Joe Kamphuis

My question relates to when an organized congregation should consider moving from "organized" to "emerging" status, and whether there are advantages to be an "emerging" church as opposed to an "organized" church.   Do you have any thoughts?

Thank you for sharing.  I am so sorry for your loss.  I see that you miss your daughter very much, and I pray God will comfort you and guard your heart in Christ Jesus with His daily, hourly, moment by moment peace.

"The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ,                                                and He will reign forever and ever."  (Revelation 11:15)

This verse gives me hope because it reminds me that no matter what we face in this world, Jesus Christ reigns now and forever.  I know that this world, my life, and the lives of those around me are held firmly in His hand.  Therefore I enter 2017 (a year of unknowns) with absolute confidence in Him.

Thank you Kevin.   I really appreciate your take on this subject, and look forward to reading subsequent editions.

I am also moved by Alan Hirsch's comment, "It is not that the church has a mission, but rather that the mission of God has a church."

Thanks for the corrective, Josh.  If people are using the older brother in the way that you describe, I wholeheartedly agree they should stop.  However, recent developments of which I am aware, based on the book The Prodigal God by Timothy Keller, cite the older brother as Jesus' target because of Luke 15:1-2, "Now the tax collectors and 'sinners' were all gathering around to hear him.  But the Pharisees and the teachers of the law muttered, 'This man welcomes sinners and eats with them.'"   Jesus' target is the Pharisees and teachers of the law, who have misunderstood God's love and desire to reach the lost.   In light of it, as elder brothers (those like me who were raised in the church, etc.) we are called to join God in His reckless, prodigal love for sinners and the lost.   This is how I have understood the use of the elder brother, have you heard that before?

Thanks Allen.   You took the words right out of my mouth.  So confirming to know you remain a good friend and kindred soul on this kingdom journey.  May God bless you and keep you and use you to advance His kingdom in your new home.  

Hi Allen.  Thank you for the reminder.  This offers good encouragement and validation for what we are trying to do at Chelwood.  I used to feel the same way about "saving souls" until I read John Ortberg's new book Soul Keeping.  In that book, Ortberg shares Dallas Willard's definition of the soul.  Willard says the soul is the will, mind, and body together, so that in order to care for our soul and the souls of others we must be concerned about all aspects.  It involves the will (or personal choices), the mind (in every respect that implies), and the body (our physical condition matters for the care of our soul).   I think that is a great way to think of the soul, and gets us out of thinking of a "soul" as our state in heaven after we die.   What do you think?

Thanks for the timely analogy, Steve.  I do not watch "Downton Abbey" but I can clearly see the parallel in your example.  CRWM has been a blessing for many years, and we pray God will use CRWM to continue to bless others and be blessed by others well into the future.  

Ken, the new way of fundraising has been called the "90%" model.  It was discussed in a recent article in the Banner.  It will eventually require all missionaries to raise 90% of their actual costs of doing ministry on the field.  The actual costs will differ from the average cost per missionary numbers, which CRWM has used for many years when missionaries were asked to raise 60% of the average cost.   Also, with respect to your second question, we agree.  It is time that career missionaries take on a new role.  However, as our number of partnerships increase in the world, it is also increases the number of opportunities to serve in the world.  I am sure you can imagine that 55 missionaries limits the means and locations in which we are able to meaningfully engage.  Since CRWM values sharing the gospel with those who have not heard it, we are seeing more and more opportunities to share the gospel creatively with Muslim people groups around the world.  The missionaries may not all come from "the West" as you suggest, but as we partner in ministry with other brothers and sisters from the majority world they too will need financial partnership in order for us to see the kingdom continue to advance in our time.  

Great questions! 

PastorCase I understand your objection, and I believe the analogy certainly falls apart if we think that CRWM missionaries are dependent on the good graces of the agency to continue in their kingdom work.  Nothing could be farther from the truth!  I think it is important for us to realize that missions is not now nor has it ever been the work of a few apart from the body of Christ.  In fact, the support of churches (prayer, financial, emotional, spiritual, etc.) is of utmost importance and remains the gold standard even in the new support model.  Please allow me to explain.

Our hope is that more churches would join in helping our missionaries raise the support they need.  We see how it is difficult for missionaries to focus on both fundraising and ministry.  Therefore, we encourage missionaries to develop teams in North America (members from supporting churches, etc.) who can assist in telling the stories and raising support.  In no way should the 90% model be seen as the agency abandoning its missionaries.  If that happens, then shame on us (agency and church)!  I think what it does is sound the alarm to let the church know that its decisions regarding paying ministry shares, working to adopt missionaries to support, etc. have consequences.  I believe that if the need is properly communicated, as well as the vision for what God is doing in the world, the church can meet the need.  The resources are there, we just need to reconnect the church to the work being done.  We believe the 90% model will work best to re-establish that connection.  

As for the question about North American staff raising their own support, I am sure you can see how that might be difficult.  The stories they tell will not likely be as compelling as the work of frontline missionaries.  So please continue to share your stories, and we will do our best to share them as well, so that God might be glorified, the church of Jesus Christ edified, and His will be done on earth as it is in heaven.  Thank you again for your good kingdom work!  We really appreciate you.