from December 5, 2011 prayer update

Twice annually (March and November) Pioneers church partnership team hosts a CPF (church partnership forum) at our U.S. mobilization base in Orlando. The intent is to involve a small group of church mission leaders (from churches with a pre-existing relationship with Pioneers) with our nine member church partnership team in a highly interactive two days together around the issue of local church / sending agency partnership.

It provides Pioneers with the opportunity to better understand the missions related objectives of the local churches represented, and it gives insight into where each church is in their journey toward meaningful engagement with the nations. It provides the local churches participating with the opportunity to better understand who Pioneers is and how we operate. And it provides both with the opportunity to begin to consider a future of deeper more impactful partnership together in church planting among the least reached around the globe.



On November 15-17, I had the opportunity to participate in my first CPF with Pioneers. 14 local churches (20 individuals) were involved in our time together. Most of these churches has one or more missionary candidates with us preparing for departure to the field. The remainder already have workers with us on the field.

We generally invite an outside missions leader to join with us during this time to provide input and help facilitate interaction. For this CPF that was Ellen Livingood with Catalyst Services. Ellen led 3 interactive sessions with us – “response to a compelling vision”, “proactive partnerships”, and “next steps”. We also heard from Pioneers US president, Steve Richardson, on “core values: behind the mission” and Pioneers US executive VP, Ted Esler, on “show and tell church planting”. Folks also were provided with a high level overview of the role of Pioneers mobilization, training, and member development teams by a representative from each of those teams.

We began each day with breakfast together, followed by a time of corporate worship and a challenge from the Scriptures from a Pioneers staff member. We split those participating into four groups (each group sat together throughout our two day gathering) to encourage greater intimacy and continuity in our interactions together. I served as a facilitator for one of these groups. We shared all our meals together and were housed together on the Pioneers campus for this event. So there were lots of opportunities for informal interaction.

Our church partnership team also led 3 interactive sessions – “the challenge of unreached peoples”, “proactive sending and care”, and “growing relationships that lead to results”. We wrapped up our time together praying for each church participating and the next steps they identified for their church through this intense two days together.

Our next CPF will be held at our U.S. mobilization base in Orlando on March 20-22. John Kless, lead pastor at Glendale Bible Church in Philadelphia for 32 years, and Eric Hyatt, global outreach pastor at Bethlehem Baptist Church in Minneapolis for 9 years, will be the outside missions leaders leading and interacting with us at this gathering. Churches participating are responsible for their travel costs. Pioneers provides everything else – housing, meals, transportation to and from the airport, and the event at no charge to those involved.

from November 6, 2011 prayer update

Mission Possible exists “to glorify God by connecting the body of Christ with Austin’s urban communities to foster Christ-life transformation through life-on-life relationships”.



Since 1992 Mission Possible has served the poor on Austin’s east side. Although its objective is not service, it is life transformation. Not just for those we serve, but perhaps even more so, for those who are serving. That has certainly been the case in my life.

Mission Possible is involved with three primary audiences in east Austin – the homeless on the street, children and families in government housing projects, and the elderly living in the community. Lives are touched and transformed through more than a dozen different programs and through partnership with other organizations and churches also serving the same community.



Tim Pinson is the founder and executive director of Mission Possible. Tim has been a close personal friend for many years. He is the visionary and the passionate, hands-on personality behind this important ministry. He is joined by two full-time staff members, Beau Hamner (who leads the ministries and volunteers that serve the homeless on the street) and Kimberly Ginnings (who leads the ministries and volunteers that serve children and families in the government housing projects). And there are number of part-time and contract workers that serve in a wide variety of roles within the organization.





The organization is located at the intersection of 12th and Chicon (described by the Austin American Statesman as Austin’s most crime infested intersection 5 years ago).
Mission Possible renovated an abandoned church and parking lot at that intersection several years ago to house many of its programs and to provide space for some of its ministry partners. More recently we acquired and renovated a property across the street that had been a tavern, liquor store, and brothel. Today it houses Gandalf’s prayer café and provides space for Mission Possible’s staff.

I had the privilege of serving on Mission Possible’s board from 1998 to 2003 (chairing it the last three of those years) and am now completing a second term (which began back in 2008) on the board.

I was doing some devotional reading in Proverbs earlier this week. In Proverbs 31:8-9 it says: “Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves, for the rights of all who are destitute. Speak up and judge fairly; defend the rights of the poor and needy.” What a delight to be a small part of an organization that does just this in a less fortunate part of the community that I have lived in for nearly 40 years.

from October 2, 2011 prayer update

I invested several days this past week in a trip to Phoenix to participate in the annual North American mission leaders conference . The theme of the conference this year was “RESET: Mission in the Context of Deep Change”. As is usually the case with these kind of events, some of the plenary sessions were excellent, and some were snoozers. Same could be said of the workshops. I think I most enjoyed the opportunities for one-on-one interaction with the folks there that I don’t get to see often (I had a pre-existing relationship with maybe 100 of the 500+ in attendance). And of the many new people that I met last week, there are a few that I can now call friends.

I found the theme of the conference to be very timely. On the evening prior to the conference’s start, 28 folks that have been associated with ACMC (Advancing Churches in Missions Commitment) met for four hours around a meal to share stories, laugh, cry, and to celebrate the retirement of this organization. In its 35 year history, ACMC has helped thousands of Protestant churches across the U.S. become more effectively engaged with global and local missions. As you know, I invested 10 years of my life in this organization, shifting from a role with it to my current role as part of Pioneers’ church partnership team back in May.

We had known for years that ACMC was on the downward side of its growth and relevancy curve. Like many organizations, we worked harder at what we had been doing in the past in an effort to turn the tide, rather than addressing the more challenging issue of identifying and making the deep changes needed in the organization. Back in December our staff began to earnestly seek God about ACMC’s future. And by April, with the help of a gifted outside facilitator, the majority of our ACMC staff (I held a minority perspective) came to the conclusion that we were not able or willing to make the changes we needed to turn ACMC around. A orderly and God honoring retirement of the organization was our best option. ACMC now serves as one of many case studies of what happens when organizations ignore for too long honestly grappling with these kind of difficult but extremely important change issues.

Toward the end of NAML conference we witnessed two organizations approaching the issue of resetting for deep change very differently. The Mission Exchange (formerly EFMA) was founded in 1946 and CrossGlobal Link (formerly IFMA) was founded in 1917. They are the two key North American mission agency umbrella networks. Each has a long and meaningful past. Pioneers has been a member of both networks for many years. Both organizations see the potential for greater kingdom impact and greater unity in the global outreach efforts of the North American body of Christ through merging. A merger that will not only bring forward the strengths of each organization, but also will lead to new structures and initiatives that neither organization has pursued in the past. A vote was taken by the member mission organizations that make up both networks on the last day of the conference. Merger was overwhelmingly approved by both organizations and will officially happen at the first of the year. This sets the stage for increased relevancy and impact for many years into the future.

from September 4, 2011 prayer update

I recently received a very disturbing email from a missions organization. In it they were announcing a major shift in their strategy and resource deployment related to the U.S. becoming the third largest missions field in the world, with over 100 million unreached people.

I bristled at what was being communicated by an organization that should have known better. I was concerned by:
1) their apparent confusion of the concepts of lost people with unreached peoples,
2) their apparent ignorance of the basic facts regarding the status of Christianity in their own country, and
3) their apparent misunderstanding of the purpose of missions.

The U.S. Center for World Mission has been a champion for the concept of unreached peoples for more than 30 years. Through resources like the “Perspectives on the World Christian Movement” class, Mission Frontiers magazine, and Global Prayer Digest, they have educated and promoted the cause of the unreached.

Growing out of this has been a simple model embraced by missiologists regarding the world of 6.8 billion people we live in today. At a very simplistic level, the world can be thought of in three broad categories:
• world A (unreached – less than 2% evangelical Christian) – 27% of the world’s people (1.8 billion)
• world B (underreached – 2% to 5% evangelical Christian) – 40% of the world’s people (2.7 billion)
• world C (reached – more than 5% evangelical Christian) – 33% of the world’s people (2.3 billion)

World A, the unreached, those with little or no access to the gospel should be the primary (although not exclusive) focus of the mission efforts of local churches and mission sending organizations concerned with completing the task Jesus gave His Church in the Great Commission. Joshua Project has some excellent information about unreached peoples. There are 6900 UPG (unreached people groups) containing the 1.8 billion world A people. Nearly 10% (600+) of these UPG are UUPG (unengaged, unreached people groups) of 50,000+ souls. Engaging these UUPG should be given very high priority by those serious about completing the task. These are people groups with absolutely no access to the gospel.

The 2010 edition of Operation World indicates that there are currently 92 million evangelical Christians (29% of the population) among the 317 million people currently living in the US. That means there are 3 genuine followers of Jesus for every 10 people. This is one of the highest national ratios in the world. Even in traditional “unchurched” areas of the country like New England, the Mid-Atlantic states, the Pacific coast, and in other “unchurched” cities like Denver and my home of Austin, the percentage of evangelical Christians is between 10-15% (solidly in world C). 1 genuine follower of Jesus for every 10 people. That is excellent access to the gospel.

This also means there are 225 million lost people in the US (not 100 million). The US does have the third largest number of lost people in the world (behind China and India), but please realize that we are also the world’s third largest country (behind China and India). Even if the percentage of evangelical Christians in the US doubled to 60% of the population, we would still have the fourth largest number of lost people in the world (simply because of the size of our country). But almost none of these people are unreached. With the exception of a few native American groups in New Mexico, Arizona, and Alaska, and a few groups of recent immigrants in major metro areas across the country, all Americans live as part of reached people groups with easy access to the gospel. Does this mean we should become complacent and stop sharing the gospel where we work, live, and play? Absolutely not. But the US is far from being a mission field.

Evangelism and missions are both components of the Great Commission. Although closely related, they are not the same. Even though the terms are sadly used interchangeably by many churches and a few missions organizations. There is need in the US (and in other world C contexts) for evangelism. Bold, incarnational, culturally relevant demonstration and proclamation of the gospel among the 225 million who do not yet know Christ. I heartily support and commend those churches and para-church organizations that take this challenge seriously. However, missions is a different animal in two important ways. First, missions is always cross-cultural (reaching out with the gospel to those who are different than we are, often significantly different). Second, missions is predominately about providing access to the gospel and a culturally relevant church for those with little or no access to the gospel (world A).

The difference in vocabulary and perspective represented by these reflections and the missions organization that sent me the disturbing email is far more than an academic disagreement. It represents a battle raging in the US Church today. How we look at these issues determines how the Church of Jesus Christ chooses to prioritize its limited financial and manpower resources in its efforts to bring closure to the Great Commission.

from August 7, 2011 prayer update

I invested this past week at our U.S. mobilization base in Orlando participating in a COP (candidate orientation process). Pioneers holds these five-day events five times annually. They are designed as an orientation to Pioneers for new missionary candidates.

Our August COP was one of our largest ever with 51 adults, representing 32 missionary units (singles and families) from the U.S. As you can see from the photo below, this group of candidates was composed almost entirely of 20 somethings (which is not always the case). A zealous and encouraging group of young adults with a heart for the nations and especially for unreached peoples.


The first two days were devoted to individual and couple interviews with teams of four Pioneers staff (I had the privilege of participating in six of these interviews) and private individual and couple interviews with licensed counselors. The end result was a thumbs up or thumbs down decision by Pioneers on formal admission into candidacy. 31 out of 32 missionary units were accepted into candidacy. All candidates were given a unique list of assignments to complete prior to participating in their five-day PFC (pre-field connection) a few months prior to leaving for the field.

The list includes unresolved character and relational issues that were identified in the interactions with the licensed counselors, to be addressed through reading, counseling, and / or mentoring. The list also included training and life experience issues that were identified in the team interviews with Pioneers staff like additional Bible / theological training, additional church ministry experience, additional cross-cultural experience, formal language acquisition training, formal cross-cultural sensitivity training, vision trips to specific areas of the world, etc.

Each candidate is then assigned a Pioneers coach who will walk closely with them as they move through the assignments on their list in preparation for departure to the field.

As one of four CPT (Church Partnership team) members participating, we met with individuals and couples during our meal times together to learn about the candidate’s sending church and discuss what partnership might look like with that church. I had the opportunity to meet with nine of the candidates one-on-one from Arizona, Iowa, Missouri, and Texas.

Also included in the five days together were:
• times of corporate worship
• personal testimonies from all 32 candidates
• an overview of each of the seven regions of the world (The Americas, Europe, North Africa / Middle East, Sub-Sahara Africa, Mid-Asia, East Asia, and Southeast Asia / Pacific) where Pioneers is involved in initiating church planting movements among the least reached
• BAM (business as mission)
• Pioneers mission and core values
• avoiding moral and relational pitfalls
• children
• fundraising and financial issues
• the development of a pre-field plan
• an assortment of administrative tasks
All this made for a very full week.

Participation in this event is one of the new components of my job as a new member of the CPT. What a joy to play a small role in the preparation of these near future front line workers among the unreached peoples of the world.

“Then He said to His disciples, ‘The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into His harvest field.’” – Matthew 9:37-38.

from July 3, 2011 prayer update

Kathy and I greatly enjoyed watching a 7 part DVD series on the adult life of John Adams this week. Adams wore many hats over the course of his life. He was a defense attorney in Boston, a key player in the first Continental Congress, the first ambassador to Great Britain, the first vice president, the second president of the U.S., and raised a son who became the sixth president. It was a great way to prepare ourselves for celebrating Independence Day tomorrow. It will be the 235th anniversary of the U.S. declaring its independence from the tyranny of British governmental control and it’s strongly opposed “taxation without representation”.

A guest speaker in my home church today spoke about another independence day, the spiritual freedom that every believer in Jesus Christ now has, acquired through the costly death and the resurrection of Jesus. Sadly most of the world is still under the control of an evil tyrant and spiritual bondage is a daily reality. Pioneers exists to provide access to spiritual freedom to those living within a people group without access to the liberating message of the gospel.

Two weeks ago Pioneers held a pre-field connection event at our U.S. mobilization base in Orlando. 29 missionary units (families, couples, or individuals) met there for five days of final training before they leave for the field. Six of these were from the Red River region which I serve. One from Rogers, Arkansas serving an UPG (unreached people group) in Mexico, one from West Monroe, Louisiana serving an UPG in Thailand, one from Austin, Texas serving an UPG in France, one from Houston, Texas serving an UPG in Mongolia, and two from Lubbock, Texas serving an UPG in Oman. They will be joining 2450 Pioneers workers already on the field worldwide. These workers serve on 229 teams among 146 UPGs in 95 countries.

I am asking God for two things as I begin this new role with Pioneers’ Church Partnership Team. One, to use me to help keep a steady flow of new workers from Arkansas, Louisiana, Oklahoma, and Texas entering into church planting work among the UPGs of the world. And two, to use me to help cultivate healthy, growing partnerships between the sending and supporting churches these workers come out of and what is happening on the field. I would welcome your prayers toward those ends.

from June 5, 2011 prayer update

Let me preface my comments by stating my total commitment to both the local and global components of the Great Commission. This is not an “either/or” proposition, rather it is a “both/and”. If it is our desire to live Biblically, it is absolutely vital that we meaningfully engage the lost both locally and among the least reached globally. Both as individuals and corporately as a local church. Better yet, as part of a small missional community of like-hearted believers.

However, there are some disturbing patterns that are emerging regarding the response of the U.S. Church to this bi-focal vision. We are extremely unbalanced in our focus and in the allocation of our resources. Sadly most churches have little involvement in evangelism on either front (local or global). And for those churches that are involved in reaching the lost, it is disproportionally a focus on reaching our own communities.

Did you know that 29% of the U.S. population is composed of evangelical Christians (1 out of every 3.5 Americans)? Even in our most unreached urban centers, evangelical Christians number somewhere in the 10-15% range. According to 2007 stats from researchers Todd Johnson and Charles Tieszen, 98% of the non-religious in North America personally know a Christian. At least creating the potential for them to hear the gospel.

Most of the evangelism efforts in the U.S. target “seekers”. Seekers are mostly nominal Christians with a few non-religious folks in the mix that might visit our church or a Christian event with us if we invited them. They represent about 1/3 of the 71% who are lost in this country. What about the other 2/3s of the lost? They can only be reached incarnationally, on their own turf, by someone presenting an authentic and contextualized gospel to them. If the Church of Jesus Christ in North America is obedient (in inviting the seekers and living incarnationally among the non-seekers), almost all the lost within our country have easy and repeated access to the gospel.

But this is not true globally, especially in Asia and north Africa. According to Johnson and Tieszen, worldwide 87% of Muslims do not personally know a single Christian (not one). Neither do 86% of all Hindus and Buddhists. These are not folks who have rejected the gospel after repeated exposure. These are folks with absolutely no access to the gospel. What priority are our churches assigning to reaching the billions of Muslims, Hindus, and Buddhists without access to the gospel?

“How, then, can they call on the One they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the One who they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them? And how can they preach unless they are sent?” As it is written, ‘How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!’” (Romans 10:14-15)

Do you have beautiful feet?

from May 15, 2011 prayer update

Lesson 15 of the “Perspectives on the World Christian Movement” class is titled “world Christian discipleship”. It is the final lesson and designed to draw the class members into a time of reflection regarding their personal response to all the challenging content they received during the first 14 lessons.

In this lesson I discuss the importance of personal response, review key concepts from the first 14 lessons, and define what a “world Christian” is. Most of the lesson is devoted to exploring 10 landmarks on our journey to becoming world Christians.

The 10 landmarks include:
1. misseo dei
2. live missionally every day
3. continually place yourself on the altar (family, career, free time, check book, …)
4. cultivate a wartime lifestyle
5. become a life-long learner about missions
6. become a global intercessor
7. find a like-hearted community and join it
8. participate in short-term missions trips
9. engage in David Platt’s one year experiment
10. discover and embrace your primary missions role (sender, welcomer, goer, or mobilizer)
Special emphasis and attention is given to the 10th landmark.

This spring I had the opportunity to teach this lesson with three classes: in Tyler, TX on April 25. In San Jose, Costa Rica on May 2. And in Fort Worth, TX on May 4. What a joy to see these students grapple with the long-term implications of living as a world Christian and seeking to identify next steps that God would have them take on their journey.

My time with the class in Costa Rica was especially meaningful as this was the first time Perspectives has ever been taught in this country. Costa Rica is a one of several Latin American countries that is rapidly becoming a sending country. With many of its workers going to serve among unreached peoples in North Africa, the Arabian Peninsula, and the Middle East, where they are received much more positively than someone from the U.S.

I am grateful that this may not be my last time to serve in this beautiful country. I have been invited to return to teach again with their second Perspectives class this fall.

from April 17, 2011 prayer update

On April 4-6 I had the opportunity to participate with 700 other local church, para-church, and sending agency evangelism and mission leaders from across the U.S. in Mission America Coalition’s annual conference in Orlando. This year the event had both a national (as usual) and global (in response to Lausanne 2010) focus.

Our morning and evening sessions were together as a large group. We had times of corporate worship, plenary messages, and times of small group interaction / prayer around the messages. We heard from Lon Allison, Hwa Yung, Doug Birdsall, Esme Bowers, among others.

Our afternoon sessions were divided into more than 25 specialized breakout sessions addressing some excellent national and international outreach issues. I participated in the largest of the breakout sessions, focused on “mobilizing the U.S. Church for global missions”. Steve Shadrach with the USCWM very capably planned and led this breakout session. Nearly 100 of us interacted in small groups in six sessions around practical issues related to engaging the U.S. Church more effectively in taking the gospel to the least reached around the globe.

In session 1 and 2, I participated in 2 of 8 topical discussions. I chose the topics: “What is the USA’s role now that the Global South is sending – every nation to every nation” and “What do tomorrow’s missionaries look like in closed access countries? Tentmaking and BAM vs. traditional missionaries without a covering”.

Session 3 was focused on how to ENGAGE the unmobilized to have a vision and passion for personal involvement in global missions. I served as 1 of 10 table facilitators broken down by a focus on youth, college, mid-career, finishers, and entire church.

Session 4 was focused on how to EQUIP believers to get involved in global missions locally and equipping long-term goers.

Session 5 was focused on how to CONNECT believers to strategic opportunities for global missions. I served as 1 of 9 table facilitators in this session.

And the sixth and final session was a Q&A time with a panel.

My biggest take away from the three days together was the opportunity to interact and network with like-hearted colleagues from across the country. Another take away for me was the complexity of and changing nature of the task of world evangelization. It is amazing how much is happening globally despite how disjointed so much of what we do is.

from April 3, 2011 prayer update

After 20 years of investing my life in college students as a younger man (through The Navigators and through three different Austin area churches), it is a real joy to participate in an event like Passion 2011. A Passion conference was held in Atlanta earlier this year, with the second held this weekend in Fort Worth. 10 thousand college students packed out the downtown Fort Worth convention center.

Passion is a very appropriate name for this event and the organization that makes it happen. These folks clearly love Jesus, and He is center of what they do. They preach a very simple message, sadly one that much of the Church of Jesus Christ in the Western world only gives lip service to. It is all about Jesus and His mission. The key verse this ministry has highlighted since its inception is Isaiah 26:8, “Yes, Lord, walking in the way of Your truth we eagerly wait for You, for Your name and Your renown are the desire of our souls.”

Featured were several big name Christian bands (David Crowder, Charlie Hall, Christy Nockels, Matt Redman, Kristan Stanfill, Chris Tomlin) and three big name Christian speakers (Francis Chan, Louie Giglio, John Piper). A little more hero worship and preoccupation with “cool” than is healthy, but that happened back when I was a college student too. And it is an issue that can trace its roots back to the first century Church (I Corinthians 1:12).

In addition to the music and the speakers (which dominate this 20 something event), there were small group breakout sessions where students could process what they were hearing and a large GO Center with an area called “Do Something Now”. There was the usual emphasis on social justice that is commonly associated with the millennial generation’s perspective on world missions (creation care, HIV prevention, orphan care, stopping sexual trafficking, water wells, etc.). Sadly these issue are often promoted without any kind of meaningful linkage to evangelism or church planting, resulting a very hollow and short-lived social justice.

But this was not the case at Passion 2011. I was delighted to see the premiere focus of the global outreach component of this event focused on a Bible translation project among an unreached people group in Mali, Africa. And a challenge to the students to make themselves available to serve among the nearly 6900 unreached people groups in today’s world (less than 2% evangelical Christian). A challenge that about 1/3 of those present responded to with affirmation. WOW! I am now hoping the Passion folks will somehow link these students with mission sending agencies serving among the unreached to seize this fantastic opportunity.

I had the opportunity to serve as one of 700 volunteers working behind the scenes to help make this event possible. Having been responsible for leading several missions conferences in the past gave me a huge appreciation for the scope and quality of what took place with this event.

“Even when I am old and gray, do not forsake me, O God, till I declare Your power to the next generation, Your might to all who are to come.” (Psalm 71:18)

from March 20, 2011 prayer update

It has been nearly 27 years since I graduated from seminary. I can recall studying eschatology (the last days) in one of my systematic theology classes. My personal doctrinal beliefs regarding eschatology have not changed much since those days, but two important things related to them have:
• I have become convinced that there is no value in being dogmatic about the details of my beliefs concerning the last days. I should never allow them to become something divisive.
• I believe that many evangelical believers who share my beliefs do not see the forest for the trees.

This past week I taught 3 Perspectives classes in the Kansas City area (lesson 9, “the task remaining”). In the class we discussed four phenomenon that demonstrate the remarkable progress of the gospel through the centuries. All four reveal exponential growth since the mid twentieth century.
• the growing percentage of genuine believers worldwide
• the growing ratio of churches to unreached people groups globally
• the emerging evangelical and charismatic Church worldwide
• the emerging non-Western Church

We then shifted our attention to what will it take to say we have brought closure to (completed) the Great Commission. We considered what I believe are the 10 greatest challenges that lie ahead.
1. 6 religious megaspheres
2. 6900 languages
3. 6900 ethnolinguistic unreached people groups
4. the 10-40 window
5. the Muslim world
6. India
7. 64 restricted access countries
8. emerging urban centers
9. shrinking U.S. missionary forces
10. misallocated resources

We concluded our time by reflecting on Matthew 24:14, which I believe should be the bottom line of every evangelical Christian’s eschatological convictions. “And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations (people groups), and then the end will come.”

With the recent rise of unrest in the Arab world and the steady onslaught of major natural disasters, it is easy to focus our attention on these events, and lose sight of what is primary. Although they are signs that Christ’s return for His bride may be near, they are not what is driving the process. God is a purposive and missional God. He gave the Church a compelling job to do: “disciple the nations (people groups)”. He will return for His Church when the job is done.

from March 6, 2011 prayer update

This week I will be participating in what may be the most significant event I will be involved with in 2011. I would welcome your prayers for this event.

For many years ACMC has needed to take a step back and reassess where we are going and how we are seeking to get there. That is now happening.

On March 10-11 five of our ACMC staff members, our boss, and an outside facilitator will be meeting in Orlando to grapple with important issues regarding our future as an organization, with the goal of revisioning and focusing our work.

We will be taking a fresh look at our mission and vision statements, our core values, and our core methodologies as an organization.

We are looking to God to show up and speak with clarity to us regarding these issues. Please pray that our hearts would be prepared and tuned in to the Lord and to each other, and that we would collectively hear from Him.

We have taken several steps to prepare for this time together.
• we have been praying some common prayers
• we have been reflecting on our current mission and vision statements, core values, and methodologies
• we have received written feedback from a survey (and begun to process it) from 45 outside U.S. mission leaders regarding ACMC
• we have read Steve Moore’s new book, While You Were Micro-Sleeping: Fresh Insights on the Changing Face of North American Missions (and we will be interacting around it)
• we have selected a core group of our staff for this initial gathering who will then bring specific recommendations to the rest of our staff
• we have identified a gifted, outside facilitator (Matthew Ellison with 16:15) to lead us thru the process – please pray for Matthew to lead with wisdom and skill

Early in the process some things are already apparent:
• we need to develop a new vision statement
• we need to function more as a team, and less as lone ranger mobilizers
• we need to closely align our individual efforts with our mission and vision statements
• we need to significantly focus our efforts (identify our sweet spot), not broaden them
• we need to do a much better job of connecting with emerging generations (Gen X and millennials)
• we need to move away from methodologies that have become less effective over the years and experiment with new methodologies
• we need to grapple with funding paradigms for current and new staff and for our organization

But we suspect God has more to say to us. Pray that we would hear that this week and that our entire staff would resonate with it and own it. Also pray as we grapple with the implementation details. That will be vital in determining whether we experience meaningful and lasting change as an organization or this becomes another well intentioned conceptualizing exercise that bears little fruit.

from February 20, 2011 prayer update

I am teaching the book of Ephesians in one of the adult Bible fellowships in my home church this spring. This week we studied Paul’s second prayer for the Ephesian believers at the end of chapter 3. The prayer ends with a benediction in verses 20-21, both for the first half of the book and for the prayer. “Now to Him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to His power that is at work within us, to Him be glory in the Church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.”

I see four key ideas in this benediction. First, it is imperative that we see God as powerful. Theologically we know this to be true. But practically we often see God as impotent. We doubt that He is really in control of or involved in the mess we see in the world we live in and the mess our lives sometimes are.

Second, we need to pray big, audacious prayers. We need to tap into all our creativity and innovation, and ask God to do some wildly significant things. We need to claim the promises of Scripture, and ask Him for outrageous things.

Third, we need to not only see God as powerful, but see His power at work in us, His body, His Church. We are not all, but certainly part, of how God will answer our prayers. He will share His power freely with us as we prove faithful to use it to further His mission in the world, and not our own.

And finally, our prayers need to focus on the glory of God. Not some self-focused desire or personal agenda. We need to become consumed with what will advance God’s reputation and God’s mission in the world. Not what will add to my or someone else’s personal peace and affluence.

So what should you and I pray?

A great place to start is with the hundreds of unconditional promises found in Scripture. But guided by the framework that God laid out for Abraham in Genesis 12:1-3. “Blessed to be a blessing.” Not asking God to bless us as an end in itself (prosperity gospel). But asking God to allow us to join with Him in His mission and use us as vehicles for blessing the nations.

A second suggestion is to begin to take advantage of some great daily prayer tools to pray for those at the very center of God’s mission in the world today – those with little or no access to the gospel, the world’s least reached peoples. Check out Joshua Project’s unreached people of the day (www.unreachedoftheday.org) or the USCWM’s global prayer digest (www.globalprayerdigest.org).

Let’s start to pray some big, hairy, audacious prayers and see what God does in response.

from February 6, 2011 prayer update

I am handling the resource table (selling books, DVDs, etc.) at one of Austin’s two Perspectives on the World Christian Movement classes this spring. This class, hosted by my home church, has more than 120 students participating, with a healthy mix of older and younger students. We have already completed 3 of the 15 sessions.



I love this class. It looks at missions through four lens: Biblical, historical, cultural, and strategic. It brings in a different expert from across the U.S. to serve as the speaker each week. And there are excellent reading assignments between each class with articles written by global experts. I have the privilege of teaching the lesson “the task remaining” in Kansas City and Columbia, MO this spring. And teaching the lesson “world Christian partnership” in Fort Worth, Tyler, and Costa Rica this spring.

The class is fantastic at casting vision for unreached (least reached) peoples around the world. According to Joshua Project there are 16,594 distinct people groups living today on this planet. 9723 of these are reached (more than 2% evangelical Christian), 6871 are unreached (less than 2%). Of the 6871 unreached peoples, approximately half have Christian outreach efforts that have begun among their people. Sadly half (approximately 3400 people groups) are totally unengaged. And 632 of these unengaged unreached peoples involve populations of at least 50,000 people. These 632 largest unengaged unreached people groups represent the highest priority of missions sending organizations like Pioneers.

These unreached peoples stand in strong contrast to the U.S. where, according to the 2010 edition of Operation World, 77.6% of the population are professing Christians and 28.9% are evangelical Christians. This is not to say there is no longer a need for evangelism in the U.S., but not nearly on the scale of many other places around the globe. The issue is access to the gospel. Many people groups still do not have any access whatsoever.

The Perspectives class has been rightly critiqued as being too conceptual, without enough hands on experience and practical ways for participants to engage in what they have been challenged with. Virtually everyone leaves the class with a new view of their Bibles and the world. They are highly motivated to get involved in some way with missions. Local churches that have folks attending Perspectives this spring would be wise to plan ahead. Make certain you have tracks that goers, senders, welcomers, and mobilizers coming out of the class can travel down long-term. Be an excellent steward of this God provided opportunity. Take the initiative to meet one-on-one with each class participant before June and help them identify specific and appropriate next steps. Then walk with them as they embrace (perhaps for the first time) God’s global mission.

from January 16, 2011 prayer update

A week back, I began teaching a 16 part series on the book of Ephesians in one of the adult Bible fellowships in my home church. The series is titled “BE the Church”.

We all know that the local church is NOT a building. Nor is it an event (like Sunday morning corporate worship). Although frequently our vocabulary (and perhaps our practice) is not always consistent with what we know to be true.

We (the believers) are the Church, both in its local expression and in its universal expression. We are the Church 24x7, not just for a few hours on Sunday mornings at a particular location. As a matter of fact, the Church should be at its best when it not gathered together at a specific location, but when it is dispersed in a community, seriously engaging in its calling.

The church building is NOT the “house of the Lord”. We are where God has chosen to take up His residence. “Don’t you know that you yourselves are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit lives in you?” I Corinthians 3:16. God indwells and empowers His people, not bricks and mortar.

Rick Warren, in his book The Purpose Driven Church, describes five core functions of the Church: worship, community, discipleship, service, and outreach. Interestingly these are the same five core functions that he describes for the individual believer in his best seller, The Purpose Driven Life. Why? Because we are the Church.

Although there are five core functions, there is only one core mission for the Church – outreach (with both local and global components to it). God has called the Church (you and me) to seek and save the lost, in our natural spheres of influence and among the least reached globally.

I have seen a T-Shirt that reads “the church has left the building” – I love it! There is an apostolic (literally “sent ones”) role that did not cease 19 centuries ago. God has called every believer to GO. To embrace and be sent out to meaningfully join with Him in His mission.

Ephesians, like Paul’s other epistles, has two major sections. The first (chapters 1-3) I have titled “the high calling of Christ’s Church”. The second (chapters 4-6), “daily behavior and important relationships in Christ’s Church.”

Paul begins with the conceptual (doctrine / theology about the Church). We need to understand conceptually who we are and why we exist. But he then shifts to the practical, what should our daily lives look like as we live out these truths? Paul talks about things like unity in the Body, the priority of equipping every believer to be a worker, the process of life transformation, the importance of personal holiness, wise and Spirit empowered living, and spiritual warfare. He also discusses what it means to be the Church in our marriages, in our parenting, and in the workplace.

Great stuff! Are you playing church or have you seriously embraced BEing the Church? There is a BIG difference.

from January 2, 2011 prayer update

A new year is a great opportunity for new beginnings and for personal / organizational goal setting. There are so many good things to choose from for personal goal setting: spiritual life, character, work, personal ministry, marriage, parenting, health, finances, friendships, education, new skills, and the list goes on.

The things we set our heart on and direct our attention toward reveal a great deal about our values. What personal goals have you set for yourself in 2011? And what do they reveal about what you truly value?

Psalm 90:12 says: “Teach us to number our days aright, that we may gain a heart of wisdom.” Psalm 103:15-16 reads: “As for man, his days are like grass, he flourishes like a flower of the field; the wind blows over it and it is gone, and its place remembers it no more.”

I temporarily lost my dad to death 32 years ago and temporarily lost my mom 2 years ago. I am now the oldest surviving member of the McDaniel clan. If I live to be 80 (which is older than either of my parents lived) I have about 8700 days left. If I only make it to 70, that becomes about 5000 days. That is not a long time.

The apostle Paul did not fear death, He welcomed it. In Philippians 1:21 he said: “For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain.” As I have gotten older, I too have begun to look forward to living in a sin-free environment in the very presence of God. This world does not hold the same allure it once did for me. But I also recognize that God created me for a reason, as He has every human that ever lived. I don’t want to depart this life without have accomplished what God uniquely created me to do.

Life is not about me asking God to bless me and mine, and to enable me and my organization to accomplish our personal goals. Life is about God and what He is doing in the world (today and throughout all of history). What a joy and a privilege to know that He has designed me to join with Him in His vast, timeless, and very significant mission.

As I embrace this view of life, my thoughts about personal goal setting change. I become less concerned about one year, measurable objectives (although certainly there is a place for these). I become very concerned about life direction, who I am becoming, and who I am living for. Because I am a slow and often a resistant learner, these translate into life-long goals. Four of the biggies that I can’t get away from are:

1) To know Christ more and more intimately as time passes -- thru the exchanged life, thru His Word, thru prayer, and through personal obedience to what I know to be true.

2) To become more and more like Christ as time passes. Boy do I have a long ways to go there (selfishness, lust, critical spirit, anger, . . . ).

3) To fully engage in Christ’s mission, which centers around seeking and saving those who are lost. Both in my natural spheres of influence and among the least reached globally.

4) To invest deeply in the lives of other believers who will eventually share these high level life goals. And to see my life impact multiplied as a result.

Would you pray for me as I continue to press toward the goal? And if you will share with me what God has challenged you to pursue, I would count it a privilege to pray for you. May 2011 be a year in which God receives great glory thru our lives.