Rick opened up and unleashed a vision for the Global Glory of God. This was my favorite session. I hope you can make time to read the notes.
"For 1900 years there were no parachurch organizations or agencies. For 1900 years, the local church was the center and sender of mission. Over the last 100 years, we go this idea that in order to do mission you have to go outside the local church to do it. Every time the local church ignored an area of need, God raised up an organization to do it. Ignore young people, you get Young Life. Ignore college kids, you get Campus Crusade. The church ignores men, Promise Keepers. The church ignores the poor, World Vision.
The last 75 years of church in America, much of ministry growth was about the talent leaving the local church and going to agencies and organizations. This is not God’s plan A. He has always intended for the church to do it. What this movement has done has created an attitude that said to the average person, “We’ll let the professionals do it.”
Now the average Christian thinks, "We don’t need to do the poor. We have Feed the Children, World Relief, and so on. So 99 percent of the people in the world do nothing. For 1900 years, the church managed to do it without 501c3 organization. It's time for the local church to do it again!"
Hi Rob,
I've been reading your blog for just a little while - first got found you via the OnePrayer mission idea - very cool.
Just wanted to say thanks for the posts - neat to see what you guys are doing at Granger. I coord student mission teams for a church outside of Baltimore and I think we are like-minded in terms of long term, partnership, and being catalysts for something God might be already doing in places where we send people.
Your blog is a lot of fun for someone like me... Blessings!
Posted by: tony sheng | May 24, 2008 at 09:03 PM