Greetings everyone! We haven’t posted a video update in some time, so here is a recent one from our time in Soldotna, Alaska. Thank you so much for your continued prayers and support on our behalf!

Thank you once again so much for all of your prayers! Below are the links to our latest prayer update.

Spring 2011 E-zine

As I write this, I am peering out my American Airlines oval window at God’s wondrous creation below. Although Los Angeles does have quite the bustle, the mountains, coast, and nearby desert-like areas have a beauty all their own. Truly all the earth boasts of our great God in Ps. 19:1-6 glorious way!

I spent the last week at a conference for shepherds (pastors). I stand incredibly humbled and in awe at God’s Eph. 1:7 grace in my life! Our church in Alaska sponsored me to attend this conference with some of their staff. The last few weeks have been quite the whirlwind, as we watched in amazement how our God orchestrated circumstances for His Rom. 8:28 good plan for us. 

It amazes me that God has chosen me for salvation, let alone chosen me for ministry! What a staggering privilege to be called an adopted, reconciled, justified child of the King of kings! Furthermore, what a humbling and amazing truth to be called by my God to His full-time ministry! I echo with the apostle Paul in 1 Cor. 9:16, woe is me if I preach not this Gospel. 

One of the sessions from this past week centered on Paul’s role as a minister of the 2 Cor. 5:18 ministry of reconciliation. In his writings Paul continually boasts of his calling being Divinely commissioned all by the stewardship of God’s grace (Col. 1:25). What an incredible, incomprehensible truth to be a benefactor of God’s grace at all! The ministry of unashamedly Rom. 1:16 heralding the Gospel and laboring for the Rom. 1:5 obedience of the faith and the Col. 1:28 maturity of the redeemed is truly a staggering calling! God reminded this week of the brevity of the ministry calling. Truly, pastoral ministry is a very weighty responsibility, only activated and empowered through God’s grace!

What an incredible privilege it was this week to rub shoulders and fellowship with 3500 other pastorally involved men! I feel as though God churned my fervor and humility for ministry in a way that only His living, active 2 Tim. 3:16-17 Word can accomplish!

And so after being deeply challenged, convicted, humbled, excited, and overall graced through the powerful exposition of God’s Word this week, I now head back to my beautiful family. It will now be crunch time, as we do all the last minute things related to any move. We do appreciate your prayers as we finish packing, load up, and travel a great distance very soon! We count it such a privilege to serve our gracious heavenly Father, and we anticipate and rest in His empowering grace in this next juncture of Alaska ministry!

From one Divinely humbled and grace-endowed follower of Jesus to another, may we both be encouraged in our own gracious journey with our Redeemer God!

Derek

Thank you once again so much for all of your prayers! Below are the links to our latest prayer update.

Early Spring 2011 E-zine

Thank you once again so much for all of your prayers! Below are the links to our latest prayer update.

Winter 2011 E-zine

During a recent church meeting in Central Wisconsin, we came across an intriguing statement hanging over the front door of the building. It states, “Serving a Big God in a little place!” What a great statement. Think about that for a moment. We truly serve a mighty God. He can take the seemingly insignificant things and work His masterful plan. We truly serve a Big God!

I absolutely love seeing our big God do His work of leading us through life! We all can probably think back on those times in life when we glimpsed God’s sovereign leading in a more visible way. I was recently reading through Deuteronomy when I came to chapters 7, 8, and 9. Moses speaks to a nation comprised of a newer generation now ready to enter the promised land (see Num. 13-14). Moses rehearses Israel’s exodus history and reminds them all of God’s faithfulness, love, and grace. (continued from 1 page version)–> As this younger generation heard Moses’ charge, I can just picture their amazement, their humility, and their awe at their God’s sovereign and faithful leading. Moses says in Deuteronomy 7:6-7 that Israel is God’s chosen people, purely out of God’s grace. They, according to verse 7, are the smallest nation. Yet, here this new generation stood on the brink of visually seeing their Jehovah’s faithful leading over much mightier nations. Their choosing and their entire journey was not merited. They were merely a product of God’s grace. In this context Moses further declares God’s mercy, faithful leading, and powerful deliverance even amidst the people’s stubbornness. This new generation is reminded of their past unfaithfulness before their loving God. They are further reminded and charged to honor God in keeping His commandments. We see Moses, in the first section of chapter 9, bolstering the confidence of this new generation in Almighty God. He tells them that they are about to cross the Jordan River and face nations greater and mightier than their own. In verse 2 he elaborates, saying they are great and tall. They are in fact familiar to Israel. These inhabitants are the same ones that Israel previously faced in Numbers 13. The people at that time failed to trust in God’s power and leading in possessing the land. As a result, we read in Numbers 14 that God would cause 40 years of wandering where all of Israel 20 years and older would die. And so we have these judged Israelites’ offspring, now as full adults, ready to face the same people as 40 years earlier. Moses continues reminding them of God’s sovereign goodness, power over all, and supreme trustworthiness.

These truths from Israel’s conquest days truly resonate with my own life! How often do we approach life’s challenges in the same way as Israel’s ancestors in Numbers 13? Life gets tough and we are so prone to seek answers and help many times apart from God. Many times we are tempted to just take the easy path. Has God ever led you to do something very challenging? Has He ever led you to do something that required a great step of faith, maybe to seriously step out of your comfort zone? Do we view Him as supremely trustworthy, as He truly is?

Additionally, it’s crazy to think that the same God in Deuteronomy is the same God we serve today. Israel’s God is our God. I know that’s kinda a “duh” statement, but do we really grasp that? Paul similarly writes in his New Testament epistles that we Christians are chosen by God just as He chose Israel. Just as God chose Israel for His sovereign purposes (continued from 3-page e-zine)–> (which we will still see), so He also chose us the redeemed from every ethnic group for His sovereign purposes. What a staggering thought that we the redeemed have been chosen by our gracious God! What a staggering thought that Israel’s God Who led them for a great sovereign purpose is our God that leads us today!

So picture along with me those Israelites standing on the bank of the Jordan River, preparing to realize their gracious God’s faithfulness, power, and supreme trustworthiness. May God grant us that same realization and that same confidence in His indelible grace, power, and sovereign leading.

Recently I did some study, writing, and teaching on the missional nature of the church. As I often do, I thought I would post the content in blog fashion. The Great Commission text seems so often mundane to those of us in church who regularly hear about having a heart for evangelism or missions. It’s so easy to forget though, that the command to make disciples relates to us still today. I mean, I know we all know that this is a command for us as believers. But so often, I find even myself as a missionary, losing the wonder, the motivation, and the compelling drive to be busy in the church’s mission. Furthermore, Scripture has much more to say about the missional nature of the church than just the great commission. So, I encourage you to think through the Scriptures with me as we delve in to study the missional nature of the church and our integral involvement in it. Do also note that this merely serves as an overview to the subject. We could easily spend much more time in various other passages digging deeper–something I would encourage all of us to do.

The Missional Nature of the Church

Introduction:

Why does the church exist?
To phrase it another way, What is the church’s mission?
What would you say is your place in the church’s mission?
Do you believe churches today are fulfilling this missional nature?

So, let’s talk about the church’s mission. The church indeed is on a mission. We as the gathered redeemed body of Christ are called out for a specific mission. Yes, the church is to be missional.

The Scriptures do have some key things to say about “The Missional Nature of the Church.”

Knowing that the church is to be on mission, a mission from God, how would we define that?
Think about it for a minute. How would you define the church’s God-given mission?
Now, how would you define your role in this mission?

As we said, the Scriptures do have some important things to teach us regarding God’s mission to us as the church.
Maybe even some of those truths and passages come to your mind?

Let’s spend some time looking at some of those passages.

Main Idea:
We the redeemed in Jesus are to see the missional nature of the church and our integral place in it.
So, let’s dive in and visualize from Scripture what exactly is involved in the mission of the church.

We see the the Main Thrust behind the church from Jesus’ teaching in 2 main passages:

1. The Church’s Advancement is Unstoppable: Christ will Build His Church
Matt. 16:13-19 – Jesus teaches his disciples on the coming church. He teaches on the unstoppable advancement of Christ’s church. It will be built through ordinary people like Peter, the disciples, and us. It will be built through the revelation-enlightening and Gospel-transformation made possible through the Father’s work of opening hearts. So we learn that this thing called the church is unstoppable.

2. The Church’s Commission: Command to be Involved in Christ’s Mission (the mission of building His church from Matt. 16)
Matthew 28:18-20 – Jesus’ last main command to his disciples before His ascension. (other recordings of this commission/command: Mark 16:14-18, Luke 24:44-49, John 20:19-23, Acts 1:8)

Contemporary Application Note [in response to those who advocate the Great Commission texts were only for the apostles]: While the time period was indeed different with the start of the church through the apostles, the core imperative of all of these Great Commission texts do apply to believers throughout church history, including us today. All 4 Gospels and Acts were inspired Scripture, written for the readership of the church. The Gospels give us a written record of Jesus’ earthly kingdom-declaring ministry. The Great Commission texts give us a written record of Jesus’ mission now in sending out His disciples to continue His earthly work. The Great Commission texts give us insight into the initial command, the motivation, and the record of Jesus’ mission for His followers. Furthermore, Jesus’ command in Matt. 28:20 involves a teaching that duplicates disciples and the Great Commission process. In this way, Jesus continues building His church to the end of the age through ordinary followers of Jesus who submit to the discipling process and who heed the Great Commission application in the missional nature of Christ’s church.

Matt. 28:18-20 – Jesus teaches his last word to His disciples with this Great Commission text. He commands that they be involved in spreading the Father’s Kingdom and heralding the Gospel. He commands them and us today to be involved in the unstoppable building of Christ’s church. They and we are to be involved in evangelism, discipleship, and basic involvement in building the body of Christ (the church).

Matthew 28:18-20 – Jesus’ last main command to his disciples before His ascension. (other recordings of this commission/command: Mark 16:14-18, Luke 24:44-49, John 20:19-23, Acts 1:8)

* The Jesus Follower’s Gospel Identity: “Going”
- As you are going (original language is participle “-ing” going idea)
The idea here is a regular presupposed going involvement in Christ’s mission. The Gospel and it’s implications for believers (the body of Christ) to be on mission permeates every facet of life. Jesus taught here that His followers were to apply this Great Commission throughout their everyday lives. Literally, the idea is, as you go about your everyday routines, this Great Commission is to be interwoven. To be on mission for Christ’s cause is the believer’s identity; it affects every aspect of life.
Note: Although this Greek word appears in participle form, it still can be translated and does apply with an imperative force. Making disciples (as we’ll soon see) is the main thrust of the passage, but going is also an integral aspect of the commission. This “go” translation over “going” (carrying the imperative aspect of the commission) is also consistent with Matthew’s usage (and the translation of these) involving similar occurrences of the participle “go.”

* The Jesus Follower’s Gospel Command: “Make Disciples”
- Make disciples (central imperative thrust of the passage)
This central command of making disciples involves much more than just getting people to profess Christ. It extends beyond salvation to discipleship. We see the follow-thru with this principle in Paul’s example of church planting ministry. In Rom. 1:5 Paul says his commission involved working for the obedience of faith among the Gentiles. Paul had this central idea of making disciples in its proper balance. Furthermore, we read how Paul always left bodies of believers with organized and qualified church leadership. He and the other apostles and ministry leaders in the early church spent the necessary time to properly teach new believers as well as properly train potential church leaders to take over in his departure.
Now building on the first phrase involving the presupposition of going, Jesus’ followers are commanded to be on mission in making more disciples. The presupposition is already that the Jesus-follower views his disciple nature as intrinsically equal to his identity. In other words, his very identity as a Jesus follower makes him view life through the grid of the Great Commission. His daily activities and responsibilities are infiltrated with Gospel-centered “as you are going” thinking. Therefore, Jesus says, as you are going throughout life on mission for the Gospel, take part in my mission of making disciples.

(among all nations)
Next, Jesus specifies the application of this central missional command of making disciples. It applies to everyone; all ethnic groups. Jesus’ followers are to be on discipling mission activity to all nations; all people groups.
In fact, in Matthew 24:14 we read that the end of the world will not come until the Gospel of God’s Kingdom is heralded to all nations. The Greek word for nations is “ethnos,” speaking of ethnic/people groups.
Rev. 7:9-12 depict the awesome future scene of all the redeemed from every ethnic/people/culture group praising God in heaven.
So the disciples/followers of Jesus all throughout the history of the church (including us today) are to be on mission (overflowing from our Gospel identity) of making disciples among all people groups.

(2 aspects involved in the central command of making disciples):
1) baptizing them, the disciples, in the name of the Father, Son (Jesus), and the Holy Spirit. (What a great inclusion of the Trinity)
Jesus teaches His followers here regarding the inseparable aspect to discipleship: identification with Jesus and entrance/inclusion into the church. Baptism stands as the inseparable declaration of one’s allegiance change from self (sin) to Jesus. Furthermore, it publicly declares one’s new inclusion into the body of Christ; the church. This initial public declaration and interwoven event with salvation (although not a necessity for salvation) sets the stage for the second aspect involved in making disciples (the teaching).

2) teaching them to observe all things (all things that Jesus had taught)
So, in other words Jesus’ followers are to be involved in evangelism and discipleship that will culminate in churches being planted who will continue to do the same throughout all the world’s ethnic groups.

* The Jesus Follower’s Christ-Centered Encouragement
- Lo, Jesus says, I am with you, even until the end of the age!
What an encouragement and what a promise as Jesus closes His commissioning. Picture the scene. Jesus has just finished giving what forms the central mission of the church. We are to be involved in going. We are to be involved in making disciples. We are to be involved in the growth and advancement of the church, through baptism (bringing into the church) and through teaching (discipling and growing as the church). However, the ultimate emphasis and responsibility for this growth lies not with us, but with God/Jesus/theSpirit. What a fitting way that God inspires Matthew to close his Gospel account. What a fitting way Jesus closes His commissioning address; likely one of the last things Jesus said to His disciples.
He closes with the encouraging truth, dovetailing with His teaching earlier in Matt. 16:13-19, that He is with them through this whole church expanding, church building process.

Yes, the church is on mission from Jesus. It is a mission that He is accomplishing through ordinary redeemed people like you and me.
Yes, the mission is not always easy. But, we can take great comfort and motivation that our risen Jesus is with us through it all!

How are you involved in the missional nature of the church?

Conclusion:

Therefore (based on all this teaching in Matt. 28:18-20), we clearly see that the primary mission of the church is the making and duplicating of disciples of Jesus.

We see this primary mission played out in the early church through the book of Acts and Paul’s various church letters. The early church operated with disciple-making as the central thrust.

Furthermore, the early church was concerned about duplicating this whole process through intensified discipling training…the training of leadership (Acts 14:23, 2 Tim. 2:2, Titus 1:5)

So, think with me here now regarding your own life.
How does what we’ve learned in Scripture about the missional nature of the church apply to your own life?

By looking at some other passages, we see some practical outworking of the church’s mission.
While each passage could have an entire study, we’ll just briefly mention each one as we develop a practical outworking of our involvement in the missional nature of the church.

1. Acts 2:42-47 – Sacrificial, Generous, Grace-centered, Others-focused, Christ-exemplifying Fellowship
The early church grasped the Gospel’s implications early on. Jesus’s salvation was given to them, and their identification as such was evidenced through the fellowship of their daily lives. The gracious generosity of God overflowed in their own lives to others in need about them.
Their lives truly were manifestations of the Gospel, and God continues saving many and adding them to the church.

2. Acts 8:1-4 – A Scattering Proclamation by the Common Jesus Follower (not just church leadership)
Due to the intense persecution in the days of the early church launch, the believers are scattered. We see their involvement in the church’s mission by preaching this Gospel everywhere they went as they were scattered.
Acts 11:19-21 – God saves a great number through the Gospel-spreading work of those scattered from the persecution recorded in Acts 7 & 8.

3. Acts 13 & various Acts passages – Formal Church Leadership Missionary Sending Activity (Recognizing & Sending Missionaries)
Paul and Barnabas launch the first “official” missionary journeys. We read throughout the rest of Acts about Paul’s missionary journey activities.

4. 1 Cor. 3:5-9, Phil. 4:10-19, 3 John – Partnering & Enabling Missionary Sending Efforts (Prayer & Finances, Possibly Going?)
Paul teaches the Corinthian church regarding the partnering work for God’s ministry work.
Paul thanks the church in Philippi for their generous financial partnership in cooperating in God’s fruit.
John teaches regarding believers praying and financially/providing resources for those involved in ministry outreach endeavors.

5. Eph. 3:10 – Church on Mission, Living Out the Gospel Daily, Pictures God’s Wisdom
Paul writes to the believers in Ephesus that their interaction as the church on mission in Ephesus was to boast the Gospel and wisdom of God. The church on mission (similar to Acts 2) God will use to draw others to Himself.

6. Rom. 12:3-8, 1 Cor. 12:1-11, Eph. 4:7-16 – Church on Mission through Serving with Spiritual Gifts
God apportions various gifts through the Spirit to assist in service as the body of Jesus. The use of these gifts give glory to God.
The whole church is to operate with their various gifts in the Spirit and in unity. In this way, the entire unified church pictures the character of Jesus throughout this broken world.

7. Luke 10:1-23, John 20:19-23 – Missional Activity Continuing Jesus’ Work as Evidenced in the Gospels
As Jesus sends out the 72, the 12, and the 11 to continue the work He was doing through His public ministry.

So we see Biblically that the church, the body of Jesus, is on mission. We are to be involved in the missional nature of the church in the various ways depicted throughout the Scriptures:

* To be a gathering of believers who are sacrificial, generous, grace-centered, and others focused.
* To be a gathering of believers who scatter to intentionally herald the Gospel.
* To be a gathering of believers who recognize, prepare, and send Spirit-directed church planters/missionaries for formal missional service.
* To be a gathering of believers who partner and enable church duplicating efforts through prayers, sacrificial financial giving, and willing short-term service.
* To be a gathering of believers whose daily lives and corporate church interaction boasts/displays God’s wisdom.
* To be a gathering of believers who willingly serve in the church through Spirit-endowed gifts in unity as a full picture of Jesus.
* To be a gathering of believers who joyfully continue Jesus’ activity of loving God and others throughout this hurting world.

Do you the redeemed church in Jesus see the missional nature of the church and your integral place in it?

Are you involved in some way in the various Scriptural example of the church on mission?

Are you on mission along with Jesus’ Matt. 28:18-20 Great Commission?

Let us gain a fuller picture of the church’s mission!
Let us then submit to be more integrally involved in the missional nature of the church, as commanded by Jesus, for the Father’s glory!

Our partnership development travels recently took us to central Wisconsin. One of the churches where we shared our ministry conducts a weekly food pantry ministry for the surrounding communities around Plainfield, Wisconsin. We were privileged to help during both weekends while were in the area. Additionally, I was able to share the Gospel during their devotional time at the beginning of the food distribution. It was an awesome privilege for us to meet so many people throughout the food distribution and share the Gospel with many of them. We listened in amazement to the stories of God’s faithful provision and Gospel work throughout the years since the ministry’s inception. The food pantry ministry of First Baptist in Plainfield, Wisconsin served as an example to us of another church that saw a need in their community and chose to meet that need in a Gospel-centered way.

Our Current Missions Support

We are very grateful for our God’s supply of a solid team of ministry partnerships! What an incredible privilege it is to partner together with likeminded churches and individuals as we collectively labor for the Gospel and the spread of Jesus’ fame! I think of the apostle Paul’s attitude of mutual cooperation in 1 Corinthians 3. We together with the ministry partnerships God gives us truly work together as a conduit of God’s grace and redemption. What a staggering thought! May we stand in awe at our Redeemer’s grace! So while we first and foremost thank our God for our current partnerships, we do want to thank those of you whom God is leading to team up with us. From our family to your family or church body, we truly say thank you! We look forward to many years of unified ministry service together! Currently, as of the beginning of January 2011, our support is as follows:

Current Monthly Support Level: 52%

Partnering Individuals: 6

Partnering Churches: 10

Please do pray for God’s continued assembly of the rest of our needed partnerships. We are continuing our church meetings and seeking more church partnerships. Additionally, we always welcome prayerfully-led individual supporters. Also, we pray that more of the churches and individuals that we visited this past year will be led to partner with us in 2011.

We spent two weeks over the Christmas and New Year seasons with Laura’s family in Travelers Rest, SC. While there, we reconnected with a local area church where we presented our ministry this past summer. God’s leading is evident as they are now our most recent ministry partnership, and we are grateful for their fellowship and friendship in the Gospel! As an intern pastor at Refrew Baptist, Sean Hamilton has experienced the freeing power of the Gospel from sin’s enslavement. His full-time work involves offering this freedom through an addictions counseling ministry nearby. Wisdom in Living Life Ministry bases out of Travelers Rest, SC with a vision to extend the love and freedom of Jesus’ Gospel to a hurting world enslaved by sin.

If you want to find out more about this upstate SC counseling ministry, visit their website here:
www.wisdominlivinglife.org