A Project to Provide Food and Money

Imagine a way to feed the poor, do business in needy areas around the world, provide fresh fish and vegetables in orphanages around the world as well as a source of income for the orphanage. While serving them, you begin to make disciples! Jeannie and I along with some other folks who work with me here at Strategic Church Network are seriously looking at starting up an Aquaponics project for just those reasons mentioned above.

What is Aquaponics? To put is simply, it is the merging of aquaculture (fish farming) and hydroponics (growing vegetables in water rather than soil.) This process has proven to be a tremendous tool on the mission field as well as a viable business model for providing income.

For more information go to the House2Harvest Network site on the Aquaponics group – http://house2harvest.ning.com/group/aquaponics You can also do a Google search and get a tons of information.

Our plan of action is as follows -

First:

1.      Get some funding so that we can . . .

2.      Learn the how to build, maintain and function as a viable food source and business by going to some of the training offered here in the USA.

3.      Build some prototypes and get some hands on experience.

Second:

1.      Take it to the nations and serve the poor.

2.      Partner with orphanages so that they can have a food source and income source.

3.      Provide a business model for needy areas as well as simple church folks around the world.

4.      Using this tool to enter the lives of thousands of people in order to make disciples.

If we act on this now, by the end of this year we could begin to set up Aquaponics farms in some of the most needy areas of the world!

If you would like to partner with me on this endeavor, give me a call, drop me a note. If you have any questions, let’s talk! This is a tremendous tool to help the poor and reach people groups in some of the most difficult parts of the world.

 

Being a Revolutionary Without Causing Sectarianism

One of the things I am hoping to accomplish this year is the ability to communicate what I am passionate about without causing division. It seems that when I start talking to folks about the revolution at hand I get several possible responses; eyes glaze over with the possible concern that I am from another planet, hearty agreement that is really an appeasement, tearful acknowledgement of the struggle at hand dreaming about how things could really be, an aha moment that cause them to join the cause and finally the angry response that considers you to be a heretic at best, or lost your salvation at worst.

The revolution I am referring to (if you have read any of my previous blogs you would know) is the work of Jesus in the midst of His people today that has nothing to do with a Sunday (or any day for that matter) meeting. But it is in regards to what He is doing through His Body all the time as we function as His church serving in His Kingdom in the midst of our lives. Now certainly this will effect what happens when we do gather whether it is in mega-churches, neighborhood churches or house churches, and there is much to be said about the avoidance of temple based worship. The form is not really the issue, the issue is the heart. It is Christ’s body being at work in our communities as so aptly described in the book “The Tangible Kingdom.” I think that is where I get into trouble. When I begin to talk about a revolutionary change within the Church, I seem to be critical of those sacred cows that we all have held dear one time or another in our life as Christians. So if your livelihood, identity and purpose is tied up in conducting a weekly meeting, I guess this talk of an organic, simple church revolution can be threatening.

This revolution falls into many facets of expression and categories. Fortunately there are a plethora of books being written to define what God is doing from “The Tangible Kingdom” by Hugh Halter and Matt Smay,  to Revolution by George Barna, to Reimagining Church by Frank Viola – not to mention Pagan Christianity by Viola & Barna, Organic Church by Neil Cole or The Forgotten Ways by Allen Hirsch.  And this is just the tip of the iceberg! All these books and others are a must read for those who are wanting to be challenged to join the ranks of these revolutionaries. But what do we do with what we have read?

Therein is my struggle. I can become critical, or I can become constructive, or I can just crawl into a hole with a few other discontents and wait it out. The best thing I can do is love the Bride of Christ regardless of her condition, recognize who she is in this sectarian context we live in, and be a prophetic example. Help me Lord!

Hopefully those who hear me will not think I am judging their motives. How in the world will I know their motives anyway! In fact, I would say that most of those who are in some capacity of leadership in the Church that are serving the old institutional sectarian system are doing so with very honorable motives and wanting to give the Lord all they have and all they can be. Plus, those in the congregations are there because that is all they know so to be discontent or a “change agent” would be seen as rebellious. It’s a tough spot.

So maybe you can join me this year to not strut around as if our understanding and practical application of truth is superior to others, but serve those who are under the guidance of the same Holy Spirit, but just not where I am. You know, I don’t like it when my motives are judged wrongly – let’s be careful not to do the same. There are many of those in Christ whose love for the Lord is unquestionable though they serve in a system that is far from what God intended. Let’s find out how we can serve one another graciously and with gentleness as we search daily for the will of the Lord and follow His will with all our might.

 

A Shift in Definition of Unreached People Groups?

Do we need a new definition for the people groups that are unreached? Has this term been so misused that it must be redefined? Should the shift in our understanding of church, ecclesiology and mission reflect in this definition, not to mention our actual practice when reaching the unreached?

Here is the classic definition that many as well as I have been using: “An unreached people group is a people group or ethnic group, within which there is no viable indigenous church or churches with sufficient strength, resources, and commitment to sustain and ensure the continuous multiplication of churches.”

Here is my proposed new definition –

“An unreached people group (nation/ethnos) is any people group where there are no followers of Jesus who are making disciples within their own people group.”

I think it is time to change this definition. My reasons for this is that this new definition . . .: [See the remainder of this post at - House2Harvest WebLog]

 

Davis Report – December 2008

I just posted our December 2008 newsletter called “The Davis Report” on the Strategic Church Network site. Click here and give it a read!

I talk about:

• Being Friends with Refugees
• Making Inroads to the Unreached
• Websites Up and Running
• Looking Ahead to 2009

God Bless!

 

Website “We-alities”

In the past few months I have been taking a crash course in learning how to do websites. This is a matter of necessity since I am too cheap (or poor depending on how you look at it) to hire someone to do all the websites I am connected with. So I thought I would take a moment to let you know about them without being too self-promoting. But you know, that’s kinda what bogging is all about – right? In doing these sites, I have realized a few things about myself. First, let me share these websites with you:

This week I have been working on updating our website for Strategic Church Network. This site will be a great tool to help those who are doing simple/house church get involved in missions. We will be using this site to inform folks of different opportunities for training, short-term trips and the like.

As you may already know, I am also involved in the maintenance of the House2Harvest Network site. This site is totally flat, and belongs to all who join the network to share how we can help one another finish the task (Matthew 24:14). Strategic Church Network is one of those church networks that are available to serve the Body of Christ.

Another web site that I assist with is Hampton Roads Simple Church Network This is a site that serves all house/simple churches in the Hampton Roads, Virginia area.

One of my main interests is training cross cultural servants to the nations, specifically in the area of reaching Muslim unreached people groups. Therefore I have developed the site for South East Asia Institute of Intercultural Studies. I have the privilege of serving with some great servants of the Lord who are giving their lives for the cause of finishing the task.

There are a few more sites coming, I will soon be putting together a site for our business that is presently in the dream stage and hopefully become reality in 2009. I really need to start making some money!

Well – go surf a while and check out these sites – let me know what you think. And if you like them give me praise, if you don’t – careful, my ego bruises easily. I know these sites are not perfect by any means – but to be honest – I was not shooting for perfection – just function. That’s kinda fits my style.

That’s what have I learned about myself. I can really get bogged down in attempting perfection to the point that I become worthless, immovable and depressed. I would prefer to throw it out there and fix it as I go. Certainly avoiding funky mediocrity, but striving for functionality and practical value. I guess that’s really how we should approach life – especially life as a follower of Christ.

It is much more beneficial to get up, get moving and go with what you’ve got (and if you’ve got Christ in you – WOW!) and start doing what you think God wants you to do. He will correct you along the way so that you avoid mediocrity, and senseless attempts at perfection. That will come soon enough – if we get busy reaching the nations! Come Lord Jesus – but first go make disciples of all nations followers of Christ!

 

Back to the Revolution at Hand

OK, the election is over, we can turn away from FOX and CNN and get on with life. Our part to play in making history in the context of government and politics is now yesterday’s news. So what do we do now? Here a just a few exhortations:

• Let’s get about the Father’s business! The victory that matters is when someone hears the message that there is a new king in the land, he deserves our allegiance and devotion, therefore turn from all other allegiances and turn to this King – Jesus, the King of kings and become a subject of His kingdom, the Kingdom of God!

• Let’s go about your day making the announcement that although nation’s leaders come and go, there is a king who remains eternal who is not only just and true, but he is God your creator.

• Let’s lay aside the distractions of this temporal nation and world system and focus on what is unseen and eternal.

• Let’s take a close hard look at what Jesus really did and is doing, and refuse to buy into religion or personal kingdom building or ministry kingdom building.

• We need to become abhorrent towards ministries built upon a personality, the spiritual superstar, and only acknowledge those built on the foundation of the chief cornerstone, Jesus.

• We also need to support the coup that is refusing to support carnal headships, and ecclesiastical systems that at best make Jesus a figurehead, and at worst ignore his place as head of the Church altogether.

• We also need to have such a real relationship with Jesus, who is real and alive; and that it is not strange to think that he can lead us by his Spirit and direct the affairs of our lives and our churches firsthand without the help of a mediating office.

• Let’s get about the Father’s business and take the gospel of His Kingdom to those 6000+ nations (people groups) that have never heard of him, nor have the opportunity to hear.

This are just a few things to start us down the road of the new reformation that brings God’s people back to a relationship with God and one another and destroys the old ideas of religion and man’s organizations.

Viva la revolution!

 

Read Jon Zen’s Article – Four Tragic Shifts

Sometimes I run across an article I’d like to share with others. Jon Zen’s article on the “Four Tragic Shifts In The Visible Church” is one of the articles. I think you will get much from this article.

“Most professing Christians do not realize that the central concepts and practices associated with what we call ‘church’ are not rooted in the New Testament, but in patterns established in the post-apostolic age. While there are a legion of disagreements among serious students of church history concerning various issues and details during the period of 50 A.D. to 325 A.D., they all speak as one voice in affirming the four undeniable shifts that will be examined in this article. Church historians of all theological and ecclesiastical backgrounds observe in their writings the following four shifts: . . .”

Go to: http://www.searchingtogether.org/articles/4tragic.htm to read the rest.

 

Come Dream With Me

I have a dream!

Imagine all the followers of Jesus Christ in any given city or region determining in their hearts that they are going to obey Jesus. What would some of the results be? Here are a few things that would happen:

• They will first and foremost put making disciples above all other religious activates, church services and guilt motivated demands put upon them by manmade institutions, traditions, programs or religious leaders.

• They will live their faith out in front of a world that is longing to know their heavenly father.
• They will have a relationship with Jesus based upon their ever present dialogue with him and their quest to know Him and His love for them.
• They will gather together with one another in homes, places of employment, restaurants, pubs and parks fellowshipping together, learning from one another about their relationship with Jesus with a world seeking Him joining in the conversation.
• They will disdain religion and anything that has become a barrier to all those who are created in the image of God and are waiting to know their Father God.
• They will demonstrate their love one to another revealing to the world around them that they are truly Jesus’ disciples.
• They will live generously without having to be manipulated by threats of being non-tithers, but they always give as God has provided cheerfully to the needs to the poor and to reach the unreached nations of the world. They have no desire to finance the ambitions of men to build empires and monuments disguised as God’s will.
• They will have disdain for sin and love holy lives without being self-righteous toward those who struggle with the weaknesses of the flesh but serve them as Jesus served the sinner.
• They will have no Savior but Jesus, no Lord and King but Jesus, for He is their great High priest and Shepherd. He will therefore be the leader of all corporate activities, gatherings and meetings. He will be in the midst all church gatherings to preside regardless of their size, their location or whether professional ministers are present or not present.
• They will rely on the Holy Spirit to teach them and reveal all truth to them as he ministers to them through one another by his giftings and his ever present anointing in all believers.
• They will respect those who are mature in the faith without promoting them to positions of superiority and rulership, but serve with them equally as priests of the most high God, never creating a separate class of disciples.
• They will have no tolerance for any institution or organization that would hinder them from doing any of the above and we would see real revival as never before!

Can you dream with me? Let’s make this dream come true and start living this way one follower of Jesus at a time!

 

Simple Churches Doing Missions Part 2 – Keeping Missions Simple

The second part of this post can be found at the other blog I manage: House2Harvest Missions Weblog

I talk about taking this seemingly comlicated process and keeping it simple.

 

Simple Churches Doing Missions

[This post can also be found at the House2harvest Missions Weblog]

Recently at the 2008 National House Church Conference we held three sessions of the Missions Track. In our first session we discussed some foundation issues. Here is a summary of those sessions:

Session One: Why are Simple Churches suited for pioneer missions amongst the unreached and why is this the time?

We start with the assumption that simple churches as best suited for pioneer, frontier missions (the unreached) therefore now is the time to do it!

First, let me lay some foundation:

• House/Simple/Organic Church: It is not about the gathering but our understanding of being the Church: relational, organic, and simple.
• Unreached/Least Reached People Groups: A people group within which there is no viable indigenous church movement with sufficient strength, resources, and commitment to sustain and ensure the continuous multiplication of churches. To reach them is pioneer/frontier missions.
  • The world’s 6.3 billion people are made up of 11,259 people groups. 55% of them are unreached! (source: IMB) Note the chart below representing numbers of people groups, not individual populations. In regards to population less than 1/3 of the world’s population is unreached.

10% Committed Christians

20% Nominal Christians

15% Non-Christians within reach of Christians

Unreached peoples – Out of reach

o   How many unreached people groups exist? There are 11,259 people groups in the world today. 4,729 are reached. 6530 of these people groups are unreached. (Source: IMB). These unreached groups have no viable, self reproducing indigenous church able to reach their own population.

o   Where do these unreached peoples live? 97% of all unreached peoples live in what is referred to as the 10/40 window. 82% of the poorest of the poor live in this region,

• Where do we (the Church) use our resources? Christians give $15 Billion a year to missions. How is that $15 billion distributed? (Source: David Barrett & Todd Johnson. 2000)

• Where do we send Missionaries? According to Mission Frontiers Magazine (June, 2000) we see that most missionaries are going to the Christian world.

Cross-cultural Missionaries per Million in major blocks:

• Strategic Missions: Strategic missions is when the Church is following the biblical mandate that is summarized in these two verses:

Matthew 24:14

“And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations (ethnic groups), and then the end will come.”

James 1:27

“Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress . .”

• Closure: Closure is finishing the task. What will happen?
  • All nations will hear to the point that the gospel of the Kingdom will be preached to the entire world as a testimony in all nations (ethne) and then the end will come.
  • The Bride makes herself ready. This is referring to the prophetic promise in Revelation 7:9-10 where we discover that great multitude consisting of all nations (ethne), tribes (phule), people (laos), and languages (glossa) standing before the throne in front of the Lamb.
• What makes simple church the best tool in God’s hand to finish the task? In our recent discussion in Dallas at the National House Church Conference Missions track we came up with the following reasons during a brainstorming session:
  • Less baggage – not bound to traditional, denominational, institutional models
  • Able to move and respond faster.
  • Understands Simple Church life – since the churches planted in unreached areas are simple house churches who better to plant these churches than those who are already doing it?
  • More Appealing to Post-Modern and post-church cultures.
  • No Denominational administration – free of sterile policies and procedure, but organic.
  • Apostolic (DNA) – Workers sent with a message.
  • Makes Disciples rather than plants churches – When we make disciples, church happens.
  • Financial Ability and Flexibility
  • Realistic Accountability - relational not policy driven
  • No Overhead
  • Kingdom focused – not organization focused. Not “planting any flags” for a denomination or Missions organization. Plus the message is focused on the gospel of the Kingdom, and not a theological grid.
  • No Bottlenecks – Able to be more spontaneous and able to respond to God’s provenience.
  • Relational like other cultures
  • Reproducible - church is simple, and able to be done by anyone regardless of the amount of education. No seminary experts, big budgets, real estate deals needed.
  • Economical - less money is needed.
  • Open to Creative ideas
  • Team driven
  • No Clergy
  • Indigenous believers are empowered and released in their callings and giftings

• We can Speed the Coming of the Lord! In 2 Peter 3:11-12 we read:

“Since everything will be destroyed in this way, what kind of people ought you to be? You ought to live holy and godly lives as you look forward to the day of God and speed its coming. . .”

As the Lord fulfills Matthew 24:14 with us in partnership with Him, we speed the coming of the Lord!

This session ended with a testimony and discussion regarding doing missions locally and reaching unreached Muslim populations in the United States.

Session Two and Three: How Simple Churches can do Missions.

This session was mostly interactive starting with a brainstorming session talking about:

1.       What do simple churches need to do in order to reach the unreached nations?

2.       How do we accomplish these things?

Here is a chart illustrating the results of this brainstorming session (each item does not necessarily correspond directly to the opposite item in the column):

What We Need to Do:

How we can Accomplish these things:

Cast Vision and maintain awareness. Identify the people group to reach Go/Send to make Disciples of all ethnic groups Do research Understand Cultures & cross-cultural communications Mobilize our house churches Pray for the unreached Be led by the Spirit Stay Informed Do missions here cross culturally Take short-term trips

Pray Develop our simple churches into missional communities. Hear God – Only do what we see the Father doing. Network together with other simple churches Get training – take “Perspectives” and the like. Gather resources Read missions books Develop funding plans, collect $ and send to the need. Develop Business as Mission opportunities Train missionaries, or facilitate their training Learn the Language Develop Partnerships Model simple church being missional Prepare for Church Planting Movements at home. Do research on the field via short term trips. Learn and adopt successful strategies Live simple lifestyles Talk and get to know simple church missionaries

We then heard several testimonies first from a missionary couple planning to go to Asia and their challenges in regards to securing a support network in a simple church network setting. We also heard more about a network of simple churches regarding how they were reaching the Muslim community in their city.

The discussion carried over to the next day as we discussed the following process and how simple churches can develop into a missions movement reaching the unreached.

Steps Towards A Mature Missions Movement in the Apostolic Simple/House Church Network
Mobilization Stage
Phase I. Training	Phase I. Training
	1.       Provide training and learning experiences. Contact House2Harvest Network for more information.
	2. Begin to develop Strategic Components of an Acts 1:8 Church in your simple church and/or network.	a. Prayer
		b. The Lord raises up a champion for the cause of reaching the unreached and fulfilling the desire to be an Acts 1:8 church.
		c.  Clear written strategic guidelines
		d.  Adopt a Least/Unreached People Group
		e.  Giving Plan, Funding Plan
		f.  Short-Term Trips
		g.  Events focused on serving the nations.
		h. Begin Servants to the Nations Preparation
	3. Develop Local Cross-Cultural Ministry/Outreach.
	4. House Church network sponsors further training, coaching and consulting in understanding missions. This can be provided by ministries such as House2Harvest Network.
	5. Key Leaders attend World Christian Perspectives Course offered through the U.S. Center for World Missions
	6. Constant reading of missions books and articles.
	7. Finish the development of the Strategic Components of an Acts 1:8 Church (see #2)
	8. Identify Servants to the nations in your House Church Network.
Phase II: Planning	Develop a plan to reach the UPG
	1. Identify other churches and networks that are targeting your adopted UPG.
	2. Develop a preliminary budget – measure your potential financial resources.
	3. Partner with other churches and organizations in the USA	a. Conduct or attend a UPG consultation
		b. Coordinate prayer efforts and information
		c. Assess organizational capacity of partnering churches
		d. Determine level in which churches can partner
		e. Formalize partnerships and networks
	4. Identify National Churches that are potential partners
	5. Partner with key leaders in national churches
	6. Conduct a short-term research trip in a region where the UPG lives.
	7. Write out your plan to reach the UPG based on your research etc.
Deployment Stage
Phase III:Team & Partnership	Phase III: Team, Partnership and Networking
	1. Develop a support mechanism for cross-cultural servants to the nations.
	2. Identify servants to the nations and missions organizations already targeting the UPG.
	3. Train Your Servants to the nations.
	4. Develop potential Apostolic teams (if this is part of your plan.)
	5. Identify strategic locations and partners working among the UPG.
	6. Get to know the Apostolic/CP teams you are going to support, partner and network with.
	7. Revise your missions policy statement if needed.
	8. Begin to develop your cross-cultural disciple making strategy.
	9. Evaluate the readiness of the apostolic team and/or servant to the nations you are sending
	10. Conduct a Pre-Field Orientation and then place the teams among the UPG
Engagement Stage
Phase IV: Making Disciples	Phase IV: Making Disciples
	1. Apostolic Team finishes pre-field Orientation.
	2. Apostolic Team does (and/or finishes) Language and Culture Study
	3. Disciple Making Movement Strategy Formation		a. Training
			b. Development of a plan
	4. Strategy Implementation begun		a. Resources Mobilized
			b. Team is implementing strategy
	5. Initial converts discipled
	6. Disciple Making Movement oriented church(es) planted		a. First church planted
			b. Second generation of churches launched.
	7. Churches reproducing spontaneously (3rd and 4th generations)
	8. Saturation church planting underway
	9. Celebration! UPG Reached – Other UPG’s Targeted by churches planted.
Missions Movement is Underway!

(You can download this chart here:steps-towards-a-mature-missions-movement-in-the-apostolic-house-church-network1

If you would like to talk more about your simple/house church doing missions let me know, and I would be glad to help!