Posted by John Reuther on July 20, 2010
For almost a year now I have had the privilege of joining with men like Pat Necerato and Jeff Rose as they proclaim the Gospel publicly. These men are just two of a growing list of men whom God is sending forth to proclaim the Gospel in many places where people gather. My life and ministry have been enriched in my weekly participation with these men of God. The desire to stand before small or large groups of people to proclaim the Gospel of Jesus Christ just keeps growing in my own heart. I am so thankful for men who have been proclaiming Christ on the streets for the last 6 years.
Jeff Rose, the leader of Jeremiah Cry Ministries, and Pat Necerato of Go, Stand, Speak, are the organizers of the upcoming evangelism summit which is to be held, the Lord willing, at City View Baptist Church in Brooklyn, NY. Pastor Bryan Taitt and the deacons of City View have graciously offered their facility to host this conference which is scheduled for Friday, Aug. 6 and Saturday, Aug. 7. We will be blessed by the ministries of James White, Eric Holmberg, Jeff Rose, Pat Necerato, Mark Spence, Michael Marcavage, Tyler McNabb, and Jon Speed. And on both of the conference evenings we will be proclaiming the Gospel on the streets of Brooklyn. I will also have the privilege of preaching at this conference. This is not a conference where we simply get fed and go home. We will be taught and encouraged in the work of street preaching and then go out and evangelize. This will be a great opportunity to preach, and a great opportunity to be encouraged in the work of the public proclamation of the Gospel.
The theme of this evangelism summit is taken from the upcoming DVD on public preaching being produced by the Apologetics Group under the direction of Eric Holmberg and Pat Necerato. We are trusting that God will use this DVD to encourage many to go and preach the Gospel and all of us to pray for those who do. You can find out more about the DVD at the Go, Stand, Speak website at http://www.gostandspeak.com/
Please pray for the upcoming evangelism summit. The purpose of this summit is to challenge preachers, evangelists, and pastors to proclaim the Gospel wherever people gather, on the streets, in towns, at the shore, on train platforms, courts, malls, etc. God is doing a great work through the men of this conference who are dedicated to the public proclamation of the Gospel. Will you please pray for each of them? Perhaps you will consider attending. You can find out more, or register, on the Jeremiah Cry website at http://www.jeremiahcry.com/
There is no charge for attending the summit, and you can find out details about accommodations by writing to Jeff Rose at thunderitout@gmail.com. If you have any questions about the summit, you can also contact me at johnreuther@verizon.net. I would love to talk with you and share more of what God is doing in evangelism, and more specifically what God is doing in bringing this evangelistic work into and sent forth from the local church.
John Reuther – Covenant Baptist Church, Lumberton, NJ – Instructor, RBS
Posted by deangonzales on July 7, 2010
Matt and April Troupe have a passion to see a God-glorifying, Christ-loving, and Spirit-filled church planted in Fresno, California. While they heartily welcome any believers who may be looking for a solid biblical church to join them in their efforts, they’re especially burdened to reach lost people. To achieve that goal, they’re working hard at developing relationships with unbelievers in the hopes of gaining a hearing for the gospel. I’d like to encourage our students and readers to take the time to become acquainted with the Troupe’s church planting effort by reading the Troupe’s most recent prayer letter below and by visit their website: Freegracefresno.com . You can also email Matt for more information at freegracefresno@gmail.com.
Our New Building
Things have been coming along bit by bit in our new facility. We have had volunteers working to remodel the former real estate office into a place we can use for worship. Our people have pitched in to serve and donate so that it is looking more and more “legit.” The transformation has been amazing and there are a few before and after photos attached. The location is great for connecting to the community with lots of foot traffic that has lead to spontaneous contacts.
Two weeks ago we were looking at purchasing chairs, and facing the overwhelming price of $3,700. Out of the blue we received an unexpected answer to prayer. Pastor Robert Cole from Hickman called us and asked us if we needed chairs. One of the people in his church works for a major lab that was getting rid of all of their waiting room chairs. A few days later we were driving a rented Uhaul from Stockton back to Fresno with 57 chairs. Other amazing things like this have been happening to us in the last 6 weeks and we praise God for it…This is certainly an answer to your prayers!
As we have spent time remodeling our building, we have been spending even more time trying to remodel our people. We are in the middle of a 12-week series that is equipping our people to live as missionaries in our community. Several wonderful things have come out of this. First, our people have been taking opportunities to shine the light of truth to people around them. They are sharing stories about making friendships with neighbors, family and coworkers for the sake of the gospel. This has been so refreshing, and we are all thrilled at the opportunity to be reconciled to God and share in the ministry of reconciliation.
Another great encouragement is that we have had several people from outside of our group take advantage of this training. We have had a few people from Youth For Christ (YFC) that have been coming. Also Aaron Telloian, one of our young men (who has been very helpful during this time) is providing the leadership training for the Fellowship of Christian Athletes (FCA) at Fresno State University over the summer. We are excited that we are able to serve and minister to these people.
Homeless ministry
Please pray for our new friend “Wade,” a homeless man who lives near our new facility; we met him several times and he eventually joined us on Sunday morning. I was preaching on hospitality and spent a considerable amount of time describing what it is like to be a stranger, and how we are all strangers from God. I explained from Ephesians chapter 2 that the gospel is God taking strangers in. He and his friend came in their filthy, stinking clothes and our people warmly welcomed them. He was overwhelmed that people spoke with him and even had lunch with him! We have met with him 3 more times in the last 2 weeks to provide for his practical needs, explain the gospel of grace, and call him to faith and repentance. He is now professing faith in God and is asking for help in changing his life. He has a long history of criminal activity and alcohol abuse. I am planning on bringing him to one of our home groups this week. Please pray for a deep work of transformation.
Several of our people have also continued to attend the “Least of These” ministry where we get to help feed the homeless, eat with them, and share the gospel. During this time, many of these people are hearing the message of a crucified and risen savior. But along with this (maybe even more importantly!) we are experiencing God at work transforming us. We are regularly learning that our aversion to the “unwashed” poor comes from our own pride, selfishness, and love of comfort and security.
We are looking for people to commit to pray for us 1 hour a week for fruitfulness for the ministry here. The prayer covenant can be found on our website here.
Bob Gonzales, Dean
Reformed Baptist Seminary
Posted by deangonzales on June 19, 2010
Colin Marshall and Tony Payne have authored a book that endeavors to provide a biblically balanced strategy for church ministry. Their aim is to move pastors and laypeople away from mindsets that are rooted merely in human tradition (whether old or new) and toward a mindset that is closer to the model exemplified in the NT. In chapter eight of their book, The Trellis and the Vine, the authors contrast the model of “the pastor as trainer,” which they see as closer to the biblical pattern, with two common models found in churches today, namely, “the pastor as service-providing clergyman” and “the pastor as CEO.” While noting a number of strengths in these two models, they also point out weakness. Since the ecclesiastical tradition I’m most familiar with tends toward “the pastor as service-providing clergyman” model, I’ll offer an excerpt of their critique of this paradigm. Keep in mind that the authors acknowledge some strengths of this model, and they alert the reader that what they’re critiquing is somewhat of a stereotype. So one should wear the shoe only insofar as it fits.
Perhaps the most striking disadvantage of this way of thinking about ministry is that it feeds upon and encourages the culture of ‘consumerism’ that is already rife in our culture. It perfectly fits the spirit of our age whereby we pay trained professionals to do everything for us rather than do it ourselves–whether cleaning our car, ironing our shirts, or walking our dog. The tendency is for Christian life and fellowship to be reduced to an hour and a quarter on Sunday morning, with little or no relationship, and very little actual ministry taking place by the congregation themselves. In this sort of church culture, it becomes very easy for the congregation to think of church almost entirely in terms of ‘what I get out of it’, and thus to slip easily into criticism and complaint when things aren’t to their liking.
Even the good practice of pastoral counseling can become focused on ‘me’ being cared for by the pastor–such that if the assistant minister visits instead, this is not seen as adequate: “The pastor only sent him because he couldn’t be bothered coming himself”.
None of this is simply to blame the ‘consumer’! For all its historic strengths, the professional pastor-as-clergyman approach speaks loud and clear to church members that they are there to receive rather than to give. As a model, it tends to produce spiritual consumers rather than active disciples of Christ, and very easily gets stuck in maintenance mode. Outreach or evangelism, both for individual congregation members and the church as a whole, is down the list.
In many respects, this first way of thinking about pastoral ministry reflects culture and norms of a different world–the world of the 16th- and 17th century Christianized nations, in which the whole community was in church, and in which the pastor was one of the few with sufficient education to teach.
Bob Gonzales, Dean
Reformed Baptist Seminary
