Archive for the ‘ends of the earth’ Category
Friday is for Friends: Blue Door Ministries
I am so blessed to be friends with Chris and Dana Byers who are currently serving in missions work in London. Increasingly I have friends who are doing longer-term missions that are still shy of what you would traditionally think of as “career” missions.
Chris and Dana sold their house, cars, and most earthly possessions then moved their family (toddlers Blake & Mackenzie) to London on an experimental basis back in October of 2007. What was to be a trial six-month run has turned into a nearly 2 year work now in church planting and ministry revitalization for churches in the UK.
Chris and I were friends at Oklahoma Baptist that had fallen out of contact when we reconnected about two months before they were set to begin their new work. My church’s team in 2008 had an opportunity to worship with Chris and Dana’s church plant and it was a blessing to see God working in their midst.
Besides the obvious blessing of God in their ministry I might add that another element working in Chris’ favor is that he really did marry above himself and has an awesome partner in ministry, Dana. You can see their videos online, learn more about their work, and donate to further the ministry online at their website: http://www.bluedoor.tv/
I encourage you to check out their good work in London and read their blog to understand the interesting things God is doing as He works through those that will go be the workers in the harvest.
“And he said to them, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few. Therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.” -Luke 10:2 ESV
Connecting with Sujo John
I had the joy of being part of a tele-conference tonight with evangelist Sujo John. Sujo’s testimony and ministry of preaching God’s Word and story of creative redemption in the Grace of Jesus Christ is captivating and glorifying to God.
I have never been a big fan of the “tele-conference” idea – I’ve been part of several from tech/ministry related organizations and companies. I think every time I felt like the whole purpose was just to sell me a product or a higher level of service.
Tonight’s conference call was different. First, it was a sacrifice. I’m in the Arbuckle mountains of southern Oklahoma and our evening service began right about the time the call was scheduled for tonight. Second, it was prayer driven, God focused, and Kingdom inspired. Each part of the conversation which had folks on it from all across the U.S. was covered in prayer and honest concern for the proliferation of the Gospel.
Finally, it was unique. There was no sales pitch, no “5 easy steps” – it was an honest presentation of the amazing work Sujo is doing in countries many of us could only dream of even visiting. The audience he commands in these nations is impressive but the message he unabashedly shares with them and the lives changed he sees can only come from the blessing of God on someone’s life.
I get a big smile on my face every time I read an update about where Sujo’s been or a crusade he’s lead that saw Muslim background people come to know Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior. Inside my chest a feeling wells up like we might actually win this battle when I hear of people who boldly proclaim Jesus as Lord and Savior – the only final solution to humanity’s despair.
Take a moment to check out my friend Sujo John’s website – you will be blessed by his testimony and the continued blessing God has upon his ministry of taking grace to those who are desperately in need it.
My Core Values
I recently finished Aubrey Malphurs’ Values-Driven Leadership: Discovering and Developing Your Core Values for Ministry.
Malphurs’ contention is that as long as the organization and the leader are out of sync in core values, neither will be happy. How many times have we seen this play out in churches, businesses, denominations, or even families?
In the appendix Malphurs offers some tools to evaluate your own core values and then to survey ministry leaders or even an entire congregation. I took the self-assessment and the results came out like this:
My Core Values:
- People matter to God
- Evangelism
- Strong families
- Creativity and innovation
- Godly servant leadership
I wasn’t really suprised by the assessment tool’s conclusions about my primary motivations, passions, and “heart” in ministry. These are the thoughts that bounce around in my mind when I wake up in the morning and look at my ugly mug in the mirror. They’re still with me when the sugar plums start dancing in my head.
Like unrelenting characters in a play with no intermission they push and prod me to action. Sometimes they argue with each other and vie for more attention, but most of the time they try to unite my momentum in one direction to achieve a unified purpose, outlined in Matthew 22:37-39.
You’re allowed up to 12 values, but I think the core is probably less than 5. My final tally was:
Clark’s 12 Core Values Identifed by Malphur’s Survey Tool:
- People matter to God
- Evangelism
- Strong families
- Creativity and innovation
- Godly servant leadership
- Social justice
- Cultural relevance
- Praise and worship
- Discipleship
- Bible centered preaching/teaching
- World Missions
- A grace-orientation to life
What are your core values? Wondering what’s driving you and why your church is frustrating you? You need to read this book – it answered 9 years of frustration for me in about 2 hours of study!
In a New York Minute…
The end of the earth…
India proved to be a life-changing experience and as my first time outside of the US it was definitely an eye-opener.
To witness the extreme poverty in the urban areas and the chaos of government was humbling mixed with awe over the beauty of the people and the countryside.
India has so much going for it in terms of resources, hard-working people, and determination to have a free democratic nation. I left the US for India hoping to bring the love of Christ to people in India and break some strongholds.
I left India knowing that my work had just chipped a bit of it away but there was an immeasurable amount of work left.
We had the privilege of travelling to a village in northern India where no white people had ever been before. Speaking about my relationship with Christ to a group of Muslims was humbling as I realized my inability to effectively communicate the vastness of what Christ has done for me to a culture so different than my own.
When we arrived at the village one of our team members said, “Pastor you wanted to go to the ends of the earth – well we’ve arrived!” The village was about 2 hours from any sort of civilization, which is a term used loosely in India.
As we spoke with the people through our translator we learned that we were the first white people and first Americans to ever set foot in the village. My message was garbled at best I’m sure because of my ineffectiveness as a cross-cultural communicator.
But I realized that my message didn’t need to be perfect. The hope that I brought was not hope from the US, or hope from me personally, I brought the hope of Christ.
The Bible says, “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them? And how can they preach unless they are sent? As it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!” (Romans 10:13-15 NIV)
My hope is that through my simple message about the love Christ has shown me, others will be able to call on the name of the Lord.
Would you join me in praying for India?
About
Clark Frailey is a husband, father, and Lead Pastor of Coffee Creek Baptist Church in Edmond, Oklahoma.
clarkfrailey.com
