"Master Plan" Quotables

Here a couple of quotes that stood out to me from "The Master Plan of Evangelism" by Robert E. Coleman. All italics bold print are added by me:

"One living sermon is worth a hundred explanations."

"Obedience to Christ thus was the very means by which those in his company learned more truth. He did not ask the disciples to follow what they did not know to be true, but no one could follow him without learning what was true (John 7:17). Hence, Jesus did not urge his disciples to commit their lives to a doctrine, but to a person who was the doctrine, and only as they continued in his Word could they know the truth (John 8:31, 32)."

"...evangelism was not interpreted as a human undertaking, but as a divine project which had been going on from the beginning and would continue until God's purpose was fulfilled. It was altogether the Spirit's work. All the disciples were asked to do was to let the Spirit have complete charge of their lives."

Chew as necessary. I'll post more of these along the way...

The Master Plan of Evangelism

I recently finished the book, "The Master Plan of Evangelism [second edition, abridged]" by Robert E. Coleman, and was amazed by how timely it is. Originally published in 1963, the 85th printing was in 2003.

There are many thoughts on the best way to reach the average "Unchurched Urkle" in the United States here in the early days of the 21st century. Some are still effective and work well and others are quickly showing signs of age and ineffectiveness.

Having read a ton of stuff on evangelism in recent years, this book was refreshing to me. Even though it was written over 40 years ago, I found myself making immediate, relevant application for today.

In some ways it has "filled in the gaps" in my thinking about our current evangelism strategies and has helped me to "round them out" in a stronger way for the long haul.

Coleman's description of the "Master's plan*" is a timeless, long term, and cost- effective way of making disciples of Jesus Christ. It emphasizes the importance of growing strong believers who in turn, can and do begin making disciples. In the process, the results are eventually multiplied in an exponential way.

Just makes sense.

A few stand-out quotes to follow.

* Not to be confused with Kirk Cameron and Ray "banana man" Comfort's TV show of a similar name...

Why didn't I think of that?

The times they are a-changin' in the music industry.

Check this out... SellABand. The music company, the band and the fans all profit from the deal.

There are a lot of indie bands that I have never heard of on this site and the ones I listened to weren't exactly stellar, ...but what a great idea.

This system doesn't really work for churches, but I like the thinking. There are definitely creative ways to reach people and fund ministry that have not yet been dreamed up.

Time to start dreaming...

[Link via Springwise.com]

"Move" Series begins tomorrow!

Begins Sunday, August 13th. More info here.

Thoughts On Spiritual Growth

I've discovered something about spiritual growth and maturity that really isn't that profound. It is, however true:

"Knowing and not doing" = Pride, Bitterness, or Both.

OR

"Doing and not knowing" = Pride, Bitterness, or Both.

I believe this basic "formula" is true with rare, if any, exception.

Have you ever known anyone who knows a LOT of Bible, but they are also snobby, obnoxious, uncaring, unkind, ungenerous and cranky?

How about someone who is a dizzying display of service, volunteering, hard work and "spiritual" activity, but they are also snobby, obnoxious, uncaring, unkind, ungenerous and cranky?

One without the other leads to an arrogant attitude or a bitter spirit. Or both.

Many people have not grown past the last thing God told them to do. And others have not stopped long enough to know what God is telling them to do.

Spiritual maturity is not just about how much you know. It's about what you do with what you know. It's also about how much your life is reflecting the One you are following.

And becoming Christ-like is the goal.

Iron Man at 41

I'm 41 today.

And this is how I feel.

Notice the look in my eyes. That's the "steely resolve" I was talking about in that last post. :-D

Hey, I'm just getting started...

Blog Backlog Soundtrack - Leeland

Talk about a blog backlog...

I've been very focused over the past few weeks.

God. Family. Vision. People. Scripture. Order. Strength. Strategy. Stuff like that. :-)

I can honestly say that I've never been more excited about what's ahead for Compass than I am right now. God has been doing some very cool things around us here, lately and I'm looking forward to seeing where some new developments end up taking us. More on this later.

It's been awesome, but hasn't provided much time for blogging.

Fortunately, as many of you know, I usually have my "Un-wired-er Analog PDA Mind Map" with me or close by during the day, so I have a little log of blog posts that I'll be getting around to before long.

To ease back in, and because I'm short on time, here's a little of my life soundtrack for the past week or so:

Leeland is a cool new band from the great state of Texas. I've enjoyed listening to a few of the songs from their site, and I like that the drummer (on the far right) looks a little like "Hurley" from "Lost."

One song in particular, "Tears of the Saints," could easily be a lyrical anthem for our church. The first time I listened to the words of that song, I got a bit of a lump in my throat and a steely resolve in my heart.

I can't believe I just said, "steely resolve in my heart," but that describes it pretty well, actually... "Father, we will lead them home..."

Check out their MySpace at http://www.myspace.com/leelandmusic, and look for the new release, "Sound of Melodies" on August 15, 2006.

All Get Out

Compass Church is a church plant. If that means nothing else, it means we are mobile, agile, and ... uh, nimble?

Anywho.

For three short weeks leading into our fall schedule at the Roanoke Recreation Center, that's exactly what we will be. Mobile, that is.

I have several books in me that I hope will one day find the light of publishing day, and one of them includes a chapter that was originally titled, "Why the Church Must Get Out of Its Building." Now I'm pretty sure it will be called, "All Get Out." That's a post in and of itself, and is actually the topic for my talk this Sunday.

"All Get Out" is an expression that Dictionary.com defines this way:

The utmost degree that is possible or even imaginable: “It's snowing like all get-out up here” (Hans Thorner).

The church striving for the "utmost degree that is possible or even imaginable" and the church "getting out of its building" - I like the play on words here.

The walls of a church building, rented or otherwise, should serve to provide a church focus and ministry for a lost world, not protect a church from it.

We all need to get out.

Get out and serve. Get out and share. Get out and be the church instead of merely going to it.

This is a very cool time for our church. It's also a great time to join us on the adventure. If you are a Christ follower who is tired of church as usual and ready to get out and change the world, give me a call.

But you may need to leave me a message - I'm going to be "out" quite a bit over the next few weeks...

Usable

Sometimes mistakes and disobedience cause consequences that make future ministry limited, or at least redirected. Moses didn't get to go to the promised land after striking the rock, Elijah was replaced after losing the vision, and a few others like Achan, Annanias and Sapphira lost their lives after direct disobedience.

But God in His great grace has not always made that the case. More often than not, God uses us in spite of our mistakes and our disobedience when we turn back to Him.

One of the more famous "disobedient servants" in scripture was Jonah.

• Jonah should have gone to Ninevah. Instead, he went toward Tarshish.

• Jonah should have been preaching to the Ninevites. Instead, he was confessing to sailors.
  
  
• Jonah should have been in the presence of a king. Instead, he was in the belly of a fish.
  
  
• Jonah should have been the "mouthpiece" of God. Instead, he was vomited from the mouth of a fish.

His mistakes, and even his disobedience, didn't "get him out" of going to Ninevah. Certainly there are sins that may disqualify us for particular areas of service. But fortunately for us all, our past does not necessarily disqualify us from the mission.

God did something very compassionate and merciful for Jonah.

He did not let him go.

Instead, He continued to command him to go.

Leckie Kitchen Photo Booth

Leona and Me
being goofy
before making
the
home-made
pizza
and
home-made
salsa... and
Michael
with his
new
contacts.

Cert

Okay so maybe I'm not completely "uncertain." I'm just not completely "certain." I'm somewhere in between "certain" and "uncertain."

I guess you could say that I'm just "cert."

The good thing about certs is that even when things bite, at least there's a spark in the dark...

I would say that I at least have a spark in the dark.

:-D

Uncertain in Texas

I know you can thrive in it. I know you can embrace it and run through it.

But it can really be the essence of church planting paralysis.

And with all due respect to my friends in East Texas, it's a terrible place to be.

And it is where I am today.

...and I don't mean the place and I don't mean Jefferson.

Adventure Beach "Picture Code" Game

More clues to the "Picture Code Game" have been posted and we've now included some hints, as well.

Here are a few more:

• The clues do not have to be solved in order, but you must solve all of them to reach the end of the game.
• The first clue is the hardest. I know. It should have been the easiest, but hey.
  
• The solved "clue" is a password.
• ALL of the answers to the clues in the "Picture Code Game" are found in the picture.
  
• There are fun "payoffs" and "easter eggs" at each level.
  

The "extras" of the "Adventure Beach" message series come in 3 categories.

1. The "Picture Code Game" (Online and available to anyone, anwhere)
2. The "Real World Game" (Involves going to real locations in Roanoke and the Alliance area to solve the clues. Not yet available, but will be posted after the third message in the series.)
3. Easter Eggs (Online and in the real world, some only discovered by being present in our Sunday service)

Again, none of the extra features are necessary to enjoy and be a part of the series, they just add to it. That of course, is why they are called "extra features." :-D There is actually much method to this "extra" madness, and I'll explain more about it as we go through the series.

Speaking of, this Sunday at Compass, we're going to CLASH as we look at one of the more freaky encounters with Jesus that is recorded in the Bible. In the process we'll also discover that there is hope for even the hardest of hearts.

And there's a good reason for that.

...But it'll have to wait till Sunday.

Oh, will the mysteries ever end?

Here's a hint: No.

:-D

Not What They Seem

Just posted an "extra illustration" from Sunday on the Compasswired blog that involves this picture:

Check it out here: Things Are Not Always What They Seem

Dinner With Mark & Tori Bjornholm

Last night we had a blast with Mark and Tori Bjornholm, who blessed our socks off by buying our family dinner at Cavalleros. I met Mark through my blog, and you may remember that he was one of the guys at our gathering of bloggers at the River Nile a little while back.

First, let me say that the food was delicious. My "Chimichanga de Pollo" was a mouth watering crispy rolled tortilla stuffed with grilled chicken fajita meat, Jack cheese, peppers, a flaky crust and ...mmm....Tex mex.....

So we were at the table for about 3 minutes when my lovely wife, Leona "accidently(?)" knocked over her glass of water, spilling the entire contents down my leg! The laughs began there and pretty much continued throughout the meal, much to the chagrin of the other restaraunt patrons, I'm sure! And just to cap things off, Leona spilled her water one more time for good measure before we left...(Leona has a tendency to "talk" with her hands [not sign language] in an expressive manner, something I learned when we were dating and she "accidently (?)" knocked me into the hedges...but that's another story).

Mark and Tori are awesome people. They were gracious, sharp and funny and our kids just loved them. We really enjoyed visiting with them and getting to know them better. Ask Mark sometime about the history, shape and souveniers of Michigan. Hint: oven mitts are very popular. :-D

Thanks, Mark and Tori for a great night of food and fun. It was truly a blessing to us!

Creative Series...

Yeah. This has to be one of the most creative series I've ever been involved with. In fact, I'm pretty sure I've never seen a "preaching" series ever done this way before.

Get an idea of what I'm talking about -

here: Immersed in Adventure Beach

and here: Living The Adventure Life

and here: Adventure Beach Clues.

The "C" of our values is "C3: Christ Following, Creative & Caring." This series definitely covers the "C."

...And it's a great vehicle for our goal of developing more, stronger and closer followers of Jesus Christ.

Coffee With Clay Hilton

I'm just now getting around to mentioning this, but I had a great time of coffee and conversation several days ago with fellow church planter and encourager, Clay Hilton. Clay is the pastor of Mid-Cities Community Church in Bedford, Texas.

He, like me, also hails from the great but tainted state of Louisiana, was a part of the Church Planting network that I started with and is a church planter who has stayed the course through much difficulty.

Clay is one of those guys who is full of wisdom and experience and knows how to dispense it with humility and balance. He also has one of the funnest pictures of "the Pastor's family"on his church website that I've seen so far!

We talked about a lot of things.

We acknowledged those we know who have "fallen" and those who have "fallen by the wayside" in this church planting adventure. We talked about the abundance of conflicting advice we've received from various coaches and well meaning pastors along the way. We talked about how few church planters that we started with are still standing. We talked about God's faithfulness and the importance of church planting.

It was a great reminder of how much church planting isn't a solo endeavor.

Thanks, Clay for the ear, the insight and the encouragement!

Kim Rocks! ...a baby in a baby carriage....

We have a very cool worship leader. Of the worship leaders I have known over the years (including myself), Kim is by far the coolest. She has a heart for God and people, a great voice, and is a constant source of encouragement. I've known Kim for many years, and was actually her Youth Pastor back in the day. Leona and I are so impressed with the leader she has become and her constant "can do" attitude.

Kim is also expecting her second child in early September. This child is truly a blessing from God as the doctors had told Kim and her husband Ricky that they would be unable to have additional children. Ricky has Leukemia and is on a medication that has put the disease in remission, but it also supposedly ruled out the possibility of children. Well, apparently God and this kid ignored that bit of information and the baby is now on the way!

This has presented some interesting challenges for us for the months of July through September as it is getting difficult for Kim to play her guitar or bass on stage without the baby kicking the heck out of the back of the instrument and throwing the timing off! Well, not really, but you get the idea. It's getting harder for her to lead as the due date gets ever closer.

Anyway, all this brings me to the fact that we are looking for an additional worship leader or leaders to work with Kim and fill in as needed during this happy time! :) We are looking for someone who is talented, senses a call to ministry, can get behind our vision and is looking for a great opportunity for experience. This is a volunteer/small stipend type of role, and would be great for a college student. Generally our style has a slightly edgy rock feel.

If you are interested in serving with us and would like more information, we'd love to hear from you! Drop us a line at the address(es) below:

Johnny[AT]compasswired.com
Kim[AT]compasswired.com

Hoodwinked & Cory Edwards

When our extended family was visiting with us recently, we decided to rent a dvd on one night. After a quick trip to blockbuster, we arrived home with the movie "Hoodwinked."

The "audience" for our dvd viewing was a mix of people, ages 12 to 94. (Yes, you read that right. Leona's Great-Grandmother who is 94 was in the room watching the movie with us.) Kind of fun watching a movie that includes a cool granny with two grannies in the room.

Anyway, as we watched the movie, the "impromtu reviews" from the family assembled ranged from "I've never seen anything like that before" to "that was hilarious" to "can we watch the billy goat scene again?"

I was actually kind of surprised by how much I liked this movie. It has received a variety of mixed reviews since its debut, but I believe that any negative reviews came from people who must have missed the point. The overwhelming majority of reviews since the dvd has come out have been very positive.

The animation has a "storybook" look to it rather than an overly slick "cgi" look to it, which was perfect for the story. And although the movie has been compared to "Shrek" in how it plays off of the fairy tale/story book genre, I felt that "Hoodwinked" was really a different animal all together.

A few things I liked about it:

• It has a great premise. (Great lesson on why appearances can be deceiving. Things are truly not what they seem most of the time)

• It was clean. (No need to worry about kids repeating cursing cartoon characters.)

• It had a great sense of comic timing. (The director has much to do with that - keep reading)

• It has some unexpected "genre bending" moments (The scene where the wolf walks in slow motion past Red as they exchange glances to the sound of the thumping soundtrack cracked me up.)

• "An avalanche is coming and I do not feel prepared" (Gotta see it to understand.)

• It was creative, clever, slightly complex in the overlap of the stories, and it had great lines.

• I can recommend it as a good family flick that will crack up the parents as well as the kids.
  

The Guy Behind The Movie:

After our visiting company departed, Leona, the kids and I watched the special features on the dvd. That's when I made an interesting discovery.

When I saw the "guy behind the movie" I said, "Wait a minute. That's Cory...Cory... um, what's his last name? Edwards. Yeah, that's him." I then refreshed the memory of my family by saying, "Grimmace? What is he? What product does he represent?!"" and "Crack that corn, Jimmy! We care! We care!" - All lines from Cory's standup comedy routine from a while back that they recognized immediately.

Some time ago, we had seen Cory's video preview on Outreachcomedy.com, and it just cracked us up. You can still read his bio and see the video of some of his comedy here.

Cory is a preacher's kid and Christ follower who is creating great stuff in the marketplace of the entertainment world. "In the world but not of it," while being "salt and light" in bland and dark places. I love everything about that.

I do not know him (and I hope he stays immune to the temptations and struggles of the industry he is working in) but guys like Cory Ewards are inspiring to me.

I think it would be cool to see a film making/art/writing/music school develop out of Compass Church, eventually. Where the best artists, musicians, authors and filmakers in the world trace their roots back to a church with a heart for Christ and a big vision for impacting the world...

Go rent or buy "Hoodwinked," and check out Cory's blog here.

Adventure Beach

Only have a minute, here.

Thought I'd toss up the graphic of the series that we're starting at Compass.

It's meant to be a bit mysterious, allowing the images to draw you in and build curiosity.

Are you curious?

More later...