Church Today December 2014

December 2014, issue 4 www.churchtoday.tv

SIX TIPS TO IMPROVE

YOUR SOCIAL MEDIA SERMON DEATH BY PLUS BONUS FIND A CHRISTIAN MISSION MAGAZINE INSIDE

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CONTENTS

DECEMBER 2014 ISSUE 4

12

08. Three trends in local churches

that are accelerating 10. Six tips to improve your social media 12. Eight challenging ministry situations for pastors 14. Sermon death by powerpoint 18. It’s not too late to have your time 19. Find a Christian Mission Special 29. Is it time for a health-check for your church?

ABN 58 090 450 285 CEO Matt Danswan Editor Nicole Danswan Advertising Australia P: 02 9007 5375 Advertising New Zealand P: 09 281 4896 Advertising Manager Ray Curle ray.curle@initiatemedia.net Correspondence Australia PO Box 1321 Mona Vale NSW 1661 P: 02 9007 5376 W: www.churchtoday.tv Correspondence New Zealand PO Box 318 334, West Harbour, Auckland 0661 Unless otherwise specified, all Scripture quotations are from the New International Version, copyright-1973, 1978, 1984, International Bible Society. No part of this publication may be reproduced in whole or part, without prior written permission. Opinions expressed in this magazine do not necessarily reflect those of the staff. All attempts are made to verify advertising material, and no responsibilty is taken for misleading or erroneous material. Due to spam issues, all email addresses have been removed from our publishers section. Š 2014.

14 19

14 www.churchtoday.tv | 7

Growth

Three trends in local churches

that are accelerating The local church is changing. Globalisation and all matter of changes we are facing in society mean that the church world too is facing change. THOM RAINER shares three key trends.

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f you are a regular reader, you are aware that I share major trends in local churches on an annual basis. I write about these trends the first week in January, and I plan to do so again in 2015.

I watch the trends throughout the year. I am curious to see how accurate my predications are; and I desire to see if there are any major shifts taking place.

Among the trends I noted, I see three of them that are growing at an accelerated pace. To use the words of Jim Collins, they are in the midst of the flywheel effect. Indeed, it looks like they may shape the way churches function for years to come.

Please note that I provide these trends as observations without offering qualitative assessments. Indeed, I confess that I am not fully certain about the impact of these trends in our churches in the years ahead.

1. More multi-site and multi-venue churches.

It does not seem that long ago that a multi-site church was a rare exception. Indeed, many viewed this approach with suspicion because they were uncertain about its efficacy or theological foundations. Today, the multi-site church seems commonplace and normative. The acceleration of the multi-

The acceleration of the multi-site church is taking place as smaller churches begin to adopt the approach.

site church is taking place as smaller churches begin to adopt the approach.

This strategy was largely adopted by megachurches just a few years ago.

Today, churches of 300 in attendance and even smaller have joined the multisite strategy.

2.

More multi-preacher/ teacher churches.

As a multi-site churches have increased in number, so have the number of churches with more than one regular preacher or teacher. But the multi-site movement alone cannot explain the accelerated growth of this phenomenon.

Again, its adoption by smaller churches has increased the growth rate more than any one factor. I can think of dozens of congregations under 200 in attendance that have more than one preacher or teacher.

3. The rapid increase in large churches functioning as quasidenominations.

The functions of denominations have historically included missions funding; funding of theological education; providing of Bible study and other resources; and guidance in both polity and ethical issues.

Today, many large churches carry out, to some degree, all of these functions. The acceleration of this development seems to have three sources. First, many churches are generally dissatisfied with the direction of the denomination of which they are a part. Second, most denominations have fewer funding dollars to carry out their functions. Third, many struggling churches have elected to become acquired by another church, essentially making the acquiring church act as an oversight body of other churches.

These trends are not big surprises.

Indeed, I have noted them on this site a few times. The surprise is the accelerated growth of these trends. In just a few years, these approaches have become more commonplace than most of us would have ever predicted.

I would love to hear your thoughts on these accelerated trends. What are the implications of these developments?

Are there other rapid trends I did not note? Let me hear from you.

This article was originally published at ThomRainer.com on November 24.

Thom S. Rainer serves as president and CEO of LifeWay Christian Resources. Among his greatest joys are his family: his wife Nellie Jo; three sons, Sam, Art, and Jess; and seven grandchildren. Dr. Rainer can be found on Twitter @ThomRainer and at facebook.com/Thom.S.Rainer www.churchtoday.tv | 9

Social media

SIX Tips to Improve Your

We all know we need to be active on social media to stay in touch with our leaders and church members, but what are the keys? Hillsong Social Media Coordinator JOSE HUERGO shares some of his tips on making social work.

We often get emails, comments and tweets from people/churches asking “How do you organise social?”, “What apps do you use to edit your photos?”, “What are the best times to post?” etc.

In an effort to start answering some of these questions here are some ideas to keep a healthy balance between quality and quantity.

QUALITY The quality of your content on social is directly related to its effectiveness.

Social media content of excellent quality when targeted to the right audience has the potential to transcend your own followers. It could even go viral!

10 | Church Today December 2014

1

. Post natively to your platform.

If content is king then context has to be the queen. You can have great content but if it ignores the context of the platform it won’t thrive.

Creating native content is powerful for storytelling but it means more work.

It means taking the time to post to each platform (sorry automation lovers!).

It means designing square images for Instagram and landscape for Facebook.

It means rewriting your copy to fit in one tweet. It means that it doesn’t interrupt your followers in an abrupt way while they scroll because of how out of context you are.

2

. Filters don’t replace good photography.

Select photos that capture a story or moment you want to communicate to your audience. Always aim to keep photo quality high by ensuring that they are the appropriate resolution to the platform, not blurry or pixelated (usually caused by screenshots of another image). * We encourage our Hillsong account managers to avoid using filters.

However, if they must use a filter, we recommend they use VSCOcam.

3

. Make every word earn its place.

Writing for social media should be like combining the clarity of print

Get to know your users, discovering who they are, what content they respond to and what times of the day they are online. feeds (which can be annoying and lead to a loss of ‘followers’).

2

. Post when your followers are looking.

Post at the best times to effectively engage the users who are your target audience and strategically promote what is needed. Just because you had a brilliant idea for a post at 2am doesn’t mean you should post it then. There are many online tools to schedule posts. (I.e. Sprout Social, Buffer and Hoot Suite.)

3

. Be social on social media.

Rather than posting 20 times a day, engage with users around each post. This is easily done by responding to comments and questions and liking other users’ posts. Being generous with your likes goes a long way.

Jose Huergo Social Media Coordinator, Hillsong Church

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QUANTITY How often you should post in social media varies depending on platform and it seems to keep changing. Get to know your users, discovering who they are, what content they respond to and what times of the day they are online.

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. Post regularly.

Post often enough to build your audience. But don’t post for the sake of posting (aka spam).

Leave a buffer of a few hours between posts to ensure that your posts do not dominate your followers’

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Real issues

EIGHT CHALLENGING MINISTRY SITUATIONS FOR PASTORS

3

In a recent post, I shared the results of an informal Twitter poll that pointed out the greatest sources of discouragement of pastors and staff. Today, I want to share with you the challenges of difficult ministry situations. Specifically I asked: “What are some of the most difficult situations you have had in pastoral ministry?”

This time, I am simply reporting anecdotal information in my conversations with pastors. Eight consistent themes have arisen.

. Declining financial situation in the church. “We had no choice.

The church was running out of money. We had to make some hard choices. A lot of church members left as a result. That made our financial problems even greater.”

1

5

. Moral failure of a church staff member. “When our associate pastor confessed to his affairs and left his family, our entire church was devastated. It was over a year before we began to recover; I have really been involved in grief ministry with his failure and departure.”

2

. Funeral of a child or teenager. “I have done a few funerals of young people, and it’s the most difficult thing I’ve done in ministry. There is a grief among the survivors that is not comparable to other situations.”

12 | Church Today December 2014

4. Dismissing a friend on church staff. “It was my dream to see him join our church staff. But it just didn’t work out. Letting him go was one of the most painful things I’ve done in ministry.” . Funeral of an unbeliever. “I’ve probably done more than a dozen funerals of unbelievers. To this day, I still struggle with how to speak at those funerals. I focus most of my words on comforting the family, but I really don’t know how to offer hope to them.”

6

. Confronting a church member.

“She was bitter and gossiped all the time. No one else had the courage to confront her, so I had to do the dirty work. It was not a pretty situation, and I’m still suffering from the confrontation today.”

7

. Moral failure of a key lay leader. “When we found out he had been stealing money from the church, we were absolutely floored.

He was a key leader. Church members felt like they had been betrayed.”

8

. Bringing order to a contentious church business meeting. “It was a church fight like I have never seen. I never learned at seminary how to deal with such a situation. I felt totally inept.”

I could add several more difficult ministry situations pastors shared with me, but these eight were the most mentioned themes.

This article was originally published at ThomRainer.com on November 22. Thom S. Rainer serves as president and CEO of LifeWay Christian Resources.

Among his greatest joys are his family: his wife Nellie Jo; three sons, Sam, Art, and Jess; and seven grandchildren. Dr. Rainer can be found on Twitter @ ThomRainer and at facebook. com/Thom.S.Rainer

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Sermon Death BY POWERPOINT

By Berni Dymet

T

echnology is a beautiful thing, really it is. As a Baby Boomer, enchanted so much by programmable calculators and a WANG 2000 Micro Computer at high school in the 1970’s, I launched into a career in information technology.

I pretty much have always had the latest laptop computer (okay, they were luggables back in the early ‘90’s but you get the point) and the latest mobile devices.

I really enjoy getting the most out of my technology.

It’s a hobby, it’s a business imperative and, I guess, it’s living out my boyhood fascination with electronic gadgets.

I tell you that by way of background, so that when I say If I ever hear another PowerPoint driven sermon again, I think I’m going to scream – you understand that this is not coming from a technophobe, a luddite or an iconoclast, right?!

But I swear, if I ever hear another PowerPoint driven sermon again, I think I’m going to scream!

14 | Church Today December 2014

The Art of Story Telling Okay, I understand that we live amongst a visual generation; some would argue a post–literate generation. I get it that things visual are stimulating and exciting. But why is it that each sermon now has to have an average of 17.5 PowerPoint slides in order for it to be considered contemporary?

Last time I checked, Jesus didn’t use PowerPoint during the Sermon on the Mount, or any of his other messages for that matter.

So does Berni have something against PowerPoint? Nope! I use it all the time for business and training presentations. I used it heavily when I was lecturing in Bible colleges.

Is PowerPoint an inherently bad piece of technology? Nope! Used well it can enhance any presentation, even a sermon. So what’s my problem here?

Why am I ranting and raving about PowerPoint driven sermons? Well, here’s my beef.

PowerPoint slides aren’t the problem.

It’s how they’re used that’s the problem.

Notice I have chosen my language very carefully. I’m railing against PowerPoint driven sermons, because it seems to me that the way in which most preachers use PowerPoint, works profoundly and devastatingly against the lost art of storytelling. Here’s why.

The great misuse of electronic slides is that people structure them and fill them with a hierarchy of dot points. The five– point sermon. The six–point sermon.

Even the seven–point sermon – each with sub–points underneath. So a sermon thus structured can end up with 30 plus dot points. Who can remember much of that these days? Answer: nobody.

To be perfectly honest, that sort of logic structure belongs back in the 1950’s and perhaps the ‘60’s when people were more literate than visual. When people were taught to memorise, to learn by rote.

I have sat through more five, six and seven point sermons than I care to remember. And the point is, I don’t remember anything of what was said.

MOST CHRISTIANS – TRAGICALLY – DON’T EVEN READ THEIR BIBLE. SO WHAT MAKES US THINK THAT A BUNCH OF DOT POINTS IN OUR SERMONS IS GOING TO BE AT ALL USEFUL IN THEIR SPIRITUAL DEVELOPMENT. Let me say it again, in case you missed it: I don’t remember one, single thing about what was said.

Which means that: (a) the preacher has completely wasted his time if

he wanted to make a difference in my life, (b) I have wasted my time in sitting through the

message, and (c) I have also missed out on the spiritual growth

and development that God’s Word should have

brought to me through those sermons.

Not what you’d call a satisfactory outcome is it?!

Lessons from a Pre–Literate Society Back in Jesus’ day (and going back well before that in the Old Testament) the vast majority of people were illiterate. In other words, they couldn’t read or write.

Not surprisingly, God knew and He understood that, so the predominant literary genre used in the Bible, is the narrative. It’s not the only one. There’s poetry. There’s apocalyptic literature.

There’s didactic literature. But the main one, the most common one, the dominant one, is narrative.

In other words, by and large, God chose to reveal Himself not through Karl Barth’s 14 volume, systematic theology ‘Church Dogmatics’ (it was incomplete, but blessedly the Lord called Karl home before he could finish it!) but through stories.

God’s story interwoven with the story of His people God spoke to His people in a pre–literate context, by telling them stories. Jesus spoke to the crowd by telling them stories. Stories about lost coins and lost sheep and vines and seeds and neighbours and unjust judges and… stories. Lots of them.

Why? Because when God’s truth is told through stories, it sticks. We remember it.

I remember listening to a preacher who was a master storyteller when I was a young Christian. That was 20 years ago, I can still tell you much of what he said and what I learned.

But ask me, at lunchtime on Sunday, to recall more than two of the dot points of a six–point sermon that morning, and I will fail miserably. Not because I’m stupid and not because I didn’t concentrate during the message, but because dot points don’t stick!

Why is this important?

Because, as I said, we live in a post–literate society. Most people don’t read books, especially our younger folk. Most Christians – tragically – don’t even read their Bible. So what makes us think that a bunch of dot points in our sermons is going to be at all useful in their spiritual development.

And that’s where PowerPoint has such a destructive effect, because most (not all, but most) preachers use it as an excuse to revert back to a bunch of dot points.

Let me blunt about it.

Dot points don’t work in sermons in the 21st century. Stories do.

It was true back in the pre–literate days of Jesus and it’s true again, in the post–literate days in which we now live.

Preaching

Good Storytelling and Bad Storytelling That being said, not all storytelling is good storytelling.

Those cutesy, short video clips that so many churches seem to want to run ad infintum during their services can either be highly effective or highly ineffective. For a story to be effective, it needs to have context.

A wise man once said to me that “context is everything, almost …” and he was right. One of those video clips, well produced, effectively contextualised into the overall flow of the story of the day, can have such a powerful impact in people’s lives. But left as a standalone video, however well it may have been produced, however visually or emotionally stimulating it may be, that same clip can be completely useless in having an eternal impact in the lives of the congregation.

The same is true of stories used during sermons.

The best stories are always the biblical ones. They have an anointing and a power to communicate God’s transformative truth, that goes beyond anything that you or I could conjure up. They provide such an amazing platform from which to step out of God’s Word, into the lives of those listening to the message, here and now.

Our own stories too can be very powerful. Real hj

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Preaching Rather than a

PowerPoint driven sermon, we end up with a story driven set of PowerPoint slides

– just a few pictures, a few words to visually reinforce the message being preached.

stories. Stories that we can tell with conviction and emotion.

Stories that in fact become the medium for an expository message of what God is saying through His Word today.

The key is weaving a coherent tapestry of biblical and personal stories through which God can speak, just as He spoke through the Prophets, through Jesus and through the Apostles with a powerful here–and–now relevance.

No, not all storytelling is good storytelling. But when it is good, it is the most powerful medium for proclaiming Christ.

And with a good story, or two or three, to make the one central point of the message that God has laid on the preacher’s heart, let me say that PowerPoint can now become a great servant to the message.

Rather than a PowerPoint driven sermon, we end up with a story driven set of PowerPoint slides – just a few pictures, a few words to visually reinforce the message being preached.

do that in the most powerful way. Throughout His ministry, Jesus uses the medium of storytelling to do that in the most powerful way.

So what exactly makes us think that PowerPoint driven, dot point sermons are the answer to powerful, life–changing Gospel communication in our post–literate, story–hungry world?

The Challenge Preaching is always a challenge, and the challenge is to faithfully and powerfully communicate the living Word of the Living God to the people of today. The challenge is to be a vessel in the hands of God, through which He will pour out His Spirit and His Word to transform the lives of His people.

Throughout the Bible God uses the medium of narrative to

Berni Dymet is the ceo and Bible teacher of the Australian–based, global media ministry Christianityworks. Each week millions of people hear and watch his programs in 160 countries around the world. If you would like to invite him to speak at your church, go to christianityworks. com and click on ‘contact’ at the bottom of the homepage.

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“For I know the plans I have you”, declares the Lord, “Plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you a hope and a future.” Jeremiah 29:11

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IT’S NOT TOO LATE TO HAVE YOUR TIME

t’s nearing Christmas and a time of rest and relaxation with family and friends. Perhaps your year has been amazing. Perhaps not. Perhaps it’s time to start thinking about the New-Year that is just around the corner. Are there things you want to change in your life? Of all the times in the year, now is the one where you need to do what His word says and ‘Be still and know that He is God’.

I had a similar moment in time where one decision, literally changed my life...

My journey to Bible College began back in 1997. I had had a radical encounter with God in the October of 1996 and knew that I had to do something. Now. I still remember every moment of the conversation with my mother. She told me about a Bible College in Sydney and I somehow knew that I had to go (Praise God for Christian parents!). It wasn’t an easy decision either.

During this time of decision, I had a job offer. I was to be an ‘au pair’ in London for a very wealthy family. I would have had many perks with this particular job, including lavish holidays to places I had only dreamed about. Having never been overseas at the time, it was tempting. Very tempting. Quite a few of my friends told me I was crazy to give it up for Bible College. Their reasoning seemed plausible, “Do Bible College after you enjoy travelling the world.”

But they didn’t understand. It was my time with Him. Sometimes a decision made can seem ridiculous in the natural. You can justify it till you’re blue in the face as to why you shouldn’t. Why you couldn’t. Why it’s just not the right time.

But I did it anyway.

After reading everything I could get my hands on about this college I rang them and organised an interview.

I still remember walking into the auditorium and feeling like I had come ‘home’. Other students greeted me and I sat in a lecture to absorb the Word. I left that day with my application clutched in my hand knowing that this was my time. I was ready.

So it began in that February 1997. I spent two years absorbing every word and God given moment. Relishing in prophesy’s over my life. Doing the ministry. Loving people.

It was a place where my eyes were opened and I met an abundance of life-long friends who shared the journey with me. It was a time of healing old hurts and moving forward.

It was a time that shaped me to become the person I now am.

I left college with my qualifications in Ministry and began working at the very Bible College that had trained me.

I welcomed new students and was a prayerful shoulder to 18 | Church Today December 2014

cry on when life seemed too much for them. I met some incredible teachers and preachers and during this time, I met my now husband. God knew. His timing is perfect and He delights in the details.

God delights in your details too. It’s not a coincidence that you are sitting here reading this article, pondering your own future and the forseeable future of 2015.

So my advice? If you feel like you’re tired. If you need a fresh vision for your life and there’s a twinge in your heart while you read this, then perhaps it’s your time too... CW Nicole Danswan

ARE YOU LOOKING FOR A BIBLE COLLEGE? Christian Woman partners with many Bible Colleges across Australia and New Zealand. Our heart is to see you live your life fully and wholly for the Lord. If you are considering Bible College in 2015 but don’t know where to start, then perhaps look through these very pages.

Organisations like Kingsley Australia, Australian Institute of Family Counselling, Tabor College Tasmania and Vision College offer many varying degrees and are still accepting enrolments for 2015. Be blessed!

www.findachristianmission.com.au

God’s voice is not silent here Our financial future Helping the Persecuted in the Muslim world

2015

God’s Voice is not silent here A small transmitter is all these exploited women own, but FEBC (Far East Broadcasting Company) is sharing the message of Jesus Christ and reaching the seemingly unreachable...

THE GLOBAL SLAVERY INDEX was recently released showing that India has a huge number of people caught up in the sex slave trade. Women and girls are forced to pay a huge price for being involved in this trade, living at the mercy of people who exploit and mistreat them. Where does their help come from, how can they be redeemed out of this darkness into the life they were really born to live – a life of respect, honour and dignity, which God has ordained for each one of us?

FEBC Australia is working in partnership with its sister organization, FEBA India, using freely given radios and specifically written radio broadcasts to speak to these women, showing them 20 | Find a Christian Mission 2015

there is another way to live and to fulfil their dreams. Although the scale is huge, things are happening to change the lives of these women and their children with the help of this organization and their dedicated workers. They reach those who seem unreachable, using radio transmission and connection with local church communities to proclaim the Gospel of Jesus Christ and his salvation and liberation. “God’s voice is not silent here. It is being heard through impassioned work at the local level and the generous support of Christians, far away in Australia and other places,” says Kevin Keegan, National Director, FEBC Australia.

In the massive city of Kolkota

women and girls who have been lured to the city with empty promises of employment, are displayed like products at a convenience store. “In one area, I saw medium-rise buildings where, on each floor, women were arrayed: the higher the floor, the younger the girls being offered,” Kevin Keegan goes on to say.

FEBC works to reach these women, many of whom have no education, no identity and no resources, as well as the families of the remote north, located around the narrow stretch of India’s geography known as the Siliguri corridor.

The cities of Siliguri and nearby Jalpaiguri are surrounded by Nepal,

Find a Christian Mission Special.

Clockwise from opposite page: Broadcasts reach all ages and challenge the negative messages that people hear in the world around them; Broadcasts by women for women are building self esteem and challenging traditions of slavery and trafficking by sharing God’s love and reinforcing the value of each and every person; The broadcasters also go out into the villages and towns, engaging with listeners, distributing free radios and connecting with local believers

Bhutan, Bangladesh, the Himalayan foothills and the landlocked Indian state of Sikkim.

At this cultural and economic nexus impoverished and uneducated families sometimes sell their daughters into ‘marriage’ or ‘service’ in the hope that a better future is possible. FEBC is jamming this signal with a message of hope, love and eternal peace through Jesus who values each person enough to have died that they might live.

Radio technology delivered via short wave, AM, FM and digital means, enables FEBC to participate in a wide range of community development and community building projects,

around the world.

Through partnerships with global and local organizations, they offer humanitarian assistance such as medical, dental and food relief, educational scholarships, homes for the poor, marriage seminars, microenterprise opportunities, and disaster relief, to name a few.

FEBC Australia, through resourcing, equipping and supporting radio ministry in some of the world’s most remote, unreached communities, is able to get close to listeners (literally, getting in their ear) to challenge what society is telling them and connecting them with local believers.

FEBC (Far East Broadcasting Company) is a global media network broadcasting the Gospel of Jesus Christ and cultivating relationships to reach people with the Gospel.

Visit FEBC online: www.febc.org.au Stay connected with us: Facebook: (FEBC Australia) Twitter: (@febcaus) Phone: 1300 720 017 Email: office@febc.org.au

• Taking the gospel to the unreached peoples of Africa • Still 1008 unreached African people groups • More than 1000 workers in 22 countries • Short-term and long-term opportunities to serve

AFRICA INLAND MISSION I N T E R N AT I O N A L

“Christ-centred churches among all African peoples”

Contact Africa Inland Mission Australia PO Box 328 Gosford NSW 2250 P: 02 4322 4777 E: director.au@aimint.org W: www.aimint.org/au

New Zealand PO Box 13457 Onehunga, Auckland 1643 P: 09 281 4595.

E: admin.nz@aimint.org W: www.aimint.org/nz www.mychristianissue.com | 21

Our Financial Future

Visit www.crown.org.au to watch a testimony on video by this young woman “THE FURORE THAT HAS RAGED over the latest Federal Budget makes it clear that our nation’s ‘hip pocket’ syndrome is very much alive,” explains Trevor Owens CEO of Crown Financial Ministries. Trevor is concerned about the financial implications on our society, not just in Australia, but globally. Crown’s mission is to ‘shine the light’ on the principles that are outlined in the Bible to bring freedom to those who want to do business and deal with their finances according to God’s Word. This is not an easy task and Trevor is well aware of this because we are in this world but not of it. In fact, the Bible says more about money than any other subject and all good practices have their origin in the Bible. As George Washington said, “It is impossible to rightly govern the world without God and the Bible.” This is the positive and true strategy that Crown Ministry works with.

Trevor maintains, “It would be fair to say that national and personal debt is at an all-time high in Australia, which indicates that most governments and individuals have ignored the biblical warnings about the dangers of nonprudent borrowing. Not only does 22 | Find a Christian Mission 2015

excessive debt result in a heavy burden for the borrower but the associated interest payments place limits on governments in providing essential community services and, in the case of individuals, being free to help others with special needs as God has directed in the Bible.”

Trevor Owens is particularly interested in the financial interactions with Generation Y. In the midst of our materialistic Australian society, it is both refreshing and encouraging to find a generation rising up to take their place as good role models of the timeless biblical principles that bring a Godhonouring balance to faith and finance.

Recent media reports claim that Gen Ys have a desire to enter the property market as early as possible.

This calls for the adoption of disciplined spending and saving patterns. When such financial goals are coupled with ‘doing finances God’s way’, unhealthy materialistic thinking and the burden of excessive debt can be avoided. Gen Ys are gradually gleaning the importance of handling finances in the best possible way to avoid losses and heartache. They are seeing that financial stress is one

of the biggest pressures that life can bestow upon them. Gen Ys are learning from mistakes and wrong decisions their parents may have encumbered. These are valuable lessons to be learnt and Gen Ys are walking this journey.

This is where the ‘foundations for life’ Bible-based resources developed by Crown Financial Ministries Australia, come to the fore. The teaching topics cover: • God’s part and our part in Finances • Attitude to Work • Understanding Debt • Seeking Counsel & Mentoring Children • Practising Honesty • Saving, Investing & Giving • Salvation, Contentment & Eternity • Practical Exercises, including Budgeting.

Through a study of these topics, the Holy Spirit brings the ‘change of heart’ required to achieve True Financial Freedom and a closer walk with Jesus.

In mid-2014, thirty-four young adults in the Gen Y age group graduated from the seven session Crown Course run by a Brisbane church. The following

Find a Christian Mission Special.

testimonies, which are typical of others, certainly paint a beautiful picture of lives impacted by the truth of God’s Word.

“In doing the Crown Course, I learned many new things about God’s way of doing finances and other important topics such as work, honesty, seeking wise counsel, saving, giving, contentment and eternal rewards. These biblical truths have really blessed me as I seek to follow Jesus in every facet of my life.” 25 year old female.

“A Course with super content which built each week and re-embedded the core concepts of money and other life issues foundational to a productive relationship with the Lord. It encouraged me to pray about witnessing in my workplace and it was exciting to see how God opened the way for this to happen.” 21 year old male.

“I did Crown to get a better grounding

of God’s word about money and found it invaluable. I had never really considered stewardship, God’s sovereignty over finance, the importance of honesty, or God’s place in my financial plan. I was surprised to learn that God was as interested in my savings and investments as He was in my giving and that my financial behaviour can be worship to Him. The idea of ‘learning contentment’ was pivotal for me. It really transformed my thinking – and beyond finance!” 21 year old male.

While the above emphasises the urgency of this life-changing education for the Y Generation, the Crown teaching has blessed the lives of tens of thousands, from teens through to seniors, over the past decade. ‘Road-testing’ of the new Australianised, user-friendly resources with a range of teaching options, has resulted in top marks from the users.

“Just imagine what a difference

it would make to the cohesiveness of our Nation if people were to adopt the ‘blueprint for living’ that God has provided in the Bible and emulate the servanthood approach of Jesus Christ,” says Trevor. “This is the answer to the hip pocket syndrome that focuses on self-interest and which always breeds discontentment.”

Crown Financial Ministries has served tens of thousands of Australians over the last decade, helping them discover how to achieve true financial freedom and contentment by following God’s procedure manual – the Bible.

For details about Crown Australia visit www.crown.org.au, email crown@crown.org.au or telephone 1300 132 783 for any clarification on the use of the resources and the planning process for introducing the Crown teaching.

For over 50 years African Enterprise has been working in partnership with the local church to bring Hope to millions each year.

Join us and be a part of this exciting evangelistic ministry of Word & Deed taking Jesus to the cities and towns of Africa.

I have it all planned out—plans to take care of you, not abandon you, plans to give you the future you hope for.

Jeremiah 29:11

www.africanenterprise.com.au

www.mychristianissue.com | 23

Along with partners committed to changing the world, Leading the Way is an organization that is focused on setting people free from oppression - those who are living in spiritual darkness, to discover the light of Christ. Their Help the Persecuted Fund is particularly responding to the needs within the Muslim world. By passionately proclaiming uncompromising Truth through creative methods, this international team of experts is uniquely providing hope that is revolutionizing lives at home — and around the world.

Helping the Persecuted in the Muslim world

W

hat would you do if terrorists burned down your home because they knew you were a Christ-follower? If your husband was killed for his faith? If your family disowned you for being a Christian?

Although many of us may never know what it’s like to lose everything for the sake of the Gospel, there are millions who do. This is their daily reality. How can we help?

What if you lived in a culture where saying “Jesus is Lord” could get you tortured or killed?

As a result of recent activity Leading The Way encountered one such man.

His name is Jirjis* (named changed ), a man in his forties who lives in Egypt.

For much of his life, he was a dedicated member of the Muslim Brotherhood.

One day, he and other members of the Brotherhood met to plot the firebombing of a Christian church. That night, Jirjis dreamed that his hands and feet were tied, and a voice said, ‘Do not hurt My church.’ The next day, he told the men he had changed his mind—he wouldn’t help them destroy the church.

24 | Church Today December 2014

The others cursed him, then piled into their vehicles to carry out their plan. On the way to carry out the attack, a traffic accident killed all the conspirators.

Others in the Muslim Brotherhood were outraged that Jirjis had refused to take part in the attack. They beat him, then locked him up without food or water for days. They tortured him.

Because of his dream, Jirjis came to know Jesus as his Lord and Savior.

Although he is growing in his faith, being a Christian and having health problems have made it hard for him to find work. A local church gives him some help, but its resources are limited.”

When Leading The Way learned what Jirjis was going through, he was provided with financial help to cover his rent and living expenses as he seeks to re-establish his life.

Other recent cases through Help The Persecuted include: • Supplying Christian refugee families with mattresses, hygiene kits, and food after their flight from ISIS in Iraq

• Hosting a retreat for persecuted Christians affected by the war in Syria • Providing medical treatment for a North African family that was burned when a terrorist group set fire to their home • Subsidizing business and living expenses for new believers forced from their homes and jobs The first gift distributed through Help The Persecuted was only $100, given to a man who had come to Christ through a Leading The Way broadcast and needed the money to move to another city after experiencing persecution in his hometown. That simple gift may have saved his life.

Leading The Way ministries are penetrating strongholds in the Middle East and North Africa—places where it is dangerous to follow Christ. Our outreach includes: •

Targeted broadcasting in the region through our 24/7 satellite channel THE KINGDOM SAT, Arabic-

Find a Christian Mission Special.

English broadcasting on local radio stations, and solar-powered Navigator audio devices.

•

On-the-ground follow-up teams, connecting with listeners and viewers via Skype, phone, email, SMS, and in-person discipleship meetings.

•

Help The Persecuted, providing direct support to persecuted Christians. Our coordinator and trusted partners live in the region and meet personally with those we help in order to evaluate their needs.

We rejoice to hear that many are

coming to Christ. But conversion is just the beginning of the journey. Life is incredibly difficult for new believers.

Many face rejection by their families, job loss, imprisonment, violence, and death threats.

As the need grows, Leading The Way’s commitment grows. This year, our disbursements to persecuted Christians have increased by more than 200 percent.

Through Help The Persecuted, we’re also providing assistance to Christian refugees fleeing the Syrian civil war and persecution by ISIS. We provide living expenses for believers forced from their homes and jobs, plus medical expenses,

emergency funds, travel help, and pastoral care.

Other recipients of help from Leading The Way include Amira*(name changed), who needed dental work after a beating by family members for becoming a Christian, and Bahrani*(name changed), who needed Bibles, food, and school supplies for the 16 underground churches he pastors in Syria.

We have much to be thankful for here in the West. The freedoms to preach and proclaim the Gospel and to be openly Christian are not available to many of our brothers and sisters around the world.

In 2011, Leading The Way established a special Help The Persecuted fund to respond directly to the urgent physical, financial, and ministerial needs of persecuted believers around the world. Joining our international broadcasting and personal follow-up through THE KINGDOM SAT and the Leading The Way Navigator, Help The Persecuted was a natural addition to Leading The Way’s holistic Gospel outreach to areas of the world where Christians are persecuted.

This Christmas if you would like to join with Leading The Way in bringing the Light of Christ to the parts of the world where it is dangerous to be a Christian, just go to www.ltw.org for more information.

CALLING ALL WHO SUFFER AND ARE PERSECUTED! CALLING ALL INTERCESSORS, COMFORTERS AND ADVOCATES!

Using Isaiah 1-39, Christian analyst Elizabeth Kendal shows what it means to walk by faith in times of uncertainty and escalating hostility.

This is indeed a book for our times; an excellent resource for individuals or small groups.

For more information, including commendations, resources and purchasing options, visit www.turnbackthebattle.com

Unreached? Yet loved by God! When does an unreached people group become reached? When they have the Bible in their own language. Only when people can engage with God’s Word for themselves is true discipleship possible…

Almost 2,000 languages still have no Scripture.

Can you play a part?

To help translate God’s Word, please visit www.wycliffe.org.au or email info_australia@wycliffe.org

www.churchtoday.tv | 25

The Missional Power of

GENEROSITY

If I were to ask you, “How much does the Bible talk on the subject of generosity,” what would your answer be? Just a little, a moderate amount, or a lot? If you went with either of those first two options, you’d be way off the mark. In fact, there are more verses on generosity, than on faith, hope and love combined. And there’s a reason for that... BERNI DYMET

I

n the beginning … what?

Well, in the beginning God created the heavens and the earth (Genesis 1:1) and everything in between, and then … then He gave it all away.

So God created humankind in his image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.

God blessed them, and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth and subdue it; and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the air and over every living thing that moves upon the earth.” God said, “See, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree with seed in its fruit; you shall have them for food.

And to every beast of the earth, and to every bird of the air, and to everything that creeps on the earth, everything that

has the breath of life, I have given every green plant for food.” And it was so.

God saw everything that he had made, and indeed, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day. (Genesis 1:26-31) A pretty generous act, wouldn’t you agree? It turns out that generosity is in the very nature of God – more so than we may think. We of course think of Him as a loving God, but how often do we ever stop to think of Him as a generous God. The God who wants to bless us?

BLESSED TO BE A BLESSING To Abraham, the father of God’s chosen people, the Lord said: I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you, and make your name great, so that you will be a bless-

ing. (Genesis 12:2) God’s intention has always been that His blessing in your life, should become a blessing in the lives of the people around you. If God is indeed the God of love, then as we watch Him in action, we discover that His generosity is in fact His love in action.

I was listening to a message from the pastor of my church recently, and he said something quite profound. He said that: you can give without loving, but you can’t love without giving.

Generosity of giving, as things turn out, is one of the powerful ways that God expresses His love. It makes sense when you think of it that way, doesn’t it?

THESE THREE THINGS REMAIN And now faith, hope, and love abide,

Opportunity International Australia Opportunity International Australia enables you to invest in a mother living in poverty so that she can use a small loan to buy an item like a sewing machine and start a small business. For a family in a developing country who can’t afford the basics, a loan as small as $70 can be life changing. With this hand up, a mother can put food on the table, send her children to school and transform her family’s future for generations. Mothers want what is best for their children, and as businesses become successful (98% of Opportunity’s loans are repaid), your help means they can make their dreams for their children come true. Opportunity is motivated by Jesus Christ’s call to love and serve the poor, serving all people regardless of their race, faith, ethnicity and gender. For more information, visit www.opportunity.org.au Phone: 1800 812 164 Email: opinfo@opportunity.org.au Slavic Gospel Association Inc. SGA is an international mission committed to equip national believers in the lands of the former Soviet Union and Central Asia to reach their people with the Gospel, combat the influx of cults, and fill the spiritual void left by communism.Our ministries include provision of Russian language Bibles, New Testaments, and Christian books.

We help sponsor pastors, missionaries and church planters. SGA also assists with financial support for Bible schools, seminaries, prison ministries, orphans outreach, and children’s ministries. Our Compassion Ministry provides urgently needed food, clothing and medications to the poor, elderly and the most needy.

Address: PO Box 396 Noble Park, VIC 3174 Phone/Fax: (03) 9562 3434 Email: sgaaust@bigpond.net.au Website: www: sga.org.au

26 | Find a Christian Mission 2015

Find a Christian Mission Special.

these three; and the greatest of these is love. (1 Cor 13:13) It seems to me that generosity is a combination of these three. The old mathematician in me wants to postulate that: Generosity = Faith + Hope + Love Because generosity always involves faith. Generosity is like planting a seed and hoping that something will grow. Sometimes it does and sometimes it doesn’t. But as my pastor explained to us the other day, the principle of reaping as you sow, involves multiplication. Sow one kernel of corn, and you will reap thousands. But at the time of planting, it’s very much an act of faith. Yes, generosity definitely involves faith.

And it involves hope too, because there is always a lag time between sowing and reaping. When the farmer plants the corn in the dirt, there’s an agonising period where nothing happens. And then, when finally the little seedling sprouts, there are so many things that can go wrong between that green shoot, and the delivery of many cobs of corn. Yes, generosity definitely involves hope.

Sowing through a generous act of giving towards someone who doesn’t deserve it, someone who hasn’t earned it, someone who really deserves your scorn in fact, is a great act of love. That’s what the greatest act of love in all of history was all about. The Cross of Christ.

Indeed, rarely will anyone die for a righteous person— though perhaps for a good person someone might actually dare to die. But God proves his love for us in that while

www.mychristianissue.com | 27

Find a Christian Mission Special.

There is a reason that generosity connects the love of God so powerfully with so many people. And that reason, is this, God is a generous God. It is in His nature to bless generously.

we still were sinners Christ died for us.

(Romans 5:7,8) Yes, generosity definitely involves love.

GENEROSITY IS MISSION How many Christians think that ‘mission’ is beating somebody over the head with their Bible? As though somehow you can shove the truth down their throat and expect them to thank you for it. How many Christians think that by telling the world how far they have strayed from God, they will bring people back to Him? When all along, a simple act of generosity will speak of Christ’s love more powerfully than anything else!

There is a reason that generosity connects the love of God so powerfully with so many people. And that reason, is this, God is a generous God. It is in His nature to bless generously. And each sinner on this earth – you and me included – has been created in God’s image.

Therefore, a simple act of generosity from us to someone who doesn’t know the love of Christ yet, is indeed an act of deep calling unto deep. It’s something that the Holy Spirit uses in such power to speak His truth in a way that you and I never could.

Yep. Anyway you look at it … generosity is mission.

The question for you and me is … So what ya goin’ to do about it?

Berni Dymet is the ceo and Bible teacher of the Australian–based, global media ministry, Christianityworks. Each week he shares the practical love of Jesus with millions of people around the world.

You can receive a free copy of his latest booklet with more practical teaching at christianityworks.com.

Will you walk with us in Nepal?

PRAY

[ receive our regular pray er updates, ask a member of inf to visit your home group / bible study, join a nepal prayer grou p,

start a new one… ]

GIVE

has given you: [ share the gifts god regular giving, financially through a bequest, volunteer one off donation or , use your talents, your skills and time ts to help hobbies and interes funds for inf… ]

A Christian mission serving the physical and spiritual needs of Nepali people www.inf.org

|

T [02] 9411 1195

/InternationalNepalFellowship

28 | Find a Christian Mission 2015

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E ausoffice@au.inf.org /INFWorldwide

GO

raise

[ serve in nepal or among nepalis around the world either short term, long term or join us on a 2 week vision trip… ]

Health check

Is it time for a health-check for your church?

There is a big problem in most churches today, and that is the tendency of leaders not effectually growing in the Lord and thus not passing this down to their congregation. DR. RICHARD J. KREJCIR looks at the results of ‘unhealthy’ churches.

T

he pastor of a church carries the spiritual weight of the organization. And as such if our pastors are not being taught or discipled, then the flow-on effect to the congregation is lost.

If we want to be an impacting Christian pastor or lay leader in a church that impacts its community and world, we have to be eating the meat of God’s precepts with passion and conviction, in love and in truth and then sharing it with others.

Research conducted over nine years has uncovered the following: • Churches that are healthy have leadership that surrenders to the Lordship of Christ and builds their church on His foundation.

• Unhealthy churches tend to have leadership that are prideful and build their church on the foundation of their legacy or personality.

• Churches that are healthy tend to be focused on prayer and seeking what God has for them; they are interested in what God intends and the opportunities that are at hand.

• Unhealthy churches tend not to be focused on prayer, and they seek what they want, ignoring what God and His Word has for them.

• Churches that are healthy are in line with and in touch with Jesus Christ as Savior and LORD. The leaders and the people have an effectual sense of God’s presence and seek Him out of gratitude for who he is and what He has done. Their growing faith and their joyful attitude in life evidences this.

• Unhealthy churches tend not to be interested or centered upon the Lordship and centrality of Christ. They are places of personality, leadership in control for personal agendas, and/or seeking trends contrary to the agenda or call of God’s Word.

• Churches that are healthy have pastor(s) and leaders who are humble, exhibit patience and the Fruit of the Spirit, and have a strong sense of indebtedness to God and others.

• Unhealthy churches tend to have pastor(s) and leaders who are not humble, but rather seek formulas, trends, and do not feel indebtedness to God and/or others.

• Churches that are healthy have a mindset that spiritual formation and group and individual maturity are not achieved from programs or facilities, but rather from the knowledge and passion of our Lord working.

• Unhealthy churches tend to place their focus on programs over people.

• Churches that are healthy place God’s priorities first.

• Unhealthy churches only desire to produce what the leaders want.

• Churches that are healthy see worship as a lifestyle and not just an experience.

• Unhealthy churches tend to see worship just as an experience and not an attitude or lifestyle.

• Churches that are healthy have leaders who do personal devotions, and for whom the study of God’s Word is the foundation of their faith and practice.

• Unhealthy churches tend to have leaders who do not or do very little personal devotions, and negate the study of God’s Word. Who they are in society, education, or pride are the foundations of management of their church.

• Churches that are healthy perceive Christ to be an active presence in their church and thus have pleasant conversations and activities in their halls and courtyard.

• Unhealthy churches tend not to seek Christ first in their church and thus have conversations filled with conflict and activities that are unhealthy or purposeless.

• Churches that are healthy have a strong sense of biblical www.churchtoday.tv | 29

Unhealthy churches tend to see a pecking order in ministries where one or two get all the attention and the rest are ignored. The people in these ministries do not feel important, supported, encouraged, or equipped.

•

• • • • • • •

• • • • •

•

•

•

value for faith in the practice of church and personal life.

The Bible is real and relevant in the life of the leaders, so it is taught as well as caught from one another.

Unhealthy churches tend to have a weak sense of biblical worth and see faith as just personal, not practiced in the life of the church. The Bible is seen as unrelated to church leadership and thus they seek substitutes from non-biblical or psychological/cultural sources.

Churches that are healthy allow its people to know and exercise their spiritual gifts, and the strongest churches mentor their people further in them.

Unhealthy churches tend to ignore its people’s gifting and talents.

Churches that are healthy have a sense of allowing God to work in and through their people to build a healthy, loving community.

Unhealthy churches tend to coerce and manipulate or micromanage their people, which does not build a healthy community.

Churches that are healthy are making disciples for the transformation of the whole person, both faith and personal life.

Unhealthy churches tend not to be interested in making disciples and thus its people experience little or no renovation of faith in their church or personal life.

Churches that are healthy have pastors and leaders who are equipping others to serve, doing so with care and kindness; they see their people as participants in the ministry of the church.

Unhealthy churches tend to see their people as consumers, not participants.

Churches that are healthy are centered around and led by biblical principles and solid doctrine.

Unhealthy churches tend to be led from an attitude of church sociological trends and pragmatism that ignores classic Christian theology.

Churches that are healthy are filled with people who live in the Fruit of the Spirit.

Unhealthy churches tend to have its people self-focused and who only want to be heard; they either do not want to listen to others or have a conceited attitude or see those who are mature as threats.

Churches that are healthy have leaders who do the teaching with care and in truth; they are concerned for the people’s personal and spiritual growth and are not there for pride’s sake.

Unhealthy churches tend to have leaders who do the teaching carelessly and with disregard for truth; they are not concerned for their people’s personal and spiritual growth, but are there for pride-reasons of the self.

Churches that are healthy see all their ministries and committees as meaningful and important, and the people in them feel supported, encouraged, and equipped.

30 | Church Today December 2014

• Unhealthy churches tend to see a pecking order in ministries where one or two get all the attention and the rest are ignored. The people in these ministries do not feel important, supported, encouraged, or equipped.

• Churches that are healthy see their people on a journey and desire to encourage and equip them in it.

• Unhealthy churches tend not to have a place in mindset or function for the spiritual learning and growth of its people.

• Churches that are healthy have leaders who have energy and are emotionally mature.

• Unhealthy churches tend to have leaders who are apathetic and are emotionally unstable or conceited.

• Churches that are healthy have leaders who are inclusive of others and who encourage and appreciate their coleaders, pastor(s), and congregation.

• Unhealthy churches tend to have leaders who are exclusive with a “we-they” mindset and do not encourage; rather, they are biased to only their wants and needs.

• Churches that are healthy have a collective mindset of being a place of faithful character and the practice of joyful fellowship.

• Unhealthy churches tend to have a collective mindset of being a place where there is a lack of intention of warmth, of learning, of being faithful, and the practice of joyful fellowship is absent.

• Churches that are healthy have worship services where God’s presence is sought and felt, and is alive with energy.

The congregation feels inspired and fed. Also, there is a strong sense of God as the audience, the people as the performers, and the pastor or leader the facilitators to worship. (Style and tradition were not significant factors; passion and prayer were.)

• Unhealthy churches tend to have a worship service that is perfunctory, where God’s presence is not felt, and is dull and dry. There is a strong sense that the leader is performing to the audience of the church members. (Style and tradition were not significant factors; being performance-driven with a lack of authentic spirituality was.)

• Churches that are healthy have clarity of vision and mission and/or purpose, and who are also able to live it and communicate it to their church people. The people in the pew know what their church is about and feel a part of and connected in it.

• Unhealthy churches tend not to have clarity of vision or purpose and if they do, do not follow it (or only a few do) or communicate it to their church people. The people in the pew have no idea what their church’s function is about and do not feel a part of or connected in it.

• Churches that are healthy are making disciples and serving their community and the world. Those who go into missions or ministry come from being mentored and discipled.

• Unhealthy churches tend not to make disciples and thus

Health check

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have few to none serving or preparing to serve their community and the world.

Churches that are healthy have a system, and are on the watch for problems, both personal and interpersonal; they deal with and resolve conflict fast and with tact, love, and care.

Unhealthy churches tend to ignore conflict or just placate the big givers and power brokers.

Churches that are healthy are forgiving and see people in need of love and care; they have a sense of the other person as God’s child too.

Unhealthy churches tend not to recognize other people as God’s children, and are unforgiving. (Most people leave a church because of conflict.)

Churches that are healthy are stewardship focused, teaching and encouraging its people to give out of their time, talents, and treasures. They are not forced or manipulated; rather, they feely give out of gratitude to the Lord for the mission of the church.

Unhealthy churches tend to skew what stewardship is about and either ignore it or manipulate their people to give. (Real giving is always out of a grateful and generous heart-not out of obligation or manipulation.)

Churches that are healthy are “outward focused” and are outreach and mission minded. They seek ways to reach out to people, and train their people to do so both locally and globally. They see the world as the mission.

Unhealthy churches tend to be ‘inward focused’ and do not have an outreach and/or missions program, or else just a few know about it and are involved in it. They see their church as only reaching out to ‘our own kind’ and rarely or just superficially go beyond their own church membership.

They see themselves as the mission.

Churches that are healthy have facilities that are well cared for, clean, and usable. They see their church as a gathering point and tool for use by God and His people. The churches that rent treat their rented building with respect, and keep it maintained and clean, seeing it as a form of evangelism.

Unhealthy churches tend to also have facilities that are well cared for and clean. But they tend not to be usable; they see their church as a ministry to itself and not to be messed up; thus, it is not used. Churches where the facilities are dilapidated, dirty, and unsanitary tend to also be that way in worship and ministry. The churches that rent do not treat their rented building with respect; they have an “us versus them” mentality.

These healthy churches also have 20-40 percent of their church members in a Bible study or in small groups. In these small groups, the main curriculum has the leader teaching the Bible as the prime program, such as a Bible study or discussion on biblical precepts, and the Word is delved into.

Churches that are unhealthy have little to no active participation in small groups, and/or the groups are using

weak curriculum that does not teach or inform about biblical principles, and the Bible is used very little.

• Healthy churches have a deep love and gratitude to Christ and desire to equip and empower the people He brings them. They seek to serve in humbleness and effectual faith.

They value people and do not depend on their programs, rather on Christ; they allow Him to produce what He wants, when He wants. They grow from the inside of their faithful journey before it is exercised outward. Inward faith is formed before outward faith is expressed. The average healthy church is where people feel good about God and others; they display personal, spiritual, and relational maturity and have hope and life in Christ, all because they are growing in the Word and Spirit. Gossip is absent and conflict is dealt with; spiritual growth is glorifying our Lord, and the Fruit of the Spirit is at hand. The pastors and leaders model to the people a faith that endures as they look to Christ.

Research from R. J. Krejcir, Ph.D., Francis A. Schaeffer, Institute of Church Leadership Development

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