Reaching the UnreachedAn annual conference for churches trying to reach out in the hard places of our land

More quotes from Roy Joslin’s Urban Harvest to mark the thirtieth anniversary of its publication …

The New Testament knows nothing of a ‘one-pastor’ church where the leader is imported into the local situation for a number of years and then moves on to another local church. In the early church, men were selected from a local church, trained within that local church, and then called to the service of that local church. An apprentice-trained, non-mobile, indigenous team of local church leaders may be new to our thinking, but it is possible to show that this policy is soundly biblical and eminently practical. (257)

It is no use a mother bird (or church) saying to its offspring, ‘You are not leaving this nest until you have proved to me that you can fly’. God does not make parachutes for birds or churches! As soon as it is right, the mother should gently but firmly ease the young life out of the security of the nest. The wings of faith will do the rest! (197)

Urban Harvest is available here from amazon.com and amazon.co.uk. In October IVP are publishing my latest book, Unreached: Growing Churches in Working-Class and Deprived Areas, was written with the Reaching the Unreached network.

This article was originally published on Tim Chester’s blog.

This post is by Julian Rebera, Church Leader at New Life Church, Brighton.

Ok, so this is my first blog on the RTU web site, and I want to share my thoughts about estate discipleship in light of the Great Commission.

Actually, my thoughts are not really distinctive to estate discipleship – it’s just discipleship. But I think, on estates, only authentic discipleship has a chance of cutting the mustard.

Two points which have shaped my understanding of discipleship.

Point 1. Evangelism and the ‘Discipleship Process’.

Most people think of ‘discipleship’ as the process through which believers bring believers to maturity. But that falls short of Matthew 28:20, Jesus didn’t say, ‘Evangelise all nations and then make disciples of the converts’ as if ‘evangelism’ and ‘discipleship’ are two distinct processes. He said ‘Make disciples of all nations …’ which implies ‘evangelism’ is part of, not distinct from the discipleship process.

It follows then, that:

1. If I am not evangelising, I am not being a disciple.
2. If I am not teaching others to evangelise and helping them learn how to do it, I am neither being a disciple, nor making disciples.

Point 2. The distinctive of Christian discipleship.

The distinctive of Christian discipleship is not that we follow Jesus and His teachings rather than some other Rabbi. The distinctive is that we are to ‘teach to obey everything … [He]… commanded’ (Matthew 28:20). This implies, people (a) do not know Jesus’ teachings and so need to be taught them and (b) when they do know, they still need to ‘learn to obey’.

Consider Hudson Taylor. I reckon what made him a great missionary was his radical discipleship. For example, when he learned and understood the parable of the Faithful and Wise servant (Matthew 24:45-51) that he should always be ready to unashamedly give an account, he immediately went through his wardrobe and books etc. Anything he didn’t need, or could be better used by others he gave away. He learned to obey Jesus teaching. How many of us have books we will never read again, clothes we will not wear etc? In Romans 2:21 Paul asks, “You who teach others, do you teach yourself?”

So What?

We must teach people what obedience to all God’s commands actually looks like in our own lives and teach them ‘how to obey’ in their own lives.

Although we should make the most of the best discipleship resources available, in fact, the best or the worst audio/visual resource by far is that of our own lives. 2 Corinthians 3:2-3

Perhaps in another blog I’ll share how we try to work this stuff out in out church. What do you think?

Watch the last of the sessions from this year’s conference, by Pete Jackson.

To watch the rest of the videos from the weekend, go to the 2011 conference page.

Watch the third of the sessions from this year’s conference, by Duncan Forbes.

To watch the rest of the videos from the weekend, go to the 2011 conference page.

Watch the second of the sessions from this year’s conference, by Tim Chester.

To watch the rest of the videos from the weekend, go to the 2011 conference page.

Guest post by Neil Robbie

In a setting where reading and study are not the norm, how do we encourage young Christians or unbelievers to engage with God’s Word? Neil Robbie (blogging at transforminggrace.wordpress.com) shares his experience of something called the Swedish Bible Study Method…

We’re launching a network of small groups at Holy Trinity West Bromwich with God’s word at the centre in a way which suits the learning and devotional style of our people. We’ve chosen the Swedish Bible Study Method which appeared in this article in The Briefing a few years ago.

What is this Swedish thing?

The Swedish Bible Study Method, in a nutshell, is self-directed study of a passage with four simple questions:

• Light. What light does this passage shine on God, the world, the church, or me?
• Questions. What questions do I have?
• Change. What should I do or change as a result of reading this passage?
• Speech Bubble. What could I say to someone from this passage? Who will I say it to?

There are several advantages to this method of Bible study. (continue reading…)

Gospel discipleship over the long haul

Council estates, urban priority areas, low income households: the gospel is powerful to save anyone, from anywhere, but what does making disciples look like in the ‘hard places’ of our country, where progress can seem heartbreakingly slow?

For more details and to book click here, or watch the conference trailer below.

A lack of forgiveness is a common problem in disadvantaged areas. It affects not only individuals, but spreads through communities. The closeness of family and community ties in some estates presents great opportunities for the gospel when someone is converted. But those close ties can also spread hatred when someone is wronged. A lack of forgiveness also often inhibits change in other areas. One pastor says ‘forgiveness has brought up a whole load of issues in my context’.

This pastor takes a strong, black and white approach, often saying: ‘If you don’t want to forgive people, that’s okay, but you can’t say you follow Jesus’. A willingness to forgive is portrayed as the touchstone of a genuine experience of divine forgiveness (Matthew 6:14-15). He finds it impossible to pastor in other areas of people’s lives until they have at least shown the desire to forgive. But a willingness to forgive does mean forgiveness is easy. One believer who was horrifically abused for years knows she needs to forgive her abuser and wants to do so, but finds this very hard, sometimes seemingly impossibly hard. But she is asking Jesus for strength to forgive.

Forgiveness is a relational concept that involves reconciliation after repentance. God does not forgive us until we have repented (though in his grace he grants repentance so uniquely in God a willingness to forgive leads inexorably to forgiveness). So it may not always be helpful to ask someone whether they forgive another person. Without repentance and reconciliation, forgiveness remains an abstract idea. It can only be a ‘willingness to forgive’ and that can be hard to measure in the absence of repentance. So it may be more helpful to ask someone whether they love another person, not in the sense of feeling affection for them, but in the sense of wanting the best for them. And a test of this may be how they pray for them.