Simplicity Church Network

Simplicity Church Network

Simplicity Church Network: Reflections on Faith and Ministry

The Foundations

Reflections On Africa – Looking Ahead

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Editor’s Note: This post was written in the very earliest days of what would become the Simplicity Church Network. It reflects the process of letting go of old models, listening to Jesus, and learning to follow the Spirit into a new way of being the Church. I’ve been back from Africa for a week now. The jet lag is slowly wearing off, but I still find myself going to bed before 9:30 and getting up around 4:30 or 5. Over the past week I have been reflecting on this journey and I realize that it has been the most challenging of all of the trips to Africa that I have made. The challenges were not just limited to this journey, but they are indicative of some of the challenges that lay ahead. These are all issues that I will be committing to prayer going forward. I look forward to returning to Africa again in the near future, but I also realize that I will need to structure my future journeys much differently to be more effective. The first issue I am seeing is the need for stability. There is little infrastructure in the region to support ongoing mission work, so the need for raising up stable leaders is critical. Time and time again I saw challenges that came about due to leadership issues. Grooming leaders takes ongoing interaction. Determining how best to create this interaction is one of the challenges ahead. The second issue also relates to leadership, but deals with making the best use of available resources. On this trip we ran into issues of budgets that were not followed, schedules that were modified without consideration of the consequences and promises that were not kept. One of the challenges for leaders in this region is that they are often unwilling to say “no.” In an effort to accommodate others, they will disregard financial resources, time availability and other critical factors. In our own circumstance, even though we had covered the agreed on budget, more money was still requested. There were days that we would spend 8 hours in a van to speak for 1 hour. The cost in both time and fuel was a poor stewardship in our resources. The next issue is that for many church leaders, status is more important than personal growth. The intent of this journey was to conduct conferences with leaders. Instead we found ourselves speaking in church meetings that were meant to bolster the “reputation” or “credibility” of a pastor, instead of building up the leaders who would build the church. In 3 weeks I only had about 8 hours of one on one time with the church leaders I came to spend time with. The next issue deals with the integrity of church leaders, particularly in Kenya. As I travel through the region I learn of leaders who charge their churches 20% of the giving and demand special offerings for things like vehicles. I learn of leaders who are continually found in immoral relationships. When these leaders are given money by Western missionaries and organizations, they squander it and quickly return to a place of demanding more from their churches. The final issue deals with foundation. Each leader I was able to spend personal time with identified a need for foundation. Many of the issues described above come down to this issue. Without proper biblical foundation, these leaders are developing theology and practice from conferences and television. With the growing advance of Islam into the region, the need for knowing your foundation has never been greater. I believe my work in the days to come will be less about speaking in conferences and more about spending extended periods of time with leaders, laying a solid foundation. To do this will take both time and resources. My final 5 days were spent with Pastor Nimrod Masau the bishop of Faith Ministries East Africa. Pastor Masau is an indigenous pastor working to accomplish many of the same tasks that I am. We both see the need for the West to be a catalyst, but we both agree that the work needs to be entrusted to indigenous leaders. Pastor Masau recognizes the same leadership and character issues as being the greatest challenge to this model. It is my hope to spend more time with Pastor Masau in the days to come as I believe the Lord has connected us for a greater purpose. I was initially going to return to India at the end of February, but felt as though the timing was not correct. This past Sunday after speaking at 4CI, one of the men I attend church with asked me if he could accompany me on my next journey to India. As we talked we set a target date of September and will be praying towards that. I’m not sure when I will return to Africa, but it is my hope that I can be there again later this year.

The Foundations

Time To Fill In The Blanks

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Editor’s Note:This post was written in the very earliest days of what would become the Simplicity Church Network. It reflects the process of letting go of old models, listening to Jesus, and learning to follow the Spirit into a new way of being the Church. Over the last few years the Lord has taken me on the most incredible journey of my life. Much of this journey has been to the places I didn’t want to go, where my darkest fears reside. I was also instructed by the Lord to discontinue my writing until such time as my story was complete….or I was instructed to write again. It is my hope to give you some insight into the long gap you’ve seen in my writings and the path the Lord has taken me on. In December of 2009, Carol and I learned that we would no longer be able to stay in the home we had been living in. We would later find out that the home was the center of an estate battle that had been kept from us. The decision not to take the corporate positions and continue with the internet marketing business in August of 2009 had been a decision of faith, but it was also a decision of financial ruin. In March of 2009, the Lord had pressed me with the question of whether I would still follow Him, even if it meant losing everything. I knew at that moment that the question was more of a preview of the journey than it was a question. Our home in Pennsylvania had still remained unsold and was now in pre-foreclosure and since leaving Parkdale my income had dropped from nearly $6,000 per month to $2,000 per month. In May of 2009, I made my first journey to Africa to work with Apostle Adams Sabila as the overseer of Redeemer Bible College. This was a life changing experience for me as the Lord showed me so many things about his work in our day and more importantly, the work that He desires to do through each of us. When I returned from Africa, I was informed by the man I had been working for that the Lord had told him to quit paying me. Immediately my income dropped to $0. A few weeks later this same man and another Christian brother would sit me down and proceed to tell me that I had not heard God correctly and that I was acting like an unbeliever by not going out to get a job. I was devastated by these words and even though deep in my heart I knew God had told me to trust him, I went out in search of work anyway. In August I had 2 corporate offers on the table, but as Carol and I prayed we knew God was telling us to turn them away. In October of 2009, I was scheduled to take my third trip to India. This was especially exciting, because I was going to be joined by Tom Blackaby. Tom and I had struck up a relationship after I had responded to an article he had written on a pastor’s resource website. Tom was intrigued by ministry and asked if he could join me on my next trip. As we approached the final days leading up to the trip, I had not even been able to come up with my airfare. I began receiving emails from my Indian pastors inquiring as to whether I was still coming. I continued to reassure them, but I had no clue how I would get there. 7 days out from my scheduled departure, my closest intercessor shared with me that she felt the Lord was telling me not to go. As Carol and I prayed through this message, the Lord directed us to Acts 21 and showed us that we needed to be praying for my physical well being, but that I still needed to go. 5 days out from my departure date, I still had no airline ticket and the prices had gone up. Starting around mid day different individuals showed up at the house, telling me that they were supposed “to give this” to me. Each time I would be handed handful of cash. More amazingly I had only met one of these individuals in passing at a neighbor’s house. By 10PM that night, I had sufficient funds to purchase my airfare the following morning. By the time I put the money in the bank, the airline tickets dropped $200 and I made my way to India. While I was in India, we received word that Mike’s brother in law had been killed by a roadside bomb in Afghanistan. He was weeks way from returning home and left behind a wife and two young daughters. As December came to an end, we knew that we would be forced to leave our home. As a final nail in our financial coffin, the man I had worked for earlier in the year abruptly terminated his bookkeeping contract with Carol, after I rebuffed his advances to join my team of overseers. On the 31st we began to pack, completely hysterical over the uncertainty that was before us. As we were packing my daughter approached me with a note and said “Collin asked me to give this to you.” As I began reading, I was shaken to the very core…. The note read:“Do not panic you fools. Was I not there for you before? Was I not there for you in the time of need? Was I not there for the Israelites or Shadrack, Meshcack and Abednego? Do not doubt me. The Lord has spoken.” Needless to say, I knew these were not the words of my 12 year old son even if it was his hand writing. I asked Caitlyn to go get Collin. He came out of his room crying and I asked him to tell me about the note. He said he

The Foundations

The Field is In Motion

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Editor’s Note:This post was written in the very earliest days of what would become the Simplicity Church Network. It reflects the process of letting go of old models, listening to Jesus, and learning to follow the Spirit into a new way of being the Church. When people ask me what is going on in the ministry of Simplicity these days, I often explain it like this: The field is in motion, the guards are pulling, but the hole hasn’t opened up for me to run through just yet. A few weeks ago I finished the series I had been doing on the book of Romans since earlier this year. As I was bringing that series to a close it was very evident that it was time for Mike to take over the teaching ministry at 805 S. Staples. For some time the Lord has been raising Mike up to be the pastor of that ministry location. Even though people have my business card, they call upon Mike…he has truly become their pastor. At the same time, Carol and I were supposed to be in Kenya in the early part of January to lead a series of pastors conferences. This trip had been planned during my last visit to Kenya in May. As we continued to draw closer to January something in my spirit was unsettled. Carol and I began to pray for clear direction. About 2 weeks ago she and I had been praying at the church and were leaving to go home. As I was locking the door I heard very clearly in my spirit that Pastor Adams needed to lead those conferences. In fact I became very aware that my time with him in May had been preparation for him to step in this role. I asked the Lord to verify what I believed I was hearing through Carol. A week later as we were praying once again, Carol looked up at me and said “we’re not supposed to go. Adams is supposed to lead those conferences.” So I find myself releasing two areas of my ministry to two very called and very capable men. The Lord has begun preparing the soil for what I believe will be our next church plant on Padre Island. We continue to find ourselves entering new and deepening relationships with a wide group of people in that area. Additionally, the calls to return to India have increased and I believe I will be there once again in March or April. So while the play has not fully developed, the ball is in my hand and I know that the time to run is not too far off.

The Foundations

I Want You Out of Town!

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Editor’s Note:This post was written in the very earliest days of what would become the Simplicity Church Network. It reflects the process of letting go of old models, listening to Jesus, and learning to follow the Spirit into a new way of being the Church. About a year ago we began ministering to a man that showed up one night in December. He was very involved with us until May, when he had a setback with his SSI check and cursed God and began cursing us as well. Over the summer he showed up again for a couple of weeks, before once again something set him off and he left cursing God and cursing us. A few weeks ago he showed during our addiction recovery ministry on Thursday nights, this time with a new appearance and a new name. He told the group leader that he was an Old Testament preacher and began to make comments mean to give the appearance that this was his first visit to our facility. When Mike arrived and greeted him by his “true” name he became very agitated and once again left in an agitated state. Last night Mike was leading when this man showed up again. He stepped in and informed Mike, in some rather colorful language, that he had the Old Testament and we had the New Testament. He decreed that we were a false church and he wanted us “out of town.” The spiritual implications of this interaction are testimony to all that God is doing at 805 S. Staples. I’m humbled when I think about the thousands of believers around the world who experiences these types of interactions and much more on a daily basis, because they carry the message of Christ with them.

The Foundations

What Makes it All Worthwhile

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Editor’s Note:This post was written in the very earliest days of what would become the Simplicity Church Network. It reflects the process of letting go of old models, listening to Jesus, and learning to follow the Spirit into a new way of being the Church. It has been a few months since I last updated the blog. My personal story still continues to take shape and when the Lord gives me permission I will be filling in the blanks of 2010. For now I would like to share with you a letter that was received by Mike and Kim a few weeks ago. We met the man writing this letter when we were cooking out one Sunday afternoon in August. Tuesday, September 21, 2010 Dear Pastor Mike, and Sister Kim, and family, Hello, to all of you. I pray that when this letter reaches your hands, yourselves blessed in the Lord. I pray you all find yourselves in good health and abundantly prosperous. As for me, I am doing fine, thanks to our heavenly Father up above. I am doing really well, Mike and Kim. I can see life through clear eyes for a change and that is something I haven’t been able to do for a long time (THANK YOU JESUS!). It was really great to receive your letter. I got the letter you sent to the Beeville address on Monday. It was awesome to hear from you guys. I think you for the encouraging scriptures also. Jeremiah 29:11 is one of my favorite scriptures. It’s really good to know that even thought I have wasted so many years of my life, even taking in to consideration all the mistakes I have made, God still has plans for my life, and that is really amazing! You know, being out there on the streets, addicted and strung out, coming out of prison, not just once, but twice, you start to lose hope; you start to give up on yourself! And that’s what I did for a long time. Now God has restored my hope, He has broadened my horizons and I thank Him so much for that! Mike, can you actually believe I am going to a Bible college over in Robstown on Tuesday and Thursday Nights! We take two vans over there, one for the men and one for the women. I take a class in Bible theology and I take a class on the Gospels. I am taking a course now on the book of Genesis. As a matter of fact, I have a test in that class tonight- LOL. So pray for me, please. The next time I write you I will let you know how I did, okay! I take a few other courses, too, but I just started, so I don’t know what they are exactly! Oh, I am taking a Spanish class, also, so I can mister and witness in Spanish! Which is good, cuz I know Spanish already. LOL. That way when I get sent out to the streets to witness and testify, I can speak to the Spanish speaking people also! I really have a strong desire to be used by God, Mike and Kim. I feel like I owe Him so much. HE SAVED ME. He picked me up off the streets of Corpus Christi and put me on a new path (THANK- YOU- JESUS) and I never want to go bck to my old way of life. I want to take His message of hope to the lost. Thank you for all the prayers, Mike and Kim. Thank you for caring when no one else did. Thank you both from the bottom of my heart. You are both a blessing I will never forget. I pray for all of you everyday. Please continue praying for my daughters Ashley (10 yrs) and Vanessa (8 yrs). I sent them each a letter last week, so hopefully I will hear from them this week sometime. Please keep this in prayer, OK? I really miss them. Hey, it’s Wednesday, September 22 , now and I have a praise report. Are you ready for this? Yesterday afternoon, about 6:00 pm, we had just finished prayer time and we were just going to start praise and worship. Well this home director was on the cell phone and he came up to me and gave me the phone and told me it was my daughters and they wanted to talk to me. Praise God! So I got to talk to them for about 15 minutes. It was so awesome to talk to my babies. My oldest daughter, Ashley, she’s in volleyball, and my youngest daughter, Vanessa, she’s a cheerleader. Theya re doing really good, so I am so thankful to God for what he is doing in their lives (THANK YOU JESUS) Thank you both for all your prayers and support. Will write again soon and I will send some pictures, ok. Write back soon!!! With lots of love, Johnny PS. I took my first test in Bible college last night- will tell you my grade as soon as I get it. Ezekiel 36: 26 “A new heart also I will give you and a new spirit will I put within you…” Thank you Jesus.

The Foundations

A BIRTHday Celebration to Remember

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Editor’s Note:This post was written in the very earliest days of what would become the Simplicity Church Network. It reflects the process of letting go of old models, listening to Jesus, and learning to follow the Spirit into a new way of being the Church. In my last post I told you about the opportunity the Lord had given us to throw a birthday party for a woman from the streets. I want to tell you about the events of this glorious BIRTHday celebration. When we arrived at the church we saw this woman approaching. She was dressed nicer than we had ever seen her and she had cleaned up. She was apprehensive as she approached, because she had not seen our children since she left our home last year. As she entered the building she immediately began to cry and wail. My children greeted her and gave her a hug, which caused her to cry even harder. For the next half hour or so while we prepared her birthday decorations she laid out on a set of folding chairs and cried uncontrollably. It was Mike’s turn to present the message of Jesus last night. As he began sharing, Diane sat next to my wife and just wept as my wife held her. She then began to cry out to God asking for His mercy, because she had destroyed her life. She declared her fear of dying and being under the control of her street life any longer. When Mike began to talk about our response to God’s offer of new life in Christ, she sat straight up and began to follow him with her eyes. She cried out to Mike to come pray with her, to tell her what to do. Mike instructed her to pray what was flowing from her heart. I could see her struggling to speak and I felt prompted to speak against any spiritual force that was trying to prevent her from moving from death into life. In a tear filled cry for help, she began to confess the choices of her life, naming things that were so painful and so personal. She then declared her need for God’s grace and asked Him to take control of her life. Almost immediately her countenance changed and her tears of pain became tears of joy. She began to speak of the inrush she could feel deep within her and the enormous weight that had just lifted. She then reached into her shirt and pulled out her cigarettes and lighter. She acknowledged the battle would be difficult, but she also knew she needed to make her first change starting now. With that, she handed those things to Mike and asked him to dispose of them. When everyone had regained their composure, we sang happy birthday and celebrated her life and her NEW life together. The journey ahead will be difficult for her as she has lived and worked on the street for over 10 years. I believe this will be the first real opportunity for us to put the mission of Simplicity Solutions to the test, as we will need to help her keep her hands busy and her thoughts focused in a life giving direction. We will also have the challenge of trying to find her housing that offers a drug and alcohol recovery program. Discipleship for an individual in her condition has to be holistic, teaching not only the Christian life, but life skills in general. Here is the other amazing thing about this whole experience. When she walked back into my life on Wednesday, I was meeting with a Vineyard Pastor who leads ministry at an Assembly of God church. He was able to provide clothing for her on the spot, because a woman had given him a stack of woman’s clothing the day before (of course the correct size). The birthday cake, balloons and banner were provided by my friend’s Baptist church that had been challenged 2 weeks ago by an Army chaplain. Of course we were the third piece, cultivating the relationship through our presence in a tough area. This truly was a picture of the body of Christ at work.

The Foundations

Birthday Parties for Prostitutes

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Editor’s Note:This post was written in the very earliest days of what would become the Simplicity Church Network. It reflects the process of letting go of old models, listening to Jesus, and learning to follow the Spirit into a new way of being the Church. I met with one of my pastor friends yesterday and he shared with me that he had been haunted by the question a guest speaker had asked in his pulpit the week before. The speaker told the story of a pastor who had encountered a group of prostitutes in a diner late one night. One of the prostitutes was lamenting that the following day was her birthday, and that no one had ever celebrated her birthday before. The pastor having overheard the conversation plans a birthday party for her and she is overwhelmed by the kindness shown. After telling this story, the speaker in my friend’s church asked this question: “Is this the type of church that would throw a birthday party for a prostitute?” This morning I was meeting with another pastor at our church telling him about our ministry. I told him about the woman from the streets my wife and I had taken in last year. Not ten minutes later, guess who came walking through the door this same woman. She had just been released from the hospital and is still on the streets. She asked if she could give me a hug and when I hugged her she just held tightly to me and sobbed. After we had prayed for her and began working on her immediate needs, she told me: “Friday’s my birthday.” She’ll turn 47 on Friday. She told me that she had never had anyone to celebrate her birthday with her. I knew immediately what needed to be done. I called my friend and told him: “I think God is asking your church to put up or shut up.” I told him that we had a birthday party to plan for on Friday. I find it so amazing how God works and stretches us.

The Foundations

If the gospel comes….

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Editor’s Note:This post was written in the very earliest days of what would become the Simplicity Church Network. It reflects the process of letting go of old models, listening to Jesus, and learning to follow the Spirit into a new way of being the Church. Since returning from Africa, we have been praying about the direction of our ministry here in Corpus Christi. With our local population being transient, we have struggled to meet the ongoing expenses of the building rent and utilities. Yet, in spite of the struggles, we also see the need for our presence. In the past 9 months we have watched 3 churches in our area close their doors. The crime, addictions and broken lives continue to go on seemingly unchecked. What were we to do? A friend of mine called me for lunch last week and we met. I shared with him my uncertainty over the next step we were supposed to take and he responded with this story. He had just come from a meeting with 2 other pastors, who were wanting to turn their focus on to our ministry neighborhood. During this conversation, one of the pastors related a conversation he had undertaken with a relative who was a drug dealer in the area. In this conversation, the pastor asked what it would take for the drug dealers to leave. The relative responded with this answer: “If the gospel comes we will leave.” He went on to elaborate that in his lifetime, he had seen the gospel come into an area so forcefully that the drug trade could not continue. When the pastor inquired if just by planting churches and doing ministry the drug dealing would leave…the man corrected him. He restated: “If the gospel comes we will leave.” He went on to elaborate that he was not worried, because he had only witnessed such a happening twice in his life. For the next 24 hours, I found myself haunted by those words. Last Tuesday night as we were praying, I found the Lord giving me a vision and a renewed sense of purpose for the corner of Staples and Coleman. The vision was simple, the gospel would be proclaimed and lived out at that location 7 days a week. As others begin to join with us to carry this load, this proclamation will ultimately be done 3 times per day, 7 days per week. The Lord also impressed upon me that this message was to be declared, even if no one was present. This Sunday we began this new chapter in our journey. My wife prayed as I preached to chairs and passers by. Interestingly enough I had just finished reading God’s Smuggler, one of the stories told in that book was of a minister in Holland who was led to do a similar thing. It was noted that even when no one was in the building, the message and invitation always seemed to be received and responded to by someone on the street.

The Foundations

Testing the defenses

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Editor’s Note:This post was written in the very earliest days of what would become the Simplicity Church Network. It reflects the process of letting go of old models, listening to Jesus, and learning to follow the Spirit into a new way of being the Church. In my last post, I talked about the spiritual battle that ensued in our Tuesday prayer time last week. Saturday night we held a Christmas open house for those who have taken an interest in our ministry. The man who had brought such a spirit of distraction with him on Tuesday showed up with a “friend” accompanying him. This second man brought with him a demonic presence unlike any I have ever encountered. As this man would speak, he would begin to speak unintelligibly. He would call himself by different names and he would throw around Bible verses like a rapid fire machine gun. When I asked him, who Jesus was? He gave a myriad of answers, but never said “Jesus is Lord.” The spirit within this man began to directly antagonize me and challenge me. “Who do you say Jesus is?’ “What makes you a follower of Jesus?” “What is your favorite Bible verse?” The Lord told me to be quiet and not contend with this spirit. Over the next few moments, this man patted our children on the head and touched each wall, each table, etc… The Lord instructed me to begin worshiping Him, so I began to sing the words that the Lord was giving me. Immediately both of these men got up and left. The Lord showed me that this was a testing of the spiritual defenses of our ministry. We prayed over the children once these men had left and spoke a word of blessing upon them.

The Foundations

We wrestle not against flesh and blood

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Editor’s Note:This post was written in the very earliest days of what would become the Simplicity Church Network. It reflects the process of letting go of old models, listening to Jesus, and learning to follow the Spirit into a new way of being the Church. Last Thursday we had a guy walk into our Organic Group who just wanted to talk incessantly and pull us away from our Bible study. It took nearly an hour before he chose to leave and the whole time he was there, you could feel a spiritual battle going on. As soon as he left, I remembered this man had been encountered a year ago and continued to interfere as I tried to minister to a hurting man at one of the local missions. Tonight when I arrived for prayer, I found Mike engaged in conversation with a man. About 10 minutes later, the man from last week re-appeared and began to commandeer the conversation. The Lord instructed me to begin worshiping Him. I sang for the next two hours. Singing until it hurt….the defiant spirit within this man refusing to yield to the glory of God. The Lord continue to tell me that I could not quit until both of these men left, as the first man was drawn in by the spirit of the 2nd man. After 2 hours both men left and we continued to worship, but I was exhausted. I have never been in such a prolonged, intense spiritual battle as I was tonight.

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