Vision Frame Explained

Here is a 3 minute video explaining the new vision frame for the Forest Lakes District multiplication ministry. The vision frame incorporates the mission, values, strategy and marks of success into one clear visual representation. This frame will guide the Church Multiplication team as we seek to grow and develop our district ministry for the future.

Update on Relationships and Resources

In my recent monthly email I take some time celebrating a few ways we are working in the FLD (Forest Lakes District) to support planters and multiplication leaders through relational networks and quality resources. The examples are only the "tip of the iceberg" when it comes to how we hope to continue to connect leaders with the encouragement and support required for healthy and effective ministry.

If you'd like to subscribe to my monthly email, click this link or the image below and select the "subscribe" button in the upper left corner. As always, we appreciate your prayers and support!

FLD Spring Conference Live Blog 2014

For the next two days I'll be live blogging from the Forest Lakes District, EFCA Spring Conference 2014 located at Highlands Community Church in Wausau, WI. The keynote speakers are Gordon and Gail MacDonald speaking on the theme of Shepherding: Ourselves, Our Families, & Others. Check back for updates as we go!

Gordon MacDonald

Session 1:

• Thank you for the invitation to be here...I met Gail 53 years ago in Feb…4 weeks later we were engaged, and 4 months later we were married…my first experience with an Evangelical Free church was in college in Colorado...When did pastoral ministry first come to me? Growing up as a child in a Christian home…renewed vision of what it means to follow Christ in college. How was I to follow Christ? At first, the last thing I wanted to do was become a pastor...During a discussion in college, “bashing” the church and pastoral ministry, a professor called our attention to Ac 20:28 (NIV), "Keep watch over yourselves and all the flock of which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers. Be shepherds of the church of God, which he bought with his own blood.” The professor asked, “What do you hear in those verses?” We saw in this passage the great importance of the church, which was purchased by the blood of Christ...Suddenly, I saw how important the church and the work of pastoral ministry was to God and how important it should be to me.
• It’s interesting in the Bible that there is a picture of an infinite, holy, and righteous God dealing with people…how do we understand this relationship? There are places that use metaphorical images to help us understand God: God as a Father…King…Judge…Deliverer, etc. One of the greatest metaphor for God is that of a Shepherd. In both OT and NT, God is pictured as a Shepherd. (Ps 23:1-6) Every line from Psalm 23 sinks into the soul. You could read it 1,000 times and get something new every time. Ps 23 tells us a lot about how ancient people saw the role of a shepherd. It’s hard to think of anyone in those times who wasn’t familiar with the role of shepherd. Shepherds didn’t have a positive image in the culture of that day. Beware of glamorizing shepherds as beautiful, tender people...these were tough guys. What do we learn from Ps 23?
• The Feminine Side of Pastoral Leadership (Ps 23):
• He makes me life down
• He leads me beside quiet waters
• He restores my soul
• The Masculine Side of Pastoral Leadership (Ps 23):
• He guides me
• He’s with me in the valley of the shadow of death
• Your rod and your staff they comfort me
• Ezekiel 34 is the opposite of Ps 23. In Ps 23, the Lord gathers the sheep in a quiet place but in Eze 34, the shepherds of the people were scattering them in a harsh and brutal place. In the rest of Eze 34, the Lord describes negatively the role that which we as pastors are supposed to positively take (look after, rescue, gather, heal, feed, search for the lost, bring back the strays, bind up the injured and strengthen the weak)...A painting from Peter Brueghel called Unfaithful Shepherd illustrated the shepherds of Eze 34.
• In Ac 20, Paul exhorts the elders of Ephesus to shepherd the flock that God cares so much about. Not to be the unfaithful shepherd of Eze 34, but the faithful shepherd of Ps 23...By the way, I don’t limit the work of the shepherd to the ordained, trained clergyman, but also to the lay women and men who do the work of the shepherd in the local body with the shepherd’s heart of the Lord.
• 9 Traits of Effective Shepherds:
1. They are “first-followers,” modeling the way of spiritual growth
2. They point people to Jesus
3. They lead people in worship
4. They identify teachable people and “build” them
5. They offer hope to the struggling or the failing person; present in chaos]
6. They encourage, bless, and unite people to live faithfully
7. They detect danger, offer correction
8. They inspire faith
9. They are street-faith rated

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Session 2:

• This evening’s talk is something that I’ve been thinking about for quite some time…who are those who lead people through the uncertainty and danger of life? (people facing these things like a bug facing a row of stomping boots) The shepherds among us. Could anyone have had a more difficult job than Moses in leading a complaining people through a land of uncertainty and danger? Ex 33:7-11, when the people watched their shepherd speak with the Lord (face to face!), they would worship. The privilege of the shepherd is to quiet the sheep to be able to experience the peace of God. What are some of the things that people are seeking when they come to our places of worship on Sunday? What if you had a “TSA” scanner as people were coming in to worship to see what the prevailing moods and difficulties? What if you knew what percent who…had a fight…were in anxiety…etc.? Would it in any way affect the way we preach? pray? speak encouragement to people? What if we used that scanner as people left the worship service? Would they look any different? What would you like people take out of the worship service? Do we know as much about our people (on a Sunday morning) as a shepherd knows about their sheep?
• Seven Possibilities in Worship:
1. A "vision" of triune God
2. Grace and growth
3. Gratitude
4. Intercessory prayer
5. Sense of belonging
6. Courage & hope
7. Faithful presence

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Gordon and Gail MacDonald

Session 3:

• Snippets of conversation between Gordon and Gail MacDonald...
• Gordon: We’ve been married for 53 years and I would have to say that shepherding has really been a common component through all those years.
• Gail: part of the shepherding role that a wife has is to listen to your husband’s dreams…this is sometimes scary, but is really important.
• “We build each other!” Gordon: do you remember how we came to this phrase? Gail: When our children were young, there was a time when our kids were really after each other. Gordon: we were so frustrated that I went to them and said, “No matter what’s going on out there in the world, in this family, we build each other.” There are many examples from Scripture where we are exhorted to build each other.
• 2Co 7:5-7
• 1Th 5:11
• 1Th 5:13-15
• Col 3:12-14
• 2Ti 1:16-18
• Eph 4:11-16
• Eph 4:32
• Eph 5:25-27
• Importance of gratitude…thank you notes…maybe the loss of gratitude is the reason many relationships die…when gratitude goes away, that’s when the walls go up.
• Gordon: What you may do when you say the wrong thing in a relationship, you may squelch the relationship for years...In the moment, I was thinking, “There are ways of loving Gail that I haven’t even discovered.” Over the years Gail was so supportive of my sermon prep…I realized that I never asked the question, “What is Gail’s ‘sermon’ that I could be supportive of?”
• Gail: We have to think of love like electricity going around in a circuit. The more we love the more goes through the whole circuit of a relationship.
• Gordon: Building each other up is a day by day by day objective.
• Gail: It has to be two people. It won’t work if one person stops.

The Process for Planters

One of my goals over the next 6 months is to work with a task force to fully develop a process for church planters and churches to engage in multiplication within the Forest Lakes District of the EFCA. My progress in that goal will be evident in a growing website dedicated to district multiplication. This week I've added the following information regarding the process for planters desiring to engage in the district. Please feel free to participate by providing feedback. You can read the entire section on the website here.

THE FOUR-STEP PLANTING PROCESS

1. Application and Assessment: This phase includes a preliminary application, the completion of several assessment tools, an interview with a pre-assessment team, and final recommendations from the team regarding your calling and the training conditions necessary for final assessment.

2. Training: The training phase will look different for every prospective planter based upon the recommendations of the pre-assessment team. For some, the training phase could include a residency or internship, for others the reading of books and attending a boot-camp, yet for others it could include specific training in bi-vocational or rural planting methods.

3. Final Assessment: Once the training phase is completed the prospective planter will go through a final assessment process including several surveys and an interview with an assessment team. This phase will provide a final confirmation for the planter candidate, indicating that the training process has been completed and that the specific vision for planting is sound and a good reflection of the leader's gifts and calling.

4. Planting and Coaching: Once the candidate receives final approval he will become an official planter within the EFCA and begin the transition phase into planting. In the first 2-3 years of planting each planter will work with an oversight team and coach in order to provide the support, encouragement, and accountability necessary for successful planting.

We Multiply Churches Website Online

Today I worked on stripping down our district planting website to the bare bones and began the rebuilding process. I am looking forward to this site growing to become front door resource for people interested in planting within the district and churches learning how better to participate in the cause of church multiplication. Stay tuned for ongoing updates at www.wemultiplychurches.org.

Resurrecting the Blog

Over the course of the next month I will be taking on a new role with the Forest Lakes District of the Evangelical Free Church of America as the Director of Church Multiplication. My role as co-lead Pastor at The Vine Church will continue, but I will be shutting down my photography studio in order to accommodate the new role. In line with this change, I will be resurrecting Deo Gloria as a place where I will share information as a resource to church planters and pastors. Though I'll be spending my first few months with the district getting my feet wet, I would expect a somewhat regular stream of information flowing from this blog as I focus more efforts on studying and communicating resources for planters and pastors.