The Movement: Thoughts

Monday, December 10, 2007

Thoughts

(Brad) I was reading a blog by another missionary who is in Ecuador. He was talking about do we really believe God for big things. Not just say we believe but really believe. Do we ask God for new believers? He said his team is praying for and asking God for 500,000 new believers in the next five years. I thought “Wow!” Then it made me think what should, if any, we be praying for in Central America?

Well, team, what do you think? Let’s go to God and ask Him what He thinks. Ask Him to give us a number of new believers He wants us to be praying for in Central America for the 2008. Will He give us a number? Will He say no number is needed now? What will He say? This is a team effort so I’m asking if you will join with us and go to God and see what He tells you. When you get an answer will you share it with us? This entire adventure is about trusting God and just opening ourselves up to be used completely by Him. We don’t have to wait until this team has a representative on the ground in Honduras to start the adventure.

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Welcome

This is the story of our journey from deciding that God wants us in Honduras to the present. Our hope is that by others reading about our adventures, thoughts, highs and lows they will gain a better understanding of the process of going to a foreign country to share the gospel. By others gaining this understanding it will remove the “fear of the unknown” from their minds so that others (hopefully many) will join us by going all over the world as God uses them to spread His message of salvation to the nations.

We will try to be as open and honest as possible by sharing both the positives and negatives, good and bad, and highs and lows. We ask that you please remember we are human and still do battle with the flesh. As a result sometimes our recounting of an event or expression of our opinion will be skewed by our imperfections. Please forgive us for these errors and we would appreciate your correction and guidance to keep us on track.

We truly see this entire adventure as a “Team” effort of the Body of Christ with all of you who are willing to give, pray, or support in others ways the church planting effort in Central America. You are as much a part of this just as much as we are. For some reason God is allowing us to be the ones to go. We do not understand why but we thank Him constantly for giving us the privilege of being the ones to physically represent this “Church Planting Team” in Honduras. But we do understand we are not the “Team”. We are only a part of this “Team” that God is putting together and using for His glory in Central America.

Until All Hear,
Brad & Cindy Taylor

Recommendations

Recommended Books
1. Let The Nations Be Glad by John Piper
2. Church Planting Movements by David Garrison
3. Operation World by Patrick Johnstone
4. God is at Work by Ken Eldred
5. Nexus The World House Church Movement by Rad Zdero
6. When Charity Destroys Dignity by Glenn Schwartz
7. In His Steps by Charles Sheldon
8. The Challenge of Missions by Oswald Smith
9. Revolution In World Missions by K. P. Yohannan
10. Through Gates of Splendor by Elisabeth Elliot

Recommended Websites
1. Joshua Project http://www.joshuaproject.net/
2. U.S. Center for World Missions http://www.uscwm.org/
3. Voice of the Martyrs http://www.persecution.com/

The Bible Story

God’s Great Plan Begins in the Old Testament
Deuteronomy 6:4
John 14:6
I Timothy 2:5

The Missionary Family
Genesis 12:1-4 (this promise referenced
over 400 times in the Bible)
Genesis 26:3-4
Genesis 28:13-14

The Missionary Nation
Deuteronomy 7:6-9
Deuteronomy 9:4-7
Psalm 98:1-6
Isaiah 12:4
Isaiah 42:1-4 & 6-7
Isaiah 43:3 & 6

The Missionary Exodus
Leviticus 26:45
Deuteronomy 4:32-38
II Samuel 7:22-24;
Psalm 106:7-8
Exodus 18:9
Nehemiah 9:9-10

The Missionary Temple
I Kings 8:41-43
I Chronicles 22:5
II Chronicles 6:32-34
Psalm 68:29-32
Isaiah 56:3 & 6-7

The Missionary Exile
Jeremiah 33:6-9
Ezekiel 36:16-36

A Brief Summary
(the phrases
“all nations”, “all people”, “the
world” used over 2200 times in the
Bible)
Malachi 1:11
Isaiah 26:8
Psalm 67:1-7
II Corinthians 4:15

God’s Great Plan Continues in the New Testament
Matthew 1:1
Matthew 1:23
Luke 19:10
John 19:30
I Corinthians 15:1-8

The Gospel is For
Romans 1:16
John 1:29
John 3:16
I John 2:2

The Missionary Church
Matthew 28:18-20
Mark 16:15-18
Luke 24:45-49
John 20:21-22
Actz 1:1-8
John 17:18

The Missionary Believer
(Review Gen 12:1-4)
Romans 9:6-7
Matthew 3:9
Luke 3:8
John 9:33-40
Matthew 8:11-12
Luke 13:28-29
Romans 4:9-12 & 16-17
Galatians 3:6-9 & 14 & 26-29

The Goal of God’s Plan
Matthew 24:14
Revelation 5:9
Revelation 7:9

How Important God Thinks He Is
Matthew 13:44
Matthew 10:37-39
Matthew 12:45-46
Matthew 16:24-26
Mark 12:41-44
Luke 12:22-35
Romans 12:1-2
I Corinthians 6:19-20
II Corinthians 5:15

Our "Guiding Principles"

The plan is not simply to plant new churches but to be part of a church planting movement. Every church should have within its DNA the understanding that it should be planting at least one new church every year.

How Is This Church Planting Movement To Happen?
Let us say up front that we do not have all the answers or the entire plan. However, there are some Guiding Principles that we will use to keep us moving in the direction we believe God has laid out for us.

Guiding Principle #1: This is God’s work and there is no justifiable reason to control or manipulate what God is doing in an effort to feel comfortable and in control.

Guiding Principle #2: The people of Central America, Mexico, and Cuba are to quickly assume the leadership of the movement.

Guiding Principle #3: The ultimate objective is to develop believers who read the Bible and then do what God says in a manner appropriate for their culture – not our culture.

Guiding Principle #4: Through our lives we must demonstrate the importance of the power of prayer.

Guiding Principle #5: As the Body of Christ we are in a fully equal partnership with the people of Central America, Mexico, and Cuba.

Guiding Principle #6: We must constantly be evaluating what is Biblical and what is cultural or denominational to ensure we are not transplanting one culture into another.

Guiding Principle #7: We must instill independence in local believers through authority over themselves that is governed by obedience to God and His Word. The three areas of focus for instilling independence are:

Area 1: Everything we do must be done in a manner that can be easily reproduced by the people we are reaching.

Area 2: Providing outside financial assistance to meet needs should be the last option considered – not the first.

Area 3: The purchase or construction of tangible assets always comes with a cost of financial, physical, and time resources.

Guiding Principle #8: We desire to partner with other believers who are willing to work together to more effectively take the gospel to this area of the world.

The Movement