Mark Beeson

Core "Discipleship" Values

 

I hear a lot of talk about discipleship these days. People have all kinds of ideas and suggestions. Some concern themselves with the core value of making disciples; most seem preoccupied with specific tactics and strategies, focusing more on the when (time), where (place) and who (target) than the "what" of moving people along The Way of Jesus.

I'm particularly interested in the core values driving "disciple-making" strategies and when I see my wife leading our grand-kids (as in, "making disciples" who know, love and serve God), I see her values in action. She is intentional and relational. She is deliberate and she's personally engaged. 

She knows what she's doing.

Whenever her grandchildren are near, Sheila lives as if she is their Tour Guide, purposefully taking them where they've never been before and showing them what they've never seen before.

The command of Jesus to "make disciples" is a high value for all of us, so remember there are two sides to the "discipleship" coin; stay intentional with your relationships and God will bring success.

 

Matthew 28:19a  -  Go and make disciples.

What Are You Reaching For?

 

I've been thinking a lot about our mission in the last few days and my answers to these two questions keep running through my mind:
 

1. What are we reaching for?
    
2. What are we willing to do to get it?
    

Most great visions are realized through intense focus, massive investment and grand collaboration. Few achieve lofty goals with little effort. It is faithful Resolve that reaches courageously into the future to grab the prize. 

Everyone runs; not everybody wins.

What are you striving for?

1 Corinthians 9:19-25  -  Even though I am free of the demands and expectations of everyone, I have voluntarily become a servant to any and all in order to reach a wide range of people: religious, nonreligious, meticulous moralists, loose-living immoralists, the defeated, the demoralized—whoever. I didn’t take on their way of life. I kept my bearings in Christ—but I entered their world and tried to experience things from their point of view. I’ve become just about every sort of servant there is in my attempts to lead those I meet into a God-saved life. I did all this because of the Message. I didn’t just want to talk about it; I wanted to be in on it!

You’ve all been to the stadium and seen the athletes race. Everyone runs; one wins. Run to win. All good athletes train hard. They do it for a gold medal that tarnishes and fades. You’re after one that’s gold eternally.

 

Multi-Site In A Bad Economy

 

- Trace Rorie - 

- Tom Polaski -

- Becki Visker -

America faces a financial dilemma.

Few suggest the trillions of dollars of our national debt will be erased without pain, in no small amount, being visited on many. The poor will suffer most and first. When payback comes, and it will, we'll all feel it - and it may be deep enough to impact the financial viability of churches across the country.

“So,” people are suggesting to me, “If we’re going to be a multi-site-church in this economy, isn’t it important that every campus is financially independent?” 

My response is a question. “Why should they be?"

Let’s stretch our thinking on this. Maybe we can imagine something better than every campus striving to survive on-its-own: isolated, disconnected and independent of the rest of the Church.

What if the success of a local church campus isn’t based solely on its financial prowess?  What if the highest goal of each campus isn’t financial independence? What if financial sustainability isn’t always expected of every campus ministry? What if a congregation’s status isn’t tied solely to the average income of its members?

There may be an unusual power wielded by churches with a footprint in the neighborhoods of the poorest among us. Congregations distributed among universities filled with students buried under student loans, located in ethnic immigrant communities or planted deep in the heart of rural America are outposts of the Kingdom. Whether each expression of the church can stand as a silo, isolated and independent, is not the loftiest question. Unity in the church among all campuses, ministries and departments matters more. What can stand against a distributed Church unified in its mission, vision and values?

The best multi-site strategy is one of synergistic collaboration, where each campus is not pursuing self-importance and financial independence as a sign of strength, but is instead finding significance by doing Christ’s work as missional outposts of the Church - of which they're a part.

1 Corinthians 12:19  -  I want you to think about how this keeps your significance from getting blown up into self-importance. For no matter how significant you are, it is only because of what you are a part of. 

My Untold Tale of the Gopher Tortoise

I saw this Gopher Tortoise when I was in Florida last week at the Exponential Conference. I took it's picture and had a "flash back" to an experience I'd had with one of these terrestrial tortoises in the early '80's.

 

I haven't told this story very often. It's the curious story of a path God led Sheila and I to travel while we were praying about where God wanted us to plant a new church. It's a story from back in the early 80's.

It's the tale of the Gopher Tortoise.

After a decade of serving the United Methodist Church as a pastor, and investing three years of my life training, studying, and preparing to plant a church, I was rejected as a "church planter" by the United Methodist bishop overseeing northern Indiana. I'm not sure if he felt bad about rejecting me, but he may have had a twinge of regret because he offered several explanations for denying my offer.

• "There's no money."  My response, "I'll raise my own."
  
• "Even if we started a new church, we don't know where we'd put it."  My response, "I pick the place."
  
• "If it doesn't fly, we're stuck with a problem. What are we supposed to do if you fail? How are we going to close a new church if it's not making it?"  My response, "If it's not working, I'll close it for you. I'll take the risk. If it goes you win; if it fails I lose."
  
• "We already have enough churches. I have trouble getting good pastors for the ones we already have. Why start another one?"  My response, "I've thought about it differently. I've been looking at how many people don't participate in any church, not at how many churches there are for them to not attend. Let's start one designed to reach the people who don't want to attend church as it's currently offered. Let's offer a new style of presenting the Old Gospel to reach a new generation."
  

Well, the episcopal leader and I bantered issues like that back and forth for more than two years. Finally, the bishop put it in writing, "No. You cannot plant a new church."

How do you handle rejection?

I wasn't really mad at the bishop. I figured he was doing the best he could. He just had to operate in a system that had become rigid - like wet concrete flows and then "sets-up" as an immovable object, the red hot methodist movement in America had "institutionalized" itself.  And everyone knows institutions do NOT exist for innovation; they exist to preserve the Status Quo.

Sheila and I headed south for a short visit. We ended up in Florida trying to decide whether we should move there, live in the sunshine and plant a new church in a rapidly growing population of folks moving from the "Rust Belt" to the "Sun Belt."

It seemed kinda like an I.Q. Test for us.

God called me to plant a new church and the denomination I'd grown-up in, loved and served for 30 years, blocked me every way it could. I was dazed and disappointed, but within a month of "getting the word getting out that I was called to plant a new church," I had half a dozen calls from core groups of new church starts from all over America, begging me to come and start a new church with them.

It was like I'd stepped into some kind of weird parallel Universe, where people were looking for ways to help you more than they were looking for ways to control you. 

Like I said, it was a "curious" time.

And that's when Sheila and I were walking along a sandy trail in central Florida, praying, talking to each other and asking God for guidance. We had an offer in hand, given to us by an excited group of fired-up Christians who wanted us to lead their new church start in a rapidly growing region of Florida. We'd studied the Bible (for wisdom, direction and clarity), prayed (for years) and sought Godly counsel (from the very first day of our calling).  Now we had to make a decision; would we stay in Florida or not?

That's when I saw the Gopher Tortoise on the trail. 

I picked it up, since Rule 68A-27.004 of the Florida State Law regarding the harassment of a Gopher Tortoise had not yet been written, I figured it was OK. I showed it to Sheila and asked if she knew what it was. She said she didn't, so I told her, "It's a Gopher Tortoise. We don't have these back home in the Midwest."

That was it.

I was looking into the eyes of a Gopher Tortoise when I said the words, "back home in the Midwest," and in that moment I felt like my "home" was in the Midwest, not in sunny Florida. I suddenly felt a great peace about staying in the Rust-Belt and looking for a way to plant a new church there. I told Sheila exactly what I was thinking, what I was feeling, and she said she felt the same way. God knit our hearts together as we stood on that sandy trail holding a Gopher Tortoise. We knew we were coming "home" together.

 We ate dinner later that night. We'd told the core group for the new church start-up that we were going back to the Midwest. During the meal Sheila said to me, "Wherever you go, I'm with you. Whatever you do, I'm with you. I'll help you do what God calls us to do, no matter where it is or what it is, I'm with you."

The Gopher Tortoise didn't hear Sheila say that, but I did.

I'll thank God for the rest of my life that such a wonderful friend has walked beside me from that day to this. Sheila has been with me every step of the way, from the early days of rejection and searching and faith-stretching trial, to the upcoming celebration of our 25th year of ministry in what is now one of the largest United Methodist Churches in America. 

It's been quite a road and I'm looking forward to taking our next steps toward Christ.....together.

Psalm 85:4  -  Our LORD and our God, you save us! Please bring us back home.

Prayer Vigil

 

Tim and I went to stand with Jacqueline Barton during tonight's prayer vigil for Teresa Blake. Teresa is in a nearby hospital fighting for her life. On December 8th, someone fired a single bullet through a window and closed blinds, into the open office area where Teresa was working. That bullet struck Teresa, critically wounding her. 

Jacqueline, and her husband Tom, are part of our GCC family. She's the founder and CEO of Specialized Staffing Solutions, and she employed Teresa at her company's South Bend office. The horrible tragedy has effected many of us, so we met tonight at Beutter Park to stand together and pray. 

My gratitude to Teresa's pastor, Rick Callahan. He led the vigil tonight. He helped us pray.

Matthew 26:38  -  He said, "This sorrow is crushing my life out. Stay here and keep vigil with me."

What Makes A Journey Worthwhile?

 

Have you paused long enough ask yourself, "What makes a journey worth the effort?"  It's a question to contemplate. If you know what adds value to your trips you can act accordingly. 

What do you think?  What makes a trip worthwhile?  

I'll start the ball rolling, and you can add your thoughts to the list.

1. The people with you can make the trip, or derail it. I like this picture of Vic. He's one of my friends and my recent expedition was better because of him.

2.  Your reason for taking the trip makes it a joy, or a burden. I prayed for 40 days before my Exodus journey began. I asked God to teach me something new along the way. I had great expectations and God surprised me with answers I never anticipated.

3.  How much you learn either enriches your life, or makes you wish you would have paid more attention as your traveled along. Through the fog of a fatigued, and jet-lagged brain, I tried to pay attention on the Exodus route. I learned a lot and wish I'd learned more.

4.  Deciding in advance to "take your fun with you" always helps. No matter how well you plan you'll face some unexpected challenges, delays and detours.  Choosing a good attitude, long before you need one, makes every excursion more fun.

How about you? 

Whether it's a short trip in the car, a drive across the country or a flight over the oceans, what adds value to your experience? What makes the road of life a little better? 

Got any suggestions?

Psalm 119:32  -  God, teach me lessons for living so I can stay the course. Give me insight so I can do what you tell me— my whole life one long, obedient response. Guide me down the road of your commandments; I love traveling this freeway! 

How'd You Get In Here?

 

Earlier this week I was sitting in some weeds enjoying a crisp fall morning. At sunrise I looked up to see I was perfectly secreted on the fence-row. I was directly under this sign.

The sign clearly states no one can get in here. No one can trespass here. No one can hunt here. It may as well read, "Don't Even Think About It." If you aren't family you have no business here. You can't walk across the line and act as if this property is yours - unless the owner opens the gate to you.

So, how did I get in?

The owner invited me. It's that simple. The one who owns the land asked me to come over the line and enjoy his property. He made me like one of his family. I am welcome here. I didn't sign a contract of terms, pay a fortune to lease hunting rights or make a deal to work the land in return for the privilege of enjoying it. His invitation was freely offered. It was his gift to me.

I was hunting, but I was thinking too (that's probably my self-diagnosed Attention Deficit Disorder kicking in again).  As the sunrise filled the sky with color I thought of all the places I went because someone paid my way, opened the door and made it possible.

Think about it.

How many places did you get in because someone got you in? (Tickets to a ND game? Box seats at a Colts game? A saved seat for High School football? The backstage pass?)

How many relationships did you get in because you were with someone who got you in? ("I'd like you to meet my roommate," or "This is my sister," or "Let me talk with my boss about your availability; otherwise your resume will just get lost in the pile of applications.")

Most doors open because someone opens them.

Even a thief crucified near Jesus knew this. He was literally pinned to his cross. He couldn't do any good deeds to earn his way into God's Kingdom. He couldn't perform impressive religious cleansing rituals or rites to sanitize his life of sin. He had no means to buy his way into God's Kingdom.  So, how'd he get in? Jesus opened heaven's door and said, "Today you will be with me in paradise."

Paul talked about the consequences of relocating onto the King's land when he wrote the Christ-followers in Rome. He said, "If we've left the country where sin is sovereign, how can we still live in our old house there? Or didn't you realize we packed up and left there for good? That is what happened in baptism. When we went under the water, we left the old country of sin behind; when we came up out of the water, we entered into the new country of grace—a new life in a new land! That's what baptism into the life of Jesus means."

Kingdom living is about life the King makes possible - and you are invited. God is opening a door for you to experience a new life in a new land.  

Romans 6:20-23  -  When you were the servants of sin, you felt no obligation to uprightness, and what did you gain from living like that? Experiences of which you are now ashamed, for that sort of behaviour ends in death. But, now you are set free from sin and bound to the service of God, your gain will be sanctification and the end will be eternal life. For the wage paid by sin is death; the gift freely given by God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.