The Called Man part 2

A call will have 2 activities (Burden Married to Vision) and 3 confirmations. Earlier we discussed the Heart Confirmation. Its the thing that screams out, "I Must Give My Life for this Call".

Next is the Head Confirmation

This is where the vision starts formulating, from what the Holy Spirit pours into to you, as you move through the burden to "How can I give My Life to this Call?" This happened for me as I was reflecting on my experience, from serving Cornerstone International Church in Norwich CT, this past summer. I began to "in my words" daydream about ministry in New England. Not only sensing Gods movement there, but how God could use me and my experiences there for the kingdom. Very specific ministry opportunities exploded in my mind and the vision had began its lift.

One of the things that a called man must be on guard against, is to just simply repeat or adopt ministry model,s that he has experienced. Every new work is different because people groups are different. The Holy Spirit supplies the guidance and plans, for you to realize the call, that is specific to the people group where God is already at work.

So if a man is being called into ministry or called to begin a new work such as a New Church Plant, the Heart and Head confirmations are important, and fit into the "internal" category of the call.

The greatest thing on this earth is to have Salvation! Next to that is to share the story. Next post we will discuss the 3rd confirmation "Skill"

Be Blessed

Pastor Tim

A Called Man

Sixteenth Century Theologian Martin Luther listed 8 qualities that a minister must have:

1. Able to teach systematically

2. Eloquence

3. A good voice

4. A good memory

5. Knows how to make a end

6. Sure of his doctrine

7. Willing to lose body, blood, wealth, and honor in the work

8. Willing to be mocked and jeered by everyone

I don't know about you but that list has a lot of meat on it. I have strengths and weaknesses in all 8 areas.

But how do you discern a call?

When people ask me how do I know that I am called, I explain that I had a burden that was married to a vision. I have read several book over the past few months and many related to my call to plant a church. One particular has pricked my heart and mind titled "Church Planter" by Darrin Patrick. He purposes that there are 3 confirmations when discerning the call. Heart, Head, and Skill.

In this post lets review the Heart Call.

Nehemiah cried because the city and people were in ruins in Nehemiah 1:4

"As soon as I heard these words I sat down and wept and mourned for days, and I continued fasting and praying before God of heaven"

He had no choice but to follow and answer the call to serve. His heart was taken. This was a event that I can witness to, when I was called into ministry, while serving at Crossroads Baptist church, and then again when I was called to serve at LifeSong Church. In both cases it was clear, that this thing I Must do!

Now my call to plant a New England church was even more of a Nehemiah experience, as the call brought me to tears, and still does today, as I see the people that need Jesus there. Spurgeon refers to it as "an intense, all-absorbing desire for the work" One of my leadership coaches Jarvis Cooper stated it to me this way: "What makes your baby jump?" Over time the sense or the kick gets stronger, not weaker with time. That is HEART call.

Love God, Love People

Pastor Tim

New Daughter In Love

My youngest son Andrew, takes a bride this Saturday. Lynn and I will receive our second daughter in love. Her name will be Jamie Lyda. What an amazing thing to see how God brings people together for His glory.

As a parent, it really does matter that you not only feed and clothe your children, but teach them how to live and have relationships by example. What do I mean?

Well, as I think about this marriage that is about to happen, I am reminded that it was important for Andrew to eyewitness his parents to forgive each other. As a leader of his new home, he is now the lead disciple and he must forgive as Jesus did. How would he know what that looks like if it was not lived out in our home?

It was important for Andrew to eyewitness his dad pursue his mother. To serve his mother and for her to respond like wise. Please don't get me wrong here, this post is not about how Tim and Lynn Lyda have the perfect marriage, but it is a post about never giving up on what God intended and that is relationships between man and woman that brings glory to Himself.

Lynn and I have failed many times and we don't have it completely right all the time, but we choose to follow the Master.

1 John 1:7

But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin.

Parents, PRAY for your children, and their future spouses. God responds to the prayers of His children. This weekend we get to eyewitness God at work as He brings two beautiful people together.

Both Andrew and Jamie are charged to Love, Forgive, and Serve each other like Jesus did. The both of you must leave the families that you knew as children, and begin your lives together. This requires that you are more concerned with the opinions of God and each other that family and friends.

Andrew must lead and love, Jamie must follow and love, and the both must follow the Master for this ship to sail.

1 John 1:7 is clear... Follow the Master, and NEVER stop working on the marriage.

Love,

DAD

Meet Me on the Playground or Die

This week I was traveling back from Grand Rapids MI, and has the pleasure of sitting beside 9 year old Zack ( a third grader). He asked me if ever had "In School Suspension". NO I said. He said that he had. I asked why? His mother then leaned over and told him to ZIP IT! Zack looked between his legs and said "I'm good", and then continue to tell me, that he gave a kid a note that said "Meet me on the playground or die". That was enough to get him 3 days of ISS.

Why did you do that Zack?

He told me that he needed to get the boys attention, and thought that a note would be good enough. Apparently the dude that received the Zack note, had been treating a girl in the class very bad, and Zack was not going to let another day go by without correcting the wrong that he had been witnessing. I'm loving Zack by now. I asked him about his 3 days of ISS. He said it was the best 3 days of school ever in his life! For three days he was in Mr. Carson's office (the principle) making copies and talking ALL DAY to Mr. Carson.

He is a Good Shepherd.

As leaders of the church, are we willing to call things for what they are and protect the sheep, even from themselves? The Called Pastor must protect the flock from false preaching and watered down, feel good teaching. Many claim to be called but their lives still look very similar to the world that they claim that they have been called to change. The sheep and the church suffers when we don't address those issues

The question is:

Do I love people more that I love being safe?

"If Christ so loved the souls of men as to lay out Himself and deny Himself at this rate for salvation, then surely the ministers of Christ should be ready greatly to exert themselves and deny themselves and suffer for the sake of the salvation and happiness of souls"

- Jonathan Edwards

Matthew 10

Be Blessed!

Pastor Tim

Plant Churches Like a Missionary, Not a Pastor

Lynn and I will be traveling to Putnam CT during Spring Break. If you sense God calling you to this mission, come and join us for a few days in March. Contact me for more info.

Below is a Blog from Dave Dorr. I liked it and wanted to share it with you:

You need people to be a shepherd
I guess I can be forgiven, because being a pastor is what I knew. My previous ministry experience was as a pastor. I was a college pastor out of undergrad, and then became an associate pastor at a large church a few years later. The people were provided for me. I was to grow the ministry from what I had and shepherd the people as need arose.

But this is no way to start a church. Yes, we must be shepherds to our people. But I was not a shepherd first because I had no people!

Evangelize first
If I was sent out as a missionary to another country nobody would expect me to go and counsel, preach sermons on the weekends, and facilitate smaller groups. The sending church would expect me to do evangelism. That’s what missionaries do, especially when they are first getting started.

Domestic new church starts should be the same because missionary work is evangelism that results in new churches.

Don't just go for the low-hanging fruit
I know church planters often don’t have to do evangelism to start churches domestically. They can start with a group of people from their sending church. They can recruit from other churches. They can find a group of people who are fed up with how other churches do things and launch from there. Some of these are legitimate ways to plant a church. Some of these are shady.
Every new church must have some believers, but are they purposefully interacting with unbelievers?

But all of them miss evangelism. The lead guy is immediately doing pastoral work, which is probably his preference anyway. I know that’s what I wanted. I didn’t want to consistently initiate with people who would reject me. I wanted the easy sell, the low-hanging fruit, and I wanted it to give me a decent, sustainable new church.

Find your unbelievers
The church planter is a missionary first, doing evangelism, and leading the believers in his church to reach lost people. Every new church must have some believers, but are they purposefully interacting with unbelievers? This was the most important paradigm shift for me, and as I interact with other planters, the most important paradigm shift for them.

If you are thinking of starting a church, are you willing to be a missionary?

News!

New information on Church Planting in New England. Look around the site to see more info

Answering the Call

From Jason and Chrissy Edwards:
God does not always send you a flashing neon sign, so when you hear God speak, it is sometimes difficult to determine if that voice is your own or if it is from Him! I arrived home from a mission trip over the summer and God placed a burden in my heart to witness to the people of Connecticut. It was after many months of prayer and asking God to give me confirmation through my wife that He did finally answer, and we have decided to leave South Carolina and move to Putnam, Connecticut to assist in the planting of a much needed church. We want to take the vision and heartbeat of Lifesong Lyman to New England and help others understand that Jesus is well within reach. We have a desire to show others that he loves them more than anything, and that we need him more than ever! We are thankful to be used to do God's work, God's way and are experiencing a freedom that can only come from being obedient to Him. We love you and Lynn and can't wait to serve with you both!


Your brother and sister in Christ,

The Edwards'

The Great Awakening

In the 1740s, the New England area of the United States experienced what is classified as the "Great Awakening" It was a time of Pastors like Jonathan Edwards that lived and breathed God's word. He was desperate to share the Gospel Good News with any who would listen. Connecticut experienced a revival and thousands became God's children.

Today in 2010 less that 2% of New England consider themselves Christian or as having a faith in God. South Korea has Identified the United States as their #3 priority to send missionaries to, with New England being the least evangelized area of North America.

Pastor Shaun Pillay and his wife sold all that they had in South Africa to come to Connecticut to plant the International CornerStone Church. In July of this year, I will be traveling with 6 other LifeSong men to CornerStone to assist Pastor Shaun in this new Church Plant.

We will be helping by canvassing communities with information of the church plant, sharing with those in ministry on lessons learned in our own LifeSong Church plant, in the areas of LifeGroups, and Children’s ministries. Community service projects and “one on one” evangelism is also part of the focus.

We desire your prayers as we prepare for this mission whom God has laid on our hearts. If God has blessed you in a way that you could invest financially, we would be blessed by your support to reach the Lost of New England.

Romans 10:14-17
14 How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? 15 And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, "How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!" 16 But they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Isaiah says, "Lord, who has believed what he has heard from us?" 17 So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.

Pastor Tim

Gather, Grow, & Go

Spiritual Muscle

I love the fact that many of my family and friends are turning the ship in their personal health. Everything from P90X, Triathlon training, and walking & running. My wife Lynn has just completed her very first 1/2 marathon, and will run the Cooper River Run this year. I plan to ride in my 5th Mt Bike race this year. Some would joke that this is just a fad and we all will eventually just land on the couch. That could be true, but if it is so, it would be because we had no plan and no goals in place.

What about building Spiritual Muscle?

Sometimes we wonder why we end up in spiritual and emotional train wrecks, and say "I can't believe that I am here, or why did I make such poor decisions". Satan wants us lulled to sleep and will feed us anything to keep us from waking up to the fact that we do not have to live as slaves.

I want to encourage you to put a plan in place and get into the practice of praying and doing something about your Spiritual Growth.

As a start, turn off the TV and use S.O.A.P. as you read God's word:

S = Scripture, meaning to read and to hear the words read.

O = Observation, meaning looking at a verse and look for the key words and main point or points

A = Application, meaning that you have to ask yourself, "how does this verse impact my Life?"

P = Prayer. Ask God to open up your eyes and soak in the truths and and life giving water from this LOVE letter that He has for us.

If you just don't know where to start on a plan for building Spiritual Muscle, I would love to talk to you or encourage you to attend the "Starting Point" class that we offer every 7 weeks at LifeSong Church - tim@lifesongcurchonline.com

Luke 21:19 "By Standing Firm you will gain life"

Gather, Grow, & Go
Pastor Tim

And the Word Became Flesh

John Chapter 1
And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen His glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of Grace and Truth.

Let us be reminded today that the word became flesh. The purpose for the Christmas is eternal life through Jesus birth, death, and Resurrection.

Only in Jesus Christ are the topics of Joy, Peace, and Comfort, truly understood and attainable. Just think...we are created for His Joy!! My prayer for all of my family and friends is that your Joy comes ONLY from Christ the King of Kings.

To my Personal Family and LifeSong Family, I am so looking forward to seeing Gods great work in you as your growth leads you to tell the Good News. The King has come! There is much to do, there is much to pray about, and there is much life to live full out.

I have truly been blessed with an amazing wife and best friend. Sons that seek God. A daughter in love that is a example and love to me. A grandchild that I have not met yet, that is a gift only fitting for the King to give.

LifeSong Family - You are such a encouragement in my life. My life has been changed, turned around, shook up, and any other verb that you could add, by your hearts and prayers. In 2010, we will be drawn even closer to His Mission and purpose as we continue to Love God and Love People. WE must Go Big or Go Home! The King deserves our lives and we need to be prepared to give to Him Excellence!!

Gather, Grow, and Go
Pastor Tim