Do We Need More Church Planting?
"As you go, proclaim this message: ‘The kingdom of heaven has come near.’ Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse those who have leprosy, drive out demons.
Freely you have received; freely give"
Matthew 10:8
Matthew 10:8
When I pastored in America I followed a pattern of Church leadership that I had been taught for almost thirty years. Even though the church I pastored in America was not related to those churches, their church model heavily influenced me, it's all I had really known. I was able to build a network of thirty-five churches in three years. These were based in the US, Nepal, Pakistan, and Kenya. At the end of that season of pastoring I was offered to take over the care of twenty churches in India. I chose to say "no" to that offer, even though I had ministered powerfully in one of those churches on a visit there, hence the invitation to oversee those churches. That would've been 55 churches within our small network, in three years, if I had accepted. Over that period of time I had become disillusioned with the "model" of church leadership and planting I had been taught. Once I found how easy it was, its luster faded quickly. This caused me to examine my heart and ask the question - "Is there a better way?".
What changed my mind in a lot of ways was the short time I had spent being mentored by a man in India who had planted over seven thousand churches. His model was based on Jesus' instruction above. They would establish a church in the village, town or city where people accepted Jesus because they experienced the miracles listed above. Then they would disciple the new believers to go out and do the very things that introduced Christ to them. Within twenty years you have over seven thousand churches planted.
I will write more in the future concerning this, but for now in light of what God is doing in Wales I feel to swing the lens around to the above verse. Jesus sent his newly empowered disciples out to do 5 things!
- Preach the "Kingdom is here"
- Heal the sick
- Raise the dead
- Cleanse lepers
- Drive out demons
This was to be given freely to all. The amazing thing is that it was One-Part Proclamation and Four-Parts Demonstration!
I don't know what the percentages of each of these expressions of ministry were, and I don't think that matters, it is clear however that it was a short sermon and a whole lot of miracles. DEAD RAISING for goodness sake!!! Sheesh, how do we make room for that in our modern day efforts? What about "cleansing lepers"? I know the chances of meeting a leper in Merthyr are slim to none today, but what would be the equivelant today? Eitherway, we have become more focused on preaching sermons than displaying the message of the Kingdom. If I could say it this way, the evidence that the Kingdom of heaven was near ("within reach" as it means in the Greek) were the supernatural evidence of dead raisings, healings, cleansings, and deliverances.
Now we come to an important question - Can we call ourselves a "Church" if we are not doing what the Early Church did?
I don't want to see more powerless churches in Wales that only give handouts and nice sermons. Wales doesn't need nice sermons. She needs the raw power of God represented through communities of Believers who are living what the Early Church lived. Wales doesn't need charity and TED-Talks, She needs to see the Kingdom of God. After She sees that, then Churches will be birthed as they were on the Day of Pentecost, as the result of a move from heaven, and not the strategies of some Board or Committee.
Beware Church-Planters!!! I have seen signs of competition among certain Church Planting ventures in Wales. Some are trying to out-do the other by the amount of churches they claim they will plant. Others have their own measuring stick for what a "Church" is that may well be contrary to how the New Testament measures one.
The Church Jesus wants to build in Wales will need to evidence those qualities in the above verse. Yes, there are "other" expressions that mark the Church Jesus is building, but it will never ever be a case of "either/or", it will be a community that demonstrates the realities of His Kingdom come. Those who do not believe that miracles, tongues, prophecy etc are part of His Church today will NEVER become a healthy Church, because without the power of the Holy Spirit everything is achievable by human effort. Evan Roberts would preach - "You can get to heaven without being filled with the Holy Ghost, but without being filled you will lose much on the way" - You cannot run a Christian gathering without the very things that distignuished the Early Church in their day. Equally, you cannot have all of the gifts and power on display without love, integrity, sincerity, and sound doctrine. It takes all of these expressions to represent the Church that Jesus is building in Wales, and where we are lacking in any area we must repent and embrace those expressions we lack of Christ's nature and function.
My most favorite book on the 1904 Welsh Revival is by Jessie Penn-Lewis. Those who ministered in the Welsh Revival were those who had, as Penn-Lewis writes, "entered the Spirit-filled life". What marked them was the Life of the Spirit flowing from them. That is how the Early Church was, men and women who had "entered the Spirit-filled life". We need churches in Wales today full of people who have "entered" and are living the "Spirit-filled life". The Church that Jesus is building is a Spiritual body, and not a bastion of denominational rhetoric. If we're not building churches that are full of the life of the Spirit, then don't waste your time! Heed the words of Jesus to His early followers to "STAY...UNTIL YOU ARE CLOTHED WITH POWER" before you try planting churches, otherwise you will build doctrinal alcoves rather than Houses of God!
"And behold, I am sending the promise of my Father upon you. But stay in the city until you are clothed with power from on high"
Luke 24:49 ESV
Luke 24:49 ESV
“And now I will send the Holy Spirit, just as my Father promised. But stay here in the city until the Holy Spirit comes and fills you with power from heaven"
Luke 24:49 NLT
OK, back to Penn-Lewis' book. The introduction was written by Dr Cynddylan Jones. He was a senior leader in the Presbyterian Church. Today the Presbyterians are known as those who do not believe the Holy Spirit works today as He did in the Early Church, it is sad how far they have strayed. In my opinion, Cynddylan Jones' introduction is worth the price of admission. Here is an excerpt from that introduction that sums up what I have been aiming to say in this article. Church Planters PLEASE take note of what marks true communities of believers from Dr Jones' words:
"Missions are not revivals. Men can organize the former, not the latter, and it is a pity the distinction should be so often over looked. Man’s method of saving the world is by costly and complicated machinery—salvation by mechanics; but God’s method is by vital energy— salvation by dynamics. “I am not ashamed of the Gospel of Christ, for it is the power, the dynamic, of God unto salvation” (Rom. i. 16). St. Paul, the missionary, relying upon prayer and the dynamic power of the Gospel, changed the face of the Roman Empire. And in Wales to-day all is spontaneous. The dynamite is working, explosion follows explosion, and already scores of thousands of rough, hard stones have been loosened from the quarry of corrupt humanity, and where explosions frequent and powerful take place, is it to be wondered at that there is tumult and confusion? Better the confusion of the city than the order of the cemetery.
Much importance is attached to the work of the Spirit, at least in its initial stages. Heretofore the work of Christ has been the all-important truth, to the exclusion to a large extent of the doctrine of the Spirit. Much emphasis has been laid on receiving Christ, scant stress on receiving the Spirit. Now, however, the question is coming to the fore front, “Have ye received the Holy Ghost since ye believed?” (Acts xix. 2). There were thousands of believers in our churches, who like the disciples St. Paul met at Ephesus, had received Christ, but had never received the Holy Ghost. The mark of Christ’s blood was upon them, but where was the mark of the Spirit’s anointing? Saved themselves, they made no attempt to save others. The present Revival, however, whilst not obscuring the doctrine of the Cross, has brought into prominence the doctrine of the Spirit. Thousands of Christians, who had received the Christ, have now received the Holy Ghost, and as a consequence they are filled with the spirit of service—no task seems to them too hard for Christ’s sake.
The third feature is enthusiasm, a feature common to all Revivals. Many Christians who love gentility and moderation would like to receive the baptism of the Spirit without the baptism of Fire. But what God has joined cannot be sundered. “He will baptize you with the Holy Ghost and fire” (Matt. iii. 11); there is the verse—what will you do with it? There is only one preposition in the original, not two as in the English, to show the identity of the two baptisms, or rather that there is but one. Wherever the Spirit descends He brings fire in His train. “There appeared unto them cloven tongues, like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.” Hearts of Fire and Tongues of Flame. Is enthusiasm permissible in every department of life, but forbidden in church life? A thousand times, No. How speaks the Apostle? “Fervent in spirit, serving the Lord.” Fervent, literally, boiling. “Boiling in spirit.” Let none be ashamed of “boiling” in the service of the Saviour. At all events I prefer the congregations that boil over to the congregations that will not boil at all. “The fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.” Literally, the boiling prayer. The cold prayer even of a good man will avail nothing in heaven or on earth, but the boiling prayer of a righteous man has ere now performed wonders, and will perform them again.
How very cold and formal the prayers of the Church have been for many a long year! But for the last four months there has been everywhere a marked change—the prayers have been boiling and whole multitudes have been thrown into a state of extraordinary fervour. It rejoices me to see the rising generation boiling with a great enthusiasm in the service of Christ—the mark of the “boiling” will be on them as long as they live. None are the same after boiling as before. Hundreds of our young men and women had been brought up religiously in the home and the church; but their religion was cold, formal, following routine. Hardly any of them had courage enough to bow the knee in public prayer, with the inevitable consequence that only aged men engaged publicly in the weekly prayer meetings.
Behold the difference! Now our young people flock to the services, prayers flow spontaneously from their lips like water from the spring, praise ascends to heaven like the carol of birds in spring. No forcing, no inviting—spontaneity characterises the proceedings from beginning to end. No one is ashamed of confessing Christ as his or her Saviour—rather the shame is on the other side. All the chapels are crowded, the valleys and mountains ring with praise."
Dr Cynddylan Jones
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