- signs and wonders, church in coffee shops, small group discipleship.

- most of them are visionaries and out of the box preachers.

- some of the groups roots could be traced back to the emergent movement that is sprouting in the US.

- they are organic, flexible and missional

at the other side of the coin they also believe that

- organized religion/church is not biblical

- they usually preach on radical grace that abuses the doctrine of grace ( more on that next week)

- they also try to fish from other churches

- they don’t believe in the office of the pastor

- they would rather have conversations than preachings.

Just one thing that bothers me about the movement is how they try to put down other ministries so they could steal the flock. No problem with me of they want to plant a church but to speak bad about certain churches and ministries is unethical and not biblical unless doctrines are in question.

Just some things for church planters to take note of:

1. Don’t fish on another boat. If you would really like to get some guys from a particular church I would advise you talk to the pastor of the church and ask permission.

2. We cannot be too organic and not create systems. Imagine if there is no pastor in a particular church – who would guard the doctrine of the church? Who would shepherd the flock? Who would be responsible? It is so easy to say that there is no need for a pastor if you have a small group but what if the church grows – who is leading it and who will be accountable?

3. A church that is disorganized would someday cease to exist. Once problems like money, disgruntled members and sensitive cases come into place where would the people go?

4. Organic is good. I am for an organic relationship with Jesus and fellow believers but an organic system to run and govern the church is impossible. I can’t have a 100% organic family. There is a need for greater accountability. At the end of the day – the one is leading is the one responsible.

A short video clip of Pastor Mark Driscoll describing the different church plants happening in the US.

You encounter them everyday

- email marketers

- click Chile and help and throw pillow apps at facebook

- personal messages that are not personal at all

- people interrupting you so they could sell their product

- brochures and leaflets at your windshield

- street evangelists sharing the Bible and asking for money

Yesterday I came home and was surprised to see an ad taped on our gate – that causes the paint to chip off.

So what do people usually do with spammers? They ignore them or in some cases delete them. Why? Because spammers interrupt us not just once, twice, 3x. They are irritating and at times rude. We have to understand people today, if they need something, would look for it, google it or ask a friend. Rarely do they entertain spammers.

As pastors we have to rethink how we could spread the gospel. We can’t afford to be spammers. People hate spammers and the gospel is not to be treated as one.

A bad game plan can be changed.

A plan that is executed shows you have what it takes to execute a game plan.

BUT not executing a well game plan shows something about our character.

So what’s your game plan? Are you executing it?

How many mistakes have I made because I did not care to ask. Do not be afraid to ask if you don’t know.

Don’t be afraid to ask after you have done everything and still don’t know the answer.

Jesus said ” You do not have because you do not ask.”

Ask.

Click on the link to access the file

- got to church early also since Thammie is singing so had time to do my last minute review of the message, did some tweaking and surprisingly fell asleep in the process.

- worship was awesome. It was one the loudest worship in the past 2 years. Charles and the team were simply amazing.

- shared a word on thy kingdom come and prayed for the people who were sick. Lot of sick (literally) people in church.

- We ended our 3rd week of God and Gov’t and preached on how we can take ownership. We can’t keep passing the responsibility to the government. We need to take some of it.

- dinner with Carlo and Mich after church. Glad to have friends you can unwind with.

- had late banana – soya snacks with the kids when we got home.

DON’T FORGET THE GIRL!

In every movie that we see the main guy does his thing, fights the villain, slays the dragon for one good reason – the girl. He has to go and get back to his girl.

Spiderman faces his villain who is holding Mary Jane. The villain is about to let go of her but at the same time he needs to save the people who are dying. He does his thing and saves the people while the villain drops Mary Jane. He does it on time but he gets back, swings his web and saves his girl.

Husbands – we sometimes feel like Spiderman. We are given a choice everyday – do our job and love our family – both takes time.

Do whatever you can to have a great job but not in the expense of having a bad marriage. A great marriage is worth more than our job. So in the course of doing our job – don’t forget the girl.

The question is do we need Christians in public office? Not just a president – but also senators, congressmen, mayors, vice-mayors, governors and barangay captains.

THE ANSWER IS AN EMPHATIC YES!

Would it be necessary for Christians to be in public office for God to change the nation?

THE ANSWER IS AN EMPHATIC NO!

If we truly believe that God is sovereign then He can use whoever He wants to change a nation.

Look at history – America had 2 Bible-believing solid Christians who won the presidency. Jimmy Carter and George Bush. Carter is said to be one of the worst president and Bush made a lot of bad decisions.

It is like going to a doctor. Do I want Christians to become doctors? YES! But not just any Christian – I want a specialist. If somebody is going to treat me my first qualification is his/her credentials not his faith.

(Again – i am not saying that Bro Eddie has no credentials. Pastoring a church of millions speaks volumes about his leadership) Back to the blog…..

Throughout history also God has used pagan leaders. Churches have experienced growth and national trasnformation even if the ruler was not a Christian.

So what am I trying to say?

1. Let us pray that there would be more Bible believing Christians running for public office. Let us encourage the people in our church to make a difference in the political arena of this nation.

2. Let us not put too much pressure on the Christians to save this nation. Jesus will transform this nation with or without them. Jesus is our Savior. Jesus is the King of kings and the Lord of lords. If we put the burden on Bro Eddie V to change this nation – he might grow old too soon.

3. To the people who are not running for public office – let us be active in the political process. Register, vote, disciple the nation, bring the church into a dying world. Don’t put too much responsibility to the government. They can only do much.

4. Is Bro Eddie Villanueva destined to become the president of the Philippines? Well it is up to our votes to determine if he really is. If not this year – maybe in the future.

RELATED POSTS:

1. The Christian President  Question

2. Why the Government is Failing

3. Real Change is Possible

4. Separation of church and state

5. Politics is overrated

Luke 16:10 ¶      “Whoever can be trusted with very little can also be trusted with much, and whoever is dishonest with very little will also be dishonest with much.

Some suggestions before empowering someone to leadership roles.

1. Find people who have led smaller groups. Do they have good interpersonal skills. Are they effective in leading small groups? If not then they might be not yet ripe in leading bigger groups.

2. Is anyone following them? A leader who has no followers is just taking a stroll.

3. Who is following them? Are the people following them the ones youre hoping to attract to a particular ministry?