30 Jan Spiritual Formation…More than a buzzword

Ron Ramsey, Bishop
It’s interesting how we take things that are biblical and make them a buzzword for a while. Today, spiritual formation is in danger of becoming a buzzword in our church cluture.
When I talk about spiritual formation, I think of Paul’s words about being conformed to the image of God’s son. In My Utmost for His Highest, Oswald Chambers asks, when you look in a mirror, do you see a reflection of Christ?
In our churches, we need people to take on the image of Christ. People who talk like Christ, walk like Christ, live like Christ — and are, in fact, little Christs. (That term “little Christs” is from Martin Luther.) When you hear me talk about spiritual renewal or spiritual tranformation in the church, that’s what I’m talking about. I want to convince people that we need to begin to look like Jesus. The Holy Spirit is in the business of transforming us into the image of Christ…So I ask, how much more do I look like Christ today than I did yesterday? Gets convicting real quick!

30 Jan Working as a Team

Pat Jones, Director of Healthy Church Ministries
If it is encouraging, let him encourage; if it is contributing to the needs of others, let him give generously; if it is leadership, let him govern diligently; if it is showing mercy, let him do it cheerfully.
Romans 12 speaks about the grace of God given to us as His body so we mutually benefit each other. That is why we must work as a team for the common good. And here is a praise that illustrates that.
The Willshire, OH, church, now called Praise Point, opened their new building on New Year’s Day. In December, at their old facility, they had 90-100 people average. This past Sunday, if a group of youth and their leaders who were out on retreat were counted in, they had over 200. They are making sudden leaps that they are scrambling to keep up with.
In comes the team. They never functioned as a church of 200 before. They need help. We are working at assigning a coach to them who can help them figure out the decisions that have to be made, the processes that have to change, the steps to take to transition the congregation from a small to medium sized church, and the pitfalls to avoid. What a great problem!
Please pray for them as they address these challenges and seek to have the Lord continue the new work He has begun there.

27 Jan Schedules

Pat Jones, Director of Healthy Church Ministries

Thanks again to all who participated in our first cluster leader training. Just having you rub shoulders in the same room for a day and a half was a blessing to watch. YOU are key to making a difference in the lives of those you lead.

Please email me your cluster schedules as soon as possible. Pam and I would like to travel to be with you a time or two this year.
Some links you may find helpful:

If you want to do some demographic studies of your area, our Nazarene friends have a helpful tool at http://map.nazarene.org. Click on your state and if a Nazarene church is close by you can navigate around the site to get stats for your town.

Also, if you preach a message on the effects of pornography or have someone you are counseling who needs help, the following are some sites that have helpful info:

www.xxxchurch.com
www.pureonline.com
www.pureintimacy.org

As you lead, remember that the operative word is KINGDOM and everything we do has to be assessed on how it is positively contributing to the building of that Kingdom, His Kingdom and not ours.

Supporting you in prayer always!

24 Jan Book Recommendation: Discipled Warriors

Ron Ramsey, Bishop

I have basically “bought in” to the Healthy Church concept that healthy churches grow and it is possible to establish criteria to describe a healthy church. However, I was a little uncomfortable with the fact that the arguments for are so pragmatic.

I recently came across a book written way back in 2002, Discipled Warriors, by Chuck Lawless that is excellent. The sub-title is: “Growing Healthy Churches That Are Equipped For Spiritual Warfare.” In this book Lawless draws the argument that Church Health must be based on a theological foundation and then the principles build from that fundation. I found it to be an encouraging and challenging book. One you might want to add to your growing library of books and material about the Healthy Church.

I for one, will continue to exhort our churches to consider taking necessary steps to becoming healthy congregations. It really doesn’t have anything to do with size. It has everything to do with being obedient to the call of God upon a local church and the fact that the enemy of our soul and the church will do everything he can do to distract us from our mission.

23 Jan Musings from the HU Board of Trustees

Ron Ramsey, Bishop
At the Huntington University trustee meeting last week, Dave Engbrecht, Pastor of Nappanee Missionary Church, was the devotional speaker. One thing he said was very thought provoking: “Whenever memories are greater than your future, you’re writing your last chapter.”
Wow! Does that hit you like it hit me? I have been in some churches that seem to be writing their last chapter. Could it be that it is partly due to living in the past? Our past is something to be celebrated, especially if it is positive, but to try to live there denies the reality of a preferred future. You see, I believe that where God is taking us is always better than where we’ve been. Because God has a preferred future for me that begins with my decisions today.
Memories, I am glad for all my memories. But as good as they have been, I think the memories made in the future will be even better. Maybe one reason we are willing to live with the past is that the future does demand a price to be paid and it is always easier not to pay the price. But the result is to miss the glorious future of tomorrow.
As a church are our memories of the past greater than the future? In some places I think so…In some places they are writing their final chapter. I do not want that to be true of me. Where He is taking me is always better than where I’ve been!

17 Jan Harvest Time 2006

Ron Ramsey, Bishop
I am praying that in 2006 we will see an unusual HARVEST of new believers. Our primary ministry focus must be outward–reaching lost people with the Good News and seeing them begin their journey to become fully devoted followers of Jesus Christ. If you have some inspiring stories of individuals in your church coming to faith in Jesus, I would love to hear them. How about doing a short video or DVD testimony and sending it to me so it can be shared with others?

We need to regularly and consistently see lost people come to faith, so that our confidence in the Gospel will not be lost. When the 2007 US National Conference meets, I hope to share a large number of testimonies with the conference. So, keep those videos/DVDs coming in. Don’t worry that they are not professional. Just get something recorded and send it in. Oh, by the way, did I mention I wanted you to get the testimonies recorded and sent in? In case you missed it, I do!

16 Jan A New Year for the UB Church

It is a new year for the United Brethren Church–not just because the calendar says it’s a new year, but because of all the changes that became official on January 1. One of those changes involves organizing our churches and pastors into Healthy Church Clusters, rather than organizing around conferences. The Healthy Church Cluster is now the entity to which congregations and pastors are primarily accountable.
A cluster is a group of 7-10 pastors and churches who meet on a regular basis for mutual support, pastoral development, encouragement, coaching, accountability, friendship, healthy church development, fun (yes I said fun!), sharing of ideas, prayer, and reporting. Thus far, 31 cluster groups have formed. Pat Jones, our new Director of Healthy Church Ministries, has worked hard at organizing these clusters. Some decisions remain in certain areas of our denomination, and some pastors have not responded to the call to join a cluster. But for the most part, we are well organized. The cluster groups can be found on the UB website at this address.

16 Sep IRS Mileage Allotment

Pastors and church treasurers will want to note that the Internal Revenue Service and Treasury Department has announced an increase to the optional standard mileage rates for the final four months of 2005. The rate will increase to 48.5 cents a mile for all business miles driven between September 1 and December 31, 2005. This is an increase of 8 cents from the 40.5 cent rate in effect for the first eight months of 2005.

27 Oct Doug Birdsall Named to Lausanne Post

Doug Birdsall was installed as International Chairman of the Lausanne Committee for World Evangelization during the organization’s global forum in Pattaya, Thailand, in October.

Doug is the brother of Brent Birdsall, pastor of College Park UB church (Huntington, Ind.) and of Brian Birdsall, a UB endorsed missionary serving in Ukraine. A sister, Connie, attends a Missionary Church congregation in Berne, Ind.

The forum brought together 1500 church leaders from around the world to focus on the task of global evangelism.

The Lausanne Movement is an outgrowth of a 1974 International Congress in Lausanne, Switzerland, convened by Billy Graham. At that historic meeting, several thousand participants from 150 countries signed the Lausanne Covenant “to be more intentional about world evangelization.” Lausanne’s vision is to energize churches, mission agencies, networks and individuals “to respond with vigor and courage to the cause of world evangelization.” The unifying theme of the Lausanne Covenant and the Lausanne Movement is, “The Whole Church Taking the Whole Gospel to the Whole World.”

Since 1980, Doug Birdsall has served as a missionary in Japan with Asian Access/LIFE Ministries, an organization that focuses on evangelism and church multiplication. He is currently President of Asian Access. He is a graduate of Wheaton College, Gordon-Conwell, and Harvard University. He and his wife, Jeanie, have three children, Stacia, Judd and Jessamin, who were all born and reared in Japan.

Doug returned to Gordon-Conwell in 1999 to help establish the Wilson Center for World Missions, and is seconded to the seminary for 20 percent of his time by Asian Access/Life Ministries