Mission21

In September 2008, Mission:M25 Director Gary Burd met a Viet Nam veteran in a Biker Bar.  The man was also the Vice President of the local VFW post.  He began to "run" with the biker ministry (Hard CORE M/M) at Gary's church, but he did not make a commitment to Christ.  During the 2008 Christmas season, Hard CORE served lunch at his VFW post.  "Some of our guys continued to visit with him, just living life, not preaching," said Gary.

The biker recently decided to attend his first church service at Christian Heritage.  He happened to come during Free Camp, a ministry of the church that seeks to break financial, spiritual, and racial barriers among chilren.  The service was geared towards children ages 8 - 12. The speaker that morning spoke on the "Holes in your Heart."

"As I left the front of the stage area, we made eye contact and he got up and made his way to me, weeping and returning to God – a 6’4”, 220 lb. man dressed in black leather," said Gary.  "He later told me that his parents were pastors and they told him when he was a kid that he had a call on his life. He has spent his life seeing how far from God he could run – until he ran to Free Camp."

We should never underestimate the value of our ministry.  God can take two seemingly unrelated things - a motorcycle ministry and a camp for children - and use them to bring even the hardest hearts back to Him. 

By Ferrell Hardison.
Ferrell and Millie Hardison have been married for thirty-one years and have two sons: Brandon (28) and Mitch (25). He has served as Senior Pastor of Whitley Church in Princeton, NC since June of 1990.

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I will never forget the first time an influential person in the church I served asked, “So pastor, what is your vision for our church?” It was 1986 and I had no idea what he was talking about. Seriously, I had no idea. Having come from a Pentecostal background I thought he was asking me if I had seen a vision (you know, an Isaiah 6 kind of vision) concerning our church. I remember how uncomfortable the question made me I was as my mind raced to figure out how to respond while at the same time sounding deeply spiritual, hopefully with a little soft harp music in the background. I don’t remember exactly what I said, but I think heard some banjo music from the movie Deliverance. Anyway, He easily caught on to the fact that I was ignorant about what he was referring to, and he generously let it slide. I didn’t say anything, but I was very appreciative.

The first thing this embarrassing incident did was drive me to my knees in prayer, and then it set me on a journey to discover the definition of his phrase “vision for our church” - and how to get one! I remember calling a couple of pastors in the area whom I considered to be successful and asking if I could meet with them to discuss the vision for their church. One pastor invited me to a “vision casting meeting” with his leadership team. I said, “That’s perfect! When is it?” He said, “This Thursday at 4:00 a.m.!” I tried not to reveal my “shock-n-awe” but he saw it on my face and said, “The reason I have it at 4:00 a.m. is because it reveals the ones who really care about knowing and supporting the vision.” I arrived about ten minutes early, sat in the back of the room, listened and learned.

Your church is not your church. Your church is His church, therefore the vision is not yours either. The vision for your church is in His heart, and it always has been. The process of obtaining a clear understanding and picture of God’s vision for the church you serve begins with your personal relationship with Him. You will never get the right vision for your church until you seek Him. This seeking is not casual – it is focused and fervent. Stop trying to get the vision for your church from any source other than Him. Press in during your prayer time. Cry out for a clear vision and how to implement it. He will hear you and in time He will answer you. He will respond through the scriptures as you consistently dig through His Word. He will respond in your thoughts, your dreams, when you’re alone. He will not leave you ignorant about the vision. He wants you to know it more than you desire to know it.

Simultaneously, along with your intense seeking, read the right information. We are extremely blessed to live in a time when there is so much excellent information available; books, the internet, recordings of various kinds, conferences and seminars, etc. What a wonderful time to be alive! Of course there is a lot of shallow information out there, but you’ll know the difference – just stay on your face in prayer.

Talk with pastors, church leaders, business leaders, and government/military leaders whom you respect and admire. Before meeting with them, write down your questions so as not to waste their time. Offer to pay them for their time. If your church will not help you with the expense, pay these leaders out of your own pocket. Most will not charge you anything, but if they do, more than likely it will be well worth the investment. Study mentoring strategies and then ask someone to mentor you. Very carefully plan your time with them and meet at least monthly.

Once you have a general idea of God’s vision for your church, hand pick a group of three to twelve people (based on the size of your church) and share what God has been doing in your life. In the beginning the focus of your gatherings with this group should be prayer. Give God the opportunity to work their hearts. If you rush into discussion without a season of prayer, you will get opinion rather than expressions of their time with God. Once the season of prayer has ended, then begin a strategic (not open-ended) discussion of vision and what it means. Write down very pointed questions that will keep the discussion on track. Once the vision can be verbalized, start the writing process. Keep it short and to the point so it can be easily understood and recited by everyone in the church. Once the group is satisfied with the vision, then develop specific strategies to insure that the vision becomes a reality.

Related article:

Vision, Vision, Vision
by Craig Groeschel
Senior Pastor, LifeChurch.tv

It is commonly said the three most important factors in real estate are:

Location — Location — Location

I’d argue that the three most important factors in a church (or business) are:

Vision — Vision — Vision

Andy Stanley said, “Vision leaks.” It’s true. The people you lead—staff, volunteers, church members, board members, etc.—may understand the vision today, but tomorrow, the vision generally fades or blurs ever-so-slightly. You can never over-communicate the vision. Here are a few questions to stir your vision:

• Why does your organization exist? (If you can’t answer this clearly, I’ll bet you an overpriced latte that there are a few things your organization should stop doing immediately.)
• At what can your organization be the best in the world? Borrowing from Jim Collins in Good to Great.
• If you could only do one thing, what would it be?
• If you left your organization tomorrow, what would you hope would continue forever?
• What do you know you are “called” to do, but haven’t attempted? What are you waiting for?

Originally published at:  http://swerve.lifechurch.tv/2007/07/26/leading-with-chazown-4-of-4/

Related article:

Visioncare:  Bringing the Future Into Focus

This VisionCare study course, developed by the Mission 21 team, will help the local church examine its eyesight and correct its vision. The teaching sessions and workshops are designed to sharpen the vision of the local church to see and accomplish God’s mission of evangelism for the church.

What is your church’s vision? Does it see clearly the ripened harvest? Peter calls for the church to examine its vision and to improve its sight. He speaks of the church being “shortsighted, even to blindness” (2 Peter 1:9).
Some churches may have excellent vision. They understand who they are and their mission in Christ. Others need to improve their vision. VisionCare will write the prescription for clear vision.

Editor's note; This course has received high acclaim from non-IPHC church leaders. As a member of the development team, I strongly recommend it as the most powerful resource ever published for Mission21. It has the potential to bring a profound spiritual renewal to your curch. It is available online at no charge. Download Now.

An interview with Terry Fowler, Director of the IPHC iCARE and iWIN Ministries.  Listen to the entire interview on our Podcast Channel.

JOE: Terry, it's good to have you with us today.

TERRY FOWLER: It's good to be here.

JOE: What is your definition of spiritual warfare?

TERRY FOWLER: Well, I gave some thought to that Joe, and I know there's a lot of definitions out there, but my definition would be, “spiritual warfare is the supernatural battle between good and evil.”  It is a fight between God and Satan for the souls of the human race.  Spiritual warfare actually started in heaven.  Isaiah 14 gives us that account, when he refers to Satan as Lucifer, the son of the morning who said in his heart “I will ascend into heaven and I will exalt my throne above the stars of God.”  He said, “I will ascend above the heights of the clouds, and I will be like the most high.”  In essence, Lucifer tried or attempted to exalt himself above all heaven and earth and overthrow the most high God.  Ezekiel 28 gives us additional information.  He says that Lucifer was actually an anointed cherub who was perfect in all of his ways until iniquity was found in him.  God cast him out of heaven and the warfare moved from heaven to earth.  In Genesis 3, we see the serpent was successful in getting Eve to doubt what God said about the tree of good and evil. And she ate of the forbidden fruit and then gave it to her husband who was with her, and he ate of the forbidden fruit as well. And since that time, sin entered into the human race, and the battle has raged since the time that our parents sinned in the garden.

JOE: We're talking today mainly about the role of intercessory prayer in spiritual warfare. But what other aspects of spiritual disciplines do you think would be involved in spiritual warfare?

TERRY FOWLER: Well, our whole life is involved in spiritual warfare, because there's a battle for our soul. There's a battle every time we attempt to do something good for God or to obey God; we see the enemy is there to try to counterattack what God is doing  in our life.  I think Paul describes it as a war that takes place on a daily basis, because he said, “I have to break my body into submission daily,” and he said it's a constant warfare.  When I want to do good, there is that in me, trying to get me to do bad.

JOE: So the fact that someone's not involved in intercessory prayer doesn't mean they're not involved in spiritual warfare?

TERRY FOWLER: I don't think any believer is exempt from spiritual warfare.  I think that Jesus said it this way, to Simon Peter., “Satan desires to sift you as wheat.” And in fact, Peter went on to warn all believers, “Your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour.”  So Satan is out there trying to find somebody to devour.  So we can clearly see that for the believer, there is an enemy that's out there that's after our soul, and if we don't take proper precaution, spend time with God, and follow the instruction that the Scriptures give us, we can fall prey to this enemy.

JOE: Terry, your comments raise another question in my mind.  It seems that in recent years, there has been a trend to identify spiritual warfare exclusively with intercessory prayer.  Do you agree with that?  Why or why not?

TERRY FOWLER: Well, I think that there are many forms of prayer, many different types of prayer.  Intercessory prayer and warfare is just one aspect of the prayer ministry. I think if you look in the Scriptures, you look at the model prayer that Jesus prayed, it was a model prayer that began with honoring God, recognizing God for who he is and teaching us how we should pray.  If we look to God as our source and our resource, He is able to provide for all of our spiritual needs, he is able to provide for our material needs, our physical needs.  We can cast all of our cares upon him.

I don't think that every prayer that we pray that we are necessarily engaging in spiritual warfare.  As you look through John 17, Jesus was praying to the Heavenly Father shortly - in fact the night before - he was to be arrested and eventually crucified. We find him calling out to God and praying for his disciples, praying for the future of the church, and you see warfare had taken place in the Garden of Gethsemane.  But we see his high priestly prayer, that he was praying something of a different prayer.  He wasn't really engaging with the enemy of God there.  He was just asking his Father to take care of his disciples and his church.  And I wouldn't consider that a “warfare prayer.” 

I think there are different types of prayer.  There's the prayer of faith, for instance, that the Apostle Paul talked about.  You know, that the prayer of faith can save the sick , heal the sick and save the lost.  So there are different forms of prayer.  I know that in regards to spiritual warfare, Paul prayed for the removal of a thorn, he prayed that same prayer three times and then God spoke to him.  He told him that His grace was sufficient.  Now we know that that was a messenger of Satan so that would have been a warfare prayer.

And in a scripture that we're all familiar with in Ephesians chapter 6, you see that prayer is just part of the armor of God.  It's not the entire armor.  Because he talks about the helmet of salvation, he talks about the breastplate of righteousness, he talks about having our feet shod with the preparation of the Gospel of peace, he's talking about having faith, he's talking about having the shield of faith, and also having prayer as part of our arsenal.  So there's a whole lot about prayer that's just not intercession or just not warfare.

JOE: What is the role of intercessory prayer in spiritual warfare?

TERRY FOWLER: James teaches us that believers can resist the devil. In fact, he tells us to resist the devil, and that would presuppose that we're going to be attacked.  And he's talking to all believers there, not just a select few, and we see a good example of spiritual warfare taking place in Acts chapter 4.  If you'll remember, Peter and John had been arrested and they were actually threatened and commanded not to preach and teach in the name of Jesus anymore.  And the two of them went and reported this to the church, and the church began praying. In fact, around verse 23 we see them raising their voice unto God, and that prayer began by honoring God, and in essence, making God bigger than the problem that they were facing.  They prayed for the Lord to give them boldness and to stretch out His hand to heal, and that signs and wonders would follow, and the scriptures teach us that God heard that prayer, because the place was shaken, they were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and the scriptures said that they spoke the Word of God with boldness.

So we see the church engaging in spiritual warfare because there was a spirit of intimidation that was coming against the church in its infancy and an attempt to stop the spread of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.  The Great Commission was to go into all the world and preach the Gospel to every creature.  They were in Jerusalem, the very first place that the Great Commission told them to begin, and we see that they immediately face opposition to the proclamation to the word of God.  But as they went to God in prayer and engaged that war and began to call upon the name of the Lord, making God bigger than the problem, the Holy Spirit refilled them and they spoke the Word of God with boldness, and they continued to proclaim the Word of God.  The scripture says that the Word of God spread.

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This is an interview with Rev. Macon Wilson, the first and only director of African American Ministries for the IPHC. He has a B.S. degree from both Philander-Smith College and the Baptist Medical Center, both in Little Rock, AR.  He has also done graduate studies at the University of Arkansas.

He is a member of the Heartland Conference and brings to this ministry a burning desire to introduce the IPHC to his brothers and sisters in the African American community all over America.

Macon and his wife, Zuella, have five living children, all grown.  Zuella is a retired  Oklahoma City Public School teacher and a fervent prayer warrior.

Taped on 2/11/09.  Listen to the entire interview on our Podcast Channel.
Read more about the African American Leadership Forum in the Sept08 issue of the IPHC Experience magazine.


Joe: Macon, what did the election of President Obama mean to you personally as an African American?

Macon: I have to look back over the struggle, to see where we've come from and where we are today and where we're going. To see an African-American elected President of the United States of America, which is the highest office in our country, meant a lot to me.  Many times we tell our children, “You can be anything you want to be except perhaps President of the United States.”  I am happy and very excited that I can now look at my little grandson or granddaughter and say to them, “You can even be President of the United States of America”. 

Usually somebody paved the way.  I always feel that where somebody else has gone in life, opens opportunity for other people to go.  Throughout history in America, we've had African Americans move to the top of the ladder in many areas, especially in sports.  You think of Jackie Robinson in baseball, and you think of basketball and the Wilt Chamberlains and the Bill Russells; you see how people have moved in different areas. 

I think first of all, God created all of us in his image and likeness.  And unfortunately, through the years-because of whatever we've gotten from family, friends, relatives, forefathers, and because of slavery and how it came about, and how we came here-many people have created an attitude that color of skin makes a difference. Of course, you and I both know that's something that's just for naught.  Anytime a mind is developed, educated, given opportunity, obviously any of us, as human beings, have the same opportunity to achieve and do anything anybody else can do.

I remember when I was in college working my way through school.  There was a Wonder Bakery shop there in Little Rock.  And there were no African Americans there. They hired one who happened to be in school, and I remember he walked up to me on campus one day and he said to me, “Man, they want somebody else black at the Wonder Bakery.” He said, “I've been watching you and I was just wondering if you'd be interested in going down there and interviewing for a job.” 

I went there and the first guy I talked to, who was a young guy just out of college, was a personnel manager.  And as we began to talk, he was asking me about different experience I'd had in different areas.  I said, “No, I haven't had experience in that.”  I said, “Man, you know, I'm just in college. I'm just out of high school.” He went on to tell me that they were looking for somebody that had experience in certain areas.  And so I began to question him.  And I asked him,  “Well, what's your job experience been?”  And, not knowing where I was going, he said, “Well, you know I got out of college, and as soon as I got out of college I got this job.”  I said, “Really.”  He said, “Yea.”  And he went on to tell me about his family, and his uncles and aunt and everybody, and he had an uncle who worked there at the bakery, you know, and blah blah.  Finally, I looked him straight in the eye and I said, “You know what?  Isn't it amazing that you just got out of college with no experience but somebody was willing to give you a chance to have experience?  If no one ever gives anybody an opportunity to have experience in certain areas in life, how would they ever get it?  So somebody has to take a chance on you.”  And, needless to say, we got the job.

So the opportunity presented itself. We were prepared, we seized the moment, and there we were. I personally feel like, in regards to what people may say, along the way I feel like Obama was being molded and shaped for this job for many years back. I think as time went on,  he became even more molded and shaped for it.

The opportunity presented itself, he seized the moment, and now we have the first African-American President of the United States of America, Barack Obama.  I know there are a lot of people who didn't vote for him. But there were a whole lot of people who voted for him; otherwise he wouldn't be president.  So at least we've given a black man an opportunity to fail his way to success like many others have and many others have not.  Whatever the case is, at least he has an opportunity.

Joe: Yes.  He has the same opportunity as any man who becomes president. 

Macon: That any man has.  So none of us -no man is an island. No man stands alone. We all need each other.  I'm always reminded when we talk about the body of Christ, what does that really mean to us?  What does it really mean when we say we're part of the body of Christ, when we say we're Christians, and when we say we love God and when we say we love our family.  I think we've gotten away from the real essence of who really created the heavens and the earth, and the seas and all therein.  Who really are we serving?  Who really has power, all power, of heaven and earth in his hands?  We panic sometimes, failing to realize that we serve a living God who is able to deliver us, to give us all things that we need, and to provide for us according to his riches in glory.  So I don't panic; I just realize that I serve a God who has it all, owns it all, and I am fortunate to have access to His kingdom.

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An Interview on Diversity in the IPHC, with:  Ronald W. Carpenter, Sr., Executive director of Evangelism USA.  He also serves as vice-chairman of the IPHC and is responsible for casting and implementing the church planting vision of the denomination; and Rev. Macon Wilson, the first and only director of African-American Ministries for the IPHC.

Listen to the complete interview [56 mins.] on our Podcast Channel IPHC News. 
Read more about the African American Leadership Forum in the Sept08 issue of the IPHC Experience magazine.

I know we've had an intercultural ministries forum for some time now, but how did the vision for a separate and distinct African American ministries develop?

RON CARPENTER: The intercultural ministries forum was in existence when I arrived in 1997, but it was basically a fellowship forum. The effort was to have one representative from each of the 16 ethnic communities within the PH Church of the United States. It had no long-term goals, no track to run on, no vision for developing anything other than just getting together year after year.  
We did that for several years after I arrived here, but I always looked at it as not being a productive meeting in the sense that it didn't really do anything. After five years, I disbanded the forum, hoping to utilize the money in a more productive way.

In regards to a particular vision for African American ministries, I think it's like the elephant in the living room.  12-1/2 percent of the population are African-American, which is 39 million people.  13-1/2 percent are Hispanic or 42 million people. That totals 81 million people or 25% of the 310 million people in this country.  So 1 out of every 4 people in America is either Hispanic or African American.  

The mandate of Evangelism USA is to evangelize America. And I see no way that you can be faithful to a mandate to evangelize a nation if you're going to circumvent one out of every 4 people who live there.

Historically, the PH Church has had a productive relationship with the Hispanic community since 1931, when the first Hispanic conference was organized. The Hispanic membership in this church has grown 400% in the past decade, from 11,000 in 1998 to a projected 47,000 in 2008. Ten years from now 4 out of every 10 members of the PH church in the United States will be Hispanic.  That's staggering.  

However, when you look at the second largest minority group in the country, which is the African-American community, the opposite extreme has actually been the case. If anything has been done it was always individual, personal, but never departmentalized and never denominationally structured.  This is the first time in our history that the denomination has ever had anything structured based on vision for the African American community.  

Now, a lot of this I'm not proud of.  When Macon came here 4-1/2 years ago, we had 11 African American churches in the whole country.  Eleven!  By the end of 2008, that number should be close to 50 churches. In his short time, by virtue of his leadership and the denomination essentially making a statement of concern and commitment, the number of churches has quadrupled.  
So, I think it was just a matter of looking at what our mandate is, looking at America, and looking at a historical oversight and one of the things we addressed in Fayetteville years ago.  Macon quotes it often, but somebody has said:  When all is said and done, more is said than done.  So I think it's just an effort to identify a need and address it in a way that's long overdue.

MACON WILSON: I certainly agree that there's a need.  Usually when something needs to be done, it should be done.  We say we're the body of Christ, and I think so many times we think we are the Body. We're not the body, we're part of the body.  

Oftentimes, when I think about the Body I think about the human anatomy, I think about the tiny small cells.  They're so small that you can't even see them with the naked eye, yet so functional and so important that the body can't live without them.  The cells form tissue, the tissues form organs, the organs form the different systems, and the systems work together to cause the body to function.

I don't think anybody would ever do anything to harm, hurt, or damage or endanger their body.  When you see me as a part of the body of Christ as you are, and see us as a body, and only a body, and not see race, creed, color, or national origin, I think we would all come together.  I think God would be glorified and pleased if we can ever get that thought in our mind.

Somebody has to step out and step up to the plate, and say enough is enough.  And somebody has to evaluate what's happening and what's been happening, and realize that unless something changes, nothing changes. I think this organization, Dr. Carpenter's leadership in EVUSA, what is happening and what has happened, is just opening doors for great opportunities for change, and I think we're seeing it.  

How did the two of you meet?  What led to the selection of Macon as the first Director of African American ministries?

MACON WILSON: Well, it's kind of a unique story. I actually met Dr. Carpenter before we really knew who either one of us were at a Heartland camp meeting He introduced his son, who was the keynote speaker at the conference. His secretary, Debbie Whipple, came up to me after the message was over and she said, “You are just who they've been looking for!” “I need to get an appointment with you with my boss!” And I said, “Well who is your boss?”  She said, “I'll call you Monday.”

I had no idea what Debbie was talking about.  She said, “He travels a lot but I'll see when he can meet with you.”  So I told Zuella (my wife) what she said, and she said, “Well, who's that?”  And I said, “I don't know, she didn't give me any information.”  But she called me that Monday wanting to know if I could meet,.  She told me Dr. Carpenter had maybe 20 minutes.  And when I walked in, I realized that he was the person that I'd met and seen at the campground.  I think our meeting was about 3 hours and 20 minutes.  After talking with him and he sharing with me the organization, some of its history, some of the thoughts and ideas and visions - good and the bad -I think we both found out that we were both pretty much crybabies.

Something happened there between the two of us.  He and I talked and actually created a unique bond right there within a 3 hour period.  It seemed, from the many things that we'd shared, that we had so much in common.

It wasn't like a white man talking to a black man, really.  it was two Christian brothers sharing thoughts and ideas, giving God glory and honor and praise.  And I realized that if something like that could take place throughout the constituents of the IPHC, we could see changes that would be unprecedented. 

And so that's kind of how we came about it, and it's been a very exciting experience for me-and challenging.  There have been some encouraging days and there have been some discouraging days.  There have been some disappointments and there have been some appointments.  But I realize that what God appoints you to do, no one can disappoint.  I also realize that He who has begun a good work in you is faithful to complete it. 

This to me was more of a God-assignment than anything else, because I realized that everybody wasn't in agreement for us to even come.  Everybody was not supporting the vision that Dr. Carpenter had, and the vision that I could see as we talked. I didn't come in fear; I did come in faith.  I came in hope.  I came believing that what we started -what God started -He would see to completion.

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