The Ohio Independent Baptist, October 1999

u Mi taken? t \ Pastor ()an,el S11nn1ons I t l ~t' ,, ,1,n · t llll\ l ,\ k l'n. , , h, Ut) ,, c , ' {'1..'t ,llL' 11 kc 11c ,, ., , l 7·1, ( h d I \ ( \ 1 11 I( I, I .\ /> I c 11 f c () II ' • b II I ' h c /,, 1'<'111 c , , ell c I<\\ t ,\ latlht" c; 3o 3() ). u \ 11( > 1 ·' < • l I, t I C < 11 < \ < I f O ll /' 11 l O11 I J, S, ul i(l thc II co111 £ th ha,, t ' \f ., bchol<I. I sa r unr., , ,>, l 1Ji "I' ,0111 c, c .,. anll l<>OA. c>n tht 1 tt it!, tor tht, arc H'l111c alrca<I, 10 /1(;11 t ,r J,>hn .J. 3.-, 1:\)U1 ..,1n1plc '\)n ·tu. to n~ ·an be dra \.\ 1 n t r,.'tn the .1s~crt it)ns of Jesus: I . l .1bt)rcr~. not rcccpt1, c people. arc l.c1,:k1n~ .. "" Re ·cpu, c 1ndi, 1dual~ arc numerou ·. ~ "H..1r, es t ll n1e i · not no, ." i an C'\ ' U...;e --+ The cure for rati onaliLation and Ina ' llt)n 1· lo look for rcccpti vc people (He promi:e. they cxi t ). 111 ' C Jc:u . ,, a · not mi ·taken, I would t,r~t lik.e to propose a trategy to bring our "()pcrauons" into ali gnment with Hi po1 nt-o f-,,e,, Thi ~~tratcg) involve·: • di:cipling lay people ,vi th a range of opportun1tie . • 1dcn ll f) 1 ng recepti ve people. • cngJg1ng lo t people at their ,ari ou le\c l · of recepti vity. To oblige the de ire of Jc u for .... laborer 1n the harve t. we need to n1ot1vatc people \.\ ith omething othe r thJn guile. Gu ilt i a re . ult o f bei ng effeLt1,el 1 ' ha ll e nged "'' ithout be ing ..1dequately equ ipped . Jc: u. · oluti o n to th1-. comn1o n churc h probl em was d1 ... c1ple~htp. 01 c ipl e ·hip involve or1entat1on . inc reme ntal involveme nt and ktl I dcve I opme nt/ in truc ti o n (th e re,er e o f mode rn edu cati on). You ,n, o l,e the maximum numbe r of d1" ·1 ple b) start ing them wi thin the ir l l) nl fort ,one (1.e. j u t ob5ervi ng) , then n1 0, e then1 forward gradu all y. Thi Jpproach requ ire a range of cppl) rtun1t1e . for believer f rom hi gh part1cipat1on/lov.. kill (1. e. ac t of k1ndne . cf. GARBC Impac t 2000 or Con p1rac) o f Kindne .) through n1ed1um part1c1pation/mcdiun1 initia– u,·e (1e imple invi tati on to pec ial dJ) 1. to loVv part1c1pat1on/ high kill - n1011, ation (1.e . haring le ti moni es, E,.1ngel1 m Explo · ion). Creating an atmo phere that fo · ters th1, kind o f d1 sc iplesh1p is esse nti al. Begi n b} trategically scheduling ,utrc.iLh opportun1t1e . The o pt imum pr, ·mouonal C)-Cle i fou r to ix weeks. Eight to t\\Cl\e out reach event per }ec1r mean the congrega tion i con- u nuc u I) ch<lllenged to consider in\'01\cme nc Even mall churc hes can do th 1~ h_ putti ng nn outreac h "spin" on s pcc1nl uays '"fhc n1os t powerful too l lo g i ve your people for these days ..l rc I n\ i l a t i ons . l n add i t i on, p ro v 1 dc "bus ine ss card" in v itati ons for wa lle ts/ purse , to c reate a n a rn1y carry ing the too ls to 1n itc a ny tin1c . anywhere . ccond ly, a few key concept. can be s tated about identifying rece pti ve peopl e . Th i . i a product o f "pre- cvangc li sm" - th e procc of maki ng contacts a nd dcvc lop ing pro pee ts. rr hc idea is roo ted in Jcs u . teaching. If th ere arc al way rece pti ve peopl e (de finite ly not all people !) and , let ' say , 2 in 10 people are recepti ve (an arbi trary fi gure, but not unu ua l). then if a ll we do i foc u ed -evangclism on 2 or 3 peopl e , we are setti ng our c lve up for in frequent re ult and d iscour– ageme nt (matching many indi vidual ' ~ ex pe rie nce ). Foc used-e va nge li m is important but ho ul ,d be aimed a t rece ptive peopl e. The onl y way to ide nt ify many recep tive peopl e (" be ho ld ... lift up your eye ... look ... the fie ld are white a lready to harvc t") i to regul arl y inc lude outreache · th at touc h n1any peop le. The third part of thi · ·trategy is to engage lo t peop le at the ir vari ou leve l of rece pti vity . Th is means u ing a varie ty of mea n to e ncounte r the un churc hed at their current s tage o f " ri penes. ". The insin uati on is th at ome o f o ur ac tiv it ic 1nus t have a longe r ti me frame in view a nd that contin u ing ac tiv it ie will buil d on ear li er le s threate ning/ ge ntier ac ti on Finall y, le t me cha I le nge you that o utreach , like farming . does not lend it e lf to "cramming" ( udden , irregu– lar, la t- minute , inte n e e fforts) . It i part o f a tra teg ic proces . Have a p lan . Seek recep ti ve individual . U e a pectrun1 o f appropr iate tools/ ac tiviti e · . Becau e Jesus was ri ght ! Across th e State, conti riued Meadowbrook Baptist welcomed Andy Manwiller a youth pastor on June 6. Andy is a 1999 gradu ate of Cedarville College a nd ha be~n working with the teen for the past year. James Jami on is senior pastor at Meadowbrook . 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