Missions

Missional Monday : Lessons Learned Through Community Ministry in 2013

/ Steven Ruff / Leave a comment

My first pastor, Lamar Anderson, whom I was called to the ministry under used to say, “It is a sorry frog that won’t croak over his own pond”. So, let me croak. At Port Royal Baptist Church we place a high priority on community ministry and missions. The reason: God’s Word teaches that we are to care for and serve others in the name of Jesus Christ. I must say that our people take seriously the missions mandate given to the local New Testament church. They are compassionate, generous, and caring. When presented with a ministry opportunity, they always rise to the occasion. I have at times challenged our people to invest more in current ministries and add new. I have never been disappointed and our community has been the beneficiary of their love and care. I appreciate Port Royal Baptist Church greatly for placing such a high priority on the care of our community. Your commitment to minister to all people, regardless of their race and economic background, surpasses any place I have ever been a part of.

We have had a full and fulfilling year in 2013. We have been able to touch our community in many, many ways. From mentoring elementary school children to assisting families with staying in their home, we put them first. From helping a sister church minister to migrant workers in VBS to serving lunch to state park workers just to say thank you, we put them first. From assisting families provide Christmas gifts for their children to food baskets for nourishing meals at Thanksgiving and Christmas, we put them first. From community improvement projects to giving out free cold water in the summer, we put them first. From giving and going to meet the needs of those in the mountains of Kentucky to giving the most basic needs such as laundry detergent to our partner apartment complex. We have used these opportunities, along with others, not to make our name known, but to foster relationships and build bridges for gospel conversations. Through all of this, I have learned two lessons this year that I would like to share with you here.

Lesson #1. Be Open. You must be willing to be taken advantage of in order to reach your community. I have often shared with our people that we must give to our community with no expectation of return. Many find this troubling. There are those who believe that everyone we help during the week should be in church with us on Sunday. That would be nice. The hard truth is that most of those we serve in our community will not attend Port Royal Baptist for one reason or another. What really matter is the opportunity to minister to them where they are. If our willingness to serve is taken advantage of, so be it. In the course of this year’s ministry opportunities, has our giving been taken advantage of? I know it has. In the course of this year’s ministry opportunities, have we suffered offense through the actions and responses of those we were helping? Absolutely. In the end, I have learned that we are only responsible for why we do ministry. If we give and serve with the sole motive of being obedient to Christ and a blessing to our community, we have nothing to worry about. The possibility that we may be taken advantage of is real, but it should not stop us from serving our community.

Lesson #2: Be Intentional. You must plan and prepare. Life-changing ministry doesn’t “just happen”. I am proud to say that our missions and ministries leaders see the value of being prepared. Some ministry opportunities require very little planning while other opportunities require a great deal of planning. Nothing could be more counterproductive than to arrive at a ministry site and not have the food, the supplies, the craft, the gift, the lesson that is needed to be a blessing. Being prepared shows the community we care. Being prepared shows the community that we have thought about them in advance. As I said earlier, our ministry calendar was very full this past year and I expect it to be the same this coming year. I have learned that without planning we would be far less effective than we were. I am so thankful that our people are opposed to flying by the seat of their pants. I am a firm believer in the old adage that says “when you fail to plan you are planning to fail”.

Monday is For Missions : Ed Stetzer on Community Engagement

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Ed Stetzer, President of Lifeway Research and pastor of Grace Community Church in Hendersonville, TN is regarded as the resident expert when it comes to engaging others in missions. Of the many things that I appreciate about Ed Stetzer, his advocacy for the local church to be at the forefront of the Great Commission has to be at the top of my list. He writes, “There should be a difference in the community because the church exists, and if it left for some reason, there should be a void that’s felt.” In a recent article in Christianity Today, Stetzer wrote about practical steps that a church can take in engaging its community. You can read that article here. Well worth your time.

Worth Repeating : James Dennison

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“The scene is one of the most breathtaking in all of Scripture. An itinerant Galilean carpenter stands surrounded by twelve very ordinary men. At the moment, the leaders of nations are plotting to destroy him as a dangerous heretic. He stands in an area which illustrates the conflict and power of religions more than any other place in the world – Caesarea-Philippi, north of Galilee.

At least fourteen temples to Baal lay scattered about the area, reminders of Canaanite paganism. Nearby is a deep cavern where the Greeks said their god, Pan, was born. The entire region is symbolic of Greek mythology. Adjacent stands the great temple of white marble built to the deity of Caesar by Herod the Great, emblematic of Roman emperor worship. And the Jews believed that their sacred Jordan River originated from beneath this very mountain. Behind Jesus stands a gigantic rock formation, with a cave which is deeper than we are able to measure to this day. It was called the “gates of Hades,” and was widely believed to be the doorway to the underworld.

It was and is an intimidating place. I’ve stood at this spot, and I remember it well. But here Jesus uttered words which astounded his followers: ‘On this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it’ (Matthew 16:18). Hades would not attack the church – this small band of men would attack Hades. And neither Hades, the pagan religions, nor the power of the Roman and Jewish rulers would prevail. Jesus’ church would assault the very gates of hell with the gospel – and win. The church was Jesus’ strategy for reaching a lost world.

And this strategy worked, amid some of the greatest ecotones in history. As Jewish and Gentile cultures clashed, the gospel thrived (Acts 10-11). As East met West, the church grew and prospered (Acts 16). When the gospel came to Rome itself, it took root and flowered (Acts 28). As the Roman Empire crumbled and fell, the church mushroomed in power. The strategy worked.

Across the centuries of ecotonic clashes, the church has remained Jesus’ answer to world evangelization. In a millennium of Dark Ages the gospel spread, and the church grew. In the midst of Enlightenment attacks it experienced Great Awakenings. The Industrial Age saw the greatest missionary expansion to point in history.

And our century, with two world wars and the greatest rate of change in human history, has witnessed unprecedented growth in Christian missions. According to church growth expert George Otis Jr, about 70 percent of all progress toward evangelizing the world has taken place since 1900. Seventy percent of that growth has occurred since World War II.

Now, in another ecotonic time, the church is still Jesus’ strategy for world evangelization. Change is nothing new. Only Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever (Hebrews 13:8). He still intends to reach the world through his church.”

James Dennison, from Missiology; An Introduction to the Foundations, History, and Strategies of World Missions. 1998

Missional Monday : What Others Are Saying

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The purpose of Missional Monday is to raise awareness for and to encourage conversation (whether here or elsewhere) around the need for Christ followers and churches to be missionaries where they are. I have my own thoughts about the subject but there are other voices speaking more loudly that you should listen to. Periodically, I will connect the readers here to others who are speaking on this subject. Enjoy.

Read:  I recommend Ed Stetzer and David Putnam’s book, “Breaking the Missional Code; Your Church Can Become a Missionary in Your Community”. They have put together a great resource for understanding how to mine out the uniqueness of your community.

Follow:  Micah Fries. Micah is VP of Lifeway Research. He is a former pastor and church planter. Micah is a strong and passionate voice for living missionally. I read behind him on a regular basis. You can find him here.

Know:  Blood:Water Mission – A grassroots organization that empowers communities to work together against the HIV/AIDS and water crises in Africa. You can find more about their work here.

Missional Monday : MissionsFEST Atlanta

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atlanta-skylineIn October of this year I, along with two other member of Port Royal Baptist Church (Joyce Bunton, Judy Greenlee), will take part in MissionsFEST Atlanta. This trip is the result of a partnership between South Carolina Baptist Convention Missions Mobilization, National WMU (Women’s Missionary Union), Georgia WMU, and the UACP (Urban Atlanta Church Planter’s) Network. The UACP is a cooperative effort to engage lostness through the planting of intentionally reproducing churches with the I-285 perimeter of Atlanta. Individuals and churches who participate in MissionsFEST work alongside church planters who active in reaching neighborhoods with the I-285 loop where over 100 different languages are spoken. Events and projects are designed to demonstrate the love of Christ in real and tangible ways that allow bridges to be built for future gospel conversations. Some of the week’s projects include block parties, service ministries, prayer walking, and light construction work.

We are looking at this trip as more than just an opportunity to help church planters with the enormous task of reaching their community. We are viewing this time in Atlanta as a vision trip for Port Royal Baptist Church. Every spring we sponsor a state-side mission trip for our congregation. As we seek the Lord’s guidance as to the coming year’s destination, we are praying He uses this week to open doors for future ministry. As in any trip, meeting, or conference I attend, certain hopes are always present. My hopes for this trip are as follows.

1. It is my hope that we will create partnerships for future service. As I mentioned above, we hope to be able to discern the needs of the church planters and determine if our congregation would be a fit in Atlanta.

2. It is my hope that I will be personally challenged. I believe that many of us minister within a bubble of safety. That is not always our fault, just a result of where we are. I hope to be stretched and challenged to do ministry that I never have and among people I never have.

3. It is my hope that we will learn new methods and practices for our own local ministry. Our church is very active and present in our community. I am hoping that some of what we experience in Atlanta will give us fresh ideas for reaching Port Royal.

Missional Monday–What is Missional?

/ Steven Ruff / 2 Comments

Today’s post is the first in a new Monday series entitled “Missional Monday”. I would like to begin by defining and giving some attention to the word “missional”. Missional is a word that has come of use over the past eight or ten years in evangelical churches and denominational research. The term missional has a somewhat fluid definition and is more of a descriptor than an event or activity. While missiology is the study about missions and its methodologies, missional is a mindset. Missional is a way of thinking. In its simplest terms, missional thinking focuses the believer and the church on doing missions everywhere. It is holistic rather than programmic.

By the very definition of the word, it is impossible for the church to do missional. Instead, it is critical for the church today to be missional. Missional thinking causes the church to take a hard and prayerful look at how missions is viewed. A church with a missions program usually sees missions as one activity alongside other activities in the church. A missional church focuses all of its activities around its participation in God’s vision in the world. Instead of viewing missions as crossing sea as something that we go and do, missional thinking leads us to see the cross and to live as sent people; right where we are. This leads to a question that will help us gauge where we are individually and as the body of Christ. Do you see yourself as a participant in a mission program or as a missionary living within your own mission field? In his book, Breaking the Missional Code, Ed Stetzer wrote, “If we are going to join God on his mission, we have to recognize that we are missionaries…wherever he places us – just like the first disciples”.

Some Needed Structure

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I enjoy writing. I enjoy sharing my experiences with others. Sharing what God is doing in my life as a pastor, husband, father, and student is the reason why I started The Road Less Traveled. Personally, I need structure. I need a schedule. I need something to keep me on track and focused. I guess that you could say that I need routine in my life. I don’t function well in its absence. Ask my wife. I order to be more disciplined in the craft that I love; writing, I am putting a sense of structure in place here. I hope to follow this “schedule”.

Monday. I will begin a new blog series entitled Missional Mondays. Each week I will share a story, church missions project, an article, a resource, or highlight some missions organization that is making a kingdom difference.

Tuesday. I am dedicating Tuesdays to book reviews. I enjoy reading immensely. I review books for several publishing companies (Thomas Nelson, Tyndale, Waterbrook Press, and Bethany House to name a few). To keep a sense of order and expectation, I’ll post my reviews on Tuesday unless the review calls for a certain date.

Wednesday. Throughout the course of my reading, both recreational and in sermon preparation, I come across words that are “worth repeating”. Wednesdays will be dedicated to this discovery.

Thursday. Random thoughts. Maybe.

Friday. I enjoy giving away books that I have been given to me. As I have the opportunity, I will continue Free Book Fridays. I will also continue my devotional thoughts as a part of Friday is for Scripture.

Saturday and Sunday. Random thoughts. Maybe.

It is my prayer that you will be encouraged, blessed, challenged, enlightened, or inspired by something you read here at The Road Less Traveled. Thanks for stopping by.

A Pastor’s Take on Vacation Bible School 2013

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ccwColossal Coaster World Vacation Bible School has pulled into the station for the final time this year. Our theme park inspired adventure is complete. The screams and shouts of kids running through down the hallways and in the sanctuary are now a distant, but treasured memory. Decorations have come down and the once vibrant and colorful rooms, hallways, sanctuary, and common areas have now been returned to their traditional look. Sadly, it looks as if Vacation Bible School never happened. Vacation Bible School makes for a very long week around the church. If you take into account the weeks leading up to the actual teaching week, many long, long hours have been logged over the past three weeks. I am a huge fan of Vacation Bible School and am sold on its ministry value. As a pastor, I fully understand how important this week is in the life of the church. Now that Vacation Bible School 2013 is over, I have a few observations that I would like to offer here.

1. Attendance: For better or worse, this is often the criteria by which Vacation Bible School is judged as a success or a failure. I am not completely sold on this marker of success. Our average attendance for the week was approximately 115. As far as the numbers go, our attendance was down slightly from last year. I was encouraged by our attendance this summer. My reason for being encouraged is not so much about how many, but who was here. It is obvious that our people were active in inviting others this week. We did something different this year with our teenagers. Instead of Youth Vacation Bible School occurring the weeks before the children’s, our youth met the same week as everyone else. This was a success and we averaged 8 teenagers nightly. This does not count the high school students who were assisting in other areas. We had the expected students who were members of other churches. That is perfectly fine. We are happy to have them for a week. We also had students who were unchurched and not affiliated with a local church. This is one of the markers by which I judge success. We averaged 53 elementary aged children this year. I was further encouraged by our Adult Vacation Bible School class. We had an average this week of 30 adults. Our adult class was not only made up of our own church members. One of goals in Adult Vacation Bible School is to give parents who are not involved in a local church a place to go instead of dropping their children off and going home. We accomplished our goal here. Parents had the opportunity to interact and meet other people in a non-threatening manner and be exposed to the gospel message. I believe this was a success.

2. Volunteers: I am thankful to all of the volunteers who worked this week. As I mentioned earlier, it was a long week. It was also very hot. I am especially thankful and grateful to all of our teachers who worked full-time jobs who left work and came straight to church for five straight days. I want to especially mention and thank those who worked in the kitchen all week. During our Vacation Bible School, we skip the Snack Rotation. Instead, we choose to provide a meal for parents, children, and workers every night. Our kitchen workers came out early, set everything up, served the kids, and stayed until all was cleaned up. Thank you. I also want to thank the summer student missionaries who are a part of the Savannah River Baptist Association Low Country Ministries who came out and helped with our big kick-off event. To all those who worked so hard, your pastor wants you to know that you are appreciated.

3. Ministry: Any time you have kids on campus you have an opportunity to be engaged in real, one-on-one, life-changing ministry. I believe with all of my heart that is what happened this week. During our Worship Rally, our students take up an offering each night. There is anticipated and spirit-filled battle between boys and girls to see who can raise the most money for our designate ministry cause. This gives us an opportunity to further educate our students on the importance of missions. I am excited to report that this year we raised $510.00 for the Connie Maxwell Children’s Home. Vacation Bible School is intentionally evangelistic. We are diligent to make sure that we communicate the gospel message all week long, not just on the night of the “evangelistic” lesson. With that being said, we did not have any public professions of faith (to my knowledge) this week. I can’t explain it in human reasoning. For many who read this, the assumption will be that we failed as a church in Vacation Bible School. Nothing could be further from the truth. We are here to share a message and plant a seed, understanding that it is God who gives the increase. We trust God’s Word knowing that it will not return unto Him void. Real ministry takes place when you take time to listen, talk to, and show love toward a child in the name of Christ. This is what we did this week. If down the road a year or two or five, in God’s timing, a gospel presentation is given and a child responds because of something that was planted in their heart this week, then we were faithful to have done our part.

4. Sharing: Once again this year we had the opportunity to share and pass on the decorations and other resources we used to another church that was in need of them. The bulk of our props, supplies, and decorations will be utilized by at least two additional churches before the summer is over. I believe this is a stewardship issue. Lifeway Vacation Bible School material is not inexpensive. It does not make sense to spend all of that money and then store everything in a closet. I am pleased that we were able to help others in this way.

Overall, we had a great week and look forward to what comes out of the efforts of this week. Again I want to thank every teacher, worker, and parent who allowed their child to be a part of our Vacation Bible School. We are eagerly looking forward to Lifeway’s VBS 2014; “Agency D3: Discover. Decide. Defend.” After all, it is only 11 months away.

Week of Prayer : Lynch, Kentucky Mission Team : Day #6

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Today will be a day of travel for the Lynch Team. They will be packing up and heading home around 8:00am. Pray for safe travels. Pray for the  missionaries remaining on the field in Lynch. Pray that the team’s labor of love this week will make a difference years and years into the future. Pray for the team members who have ministry roles tomorrow (preaching, teaching, etc) as they make the necessary     preparations for roles at home.  Also, pray for the team as they will be sharing with the congregation on Wednesday night, April 10th, what the Lord did in and through them this week.

Week of Prayer : Lynch, Kentucky Mission Team : Day #5

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Today is a full day for the team. A lot is happening throughout the day. The team will be wrapping up their work, which has consisted of painting, bathroom renovation, cleaning, cooking meals, sorting clothes, just to name a few.  After lunch, the team is planning to tour the local mine that has been closed for years. This will give the team a chance to take in some of the history of Lynch, as well as be a time of relaxation and rest before sharing a meal together as a team at a local restaurant.  Pray for a restful night for the team.