When there is a war everyone’s senses are standing at attention and all eyes and ears are up and positioned.  Everyone is on alert.  There is no sense of complacency because everyone knows that people are dying, lives are being sacrificed and everything is potentially at stake.  In these times we overwhelmingly salute those that are in the armed forces and rightfully so.  We become patriotic to the core and we are willing to stand toe-to-toe with giants on behalf of our nation, what we believe in and what we stand for.  After all, it is not peace time, it is war time.

How much more so should the body of Christ be in that same exact mindset and continuously on alert?  We are in fact in a war that has nothing to do with this world or the temporal.  As a matter of fact the earthly and more tangible wars that get us so fired up are not immediately connected (in most cases) to the eternal.  But the one we are called to and caught up in spiritually certainly is!  It is eternal!

And whether you are a church planter or involved in a church planting team, you can bet your bottom dollar on one primary absolute fact:  Satan, his demons, and the kingdom of darkness hates you and your church plant.

Church planting and an X Games mode of desiring and following Christ are not at all for the faint at heart.

With church planting comes war.  With war comes great casualty.  With causalities comes depression, discouragement, grief, guilt, shame, remorse – thee gamut of emotions.  But God is greater than our emotions!

Though I personally do not succeed as often as I would like in my own war time mentality, the truth exists for us that we can trust, “Fear not, stand firm, and see the salvation of the Lord, which he will work for you today…” (Exodus 14:13).  After all, we have all heard the messages about how many times Jesus tells us not to fear.  It is also imperative for all of us on the team, not just the planter but for everyone, that the Apostle Paul admonishes us to suit up for battle in Ephesians 6.

Is there any room for a peace time mentality or being faint at heart in a statement like:  ”Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil” ?  Absolutely not!  Satan and his demons are real and they are coming!  They are on the way to divide and conquer if we give them half a chance.

Even when it comes to the conflict that is always inevitable,

“We do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places” (Ephesians 6:12, esv).

This battle is real and only the boldness of the Spirit, with an obedience to Hebrews 10:25  and “ not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near” will we make it.  We have to stick together.  We must stick close and   “Above all, keep loving one another earnestly, since love covers a multitude of sins” (1 Peter 4:8).

This is not for the faint at heart but especially in the way of church planting, it is for those who desire to be committed to the war time and not the peace time mentality!  We expect a war, but we endure together!

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I am an apostle, prophet, leader when it comes to my gift mix.  I am also off the chart “D” on the DISC profile.  The high “D” is said to be that guy that approaches a brick wall, blasts through it and looks back and says, “oh, there was a wall there.”  Those of you that know me are not strangers to that truth.  After all, I told Mr. Knowzit on his TV show, while in kindergarten, that I wanted to be a fire TRUCK when I grew up.  He could have said, you are an apostle, prophet, and high “D”.  God can used you to pioneer works where others may not want to go, but shepherding and pastoring people will not be your strongest points.  I want to love people that way, and I genuinely do love people, shepherding just does not come natural for me at all.  And I am not the easiest to work with.

That being considered, I also wanted to share a paragraph with you and the link to an entire article.  I hope that perhaps this will assist you in making some sense of me and guys like me who genuinely love you and desire above all to serve you and to be Jesus to you.

 This “apostolic function” persists primarily to help the church reach the world with the gospel. This requires leaders whom the church sends to break new ground or explore new mission opportunities. Their function can be rooted in the Great Commission, but we can readily see a pattern for their labors in the missionary strategy of the Apostle Paul. “And thus I make it my ambition,” he said, “to preach the gospel, not where Christ has already been named” (Romans 15:20). Elsewhere Paul states to the Corinthians his impassioned gospel-goal: “to preach the gospel in lands beyond you” (2 Corinthians 10:16). 

The take-home point? The function fulfilled by men following in Paul’s (and Timothy’s, and Silas’s, and Epaphras’s, etc.) footsteps is primarily missiological, not ecclesiological. The accent rests on gospel mission, not church maintenance. And the specific expression of that mission is church planting. “[Paul’s] more functional understanding of apostleship,” says Gordon Fee, “would certainly have its modern counterparts in those who found and lead churches in unevangelized areas.”*

From the following link: http://www.sovereigngraceministries.org/blogs/cj-mahaney/post/church-planting-and-apostolic-ministry.aspx

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I have also come to understand more of the differences for then involved individuals between attending an established church versus being a part of the first couple of years of a new work in church planting.

No church planter that I have ever met really wants to be the only one calling the shots, or the one that ultimately becomes the pastor for teaching, preaching, evangelism, counseling, youth and children, administration, etc., while also being the primary go to person with all of the set up and tear down, the follow up with new guests, the assimilation of individuals into places of ministry, as well as being the PR guy out in the community, and expected by many to be the possessor of all of the spiritual gifts and never get angry, sin or blow it on a regular basis.  Even typing all of that makes me want to crawl under the desk and hide.  But in all reality this is exactly what tends to often be expected of the new church planter and even the new church plant.  This stands in start contrast of the work and ministry of the established pastor who oversees an established church, with established teams and established ministries.

To make it just a bit more challenging, many wonderful, Spirit-filled, Jesus-loving, well-intentioned people come to the new church plant expecting to size up the church as if it has been in existence for years and has all of the same offerings as the local church in town of 10, 15, or 20 years.  This is certainly understandable but it is not at all realistic.

So much of this speaks directly to the absolute necessity of a committed team in a new church plant, where people truly understand that 1.  This is a new church, it is not the local established church, 2.  In a church plant the team must realize that conflict is absolutely unavoidable and that church plants are made up of sinful people without exception, 3.  The church planting pastor needs help on a regular basis and needs people that are committed to the team through thick and thin.  4.  To be a part of the “core group” or “launch team” there is a level of commitment that is needed that is unique to church planting and supersedes the more common level of involvement that we often commit to as members of an larger and more established church.

A church-planting team is defined as: “A community of believers led by a pastor(s) who are growing together in life and mission while preparing for the public launching of a church.  The church-planting team is a developing church.” (Source: Craig Cabaniss, Sovereign Grace Ministries)

This is exactly where we are as a church!  Please note the phrase “growing together in life and mission”, as we have often said, Acts 2:42 is the essential Scriptural basis for this –  And they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers.

“While preparing for the public launching of the church” – this is something that we still have not officially done because we are still committed to building and developing the committed church-planting team.  We long for the day that we make an official “launch” in Sumter!

Also, please note that the church-planting team is also defined as “a developing church”.  Just like any other type of development there are stages toward maturity in the lives all all involved, the leadership, the teams and ultimately the church.  Something that is developing is continuously growing and moving in a certain direction, but never to ultimately arrive.

Our church plant started from scratch as what is often called a “pioneering church.”  I am not the biggest history buff on the planet but I wonder how often the pioneers throughout U.S. history made mistakes, stopped and started, went forward and then backwards, etc.? But one would have to think that they had teams that were so committed that they would lay down their lives not only for the mission and for the excursions themselves, but for one another and deep in their hearts they shared common goals that they were committed to as teams and that they were committed to being faithful to one another no matter what the cost, and no matter how hard it became!

How much more as God ordained teams that are being called to take the very name of Jesus to our cities, our nation and to the nations?

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Even now the axe is laid to the root of the trees. Every tree therefore that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.” And the crowds asked him, “What then shall we do?” And he answered them, “Whoever has two tunics is to share with him who has none, and whoever has food is to do likewise.”  (Luke 3:9-11 ESV)

So Jesus has not yet officially come on the scene.  John the Baptist is doing his deal and calling out people as being a “brood of vipers” (v. 7)   – will not fly on TBN.  Won’t work for church growth real well.

I digress – It makes me sit and chuckle and laugh and wonder if any young preacher boy has decided to take that as a sermon text while a candidate for a church position or maybe a first chance at filling in for the senior and all of the sudden rattled out  ”He said therefore to the crowds that came out to be baptized by him, “You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come?” (Luke 3:7 ESV)?  You just have to know that it has happened, “you brood of vipers, repent…!  You have to know its happened.  Anyway…

It would be rather reminiscent of the time I went to an AA meeting when I was about 20 and proceeded to tell all the old timer coffee drinkers that they needed to give up their Styrofoam cups.  I might as well have called them a “brood of vipors”  - did not fair so well for me.

Anyway, we cannot get past the crowd at least being willing to respond and ask “what do we do then?”  And the response?  If you have more than you need give some of it away!  He follows up on Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.”  In case that it is not obvious, that is incredibly strong language!  So the proper response from anyone with half a sense of being about themselves is to ask what in the world can I do to prevent that from happening?

Of course the repentance is the key here and just like with the Old Testament saints the salvation would still be the result of an act of faith in the promised Messiah. But is that truth enough to over look the practical application or the personal/practical theology that fleshes out?  No!  The proof of the pudding in this situation is warm blooded, heart felt generosity in the direction of the poor.

He did not even say “If you have a closet full in the house and a bag of ratty coats in the shed from three years ago, maybe give them away.”  He says if you have two, give one!  He goes even farther and starts meddling with our meals – If you have two meals (whoever has food do likewise).  

Do you have more than one, as in two, give 50% of that away!

Au just how contraire will it get?

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So here we go with # 2 and the explorations of “to the contrary” that we find in the teachings of Jesus as it would pertain to our culture in America.  Please, this is not intended to be anti-American, anti-people with resources, anti-people with homes, cars and health insurance.  It is not intended to be that at all.  But what it is intended to do is view the teachings of Jesus, the hard teachings of Jesus, objectively.  The desire here is to objectively view cultural influence in our daily lives through the filter of the words of Jesus and not the words of Jesus through the filter of cultural influence.  Often times we all seem to get that backwards, but we know that the teachings of Jesus are incredibly upside down!

So, that being considered, lets start back over with the words of Mary concerning the coming Messiah in Luke 1 -

As I have been back and forth over this text a statement stands out to me so clearly:

He has shown strength with his arm; he has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts;  he has brought down the mighty from their thrones and exalted those of humble estate; he has filled the hungry with good things, and the rich he has sent away empty (vv. 51-53).

Whether we like it or not, Jesus never speaks highly of riches.  He makes tax collectors return money, He tells rich young rulers to go sell it all and give it away, He says rich people entering the kingdom is for all practical purposes impossible.

However, I would not necessarily deduce that Jesus is anti-wealth, just anti-covetousness and greed!  Wealth can be an amazing and beautiful gift IF used properly to expand God’s Kingdom.  Even businesses that are superbly successful can be a wonderful gift IF used for the expansion of the Kingdom of God!

This phrase “proud in the thoughts of their hearts” is another way of saying, “those who think they have no need for a Messiah”.  The next phrase is common throughout the entirety of Scripture but especially the New Testament: Want to be great, be a slave of all.  Think that you are some how already great, be brought low and humbled by God himself.  Yet we see this next phrase “He has filled the hungry with good things” – they are just like the poor in spirit in Matthew 5 – they have a true and genuine desperation for help that they know will have to come from outside of themselves.  They are broken!!  They know of their need!

And the rich, well He sends them away empty.  This is a very difficult phrase, especially in light of our society and cultural standards that may be incredibly American, but also incredibly opposite of the teachings of Jesus.  His teaching would be summed up that if you have an abundance or an excess it is NEVER FOR PERSONAL DECADENCE OR TO CAUSE GREED BUT TO BE SHARED WITH ANYONE AND EVERYONE THAT MAY HAVE A NEED – if the resourced person is a believer in and follower of Jesus!

Consider these sobering words in conclusion (more from Mother Mary and her prophetic words soon) -

 And he said to them, “Take care, and be on your guard against all covetousness, for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.” 16 And he told them a parable, saying, “The land of a rich man produced plentifully, 17 and he thought to himself, ‘What shall I do, for I have nowhere to store my crops?’ 18 And he said, ‘I will do this: I will tear down my barns and build larger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. 19 And I will say to my soul, “Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years; relax, eat, drink, be merry.” ’ 20 But God said to him, ‘Fool! This night your soul is required of you, and the things you have prepared, whose will they be?’ 21 So is the one who lays up treasure for himself and is not rich toward God.”

The Holy Bible: English Standard Version. 2001 (Lk 12:15–21). Wheaton: Standard Bible Society.

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This is a blog that I have been wanting to begin and write for quite some time.  My heart is to actually author a book that would have the exact same title at some point – who knows?  The reason is that it grieves my heart and quite frankly makes me extremely uncomfortable when those of us who are professing believers in Jesus Christ have such an impossible time being obedient to those passages in the Gospels (well, the entire Bible really) that address pointedly and specifically just how we are supposed to approach our lives as it pertains to being Jesus to the so-called needy and less fortunate in our towns and cities.

Granted we all have our struggles and the issues that we face, but I also find it a bit frightening that Jesus Christ makes such astounding declarations that should penetrate the heart of the most heartless of us all.  This blog will be to explore some of those statements made by Jesus that there is just no skirting around at all.  These explorations for the next few months, coming from the Gospel of Luke, will be expository examinations of passages such as Luke 14:12-14 -

He said also to the man who had invited him, “When you give a dinner or a banquet, do not invite your friends or your brothers or your relatives or rich neighbors, lest they also invite you in return and you be repaid.  But when you give a feast, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, and you will be blessed, because they cannot repay you. For you will be repaid at the resurrection of the just” (Luke 14:12-14, ESV).

It is almost like we would expect Him to make such a profound and contrary statement that flies in the face of and is upside down of, all that life most often looks like in our culture, and like a teenager just jump up and say “PSYCH”, “HA”, “GOTCHA”!  But he doesn’t!  He is quite serious and He does not deal in rhetoric, He not only deals in truth HE IS TRUTH!

So, its Easter.  Easter dinners with families and friends and pastels and patchwork pants and blazers and new clothes and lots of food and spreads and ….  The Guest List?  I mean, the bonnets are out, the baskets are full, the kids are ecstatic, people eat nasty marshmallow stuff, and … The Invites?

Easter is about the resurrection and the resurrection is about new life and hope!  If we as followers of Christ really believed His words would we not only be willing to obey the passage above, but be anxious, chomping at the bit even, to be obedient to passages like Luke 14?  After all, we have been given the very hope of the resurrection that is found in the Gospel of Jesus Christ, which is the very power of God, but… The Guest list?  The Invites?

What if we profess to love Jesus, but also love to be engaged in lots of social gatherings, but … The Guest List?  … The Invites?

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If His followers are to do the same works, even greater works, and are able to ask according to His nature knowing that He will in fact respond, then the next logical topic to be present would be that of loving obedience.  This is found in the statement, “If you love me, you will keep my commandments.”  This statement, as well as all the others, goes back to the first paragraph and the fact that Jesus will follow up in John fifteen with a discussion on vines, branches and pruning.  Yes, Jesus is very much the vine, but if a vine is going to live it must first be connected and also possess this life giving sap that runs throughout, namely the metaphorical sap of the Holy Spirit of God.  Without the Holy Spirit that Jesus is promising, there are no works, certainly no greater works, no recognition of His name or His nature, and zero ability to love Him and keep His commandments.  It all boils down to health and fruit at this point and that is exactly why Jesus will transition to the agrarian metaphors in the next chapter.

Jesus is making it abundantly clear that obedience is the key that unlocks the doors of Him sending the presence of the Holy Spirit in abundance into the life of the believer to accomplish great things.  Notice the sequence in verses fifteen and sixteen (and also notice they are preceded by an “If”):  we love, we keep, He prays, Father gives, we receive.  Now Jesus himself is unpacking the infrastructure of how the seemingly preposterous can actually become a reality.  In addition, the real beauty in at all is that the promised result is this Helper, the Holy Spirit, but just how amazing it is that the love we have for Him is because He first loved us and the astounding truth that He has shed His love abroad in our hearts through this person of the Holy Spirit (see Romans 5:5)!  From beginning to end it is all a sovereign work of the Holy Spirit of God so that the Son of God will bring glory to the Father!

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Jesus again slowly resumed the main current of his teaching.  He wanted to impress on the disciples that he was not disbanding them in anticipation of his departure but, rather, he was expecting them to continue his work and do even greater things than he had accomplished.  Such an expectation seems impossible in the light of his character and power; yet, through the power of the Spirit whom Jesus sent after his ascension, there were more converts after the initial sermon of Peter at Pentecost than are recorded for Jesus during his entire career…As the living Lord he continued in his church what he himself begun.  He expected that the church would become the instrument by which he could manifest his salvation to all people.”[1]

Jesus is not only comforting his disciples in this time of great sorrow for them as He is making His way to the cross in the very near future, but He is laying the foundational groundwork for the Great Commission that He will leave them and entrust them with.  Imagine how awestruck they must have been when He made this statement.  Imagine what must have been going through their minds as all of this is progressing. And He is right there communicating such unimaginable truths to them and to top it off He tells them that the reason they will do the same works and even more so is because He is going to be with the Father.  This is such an amazing statement when taking the idea and concept of leadership into consideration because what most leaders tend to do is want to do and do and do and never be outdone.  But once again, even in this specific area, Jesus shows the truest heart of humility as he declares to His followers that once He is no longer with them, that they will accomplish even more.

Another great section of commentary states,

This is one of the most interesting verses in the Bible. Interpreters have pondered what Jesus meant by telling his disciples that they would do greater things than he, the Son of God, had done. But perhaps the best way to understand the verse is to take it literally, exactly as Jesus said it. Jesus’ earthly ministry was limited in time and space. He served the Father for three and one-half years and never outside the boundaries of Palestine. The disciples, on the other hand, as Acts clearly attests, carried out ministry that was greater geographically, in terms of numbers of people reached and long-lasting effect.

We find a leadership principle here as well. All parents should be able to say to their children; all pastors should be able to say to their staffs; all leaders should be able to say to their followers: “You have the potential to do greater things than I have done.” To empower and develop followers whose ministry exceeds the impact of their mentors is to follow the model of Jesus.^[2]

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He then goes on to take it even further when He declares that these believers that have placed faith in Him, will “also do the works that I do; and greater works than these will he do.”  Incredible!  This is not some far-fetched, half-cocked statement made by an imaginary or fictitious character; this is the sovereign Lord of the universe speaking here.  So what in the world could He possibly intend to mean by this statement?  Andreas Kostenberger in his commentary on the gospel of John makes the statement that “Jesus’ claim is nothing less than startling.”[3] And then goes on to offer his summation of what this text potentially means as he says,

Many early interpreters took the “greater things” to refer to the missionary successes of the early church.  In relation to the Book of Acts, this certainly is true.  Jesus’ followers were in a position to influence a greater number of people and to spread out over a much larger geographical area.  In the context of John’s Gospel, however, “greater things” has primarily a qualitative dimension, marking Jesus’ “signs” as preliminary and his disciples’ ministry as “greater” in the sense that their ministry is based on Jesus’ completed cross-work (12:24; 15:13, 19:30) and that it belongs to a more advanced stage in God’s economy of salvation. [4]    

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Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes in me will also do the works that I do; and greater works than these will he do, because I am going to the Father. Whatever you ask in my name, this I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask me anything in my name, I will do it.  If you love me, you will keep my commandments. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever, even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you. ^[1]

It is extremely obvious that Jesus desires that this statement be attended to closely because of His usage of the words “truly, truly” or as another translation may read “I assure you.”[2]  This is a statement that requires attention.  The weight of the opening statement, as it flows into the passage itself is described well here:

The appearance of these verses strikes the reader with incredible force. In the face of loneliness and Jesus’ departure, the reader is confronted with another of the Johannine strategic double amēn sayings that must always be taken as important statements of Jesus. In this case the saying provides a significant window into the postresurrection situation. Even though the disciples here may have been overwhelmed by sorrow (cf. 16:20), they are called to focus on the future rather than the present because most of the verbs are in the future tense in this section. Moreover, to highlight the postresurrection perspective the opening words “anyone who has faith” imply that the announcement is intended for many more than the present little band of Jesus’ sorrowing followers.^[3]

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