Monday, October 27, 2008

Planting in KC


I just returned from Kansas City talking with two men about the possibilities of planting a church in Kansas City targeting Vietnamese people. There are about 10,000 Vietnamese people in the Kansas City area with one small church doing there best to reach them. I am excited to see how God will open the door for us to connect with this group of people that need Christ. While we were there we went to the Asian market. If you ever go to Kansas City you need to stop in and shop. It is a learning and delightful experience. Please pray with me for the Andrew and Phiet as they seek God timing and calling for the Kansas City area.

Friday, October 17, 2008

Does size of a church make a difference?

We have all read the discussion about big church vs small church. Which one is more effective? Which one helps the person growth in their faith? Which one has the most committed people? Warren Bird gives some great insight into the large church small church discussion.

Here is a part of what he posted (go to his site and read it all).

It turns out that as church size increase, people's beliefs are more certain. For example, on the question of whether heaven absolutely exists, 92% of people in larger churches said yes, while 79% in smaller churches said yes. Does hell absolutely exists? The replies were 90% and 69%.

What about people's practices? Those in the larger churches attend services weekly or more often (46% and 39%), more of them tithe (46% and. 36%), and more of them attend a Bible-study group (52% and 43%). So personal commitment is higher with church size.

Is there a lack of intimacy as churches grow larger? When asked if half or more of their friends attend their congregations, survey respondents said yes 41% for larger churches and 25% for smaller churches. The same point is made when when the opposite angle is taken: do they have no friends in their congregations? Agreement was 12% and 22%.


Tell me what you think about this study.

Tuesday, October 14, 2008

Thursday, October 9, 2008

Technology is a wonderful thing, but do we allow technology to take time that could be used proclaiming the Gospel. Here is the link to a new service that is coming for churches that made me think about how technology fits into our life. I must admit that I enjoy and often will defend the use of tracking information, but this made me consider the advantage of "information" verses just doing what God has called us to do. What do you think?

Monday, October 6, 2008

Short Term Missions trips?

George Barna found some interesting statistic related to short term mission trips. After reading it how can we improve on the long term affects of short term mission trips?

Who takes short term mission trips?

9% of American adults
>> only 3.5% of American adults went in the last 5 years
11% of churchgoers
23% evangelical Christians
12% of Mosaics (ages 18-24)
9% of Busters (ages 25-43)
7% of Boomers (ages 44-62)
9% of Elders (ages 63+)
How do short-term mission trips affect those who go?

75% say the experience changed their life in some way
25% say it helped them become more aware of other people’s struggles
16% say it taught them more about poverty, justice, or the world
11% say it increased their compassion
9% say it enriched their faith
9% say it broadened their spiritual understanding
5% say it boosted their financial generosity

Wednesday, October 1, 2008

How are we doing in planting?

I understand and agree that numbers are not the major indicator of our spiritual health. While saying that I also know that it is ones means of putting our hands to the fire to see how hot the flames are burning. While not all the district in Converge Worldwide reported, of those that did we found that we planted over 200 churches between 2000-2005. There was an average weekly attendance in 2007 of 154 people which impacted 22,847 individuals. In our church plants we baptized 1,916 in 2007. God is gracious to us. The fields are still golden ready for harvest. Pray for labors of the harvest.