benefit her greatly when working with these children with physical and social disabilities.  We have also spent the past three years working with the children of Grace Community Church each Sunday in Grace Acres.  As far as being “qualified” to be full time missionaries, we are not, but I don’t know if anyone is really qualified.  We firmly believe in what many international mission organizations are based on.  God does not call the equipped, but instead, He equips the called.  We have much to learn about being missionaries, but our focus is on serving our all powerful and wonderful God and sharing with others what He has done in our lives.

9. What are some challenges you’ve already faced in preparing to become a full-time vocational missionary in Costa Rica?
One of the biggest challenges is seeking financial support.  We are not affiliated with any international missions agency so we need to raise 100% of our financial support.  Costa Rica has a high cost of living; where a simple $8 Wal-Mart coffee maker here in the United States costs over $30 in Costa Rica.  By not receiving any of our financial support from a missions organization, our support will come strictly from friends, family members, fellow church members, or anyone else that shares our hearts for Costa Rica.  We have had other small struggles since making the decision to enter the mission field about five months ago, but it has been amazing to see how God works and we have seen first hand what He can do if our plans are aligned with His plans.

10. What is your biggest need right now?  Is there a way we can help?
We need monthly supporters.  We have a few individuals that have been very committed to supporting us financially and we cannot express how thankful we are to have them partner alongside us.  We leave for Costa Rica at the beginning of June and what we really need right now are individuals that can commit to supporting us each month.  Nothing is too small or too big.  If you would like to support us, you can send a tax deductible check to “Grace Community Church” with a note of “Costa Rica” or “Jason and Kerby” to the following address.

Grace Community Church
PO Box 3980
Clarksville, TN  37043

You can follow us on our blog at www.todalagentecr.blogspot.com and you can always email us with questions or for more information at todalagentecr@gmail.com.

Being missional is God’s charge to the Church.  And being comfortable isn’t part of that plan.

For the whole sermon, click HERE.

UPDATE:

Brent Moore has received a job!  Thanks for partnering with me in praying for Brent and Courtney.  The Lord has surely answered our prayers, and the Moore’s as well.

What is your new position?

Pastor of Students and Families at Northbrook Church in Three Way, TN (North Jackson)

When did you start?

May 1^st

What will you be doing?

Ministering to students from 7^th grade through college as well as equipping the families to lead their children during this time period

Why Northbrook?

It is a great fit for Courtney (my wife) and I; it has two components that are vital for sustained ministry, same methodology (how you do ministry) and theology (what you believe about God)

How is this church an answer to prayer?

It came at exactly the right time, down to the very day of when I needed to start working.  Also it provides me with a lot of freedom to do ministry based on both my convictions and gifting.

What are some other things you look forward to in this position?

I’ll be able to preach somewhat regularly on a Sunday morning (as it looks right now about every other month) and I’ll be able to be a part of a small group, which I already believed was the way to go for effective daily ministry

Brent, we’re so excited for you, and rejoice that you are able to minister the Gospel once again in a local church.

Looking back over my life, I can count a couple of people that I invested in, and saw spiritual growth growth.  But it’s very few of those people who I can say, in return, invested in me.

Brent Moore and I have been friends since middle school.  Our friendship started off at the lunch table, where, every Monday-Friday, from 10:25-10:50, we ate lunch, traded sandwiches, and tried to stay away from the various food fights that would swirl around us.  I didn’t know it then, but God was at work in building our friendship.

We continued on into high school together.  And then college.  And then graduate school.  And we continue to remain close friends.  Brent is one of the few friends in my life that I can say really made an investment in me spiritually.   It’s not that I haven’t had significant friends.  Or that I’ve had terrible friends.  It’s just that, looking back, I can see that I had a lot of fun with other guys and matured, but it wasn’t necessarily a spiritual growth.  I’d count them as good friends, but if I were to be honest, Brent was one of the few that helped me become a more faithful disciple of Christ.

Brent is a natural leader.  Wherever the Lord has led him in life, others have looked to him to lead.  Brent is an amazing vision-caster.  He can rally a group of people around a common mission like none other.  God has so obviously gifted Brent for preaching.  He preaches with the wisdom of one who has served in ministry for a lifetime, and seems to have a knack for making difficult ideas seem easy to comprehend.  His clarity from the pulpit leads others to grow spiritually, and that clarity is only matched by the personal character that Brent displays on a daily basis.

Brent, like Alan Danielson, is searching for a ministry position.  In order to give you a snapshot of Brent, and not just my words about him, I put together some questions that a typical “search committee” (or whatever form of a team a church body would assemble in order to find the person God has especially called to lead that local congregation).

I asked Brent to keep his responses brief, but you can meet Brent on Facebook HERE, or you can find his resume HERE (link to pdf).

When it comes to ministry, what thing(s)/areas of ministry are you most passionate about?

I love to see people’s “lights” go on about who Christ is and what he has done for them.  Basically the Gospel lived out in people’s lives.
Besides ministry, what things are important to you?

Beyond family I would say history.  I love to study history, specifically American History.

What do you do for fun?

I have always liked to run.  My wife and I also enjoy entertaining in our home.

How has the Lord gifted you for full-time vocational ministry?

The Lord has gifted me in the area of vision and leadership that most often exercises itself in teaching and preaching, although I also have a fondness for counseling

How do you know you’re called to ministry?

I couldn’t be satisfied doing anything else, plus all that know me and have seen me minister affirm my calling.

What is it about doing full-time ministry that gets you going in the morning?

I can’t believe I get paid to do what I love.  I love both the good and bad of the day and the ministry in the church because I see how the Lord is working it all for good.

What is your weakness?

Self-reliance.  When I should be dependent upon the Lord and others to do something I am often guilty of doing it in my own strength.

What kinds of things do you look for in a church where you would serve?

Leadership.  Everything rises and falls on leadership.  The church cannot rise above the level of their leadership.

What makes a healthy church?

Happy, Holy people.  Genuine love for the Lord and each other and concerned about their personal holiness before a watching world.

What is the purpose of church?

To glorify God, which is the purpose of individuals as well.  This is done by doing the first and second commandment that Jesus gave in their context and time.

How important is “teamwork” to you?  Does it matter to you who you serve with?

Very important, I want my co-workers to be my best friends who have each other’s back and genuinely enjoy one another and their families.  So it matters who you serve with, their theology, vision of the church, and character.

Orange carpet or brown?

Brown, in high school the church I attended had orange carpet in the sanctuary and everybody made fun of it.

Again, you can find Brent on Facebook HERE, or you can find his resume HERE (link to pdf).

Is your church looking to hire a lead pastor?

Do you know of a church looking to hire one?

I’m doing some legwork for you (or them).  Here is an interview with a friend of mine, Alan Danielson.

Ever felt like God called you and equipped you to do something…yet the opportunity to express those gifts didn’t quickly come to fruition?  Friends of my blog: meet Alan.  Alan, meet the friends of my blog.

I “met” Alan about a year ago through his blog.  I thoroughly enjoyed his updates that got my mind stirred about ministry.  Then, I had the privilege of being in a small group with Alan via Tokbox.  I loved hearing his heart, and seeing him offer sound, biblical wisdom to those in the group who were hurting and needed pastoring.  Unfortunately, because of scheduling conflicts, I had to pull out of the group, but Alan and I have maintained contact.

Here’s my official, unsolicited endorsement of Alan: Alan is a leader.  A pioneer.  He thrives on shepherding a team of folks to accomplish the mission and vision of a congregation.  Alan is creative.  He would bring great enthusiasm and wisdom (a rare combination) to any team he were a part of.  He has expertise in preaching/teaching, small groups, online ministry, and writing.  He’s spoken (and been on staff at) mega-churches, small churches, conferences, and home-based small groups.  But maybe the thing that has impressed me the most about Alan is hearing him pray.  The way that a person prays says a lot about their spiritual maturity.  Alan prays as one whose heart beats after God.

In order to give you a snapshot of Alan, and not just my words about him, I put together some questions that a typical “search committee” (or whatever form of a team a church body would assemble in order to find the person God has especially called to lead that local congregation)

I asked Alan to keep his responses brief, so to see his resume, preaching/teaching videos, recommendations, family pictures, blog, and more, you can find him at http://www.alandanielson.tv.

When it comes to ministry, what thing(s)/areas of ministry are you most passionate about?

I’m most passionate about mission and evangelism that results in discipling relationships.

Besides ministry, what things are important to you?

My relationship with God, my family, and Star Wars!

What do you do for fun?

I collect Star Wars memorabilia and create hand-made lightsaber replicas.

How has the Lord gifted you for full-time vocational ministry?

I’m a relational leader and an effective communicator.

How do you know you’re called to ministry?

I’ve been in vocational ministry since I graduated high school in 1990 and led literally thousands of people.  God has chosen to use me and that constantly affirms my call.

What is it about doing full-time ministry that gets you going in the morning?

Personally connecting with people and helping them discover the ways they can grow to become like Jesus!

What strengths do you bring to the table?

Relational ability, communication, activating people to action, developing/implementing strategy, and faith.

What are your weaknesses?

Organization, spreading myself too thin, balancing work and health, and cheese burgers.

What kinds of things do you look for in a church where you would serve?

Cultural relevance, unapologetic evangelism, great family ministry, and good theology.

What makes a healthy church?

Unity, clear vision, passionate leadership, articulate leadership, and simple strategy.

What is the purpose of church?

Joining with others to fulfill Christ’s Mission through which we experience radical spiritual Formation and unbreakable relational Connection

How important is “teamwork” to you?  Does it matter to you who you serve with?

Prime importance!  Chemistry is the biggest factor in determining a team’s success, so yes, it definitely matters who I serve with.  If the right chemistry isn’t there, disappointment will surely follow.

What is your Myers-Briggs score?

ENFP, so I’m in need of professional help!

Orange carpet or brown?

Orange, because my wife is an Oklahoma State University fan.  Hey, if momma ain’t happy, nobody’s happy.

To read more, and connect with, Alan, you can find him HERE.

I’m all about the lone rebel who wins the war by himself. But our efforts combined are much more effective than our efforts alone.

Alone, we seem weird.

Together, others want to join in.

Recently I said this on Twitter:

Can a person REALLY be growing in their faith & NOT be involved in a faith community? I think not.

As you might imagine, it stirred some people up.

As you can also imagine, the ones it stirred up were the ones not involved in a faith community (a general term that I used to point to church, small group, Sunday School, etc.)

I would love to hear from you, but before that, I’ll throw my thoughts into the ring. 

Can a person grow in their faith and not be involved in a faith community?

1. No.

2. 9 times out of 10, in my opinion, the statement, “I don’t need to go to church” is used as an excuse.  The people who say this aren’t growing, and don’t have much intention to grow.  Church would bring conviction and accountability…two things that they don’t have, and don’t truly desire.

3. For those who fall into the 1 out of 10 who aren‘t using, “I don’t need to go to church” as an excuse, I would say that the Church needs you as much as you need the church.  We need your encouragement, love, accountability (doctrinal as well as moral/practical), wisdom, love, care, support, admonition, rebuke, teaching, and leadership.  And you need us for the same reasons.

4. “And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds. Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching.” (Hebrews 10:24-25)  Going to church brings us into close contact with the Church.  Hearing others worship, praying with others, hearing Scripture preached, and building relationships with others in the Church all help to grow our faith, and are, in my opinion, vital to your relationship with Christ.

5. We are prone to forget.  We need others to remind us, and spur us on in this walk of faith.  We get wrapped up in the trivialities of life, and get bogged down with details.  Others help remind us of the power of the resurrection.  The brevity of life.  The life-transforming power of grace.  The healing nature of forgiveness.  Without the Church, we quickly lose sight of all of that.  I can read about these things in a book…but seeing them lived out in the guy sitting two pews over is different altogether.

6. UPADATE – After a comment I received via Facebook, I’ve decided to make an addition to this post.  I’d like to make concessions for folks who are not able to travel, due to health or other reasons.  Those people should not feel an ounce of guilt for not traveling to gather with other believers.  That said, though, I truly believe that they need to gather with others, so the Church’s responsibility would be to go to them.

What do you think?  Do you believe that it’s possible to grow in your faith without “meeting together?”