The Secret Message of Jesus

See more book notes at www.davidmays.org
	MclSecr 06-6-75 THE SECRET MESSAGE OF JESUS Uncovering the Truth that Could Change Everything Brian D. McLaren W. Publishing Group, 2006, 240 pp. ISBN 0-8499-9143-9

McLaren is the author of ten widely read books on contemporary Christianity and a leader of the emergent church movement. He seems to write primarily for those who consider themselves spiritual but not religious, or who perhaps look with jaundiced eye at religious institutions and practice. Has the church misunderstood or distorted Jesus’ core message? Have we domesticated his stories? Looking through the eyes of Jewish culture, McLaren shares his insight that Jesus’ goal was not mental enlightenment but personal transformation.

“The portrait of Jesus I found in the New Testament didn’t fit with the image of Christianity projected by religious institutions, charismatic televangelists, religious spokespeople in the media—and sometimes, my own preaching.” (5)

“But seeking to believe what is true—seeking to see things as closely as possible to the way they really are, seeking to be faithful to what is and was and will be—puts you increasingly in touch with reality and helps you become a wise and good person.” (6) “Having truer beliefs—beliefs more aligned with reality—makes all the difference. (7)

“In my religious upbringing, I was not taught the public and political dimensions of Jesus’ message—only the personal, private dimensions.” “But Jesus’ idea that God loves my nations’ enemies, and so our foreign policies should reflect that love—that idea never crossed my mind.” (110)

“…my ‘interpretive grid’…helped me see some things and blinded me to or diverted me from others.” (11)

Jesus followed in the line of the prophets. “Like many of the prophets, Jesus spoke on behalf of the poor, the forgotten, the rejected, and the outcasts.” “Jesus emphasized the inward sincerity of the heart and not mere outward conformity.” “Jesus spoke of coming judgment on injustice and hypocrisy. For the ancient prophets judgment didn’t mean that people would be thrown into hell. Rather, it meant that their evil would be exposed and named, and they would suffer consequences of their evil in history, in this life.” “Jesus echoed and intensified the prophetic message that a new world order was possible and coming...a new kingdom.” “He says the kingdom is at hand, available to be grasped, knocking at the door—not just someday in the future, but here and now. Here and now!” (22-24)

“Jesus’ proclamation threatens the status quo, something that would perhaps appeal to the poor and oppressed, but would inspire something less than enthusiasm among the well-to-do and powerful fro whom the status quo was a nice arrangement.” (25)

“The message of Jesus may well be called the most revolutionary of all time.” (32)

“The revolutionary image of Jesus didn’t come to me in adult church either. There, Jesus was someone whose main job was to die so my sins could be forgiven and I could go to heaven (no small thing of course!), of great value ‘in my heart’ and outside of this world and history, but not terribly important as a public, historical, present factor in relation to the status quo and the powers that be.” (33)

“Jesus’ style wasn’t typically religious.” (35) “In conversation after conversation, then, Jesus resists being clear or direct. There’s hardly ever a question that he simply answer; instead, his answer comes in the form of a question, or it turns into a story, or it is full of metaphors that invite more questions. What’s going on?” (39)

The heart of Jesus’ teaching comes in the form of parables. (43) Parables “hide the truth so that we need to…invest ourselves in an imaginative search for meaning—a meaning that will surprise us when we discover (…or unhide) it for ourselves.” “Parables entice their hearers into new territory…[into] an interactive relationship….” (45)

“Parables have a capacity that goes beyond informing their hearers; parables also have the power to help transform them into interactive, interdependent, humble, inquisitive, and persistent people.” “In other words, a parable renders its hearers not as experts, not as know-it-alls, not as scholars…but as children.” (46)

Parables bring some to childlike, humble rethinking while exposing the arrogance, anger, impatience, and ugliness of the self-satisfied. (47)

“Nobody can be forced. They can be invited, attracted, intrigued, enticed, and challenged—but not forced. And that, perhaps, is the greatest genius of a parable: it doesn’t grab you by the lapels and scream in your face…. Rather, it works gently, subtly, indirectly. It respects your dignity. It doesn’t batter you into submission but leaves you free to discover and choose for yourself.” (48)

In the worldview of Jesus’ day, the universe was considered less like a machine (the current prevailing worldview) and more like a community, like a kingdom. “It’s a universe in interactive relationship with God.” (52-3)

“I firmly believe that God is interactive, engaged, alive, and participating in our world, and I believe that we experience—sometimes often and sometimes seldom, sometimes dramatically and sometimes subtly—touches of God’s grace. These are significant—they are signs to us of God and God’s activity.” (44)

“…what I believe the signs and wonders of Jesus are secretly telling us: that God, the good King, is present—working from the inside.” (60)

“We are under a gentle, compassionate assault by a kingdom of peace and healing and forgiveness and life.” (60)

“Jesus’ signs and wonders of demonic deliverance seem to signify that very real and dangerous forces of evil lurk and work in our world….” (64)

His secret message: “A new force, a new spirit is in the world—not a demonic spirit, but the Holy Spirit.” “This new Spirit is entering people and forming them into a healthy, creative, and new kind of community or society—the kingdom of God.” (66)

“Jesus’ message of the kingdom of God scandalizes by showing the weakness of the apparently powerful and the power of the apparently weak.” (68) The paradox: “…the only way the kingdom of God can be strong in a truly liberating way is through a scandalous, noncoercive kind of weakness; the only way it can be powerful is through astonishing vulnerability; the only way it can live is by dying; ….” “And the reconciling movement resonating out from Christ’s life, teaching, death, and resurrection is what we mean by the kingdom of God.” (70-71)

“The four Gospel accounts…share a common conclusion: after the death and resurrection of Jesus, Jesus sends his disciples into the world with a mission.” (Mt 28:19-20; Mark 17:15; Luke 24:49; Acts 18:8; John 20:21) (72) “You must cross every border and boundary to share with all people everywhere the secret you’ve learned from me—the way, the truth, the life you’ve experienced walking with me.” “That last proviso—that the disciples spread their message globally—was more radical than we may realize.” “It was quite novel to proclaim one universal God….” (73)

“…the primal calling of the primal Jew, Abraham, had implicit global dimensions: ‘I will bless you and make you a great nation, and all nations of the world will be blessed through you’ (see Genesis 12:2-3). The resonance between those words and Jesus’ commission to ‘make disciples of all nations is unmistakable.” “The prophets and poets who arose unpredictably through Jewish history frequently reminded the people of their global calling and rebuked them for their parochial exclusivism.” (74)

“Jesus was master of making the music of life…. He invited the disciples to learn to make beautiful life-music in his secret, revolutionary kingdom-of-God way.” (77)

“Called together to learn and practice, sent out to practice, play, and teach—that is the life of a disciple and apostle, and that’s what Jesus’ commission his band of disciples to be and do around the world.” “The story of the kingdom is the story of this band of life-musicians over the last two thousand years.” (78)

“We have been preoccupied with guilt and money, power and fear, control and status—not with service and love, justice and mercy, humility and hope.” (79)

“In spite of our many failures, the secret is getting out!” (80)

“It was the most religious who seemed to get the secret message of Jesus the least, and the least religious who seemed to get it the most.” (81)

“This idea—that the kingdom of God is about our daily lives, about our way of life—may lie behind the tension people feel between the words religious and spiritual. Perhaps the word religious has come for some people to mean ‘believing in God but not the kingdom of God.’” (83)

“What would happen if you saw your job as one component—large or small, enjoyable or depressing—of your larger, deeper, gander calling as a participant in the kingdom of God?” (87)

“‘The kingdom of God is at hand.’ That was Jesus’ message.” (91)

“Jesus’ secret message in word and deed makes clear that the kingdom of God will be radically, scandalously inclusive.” (94)

“This secret message—Christ the King in and among us here and now—invites us into a reconciled and reconciling movement and expanding network of relationships.” (101, paraphrasing Paul)

“…the secret message of Jesus is meant not just to be heard or read but to be seen in human lives, in radically inclusive reconciling communities, written not on pages in a book but in the lives and hearts of friends.” (102) “It means rethinking everything in light of the secret message. …this profound rethinking is what the repent means. It means that you begin looking at every facet of your life again in this new light….” (105)

“One of the most transforming things that can happen to any of us is to have a moment…where we realize that in spite of all our sincerity and drive, we’re closing in on the wrong goal. And even better, to find out that our worst failure has been swallowed up in someone else’s save. That’s repentance.” “Once one begins repenting, it becomes a way of life.” (108)

Faith. “It’s not simply believing this or that about God; it’s believing in God, or perhaps simply believing God with the kind of interpersonal confidence one has when saying, ‘I believe in my spouse.’” (108)

“But how do you measure faith? Jesus answered this as well: if you say you believe in his message, but you don’t seek to practice it, your faith is a matter of words only; it’s not substantial, not real. Faith that counts, then, is not the absence of doubt; it’s the presence of action.” (109)

Faith is also receptivity, receiving something, not just one thing but everything really – God’ Spirit. Faith also involves going public with your repentance, faith, and receptivity. And it involves learning to “follow Jesus every day over the whole course of your life.” “You are now launching out on a new way of life…centered on the practice of Jesus’ message.” “You develop your skill through applying yourself to practices (or disciplines).” (110-11)

Part III of the book includes chapters on how the message changes everything, how it is to work out in practice. The author discusses ethics, communicating the new kingdom, striving for peace, the relationship of all kinds of people to the kingdom, the future of the kingdom (eschatology), and additional matters. I have few notes on these chapters.

“His followers are not simply normal people with a certain religious preference. No, they are radical participants in a high-commitment endeavor….” (120)

“Money, it turns out, is a cruel taskmaster; when you serve money, soon you will resent God for interfering with your humming, expanding economic kingdom. Similarly, if you serve God, you will soon resent wealth for its constant guerilla warfare, its subtle invasion of every sector of life, its relentless conquest of life’s nonmaterial values. You have to choose.” (133)

“The kingdom of God, then, is a revolutionary, counter-cultural movement—proclaiming a ceaseless rebellion against the tyrannical trinity of money, sex, and power.” (134)

“The call to faith is the all to trust God and God’s dreams enough to realign our dreams with God’s, to dream our little dreams within God’s big dram.” (142)

“For many people these days, to mix a political term like kingdom with a religious term like God sounds…scary, even terrorizing.” But “the kingdom that Jesus portrays exercises its power not in redemptive violence but in courageous, self-giving love, and its goal is not victory on its own terms but rather peace on God’s terms. That peace means far more than an end to conflict; it evokes a balanced and integrated ‘life to the full.” (150)

“The heroes of the early church were not Crusaders, not warriors, not men of the sword but rather martyrs, men and women with the faith and courage to face lion, ax, cross, chain, whip, and fire as testimony to their allegiance…to the standards of the kingdom of God.” (153)

“In times of conflict, whenever we are tempted to label someone as ‘enemy’ or ‘evil,’ we must remember Jesus’ climactic words in his kingdom manifesto—that enemies are to be loved.” (155)

We must realize that “he same evils are at work in both ‘them’ and ‘us,’ and therefore pose a common, universal enemy…that the kingdom of God fights with its weapons ‘not of this world.’” (156)

“Rejection hardens people, but acceptance makes transformation possible. By accepting and welcoming people into his presence, just as they were…he could challenge them to … consider becoming part of the kingdom of God so they could experience and participate in the transformation….” “The kingdom of God is available to all, beginning with the least.” (163)

“Te Christian religion is too often perceived as a divisive, judgmental, rancorous, and exclusionary movement—nearly the opposite of a kingdom of peace, available to all, beginning with the least.” (163)

“The kingdom’s purpose is to gather, to include, to welcome everyone who is willing (children, prostitutes, tax collectors) into reconciliation with God and one another….” (168)

“The kingdom of God isn’t just a status; it’s a mission and a story in which they—and we—can play a part.” (171)

The final section of the book includes suggestions for small groups to study the book, study the Gospels, and take steps to apply what they are learning.

* * * * *

David Mays

davidmays@acmc.org www.davidmays.org

ACMC and Caleb Project

OUR MISSION IS COMING TOGETHER

317-852-0348

www.acmc.org www.calebproject.org

Diagnostic Tool to Assess the Prayer Life of a Congregation

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Diagnostic Tool To Assess The Prayer Life
Of A Congregation by Phil Miglioratti
==========================


A DIAGNOSTIC TOOL TO ASSESS THE PRAYER LIFE OF A CONGREGATION

The Purpose

It is our goal, that by properly utilizing this tool, the Holy Spirit will give you a clear sense of how successful you are in the quest to become a biblical House of Prayer.

The interactive process brings leadership and membership together in a vertical (prayer) and horizontal (prayer birthed discussions) conversation. This conversation is in itself a forward step in the prayer life of the congregation.

This is not a “scientific” survey capable of producing a computerized analysis nor is it like a contest in which the average rating of the judges determines the outcome. Each category and question is designed to expose the heart of the congregation for prayer and produce an accurate picture of how faithfully, practically and pervasively that desire is being expressed.

No congregation using this tool is in competition with any other. It is hoped that this tool will serve to increase the congregation’s appetite for prayer while causing leadership to reevaluate programs and seek the Lord of the Church for His changes toward a reformation in the congregation producing a transformation in the community.

Just like prayer, you can utilize as much or as little as you want from this tool. Simply by reading through it you will allow the Holy Spirit to sensitize you to new thoughts and ideas. By inviting others to read it will do the same for them. However, to receive full value, you are encouraged to include and involve the entire congregation over an extended period of time.
The Process

Begin in prayer, asking the Lord to prepare the hearts and minds of those who make the decision of how to implement this tool amongst your people.

Make an appointment with the key leader(s) in your context, usually the Pastor. Make sure the Pastor is in public agreement as this is presented to any other board or committee or team that must decide on its use or steps of implementation.

Employ a long-term strategy

• The leadership team prays together and commits to use the tool as a means of receiving wisdom and guidance from the Holy Spirit.
• The full leadership of the congregation hears first about the plan to asses the congregation’s prayer life, are expected to personally support the plan, and to proactively encourage participation from those in their area of ministry.
• The diagnostic tool will be one ingredient in an overall assessment.
• Introduce the diagnostic tool to the congregation only after the appropriate leadership (team, council, board) has met to pray through their commitment to both the process and the action steps that result.
• Introduce the diagnostic tool only after the congregation has heard a biblical call to become refreshed, renewed, revived as a House of Prayer for all people. This may be accomplished through any or several of these means:
• -a series of messages/sermons on personal and corporate prayer
• -a Prayer Conference (all-church) with a guest speaker
• -a Workshop (all-ministry leaders) with someone to teach on prayer
• -a Retreat with a guest to facilitate prayer and coach discussion
• The guide, Come to the Lord’s Table by Claude King is an excellent resources for any of these activities. (Visit www.finalcommnad.org for details and ordering information)
• Set a start-date and a return-date to distribute and collect the completed worksheets If you mail the worksheets to the members at their home, please include one per adult and young person. Include a children’s worksheet if appropriate.
• Or, set aside a month when the worksheets are the focus of every church ministry and activity. Ever class & committee; council & choir; group & gathering.
• Before initiating the assessment process, set a date for the leaders to meet to discuss and discern what the Spirit is saying through the feedback as well as a date when the leaders will meet with the members to present their findings, seek further response, and set action steps. This is most beneficial if experienced in an interactive format (roundtable discussion led by a facilitator from outside the congregation)
• At the report session, announce the date of a “Follow-Through” meeting to assess how well the congregation has implemented the ideas and inspirations of the diagnostic assessment (6 - 12 months).
• Several types of questions are employed in an effort to assist you to think honestly from different perspectives. Avoid answers that “make us look good” and simply give a descriptive response.
• The answers/responses are just the beginning. After completing a review of responses in a category, use the questions below to assist you in discerning what the Spirit is saying...
• ”What?” - are our responses to the questions?
• [Information]
• ”So What?” - are the implications of what we have said?
• [Application]
• ”Now What?” - are we led to do again? Better? Differently?
• [Implementation]

Diagnosing The Prayer Life of Our Congregation

Our History

What role did prayer play in the birthing / founding of your congregation?

At what point in your history has prayer been most visible? Powerful?

What was the context (circumstances, situations)?

Which persons have been champions for prayer?

How have we utilized prayer champions in the past?

When it comes to corporate prayer, have we been:
Fearful? Neutral? Supportive? Proactive?

Has the congregation been called to fasting and prayer (answer yes or no):
___Yes ___No

If so, what prompted the call to fast and pray?

We have seen a correlation between prayer and spiritual milestones
(check all that apply):
__ People responding to the Gospel
__ Increase in baptisms
__ Adults surrendering to ministry
__ Young people surrendering to ministry
__ Sending missionaries to other cities or nations
__ New congregations planted
__ Breakthroughs in healing (physical and/or emotional)
__ (other) ____________

Our reputation for prayer is (chose one):
__ We do not know how others view our prayer life
__ We are probably consider average; no special reputation for prayer
__ We are probably known as a church devoted to prayer
__ We are the church in our area someone would call to ask for prayer

Our Theology

Agree or Disagree:
“The prayer life of our congregation and our members is more a
religious habit than an act of obedience.’

Agree or Disagree:
“Our practice of prayer is based more on the biblical
revelation of God’s character than daily trials and troubles.”

Agree or Disagree:
“The methods and styles of prayer we employ are informed more
by our culture and popular teaching than the scriptures.”

Our Vision

To what extent was our congregation’s Vision Statement birthed in prayer?

How is prayer present (or could be) in our Vision statement?

What evidence can you cite to prove this statement:
“We are dependent upon God for the success of our vision.”


Our Pastor

In the past twelve months, our Pastor (check all that apply)
__ Preached a sermon on prayer
__ Indicated a desire to increase and/or improve his prayer life
__ Called the congregation to fervent prayer
__ Taught a class or small group on prayer
__ Empowered others to lead or facilitate prayer
__ Participated or led an ongoing church prayer group
__ Promoted a prayer training experience
__ Distributed prayer resources for leaders and/or members
__ Read a new book on the subject of prayer
__ Has benefited from a Pastor’s Prayer Support Team
__ Identified and worked closely with intercessors
__ Participated in a Pastors’ Prayer Group
__ Attended a Prayer Retreat
__ Was involved in a community or city wide prayer initiative
__ Involved our church in National day of Prayer (or other events)


Our Leaders

Do your leaders (staff, deacons/elders, council/board members):
(check all that apply)
__ Attend the congregational prayer meetings?
__ Express personal dependency upon prayer?
__ Limit prayer in their meetings to a brief “opening” & closing” prayer?
__ Provide financial support for prayer initiatives
__ Understand the relationship between prayer and evangelism
__ Participate in prayer training
__ Consider prayer to be the job of the Prayer Team or intercessors
__ Call the congregation to Solemn Assemblies
__ Rarely pray in public








Our Members

As to the prayer life of our church, our members are:
__ satisfied, __ curious, __ eager to learn, __ hungry for God

When it comes to changing the prayer patterns in our church, our members:
__ initiate new ideas, __ welcome change, __ tolerate, __ resist

What percentage of your church members do you estimate:
__ Participate in a prayer group or meeting? ____
__ Pray at home with their family on a regular basis? ____
__ Participate in some kind of prayer training? ____
__ Request prayer (written or verbally) ____
__ Pray for others who do not yet know Christ? ____
__ Pray for (immediately) others who express a joy or a need? ____
__ Have a prayer burden for another nation? ____

Our members experience prayer (list in order; most to least):
__ Privately at a specific time and place
__ Throughout their daily activities
__ When they face a trial or trouble
__ When someone else prays in a meeting or worship service
__ In a small group
__ (other) _________

Agree or Disagree:
“When we gather for corporate prayer, everyone participates verbally.”


Our Worship Service(s)

When the congregation gathers for worship, our prayers are:
(check all that apply)
__ At a preset time in the service
__ Spontaneous
__ Conversational
__ Formal
__ Informal
__ An expression of ritual
__ ”Preachy”
__ List (needs) focused
__ Prewritten

When the congregation gathers for worship, our prayers are:
(check all that apply)
__ Prayed by “clergy” (ordained, staff)
__ Prayed by selected members (a few who rotate)
__ Prayed by selected members (many are considered)
__ Prayed by any member (anyone may volunteer)
__ Prayed by all members (pairs or small groupings; pray in unison)
__ Prayed by all members (prayer recited in unison)

When our congregation gathers for worship (check all that apply):
__ We sing songs that encourage prayer
__ We have banners reminding us of the power of prayer
__ We sing songs that address God; we sing our prayers
__ We weave praise and prayer together as we worship


Our Prayer Meetings

(Any gathering devoted to prayer)

We meet for prayer __weekly, __monthly, __quarterly, __annually

Percent of our congregation who attend:
__ weekly
__ monthly
__ quarterly
__ annually

What special need or circumstance prompts an unscheduled gathering?


When we gather for prayer (check all that apply):
__ We are faith-filled __ We follow a routine
__ A few pray __ Everyone contributes
__ We span the globe __ We follow typical lists
__ Most prayers are need-based __ Many pray from scripture
__ We sense God’s presence __ We see prayers answered

The purpose of a prayer meeting (according to our reality):
__ To tell God what we need
__ To praise God and honor Christ first
__ To remind God of all who are sick or grieving
__ To listen for discernment and wisdom
__ To pray for our leaders; congregation and nation

Respond to this statement:
“Frankly, our prayer meetings are more boring than blessing...”

When we gather (check any that apply):
__ We invite the Holy Spirit to facilitate and guide our prayers
__ We ask for the mind of Christ so that our prayers echo Jesus’
__ We desire most to serve God by praising and blessing Him

Our pray focus (list in order; most to least):
__ Upward - Praise
__ Downward - Confession
__ Inward - Seeking God’s will (personal)
__ Outward - Neighbors & Nations
__ Backward - Thanking God for past blessings
__ Forward - Seeking God’s will (corporate)

Our Small Groups

Prayer is a core value (list in order; most to least):
__ Sunday School Classes
__ Choir Rehearsal
__ Fellowship Groups
__ Study Groups
__ Committees
Small Group prayer (list in order; most to least):
__ The leader (chairperson, director, moderator, president) prays
__ The leader asks someone to pray
__ Everyone prays around the circle or table
__ Prayer is conversational; people pray as prompted
__ The leader prescribes a format or style

Small Group prayer (list in order; most to least):
__ The group has a protected time for prayer
__ -Prayers tend to be general
__ Prayers are based on stated requests of the members
__ Prayers are based on the group’s agenda


Our Age-Focus Ministries

Our ministries demonstrate a high value for prayer (list in order; most to least):
__ Children’s Ministry
__ Youth Ministry
__ Collegiate
__ Singles
__ Married Couples
__ Families
__ Seniors
__ Other _ _ _

Our ministries provide prayer training (list in order; most to least):
__ Children’s Ministry
__ Youth Ministry
__ Collegiate
__ Singles
__ Married Couples
__ Families
__ Seniors
__ Other _ _ _


Our Evangelism Ministries, Special Events & Holidays

We organize prayer preceding evangelistic activities:
__ Always, __Sometimes, __Never

We schedule prayer during evangelistic activities:
__ Always, __Sometimes, __Never
We assign names of new contacts for prayer after evangelistic activities:
__ Always, __Sometimes, __Never

We ask for the opportunity to pray for people (check all that apply):
__ On our church website
__ In each Sunday’s bulletin
__ In the Church Newsletter
__ Through a “pew card”
__ A weekly verbal invitation
__ At a Prayer Table
__ In the Prayer Room

We challenge our members to pray for their neighbors & coworkers
(check all that apply):
__ In small groups (often called Lighthouses of Prayer)
__ In Sunday bulletins
__ In Sermons
__ With inserts and information (bulletin; newsletter)



Our Missions

In what ways are missionaries and missions supported by prayer?
__ Prayer partners as assigned from the congregation
__ Various classes and groups adopt a missionary
__ Our Missions Committee pray faithfully for our missionaries
__ Mission Conferences include focused prayer for global evangelism
__ We pray for missions and missionaries in Sunday services
__ Prayer requests from missionaries are posted or published
__ We offer Prayer Journeys to mission activity locations
__ Teaching mission support prayer is part of our discipleship training


Our Equipping for Prayer

Throughout the year we offer (check all that apply):
__ Workshops on various prayer topics
__ Classes on the theology of prayer
__ Studies on biblical praying and pray-ers
__ Sunday sermon series on prayer
__ Prayer retreats
__ Financial assistance for leaders to attend prayer conferences
Training Resources (check all that apply):
__ Prayer resources are purchased and made available
__ Information on resources is posted in newsletters
(Pray! magazine, new book releases, websites, videos...)
__ Free resources for Prayer Ministry Leadership
__ Prayer materials are available in our library/resource center
__ Our congregation provides budget to purchase resources


Our Prayer Ministry Team

Our Prayer Ministry Team (check all that apply):
__ Requires completed training to participate
__ Has a designated leader or coordinator
__ Has two-way communication with the Pastor
__ Is diverse (male/female; young/old)
__ Promotes training to the members of the congregation
__ Utilizes insights from spiritual mapping

Our Prayer Ministry Team includes (check all that apply):
__ PrayerWallking
__ Prayer Room
__ Prayer Chain (phone)
__ Prayer Network (e-mail)
__ Prayer Shield (prayer for the Pastor)
__ Prayer Journeys
__ Prayer Drives
__ Prayer Display Table or Resource Center
__ Prayer Articles in Newsletters
__ Altar Prayer (ministry to those responding after the sermon)
__ Prayer Circle (prayer before the Worship service)
__ Prayer during the Worship service
__ Onsite prayer during outreach events
__ Healing Prayer (by appointment or after the service)
__ Prayer Vigils (hour-by-hour prayer; sign-up)
__ Day of Prayer (everyone praying at home/work with same focus)



Our Prayer Partnerships

Our congregation (check all that apply)
__ Prays for other congregations by name
__ Participates in denominational prayer initiatives
__ Participates in community/regional prayer events

Using Acts 1:8, what per cent are your prayers focused upon:
__ Jerusalem (community; city)
__ Judea (region; nation)
__ Samaria (enemies; local issues of injustice)
__ Ends of the Earth (international; unreached people; 10/40 Window)

We participate in (check all that apply)
__ National Day of Prayer
__ See You At The Pole
__ Day of Prayer for the Persecuted Church
__ Seek God for the City (spring/Lenten prayer initiative)
__ Global Day of Prayer
__ Prayer for the Unreached Peoples of the World


Our congregation (or a class or a small group) have adopted in prayer:
(check all that apply)
__ School
__ Park (gang activity; children & families)
__ Multi-Housing / Subdivision
__ Local Business (office building; strip mall)
__ Senior Center
__ (other) ____________


Our Congregation

Every congregation, large or small; independent or denominational;
evangelical, charismatic, or liturgical, is unique.

What areas of your congregation’s life have not been covered?




How would you rate the place and prominence of prayer in those areas?



Our Conclusions

Based upon our responses and the witness of the Holy Spirit in this process:
__ We are best considered a Prayer Activity Church
(prayer is limited to traditional routines or rituals and events)
__ We are a Prayer Ministry Church
(several or many prayer teams, opportunities, services offered)
__ We are becoming a Prayer Strategy Church
Strategies are prayer-birthed, leading to...
Ministries that are prayer-based, resulting in...
Activities are all prayer-bathed

Our Plans

List Action Plans (goals with deadlines and assignments) for:

The Pastor

Leadership

Worship Services

Small Groups (classes, groups, teams)

Age-Level & Need-Focused Ministries

Prayer Ministry

Members

Prayer Meeting(s)

Equipping / Resourcing / Communicating

Acts 1:8 Praying

Other areas...


© Permission granted to copy and use with a congregation or ministry on the stipulation this statement is printed or included when copied or used:
This form and process was originally designed by Phil Miglioratti for New Hope New York . Permission to copy and use with members of a congregation or ministry is granted, providing this material is not revised, charged for or sold to participants.

The NPPN Web Roundtable -

• Distribute (e-cast or photocopy) to your Pastors’ Prayer Group
• Schedule a specific time to discuss the article
• Assign one of the PPG members to facilitate the discussion and another to take notes Consider using this format:

• “What?” is the author’s purpose? Points? Positives? Problems
• “So What?” are the implications? Benefits? Barriers?
• “Now What?” can we do to implement what is good? Action points
• Send a synopsis of your discussion to the NPPN Web Roundtable: phil@nppn.org

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The Externally Focused Church

The Externally Focused Church
by Rick Rusaw and Eric Swanson
Group Publishing Loveland, Colorado 2004

Externally focused churches are internally strong, but they are oriented externally. Their external focus is reflected in those things for which they staff and budget. Because they engage their communities with the good works and good news of Jesus Christ, their communities are better places in which to live. These churches look for ways to be useful to their communities, to be a part of their hopes and dreams. They build bridges to their communities instead of walls around themselves. They don't shout at the dirty stream; they get in the water and begin cleaning it up.

John Perkins, the recognized founder of the Christian Community Development Association (CCDA), a national organization of urban ministers, says, "Not everyone is called to move to the inner-city to minister there, but everyone is called to have a heart for hurting people."

This stuff is not rocket science. Any church of any size can be a blessing.

Do you remember Jesus' first miracle? He didn't raise someone from the dead. He didn't feed the multitudes or heal someone of a debilitating illness. He turned the water in six stone jars into fine wine at a wedding--simply because the host had run out of wine. Jesus "revealed his glory" by seeking the welfare of the host and guests of the wedding in Cana. His presence was a blessing to the wedding. Everyone was glad that Jesus showed up, but his act also led to spiritual transformation, as "his disciples put their faith in him" (John 2:11)

Engaging the community with good news and good deeds is not just a tactic or even a foundational strategy of externally focused churches; it is at their very core; it is who they are. These churches have concluded that it's really not "church" if it's not engaged in the life of the community through ministry and service to others. Ministry and service are not programs reserved for a few extraordinarily dedicated individuals but are woven into every aspect of church life. This is certainly not the only thing these churches do, but to stop ministering to and serving in the community would be to end their very existence. An external focus is embedded in their DNA.

In joining in the life and rhythm of the city, externally focused churches seek to serve and bless the city, not to control it. After all, salt, light, and leaven are agents of influence, not of control. Thus these churches build bridges instead of walls. They bless their cities and pray for them. They are one of the defined assets of their communities, not one of the liabilities.

In our evangelistic zeal, we often think people just need more or better information in order to believe. But what they really long for is authenticity. Fewer are asking, "What must I do to be saved?" Instead their question is "What can I do to make my life work?" When the people who talk about a loving God demonstrate love, the gap between doubt and faith is narrowed, and the people around them often find themselves wanting to believe.

1. We decided to broaden our outreach focus.
2. We decided not to create something that already exists.
3. We decided to open our doors to other community organizations.
4. We decided that, to love and serve our community, we must know our community.
5. We decided to invite everyone to jump into the stream!
6. We decided to be open to innovative ideas and partnerships.

For two years, LifeBridge members helped clean toilets and paint hallways at local elementary schools during Christmas break. Recently we were invited into kindergarten classrooms to help the kids make crafts. At the same school in which we had cleaned toilets for two years, we are now able to have a direct impact on the students and the teachers. Last year when a local high school student took his life, the school principal called LifeBridge. He asked if we could send over some staff and volunteer youth coaches for three days to be with the students on campus. How did LifeBridge gain such access to a public high school? We simply sent the same people who had been setting up chairs at assemblies, chaperoning the dances, and raking the long-jump pit all year.

Increasingly we have found that in areas of ministry we never could have forced our way into, we are now being invited to serve, and that service has become a bridge to salvation. It is "God's kindness" that leads to repentance (Romans 2:4). not the threat of God's judgment. Barriers to the gospel melt away when people are served and blessed. It's been said, "There is only one way to God and that is through Jesus. But there are a thousand ways to Jesus." By creating a thousand entry points into the community, we create a thousand opportunities to show the love and share the good news with the city.

Good deeds form a great bridge over which the good news can travel! The doors to salvation have opened through service.

Servants get invited to places into which the mighty can't force their way.
Mosaic pastor Erwin McManus writes, "there is something mystical about servanthood because God is a servant. When we serve others, we more fully reflect the image of God, and our hearts begin to resonate with the heart of God. We may never be more like God than when we're serving from a purely selfless motivation.

So much good can be done apart from money. Vicki Baird, director of MercyWorks of Cincinnati's Vineyard Community Church says that "the poor need relationships more than they need money. In the inner city, there's a lot of free stuff to be had. What the poor need is people who care."

Partnering means to share in the efforts and outcomes of a venture. For a church to partner with other churches, organizations, or agencies means that it recognizes one of two things: (1) The job is way bigger than any one church can handle, or (2) God is already at work through other people of goodwill who care about what the church cares about. As we've shown throughout this book, it's often easier to form partnerships with existing groups than to spend the resources to start, staff, and fund something new. There's no reason to form a duplicate service or ministry if there's one already accomplishing its mission. Chances are that people from your congregation are already serving in it!

Partnering with churches or even secular organizations does not mean we must water down our beliefs or distinctives. We don't form our partnerships around our statements of faith or doctrine but rather our common love and commitment to our community. In Chapter 5 you may recall Rick's remark: "We may not always agree with other community service groups on the cause or the cure, but we do agree there is a problem." Even this minimum level of commonality can bring groups of people into partnerships.

Some suburban churches develop partnerships with urban churches and ministries. The great challenge of urban ministry in the U.S. is that the churches that are most in touch with the needs of people often have the least ability and capacity to meet those needs. Most urban churches are stretched to the limit. Urban pastors are often bi-vocational, fulfilling their calling by working two or more jobs. Churches in more affluent suburban areas often are resource rich (comparatively speaking) but out of touch with the needs of the under-resourced and disenfranchised. Urban-suburban partnerships can help close this gap.

How many times does it take to create a church tradition? Only once...if it is successful. The methodologies that we currently use are the answers to the tough questions a previous generation (or two...or three) asked. The toughest programs to kill are those that are working. Remember that we organize around purpose, not around program or tactic. Every program that is effective today, no matter how good it is, has a life span. It eventually will lose momentum. We've got to be so in tune with God's purpose that our purpose isn't interrupted when a program runs out of steam.

The best way to engage the hearts of high-capacity people is by engaging their minds around big challenges and ideas. Daniel H. Burnham, the architect who rebuilt Chicago after the Chicago fire and came up with the first comprehensive plan for an American city, said, "Make no little plans' they have no magic to stir men's blood and probably themselves will not be realized. Make big plans; aim high in hope and work, remembering that a noble, logical diagram once recorded will not die."

Change the Conversation
Put two pastors in a room together, and you can bet that within the first five minutes someone will ask, "What are you runnin' these days?" That's pastor talk for "How large is your attendance?" or "What size is your church?" Maybe the conversation needs to change to "Tell me about the difference your church is making in your community." If the other pastor starts mentioning numbers of people attending Sunday school or worship services, respond by saying something such as "Oh, I'm sure people love listening to your teaching, but what's happening in the community because of your church?"

It's not about size; it's about impact. Can you imagine the difference it would make if the more than 340,000 churches in North America all measured their effectiveness by external measures (impact on communities) rather than internal measures (attendance)? Can you imagine the difference it would make if every church around the world did the same?

To create a different future is going to take leaders with the vision to see, the passion to feel, and the courage to do. These leaders must keep pressing forward despite inevitable squalls, adjusting the rudder and the sail as they go. "The voyage of the best ship is a zigzag line of a hundred tacks," according to Emerson. Sometimes it may seem that you are not making progress, but you are. You are learning: you are growing. You are becoming more useful for the kingdom. After all, you are simply the helmsman, not the Captain, of this ship. You may not have a map, but you do have a compass. This is really about the kingdom, not programs. It's about relationships, not numbers. It's about changed lives, not endless activity. And you have your mates--those kindred spirits whose hearts beat with yours. Your provisions for the journey may be sparse, but real leaders have the ability to create something that doesn't exist...with resources they don't have. If that describes what you are trying to do, then you are in the right position. ...go forward, knowing that God meets us when we step out in faith. He reveals solutions as we go; we mustn't wait to act until we have all the answers.

Coaching ~ Teaching by Listening

See more book notes at www.davidmays.org

LEARNING TO LISTEN: LEARNING TO TEACH The Power of Dialogue in Educating Adults Jane Vella Josey-Bass Publishers, 1994, 202 pp. ISBN 1-55542-630-1 http://www.globalearning.com/

Dr. Vella is president of Global Learning Partners in Raleigh, North Carolina. She has many years of practical experience in adult education. Vella illustrates 12 principles of dialogical education via powerful and entertaining stories of training lay educators from Nepal to the rural South. While the examples help me understand the concepts, I need more guided experience to apply them effectively.

“A significant problem in the education of adults is the perceived distance between teacher and student. All of the principles (in this book) are...means to close that gap and develop...dialogue. Learning to Listen constitutes a dialogue with readers about the power of dialogue in adult learning.” (Preface)

The basic assumption is that adult learning is best achieved in dialogue. Adults have enough life experience to be in dialogue with any teacher, about any subject, and will learn new knowledge or attitudes or skills best in relation to that life experience. (3)

The seven steps of planning to design a course:

1. Who? – Study the profile of the participants.
2. Why? – Study the situation
3. When? – Consider the time frame
4. Where? – The best location
5. What? – The content of the training
6. What for? – Set achievement-based objectives.
7. Then set tasks for the participants to do in order to learn the content. (89)

The final learning task is evaluation. Two open questions:

· What was most useful to you?

· What would you suggest we change? (31)

“Long-range evaluation occurs some time after the event. This process invites examination of indicators demonstrating how learners are using the skills, knowledge, and attitudes learned in the course.” (31)

Principle 1: Needs Assessment: The First Step in Dialogue

Key question: “Who needs what as defined by whom?” (48) This question must be asked over and over.

“As a teacher, I need to discover what they know and what they think they need or want to know.” “People are naturally excited to learn anything that helps them understand their own themes, their own lives.” (5)

“In formal education, the professor usually begins planning with What: the skills, attitudes, and knowledge that will be imparted to the learners. In this approach to learning, using these principles, the adults’ needs, discovered during the needs assessment, sort out the What.” (26)

The key to adult learning: “the loving, respectful relationship of learner and teacher.” (45)

Principle 2: Safety

People are willing and eager to learn when they feel safe. “Allowing small groups to find their voices enhances the possibility of safety.” “Realization that the environment is nonjudgmental assures safety.” (7) “Affirming is one of the basic tasks of every teacher.” (8)

“The safety of the program organizers and teachers is as important as that of the learners. We now insist that organizations who contract for training make sure that their senior managers take full part in the programs.” (58)

“Our job was to design and present the task, a simulation, a role play, in a safe, structured environment, and invite their wise analysis.” (62)

Principle 3: Sound Relationships

“Sound relationships for learning involve respect, safety, open communication, listening, and humility.” The teacher must demonstrate a sense of inquiry and curiosity. (8)

A sound relationship implies “friendship, but no dependency; fun without trivialization of the learning; dialogue between men and women who feel themselves peers.” (65)

In a personal learning situation the professor offered a long reading list and suggested the student select the book she wanted to begin with and then set up a time to discuss the book and any other items she was learning. (66)

In a graduate course, “I arrange to be present one hour before class to meet one or more of the graduate students for reflection or response to questions.” (68)

“Affirmation, lavish affirmation, is possible at every step of the way….” “Affirm at every level, to celebrate learning when you see it happening, to say, ‘Well done!’” “…there is something to celebrate and something to improve in any human endeavor. Before marking things wrong, begin by celebrating what is right. (69)

“Affirmation is not always affirmation of the idea, but always of the person. The purpose of affirmation is to have the person learn and develop. We can nurture their thinking power by affirmation and build a learning relationship.” (70) “Listening without interrupting is a simple structure for assuring respect.” (70)

“Judging stops spontaneity.” “The relationship has to be built by avoiding judgment.” (72) “Open questions are the single sure practice that invites critical thinking and effective learning.” (73)

The task itself can be the teacher. The engagement with the task is a way of learning: by doing it. The teacher’s role is to be a resource, to set the task clearly without ambiguity, to make sure there are adequate physical resources to do it successfully, and to get out of the way.” It must be significant work. (74)

“Set the norm that any question which arises has priority over the task at hand.” (75) Capture the moment. (76)

Principle 4: Sequence and Reinforcement

“Sequence means begin at the beginning: move from small to big, slow to fast, easy to hard.” (80)

“Reinforcement means the repetition of facts, skills, and attitudes in diverse, engaging, and interesting ways until they are learned.” (10) Do it 1,142 times and you have learned it. But those 1,142 times should move from easy to difficult, from simple to complex, from group efforts to solo. (9)

“The teacher listens to the adult learners and changes learning tasks to meet their needs… If the task is too difficult for most of the learners, it must be changed. This is what we mean by learning as dialogue.” (11)

“Learn the situation and the environment first and then design and lead the training.” (79)

Principle 5: Praxis

Action with reflection. Doing with built-in reflection. (11) Doing-reflecting-deciding-changing-new doing. (12) It is “action, full of reflection, leading to new, refined action. It is an ongoing, never-ending cycle of change toward a better situation.” (92)

Four open questions: “

1. What do you see happening here? (description)

2. Why do you think it is happening? (analysis)

3. When it happens in your situation, what problems does it cause? (application)

4. What can we do about it? (implementation)” (12)

“It is the teacher’s responsibility to set training objectives very clearly and explicitly for participants before the training begins and then, in honest dialogue, ask them what they want to do in light of these objectives. The dialogue begins by design when we invite these expectations.” (90)

Principle 6: Respect for Learners. Learners as Subjects of Their Own Learning

“Healthy adults desire to be subjects—decision makers—and resist being treated as objects….”(at the disposal of other people) “…insofar as possible, they themselves decide what occurs in the learning event.” (12, 97)

“The content of a course is an object for us, learners and teacher as subjects, to examine together as we decide what is useful and true.” (98)

“One practical guide is: Don’t ever do what the learner can do; don’t ever decide what the learner can decide.” (13) “The learning is in the doing and the deciding.” (13)

“Training is only as good as it is accountable.” Therefore the learners set the pace of training. The participants must demonstrate their grasp of the ideas and skills. (102)

It is imperative for the teacher to model all aspects of the training, to use the principles, skills, and attitudes being taught. (102)

Praise from a peer carries more weight than advice, correction, or praise from an outsider. (108)

“Control the variables and people will produce, content to work hard on their own tasks.” (109)

Principle 7: Ideas, Feelings, Actions

Learning with the mind, emotions, and muscles. A mass of information can frighten people off. (14)

Every learning task must include an element of ideas, feelings, and actions. They need not be distinct but are often integrated. Elicit the learner’s feelings about and get them to do something with the concept. (114)

Principle 8: Immediacy

“Adult learners need to see the immediate usefulness of new learning: the skills, knowledge, or attitudes they are working to acquire.” (16)

“Any educator goes into a situation with a boilerplate of concepts, skills, and attitudes he or she wants to teach, can teach. Problem-posing approaches to adult learning do not deny this or judge it as wrong. The operative word is dialogue.” (126)

“In every non-English-speaking country I have worked in, my very desire to learn the language created a relationship with the local people, and my struggling efforts created occasions for hilarity.” (127)

“Since adults learn by doing, we must design opportunities for this doing, using new knowledge, skills, and attitudes. But they have to do it.” (127)

My motto as a teacher: “Question the answers.” (128)

“By accountable, I mean that we do what we say we will do.” (132)

Principle 9: Clear Roles. Assuming New Roles for Dialogue

“If the learner sees the teacher as ‘the professor’ with whom there is no disagreement, no questioning, no challenge, the dialogue is dead in the water. Adult students need reinforcement of the human equity between teacher and student.” (17)

“Modeling an approach to learning means being true to it in all circumstances.” (141) “We teach the way we have been taught.” Model “a participative, problem-based approach by inviting their reflection on the objectives and the program.” (142)

Principle 10: Teamwork: How People Work Together

“Teams provide, in the adult learning experience, a quality of safety that is effective and helpful.” “If you…see negative energy between people, keep them on separate teams.” “Try to have people choose their own teams as often as possible….” (19) “In a team, learning is enhanced by peers.” (20)

Team leadership emerges in action. “When setting team tasks using open questions, it is important to realize that the trainer does not know the answer to the question. The facilitator has no control over what the team will say or how it will respond.” (155-56)

Principle 11: Engagement: Learning as an Active Process

Not everyone has the same role. It must be understood who has the deliberative (decision-making) voice. “If this distinction is not made, participants who are engaged in naming priority issues and program innovations may expect their pronouncements to become policy. The distinction clarifies each person’s role and invites creative suggestions.” (160)

Strategic Planning for Public and Nonprofit Organizations, John Bryson (1988). Bryson gives a sequence of concepts: stakeholders, mission, SWOT, strategic issues, strategies, action plan. (161)

“We have discovered that the shorter the time frame for a task, the higher the energy.” (162)

Principle 12: Accountability: Success Is in the Eyes of the Learner

“Accountability is a synthesis principle—the result of using all the other principles….” (21)

“One does what one can at the time, trusting that the seeds will bear fruit the sower will never see.” (168)

“This is one of the most compelling aspects of popular education. You must use the principles and practices to teach them—or else you do not teach them. It is as simple as that.” (172)

“There are three things that make accountable learning happen, and they are important in this order: time, time, and time. Without reinforcement, without a sequence of continued learning activities and a research agenda, without the stimulation of appropriate rewards and motivation, professionals will go back to teaching the way they were taught.” (174-75)

Using the Twelve Principles in Your Own Teaching

“How do you know what they need to know? Ask them!” (181) “If you use a written survey, you can list all the potential content of your course and invite them to indicate which three items seem most important to them.” (180)

“A relationship of mutual respect between teacher and learner is often cited as the most important motivator of adult learners.” “Developing such a relationship takes time.” (182)

“Coaching is never telling. It is setting out a well-sequenced series of small tasks, repeating them often enough, and affirming the learners as they show their new skills.” (183)

“No matter what you do, adult learners will learn what they need and want to know.” (184)

“Do not tell what you can ask. Do not ask if you know the answer; tell in dialogue.” (185)

“How is my teaching involving the learner in thinking, feeling, and doing?” (185)

“You invited them to use the first section of a skill, celebrate that, reflect on the process, and move on to the next part. The immediate success encourages the learners to begin to believe they can learn.” (187)

“A learning task is an open question put to a small group with the resources they need to respond to it.” You can do this with any size group. You can ask them to “turn to their neighbor” to make small groups to do a learning task. (188-89)

“Often, the more teaching, the less learning.” (193)

* * * * *

David Mays

davidmays@acmc.org www.davidmays.org

ACMC and Caleb Project

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