Mt. Chimborazo

One of my favorite stories in the history of evangelical work in Ecuador took place in 1892.*
I love God's sense of humor. See if you don't agree.

Francisco Penzotti, a Uruguayan carpenter-turned-preacher, had been jailed in Lima, Peru for eight months for distributing the Word of God. After his release in early 1891, he headed north to Guayaquil with his boxes of Bibles. As he pushed these pass the customs inspectors, one of the officials declared defiantly: "As long as Mt. Chimborazo stands, these books will never enter Ecuador!"

Not only did the Word of God enter the country that year, but today, all around the slopes of Mt. Chimborazo, an estimated 40-45% of the population claim to be evangelical believers. Chimborazo Province has the highest concentration of followers of Jesus Christ than any other region of Ecuador or South America that I am aware of.

From Chimborazo, the Gospel is spilling over into the neighboring Andean provinces of Tungurahua, Cañar and Cotopaxi. This is an exciting time to be a missionary in Ecuador. Click on this video to hear a Quichua believer singing to her Lord and see the faces of a people long held in spiritual captivity, but now being freed to join the swell of what is rapidly becoming a nationwide spiritual tsunami.

I love being on the winning side! More than 100 years since the infamous customs official's words were spoken, God is still proving to Satan and all his hosts that no matter how hard he tries to stop "those books" from entering, JESUS SHALL REIGN WHERE'ER THE SUN! And Mt. Chimborazo, at 20,946,230 feet, the highest point on the surface of the Earth (when measured from the core of the earth), stands tall as a majestic spiritual icon to remind the world "the gates of hell shall not prevail." Don't you love God's humor? Can't you just see Him smiling?

*Source: Daybreak Over Ecuador by Richard P. Reichert.

The Missional Church

Working with Pentecostals

Do we work with and relate to Pentecostals? Yes. They are generally, on fire believers who have a huge heart for winning a lost world to Jesus Christ. Probably more so than any other group of Evangelicals in Ecuador (including Baptists).

I have been told 80% of non-Catholic believers in Ecuador are either charismatics or pentecostals. Does that stat surprise me? Not in the least. Their passion for the lost amazes me. That is why they are exploding in growth. To ignore and disassociate ourselves from them is not only unbiblical, it is ministry suicide, and quite clearly sin if you ask me.

Elsewhere I have posted about "unresponsiveness" being one of my biggest aggravations about being a missionary. It has been a source of frustration trying to motivate, convince, inspire, and partner with our Baptist brethren to go out into the world, evangelize/disciple and start new churches. Those who are eager and responsive are, for the most part, charismatics and pentecostals. Is it any wonder they make up 80% of the evangelical community?

I would personally feel a lot more comfortable training like-minded Baptists, but when there is little, to no response forthcoming, we do what the parable of the wedding banquet says,

"The kingdom of heaven is like a king who prepared a wedding banquet for his son. He sent his servants to those who had been invited to the banquet to tell them to come, but they refused to come. "Then he sent some more servants and said, 'Tell those who have been invited that I have prepared my dinner: My oxen and fattened cattle have been butchered, and everything is ready. Come to the wedding banquet.' "But they paid no attention and went off--one to his field, another to his business...The king was enraged..."Then he said to his servants, 'The wedding banquet is ready, but those I invited did not deserve to come. Go to the street corners and invite to the banquet anyone you find.' So the servants went out into the streets and gathered all the people they could find, both good and bad, and the wedding hall was filled with guests. --Matthew 22:2-10

When the invited guests make excuses for not coming, we literally "go to the streets" and invite anyone who is willing to come to the "training banquet" and be part of our church planting. Our constituency may not forgive us for doing this, but I feel the Lord does! :)

What do you do when a charismatic/pentecostal brother or sister comes to one of our church planting trainings? Turn them away? No way! They are invited guests and treated with full courtesy and get everything the invited guests would have received. They grasp the concepts, use our Baptist materials, are mentored, guided by Baptist missionaries, and then go out and plant one or more "outreach groups" that soon become NT churches.

The end result is New Testament churches started by charistmatic/pentecostals. Are they Baptist churches? Pentecostal churches? I don't know what they are!

Why can't we just simply call them New Testament churches?

If they are NT churches, shouldn't we count them as legitimate? Just because the brother/sister who started them comes from a different church background than myself, does that invalidate their church planting? I personally do not think so. Yet, to protect the integrity of our reporting only Baptist work to our S. Baptist constituency, many of these new works end up only being counted in Heaven by the Lord of the Harvest.

Now to be honest, I myself believe these "baptistic" NT churches that have been planted by our charismatics/pentecostal brothers should be counted. We relate to them, and have trained those that lead them. A gray area for me personally is... when do they cease to be legitimate "baptistic" church plants, and clearly become pentecostal church plants? What line has to be crossed to cease to be "baptistic" and become "pentecostal"?

Most of our established, traditional Baptist churches in Guayaquil are to some degree influenced by charismatic teachings and practices. Some more than others. There are some that carry the name "Baptist" who are nearly as pentecostal in practice as any Pentecostal church around. Yet they call themselves Baptist. They are reported year after year on the annual IMB statistical reports. When does one cross the line and cease to be Baptist? Maybe I should know, but I don't. Who is it that defines these things?

Anybody out there care to share your thoughts on any of this? I have two open ears, and am willing to listen and learn.

Scripture...As We Live It

Alan Knox, who got my vote for best blog in 2009, has just completed his 100th "Scripture...As We Live It". I love this series of posts where Alan quotes well known Bible verses as we live them, rather than by what is actually said.

Some of my favorites are:

What then, brothers? When you come together, each one has a hymn, a lesson, a revelation, a tongue, or an interpretation find a place to sit, sing along with the band or choir, and listen to the preacher. Let all things be done for building up as prescribed by your leaders. (1 Corinthians 14:26 remix)

And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers, to equip the saints for to do the work of ministry, and for building up the body of Christ. (Ephesians 4:11-12 re-mix)

And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting not forget to meet together in the church building every Sunday morning, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another let your leaders encourage you, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near. (Hebrews 10:24-25 remix)

So if there is any encouragement in Christ, any comfort from love, any participation in the Spirit, any affection and sympathy, complete my joy by being of the same mind unless they’re wrong, having the same love unless they’re wrong, being in full accord and of one mind unless they’re wrong. Do nothing from rivalry or conceit unless they’re wrong, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves unless they’re wrong. (Philippians 2:1-3 remix)

Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me food you made a profession of faith, I was thirsty and you gave me drink you were baptized, I was a stranger and you welcomed me you faithfully attended church meetings, I was naked and you clothed me you joined a Bible study, I was sick and you visited me you gave your offerings to the church, I was in prison and you came to me you even gave to the building fund.’ (Matthew 25:34-36 re-mix)

But Jesus called them to him and said, “You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them. It shall not certainly be so among you. But So whoever would be great among you must be your servant leader, and whoever would be first among you must be your slave authority… (Matthew 20:25-27 re-mix)

Go into the church building therefore and make disciples of all nations who come into the church building, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you the specific tenets of your church. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age, well, sort of, but not in a real sense. (Matthew 28:19-20 re-mix)

By this these things all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another by your t-shirts, bumper stickers, signs, speeches, political affiliation, church membership, vocabulary, etc. (John 13:35 re-mix)

Trust in the LORD with all your heart as much as is reasonably possible, and do not lean on your own understanding, especially your theological understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him do what seems logical, practical, or expedient, and he will make straight your paths ask him to bless the paths you’ve chosen. (Proverbs 3:5-6 re-mix)

Which is your favorite? To read all archived 100, click here.

25 Random Things About Me

1. 38 of my 53 years have been lived in Latin America (Ecuador, Colombia, Costa Rica.)

2. Linda and I were engaged four years before getting married.

3. I prefer hymns over contemporary praise and worship songs.

4. The only TV I watch is Fox News, but will view 4-5 movies/documentaries every week.

5. I am not a sports fan, but can tolerate those who are.

6. I love books of all kinds and will read 3-4 every month.

7. I have lived with 2-3 migraines/week for the past 20 years--no treatments seem to work.

8. At age 17 I had a root canal performed in Ecuador without any anesthesia.

9. More people know me as "Guido" than Guy.

10. My biggest regret is not keeping up my proficiency in playing the guitar and piano.

11. My favorite word is DANCE, and have a favorite word for every letter in the alphabet.

12. Before I die I'd like to learn to dance, speak semi-fluent Italian, visit all 50 States in USA, visit every country in the Americas, and spend a couple of weeks each in Spain and Italy.

13. I function better by instinct than by planning. Really.

14. I am most attracted by the mysterious.

15. If I could be successful at anything of my choosing I would be a good dad and husband.

16. My favorite fruits are a good Texas cantaloupe, Chilean cherries, and Ecuadorian papaya & bananas.

17. The people I probably most admire are my parents.

18. I have had a mustache now for 26 straight years.

19. I hate going to shopping malls and will only go to one to eat out or to see a movie.

20. Favorite stores: Best Buy, Barnes & Noble, Amazon.com.

21. My idea of a really exciting time would be to spend a month by myself in some far off lonely place without anybody else around.

22. Wherever I go I hear the music playing in the background and judge the place/people based on what is being played. Music is always playing inside my head--even in my sleep! Everything gets accompanied to some kind of music track going on inside my brain.

23. I love all kinds of music--everything from A-Z--with an exception for "screamo" and "salsa" especially when it is blasted from one of our neighbor's all-night parties in Guayaquil.

24. I hate talking on the telephone. I will do so to take care of business, but anything more than that quickly sets me on edge. I'd rather email or text message than make a phone call any day.

25. I really believe that Texas is the closest thing to Heaven here on earth!

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Feel free to be "tagged" and write your own 25 random things about yourself. If you do so, please let me know in the comments section so I can read your "things".

Two obstacles to church planting movements

Two Obstacles 
by Brian Hogan

As I coach church planters all over the world, I get to evaluate a variety of approaches to this difficult task. God has relentlessly brought two facts to my attention—the two main obstacles to church planting movements across our world.

ONE: What we are doing is too complex. Even though we stress to those we train that they must reduce the “heavy package” of ‘Church As We Know It’ to bare New Testament essentials before carrying it to an unreached people group, most church planters are still struggling to strip away the cultural elements that slow or stop reproduction in the new cultural setting.

For example, dispensing with the need for a special “holy” building to meet in on Sundays may be easier than modeling active ministry by every believer. The church planter often does so much of the work himself that the fledgling church sees ministry as something only full time religious professionals can accomplish. The movement is stillborn since “qualified leadership” can never reproduce itself rapidly enough. One thing we really need is a simpler and more Biblical view of what “church” actually means. When I speak of “church” ...I mean the living organism that corporately forms Jesus’ Body and Bride on this planet, not a religious organization. In practical terms: a gathering of any size, committed to one another and to obeying the commands of the Lord Jesus Christ. We have been lugging around a model and definition of “church” that is far too complex and encrusted with layers of nonessential, non-Biblical “barnacles.” We need to get radical in simplification.

TWO: We don’t trust the Holy Spirit in the life of the believer. The biggest reason indigenous churches are continuing, year after year, under foreign direction and control, and why new churches are not even allowed to form in many cases, is a deep distrust of God’s ability to work His purposes through others. This is what is behind our reluctance to release our disciples into real responsibility and leadership. We can trust God to work through us, but we think they will mess it up. We need to return to the Bible and take a good look at the Holy Spirit’s jobs (conviction of sin, bringing the Word to remembrance, guiding, etc.) and quit trying to do His work for Him.

We need to look at Paul’s model again. Paul consistently left baby churches for months and even years before appointing elders (or any other leaders beyond Jesus Christ). As he says farewell to the Ephesians’ elders in Acts 20, Paul says he knows that they will be attacked from without and within, but he entrusts and commits them to God. He trusts the Holy Spirit to do His job presenting His church in Ephesus as spotless and holy. We must get radical in trusting in God’s Spirit in our fellow believers’ lives.

In the church planting training we do around the world, we are exposing this pair of obstacles and equipping workers to overcome them. Through the grace of God I continue to learn more all the time about how He wants His Kingdom spread and multiplied. Simplicity and trust in God’s Spirit opened the doors of Mongolia to the Kingdom of God.

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Brian and his wife Louise, have served in missions since 1987. From the Navajo Tribe to Outer Mongolia, their passion has been to see Jesus glorified and lifted up among those who have never known Him. From 1993-1996 their team pioneered a church planting movement in Erdenet, Mongolia that continues to grow under fully indigenous leadership to this day. Their Mongolian disciples are now training and sending out their own missionaries to other unreached people groups. The story of the work in Erdenet can be read in Brian's book: There's a Sheep in my Bathtub (Asteroidea Books), and in the case study article - "Mongols Follow the Khan of Khans" - included in the 1999, third edition of Perspectives on the World Christian Movement: A Reader, ed. Winter & Hawthorne (William Carey Library). Brian and Louise have four children: Melody, Mollyanne, Alice, and Peter. Currently this family makes their home in Northern CA where Brian manages the YWAM Church Planting Coaches office. In addition, he coordinates the Church Planting Coaches activities in Africa and Europe. Brian travels extensively conducting workshops and seminars on cross-cultural church planting skills and Frontier Missions.

Definitions of church

One of my favorite lessons in training new house church workers is when we get into trying to define what a New Testament church actually looks like. I'll get to our own Biblical definition in a minute, but first...

People come with all kinds of understandings and baggage about what a church is and what it is to look like. Back in the early years of our church planting, our team debated for months as to what we thought a NT church was supposed to be.

There are many helpful definitions and guidelines floating around out there. Here are a few that have played a role in shaping our current understanding of a NT church...


BAPTIST FAITH & MESSAGE 2000: A New Testament church of the Lord Jesus Christ is an autonomous local congregation of baptized believers, associated by covenant in the faith and fellowship of the gospel; observing the two ordinances of Christ, governed by His laws, exercising the gifts, rights, and privileges invested in them by His Word, and seeking to extend the gospel to the ends of the earth. Each congregation operates under the Lordship of Christ through democratic processes. In such a congregation each member is responsible and accountable to Christ as Lord. Its scriptural officers are pastors and deacons. While both men and women are gifted for service in the church, the office of pastor is limited to men as qualified by Scripture.

IMB GUIDELINES: We believe that every local church is autonomous under the Lordship of Jesus Christ and the authority of His inerrant word. This is as true overseas as it is in the United States, and some churches to which we relate overseas may make decisions in doctrine and practice which we would not have chosen. Nevertheless, we are accountable to God and to Southern Baptists for the foundation that we lay when we plant churches, for the teaching that we give when we train church leaders, and for the criteria that we use when we count churches. In our church planting and teaching ministries, we will seek to lay a foundation of beliefs and practices that are consistent with the Baptist Faith and Message 2000, although local churches overseas may express those beliefs and practices in different ways according to the needs of their cultural settings. Flowing from the definition of a church given above and from the Scriptures from which this definition is derived, we will observe the following guidelines in church planting, leadership training and statistical reporting.

--A church is intentional about being a church. The members think of themselves as a church and they are committed to one another and to God (“associated by covenant”) in pursuing all that Scripture requires of a church.

--A church has an identifiable membership of baptized believers in Jesus Christ.

--A church practices the baptism of believers only by immersing them in water.

--A church observes the Lord’s Supper on a regular basis.

--Under the authority of the local church and its leadership, members may be assigned to carry out the ordinances.

--A church submits to the inerrant word of God as the ultimate authority for all that they believe and do.

--A church meets regularly for worship, prayer, the study of God’s word, and fellowship. Members of the church minister to one another’s needs, hold each other accountable, and exercise church discipline as needed. They encourage one another and build each other up in holiness, maturity in Christ, and love.

--A church embraces their responsibility to fulfill the Great Commission, both locally and globally, from the beginning of their existence as a church.

--A church is autonomous and self-governing under the Lordship of Jesus Christ and the authority of His word.

--A church has identifiable leaders, who are scrutinized and set apart according to the qualifications set forth in Scripture. They recognize two Biblical offices of church leadership: pastors/elders/overseers and deacons. While both men and women are gifted for service in the church, the office of pastor/elder/overseer is limited to men as qualified by Scripture.

Kind of long-winded, but since the IMB works in church planting around the world, the Board of Trustees wants to be clear about the criteria used for what they would consider (and count) as a legitimate NT church planted by their missionaries.

STRIDER'S DEFINITION: "The Church is a group of baptized believers who meet together regularly, to celebrate the Lord’s Supper and worship together, and are obedient to fulfilling the Great Commandment and the Great Commission together." --Strider http://www.sbcimpact.net/2010/03/08/the-essence-of-church/

JESUS: "For where two or three have gathered together in My name, I am there in their midst." I know a lot of people argue this verse is being taken out of context and is not Jesus defining for the ages of what a church is. But nevertheless, it is a helpful verse (and passage) in understanding Christ's idea of how a church not only operates, but is.

YWAM: "A group of believers of any size, committed to one another to obey Jesus' commands." (Matt. 28:18-20; Acts 2:42-47) See here for details.

NEIL COLE: "The presence of Jesus among his people called out as a spiritual family to pursue His mission on this planet." (from Church 3.0) 

There are certainly many other definitions out there, but will now share our own. It is probably the most awkward and rough around the edges, but it works for us.

GUAYAQUIL CP TEAM: We base our definition upon the following Scriptures: Romans 16:5, 1 Corinthians 16:19, Colossians 4:15, Philemon 2, Matthew 18:15-20, Ephesians 2:19, Acts 2:42-47, I Corinthians 14:26 and following verses, Hebrews 10:24-25, Matthew 28:18-20. String all these passages together and you get something like:

A New Testament church is a small local gathering of believers usually meeting in homes. They are knitted together as a spiritual family with Christ as Head. Everyone contributes towards mutual edification out of what has been given to them by the Lord. Churches are characterized by their devotion to the apostles' teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. The environment is one where everyone is stimulated to love one another and do good deeds as they encourage one another to obey all the commands of Christ.

I realize the above definition sounds more like a rough draft, and could certainly use some polishing up. But what we actually do in the eighth week of training is dig into each of these passages and talk about each in depth along with the meaning and application. Rather than have a catchy, quotable definition, we are more interested in putting into practice these passages, and less in the definition itself.

I could say a lot more about this subject but will stop here. What is your understanding of a New Testament church? Does it really matter how we define church? When is a church a church and not just a group meeting in a home or auditorium?

What is a missionary supposed to look like today under the new IMB changes?

My previous post describes what a mature disciple of Christ looks like. The author's point is that if we are to be out there "making disciples" we certainly ought to know what one is supposed to look like!

After reading I started wondering what the ideal IMB missionary is supposed to look like these days? With all the new changes being implemented, I confess I am not sure what is being expected. What qualities and characteristics define the kind of missionary needed today?

Back in the late '90's as the IMB's "New Directions" was just getting underway, I remember David Watson being invited to Ecuador to speak to the missionaries about church planting movements he was involved with. What he shared back then was so far removed from our frames of reference that it was hard to take him seriously. Were we being expected to do in Ecuador what David was experiencing in Asia? Most of us could not imagine such a thing, yet this seemed to be the model we were being expected to contextualize in our Latin America setting. At least we had some kind of idea of what it was that was hoped would begin to happen globally.

Then came David Garrison's Church Planting Movements which put more substance onto the remarkable experiences being reported by Watson, Sergeant, Carlton and many other unnamed CPM practitioners. With Garrison's "10 Universal Elements", "Ten Common Factors" and "Ten Practical Handles" we M's had a clearer idea of the kinds of things expected and what all this was supposed to look like. Many of us poured years of our lives into trying to work out these principles within our own local cultures and contexts.

After that, I stumbled onto the writings of Frank Viola, which led to my discovery of a host of very helpful organic/simple church practitioners like Cole, Edwards, Dale, Atkerson, White, and many others too numerous to begin mentioning here.

So now we come to 2010. The IMB is once again transitioning into what is hoped to be a more effective and cutting edge missionary enterprise to accelerate the 2000 year old commission given to us by Jesus Christ to "make disciples of the nations."

If a picture is worth a thousand words, what would the picture today look like of an effective IMB missionary? What are the expectations? What kinds of tasks should he/she be engaged in? When does he/she know they are on the 'right track'? What kinds of activities currently being done by missionaries should be set aside in order to accomplish the more strategic objectives? How are these objectives measured?

Right now what we have are broad KRA's (Key Result Areas) which outline the global IMB objectives. But little to date has been shared on the implementation--the "how to" of these objectives. What would be helpful are pictures, models, descriptions, examples, and written materials on how/what it is we are to be moving towards.

Is there someone, some place, some example of where these kinds of things are happening that we can take a look and get some practical ideas? Again, what does a model missionary look like today under the new IMB changes and current direction?