Rich Kao

It could be argued that a church lives or dies by the pulpit.  So crucial is preaching to the life and health of the church that the originals apostles deliberately chose NOT to engage in compassion ministry in order to focus on prayer & the ministry of the word (Acts 6:1-4).  This ministry of feeding and doctrine is indeed one of the highest calls a person could receive (Rom. 9:13-15).  Truly discerned, the call to be a voice for God, a carrier of his burdens in word and speech is a fearful thing.  Were it not for the grace of God, who could be up for such a task?

Of all the ministry responsibilities involved in leading a church, there is no other single activity I've been involved in that can induce such exhiliration or depression as preaching.  As we all know, public speaking is one of the greatest fears known to mankind.  Even more than death according to many surveys.

Prior to my ministry call, I was involved in lots of public speaking; presenting results, pitching for grants, and speaking to top brass for project approvals.  That kind of speaking was easy, in part because it's the transmission of information, versus speaking for life change.

Part of the tribulation in preaching is the acceptance / rejection dynamic one goes through as people listen to your messages.  Not unlike those who try out a new restaurant, there is a constant and instant evaluation of "the food served."  Was it good?  Was it good enough to come back?  Become a repeat customer?  Course if people return, that's exhilirating.  If they don't that's depressing.

But take away the human dynamic, human emotion part, and there is nothing like powerful, regular life-giving preaching.  It's so crucial for church plants.  Yea, heaven-sent preaching can plants churches overnight and cause it to grow exponentially in a very short time.  It encourages, lifts up, challenges, enlightens, informs, and moves people toward God.   Consistency in the preaching is part science, part art, part skill, and a big dose of dependance.

There are clear rules of communication that can be followed (and should be followed) to consistenly engage an audience.  There's no reason to reiterate them here with so many great resources out there, but to mention my top four communication convictions in passing:

1) Clarity - Take the complex and make it simple.  Make it clear.  This is easier said than done.  It takes a lot of work, study, meditation, to distill things down to their essential core.  But when the clarity comes, it allows you to preach with power and beauty.  Jesus was the master at this. 

2) Content - Feeding comes from a sense of gaining new insight, understanding, revelation.  Yes, there must be emotion in a message, but it must be commensurate to the content.  Again this requires, study, meditation and being taught of the Holy Spirit.  As it was said of Jesus when he was but 12 yrs of age, "Where did he get such understanding and answers - Lk 2:27). 

3) Flow - choppy preaching doesn't work.  The message needs to flow like a worship set.  There must be a sense of carry, ebb & flow, highs and lows that lifts and drops the hearers.  This makes for dynamic, compelling preaching.

4) Passion - In one sense, this is where clarity, content and flow converge.  But most importantly, passion must have the "x" factor in it, which for me is the most crucial part of preaching; the "X" factor being the anointing, the sense of burden & mission the preacher brings to the pulpit each time.  Does he feel the conviction of the message from God?  Does he feel the burden, the articulation, and even the gesticulation?  All the words can be smooth, but if there is no enduement from above, then there will be no transformation. 

Clearly, God chose the verbal-auditory mode as the prime means of communicating truth.  (Course, this does not mean we are to exclude other means of conveyance - e.g. video, object lessons, etc).   It is the means by which a person becomes saved.  It's the means by which a Christian is built up and the congregation is fed.  It's the means by which a church is mobilized toward a vision. 

The apostles placed prime significance on preaching because Jesus did.  A church's health, growth and vitality depends on it.  The hope of a city depends on the light coming from its pulpits.  Pray for us church planters.  Pray for us in the ministry of preaching.   It's the third key in establishing new churches.

(Previously: Perseverance: The first "P" of church planting.  Personnel: The second "P" of church planting.)

Dr. Raymond Benson, Founder of Medical Ambassadors International (1980), now called Lifewind, had a dream to minister to the spiritual and physical needs of the poorest of the poor through medical clinics and evangelism.  Dr. Benson's founding philosophy was fivefold:

• The Gospel is first.
• The ministry is directed and performed by nationals.
• The integrated ministry of caring and sharing go hand in hand.
• Dr. Benson said, "We are to help people develop themselves; we are not there to impose our Western ways."
• Fundraising is done best by sharing compassionate human-interest stories of service and need. The Holy Spirit makes the "ask."

These are great principles to follow in planting churches among the unreached people groups of the world.  It's a holistic approach that is gospel-centered, visible, and transferable.

At 5 Stones Church, we are laying the foundations for a church planting arm called Canada Aid & Advancement (CAA).  The idea is to plant churches through the use of humanitarian aid platforms, or more specifically Community Development Tools.  In this clip, you'll see the 8 principles of Community Development pioneered by Lifewind which is based on a biblical, Christ-centered world view.  These strategies have already been used in nations all over the world in planting churches.

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. 

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.