Looking to the future… a hopeful vision of Lamb for the next decade
Sometime very soon (hopefully we will nail down a date for mid-June) we will announce a community meeting for Lamb of God. This is a gathering when members and attenders can come together for different concerns which relate to the entire church community. In some ways I guess this is a ‘business’ meeting for the church, although the topics tend to have little to do with a traditional ‘business’ meeting. The purpose of this meeting in June is to talk about the future, and a vision for where we should be going as a church.
Several months ago I submitted a seven page document to the elders and to Mary Anne related to what I believe the Lord has shown me regarding the future of Lamb of God Fellowship. I took some time to pray, to think, to study and to reflect upon what I sensed God was saying to me. I set that document before the elders and asked them to reflect and pray as well. I want to share that with you in preparation for the upcoming community meeting. Hopefully, you will be encouraged and challenged to pray and think about what God is saying to you about these matters.Let me say that I didn’t get these things from the top of Mt. Sinai. I didn’t reach up and pull them down from the glory cloud, nor did an angel transmit these things to me. What they represent is my best current thought about the future. I believe that the Holy Spirit has helped me to think these things through and to refine these ideas. But, they are not necessarily complete, or the final understanding of direction and focus for the years ahead of us. Please re-read that last sentence! Go back, please and read it.
Developing Christian Leadership
A church cannot seriously think about the future without seriously thinking about the development of leaders. This has been a pressing consideration and near obsession of mine. I know that God places a great responsibility on leaders, and so should we. Within this larger emphasis I also have called upon the elders to focus on developing a larger number of qualified and available women’s leaders. We are very much blessed by the solid maturity of Mary Anne Dahmen, but we need to raise up others. (By the way this isn’t intended to suggest there are no other mature, capable women in the church, only that we as an eldership desire to be more intentional about raising up leadership from among our women).
I am therefore proposing to the elders that we invest substantially in training leaders in three principal areas.
(a) A clearly reasoned Biblical world and life view. It is necessary to be able to think ‘Christianly’ about every area of life. This was one of the blessed legacies of Francis Schaffer and the ministry of L’bri. Dr. Schaffer came on the scene in the late 60’s and 70’s with a wonderful message which encouraged Christian people to be able to think Biblically about every area of life - politics, economics, morality, social action, etc. In order to be a church which remains balanced, and firm in its core understanding of the Christian faith we must have well trained leaders who are capable of ‘rightly dividing the word of truth.’
(b) A clearly reasoned Biblical understanding of the nature of spiritual change (sanctification). How does Christianity understand the way in which people change? How do we mature spiritually? What are the key things that we must understand and do if we are to see ourselves grow and become more Christ-like? We believe in the power of the Holy Spirit, and at the same time we believe in discipleship and the importance of the spiritual disciplines. We want people to have a Biblical understanding of human nature, of how sinful habits are broken and replaced with godly habits of holiness. We believe in the grace of God, but we are not passive in the process of sanctification. All of these things must be taught.
(c) The necessity of a consistent pattern of spiritual discipline/and devotional life for leaders. Let me add, that this idea is not just for leaders. It is in fact what all Christians should practice. However, it is critical to the life of the church, and the future that we understand that those who lead must have this aspect of their Christian life in place. What is it that we expect from those who lead? We expect that they will manage their time wisely, handle their finances responsibly, maintain sexual purity, have a prayer life, be students of the Word and if married live out godliness in their marriages, and honor the Lord in how they raise their children. They don’t have to be perfect, but it is necessary that we teach those who lead of the sober responsibility they have for modeling the good character of God to those over whom they have responsibility.
Developing leaders who have sound understanding of the Word of God, and can think Biblically about the complexity of life in our times is critical to soundness and balance. God calls us to ‘teach what accords with sound doctrine’ (Titus 2:1).
I have suggested that this might take the form of a monthly teaching time on Saturday mornings, where we would provide good child care allowing for husbands and wives to attend together. This pattern (whatever we finally decide on) would be required for anyone who wants to lead, or has leadership in the church. It would be open to everyone. We would use the very best materials - Charles Colson, N.T. Wright, Gordan Fee, Nancy Percey, and Dallas Willard for example as texts for the training. We use this as a means to raise up new leaders and to establish them in sound Christian teaching. I would have a significant role in the teaching (or at least the oversight), but it would also be a platform for developing young teachers, as well as a place where the elders would take a strong role in the teaching.
Jesus commands us to ‘Go’
(2) Domestic missions and the concept of bi-vocational missionaries/team ministry at Lamb. Recently a number of folks at Lamb have begun diligiently seeking to hear God’s voice relative to mission/outreach locally. (Please refer to my post of 5.27 ‘Go into all the world, or at least our own back yard’) Essentially we are after a more biblical model of how ‘missions’ is launched and done in our own backyard. I very much want to see ‘team’ ministry, and a strong sense of being ’sent’ by the Holy Spirit be at the center of how we do evangelism as a church.
Is there a place for careful planning, and discussion regarding reaching people? Yes, but not at the expense of prayer, fasting and earnestly seeking the Lord for his directions. This is something that I believe will take us several years to learn and develop. I want to see us grow in competence in our ability to ‘hear’ what God is saying about outreach, to build spiritually unifed well lead teams who will launch out in obedience to what God has said or shown us about outreach. This focus has already begun (once again see my last blog entry 5.27)
Suffer the little children to come
(3) Children’s ministry - I want to see Lamb of God giving its very best to the discipling and encouragement of the children that He has given us. I have asked that one of the elder’s assume a very active role in this are and that he come along side Troy and Noelle in helping them to move this area of ministry along in the church. We have substantial number of young children and we want to do our very best to nuture faith and obedience to Christ. We want church to be a blessing, not a chore. We want to strengthen family life, and bless parents with excellent ministry for children and young people. The precised details are in development, but let me say that the key is excellent people with a passion for children working in this area and I believe that God is challenging us to build the very best teams of teachers/volunteers for these areas of ministry.
Learning how beauty glorifies the Lord
(4) Art and the Church. We are blessed with an unusually large number of gifted artists. I marvel that right now we have two film makers with excellent work being viewed and judged in prestigious venues. We have painters, photographers, dancers, illustrators, and musicians as part of the church. I think that places a special responsibility on us as a church to steward well the gifts that God has placed among us. Just in the past six month we have seen two really glorious examples of how the arts can bless the church with the dance number created by Rebecca Houck at the 20 year celebration and the release of ‘Fringes’ (Lamb of God Worship CD).
We are tremendously blessed by having Ben Stamper, a wonderfully multi-talented artist and a gifted pastor to provide leadership in this area of church life. I have called upon Ben to put his very best understanding together and cast a comprehensive all-inclusive vision for how the arts can function as ‘ministry’ at Lamb of God.
Earnestly desire spiritual gifts
(5) Healing and prophetic ministry at Lamb of God. We are not cessionalists, meaning we don’t believe that the gifts (particularly gifts of healing and prophecy) of the Spirit ceased after the death of the Apostles. We are also not traditional Pentecostals holding to what is called the ‘initial’ evidence doctrine regarding speaking in tongues, nor even in the notion of the ‘baptism of the Spirit’ as a singular post-salvation experience. Lamb of God, and the ARC believe that the the gift of the Holy Spirit is a gift which includes supernatural gifts or enablements. The spiritual endowments are meant to edify believers, expand the Kingdom of God and to bring glory to Jesus Christ.
Therefore we believe God calls us to earnestly desire ’spiritual gifts’ (I Cor. 14). We believe that they are available and that God intends for believers to operate in these various spiritual gifts. We also believe that we are meant to mature in the use of these gifts, and that this comes through careful biblical study and regular practice of these gifts.
Therefore I have proposed to the elders that pray for the sick become a regular weekly part of our service, and that the elders make themselves available to pray for the sick. I have also asked Todd Polyniak to devote himself to through study of what the Bible teaches about prophecy (as practiced in the N.T). I have also asked him to encourage and provide accountibility for those who feel called to the ministry of prophecy. Our goal is to develop a reliable group of prophetic people, as well as effective prayer ministry for the sick.
Go into all the world
(6) International Missions/Missions Trips - This has been a very important development of the past 5 years, and one which we believe we are called to remain faithful to develop even further. There are several areas where we need to grow regarding missions.
(a) Regular reporting from the missionaries we support. I have asked one of the elders to take the responsibility to see to it that we are given (as a church) regular updates on the missionaries which we support.
(b) That over the next 3 to 4 years we attempt to expand our involvement to Poland, Africa and the Middle East. We have good connections in these three areas and I believe it is part of our calling as a church to work toward 50% of our budget being devoted to missions.
(c) Send youth teams back to Brazil and to Poland in the next 2 to 3 years.
Prayer is the work
(7) Prayer/Cry for Awakening
Nothing is more significant to the development of Lamb of God than the emergence of a proper emphasis on intercessory prayer. I still consider us to be learning to pray. However, prayer has definitely become a cherished part of the life of the church in ways in never was in the past.
One of the things that we are asking God for clarity on is this - ’should we be having a regularly week-night prayer gathering for Lamb of God’? It is something I, and others believe may be a ‘next step’ for us as a church. The sense that I have is that we need a time to gather in which the only focus is on prayer and worship, and that it needs to be at a time whne anyone is able to come.
We have also been blessed by what we have learned from International House of Prayer about intercessory prayer. The simple way in which IHOP has learned to mix prayer and worship together is a great blessing to us and to the whole church. We very much want to grow in maturity in the area of intercessory prayer, and I believe it should increase in who it includes (rather than prayer being a ‘remnant’ element of the church).
Finally, God has given us a sweet influence with other churches in our area in the Cry for Awakening. I believe that there are many more churches that we should be interacting with and developing relationships with over the next few years. This is an area where I believe God has specifically called me to intentionally work and devote attention towards developing.
These above mentioned things are not the whole of it. Community, worship, ministry to the poor, and marriage are also areas where we desire growth. But I have set before you a number of things which I believe the Holy Spirit has put on my heart. Please pray over these things. Please receive them and ask the Holy Spirit what is He saying to you about how you will help LOG build for the glory of Jesus in the years that lie ahead of us.