Entries by RichKao (320)

Generosity Theology

Posted on Sep 6, 2010 at 10:15AM by Registered CommenterRichKao in | CommentsPost a Comment | EmailEmail | PrintPrint

The second "P" of church planting:  Personnel

Your team is everything.  Jesus, the Great Apostle (church planter) (Heb 3:1) spent the entire night in prayer picking his core team (Lk 6:12).  Arguably, outside of Jesus dying on the cross, this was the MOST CRUCIAL decision Jesus made on earth.  Who he surrounded himself with, who would carry the load with him, and ultimately who would carry on the work was of the HIGHEST importance.  As John Maxell likes to say, "Teamwork makes the dream work."  Indeed, your dream, your vision rises and falls largely on the people you will pick to minister with you.  They must have your heart and your DNA.   It doesn't mean they are "yes" men or copycats.  On the contrary; diversity in the team lifts it.  But in terms of the inner fire, passion, and attitude, there must be a kindred spirit, and spirit of unity.  Timothy was such a man for Paul (Phil 2:19-23).  And such were the apostles to Jesus.  Additionally, I like to point out that half of the apostles were related by birth, profession or home town.  In otherwords, Jesus also put a premium on how the team would work together.  Being able to laugh, cry, have fun and die together as a team is one of the greatest joys on earth (think "band of brothers").  It is one of the most crucial things to weigh in building your team.  Who you take on the journey is as important as what the journey is.

So how do you go about picking your staff, your core team, those that will build with you?  That's what would be discussed in my bootcamp, which includes readings from Guy Kawasaki, Jim Collins, Jack Welsh, all wrapped and applied through a biblical grid.  But here are a few key points:

> Do do your due diligence. Past performance is a indicator of future potential.  If there's one point the guru's agree on, it's this one, and from my experience I would agree.

> Deciding who should be on your team in church planting is HUGELY about prayer, prophetic guidance and whom God brings.  In otherwords, there is a sovereign aspect which can't be reproduced by human methodology; because God is invested in you to extend His kingdom, he also supernaturally supplies the right people to work with you.  This is part of the miracle and thrill of church planting.

> In the best sense of the word, you have to have a recruiting eye, and a recruiting gear.  You must have a passion to build a team that will change the world.

> Vision, vision, vision.  Find your voice.  Find your stride.  Find what hill you would die on.  Then go and take that vision to the world.   It will create a passion in you that great people will be attracted to.

> Choosing the right people is an art not a science.  No one gets it perfect every time; not even companies that can invest millions on recruitment, testing and training.  In the end, some will exceed your expectations, and some will fail.   But hopefully, with the help of the Holy Spirit, we can minimize the mistakes.

> Besides finding the right people, there must also be a committment to develop your leaders.  This is a whole subset of this second "P" -- leadership development.  Like Jesus, you must have a heart to mentor, grow, equip and release your team.  Infect them, and then let them do better and go farther than you. 

Posted on Sep 4, 2010 at 01:35PM by Registered CommenterRichKao in , | CommentsPost a Comment | EmailEmail | PrintPrint

The first "P'" of Church Planting:  Perseverance

Over the course of the next few months, time permitting, I'm going to outline the 7 "P's" of church planting (i.e. as I've experienced it from my corner of the world).  This is actually a framework for a more robust training, but at least this will give you an overview of the key points. 

The first "P" of church planting is PERSEVERANCE.  I start with this one, because this is the most important one.  No matter how talented, gifted you might be as a planter, you must have this quality.  The prize goes to the tortoise, not the hare.  The crown goes to the marathoner, not the sprinter.

Every person that is called to plant a church must have a gift of perseverance.  Paul couldn't have said it more clearly, "The things that mark an apostle (church planter) --signs, wonders and miracles--were done among you with great perseverance."  2 Cor. 12:12.  Without persistance and divine determination a church cannot be established.  The energy, effort, and emotion it takes to start an "outpost of heaven" is truly great -- at times even monumental -- and it can only had by a passion born of God.  This perseverance does not come by "gritting of teeth," "really wanting it," or "pulling up ones bootstraps."  It is born of a call from God.  Every church planter must know he is called or else the requisite faith will not be there to take you through the low times, dark times and discouraging times.  This perseverance is an act of grace, whereby God shares a portion of his supernatural love and passion for a people and a place so the people you serve might become passionate followers of Jesus.

The ability to weather spiritual warfare, financial pressures, revolving visitors, changing venues, finding right workers, counseling, legal compliances, praying, preaching, people's complaints, personal sense of inadequacy, outreach, creating discipleship systems, learning languages, cultural issues, lonliness and more, not to mention the various cycles of mistakes that inevitably take place, and trying to keep a healthy family life, can only be accomplished by a sure call from God.

But when the call is sure, and the grace is present, there's nothing like the strength and enablement that comes from God.  Like Moses, who's "eye was not dim, nor his vigor abated (Deut. 34:7)", when God grants the privilege of helping a people come into their promise land, there can be nothing sweeter.

The Apostolic Gospel: Core Content

 

By Dr. Bruce Fidler (a theologian friend of mine)

(Entire post reproduced here).

What is popular is not always accurate or true. This maxim holds for the church as well as for human society at large. Consequently, it is helpful and even necessary at times to reexamine one's knowledge and beliefs, particularly in regard to foundational matters. In terms of the Christian faith, popularly held understandings of the gospel are not always consistent with the biblical witness.

As mentioned earlier, this inquiry into the apostolic gospel was precipitated by a disappointing and troubling television presentation by an enormously popular American preacher that was enthusiastically billed as the preaching of the gospel. Since others can be observed to sincerely hold to erroneous notions of the fundamental Christian message, I thought it best to reexamine the Scriptures themselves in order to reevaluate my own understanding.

One of the primary questions that drove my inquiry was, "What was the core content of the gospel proclaimed by the apostles in the divinely inspired record of the Book of Acts?" In surveying Acts, I identified twelve accounts which especially presented information specifically relevant to my inquiry. These are as follows: 2:14-41; 3:12-4:2; 4:8-12; 5:29-32; 7:1-60; 10:34-43; 13:16-41; 14:8-18; 17:2-3; 17:22-31; 26:1-29; 28:17-31. The answer to the question regarding the core content of the apostolic gospel can be summed up in a single name: Jesus.

With one exception, all of the accounts of apostolic preaching center explicitly upon Jesus. An analysis of the various texts reveals five primary categories of information regarding or related to Jesus that comprised the core content of the message proclaimed. These concern: (1) the identity of Jesus, (2) the historical reality and ministry of Jesus' first coming, (3) the promise of Jesus' second coming, (4) Jesus' fulfillment of ancient Israelite prophecies, and finally, (5) a call for a radical response to Jesus. Imbued throughout all of these categories is the critically important theme (sometimes explicit, often implicit) of the kingdom of God.

Perhaps it should be said that Jesus is not merely central to the apostolic message, but that he is the gospel; that is, the good news. Given Luke's framing of the material found in his Gospel and in Acts, this is of course not surprising. After presenting Jesus as the savior of humanity, the friend of sinners who offers salvation to all, even to the socially marginalized, he closes with the following quotation from Jesus about himself: "This is what is written: The Messiah will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day, and repentance for the forgiveness of sins will be preached in his name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. You are witnesses of these things" (Lk 24:46-48).

This charge to the disciples to carry on a global apostolic witness centers on himself, the Messiah. Luke quotes him in the opening of Acts, reiterating this same charge: "(Y)ou will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth" (Ac 1:8). The disciples are to be his witnesses, which means they are to serve him by giving witness to him. Peter understood this as evidenced in the criteria he laid out for the selection of an apostolic replacement for Jesus' traitor, Judas. Luke quotes him as follows: "(I)t is necessary to choose one of the men who have been with us the whole time the Lord Jesus went in and out among us, beginning from John's baptism to the time when Jesus was taken up from us. For one of these must become a witness with us of his resurrection" (Ac 1:21-22).

All of this makes clear that Jesus as witnessed to in the biblical record must be central to any contemporary proclamation of the gospel. If he is not, we may indeed be elucidating or proclaiming various biblical truths and principles, but we should not make the mistake of thinking we are proclaiming the apostolic gospel. The problem with too much contemporary preaching, especially American, is that it has lost sight of the apostolic gospel and replaced it with a focus on producing and/or receiving the positive fruit or benefits of the gospel. In some cases Jesus becomes a talisman to ward off physical and material evil and to acquire our definition of blessedness in this life. In other cases, he becomes a functional elucidator of spiritual principles, which when faithfully believed and diligently applied produce success as we would have it. While there is a kernel of truth in each of these misconstrued understandings of Jesus, they are nevertheless corruptions of the apostolic gospel.

If we wish to know and experience God in similar fashion to that of the early church as described in Acts, we must encounter through repentance and faith the Jesus known and proclaimed by the apostles. The charge given by Jesus to his first disciples to be his witnesses throughout this world has passed from generation to generation, and now rests with great solemnity and responsibility upon us, even those who believe. It is our duty and privilege to know accurately the original good news, to live by his grace in response to it, and to communicate it to all who live in this world. If we are to please the Holy Spirit, we must become faithful witnesses of this gospel. Therefore, to a study of the elements of its core content we shall turn next.
Posted on Jul 29, 2010 at 07:25PM by Registered CommenterRichKao in | CommentsPost a Comment | EmailEmail | PrintPrint

Guy Walks Across America (NY to SFO)

Wonderful creativity and great video work....

For story behind how the video was shot, http://bit.ly/92Q37X

Posted on Jul 27, 2010 at 09:34PM by Registered CommenterRichKao | CommentsPost a Comment | EmailEmail | PrintPrint