The Kaye Family

Ahead, Behind and Beside

2012-01-27T10:01:00.001-05:00

This year has taught me so much about discipleship. Here is one of the things that has crystalized for me rather recently...

I think that we all need to be engaged in three types of discipleship relationships:

Ahead: We need to ask someone ahead of us in their walk with Jesus to come over us and dsiciple us intentionally. You open up to them and they speak into your life, challenge you and encourage you in the faith.
Behind: Inetentionally select people that are not as far along as you in their faith journey...particularly someone that is spiritually hungry and containing noticeable potential and then ask them if you can disciple them.
Beside: Engage in a few peer discipling relationships with people who are in a similar place as you in the faith. Challenge each other and walk with each other in an intentional way.

All three of these relationships must be:

Intentional
Accountable
Centered around Jesus
Focussed on obedience

I personally think that each of us should enter into at least one of each of these relationhips. Are you in any of them?

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Older related discipleship posts:

Previouly wrote about obedience based discipleship which I define HERE.

I have blogged about the fact that I think we have a discipleship crisis HERE.

Then, I got lots of questions about whether you should pursue discipling relationships or wait on them. I answered that HERE.

Even earlier, I had blogged about 2-way discipleship. Read that HERE.

Drug Dealing & Church Planting

2012-01-24T16:09:00.001-05:00

Wanna hear a funny, but not so funny story?

For the last six months me and a group of men have been meeting with some brothers in Masiphumelele for church every Sunday morning. We meet in one of the guy's rooms in Masi. It is a single rented room in a house. Not only did we meet each week, but we would swing in throughout the week and drop things off from time to time and visit him.

Recently, my friend's landlord called him in and told him he had to vacate the property in 2 weeks. He was shocked. After some prying he discovered that the reason he was being asked to move out was because she had concluded that he was running a drug ring out of his room with the white men. Why else do several white men show up several times per week? Church? Yeah, right! Great excuse.

My friend has moved and found somewhere else to live.

This was a first. Accused of being a drug dealer. The truth is, I am just a Jesus dealer.

The walk to church

2012-01-23T14:38:00.001-05:00

This is my walk to church each Sunday. Gives you a window into the community that we work in, Masiphumelele. This part of Masi is called the "Wetlands" because many of the homes are built on top of water.

Sharing God's Heart

2012-01-20T08:59:00.001-05:00

Tricia and I have now spent a year in simple, organic church community. We are in a house church and have started other simple churches. We are learning so many things we never knew before, as we both spent our lives in larger, organized churches, where learning these types of things are less common.

Here is one really awesome thing we are learning:

We all carry portions of God's heart for each other. There are oftentimes things that you are carrying in your heart for others that God wants you to deliver to them. And this is church! This is encourgament. This is mutual edification. This is the building up of the body of Christ.

What does this look like?

Simple. Create permission and space for people to walk around the room or share across the circle what God may be saying. It could be:

A word
A vision
A picture
A verse
An affirmation
An encouragment
A hug
Etc.

Just last night we were at an All Nations worship gathering that lasted about 2 hours. Throughout the evening I had words of enouragement for 5 different people- several of which were rather prophpetic and confirming some major stuff in people. And all evening I watched the body of Christ roam the room spaking portions of God's heart over each other!! It was so beautiful. There was joy. There were tears. It is what the Body of Christ SHOULD be doing.

But, are we? Are you? Is your church?

If not, can I encourage you to start speaking up. I would say that at least once a week you should be downloading some of God's heart into someone else. If we don't do it, who will?

"Therefore encourage one another and build one another up!" I Thess. 5:11

The Miracle of the Shoes

2012-01-19T15:16:00.001-05:00

My Mom and Sister are here with us in South Africa now...and how thrilled we are! Let me tell you a quick story.

As they prepared to come, they felt that the Lord wanted them to gather and bring shoes for the kids in Masiphumelele where we serve. Masi is a very poor community and many of the kids have either very worn shoes or no shoes at all. They asked on Facebook and ended up gathering and bringing 55 pair of sandles, shoes or flip flops. This morning we were discussing the best way to begin distributing them to the kids in Masi...

This evening while we were eating dinner, the doorbell rang. When I went to open the door there were 8 kids standing there. They had walked to our home...from Masi, which is about a 45 minute walk...6 of the 8 were barefoot...the other two had shoes that were so badly worn, they would have been better off barefoot.

Immediately we knew what this meant. These were the first kids that God had prepared to recieve the shoes that Mom and Selah brought. And we did not even make it into them...they came to us!!

Here is the way felt from it all. These shoes were a prophetic sign. I know, I know, they are shoes. But before, you think I am cooky spiritual, listen: When God asks you to do sometning, do it! Obey him. Then, he will acknowledge your obedience thank you for it and give you your next assignment, your next chance to show him you love him with your obedience.

Today Mom won, Selah won, we won, the kids won and God won, because he gets all the glory.

I love my wife more than my kids

2012-01-14T09:26:00.001-05:00

Lily, our daughter, and second child was born one week ago today. There are a lot of things I am feeling and learning already. But, allow me to share the one strongest feelings I have had since Lily arrived.

Last Saturday, just after the birth (less than 15 minutes), I told Tricia and her Doctor that this experience has only increased my love for my wife. Listen, I LOVE my kids...with a type of love I have never felt. But, when you have spent 13 years of love and almost 10 years of marriage with a woman you've been through thick and thin with, and she is now giving you your second child, you REALLY LOVE A WOMAN! My first response to Lily's birth was a deeper love for Tricia, my wife for life!!

She has been faithful. She has been honoring. She is full of inegrity and honesty. She has followed Jesus radically. She is a woman of noble character. She believes in me more than anyone on the planet. She serves our home. She sacrifices for all 3 of us. After Jesus, she is my everything.

Growing up, when my Mom would upset one of us kids, we would go to Dad, who, though he administered most of the spankings, was typically softer than Mom. While trying to get Dad to side with us, he would ALWAYS say "your Mother was here long before you and she will be here long after you"! That stuck with me and it formed me.

Look, I love these kids with crazy love. But not like I love their Mother. She is top, my gem, my angel. Has been since 1999 and will be until y'all attend my funeral or we attend hers.

While you will not find a Bible verse to say this is how it must be, you will find many that suggest that this is how it should be. God never asked you to love your kids like Christ loves the church or to become one flesh with them, did he? (Genesis 2:24 & Ephesian 5:31-33)

PS- I know this easier for Dads to say than Moms. I will leave you to think through that.

How to use your church building the other 166 hours

2012-01-12T15:05:00.001-05:00

There are 168 hours in a week. Most church services are under 2 hours long. Most churches have a building. They may even call the building the "house of God" or the "temple" or the "sanctuary"-- all fine. Just not New Testament biblical. But neither is McDonalds. Anyway, many of those buildings are not used very often at all other than on Sunday morning. This results in loads of wasted kingdom resource. This is not ok.

I will not use this blog post to expound upon why I think that we are moving away from church buildings being the primary gathering place for Christians. What I would lke to suggest are some ways to use your church building that might glorify God the other 166 hours of the week that it sits empty. Here are some options:

Transform it into a center to love and care for the poor and needy. (Isaiah 58:6-7)
Convert some of the space into small apartments for singles or families with a serious calling for missional ministry so that they can quit working to pay a mortgage and start serving Jesus in their communities full time.
Start a missional training center. Train people all week long to go make disciples and start churches. Stop all other programming and just do this. Just an idea. (Matt. 28: 18-20)
Start a homeless shelter. (James 1:27)
Have small groups meeting in every crack and crevis of your building all week long.
Start a prayer or worship center where your building is used for prayer and worship every day.
Launch a world missions lab. Encourage and invite people from around the world in to strategize about global possibities for mission.
Start and orphanage. (James 1:27)
Open your doors to handicapped and physically challenged in your area.
Open a widow/widower care facility. (I Tim. 5:3)
Do something to bless children all week long. (Matt. 19:14)
Share your space with several other churches.
Sell the building, give the money away for the Kingdom and divide up into many small churches meeting all over your community.(Luke 12:33)
Sign it over to another church or mission that will use the snot out of it. Give it away. (Luke 12:33)

Other ideas? What are some ideas that you either carry or have heard of? Please comment. I would like to start a long list to share with longing churches that I may work with in the future.

A year ago tonight...

2012-01-11T14:29:00.001-05:00

It is hard to believe it, but we posted this video on YouTube one year ago tonight! One year ago tonight we were packing our final bags and preparing to depart for South Africa. (Still thankful for my Sister, Joeley and Brother in Law, Eamon for letting us launch from their pad!)

Within this year, Jesus has opened our eyes, enlarged our hearts, changed our minds, grown our family and set new visions and dreams in our hearts for the future. There really are not words to say how thankful we are to be in the will of God serving here in South Africa. It has been a year where God has kept His promises and fulfilled his prophecies in our lives.

You can see the pain of sacrifice in our eyes in this video. It is not easy to follow Jesus when it hurts--when it means leaving people you love. But I am here to speak up as a testimony that the reward is far greater than the sacrifice.

And everyone who has given up houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or property, for my sake, will receive a hundred times as much in return and will inherit eternal life. Matthew 19:29 // We have found this to be true in more ways than we would have thought.

When Good is Bad

2012-01-11T08:36:00.001-05:00

At the center of the garden in Genesis was the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. This was the tree that Adam and Eve were forbidden to eat from. There is so, so much significance to this! The location of the tree, the name of it, the prohibition to eat from it....all carry signiificance.

I am currently reading a book entitled "Repenting of Religion" by Greg Boyd. Loving it. Almost always love Boyd's stuff. In it, he is opening my eyes to some new things. I want to share a few nuggets with you:

We were never intended to be judges, only lovers. Givers and recievers of the lavish and unmatchable love of God. We were not even intended to have the "knowledge of good and evil"-- because with it, we die by it. And the knowledge of good is every bit as bad as the knowledge of evil. Boyd says this: "We are not satisfied being God-like in our cpacity to love; we also want to become God-like in our cpacity to judge, which is how the serpent tempts us. But in aspiring towards the latter, we lose our capacity for the former, for unlike God, we cannot judge and love at the same time."
Our obsesison with our righteousness misses the point. This is when good becomes bad. The goal of the gospel has never been to get your bad behavior to turn good. It is rather about recieving the love of Jesus, the righteousness of JESUS (not you), and living into his righteiousness. "God is not first and foremost interested in acquiring a people who believe all the right things and act all the right ways. God's first concern, and really his only concern, is to have a people who are united with him in love."
How we treat overweight people in the church versus how we treat homosexuals in the church is a great example of our tendency to live with the knowledge of good and evil at the center--instead of the tree of life. Boyd says: "The sins a particular religous community is good at avoiding tend to be the ones identified as most important to avoid in the mind of that community, while the sins a community is not good at avoiding seem to be minimized or ignored altogether- regardless of what emphasis the Bible has put on those sins."

There is so much more profound stuff to push out. But the bottom lins is this:

When we live our lives with our eyes and hearts focussed on the "good and evil" of ourselves and others, we are religious and majorly missing the point of God's plan for us...we are not recieving Christ love and we certainly are not carrying it to others.

Your journey with Jesus has nothing to do with your righteousness and everything to do with HIS! That is the genius of God's brilliant plan!

Our righteousness is as filthy rags. Isa. 64:6

Davis Introduces Lily

2012-01-10T04:21:00.001-05:00

Welcome Lily Raelynn!

2012-01-09T14:28:00.001-05:00

This blog post is dedicated to the most beautiful, little, sweet, precious, white African-Ameican baby in the entire Republic of South Africa!

Tricia, Davis and I are thrilled to anounce the arrival of our sweet daughter, Lily Raelynn Kaye.

Date: Saturday, January 7th, 2012 (EXACTLY 5 years after Davis- get ready for some MAJOR birthday partying January 7th, 2013)

Location: Constantia, Cape Town, South Africa

Time: 2:14pm

Weight: 6lb, 7oz

Length: 18.5in

Lily's name is spiritually significant...it means beauty and purity-- indicative of her future. We belive that the Lord has great plans for Lily. She will be a radical, Holy Spirit led, Jesus lover.

Lily's name is also practically significant in that she is our "Lily of the Valley"-- we live in the Fish Hoek Valley of Cape Town.

She is a miracle and an answer to prayer and prophetic words over our family. Read about it HERE when we announced our pregnancy.

Join us in praying for Lily's life-- that it would shine for Jesus.

Church Is...

2012-01-05T05:06:00.001-05:00

Older Leaders

2012-01-03T12:23:00.001-05:00

I want to share some thoughts about older leaders. Why? The purpose of this blog post is to increase grace, honor and understanding for leaders that are further along than you. But a few things need to be said first...

First of all, these reflections are from my own expereince serving under the spirititual authority of older leaders. They may not be consistent with your experiences, but they are mine.
Second, I am choosing to not define "older". I will let you do that based upon whether you find the reflections applying to "older" leaders you have served with. Of course, these are gross generalizations that you can judge for yourself.
Third, this email is not describing any one leader I have served under, but rather a sampling of a few. And I have been BLESSED to serve under some dynamite leaders.

Older leaders can seem inflexible. Be careful before you conclude that. What you see as inflexibilty may actually be wisdom and commitment to integrity. They have more years of practice at standing firmly on what they believe in than you do. You would waiver and call it "good" and "flexible". They just know what they believe in, get it said, and stand by it. What is wrong, is when they communicate their commitments with a pride or beligerance lording over others.

Older leaders can seem stubborn and unwiling to see and consider other options and opinions. Let us imagine that you are working with a 60 year old leader and you feel that they are acting this way. Stop and remember this: that 60 year old has had a solid 35 YEARS to learn and form their values. Their values are based on what they have seen work and fail, please God and displease Him. So, there is very little conversation when something has worked for 35 years and now you want to try to convince them otherwise. Sure, there is always a slim chance that their personal value is wrong. But, 1) you will not change it and 2) the chances are higher that they are correct and you just have not had that "class" yet. So, let it go. practice submission and honor and see how you behave in 20-30 years.

Honor and respect are totally different beasts. You give honor. People earn respect. Honor your leaders regardless of how much they bother you. Keep pouring out honor as long as you serve them. Leaders often rise to the level of honor they have been given. You can impact them this way.

Stop taking things personally. When they question something you do or suggest or propose, they are not attacking you. You will do yourself a major favor if you would get yourself out of the center of everything. Most of the time, it is not about you. And even when it is, it is their job to make you aware of it, not your job to assume it.

Stop slamming your leader. If you are talking negative about your leader behind their back, you will have no confidence when you are in their face and your relationship will never be healthy. Honor them bhind their back. Even with your spouse. In fact, your spouse will almost always follow your emotions. If you do not like a leader, she/he will not either. If you honor them, so will they.

Older leaders are a well of wisdom and stories....but if you are not interested in receieving what they have, they will be mature enough not to just force it on you. Desire it. Ask for it. Don't just sit there. You have to ask questions so they feel invited to share what they have. Older age can be a very vulnerable time....give the leaders ahead of you the confidnce that you care to hear their hearts!

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How do you think I learned these lessons? Yup. The hard way. No reason for you to do the same. Please share this news with others you know that need to read it. Save them some heartache.

Let's do this! Welcome to 2012!

2012-01-01T16:25:00.001-05:00

Hello my dear blog-reading friends,

I just wanted to wish you a Happy New Year and tell you that I look forward to the year ahead of learning and sharing together online.

I deeply value the online presence and ministry that the Lord has entrusted to me and I long to use it to the glory of the Father this year more than ever. It will be a wonderful year together!

"Not to us, oh Lord, not to us, but to your name be the glory because of your love and faithfulness." Psalm 115:1

Noah

20 Lessons from 2011

2011-12-31T09:06:00.001-05:00

For the last few weeks I have been slowly tweeting the top 20 life lessons that 2011 taught me. I must say that this year brought more change inside the depth of my heart than any single year of my life. Here are the top 20 lessons I learned this year:

Obey Jesus!! Wether he tells you to move to Africa or walk across the room.
Talk less. It creates space for so many beautiful things!
Listen to God. He is speaking. Try listening. Listen to the scripture. Listen to His other kids. Listen to His Spirit.
Calm down. An anxious presence disrupts many possibilities.
Worship honestly. Don't lie to God w/ your songs. Remember that worship God wants has more to do w/ actions than words!
Love purely. This only happens when you truly love people wether you are with them or not...mistakes and all.
Stop judging. It is not your job and it wrecks your relationships (plank alert). Love instead- way more fun!
Please Jesus. Not people. People will ALWAYS dislike things about u. Quit living to please them & you might please God.
Speak prophetically. Listen for God & speak what you're hearing him say. Sounds whack. Takes practice. Start trying.
Release control. Relax. Stop over-planning & needing to know everything. U aren't in charge. (Thanks, Africa 4 this one.)
Stop lying to you. If you've been lying to yourself about things and it hasn't taken you anywhere, try truth. Might help.
Stop gossiping. Or half-gossiping. It will drastically increase your relational confidence & cleanliness. #cleareyes
Disciple someone. Pick them, go to them, tell them they're worth it and go all out discipling them toward Jesus obedience.
Be discipled. Pick someone you honor, go to them, tell them u r submitting to them to lead you toward Jesus obedience.
Numbers distract. Count, but u can't control them, be low when they're low or take credit when they're high. #inchurch
Elevate others. Used to think it was more exciting to be up top or out front. Not anymore. Now I long to empower others.
Spend less, give more. (In 2011 Tricia & I made less than we've made in 10 years & gave more than we've given in 10 years!)
Abide. Dwell in Jesus. Remain in Him. Live connected to Jesus! THIS is the key to all fruit-bearing! John 15
Ask questions. Good, provocative, specific & open questions. (This link has some goodies: http://goo.gl/04Zzg)
Rapidly obey the next thing you're reasonably sure Jesus wants you to do. Goal is obedient hearts, not perfect hearing!

The Apostle

2011-12-29T17:52:00.001-05:00

Tonight I tweeted this:

For apostolic leaders, no 1 church is ever enough to fulfill them. Neither is 1 project. Or 1 city. Or 1 state. Or even 1 country.

Shorly after this, a friend emailed me asking me when I first knew that I had apostolic calling and gifting and how people react to that?

I emailed him back. Then, I realized....what I wrote should be a blog for others to also join the conversation. So, here goes.

I used to think that Apostles were freaks and that the very word "apostolic" meant they are full of mess most of the time. Perhaps it was because I watched Robert Duvall portray an apostle in his movie "The Apostle" one too many times. Actually, loved some thing about that film. Did not love some things. That is for a different day.

Little by little, I saw use of the term "Apostle" in the Bible and among leaders I actually trusted. Then last year, I read Floyd McClung's "You See Bones, I See an Army" and he described Apostolic Leaders in detail (I am now serving with Floyd here in Cape Town and have the privilege of being personally discipled by him). When I read his explanation of Apostolic leaders, I cried. IT WAS ME!!!!!

That was the first of many moments in the last 18 months where I realized that I AM APOSTOLIC! That is my NUMBER ONE PRIMARY spiritual gifting. Period.

Why have I been afraid of it? Maybe because it is an awesome calling? Sure it is! But the Lord told me as a little boy that he had an awesome calling on my life. Why would I now deny it over a title or jacked up cultural connotation?

Something significant has come alive in me this year as I have allowed myself to develop in a Biblical and practical understanding of Apostolic calling.

Apostles:

First ones in.

First ones out.

Pioneers.

Risk Takers.

Say the hard things.

Make the hard decisions.

See way ahead.

Full of vision.

Always dreaming.

Always itching.

Never satisfied with where we are.

Always see more.

Always think bigger.

Often inspiring and engaging.

Can think so big that they cannot actually take step one to make it happen.

Get carried away.

Fight pride.

Chase good ideas when they should only be chasing God ideas.

Can run over the Evangelists and Prophets.

Threaten the Pastors and Teachers.

I could go on. With good and bad stuff.

We could and should look at passages like:

Acts 13, 15, and 19
I Corinthians 3, 4 and 11
Ephesians 2, 3 and 4
And a whole lot more.

People may judge you if you use the word, "apostle". That is their problem, not yours. Encourage them to read the Bible a few times and study every place the word is used while at the same time taking their eyes of cultural usage. If we should stop using terms because people have messed their meaning up, then we should stop using the word JESUS too!

Your thoughts?

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CLICK HERE to read a post I wrote on the Five Fold Giftings a few months ago.

Financial Support of our Work

2011-12-27T07:51:00.001-05:00

Our family is sending you each the greatest holiday love and blessings that we can! We count it a high honor to serve Jesus here in Africa and the partnership of many people, families and churches make God's calling our reality.

It is hard to believe that we are wrapping up our first year in Africa. We both tend to think that God has done more IN us than THROUGH us, but we have deep gratitude for both.

As we wrap up 2011, we look back thrilled with what we have seen. As we head into 2012, we are sure that the future is bright with opportuinities to love people and make disciples.

The truth is this-- we cannot be here without financial partners. Period. And we are stll in need of investors. $20 a month is a big deal to us! A one time gift of a few hundred dollars helps tremendously. As the end of the year approaches, might you consider one of two things:

1. Might you be willing to make a one time contribution to our missions work? You can do so online with a debit/credit card by CLICKING HERE or by mailing a check to:

Eastern Mennonite Missions

PO Box 458

Salunga, PA 17538

(Be sure that "Kaye Support" is in the memo of the check.)

2. Might you be willing to make a monthly pledge for the coming year? If so, you can set that up online by clicking HERE or simply email me, message me or comment here and I will personally walk you through the process.

It would be so encouraging if the Lord would lead you to act on this invitation to partner with us! We trust the Lord for His continued provision through you.

"Every time we think of you, we give thanks to our God....for you have been partners in spreading the good news about Christ..." Phil. 1:3-6

Reasons to Rejoice

2011-12-25T05:48:00.001-05:00

Merry Christmas!

You know, I guess there would be lots of things to complain about today-- about how we feel being 8,000 miles away from our family on Christmas day. About how so many of our traditions just cannot happen this year. Or about how I am sweating when I wish it was snowing.

But, instead, I want to tell you some reasons I am rejoicing today.

Five Christmases ago, Trica and I sat and wept in our living room because we felt so ready for kids and a family. Today, we had an exciting and sweet (almost) 5 year old with us and a little baby girl kicking her Mommy's belly excited to come out and join us. We are rejoicing.
For the last 30 Christmases, I am not sure I thought much about the poor and the untouchables. Today, we are living among and near many poor, sick and less fortunate friends who are a special part of our heart, life and family. Our lives are less about us this Christmas than they have ever been before. Davis even chose a few Christmas gifts that he just recieved today--that he wants to give away to some boys in Masi-- and he already knows who they are going to. We will deliver them later. We rejoice in this.
Last week, we had the privilege of providing leadership for a massive Chritsmas party in Masiphumelele that impacted hundreds of poor children. They received lavish love like they likely have not all year. It was so neat to bless these kids and to see the Lord open the door for a local hotel chain to fund the whole thing. We rejoice about this. (See pic)
Last night, I had the honor of providing leadership for a Christmas Eve gathering at the All Nations campus here in Cape Town. We sang. We worshipped. We told Jesus why we are so glad he came. We shared. We listened. We ate. It was sweet. Sweet to experience Emmanuel, God with us. And sweet to feel the love in the air. We rejoice that we get to be a part of such a brilliant community of faith. (see pic of candlelighting)
Though we are far from family, Jesus has done what he promised us. Not only do we have the technology to make things way easier (see pic of us skyping the family yesterday), but he has blessed us ten times, even a hundred times for our faithfulness. We were with many friends yesterday. Many more today. I promise you, we have no shortage of loving relationships in our lives. In addition, Tricia and I just agreed that we have both seen more growth in our lives this year than ever before! God is moving and we are rejoicing.

We hope that you take a moment and name some of the many reasons you have to rejoice- regardless of your situation.

Merry Christmas from our hearts to yours. We love you.

See the full gallery on Posterous

THAT Area

2011-12-18T12:42:00.001-05:00

This morning, in one of my churches, we looked at Luke 18:18-27...it's the story of the rich man. The Lord really spoke to my heart about something today through this story.

Here's what happens:

A rich man asks Jesus what he must do to inherit eternal life. While asking him, the guy calls Jesus "Good Teacher".
Jesus says something like this: No one is good excpet God. The commandments are-- no adultery, no murder, no stealing, no lying and honor your parents.
The rich dude then says: "Hey, I have always done these things."
Jesus responded by saying: "You are still missing one thing. Go and sell all you have and give it to the poor and you will have treasure in heaven. Then, come follow me."
The man gets really sad. It hurts. He had a lot of money.
Then Jesus makes this statement: "It is easier for a camel to fit through the eye of a needle, than for the rich to enter the Kingdom of God."

Here's what really emerged for me:

God does not want half my heart. He is not impressed with 75% either. He wants all of me.
Not only does he want all of me, but he wants THAT area. You know, that one that I do not want to give up. That one that I think I deserve to keep since I do not lie, murder, commit adultery, steal or dishonor my parents.
That thinking is about you being good. Jesus made it clear that none of us are "good." Did you catch that part?
Jesus looked into this rich man's heart....he knew his story...and he asked for obedience in the area that was most precious to him...and most difficult to yeild. That area.
He loves our total and radical obedience. This story proves it. Sell it all and give it to the poor. Total. Radical.
I do not think that the point of this story is really about rich people. You can have plenty of money and a surrendered heart. And you can be dirt poor with an unsurrendered heart.
Heart. It is about our hearts. Jesus wants them, and he is not interested in sharing them with anything or anyone else.

What is/are the area(s) of your life that Jesus would have picked if it were you in this story instead of the rich man? Today, I have admitted two areas in my own life. What are yours? In what areas are your heart not fully submitted and surrendered?

Advent Conspiracy

2011-12-12T14:04:00.001-05:00

This pretty much says what we need to hear. God, help us.

Discipling Up, Down & Across

2011-12-11T02:18:00.001-05:00

I have an intensely growing passion for discipleship. Especially obedience based discipleship which I define HERE.

I have blogged about the fact that I think we have a discipleship crisis HERE recently.

Then, I got lots of questions about whether you should pursue discipling relationships or wait on them. I answered that HERE.

Even earlier, I had blogged about 2-way discipleship. Read that HERE.

I actually now belive that there are 3 primary discipling relationships, not 2:

Up (someone more spiritually mature shapes you, they speak truth into you, they challenge and encourage you, they say hard things and ask provoking questions, they are ahead of you in the race, you honor them by offering them the truth of who you are and where you are at).
Down (you, as the more mature one, shapes and disciples the less mature follower of Jesus, you love them by digging into the dark or raw places of their life, hold them accountable and reproduce what you are receiving from the ones discipling you).
Across (peer discipling - you and a peer disiple each other back and forth on various spiritual issues, sometimes you are being shaped and sometime you are shaping your peer, you both share openly and sharpen each other without needing to name a leader among you--deep accountable friendship).

***I want to say that this year/right now is the first time in my entire life I have had all three of these discipling relationships-- and it is paying major dividends in who I am becoming.***

Soon, I will blog a series of three posts below. I think it is a real need as people just do not know where to start becuase they have never done it:

How to choose someone to disciple you.
How to choose someone to disciple.
How to choose peer disciples.

Online Addiction Confession

2011-12-07T10:33:00.001-05:00

Perry Noble (a Pastor in South Carolina whose perspectives I often disagree with) has a way of hitting a hum-dinger every now and then. Today he posted about online addiction and I think it is a BRILLIANT post!

I struggle!! Me. Noah. I fight! I have been for years. I still am. I have gotten better. But I am not there yet. I will continue to utilize social media as I continue to ask God to purify my motivations and teach me balance and proper priorities. I really believe that the Lord will keep teaching me and walking with me to wholeness and healing.

Read Perry's post...here is the text below and here is the link to the actual post.

___________________________________

CONFESSION: This article is more of a confession that it is a correction! It’s not about what I see others doing/not doing but rather something I have realized for myself and am currently wrestling through, hope this helps some people! It was one of the most divine slaps in the face I had ever received; in fact, I’m still recovering from it, let me explain…

A little over a month ago I was with a group of about ten people or so in a restaurant where we had gathered to celebrate and reflect on the end of a pretty intense season of ministry we had just completed. We had seen God do some amazing things and had more than enough reasons to be excited about the evening. We got our menus, spoke with each other about the options in front of us and then chatted about what we preferred and then placed our order with the waiter.

After the waiter was gone I pulled out my cell phone. Please understand, no one had texted me. No one had called me. I did not have any voice messages from earlier in the day. Why did I pull out my cell phone then? Simple…I needed to check Twitter. As I did this something told me to stop and listen…and when I did I heard no conversations taking place at the table. No laughing. No celebration. No recalling what the Lord had done. Then I looked up and discovered why…

EVERY SINGLE PERSON AT THE TABLE WAS LOOKING DOWN AT THEIR CELL PHONE!

Doing what, I have no idea…probably twitter, facebook or whatever…but what stood out to me in a very convicting way was that ALL of us were neglecting being connected with the people who were right in front of us and were engaging in something else that, for some reason we all considered to be more important.

I was convicted! BIG TIME! Here I was with a group of friends that I should be enjoying life with and instead I was obsessed with an online perception that I somehow felt was more important than the relationships that were right in front of me. Thought began to flood my mind of other times I had done the same…

The times I had been on the couch with Lucretia, and instead of engaging her in conversation I am seeing how many people retweeted me.
The times that Charisse had been trying to get my attention and instead I was trying to see how many “likes” that NewSpring’s facebook page had.
The times that I had been in a room FULL of people and opportunities to engage in conversations that mattered, but instead I was more obsessed with clearing another level of Angry Birds.

Like I said, it was a divine slap in the face and I realized that I was neglecting real community, real people who were right in front of me and instead engaging in relationships online that were superficial at best and achieving “high scores” on games that had absolutely zero significant value.

Honestly, if I found out today that I had 30 days to live my obsessions would not become how many twitter followers I could gain, now many times I could dominate “words with friends” or even having to check who had written on my facebook wall in the past 15 minutes. It would be people, REAL people and REAL relationships that would be important to me.

Please do not misunderstand this! I am NOT the anti-social media guy! I love keeping up with people via the world wide web. I love playing a game or two on occasion. I love the fact that I know a lot about my friends all over the world because they update their lives via social media.

However, I finally came to realize that I had personally allowed social media to become an obsession that was distracting me from what was really important rather than a tool that I could make use of. I had allowed it to steal time away from my family and my friends…and call it what you will, but I had to call it sin.

What am I doing about it?

FIGHTING through it! I believe social media CAN be as addicting as alcohol, drugs or gambling. It meets a perceived need of inclusion, acceptance and friendship (you DO understand that most of your facebook friends are not actually your friends don’t you?)

I’m having to FIGHT to make the decision that at dinner time the cell phone does not come with me to the dinner table. That is my time with my family…and any “emergency” will just have to wait!
I’m having to FIGHT through the “need” to check up on twitter when I am in a group of people with whom the Lord has put me in a live, active relationship with.
I’m having to FIGHT to not play games on my phone or Ipad when I’m in a room full of people with whom I need to be paying attention to.
I’m having to FIGHT to not be engaged with an online audience at night when opportunities to engage with my wife and daughter are way more important and way more fruitful in the long run.
I’m having to FIGHT to not take my phone with me into important meetings and carry on texting conversations that cause me to disconnect from what I should be paying attention to!

It’s a fight…and just something I’m learning and wrestling with. I will still be blogging, still be tweeting…but for me it’s going to have to be put in it’s proper place. Because…

I’ve also seen that an addiction to social media can take our eyes off of Jesus and put them on people, thus causing us to cave into the fear of man and completely forget that we are called to fear God.

And…many times we can’t even obey what the Lord says in Psalm 46:10 because we are so dang connected!!! We can’t respond to the voice of God because we’ve been trained like Pavlov’s dog that when we hear “the tuning fork” (aka. notification from our phone that we have a text/email) that we feel the need to immediately respond, thus ignoring what is right in front of us.

One more time let me say it again–I’m NOT against social media, smart phones, games and such…but they should be used wisely and be a tool in our hands rather than the obsession of our day that we just can’t seem to do without.

I love your church!

2011-12-06T09:29:00.001-05:00

I love your church! I assume that most of you reading this probably attend a nomal, traditional, typical, western, established church. And that is the church I am talking about.

I love the way you worship Jesus together each week.

I love the heart that your church has to reach and love people.

I love the ministry that your church puts its hands and heart to.

I love that you have a building with which to care for people and their needs.

I love the history in your church and the legacy it is leaving.

I love the collective wisdom that the poeple in your church have.

I love the stories and memories you must share.

I love the people in your church. They are the most amazing resource you have.

I love you.

And it will be so neat to see where God takes you all in the years to come.

Making Babies in Church

2011-12-04T15:20:00.001-05:00

So, with Tricia 8 months pregnant now, what an appropriate time to discuss making babies and issues of reproducability. ;-) I know you love the title of my blog. If you think that churches should reproduce into new churches, read on. If not, move on to another site.

I think that God longs for us to make disciples that make disciples and to plant churches that plant churches. In order for churches to plant churches, they must have a certain reproducability feasabilty to them. Which is a problem, because most do not.

Remember this: We reproduce WHAT we ARE! When white human beings reproduce, they make white human babies. When Chihuahuas reproduce, they make Chihuahuas. When cows reproduce they make cows. We can only naturally give birth to what we are.

How do you reprocuce the following?

A million dollar building or a rented Middle School.
A slick sounding name.
501c3 status.
A Constitution and Bylaws.
A logo and letterhead.
Bank accounts.
Treasurer & a Secretary.
A Pastor (and maybe several) who makes a full time salary.
A Mission and Vision Statement.
A Worship Team.
A Projector.
A sound system and sound board.
A board or group of Elders.
And a whole lot more....

This presents a major tension. Since we can only reproduce what we are, then churches that ARE the above can only reproduce the above. But, who can afford this? How many churches can manage to come up with all of this? And why would they? Most of them are not truly happy with what they have....which is why (if they were honest) they would never consider reproducing it, anyway. So they don't.

Bottom line is that I belive that our disciple making and church planting must be reproducable...so it can keep spreading....organically....because the harvest is too great for things to stall.

What would happen if this was all you needed to reproduce church?

A small group of 5-15 people who want to follow after Jesus.
A living room, a bedroom, a boardroom, a soccer feild or a starbucks (anywhere that a small group of folks can meet for no cost).
A few Bibles or Mobile phones with Bibles on them.
Open and hungry hearts.
Willingness to love the lost.
Trust for the people you are launching out and some courage to overcome fear of something new.
Agreement to reproduce again soon.

I am not saying that one approach is better than the other. I AM saying that one is more reprocable than the other.

And remember-- we reproduce what we are. I want to see churches make babies! But they are largely infertile. I think that they need some medicine....maybe the Bible offers some prescriptions?

Most People Look at Porn

2011-12-01T00:59:00.001-05:00

Most men look at pornography. Practically all research indicates between 50%-80% of men and not too mush less than that for women--who have an even harder time abmitting it. Your Dad probably did, maybe he still does. Your brothers probably look at porn. Your husband probably looks at porn--and lies to you about it. You Pastor likely looks at Porn too-- and is totally stuck because if he says a word to anyone, he's convinced he will lose his job.

You might look at Porn to. On the same computer you are reading this blog post on.

And women look at porn too-- increasingly so.

And while looking at it, men and women alike, masturbate, leaving them artifically sexually satisfied and destroying normal sexualty with their spouse or future spouse.

It is destructive, thrilling, addictive, exciting, harmless (so you think), harmful, and easy to hide while it destroys all that you are and all that the Lord wants to do in you.

This morning, I read one of the very best, open, and honest articles on porn that I have ever seen. It nails the issue with spiritual confidence and truth. There IS HOPE!!

Please click here at READ THIS post on Mark Driscoll's Resurgence Blog!! I think you will find it powerful. It is slightly, but appropriately graphic- be warned.

How to Ruin a Relationship

2011-11-29T15:52:00.001-05:00

Today I tweeted this: "Had a revelation today about how I've screwed up past relationships and how changing one thing has changed everything. Blog later."

I would like to tell you exactly how to ruin a relationship:

Look for the bad in a person. (You will have absolutely no problem finding it.)
Judge them in your heart for their poor character.
Tell yourslef how much better you are--so that you feel really good about yourself.
Look for opportunities to tell others about the poor qualities you've found in that person and slip it in like it is no big deal (or even as prayer requests or fake-care comments).
If they agree with your negative sentiments, talk about the other person together-- and be sure to justify what you are doing by saying that you just needed a safe place to vent.
Make sure you tell your Spouse as well and make an excuse because it is ok to tell your spouse everything in your heart.
Keep repeating steps 4 & 5.
Find other people that you do not like and repeat steps 1-7 again.

Here is the impact of living like this. Please read this carefully:

You are sinning and the sin produces guilt in your heart.
You are being disloyal and harmful to the person and deteriorating their character.
When you see them, you will not be able to look at them in their eyes. You will shady and shifty.
Someting will be "off" in your relationship.
You will be carrying secrets.
Trust is lost whether the offense is ever uncovered or not.
The person you have bashed gets the vibes you are slinging with your shifty eyes whether they know anything or not.
Whether the person you gossiped to is totally trustworthy or not, the person you gossiped about WILL find out one day. Count on it.
You become insecure everytime you are with the one your gossiped about.
You can forget about any real in depth, life giving stuff happening in the relationship.
You have ensured that the relatioship will not last. It is the beginning of the end.

Sound like I know what I am talking about a tad? Yeah, because I have been there. Done this. Got the T-shirt. Ashamed and repentant, Tricia and I comnmited in our hearts when we landed here in Africa 10 months ago, that we would look for the good in people and talk about that and leave the bad to the Lord to work on. And we are currently forming the most honest, authentic and life changing relatioships we have ever had.

Do you struggle with this? You can change. Start today. Call 1-800-shutyourmouth. Or email lookforthegoodinpeople@gmail.com.

Seriously, God can heal this in you. Now. Starting now. And as he does you will be amazed at the confidence you will walk in as you relate to people with guilt-free eyes and heart.

A Documentary

2011-11-28T06:45:00.001-05:00

Several months back we were contacted by a couple in one of our partnering churches. They are Nathaniel and Alathea Elliott from Grace Bible Church in Lanham, Maryland. They explained how they have a heart for stories, journalism, videos and Africa and that they sensed the Lord asking them to come visit us here. They asked if they could film a documentary on our family (leaving the Pastorate and moving to Africa) and our ministry here in South Africa. After we tried talking them out of it, convinced that our life is not exciting enough for this, they seemed insistent. We agreed and entered into a planning journey. They are coming in March and we are super excited about this opportunity. Watch this video for a glimpse into their hearts.

A Discipleship Crisis?

2011-11-27T09:45:00.001-05:00

I'm sad. I'm concerned. I'm scared. Here's why.

I think we have a discipleship crisis. Globally, perhaps.

Many, many people just are NOT being discipled. Or discipling others. Africa and much of the west is over-evangelized and under-discipled.

Let me just define what I mean when I use the word "discipleship." I think that someone is discipling you if:

You have a meaningful and totally authentic realtionship with someone who focusses on your spirtual growth and followership of Jesus. If there are secrets, it is not real discipleship.
You meet regulalry. Weekly, biweekly or monthly. (Nice when coffee or food is involved.) Meeting less often than once a month will not bear the fruit your life needs.
You are challenged, encouraged, confronted and loved on.
You are being coached toward obedience to Jesus and are being held accountable in that obedience.
It could be a spiritual Father or Mother or even a mature peer. But the point is that they care for your soul and the main agenda is Jesus, not small talk. Spirttual more than natural.

"GO and make disciples of all nations, baptize them and teach them to obey all that I have commanded you." Matthew 28:19-20

"You have heard me teach things that have been confirmed by many reliable witnesses. Now teach those truths to other trustworthy people who will be able to pass them on to others." 2 Tim. 2:2

Now, let me put in very specific and personal terms:

Yesterday I met with a 24 year old who has been a Christian for 10 years. He has never been discipled one on one. No one has ever asked about his soul, his heart! Ever. I see major potential in him. When I offered to enter into a discipling relationship, you would have thought I gave him a new car. Broke me.
My sister is visiting with us now. She shared with me that in 33 years of being "in the church" no one has ever initiated a discipling relationship with her. (Share this with her permission.)
Tricia is being actively discipled and actively discipling another for the first time in her life right now.
One young man that I am currently discipling has held high leadership position in his church for the last 5 years. Not a single one of the multiple Pastors or Elders in the church have ever discipled him. God help us.
When I was in the Pastorate, I did not disciple a single person with any long term intentionality in the terms described above. Yes, I am embarassed to admit this.
I am not even sure whether I was being discipled myself...through Bible College...and as a Pastor.

Honestly, almost every single Christian I meet is not being actively discipled....or discipling another. And the efffects are detrimental. I think that true discipleship is the conduit to the gift the world is waiting for....JESUS!

Are you being discipled? Are you discipling others? Is your experience different? Am I just missing it and sounding an uneccesary alarm? I hope so. Please tell me your expereince. Comment.

I want my Mommy! Happy Thanksgiving!

2011-11-24T01:18:00.001-05:00

It's Thanksgiving morning in Africa. Well, kinda. It is technically Thanksgiving in America. In Africa, it is just a normal day. Our neighbors are leaving for the job site. All systems are go.

Today is our first meaningful holiday we have been away from family. We have now lived here in Cape Town for 10.5 months.

Yesterday, Mom sent me an SMS asking me what time we would be getting together to make my pumpkin pie- a tradition we have had for many years. It hit me when I read that. We will not be making our pie this year. I cried. In the grocery store. Like a fool. I miss my MOMMY!!

I will miss the vibes of this day. The vibes on Thanksgiving day in America are just special! Crisp air, naked trees, Christmas already in the air, slamming food, Macy's parade, cider, smells, feelings...we miss it. And I will miss seeing my beautiful sisters come strolling through the doors with their hair and make up all did up and their dishes of food all prepared. And my Brother-- he would be cooking up something domestic and unusual. He will put a woman on defense. ;-)

As much as we will miss, we are also thankful and joyful today. Thankful that Selah came to visit us. So awesome! It has made a massive difference. And we are excited to just go on a day trip to Hermanus and Franschoek. Google them and be jealous. ;-)

And finally, I am thankful that we obediently followed Jesus to this place. We are precisely where he wants us to be. And there is not an earthly possession, no holiday, no friend or family member worth cashing that in for. Will desire for obedience to God to be the main longing of our life....even if it costs and huts some days. God makes up for it in other beautiful ways!

So, today we are THANKFUL! And we say to you, Happy Thanksgiving!

Powerful Spoken Word

2011-11-20T11:59:00.001-05:00

I found the way this man used poetic art to be provoking, inspiring and anointed! Check this out. It is worth your time. That's why I put it here.

600 Sermons

2011-11-16T06:03:00.001-05:00

Here is an idea I would like to share with you. Forward it to your Pastor.

This idea starts to welcome simple church DNA into established church structures.

There is a biblical value of church that many of us are sorely missing out on. Here it is:

We ALL bring something of Jesus when we gather. (I Corinthians 14:26)

God speaks to all of us....the educated and uneducated, rich and poor, fat and skinny, greedy and generous, black and white, short and tall, mean and nice...ours is a living God that speaks to all mankind through His word, His spirit and His people.

Do you believe that? If not, there is no need to read on. If so, you may like this idea.

Here goes. Follow these 10 steps:

1. Pastor is supposed to preach on Sunday.

2. Instead of preparing a sermon, he prayerfully selects a story from the Bible. Let's say he choses John 10:1-10

3. Pastor prays that God uses it among the church and tells no one what he is planning to do (because people freak out over change).

4. Pastor takes stage to preach, opens Bible and reads passage.

5. Pastor says something like this: "This story is so good!! When I went to prepare to preach on it, I got totally excited about what the Lord may show each of you from the story. I bet that God has some powerful things to say through you today and we need to hear it."

6. Pastor asks people to place themselves into groups of 4-6 people that they are fairly comfortable with. It is ok to be with your friends and family. (At this point the people will look at you and do nothing for a few seconds and the anxiety in the room will increase 10 fold. This is how you know you are moving in the right direction.)

7. Pastor asks the groups to have two more people read the story again...once for the head and once for the heart.

8. Pastor asks groups to work at the following 3 questions: 1) What do you understand in this passage? 2) What do you not understand in this passage? 3) What will you do to obey what God is saying to you through this passage? OR these 3 questions: 1) What do you notice about God? 2) What do you notice about people like us? 3) What will you do to obey?

9. Ask for a few folks to share something that they heard from someone else, that was very powerful. (Rule: they may NOT share what they said, only what they heard another say.)

10. Pray and Dismiss church.

What happens?

Some people get mad the Pastor because he made them uncomfortable. Pastor may get some emails being told "preaching is what we pay you for."
Some visitors feel weird for a minute cause they don't know anyone. Who cares? At least they know from their first day with you that you all share with each other and listen to each other. That's what every human longs for.
Iron sharpens iron.
People are mutually edified.
Everyone shares.
Everyone is heard.
Scriprure comes alive for people.
Some people make new friends.
People learn each other's names.
The Pastor gives some of his power away.
The volume in the room rasies substantially as it buzzes with spiritual dialogue. So cool!
Jesus is glorified.
And imagine that the church doing this is about 200 people in size...instead of one long sermon being preached, there are about 600 short sermons being preached by 200 people. How cool is that?

Note: I am not suggesting that you a) do this to tick people off (that is a wrong motivation) or b) do this every week. But what may start to happen in the church that does this once a month?

I just believe it is time to get people talking. They have so much to give each other.

This idea starts to welcome simple church DNA into established church structures.

(Re)defining Church :: A Video Blog

2011-11-14T08:51:00.001-05:00

(Re)defining Church from Noah Kaye on Vimeo.

Jesus for President

2011-11-12T01:11:00.001-05:00

Last week I fininshed reading "Jesus For President" by Shane Claiborne (website here). Honestly, I am not even going to attempt to review it here in any detail. Too rich for that and too deep for that. It would just provoke a bunch of (controversial) conversation among people who have not read the book....which would be far more fun happening between people who actually have read the book.

I just want to say that it is one of the best books I have ever read in my life. I wept and worshipped my King multiple times while reading it. I would frequently have to lay it down and sit in silence and conviction for the flippancy with which I live my life. And I promise you that, for most of you, if you would read this book, you will get a picture of Jesus you have never had before. And you will probably realize that your theology needs some serious attention and revision.

I especially really, really, really reccomend this book to American Christians who like Fox News. And also to anyone who posted gratitude toward veterans on their Facebook wall yesterday (and I am not saying that it was wrong if you did so). Which reminds me....I saw this on Facebook yesterday. It deeply grieved and saddened me. If you want to know why, read this book.

Provocative Questions

2011-11-10T09:05:00.001-05:00

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I am coming to believe that there is major power in asking the right questions. I am also learning that I stink at asking good questions and I want to get better. Proverbs 20:5 tells us that "the purposes of the human heart are deep waters, but those who have insight draw them out." I yearn to draw things out of the waters of people's hearts.

Here are 10 AWESOME questions to ask an accountability partner each time you meet. Use them regularly with another Jesus follower and I promise you that there will be fruit flowing from it.

1. Have you been a testimony this week to the greatness of Jesus with both words and actions?

2. Have you been exposed to sexually alluring material or allowed your mind to entertain inappropriate sexual thoughts about another this week?

3. Have you been responsible with your finances or have you been consumed with wanting something that does not belong to you?

4. Have you been honoring, understanding, and generous in important relationships this week?

5. Have you damaged another person by your words, either behind their back or face-to-face?

6. Have you given into an addictive behavior this week? Explain.

7. Have you continued to remain angry toward another?

8. Have you secretly wished for another's misfortune so that you might excel?

9. Have you spent daily time alone with God in prayer and in the Word this week?

10. Have you left anything hidden in answering these questions?

Can you imagine what would happen if we all met in pairs, triads or quads and worked through these regularly? Wow! HERE is the link for these questions at their original source. They are called LTG questions.

_________________________________

For kicks and grins, here are some more provocative questions that I compiled and weeded through. You could pick and chose these as the Holy Spirit leads you.

This week....

(Spiritual)

Did the Bible live in me this week? Did I give it time to speak to me every day?
Am I enjoying prayer?
When did I last speak to someone about my faith?
Did I disobey God in anything?
Was Christ real to me?
What known sins have I committed since our last meeting?
What temptations have I been met with? Were you delivered? If so, how?
In what ways did God make his presence known to you since our last Meeting?
Which spiritual disciplines did God use to lead you further into holiness of heart and life?
Have you sensed any influence or work of the Holy Spirit since our last meeting?
What spiritual gifts did the Spirit enable you to exercise? What was the outcome?
What is the condition of your soul?
What sin do you need to confess?
What have you held back from God that you need to surrender?
Is there anything that has dampened your zeal for Christ?
What do you need to ask the Spirit of God to reveal to you that you have not yet understood?
Have you spoken with a non-believer about your faith in Jesus Christ? With Whom?

(Relational)

Is my conscience clear in how I feel toward and speak of the people in my life?
Did I break people’s confidence and share private information I had no right to share?
Is there anyone whom I fear, dislike, disown, criticize, hold resentment toward or disregard? If so, what am I going to do about it?
Is there anyone toward whom I am jealous?
Did I give priority time, energy and emotion to my spouse and kids this week?

(Sexual)

Have I been with a man or woman anywhere this past week that might be seen as compromising?
Have I exposed myself to any sexually explicit material?
Have I commited adultery or fornication this week?
Have I crossed any lines that it seems clear Jesus did not want me to?
How pure or impure have my thoughts been?

(Financial)

Did I pray about the money I spent?
Have any of my financial dealings lacked integrity?
Did I buy things that I did not need?
Am I currenytly looking to justify a purchase that I know I should not make at this time?
What have I given away this week?

(Character)

Was I consciously or unconsciously creating the idea that I am better than I am?
Was I honest in all my acts or words, or did I exaggerate?
Was I a slave to dress, friends, work, or habits?
Was I self conscious, self-pitying, self-absorbed, self-centered or self justified?
Did I insist upon doing something about which my conscience is uneasy?
Was I defeated in any part of my life?
Was I jealous, impure, critical, irritable, touchy, or distrustful?
Did I grumble and complain?
What fruit of the Spirit would you like to see increase in your life? Which disciplines might be useful in this effort?
What opportunities did God give you to serve others since our last meeting? How did you respond?
Did you encounter injustice to or oppression of others? Were you able to work for justice and peace?
How has the Bible shaped the way you think and live?

(Schedule)

Did I get to bed on time and get up on time?
How did I spend my spare time?
Have I spent adequate time in Bible Study and Prayer?
Have I given priority time to my family?
Did I invest the proper quality / quantity of time in my most important relationships?

HERE is where I gathered most of these questions and sorted through them. This is a compilation of the ones I liked best.

My Favorite YouTube Videos & A Porn Warning

2011-11-06T13:45:00.003-05:00

Yesterday we had a little party with friends where we all shared our favorite YouTube videos as we watched together and laughed. Laughter is great! There should be loads more fun happening in Christian community than there currently is! When is the last time you just had an evening of laugher with fellow Jesus followers? It's good stuff.

Anyway, last night I tweeted that I would share my faves with you on the blog. Here goes. After spending lots of time previewing lots of good YouTube videos, these are my list toppers in no particular order. MOST of them are very clean. A few could offend the easily offended. I have chosen to share them anyway. If you are easily offended, simply do not risk it. Don't watch any.

David after Dentist
Montgomery Flea Market
Ignatius the Youth Pastor
Hide your kids, hide your wife
Bed Intruder Song
World's tallest man meets worlds smallest man
I'm gonna kick his ask
Kittens. Inspired by kittens
I told my kids I ate their halloween candy
Miss teen south carolina
Funny Video Shower Prank
Weather Graphics
Preacher Beeper
Unicorn After wisdom teeth
Baby Bopping to Single Ladies
Forgot the Blueberries
Sophie Can Walk (Language warning, but super funny.)
Bizkit the sleep walking dog
Demitri Martin Flip Chart
Boom goes the dynamite

__________________

And now for the part of the title that caught some of your attention...a PORN WARNING...

Yesterday, while I was spending intentional time searching out the best of the best YouTube videos, I noticed something....

YouTube can be a slippery slope into pornography. The way it is designed seems to vacuum people into garbage. You can type "Jesus love you" into the search box and get women half dressed and titles advertising body parts. It's sad, really. And as I noticed this (and successfully fought the temptation to click on these enticing titles), I really felt the desire to warn people. Be careful. You can tell yourself "it's just YouTube" and end up several hours later in a place you do not need to be. And weeks later, months later, years later in a LIFESTYLE you do not want to be living.

Most of you either look at Porn already or it impacts your life in some other rather direct way. That can change. There is help. Take step 1....stop hiding. Yes, I think that is step 1. Admit it.

My Favorite YouTube Videos & A Porn Warning

2011-11-06T13:45:00.001-05:00

David after Dentist
Montgomery Flea Market
Ignatius the Youth Pastor
Hide your kids, hide your wife
Bed Intruder Song
World's tallest man meets worlds smallest man
I'm gonna kick his ask
Kittens. Inspired by kittens
I told my kids I ate their halloween candy
Miss teen south carolina
Funny Video Shower Prank
Weather Graphics
Preacher Beeper
Unicorn After wisdom teeth
Baby Bopping to Single Ladies
Forgot the Blueberries
Sophie Can Walk (Language warning, but super funny.)
Bizkit the sleep walking dog
Demitri Martin Flip Chart
Boom goes the dynamite

__________________

And now for the part of the title that caught some of your attention...a PORN WARNING...

Yesterday, while I was spending intentional time searching out the best of the best YouTube videos, I noticed something....

Most of you either look at Porn already or it impacts your life in some other rather direct way. That can change. There is help. Take step 1....stop hiding. Yes, I think that is step 1. Admit it.

My Favorite YouTube Videos & A Porn Warning

2011-11-06T13:43:00.001-05:00

David after Dentist
Montgomery Flea Market
Ignatius the Youth Pastor
Hide your kids, hide your wife
Bed Intruder Song
World's tallest man meets worlds smallest man
I'm gonna kick his ask
Kittens. Inspired by kittens
I told my kids I ate their halloween candy
Miss teen south carolina
Funny Video Shower Prank
Weather Graphics
Preacher Beeper
Unicorn After wisdom teeth
Baby Bopping to Single Ladies
Forgot the Blueberries
Sophie Can Walk (Language warning, but super funny.)
Bizkit the sleep walking dog
Demitri Martin Flip Chart
Boom goes the dynamite

__________________

And now for the part of the title that caught some of your attention...a PORN WARNING...

Yesterday, while I was spending intentional time searching out the best of the best YouTube videos, I noticed something....

Most of you either look at Porn already or it impacts your life in some other rather direct way. That can change. There is help. Take step 1....stop hiding. Yes, I think that is step 1. Admit it.

Past Time for a Reformation

2011-11-05T02:27:00.001-04:00

A freind passed this on. I found it so insightful. What do you think?

1. Let’s reform our theology. The Holy Spirit is the third person of the Trinity. He is God and He is holy. He is not an “it.” He is not a blob, a force, or an innate power. We must stop manipulating Him, commanding Him and throwing Him around.

2. Let’s return to the Bible. The Word of God is the foundation for the Christian experience. Any dramatic experience, no matter how spiritual it seems, must be tested by the Word and the Holy Spirit’s discernment. Visions, dreams, prophecies and encounters with angels must be in line with Scripture. If we don’t test them we could end up spreading deception.

3. It’s time for personal responsibility. We charismatics must stop blaming everything on demons. People are usually the problem.

4. Stop playing games. Spiritual warfare is a reality, but we are not going to win the world to Jesus just by shouting at demonic principalities. We must pray, preach and persevere to see ultimate victory.

5. Stop the foolishness. People who hit, slap or push others during prayer should be asked to sit down until they learn gentleness is a fruit of the Holy Spirit.

6. End all spiritual extortion now. Christian television ministries must cease and desist from all manipulative fundraising tactics. We must stop giving platforms to ministers who make outlandish claims of supernatural financial returns, especially when Scripture is twisted, deadlines are imposed and the poor are exploited.

7. No more Lone Rangers. Those who claim to be ministers of God—whether they are traveling evangelists, local pastors or heads of ministries—must be accountable to other leaders. Any who refuse to submit their lives to godly discipline should be corrected.

8. Expose the creeps. Churches should start doing background checks on traveling ministers. Preachers who have been hiding criminal records, lying about their past marriages, preying on women or refusing to pay child support should be exposed as charlatans and shunned if they do not repent.

9. Stop faking the anointing. God is God, and He does not need our “help” to manifest Himself. That means we don’t sprinkle glitter on ourselves to suggest God’s glory is with us, hide fake jewels on the floor to prove we are anointed or pull chicken feathers out of our sleeves to pretend angels are in the room. This is lying to the Holy Spirit.

10. Let’s return to purity. We’ve had enough scandals. The charismatic church must develop a system for the restoration of fallen ministers. Those who fall morally can be restored, but they must be willing to submit to a process of healing rather than rushing immediately back into the pulpit.

11. We need humility. Ministers who demand celebrity treatment, require lavish salaries, insist on titles or exhibit aloofness from others are guilty of spiritual pride.

12. No more big shots. Apostles are the bondslaves of Christ, and should be the most impeccable models of humility. True apostles do not wield top-down, hierarchical authority over the church. They serve the church from the bottom up as true servants.

13. Never promote gifts at the expense of character. Those who operate in prophecy, healing and miracles must also exhibit the fruit of the Spirit. And while we continue to encourage the gift of tongues, let’s make sure we don’t treat it like some kind of badge of superiority. The world needs to see our love, not our glossolalia.

14. Hold the prophets accountable. Those who refuse to take responsibility for inaccurate statements should not be given platforms. And “prophets” who live immoral lives don’t deserve a public voice.

15. Let’s make the main thing the main thing. The purpose of the Holy Spirit’s anointing is to empower us to reach others. We are at a crossroads today: Either we continue off-course, entertained by our charismatic sideshows, or we throw ourselves into evangelism, church planting, missions, discipleship, and compassionate ministry that helps the poor and fights injustice. Churches that embrace this New Reformation will focus on God’s priorities.

Wow! See the full post HERE.

Stop Posing. Secrets are Draining.

2011-10-27T15:14:00.001-04:00

Living authentically is something I would guess most of us long for. But the truth is that many people don't! The fact of the matter is that many people live with secrets. There is often a valley between who we portray ourselves to be and who we really are when no one else is looking. Sadly, sometimes it is more of a canyon than a valley.

Speaking from experience, secrets are draining! They zap the life out of you. They take the wind out of your sails. Maintaining a false image of the real you takes a lot of energy and focus...becuase you don't want to slip up and give a sneak peak of the real version of YOU.

Look, I want to share something with you and I hope you hear the heart in it....

The more authentically you live, the more energy and life you will have inside your heart. I have found that the more I live out of the real core of who I am and not the fake me I want everyone to see, the following things happen:

Relationships stop consuming as much energy and start producing it.
My conscience feels clean, so my eyes can look clearly ahead.
My sense of security goes up as I realize how much Jesus loves me...the real me...my crap and all.

Can I encourage you to look honestly at yourself. Do you have multiple versions of yourself to keep up with? The "you" you want others to see and the "real you"? Or are you living whole...with integrity? I really believe that the more you close the gap between the public and private YOU and the more you renounce secret and shameful ways, the more God will blow the roof off of your life and use you for the Kingdom.

Keep real! Don't pose.

Obedience to Jesus = Presence of Jesus

2011-10-24T11:48:00.001-04:00

Obedience to Jesus is a theme that has been capturing my heart these days. I wrote about it here.

Obviously, John 14 and 15 take the cake when it comes to Jesus repaeting himself about this obedience thing. Watch this:

14:15- If you love me, keep my commands.

14:21- Whoever keeps my commands loves me.

14:23- Anyone who loves me will obey me.

14:24- Anyone who does not love me will not obey me.

14:31- I do exactly what the Father has commanded.

15:10- If you keep my commands, you will remain in my love.

15:14- You are my friends if you do what I command.

15:17- This is my command: Love each other.

So, things are pretty obvious. The print in my Bible for all these verses is in the color red. Jesus was speaking. And he was clear in his desire for our obedience. This is how we actually love him...obey him.

But, check this out. I never noticed this until recently. Not only does our obedience seem to communciate and prove our love for God, but it seems to me that our obedience also welcomes his presence and nearness. Watch this:

14:1-4- Don't worry about anything or get afraid. I am preparing a place where we will be together! Presence.

14: 5-14- I am the way to the Father. Relax. If you are in me, you are in Him and have access to Him. Chill. Presence.

14:15-21- As you obey me, I will send an advocate, the Holy Spirit who will always be with you. As you obey, I will be with you-- I will never leave you as an orphan. Presence.

14:23-27- I will make my home in your and give you major peace. Presence.

John 15- Total connection...branch to the vine. Packed with presence and closeness.

Then, listen to the famous great commision in Matthew 28: "Go into all the world, make disciples, baptize people and teach them to OBEY and I WILL BE WITH YOU TO THE ENDS OF THE EARTH!"

Obedience = Presence.

Seems to me that Jesus loves to BE where He is OBEYED!

Your thoughts?

Truth is a Person

2011-10-20T16:52:00.001-04:00

While watching the film "Furious Love" a Pastor/Missionary from the Netherlands named Jan Sjoerd Pasterkamp uttered somthing in about one miute that I thought was strikingly profound. What Greg Boyd says leading into it aint too shabby either. I went back and grabbed it on video. Check this out...

IMG_3916.MOV Watch on Posterous

10 Second Rule

2011-10-20T16:22:00.001-04:00

What does it actually mean to follow Jesus? Simply put, it means to believe Jesus' message and obey it. So, why is it we don't obey more often than we do?

Years ago I noticed that during the course of my day I'd have an impression from the Holy Spirit to do something I was reasonably certain Jesus wanted me to do. It would be an impression to either do something good for someone or refrain from doing something wrong. It might be to stop for a car broken down on the highway, speak to a co-worker about Jesus, or simply turn off my computer before I ended up at a site where no Christian should go.

Almost simultaneously I would sense another voice whispering to discourage me. "You don't have time to do that – helping that person could get messy – you can't afford to help them right now – stand up for your rights – you deserve it – it's okay, once more won't kill you.

If I listened to this other voice and thought about it long enough, the moment for obedience would pass, often to my relief. It finally dawned on me that by procrastinating on being obedient to Jesus, I was unintentionally teaching myself the habit of disobedience.

Why is that? Why did I hesitate? Because I knew that most decisions to obey would cost me something...time, money, embarrassment, inconvenience, or a momentary pleasure denied. By choosing not to obey Jesus, I avoided all of that! Without hardly thinking about it, I automatically counted the cost and the price seemed too high for me.

Then I learned a simple rule that could break that cycle: The 10 Second Rule. Just do the next thing you are reasonably certain Jesus wants you to do, and do it immediately before you change your mind!

Why did I hesitate? Because I knew that most decisions to obey would cost me something – time, money, embarrassment, inconvenience, or a momentary pleasure denied. By choosing not to obey Jesus, I avoided all of that! So the reason I wasn’t more obedient to God? Without hardly thinking about it, I automatically counted the cost and the price seemed too high for me.

Then, I learned a simple rule that could break that cycle: The 10 Second Rule: “Just do the next thing you’re reasonably certain Jesus wants you to do.” (and do it immediately before you change your mind!)

“If you love me, you will obey what I command.” -John 14:15

So, I intentionally committed myself to become more sensitive to the leading of God, and to practicing simple, spontaneous obedience. As I did, I began developing the habit of obedience. I actually began looking for ways to follow Jesus daily, even hourly. As a result, obedience became an adventure rather than a duty.

Christian experience over the centuries has proven that godly character is most powerfully shaped by the cumulative effect of thousands of small obedient decisions. And these small decisions prepare us to be even more faithful when major, crisis-of-faith challenges come our way.

Here is the true power behind The 10 Second Rule: Even though every Christian knows we can never obey Jesus perfectly all of the time, that’s no longer an excuse. We do know this: we can do the next thing we’re reasonably certain Jesus wants us to do. This is obedience you can do – obedience you’ll want to do!

__________________

This idea has been devloped by Clare De Graaf and also built into a book by the same title. Link to it here. I have not actually read the book yet. I plan on it. The very idea as shared above impacts me deeply in and of itself.

If it weren't for Jesus!

2011-10-19T07:08:00.001-04:00

I can say with confidence that I love Jesus Christ more today than I ever have in my life! I love his heart. I love his dreams. I love his character. I love his compassion. I love his grace. I love his mercy. I love his presence. I love his mission.

Many time in my life, I have heard people say Jesus saved them out of a life of destruction and sin. I can't really say that Jesus saved me OUT of that, but I can say that he saved me FROM it!

I have been trying to get to know me. And the more I get to know me, the more I realize who I am and what I would be capable of if it were not for Jesus.

If it weren't for Jesus, I would be materialistic and greedy owning every new thing I could get my hands on showing no self control in getting it.
If it weren't for Jesus, I would be run over top of a lot of people to get ahead.
If it weren't for Jesus, I would be deeply insensitive to the needs and feelings of others.
If it weren't for Jesus, I would be sexually promiscuous with plenty of women, not the lover of one.
If it weren't for Jesus, I would have never scored the godly GEM of a bride that I did.
If it weren't for Jesus, I would be addicted to alot more than just coffee, Apple products and reading. I would abuse tobacco, drugs and maybe alcohol.
If it weren't for Jesus, my aspirations would be centered on money, pride and position...all things that pass away. I would have wasted my life on a bunch of meaningless junk.
If it weren't for Jesus, I would be leading a whole lot of people! But, as my Mom always told me, "Thank God that you are taking people to heaven with you. If not, you sure would be taking a lot of people to hell with you!" I think if it weren't for Jesus, I would be leading and influencing alot of people down the wrond road!

But, because of Jesus....it is an entirley different story. And today, I just have to tell you how thankful I am that he has saved me and how very much I love him!

_______________

He lifted me out of the slimy pit, out of the mud and mire; he set my feet on a rock and gave me a firm place to stand. -Psalm 40:2

5 Gifts...which one are you?

2011-10-17T10:30:00.001-04:00

I have been reflecting on Ephesians 4 lately. In verses 11-13 we see Paul explain that GOD gives out gifts to people for the building up of the body of Christ. I love this passage. There are whole books written on it. I blogged about it HERE. Let me tell you what I am seeing in it now. Something simple.

I think we all have one of these gifts. In fact, I tend to think that most of us have a primary operating gift and a secondary or supporting one. (And Apostles tend to know how turn any one of them on in spurts, but are excellent at none.)

My description/understanding of each:

Apostle: Visionary leader. Pioneer willing to move ahead and take risks. Often the first one to speak up and the first one to stand up. They are usually the radical type. They will be the first one into the island and the first one out. They are kinda like the engine---or the front bumper of the car. May get themsleves in trouble easier than others. Many Apostles are Pioneers. Some run over top of people. But they inspire us! They call us ahead. They see the mountain and are ready to take it on! Usually very engaging and captures the attention of the room he/she is in.
Prophet: Sees God. Hears God. Speaks up for God. Tuned in to the spirit more than most of us. Sensitive to God's voice. And then shares what they sense. Often see pictures, visions, and dreams. Maybe these folk are a tad like the instrument panel in the car and tell you what's up, what's ahead--often stuff you did not see at all. May scare people at times by being too whack. But they carry a deep spirituality that we all love and are inspired by.
Evangelist: Madly in love with Jesus, won't stay quiet about it and must tell everyone they can. Carries heavy burden for lost people. Mouthpeice. Like the horn of the car, perhaps. Tend to get carried away too quick and leave with too much undone. Need to care about discipling too, though they forget it sometimes. Fired up for Jesus. Usually have a story to tell about how much they love the Lord. Stand out and speak up. Usually emotionally charged--and it's good--it's refreshing!
Teacher: Love to correctly talk. They want to share, but it needs to be accurate stuff. They are not a fan of some of the other loud mouth gifts that have no idea what they are saying. These poeple love when they can help people "get it"! They long for truth and want to share it. They can tend to be cautious and thinkers. Maybe like the GPS in your car. Play a guiding role. Offer a voice of wisdom that is deeply needed. Keep other gifts out of trouble if the other gifts will listen.
Pastor: Lover of people. Oozing compassion. Tuned into YOU and the details of your life. Good memory. Deep lover. Shepherd. Can care too much and become entangled. They are really into the relationships being formed inside the car. Side note: Most of the Pastors you have met are not Pastors according to this definition. My heart breaks for them as they are forced to be someone they are not for a paycheck.

We need all of these gifts in the church. For some crazy reason, we do not encourage these ministries to be actively and evenly carried out in the church. Please reread the last sentence. I know what I am...I think. Who are you? Do you see yourself here? What do you think of this stuff? Teach me something. Comment or email me. Interested in what you know.

African Creed

2011-10-14T07:25:00.001-04:00

Today, my friend Brandon shared with me a section in a book he is reading. It WOW'd me!! The book: Christianity Rediscovered by Vincent Donovan. The section was entitled: "The African Creed." It was a Masai version of the Nicene creed written by African Missionaries. Check this out:

We believe in the one High God, who out of love created the beautiful world and everything good in it. He created man and wanted man to be happy in the world. God loves the world and every nation and tribe on the earth. We have known this High God in darkness, and now we know him in the light. God promised in the book of his word, the bible, that he would save the world and all the nations and tribes.

We believe that God made good his promise by sending his son, Jesus Christ, a man in the flesh, a Jew by tribe, born poor in a little village, who left his home and was always on safari doing good, curing people by the power of God, teaching about God and man, showing the meaning of religion is love. He was rejected by his people, tortured and nailed hands and feet to a cross, and died. He lay buried in the grave, but the hyenas did not touch him, and on the third day, he rose from the grave. He ascended to the skies. He is the Lord.

We believe that all our sins are forgiven through him. All who have faith in him must be sorry for their sins, be baptized in the Holy Spirit of God, live the rules of love and share the bread together in love, to announce the good news to others until Jesus comes again. We are waiting for him. He is alive. He lives. This we believe. Amen.

A 5 Minute Video of a 13 Day Journey

2011-10-13T07:05:00.001-04:00

Watch this. It captures at least a fraction of the trip we just completed. What an expedition in mission and discipleship for us all. Enjoy. I wish I could tell you all of the stories behind these images.

Mozambique Journey 2011 from Noah Kaye on Vimeo.

Update from Swaziland

2011-10-09T16:51:00.001-04:00

I have terrible internet, so while I've got a (weak) signal let me update you. I'll just give some short statement highlights.

Our final days in Mozambique were relationally and spiritually significant.

John's Dad was begging us to please leave this God at his house. He said he'd never seen a God like this. We prayed Luke 10:6 over him as we departed. As he received Christ's peace, it remained there.

We had a total of three run-ins with the corrupt Mozambican police. We almost lost our vehicle once to them. The final time just short of the border we had quite an incident where I stood up for what I believed was right. God rescued us. Period! Bottom line: they are highly corrupt and want to rob foreigners blind.

We received a warm welcome in Manzini, Swaziland. Swaziland only contains one million people. Over 30% of the country is HIV positive-- highest of anywhere on the planet. Though, the country is 99% Christian. Go figure that one out. I've got one hint for you: under-discipled perhaps?!

Today, we traveled to a very poor and rural area to encourage a fairly new church in the faith. This church was started last year as a result of Darrel Hostetter's Luke 10 journey. Darrel is a gracious and pastoral EMM staff member whose family spent 12 years ministering here in Swaziland. He's the reason we are here today. He asked me to visit while we were ministering in Southern Africa.

This morning, I taught and John and Ernest testified of God's saving power in their lives. These guys are waking in passion and anointing. They make me want that new believer passion again.

Tomorrow we are leading 2- three hour seminars/gatherings on simple church planting--Discipling values and Biblical church values. The rest of the guys will assist with some of the teaching. Excited about what lies ahead tomorrow.

We are 24 hours drive from Cape Town now. We plan to depart early Tuesday morning, sleep on the road Tuesday night and be back with our families Wednesday.

Please pray for me. I really, really miss Tricia and Davis!!! And pray for them too. I think they miss me as well.

Pray for the rest of our journey--ministry, conversations, safety. Pray as the Holy Spirit leads you.

Much love!!

A Story on Forgiveness

2011-10-06T05:07:00.001-04:00

Yesterday, while traveling in Mozambique from Chibuto to Chokwe, we passed something strange. Along the side of the road there were four boys gathered around a fifth boy. As we passed, one of the guys noticed what was happening. One of the boys being punished and humiliated. He was being forced to squat rapidly and continuously.

At their demand, I stopped the car rather quickly and driving into the dirt, made a u-turn returning to the scene of the incident. John, Ernest and I got out of the truck and asked what was going on. Indeed, the boy was being punished. The cause: he let the cows eat too much feed. Since they were gonna get punished too, he was gonna get double. Here's the sad part. The boy was weeping as he squatted. The desperate kind of cry.

John immediately began advocating for mercy for the boy. "Think of the times you've been forgiven. It's clear that he gets the point now. Please forgive him and let him go." The ring leader stormed off into the field rather upset at our intervention. Then, within 30 seconds something happened in him. We think the Holy Spirit spoke to him. He turned around, came back and forgave the boy.

The pastoral love and care in John's eyes and heart as he fought for the boy to receive grace was moving. He held this boy like a loving Father and stood up for his release. One of the most powerful things I've seen in a long time.

I'm beginning to believe that there is almost nothing on earth more beautiful than making disciples who faithfully follow the Holy Spirit...and getting to watch them do it.

This moment was like a Luke 10 journey meets the story of the Good Samaritan. We could have just kept driving...but God spoke others plans and these brothers listened.

(Look closely at this picture- it's worth a thousand words.)

Update from Mozambique

2011-10-03T08:19:00.001-04:00

See the full gallery on Posterous

We've been here in Mozambique for two days now. I wanted to quickly share a few updates. (Posting this blog from my phone which is the only internet I can access at this point...so please pardon errors.)

It's been a precious time so far. Staying with locals in their home is a far, far different experience than meeting with them in the day and heading back to your hotel at night. Far different and far more meaningful and impacting. The food and welcome have been rich. The concrete floor has felt perfect thanks to the little mat I brought. The outdoor bathing has actually been very refreshing and freeing! Never been naked outside before. ;) I'm just thankful there's a wall to stand behind or these people would've been scarred for life. Selecting and killing two chickens last night was fun. 2 hours later we were eating them. (See pic of Mr. Machavo about to slice the poor thing.)

Yesterday, we held an unannounced DBS in the yard of John's Dad. 20 people attended. Mostly young men 18-30 years old curious about why we were here. It ended up being very special as John, Ernest and Shawn shared with their childhood friends how Jesus had captured their hearts in the last six months.

After this, we attended a local church in this village. It was a traditional African experience. They asked us to share greeting. I did. Then, John, who was interpreting for me followed after me. He stood there in front of hundreds of people that watched him grow up and boldly proclaimed his love for Jesus and the church. Then it happened. John spoke too boldly. With passion, he told the church that Jesus does not require that people come to him with money and certain behaviors or clothing. Rather, he accepts people and loves them as they are and then uses the Holy Spirit to grow them. He declared that the church needs to do the same. At that moment, the Pastor walks up and whispers in his ear. John concludes his sharing within 15 seconds. I was so proud of him and the courage he had. He didn't mean to offend and has had a sweet heart about the incident. We've encouraged him and given it to the Lord. Our job is to be sure that we never begin to think we are better and have it all figured out.

Tomorrow, we pack up and travel another 300km north in to Mozambique to visit more family and friends of Shawn and Ernest. Pray we would be a blessing. Pray especially for wisdom for Shawn as he approaches his Muslim family to share about his new and radical love for Jesus Christ.

I smell the fresh fish on the fire even as I type this. So, I better tune back in so I don't miss out. Thank you for your partnership and prayer for our journey.

Love you,

Noah

Off to Mozambique & Swaziland

2011-09-29T16:54:00.001-04:00

Hello friends! In 5 short hours (yes, I need to go to bed) me and 4 other brothers (one from Germany and 3 from Masi that we just baptized) head out for a pilgrimage to Mozambique (for a week) and Swaziland (for 3 days). We are driving in a Toyota truck and are looking forward to an amazing journey. It is about 24 hours one way.

The purpose: to meet the family and friends of our Mozambican brothers, to show them the change in their lives and to share with them about Jesus and his saving grace. We plan to also gather people and teach them about God's heart for church. Then, in Swaziland, I will be teaching for a few days on church planting with an organiztion called Acts of Faith (Mennonite work in Swazi).

This is a discipleship trip/missionary journey for these young followers of Jesus.

They are pumped! I am pumped!

Will you pray with us? The dirve is long, the mosqitos will be bad, the weather will be hot, the money is tight, the borders can be a massive challenge, but our GOD is able and in control!

(You can look back through this blog for many stories about these guys- John, Ernest, Shawn.)

Is Pastoral Resignation the New Fad?

2011-09-28T09:52:00.001-04:00

I tweeted this earlier today: "So many Pastors are resigning! I have lots of feelings about this. In a tweet, I think the reason is the office, not the church. Blog later." Now, allow me to share my thoughts.

(These are not my comprehensive thoughts on this topic. I have way more to say, especially from my personal experience, but that still needs time.)

I am starting to wonder if Pastoral resignations are becoming the new fad? When I resigned to follow God in a new direction, I knew of NO other Pastor by name that was leaving for the same reason. Then came Francis Chan. Man, did I feel validated. Even though I made my move before him. ;-) Then came a few others. Then Rob Bell a few weeks ago. Yesterday, I read about Shaun King. Each of us having stepped out of the Pastorate to pursue something more biblical, natural, discipling, smaller, whatever, whatever.

Meanwhile, many rebels exist! Maybe some of the guys I mentioned, maybe not. But they are out there. The traditional church hating, organized church opposing, book and blog writing, vocal opposers of church as it's done in most of the west. In my opionion, many of them are rebellious, hurt and acting immaturely, but they also have a deep and storng heart for Chirst and his Mission.

That said, I think that in light of the increasing Pastoral resignations, people will begin to think that these guys (myself included) are mad at the church building or the people in it. But I do not believe this is totally the case.

Though they may not have the mind to name it or the courage to admit it, I believe that the pain and frutration is not with the function of the church as much as the brokennes of the office. The role of the Pastor (as most of us in western organized church approach it) can be:

Unfair to the poor guy or gal in charge of everything. What a weight to carry! It can be so exhausting!! Trust me. Unless attendance and offering are high, then all is well that week.
Unfair to the rest of the people in the church who have their Bilical status unintentionally downgraded by a system many years old. Ministry that was supposed to be ours becomes his and theirs.
Unfair to Jesus. He wanted to lead. He wanted to have main stage. He wanted to be the man! So much for that idea.
Unbiblical. Other than Ephesians 4, find me one place in the Bible you find the word Pastor. And I do NOT believe that what we are doing is what Ephesians 4 meant.
Expensive! Expensive for the church. Yet, if it is threatened or changed, the Pastor now has to freak out at the thought of losing his job! Let me leave it there for now.
Confusing. After what we see and read in the New Testament about preisthood of all believers, the zillion one-anothers and the mutual edification and sharing, it leaves people confused..."am I supposed to do all this stuff in the Bible or let Pastor handle it?" (after all, it's why we pay him)
Out of style! It may have worked in Christendom, but I am telling you now that this model/office is not gonna sustain like it has in this post-Christendom era!
Counter-Kingdom. The church must always be opposite and distinct from the systems of this world. If businesses have CEOs and Governements have Preidents, the church must find the opposite essence of the Kingdom from which to function. It must not look like anything else we see around us.
And then, you have chuches like our home church who we love deeply. Becuase of the nature of the office, and the extreme importance placed on it, an entire commuity of faith gets tossed and turned several times in a row because 1 or 2 or 3 Pastors (people) leave the equation. Becaue they were "Pastors" it carries big pain and big implication. Are you telling me that this is what God has in mind for His church....that they should be so centered around one man that the whole thing goes whacko when he leaves? And are you telling me that a community of believers cannot discern together and experience Christ together without "the man" in the house? Really?

Final thought: What I am trying to say is that I think that more blame is placed on the church than it deserves. I think that the OFFICE of PASTOR as we hold it is the far more broken piece of the equation. And I am not saying any of this is the Pastor's fault! Or the church's fault! Fault belongs years and years back...if anywehere.

Final claims:

1. I know this post is going to ruffle some feathers. Send me your thoughts in the spirit of respectful dialogue and let's learn from each other.

2. I am not saying I am totally right here or even that I am set in this thinking. I disagree with myself about somthing every day.

3. I have been out of the Pastorate for almost a year and in that time have attempted to be very respectful of the office and sensitive to the people we lead. But it is time for me to open my heart and journey up more.

4. I do believe strongly in leadership! I am one. I also believe that the church needs the role of Pastor (maybe I will blog later about what I think a Pastor ACTUALLY is), Prophet, Evangelist, Teacher and Apostle...all functioning and all edifiying the body! It is a beautiful design. Just wished we lived into it. God had a great idea!

Leadership; Persuasive or Hierarchical?

2011-09-26T11:46:00.001-04:00

A friend recently shared this post with me about how leadership compares to parenting...particularly the differences between parenting small children and adult children. The more I have reflected on it, the more I like it. So, I wanted to share it with you here. This is an excerpt from the blog of Jamal Jivanjee. Credit is his! Read this. I think you will be challenged.

Parenting Young Children Was Easier For Me Because It Was A Picture Of The Law When I think back to the days when my daughter was a little child, parenting was much simpler and more defined. The relationship between my daughter and my wife & I back then was certainly more hierarchical to say the least. We told her when to eat, how much she had to eat before leaving the table, when to take a nap, when to go to bed, how to respond to people, and how she should respond to us as parents. There was no persuasion involved in her obeying the commands we gave her. We said it, she had to do it. If she did not obey what we told her to do, there were consequences. She learned quickly that we were in control, not her. The relationship was most definitely hierarchical.

I could never understand parents of little children who felt like they had to negotiate simple commands with their children. Children don’t have the capacity to think in complex ways and therefore need their parents to set boundaries for them and make decisions for them. When our daughter was little, we literally were in charge of most aspects of her young life. It seemed simple and easy. As our daughter grew older, we knew that would entail more freedom. That was never easy as mistakes, (both on her end as a young person and on our end as parents), were made with this new freedom. Freedom brought more choices and more potential for mistakes. Every time these things occurred, I longed for the simpler days of the past when my daughter was younger and there was simply less choices and more rules.

The older she becomes, the less that hierarchy is a part of our relationship. As my daughter approaches adult life, she is making more and more decisions on her own. A few years from now, the dynamic will change even further, especially if she gets married. As a result of this, I have realized that the way I lead my daughter must and should radically change from the way that I led her when she was a child. If the way I led her at 5, 15, and 25 stayed the same, that would be just plain weird.

If we look in the Old Testament, we can see the same thing. God’s people literally had to be told what to do in almost every aspect of life through the Law. This was to show them the character and nature of God’s holiness, and it was also meant to protect them as well. When my daughter was young, she needed a lot of external guidance to help her make the right choices. Now that she is older, she must rely on an internal guidance to guide her decision making process. Does my adult daughter still need leadership in her life? Absolutely. I still believe that I need to have a leadership role in her adult life, but this role will be more as a persuasive leader than a hierarchical one.

This brings me to my second point: Parenting Adults Is Harder For The Same Reason That Church Leadership Is Non-Hierarchical

Most parents with adult children that I have talked to have found out (the easy way or the hard way) that it takes more than an appeal to hierarchy to lead them. Don’t believe me? Try telling your 25 year old son or daughter that he or she cannot get up from the dinner table until they eat all of their lima beans. If they try to defy your command, tell them you are their parent, and the Bible says children are supposed to obey their parents. (That is an appeal to hierarchy) Let me know how that works out for you.

Obviously, that is a ridiculous example, but you get the point. At this point in their lives, you want them to be governed by something internal. This is a picture of life in the kingdom. Before Pentecost, the people of God were not grafted into His Son. They had to be governed by an external law. After God’s people were grafted into the Son at Pentecost, they were now governed by the indwelling Spirit of Christ. According to Galatians 5:18, those who operate by this indwelling Spirit cannot operate under the law. When we are governed by the Spirit of Christ and of life, we no longer need to be governed by the law of sin and death.

As I mentioned, this greatly affects leadership in the kingdom of God. We can see this radical shift from Law based leadership to kingdom based leadership in Jesus’ own statement about kingdom leadership: But do not be called Rabbi; for one is your teacher, and you are all brothers…Do not be called leaders, for One is your Leader, that is, Christ. (Matthew 23:8, 10)

This was a profoundly radical teaching on leadership in Jesus’ day, and it is still radical. This goes against the world’s system of leadership, and that includes the world’s religious system of leadership as well. Notice the reason behind the new understanding of leadership. It is because ‘ALL’ are brothers, and there is only one leader who stands as head over them. That is Christ. This removes the possibility of human hierarchy. (I told you it was a radical teaching by Jesus)

Although Jesus’ teaching about kingdom leadership should be the grid and filter through which we understand all the other passages in the New Testament regarding church leadership, this has unfortunately not been the case. I speak from experience as a Bible college graduate and as a former institutional Pastor. What I was taught completely ignored & contradicted the heart and spirit behind Jesus’ teaching on kingdom leadership in Matthew 23:8-12. Instead, I was taught to emphasize passages of scripture that seemed to suggest hierarchical church leadership in the absence of the framework that Jesus laid down in Matthew 23:8-12.

While I could give you numerous examples of this, for the sake of brevity, let me just focus on one verse that is regularly taken out of context in order to promote a false view of hierarchical church leadership. As an institutional Pastor, I regularly used this verse incorrectly to appeal back to hierarchy. The verse is Hebrews 13:17: Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they keep watch over your souls as those who will give an account. Let them do this with joy and not with grief, for this would be unprofitable for you.

When taken as a stand alone verse, this verse does seem to imply a hierarchical form of church leadership. If we keep in mind what Jesus taught in Matthew 23, however, there has to be another explanation. If we’ll look at this passage from Hebrews closer, we’ll see that this verse is not hierarchical at all. As a matter of fact, it is just the opposite! Let me explain.

There are a couple of Greek words that can be translated as ‘obey’ in the New Testament. The most common Greek word for ‘obey’ is the word (‘Hupakouo’) and signifies a hierarchical and authoritative understanding of obedience. That, however, is NOT the Greek word that is used in Hebrews 13:17 for ‘obey’! Are you surprised? The Greek word that is used for ‘obey’ is actually the word (‘Peitho’) which literally means ‘to persuade’ or ‘to win over’. The Greek word for ‘submit’ is the word (‘Hupeiko) which means to ‘yield’. Greek scholar W.E. Vine says this about Hebrews 13:17: The obedience suggested is not by submission to authority, but resulting from persuasion.

That changes things a bit doesn’t it? Can you imagine a military commander trying to ‘persuade’ the troops under his command? Can you imagine a parent trying to ‘persuade’ their child not to run out into heavy traffic? It wouldn’t work very well.

Persuasive leadership, however, is exactly the kind of leadership that is suitable for my adult daughter now, and is the kind of leadership that only works within the church. I would like to say that just because we are governed by the indwelling Spirit of Christ, this does not mean that we do not need to receive leadership. For example, my adult daughter still needs leadership in her life. It simply means that this leadership is persuasive in nature, and ultimately she is in control of her choices. I cannot mandate her obedience based on hierarchy anymore. Trust me, that would be much simpler, but ultimately this would not be good for her. This is also true in church life as well.

We are commanded to be a people that allows our leaders to persuade us, and as leaders, we would do well to appeal to persuasion rather than hierarchy. If you study the cults, they usually have leaders that demand obedience based on position or rank, certainly not persuasion. Honestly, this sounds a lot like how the world’s religious system operates as well.

As a dad, In some ways, I am finding it harder to parent my daughter now that she is older. There are things I desperately want to show her, and ways that I want to direct her that have to do with her well being. She has to desire that guidance, however. It cannot be forced. I have found that it is only when people recognize that they have issues, that they begin to look for help with those issues.

It is only when people, or church communities, are willing to recognize that they have issues and need help with those issues that they are willing to be persuaded by leadership. Until then, it can be a painful waiting game. Sometimes people and groups become more open to being persuaded by leadership when they get desperate. Many times it is hardship, failure, and brokenness that eventually lead to desperation and openness to being led. As a parent, or as one who loves the church, that can be painful to watch.

There are many more passages in the New Testament (like Hebrews 13:17) that need to be re-examined from outside of an institutional hierarchical filter. A great resource that throughly examines biblical passages about church leadership, as well as many other related issues, is a book called ‘Reimagining Church’ by Frank Viola. I highly recommend it. If you’d like to look into these things a bit further, please purchase a copy of that book. Click here to purchase a copy of this book online. This bring me to my third and final point:

Most ‘Institutional’ Church Leadership Is Designed To Control The Masses, But True Biblical Leadership Is Designed To Persuade The Few ‘More is better’ in the world’s way of looking at things.

If you look at the way Jesus did things, however, the opposite seems to be true. As soon as Jesus obtained a large following, He seemed to say or do something that drove the masses away. For example, when someone came to Him telling Him they would follow Him anywhere, He seemed to not make it easy by telling them that He was homeless. Jesus was always weeding out people.

Jesus did not lead the masses, and the masses were fickle. They turned on Him pretty quickly. Jesus seemed to focus on the hungry few however. He shepherded those in the community that served and followed Him. Jesus was the ultimate shepherd (pastor). Do you know what the basis of this pastor / sheep relationship was? It was an intimate knowing of one another. In John 10:14, Jesus says: I Am the good shepherd, and I know My own, and My own know Me This is beautiful. This was not just a theoretical quote by Jesus. He really did know the sheep He was shepherding. The ‘knowing’ of one another is key. Shepherding is a component of the life of Christ that is demonstrated in the body of Christ, and it will come about because of a relational knowledge of one another.

I am always amazed when I talk to people at large Mega Church institutions that refer to the man who preaches to them behind the pulpit weekly as their ‘Pastor’. Sometimes I ask them if they know the person personally. Nine times out of ten, the answer is “No, not really”. Most institutional ‘Pastors’ are busy people. Most have never shared a meal with their ‘Pastor’. Most have not spent a significant amount of time with them. There is simply no personal relationship there. It is all formal. When I ask them: “On what basis is that guy who stands behind the pulpit week in and week out your pastor?” I usually get a response that goes back to title, not relationship like Jesus demonstrated and taught in John 10:14.

I could say much more about all of that, but you get the point. If you want to control a large group of people, you simply teach people to submit to titles, offices, and positions. This is what governments do, this is what employers do, and this is what the institutional church system does as well. In the kingdom, however, it is much different.

Jesus appeals to His relational knowledge of us, and us of Him. In the church that Jesus envisioned, and in the case of my soon to be 18 year old daughter, true leadership will have to depend on something much more profound than title or hierarchy, however. Just some food for thought.

Free Coaching

2011-09-23T16:17:00.001-04:00

For many of us, it is hard to be confronted. It is hard for someone to tell you where you messed up, missed the mark or dropped the ball. It does not feel good to realize you were wrong. But the truth is that we all have things worng with our character. And sometimes, people care enough about us to risk telling us. Then, when they do, you have some important choices to make.

How will you react to the correction? How defensive will you become? Will you really listen? Will you really change anything?

Often, we get defensive and reactive. Well, today, a friend of mine (who wishes to get his credit in heaven and not on my blog), shared something with me that I thought was profound. He said:

When someone points out a flaw in your character, you should look at it like free coaching. People pay lots of money for coaches, consultants and counselors that tell them what is wrong with them and how to fix it. How much more valuable is the FREE gift of coaching from people who actually know you! What a great gift! Maybe if we would view correction into our lives as a GIFT of free coaching, we would become less reactive and more thankful and humble.

Just a thought...

Mozambique Trip Threatened

2011-09-21T18:04:00.001-04:00

Let me cut to the chase with the short version:

There is a very special trip coming up next week with local guys we work with...the trip is being threatened because of finance and could be saved if I can find a few people who can give a few hundred bucks!

Full Version:

If you have been following our ministry here in ZA, you are aware that I have been working with a new church plant for about 6 months, made up of men from Mozambique. You can find a number of posts and videos about them on my blog. A few weeks ago, we baptized 6 of the guys! Read about that here.

For the last few months we have been planning an expidition back to their home country of Mozambique for a missionary journey/ discipleship trip. Never done anything like this, but we really believe it was led of the Lord to go. It is a response to their faith, early in their faith journey. The guys want to go back to their families and friends and tell them all about what Jesus has done in their lives. I belive that we will see some impacted lives and salvations on this trip! We also hope to gather people in groups and may end up doing some teaching about simple church planting....with the guys as real life examples of what it produces.

We were scheduled to leave on Friday September 30th. The plan is for 5 of us to drive there (Noah, Viktor, Shawn, Ernest and John). It will take two days to get there. All of the guys have come up with money--as much as they can, but they are short. We need more money to cover the expenses of the trip (food and transport). We met tonight, discerned together and decided to look to the Lord for provision and make the decision in a few days as to whether we wil still go or cancel the trip.

If I can find 3-5 people that could give a couple hundred bucks, we can go! To these guys, that seems impossible. They make about $15 a day. To someone reading this now, it may be extremely possible.

If you can help, just shoot me an email or let me know however you'd like. I'm easy to reach.

I you cannot help, would you just pray that we'd somehow get the money to go?

Meserete Kristos Church. Only God.

2011-09-19T08:32:00.001-04:00

As you may know, Tricia and I are sent through Eastern Mennonite Missions (EMM) in PA, USA to serve with All Nations in Cape Town, South Africa. EMM has rich missions history dating back to the early 1900s. We came to All Nations with the hope of linking the to organizations together into richer Kingdom collaboration--relational and organizational networking leading to partnership in mission. This is the first such opportunity. (There is an initiative that I am partnering into called Project Engage. I will be telling you more about Project Engage soon. But, know that this trip is conencted to this as well.)

There is a very large Mennonite Church in Ethiopia called Meserete Kristos Church (MKC). EMM planted it 60 years ago (and turned it over to local leadership 10 years later). I have heard about the church and met some of the leaders over the last years. This is a massive and impressive church with a story that only God could have authored.

Brief MKC History: Planted 60 years ago by Mennonite Missionaries, Meserete Kristos Church (meaning "Church founded on Christ" in Amharic) is a church that has experienced major growth under major persecution. In 1971, a Marxist/Communist government forcefully came into power Ethiopia ("Derg"). The corrupt government tool all money and property from MKC and arrested many of their leaders. As a result, MKC went underground with about 5,000 members and 12 churches. At this point the congregations divided into cell groups/ Home churches. They were underground for almost 10 years. In that 10 years, God multiplied 10 fold and when they came above ground in 80s they were 50,000 people!! Due to cell life, real disciples emerged and people started knowing God personally and obeying him radically.

Today, this church has:

401,100 members
636 churches
856 church planting centers
27 Regional Lead teams
They are sending people out (Ethiopians) in mission like a machine (nationally and internationally).
And they are the largest Mennonite church in the world making up about a quarter of Mennonites worldwide (if I am reading the book accurately).

What is further fascinating is that it is 100% Ethiopian led! No white leader works in the office or makes the decisions. This is a fairly unusual situation for Africa.

When I arrived the other day and met with the head leader of MKC, he gave me a gift-- a book tracing the history of the church. I hung on each word of the 280 pages and completed it an hour ago. Great story!! (Picture above.) There is nothing like reading this book ON THIS SOIL!! Where it all happened. Awesome!

___________

Would you pray with us?

On this trip, I have met with their leaders about UUPG possibilities and gathered info that they are aware of. They are not only ready to assist in engagement of 2 people groups but, but have also helped me to see the massive potential on Ethiopia for reaching North Africa and the Middle East. Ethiopia has been defined as a Christian island in a Muslim Ocean (though there are still 34 of the 82 ethnic groups in Ethiopia unreached)!

Some exciting things are stirring for the future. My heart is full. Pray for EMM, All Nations and MKC as we discern possible kingdom collaboration and synergistic undertakings led of the Lord. We need wisdom, ears attuned to the Spirit and the courage to obey.

I Finally Believe!

2011-09-17T15:10:00.001-04:00

See the full gallery on Posterous

Here are some realities that I really hope you read and read again while listening to God:

Almost 7 billion people are on earth today.
Almost 3 billion do not know about Jesus yet!
There are 6,890 unreached people groups (less the 2% Christian) on earth today.
There are 1,015 unengaged people groups (no gospel presence and no one working there) on earth today.

(Interested in knowing more about this stuff, visit http://www.finishingthetask.com/index.html and http://www.joshuaproject.net/index.php. Note that some of their data is wrong in both directions, but it is close.)

Today I visited one of the unreached people groups (Silte) and discussed serious possibilities for (All Nations) adoption and engagement with an unengaged one (Argobba).

MKC Mission Director, Yemiru Tilahun (amazing Brother) personally drove me 3 hours outside of Addis Ababa to this unreached people group (Silte)! And something clicked in me. I have heard the stats above! I've read the books. I just did not really believe them. I mean, I did, but I needed to see one and touch one--it is just how I am wired. Today it happened. I have waited years for this.

I finally believe!

There is a lot going on in my heart tonight as I try to make sense of it all. I have more questions than I do answers, but I am sure of one thing...I want to give my life for this!!

Paul says something that makes my heart leap in Romans 15:20-21. Look at this:

It has always been my ambition to preach the gospel where Christ was not known, so that I would not be building on someone else’s foundation. Rather, as it is written: “Those who were not told about him will see, and those who have not heard will understand.

Do you realize that YOU could be a part of this? YOU reading this right now can help engage and reach one of these groups. There are a number of ways ranging from a prayer to packing it all up and moving here. Yes, you! Wanna give your life to something that changes earth and eternity?

Off to Ethiopia

2011-09-14T16:11:00.001-04:00

Tomorrow morning, I fly to Ethiopia. I will share what I can with you. I'm thinking that the best way to expalin it here is in short phrases and adjectives, becuase the story is so neat that I would end up wirting too much when I really need to head to bed.

So, here goes.

This trip is...

God-inspired
God-ordained
God-funded
Holy Spirit- confirmed
All Nations supported
EMM supported
MKC hosted
Exploratory - Spying the land
Kingdom Collaberative
Energy producing
Life giving
Loaded with possibilty
Last minute, yet somehow well planned
Extremely exciting
Preparatory for something coming soon
Prophecy fulflling
In perfect timing
Symoblic
And an answer to specific prayers

Main Purpose: So that people that do not yet know about Dad's love will experience him.

Would you back this in prayer? Although I am going alone, I am at peace and excited to connected with other followers there.

(I will post more if and when I can.)

This is discipling!

2011-09-13T15:43:00.001-04:00

I really, really appreciate the heart in this video.

Getting Things Twisted

2011-09-13T08:08:00.001-04:00

It seems that I can be so good at getting things twisted. And I don't mean too. I don't think it's on purpose. But it happenes, nonetheless. And then it gets revealed. Like this morning. I was listening to a friend at All Nations teach about the radical love that Jesus has for us as his "Bride". As he was teaching, he said something like this:

If we would just find our identity and satisfaction in JESUS and what he has already done for us out of His love, we will not need to find our identity and satisfaction in the the big things that we do for Jesus. In this case, we will end up doing even bigger things for God than had we set out to do big things.

Then I was reminded again of John 15 (posted about it here and here). We must not focus on and put our trust in the branches, but rather we must place our hope for life in the vine. Clearly, without the vine, the branch is dead. Apart for Jesus, I can do nothing! Seems clear to me. Look, I know this stuff is easier said than done, but I thnk that it is all a part for the journey toward humilty. The journey of getting ourselves out of the center (which I wrote about last week here).

May you find grace as you strive to get your eyes off yourself and onto Jesus, the true vine!

Mas-ambican Baptisms!

2011-09-11T11:36:00.001-04:00

See the full gallery on Posterous

Today was the greatest highlight of my time in Africa up to this point! No doubt! After 6 months of rich discipleship with 6 guys in Masi from Mozambique, they baptized each other this morning! It was SUCH an encouragement! These were no forced baptisms where they were'nt really ready, but we needed to get them under for the sake of the numbers. Nor were these guys getting dunked with no idea what it all meant. No. The Holy Spirit brought them to the place of curiosity and studying what the Word of God says about baptism brought them to a place or desire and readiness. Some of them were actually upset at us for not telling them about this earlier.

After studying Romans 6 about 3 weeks ago, they came to a place where one of them yelled out, "I'M READY TO DIE!" Well today they were "buried with Christ through baptism into death, in order that just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, they too may have new life." (Romans 6:4)

Will you thank God with us? And please pray for:

John
Shawn
Ernest
Vusi
Nando
David

____________

On September 30, I will leave for a trip with Viktor (a friend and co-worker from Germany), John, Ernest and Shawn to drive to Mozambique where we will share Jesus with ther families and friends and teach about simple church planting. After that we will head together into Swaziland for more church planting teaching with an MCC ministry there. This is a discipleship or missionary journey of sorts and our hearts are full of anticipation!

A New Kind of Sinner's Prayer

2011-09-08T16:36:00.001-04:00

Today I was in a DBS (Discovery Bible Study-- CLICK HERE to read about them) with some guys who do not really walk with God yet in any way. They were telling us that they do not know how to pray at all and that they would feel really uncomfortable to try to do so in front of anyone. Then, they asked a few really good questions about prayer. My friend and partner, Viktor, talked to the guys about how prayer is really just honest conversation with God.

Then something came over me and I just started mdeling a prayer for them that illustrated what we meant. It was a "Sinner's Prayer" like I have never prayed before. It went something like this:

Hi God, I feel like a real idiot talking to you right now. It feels incredibly awkward to be speaking to someone I cannot see or touch. If I did this in any other instance, my friends would wonder what the hell is wrong with me. But God, I want to learn about this prayer thing so I am trying to start somewhere. Help me learn to talk to you like this without feeling weird about it like I do right now. My life is really, really shitty and I am sorry because I know a lot of it is my fault. I have this feeling that you are trying to get my attention or something. So, I am gonna try to listen to you and what you are trying to say. I am even willing to attempt to do what you ask me to do, but I will need a load of help from you. Thanks. Bye.

If you are churched, you're probably really polished so you cannot handle a prayer like this. It is just too "disrespectful" to your diety and too unholy for you. But for the guys I am working with (and most of the people you saw at the grocery store today), this is about what they can do. Think about it.

My point? Let's teach people to talk honestly to God! Say what you think, feel, need, desire, regret, etc....and say it honestly. Let's take the "often-fake-repeat-after-me" prayers and replace them with honest conversations with God.

A Confession About My Pride

2011-09-07T17:40:00.001-04:00

Feeling the need for some honest confession recently. Some I'm sharing privately. Some publicly.

Here is my thinking....if I share honestly and openly about my own shortcomings, two things are likely to happen:

1. I get to live more in the light and the freedom of Christ. Secrets bind, honesty frees!

2. And someone else may just realize that they need to make the same confession so they too can live in the light.

My confesison: Over the years, the pride (and insecurities...which is also pride) in my heart has caused me to place myself at the center of too many things. Things that I do not belong at the center of. And I see it now and I am ready to change.

What do I mean?

The church board opposes an idea I bring. They must have a problem with me, then. Taking it personally, I place myself at the center of something that was not about me.
Attendance is not good. I am the leader. Must be my fault, so I put myself at the center and take responsibilty for something that is up to the Lord.
I sense that you are acting different toward me and our relationship does not feel the same. Then, I conclude that I must have done something wrong and you are upset at me. There I am, putting myself in the center of something that has nothing to do with me. Turns out that you are going through something that has absolutely nothing to do with me.
I get asked to do something (something good...in the church, even). I wrorry about what people will think about me if I do it or don't do it. What I was asked to do was simple and not about me! But, there I go putting myself right in the center of it.
I helped someone in there faith journey. Now they have fallen backwards. I take responibilty, putting myself at the center of their faith pilgrimage when their choices have nothing to do with me.

I could keep going and going. It is pride. I have done it more times that I know of! I do not want this to remain in my life. I am feeling that the Lord wants to heal and change this. I want JESUS to be the center and I want to stop thinking more highly or myself than I ought to.

Would you pray for me about this?

And would you be brave enough to look at your heart and see if maybe you need some similar confession and healing?

Church Planting Opportunity

2011-09-01T10:57:00.001-04:00

So, who is coming to join us in Cape Town? This is a question I have been asking the Lord over the last month. More specifically, who do we know that has the potential and heart of a church planter that GOD wants to call to join us in Cape Town for a 6 months Church Planting Experience here at All Nations?

As you probably know, Tricia and I completed CPx (Church Planting Experience) from February through June of this year. It was a life shaping experience for us! You can read the most powerful things I learned by CLICKING HERE!

This coming Febrauary, it starts again. People with a heart for the Lord and the church come together and prepare to go impact the Nations. And I am wondering who we know that the Lord might be preparing to come? I am excited that I will be joing the teaching team for CPx next year and serve as one of the contributors. Hope that does not stop you from coming. ;-)

Want your life forever changed and your heart for the nations pumped full?
Want to join a thriving community of believers preparing to radically follow God?
Want to spend 6 months in one of the most beautiful places on earth?
Want to have your understanding of church deepened and changed?
Want to pack up and leave it all to follow God into a new direction?
Want to be strecthed like never before?
Want to join a movement of people longing to see the Glory of God and the Gospel of Christ go out to the nations?

Then, Here is the link to the All Nations website telling all about CPx and directing you to the registration forms. CLICK HERE and join us in 2012!

May Jesus lead you!

I guess I'm an Anabaptist!

2011-08-30T09:31:00.001-04:00

Different people have told me to read "The Naked Anabaptist" for quite some time. I finally did. And I am so glad I did! Look, I really do not know how to review this book. It was so profoundly impactful for the theological pilgrimage that I have been on that it would be hard to put it into words for you.

Let me say this: "The Naked Anabaptist" is a humble, provocative and prophetic book! The tone is gracioius, the content is stirring and the Anabaptist tradition is laid out in a very honest way. The book basically deals a little with the history of Anabaptism, a little with the weaknesses of it, and alot with the core convictions that set it apart to be a prophetic and powerful voice to a post-christendom society. Here are the seven core convictions that the book works through:

Jesus is our example, teacher, friend, redeemer and Lord.
Jesus is the focal point of God’s revelation.
Western culture is slowly emerging from the Christendom era when church and state jointly presided over a society in which almost all were assumed to be Christian.
The frequent association of the church with status, wealth and force is inappropriate for followers of Jesus and damages our witness.
Churches are called to be committed communities of discipleship and mission, places of friendship, mutual accountability and multi-voiced worship.
Spirituality and economics are inter-connected.
Peace is at the heart of the gospel.

Now, be careful before you quickly conclude that you agree with these. We only believe that which we really live. And I would assert that few of us actually live this stuff.

There is lots more I want to say about this book (and I may say some of it in future blogs), but let me end with this for now:

After 15 years connected to an Anabaptist (Mennonite) church and network, 7 years leading an Anabaptist congregation, reading many books, studying the scriptures, growing in the Lord, and running with an anabaptist tribe (though embarassed to be at times).....and after reading this book, I am ready and willing to boldly declare that if Anabaptist life and values are really what are shared within the pages of this book, then I guess I'm an Anabaptist! There I said it.

Becoming Who You Are

2011-08-28T02:13:00.001-04:00

I recently read this book-- "Becoming Who You Are" by Dutch Sheets. Not only did I really, really like it, but it has strongly impacted me. Weeks later, it's truths are still speaking to me and shaping me. That's one of the signs of a good book. So, I wanted to give it a shout out on my blog.

Confession: I misjudged Dutch Sheets. The circles he has run in can make you think that the book will be another charasmatic revivalist book that replaces discipleship with the instantaneoius. Not so! In this book, Sheets dsiplays a deep, deep maturity in Jesus and a radical commitment to obedience based discipleship. Super impressed!

The book has 3 parts. Here is the very basic flow:

The Problem: God's spirit is supposed to be controlling our soul (mind, will and emotions) and our soul should be in control of our body. The problem is that this is not happening. We are getting it twisted. Things are out of order in our lives! We have become soul-controlled instead of spirit-controlled. This is a profound problem that needs addressed if we are going to live victorious in Jesus.

The Provision: Jesus! The cross, words, example and life of Jesus...that we are failing to embrace and live into.

The Process (for becoming who you are): Chewing, dwelling, remaining, resting, standing on and with the word of God. Our good ideas will not heal us. Only God's ideas will. We must simply start and stay there. (It is way deeper than this, but this is the best I can do to explain it.)

Struggling with feeling like you are not making noticeable progress in your faith and identity journey? Read this book!

Rule of 2

2011-08-22T10:52:00.001-04:00

This season of my life and ministry has me learning loads about the value, importance and priniciples of discipleship. Here is one that I am dwelling on this week. This will likely be a value I will carry with me the rest of my life.

Here is the value or prinicple:

Healthy Biblical discipleship should flow two ways...being discipled and discipleshing another. Someone more spiritually mature should be discipling, shaping and pouring into you. And you need to be discipling, shaping and pouring into someone not yet as far along in the faith as you are. We need both in our lives to bring humilty and fruitfulness. I am experiencing this right now in my life and it is proving to be tranformational.

The Biblical basis is simple. Let's call it the "Rule of 2" = 2-way discipleship as seen in 2 Timothy 2:2 which says:

You have heard me teach things that have been confrimed by many reliable witnesses. Now teach these truths to other trustworthy people who will be able to pass them on to others. 2 Timothy 2:2

If you are not currently experiencing this type of 2-way discipleship, I encourage you to ask the Lord for it. Pray and believe that he will set this up in your life. He may even ask you to help him.

7 Disciples, 7 Months

2011-08-20T03:02:00.001-04:00

When we had been living in South Africa for 3 months, I posted THIS BLOG expressing my gratitude to the Lord for the 3 guys that I was in a discipling relationship with. It was a fulfillment of a word the Lord had given to me and an honor to walk with these brothers weekly.

Today, I am even more excited....4 times more excited, to be exact! Becuause, this week we celebrated 7 months here and I am now in an intentional discipling relationship with 7 young men!

What do I mean by a discipling relationship? Think Jesus and the disciples....execpt, he was Jesus!! ;-) I spend time with these guys one on one or in pairs at least once a week in prayer, discussion, study. We live life together in relationship and accountablity. We SMS, we call, we hang together, we worship, I teach them, and I learn from them.

I believe that all of us should have people more spiritually mature than us discipling us, while we are disciping people less spiritually mature than we are. Being pured into and pouring out...same time. This produces balance in your discleship journey.

The Lord had specifically placed in my heart a desire and calling to actually disciple people...something I did not do in the Pastorate. And I am finding more joy in it than I would have ever imagined. My life will never be the same again. And perhaps neither will John's, Shawn's, Ernest's, Quaid's, Siba's, Themba's or Reggie's!?

Repost: Powerful Patience

2011-08-16T08:31:00.001-04:00

I blogged THIS in December of 2007. I am reflecting on it again today as I get excited about the future! There is power in patience and in waiting on the Lord.

Check it out HERE!

Proverbs 16:32

Shawn's Changing Life

2011-08-14T15:40:00.001-04:00

There is nothing more beautiful to me than when the Holy Spirit radically changes a life. That is exactly what is happening with Shawn. 4 months ago, a Muslim. Today, a lover and follower of Jesus Christ. I blogged about him HERE. He has calling brewing up in him that is as evident as the sun in the sky. He is prophetic before he even knows what the word means! He thinks and talks in visions and piuctures as he is encounetring God daily in powerful ways. Last week, we showed up for church and he had made a board, covered it in white paper, cut out pictures from an old children's Bible and glued them on the board outlining what he feels Jesus doing in his life. I asked him if I could video him sharing about his "vision board". He was glad to do so. So, check out Shawn...in his own words.

Shawn's Changing Life from Noah Kaye on Vimeo.

What I Appreciate in a Friend

2011-08-14T03:29:00.001-04:00

Over the next few weeks, I plan to look back through some of my older blog posts to review some of the things the I learned over the years. Sometimes we need to look back as we look ahead to be sure to incorporate lessons learned that we may have forgotten. In the meantime, I will also find things I wish I would have never written and don't even believe anymore. That's life. That's growth. Helps in the humility department.

Here is a repost: Things I appreciate in a friend....CLICK HERE.

United Pursuit in Cape Town

2011-08-11T04:41:00.001-04:00

Yesterday, we had the coolest privilege. We were able to have an initimate worship time in a garage in Masi (proof in the pic) with the increasingly popular worship band, United Pursuit (Will Reagan). You can google all about them. HERE is their site. They have some great, raw and anointed worship music. Was honored to meet these folks and get a glimpse of their heart for the Lord.

And tonight, we are going to a more full scale concert of theirs at a large church about a half hour from us.

It has been a neat and unexpected blessing this week!

PS- here is one of my FAVORITE songs by them....CLICK HERE!

What do ice cream & missions have in common?

2011-08-07T16:22:00.001-04:00

Well, I am glad you asked.

First, Trica is a Missionary now and she LOVES ice cream. This is important.

Second, our missionary support team is hosting an ice cream social gathering to highlight our missions work here in South Africa.

So....

YOU are invited to join in.

What? Ice cream, stories, Q & A, inside sharing about our work here and fun interaction with our Missions Support Team!

When? One week from tonight....Sunday, August 14th at 6pm.

Where? Capital Christian Fellowship in Lanham, MD

Why? Because you love us and the Lord and His heart for the nations!

Who? YOU and our Missionary Support Team and other friends and partners.

How? Just get in your car and show up next Sunday night.

PS- We heard that it has been hot there this summer! Great reason to eat some more ice cream, huh?

Abiding...Day by Day

2011-08-05T10:21:00.001-04:00

See the full gallery on Posterous

There are many things that the Lord has revealed to me since moving here in January. Many of which I can't share....either because I lack permission from the Lord or I lack the proper words and time to adequately do so. Nonetheless, here is one of the major things that the Lord is saying to me these days. I have been feeling it clearly and this morning, the Lord prohetically conformed it. And I feel pretty sure I am supposed to share it with you. So, here it is. I will bullet it in phrases that seem to capture what I am hearing. I will write as if it from God to me. Maybe it's for you too.

You used to be really well planned. Now, I want you to let go of some of that plannning, so I can assume some of it. Just abide in me.
Your calendar was your focus, before. I now want you to be less-calendar driven. That way, we can schedule more "divine appointments" than we used to be able to. Just abide in me.
Noah, there is nothing wrong with planning unless you allow something to go wrong. And unfortunaetly, you have in the past. Now, I wish to replace your need for extreme planning with a longing for radical trust. I want you to be resting in my plans, not making yours. Just abide in me.
My son, I am not dissapointed in you, I am proud of you. That is why I am rerady to graduate you from a place of needing to control your future, to a place of believing me for it each and every day. Just abide in me.
By the way, it is ok to live a day at a time. If you think only in chronos time, you will put pressure on yourself that is not from me. I am inviting you to live in my time, kairos time. Take "develop a three year vision" off your task list, Noah. I will take of that. Just abide in me.
Be present in this season, not moving your mind and emotions into the next. If you do, everyone loses. Give Tricia, Davis and everyone in your life a "present Noah"! And abide in me.
You are in Africa. It is ok to not have your week all planned out. It is ok to wake up in the morning and determine what you are doing today. Many of your new friends here have done that all their life. Fit in. And abide in me.
Finally, remember that I love to lead you! I am thrilled when you trust me so much that you really allow me the reigns. I love when you abide in me.

So, that is some of what I have been hearing from the Lord. I am currently trying to discern how to invest myself into All Nations and I am staring to think I just need to take it day by day....one day at a time...while I abide.

Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me. John 15:4

Finally HOME...After 16 Months

2011-07-30T15:37:00.001-04:00

I have just wanted to cry tears of joy several times today. Honestly, we cannot begin to communicate how thankful we are for this day, but I will try in this post.

Today we moved into a home of our own after living in one room as a family for over a year. It was 16 months ago that we moved out of our home in Maryland (we rented our house 30 days after the Lord called us to South Africa). You can read that story in full HERE. We have lived in about 7 different "rooms/homes" in this time period. As can probably imagine, living like nomads for 16 months has not been easy. You can read some of what that was like by clicking HERE. Tricia, Davis and I have all learned tremendous life lessons in the last year and a half. Too many to write tonight, so I won't start.

A little about our place...we are renting a fully furnished duplex/condo joint (not sure what you'd call it in the USA). It is about 3 kilometers from Masi & All Nations. This place is a cozy gift from God! Tricia loves it and that's all that matters. If Mama aint happy, aint nobody happy. Luckily, Davis and I like it too. The Lord opened this door for us way back in February. The owner is heading to Asia to do missions work. He leaves in 2 weeks. So, check this out...our partners support us, we pay rent here, and that rent goes to support another missionary in Asia! LOVE IT! All Kingdom stuff.

One last word about the significance of today. We have felt the amazing grace and lavish love of God today in so many ways.

The guy who we are renting from in awesome!
The place is all we could ever need.
We had a friend help us clean every square inch of the place.
Had another friend helping me with other things.
The Reber family stopped by with a housewarming gift and lots of hugs welcoming us to the neighborhood.
The Fercho family dropped by, brought lunch and took Davis out to the park with their kids.
The George's (owners and managers of Silver Palms, the guesthouse we have been living at for 7 months) came by with a beautiful painting for the wall.
The Hain family brought us dinner (yummy balsmic chicken) and helped with other things.
The Malherbe's stopped by to visit this evening.

If that is not enough...

The house is immaclate.
We are all moved in.
We have fast internet.
And Davis is asleep in his OWN BED in his OWN ROOM!

Just had to share our joy with you tonight. God is so good and we long to give Him all the glory in all things. Days like today are a healing balm to the hard days and losses that come along with leaving home and moving across the world.

(This is the only pic I took today. More later.)

A Story About Our Car

2011-07-21T17:09:00.001-04:00

After one month of being out of commission, we got our car back today. It had a blown engine. Here is a cool testimony:

When we originally took the car in and had it looked at, the estimate to rebuild the engine was R34,000 ($5,000 US)! That is half of what we paid for the car! Cars and everything to do with them are really expensive here! And you really must have one where we live. Needless to say, we were devestated about this news. We just did not have that money! But, we had this strange sense of peace because we knew that God would pay for it.

So, we asked our prayer team to pray with us in 3 specific ways:

That we could somehow find a place to repair the car for less money.
That God would provide the money to repair the car.
That we would somehow have a vehicle to drive until ours was repaired.

Well, today I would like to report on exactly how God answered those prayers:

We were referred to a local guy that specializes in our make of car (Opel). He quoted us R22,000 ($3,250) to rebuild the engine. So, we decided to remove the car from the dealer. We owed them R926 ($130) for the disasembly and diagnosis they did. When I tried to pay the guy, he refused payment and said "Happy Birthday"! Yes, it was my birthday that day. So, we got the car towed to local dude. Oh, and the tow was free as well. All God!
That weekend, Pastor Nelson and our home church, Capital Christian Fellowship, surprised us and invited us to skype into the Sunday service and share our need. They took up an offering of R20,000, almost exactly what we needed to repair the car!!! Others gave as well, covering every rand of the repairs! All God!
We drove a loaner car from the dealer for 1 week---free! We drove some friend's car for 2 weeks---free! And we drove our mechanics car this last week---free! We did not experience ONE hour of carlessness in the month our car was out of commission! All God!

God answered every specific prayer we prayed in a specific and powerful way! And I just felt that I had to share this story. It does not always happen this way, but it did this time....and we are giving the Lord the glory for it. Thank you to all of you who gave, prayed or cared! We are on the road again!

Why I'm Here...

2011-07-19T15:43:00.001-04:00

Seems that quite often I have these moments in Masi where I simply sit back and say..."ah, that is why I moved across the world...this is why I'm here!" Sunday, I had one of those moments.

We were gathered for church Sunday morning with a group of guys. Several of us on the bed, several on the floor of one small room. While sharing about our week, one of the guys (Shawn, who we thought was Muslim) says this:

When I met you guys, it was like I was locked in a dark room. I feel like you all took a stick and poked a hole in the roof and I could see a little bit of light shining through. Then, you gave me the stick to hold myself. And for the last few months, I have been working on the hole and making it even bigger, and now my life is full of light. I think that the stick and the light are Jesus. Ever since I gave my body and my spirit to Jesus, my life has totally changed!

There just are not words to explain the joy I feel when I see a changed life like this. This is not the first time that I have heard a profession of faith like this. It is so stinking cool when people surrender to Jesus and share out of that surrender instead of us walking them through a "sinner's prayer". This is the best type of sinner's prayer ever--one that flows out of their real experience. These men are finding Jesus and He's showing up and showing off in their lives.

It's moments like these when I know...THIS is why I'm here. Pray for Shawn. He's the one in the picture next to me with his hands folded. I meet alone with him Thursday night to start to walk with him in a deeper way.

Submit, Woman!

2011-07-17T15:20:00.001-04:00

Now that I have you attention with that highly charged and totally inappropriate expression...

I want to share a theology I hold to. A theology of marital submission, if you will. It is formed from the crazy passage in Ephesians 5. However, before I continue-- let me say that Rob Bell stole my theology! Ok, maybe not. But, I have held and shared this theology of Ephesians 5 for years. But, he wrote it in a book in the same terms I have always shared it. And he is popular and has an audience. I don't. Oh well. I will share it with you. Here is the gist according to Rob Bell and I…

To submit is to place the needs of another above yourself. Ephesians 5:23 basically says "look like Jesus- Give yourself up for her!" Christ's headship comes in giving himself up for the church. His sacrifice. His surrender. His death. Whatever authority the word "head" carries with it is rooted in the sacrifice of Christ, and therefore the sacrifice of the Husband.

So, she submits to him, and he lays it all down for her, and it's all submission, and it's all out reverence to Christ! Good stuff, huh?

So how does this play out? Oftentimes the stereotype seems to put men over women making it clear that they "call the shots". The more I see this the more I look at my own relationship with Tricia. I am not calling any shots!! We are calling them together. And as soon as I act like I'm the only one doing it, 1) I may get slapped and 2) I better be ready for all the blame when it fails!

Some would say- "That's fine now and then, but what about the tough decisions? What happens when push comes to shove and somebody has to make the tough decisions?"   Now, think about your friendships, the closest ones. How often do you ask who is in charge? Do you ever find yourself asking "where does the buck stop?" It actually feels silly, doesn't it? Over time, you've built up reserves of trust and love, and power and control become irrelevant. The healthier and more whole the relationship is, the less you ask these types of questions. When people are truly living in what's called "mutual submission", you lose track of who's in charge.

What would happen in marriages if women were totally sure that her husband will be placing her needs above his own- dying so she could live? What if he made a habit of this? And she a habit of responding with much of the same?

Give it away!

2011-07-13T13:23:00.001-04:00

Ephesians 4:11-13 has always been of great interest to me.

There are many things to say about it. Here is one thing that seems clear to me:

The gifts God gives to people are to be used to equip others to build up the body of Christ.

Here is what that means to me-- the gifts in this passage are for multiplication and edification, not demonstration!! They're not to be performed while others look on. Rather, they are to be reproduced.

An evangelist's true fruit is not a convert, but another evangelist. Good teachers make more teachers. Gifted Pastors notice and shape the pastoral heart in those around him. On it goes.

Sadly, what ends up actually happening is that the "specialist" teachers, evangelists, apostles, pastors, and prophets speak at the conferences, give the seminars, and instead of equipping others, they simply perform their gift making it feel even less possible for you & I "normal" people to ever operate in it.

I believe that the five fold ministry is given by God to be given away- multiplication for edification!

Are you an apostle? Go make more apostles. A teacher? Teach others to teach better than you ever could. An evangelist? Go ye therefore and multiply yourself for our lost world! Got the gift of prophecy? See it in others, draw it out and affirm their gift. Is your gift set pastoral-- love to love people? Find those compassionate hearts near you and release those Shepherds!

Allow for Curiosity

2011-07-11T10:30:00.001-04:00

One major thing that I have been learning as I work in a new place has been this: We must wait on people to gain curiosity and ask questions before pushing our agenda!! Read that again please.

The temptation as we try to meet people in a new place and accomplish our vision of planting churches is to quickly announce why we are here and what we are doing. When we do this, we are answering a question that is not yet being asked and possible forcing our way into soil that is not yet ready to plant in.

People are naturally curious...if you allow them the time to get there. Then, they ask. I think that we we press answers into people who are not yet asking the right questions, we prevent them from becoming truly curious. We actually rob them of something special.

Jesus described himself as the water of life and the disciples as the salt of the earth. If people eat salt, it will make them thirsty, even if they have not been thirsty before. If people are not yet thirsty for the water of life, feed them salt. Then they will become thirsty and they will drink.

I am finding that it is FAR more effective to wait on people to ask the questions. That is how we know if they are hungry or not. If they are not asking for the food, they are likely not hungry for it....so, we can move on....because someone down the road may be starving! The missional relationships will be far more effective if you wait on them to get curious before sharing your agenda.

Just my $0.02.

My Thoughts on Missions Trips

2011-07-08T15:16:00.001-04:00

Becoming a long term Missionary forces you to develop your thoughts on things that used to seem normal. For me, one of those things has been short term missions. I have spent the last 6 months trying to develop a philosophy of short term missions. Frankly, my journey into developing these thoughts was birthed out of my frustration for all the short term teams in and out of Masi! I am not sure that it will accomplish anything to share my concerns with you, but they are numerous and still alive. Intstead, I will tell you how I think short term missions trips CAN be healthy and fruitful:

1. The people going need to be properly prepared in the HEART! There must be training that deals with the heart! Why are we going and what is in our heart to accomplish for the God's Kingdom? If there is not strong foundational understanding of key purposes and heart behind the trip BEFORE the fundraising begins, it can become a mess. Take no one on the trip because they want to feel spiritual or scratch their travelling itch.

2. Short term trips should be entered into with prayerful public awareness among the team that we are asking God to call one or more of us into long term work. Discuss it up front. Build the expectation of long term fruit into the trip from the start. If long term workers are produced out of short term trips, they are worth every dollar! Someone in the group may go back to stay and that is a WIN!

3. Finally, the short term trip/team MUST relaize that they are there to encourage and bless the LONG TERM people and LONG TERM work. Sow, water, till, build and bless into the long term stuff. Give long term servants relief, rest, encouragement and inspirtaion. That is the goal. Start nothing new that you cannot continue. Only sow into what is there and strengthen it.

So, this is a non comprehensive start to some of my thoughts on how to make short term trips fruitful Kingdom initiatives.

PS- One thing that I would like to do is to study short term teams and trips found in the New Testament. That would be fascinating.

Three Conversions

2011-07-07T01:36:00.001-04:00

I am beginning to wonder if there aren't actually three conversions that happen in the heart of a follower of Jesus?

1. A vertical conversion-- one that brings you to a love for God, and that love transforms how you live. 2. A horizontal conversion-- now that you know Jesus, you know real love and can now love others in a transformational way. But maybe just those you already know?

3. A missional conversion-- now things deepen. Your love for Father and your love for people has changed you, and you are plunged into a deeper level where you actively seek to save the lost. I would suggest that this is a conversion that many followers of Jesus have not yet experienced.
We may also put it this way:

1. Love for God.

2. Love for others. 3. Love for the lost.
Finally, I am wondering if these three conversions may run in sync, simultaneously overlapping with each other? They are different conversions and they happen at different speeds for different people. When I look at scripture, I see that the Lord desires for us to have all three of these conversions happen in our hearts...I'm just afraid a lot of us still haven't.
Thoughts?

Some Random Updates

2011-06-29T10:29:00.001-04:00

In the last few months, I have not blogged near as much as I used to. That is partly because we have been very committed to CPx and partly because of some of the things the Lord is showing me. I am learning that not everything I think is worth sharing with the world. Been feeling the Holy Spirit keeping my motives in check. I could see myself falling prey to "online arrogance" - I best not convince myself that everything I write is worth you reading.
We are CPx graduates! After 5 months and lots of learning and stretching, we are done. We have made a long term commitment to All Nations Cape Town. We look forward to sharing more about this soon.
We move out of Silver Palms Guest House on Sunday, after living here almost 6 moths. We will live nomadically for a month. We move into our own place on August 1. Thank you JESUS!
On Sunday, Tricia, Davis and I will leave for a week and a half away together. We will stay most of the time at a campground about 5 hours away. We really look forward to connecting as a family alone! And not in community with 18 other people.
We are overwhelmed at the way the Lord is providing for our car to be repaired. God has basically paid for it. It will be about a week before it is repaired, but it looks like the Lord has provided for it to be repaired.
We will be releasing another Newsletter within a week or two. Please let us know if you are not on our email list and we will be glad to add you!

Grace and Peace, friends!

Noah

Attention Pastors: Take a Sabbatical!

2011-06-22T12:32:00.001-04:00

It was two years ago right now that Tricia, baby Davis and I were embarking on an experience that would change the trajectory of our future--and today, I (still) find myself overwhelmingly thankful for that experience we had. After about 5 years on staff at CCF (the church where we were Pastoring), we were granted a 2 month sabbatical. It was in our contract- a real blessing from our church.

I just want to take a moment to share a brief encouragement with Pastors (or anyone for that matter). The sabbatical I took in 2009 changed Tricia and me in the deepest way--inside of us. I saw the church differently than I ever had before. And I feel like I got a glimpse of God's heart for humanity in the first three and last three chapters of the Bible-- that changed me forever. And the change inside of our hearts gave us new spiritual eyes. Those spiritual eyes gave us new sight of the future. Two years later, we live in Africa where we are planting churches and living into our calling at deeper levels than we would have ever imagined possible.

Can I encourage you to consider taking a Sabbatical? A break? Stop, reflect, seek, reset, refresh, renew, realign. It cannot happen in a day. It can't happen in a week. And it definitely can't happen on vacation!

If it is not in your contract or ministry agreement, I can help you find a way to suggest it to your church. I have some documents I could send you and more thoughts I can share with you. Just contact me.

If ONE person ends up taking this advice, this blog post was worth my time.

PS- I have a fundamental beliefe that sabbaticals are good for Pastors, but even better for the congregation. It helps Jesus get His glory when the church realizes that they do not NEED you to function and you realize that you do not NEED them for significance.

Baby Kaye on the Way!!

2011-06-16T13:15:00.001-04:00

See the full gallery on Posterous

After over two years of trying, one miscarriage and at least five prophetic words about it (in America and Africa)...

WE ARE EXPECTING OUR SECOND CHILD!!

Tricia is almost 9 weeks along with a baby in her belly. We got a wonderful healthy report at the doctor and he is very happy with the way the baby is establishing. Tricia is pretty sick in this first trimester, so please pray for her.

There are two pictures attached to this blog. One is our sonogram from a little over a week ago. The other is a picture of 4 acorns. Here's the story behind the acorns:

On our last Sunday at CCF (our home church), two different men whom we respect approached us individually and shared a prophetic word. Both were about our second child. Both told us that the child would be born in Africa. One said that the new baby would be symbolic of the new work and calling in our family. He said that we would come back new people. The other brought me 4 acorns from the church lawn. Each decreased in size. He told us that the fourth and smallest was a prophetic symbol of the new child that the Lord would bring into our lives. We held those acorns as precious reminders. We placed them in a special bag my Mom had given me, and brought them across the world with us. They have been hanging in our little room as a reminder. The night we learned we were pregnant, the very first thing we did is get the acorns out and begin to thank the Lord in prayer and celebration. We believe that they are signs of the strong tree of faith that this child will be-- like the words of Psalm 1:3...a tree planted by living waters, always yielding fruit, never withering and always in blossom!

We were not sure along the way whether this child would come from Tricia's womb or be adopted (which were open to). We met with someone we respect here in Africa in March and they spoke over us that the baby would come from Tricia's womb. So....we've been expecting just that...because we are learning two things more and more every day:

We can and will believe the report of the Lord!
All of His promises are yes and amen!

Rejoice with us and pray with us during this time. We love you and thank you for your support and care.

PS- I have always had a special place in my heart for African Americans. Now, we will have one as a child!! ;-) And yes, we will have the baby here in Africa. Many babies have been born here!

Making God's Dreams Come True

2011-06-12T10:02:00.001-04:00

One of the things that the Lord has shown me in Scripture over the last few years is that I/we can help make God's dreams come true. There are things that God dreams of for his earth. And yes, you can help make them happen. We can help bring them about.

It is God's will and his dream that:

The hungry be fed.
The oppressed be delivered.
The captives be set free.
The poor be cared for.
The widows be honored.
The orphans be nurtured.
The blind see.
The deaf hear.
The lame walk.
The dead live.
We love one another.
Care for one another.
Submit to one another.
Prefer one another above ourselves.
We love the Lord our God with all our hearts, souls, mind and strength.
We love our neighbors as ourselves.

And it is God's dream that his Kingdom come and his will be done on earth as it is in heaven! It is how Jesus told his disciple to pray. And he wants to use YOU right NOW to make that happen.

And ultimately, it is God's will that we GO and make disciples of ALL NATIONS baptizing people and teaching them to obey Jesus...so that NONE should perish, but that all will have eternal life.

I believe that these are the dreams of God's heart and he wants to use us to help him make his dreams come true. What an honor. Will you join Him?

Whale Sighting!

2011-06-03T05:44:00.001-04:00

See the full gallery on Posterous

South Africa Facts & Vocab

2011-06-02T14:54:00.001-04:00

Here are a few fun (and at times not-so-fun) things we have discovered about South Africa that some of you friends back home may find interesting.

It is so wild to me that we can get in the car and drive to Namibia, Swaziland, Botswana or Zimbabwe with relative ease. Want a harder drive? We could drive to Kenya, Ethiopia or Egypt. Whack!
Some things are cheaper, and other things are more expensive.
You can go out to eat for very close to what you would pay to eat in...sometimes even cheaper.
Food is generally much less than back in the states.
We can buy a bag of fresh tomatoes, potatoes, green beans, onions, oranges, apples and pears for about $7 (for all of this). I think that is FAR less than what we paid in the US.
We drive on the left hand side of the road and the right hand side of the car. Totally used to it.
Tip is typically 10% at restaurants.
Every parking lot has attendants that watch your car, load your bags into your car, take your cart for you and assist you in backing out of your spot. You pay them about $0.25 after they help you back out.
I got a tail light replaced today for $1.10 (parts and labor). That was cool.
Cars are extremely expensive-- about 40% more than in the US.
The majority of the cars here are very small. Think Toyota Yaris.
Which is great since petrol (gas is called petrol here) is about R10 a liter ($6.00 a gallon).
There are as many automatics here as there are sticks in the US. It is the exact opposite. Almost everyone drives a manual transmission vehicle. Which is great for all the mountains we have here.
Electronics are super-expensive here.
Almost all mobile phone usage is pre-paid. And you can buy airtime at the grocery store. Or the gas station.
Weirder than that is that you also must buy prepaid electricity for your home. You can buy that at the grocery store too!
Because calling is so expensive, most people SMS.
Which reminds me, it's SMS here, not text.

While, I'm at it, here is some more vocab...

A robot = a traffic light.
A bakkie = a pick-up truck.
Takkies = sneakers.
Biscuit = cookie.
Boerewors = Sausage.
Braai = BBQ or Grill.
Howzit = How are you doing?
Nappy = A diaper.
Shame = a broad expression denoting sympathy.
While in America, "just now" means it recently happened in the past, in South Africa it refers to the future...anywhere in the near future (1 hour, 5 hours, or more).

Well, that gives you a small window into some of life here. We are so thankful to be here. It is starting to feel like home!

She

2011-05-30T10:43:00.001-04:00

I just finished the book "Velvet Elvis" by Rob Bell. I loved it! Movements 4, 6 and 7 of the book touched something deep in me. If you want to read any of it, read those movements (chapters).

On the last page of the book, Bell talks about the church as SHE. He closes the book with these words that I want to share with you:

One of the central metaphors for God and his people throughout the Bible is that of a groom and his bride. God is a groom and his people are the bride. I like this because the church is a "she." She's a mystery isn't she? Still going after all this time. After the Crusades and Inquisition and Christian cable television. Still going. And there continue to be people like me who believe that she is one of the best ideas ever. In spite of all the ways she has veered off track. In spite of all the people who have actually turned away from God because of whet they experienced in church. I am starting to realize why: The church is like a double edged sword. When it's good, when it's on, when it's right, it's like nothing on earth. A group of people committed to selflessly loving the world around them? Great. But when it's bad, all that potential gets turned the other way. From the highest of highs to the lowest of lows. Sometimes in the same week. Sometimes in the same day.

But she will live on. She's indestructible. When she dies in one part of the world, she explodes in another. She's global. She's universal. She's everywhere. And while she's fragile, she's going to endure. In every generation, there will be people that will see her beauty and give their lives to see her shine. Jesus said the gates of hell will not prevail against her. That's strong language. And it's true. She will continue to roll across the ages, serving and giving and connecting people with God and each other. And people will abuse her and manipulate her and try to control her, but they'll pass on. And she will keep going!

CPx Outreach Blog

2011-05-28T08:49:00.001-04:00

We are about halfway through the outreach phase of CPx. As I have shared before, our class divided up into 6 teams and are in 6 different locations in the world. Here is the blog that we all post our reports and stories to. Check it out by clicking HERE!

3 Church Planting Surprises

2011-05-24T09:39:00.001-04:00

Over time, I will be writing much more on here about church planting. It's what we are doing and what I am studying here. With each passing day, I am more excited to plant churches and teach others to do the same. In this post, I thought I will share the three most surprising things that I have discovered about (simple) church planting since arriving here. These are things that I am experiencing myself as we work in Masi. Not just things that people told me can happen.

Unsaved people can lead a church. We are empowering people that are yet to make a commitment to Jesus to lead their friends in Discovery Bible Studies. It is thrilling to see the way this propels growth and dedication. What often happens is that they grow themselves into salvation that lasts.
I have personal friends and know many people who have planted churches in America. It is often under a denomination and through a rigorous process. I know people that take as long at 24 months (plus) to launch a church plant. There is nothing wrong with this. It is beautiful...for some people. However, since we define church in simple biblical terms, we shed the processes and procedures that men create. This allows us to start a church in 24 hours instead of 24 months. Sure, we may not have as many dollars in the bank, people in the seats or questions answered when we begin....but it is church nonetheless, and we launched in days, not years.
Many churches talk about planting as something they wish to do in the future. CCF (our home church) has talked about it for 12 years. Since we define church in simple biblical terms, we are able to build reproduction into the lifeblood of the church at the beginning. I am right now a part of a group that is 6 weeks old and already planning for reproduction within the next 6 weeks.

Do you see the difference between organic church planting and organizational church planting? One is not better than the other. Just different. And sometimes the differences can be surprising.

Storying by Acting

2011-05-23T19:03:00.001-04:00

Here is another storying approach we've stumbled upon by God's Spirit. We are having too much fun watching people love the Word of God! I wish I could tell you all the stories. Meanwhile, watch this! Worth your 4:00.

Storying by Acting from Noah Kaye on Vimeo.

One Matters, Small Matters

2011-05-16T11:49:00.001-04:00

I continue to believe that God's satisfaction barometer is way different than ours.

God sees the multitude in the few. And He sees the end in the beginning.

When God created man, he made one man....so that he could love billions!

Think of Abraham...God promised that he would make him a great nation and then gave him one son and asked him to offer him as a sacrifice. In the few, God saw the many.

When Jesus came, he reached a few disciples, but envisioned the WORLD being discipled through them. And that excited him and satisfied him.

Not long ago, I spent a Sunday morning with ONE man who was surrendering to Jesus. In that moment, I thought of Sundays that I preached to 400+ people. Suddenly, a joy came over me that the Lord was just as pleased with me in loving one as preaching to hundreds.

Then, when the fire hit last week, the Lord gave me a vision for Masi and I think it could be for your town too:

It is estimated that there are hundreds of billions of galaxies.
Then, there is this one galaxy called the Milky Way Galaxy. It also has hundreds of billions of stars and planets.
Within this little galaxy is a little dot called Earth. To give you some idea, the sun is about 100 times the size of earth.
Of all the stars and planets God made, he only put life on one (that we know of)!
Then, on Earth, their are continents, countries, cities and villages.
Within each village/town are many people.
Then, there is one person.
God cares about that person so deeply that he would have knit them together in their Mom's womb and numbered the hairs on their head and send his only son to die for them.
God can do big. Obviously. But, small matters to God too. One matters!
PLEASE do not be discouraged in small things. God is very interested in them.

Is there ONE life you can impact for God?

One Matters, Small Matters

2011-05-16T11:46:00.001-04:00

I continue to believe that God's satisfaction barometer is way different than ours.

God sees the multitude in the few. And He sees the end in the beginning.

When God created man, he made one man....so that he could love billions!

Think of Abraham...God promised that he would make him a great nation and then gave him one son and asked him to offer him as a sacrifice. In the few, God saw the many.

When Jesus came, he reached a few disciples, but envisioned the WORLD being discipled through them. And that excited him and satisfied him.

Then, when the fire hit last week, the Lord gave me a vision for Masi and I think it could be for your town too:

It is estimated that there are hundreds of billions of galaxies.
Then, there is this one galaxy called the Milky Way Galaxy. It also has hundreds of billions of stars and planets.
Within this little galaxy is a little dot called Earth. To give you some idea, the sun is about 100 times the size of earth.
Of all the stars and planets God made, he only put life on one (that we know of)!
Then, on Earth, their are continents, countries, cities and villages.
Within each village/town are many people.
Then, there is one person.
God cares about that person so deeply that he would have knit them together in their Mom's womb and numbered the hairs on their head and send his only son to die for them.
God can do big. Obviously. But, small matters to God too. One matters!
PLEASE do not be discouraged in small things. God is very interested in them.

Is there ONE life you can impact for God?

Storying Video

2011-05-14T12:57:00.001-04:00

This video captures something that we are really seeing the Lord bless. We call it storying. Since so many people do not learn by reading (close to 80% of the world are oral learners), we are experimenting with different ways that:

A) People can learn the scripture in a manner that penetrates their hearts.

B) They can reproduce it for others.

I encourage you to try this in a group soon. Later, I will post some stories that we have crafted. Use, reproduce, tell others and let the Word of the Lord go forth.

Storying in Masi from Noah Kaye on Vimeo.

Killing Osama

2011-05-09T09:06:00.001-04:00

Well, it has been a week since the (apparent) killing of Osama BIn Laden. The day I learned of it, I was deeply saddened by the attitudes of many Christians online. If I'm being honest, I was also quite embarrassed to be an American that day. Here in Africa, we are interacting with many people from around the world. For people to see the parties that "we" threw and the celebrations we had over the murder of an evil man, made us feel a sense of shame and deep disappointment.

I know that this post will not be popular, but here's where I am today. I intentionally prayed and waited one week to share any thoughts. But I feel that the Lord wants me to offer my perspective to those that care to read it.

I am afraid that many Americans have developed political theology, not Biblical theology. Somehow they've justified a heart of hate in the name of national loyalty and pride while failing to look at the Bible to shape their beliefs.

Here is a snapshot (not the full picture) of what I believe:

Do not celebrate when your enemy falls or rejoice when they stumble. (Proverbs 24:17)
Take no joy in the death of the wicked, rather hope that they turn from their wicked ways and live. (Ezekiel 33:11)
Greater love has no one that this, that he lay down his life for a friend. (John 15:13)
People will know we are followers of Jesus by our love. (John 13:35)
Love your enemies. Let me repeat, love your enemies! The world says hate your enemies. Jesus says that we are to love our enemies and pray for those who persecute us. Not kill those that persecute you. (Matthew 5)
Bless those that harm you and leave revenge and consequence to God.

Here is the clincher for me. I believe that Jesus is the final revelation of the nature and heart of our God. Yes, the Old Testament is full of violent stories that you may choose to draw out as proof texts to support something like the murder of Osama Bin Laden, or war for that matter. But, unless and until I am convinced otherwise, I am choosing to live my life and order my theology according to the life, teachings and example of Jesus Christ. He, I believe, is the final and ultimate revelation of God. He is my savior who has redeemed me, forgiven me and died for me. I will do all that I can do follow his lead and love my enemies as well. You can argue with me all you want, but this seems to be where I find the peace of the Holy Spirit and find rest in my soul.

Additionally, if I subscribe to some of the hateful stuff I see oozing out of the Kingdoms of this world, I lose the thrilling chance to be a part of the Upside-down, totally-radical, earth-shaking Kingdom that God wants to build. Why would I leave the heart of this awesome kingdom to sign up for one that is far inferior and far less thrilling in every way?!

Finally, I cannot...absolutely cannot....read the New Testament and conclude that if I love radically...that one day the Lord will look at me and say: "Noah, you should have loved less and killed more"! Thus, as of today, I choose love even when it hurts, to love when it is hard, and yes, to love even when I want to blow his brains out as badly as you may! I choose to say no to my way, and yes to the way of Jesus...the way of love. Oh, and by the way, this INCLUDES loving those of you that hate what I just wrote here. Letter the rubber meet the road.

______________________________

As many of you know, we are serving at All Nation in Cape Town, South Africa. Our leader is Floyd McClung. Floyd is a well known missional leader and author. Here are some of Floyd's thoughts on the matter.

I believe the death of Osama bin Laden brings a righteous measure of comfort to the families who lost loved ones on 9/11 because the mastermind who caused so much loss and pain and the face of global terror can no longer spread his evil.

There is a place in God's ways for evil to be opposed with just force. But there is no place for American triumphalism. Our nation's need for humility and repentance remains unchanged. Sacrificing our children's lives on the altar of convenience, greed, injustice, pride, and moral perversion are constant reminders of our deep need of God.

Our greatest enemy is not a singular terrorist or Muslims in general, but our own rebellion and separation from God. Our greatest need is not more might or power, but humble dependence on the forgiveness of God for our sins. Our greatest challenge is not more faith in America's greatness, but fearless courage to share the good news of God's mercy revealed in the sacrificial death of Jesus Christ on our behalf.

If it weren't for Mommy

2011-05-08T12:56:00.001-04:00

The first words out of Davis's mouth this morning were "Happy Mother's Day"! We were so impressed by his thoughtfulness to remember (keeps me out of trouble). As we were getting ready this morning, I was encouraging Davis to be very thankful for Mommy today.

Then I told him the truth...

If it weren't for Mommy, you would get no baths.
If it weren't for Mommy, you would wear velcro shoes because Daddy won't tie your shoes.
If it weren't for Mommy, you would no match.
If it weren't for Mommy, you would not have clean clothes.
If it weren't for Mommy, you would have 5% of the toys you currently have.
If it weren't for Mommy, you'd have no field trips or play dates.
If it weren't for Mommy, you would be hungry.

We love you Mommy!

Love,

Daddy and Davis

Aim Lower, Think Smaller

2011-05-05T13:57:00.001-04:00

I think that this video is brilliantly done and it communicates strong truth that must be seriously considered. It is well worth your five minutes. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N0R6oAJCVvg

A Big Fire, A Bigger Spirit!

2011-05-03T10:11:00.001-04:00

As many of you are aware, there was a record-setting fire in Masi yesterday. Masi is the township in which we work. The shacks that people live in are very small, poorly assembled, and packed very tightly next to one an other making fires in the community ultra destructive. It is difficult to put into words the gravity of the destruction that resulted in the Monday mornings fire. Our hearts are heavy. Several of our friends have lost their homes and all of their earthly possessions.

Ernest, one of the guys from my Sunday morning DBS lost everything. Ernest is the one in the picture with a black hat. Just wrote about him in our newsletter we just released.

This fire took place on the first full day of our outreach and it will have direct impact on how we spend this outreach. The need is great. And we will be doing all that we can to meet as many of the needs as we can. Maybe you feel that you can help. If so, please let us know.

But, here is the most amazing thing we have seen so far....the fire was massive, no doubt. But, the spirit of the people impacted is even bigger. In my opinion, Africans have an astounding gift for overcoming tragedy, handling pain and responding to brokenness. It just seems to be a part of the way God has gifted this culture. It is inspiring and convicting. I tell you the truth, people are smiling. They are thankful. They are rebuilding without thinking twice. They are resilient. And they have so much to teach you and I. I look forward to seeing how the Lord uses this tragedy to bring Kingdom fruit.

Thank you for walking with us and thank you for praying for our new friends here in South Africa. If you wish to pray for some people impacted (lost it all) in this fire by name, pray for:

Ernest
Vusy
Shawn & family
Adelina
Joseph & family
Mama Irene & family
Ayanda
Jomguzi
Goodwill
Doc
Lawrence & family
Many more...

3 Disciples. 3 Months.

2011-05-01T13:21:00.001-04:00

We have been here in South Africa for over 3 months now. When we arrived I really sought the Lord for his will for me during this season. I asked him what he wanted to do IN me, TO me and THROUGH me so that I could be obedient to Him. I heard several things from the Lord. One of them was that I was to actively disciple several young men. It may surprise you to hear this, but as a Pastor I never really discipled people. Maybe a few folks in our Small Group, but not much more than that. I would meet with people once, maybe twice and that was it. That aint discipleship.

Since beginning ministry here I have formed 3 significant discipling relationships. I meet with each of them weekly for mentoring, accountability, teaching, and to share what we are learning in Scripture. It has been enormously life-giving. All 3 of the guys that I am discipling are also discipling others. This is what it is all about. We must make disciples who make disciples who make disciples.

Pray with me for Siba, Quaid and John. I am excited about the 3 disciples God has brought into my life in our first 3 months here. Excited to meet more people of peace who are spiritually hungry.

I'm Alive

2011-04-29T15:55:00.001-04:00

There are a number of you that read my blog regularly but are not on Facebook or Twitter. As a result, I thought I would check in to tell you that I am still alive. It is unlike me to go a week with no post. The outreach preparation and start has been more intense and time-demadning than we anticipated. We are learning plenty thus far, but mainly about ourselves and our need to keep becoming more like Jesus. God is shaping us. The last week has been rather hard for our family with some homesickness and a deep readiness to live in something with more space than we currently have.

But, God....

Is amazing!

Is at work in and around us!

Is more than enough for us!

Just checking in. I will write as I can. There are some exciting church plants on the horizon and I cannot wait to tell you what we are learning about storying.

Our May newsletter will be released soon. Email us if you are still not on our mailing list.