GlocalNet

2011 has been a great year at NorthWood.  I don’t know where to begin.  We implemented our cell ministry and have grown now to 113 cells - this next year we are planning on 200+. The Building Bridges event with Muslims was incredible having an unexpected 2500.  Our ladies ministry launched in a powerful way and we had 700 at the Priscilla Shirer conference.  Our giving by all accounts should have been down with the economy etc., but we saw more generosity at NorthWood this past year than ever in our history and it was because of everyone.  We started another 25 churches here in the U.S. - Brian Hook is simply incredible.  We hosted a circus - first ever big event at NorthWood and we had over 4500.  We did domain development with 70 leaders focused on Keller and NorthEast Tarrant County.  We learned a ton about Sonship, a ton about 5-fold ministry, a ton about the Trinity, a ton about the divine/human nature of Christ.  I could go on and on. 

I was reflecting and made a list of things that really make NorthWood unique.  When I counted them - there really were 12!!  I’m proud of you NorthWood - you stay focused:

1.  Kingdom Paradigm
2.  T-life discipleship process
3.  Front door approach to nations
4.  Domains to engage a city
5.  Vocations connected people to people
6.  Global church connected
7.  Polycentric view of world and church
8.  Church Planting
9.  Biblical view of Holy Spirit - don’t add to but don’t take away from Scriptural teaching.
10. Loving people of different religions
11.  Access to global gatekeepers
12.  Cell Group ministry

So . . . . What kind of values drive this kind of stuff?

Kingdom based
Globally connected
City Engaged
Disciple driven
Multiplying Communities (Be it churches or cells or ministries)
Courage - As an Apostolic and global church - it means that many times there are no models for what God is calling us to do - and so we have to have courage to reach out - whether it was 25 years ago doing a contemporary worship service, or 18 years ago working in Vietnam, or 10 years ago working in Afghanistan, or this year working with Muslims in DFW.

OK, so what is …

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This year I have seen more than my fair share of close friends that have died.  A man who helped start our church named Gene Powell, a lady who had to be the most positive person I’ve ever seen face death Brenda Hennigan, and Stephen Best - a guy who found Jesus and then found out he was dying.  Both my Father and Nikki’s father have been sick the past few months and even wound up in the same hospital in rooms next door to each other in Tyler. 

Christmas day we went to the hospital where my Father-in-Law is on dialysis with a broken hip, battling diabetes - and other things.  We stayed for a while, and then I grabbed his hand - his name is Buddy, “Do you want me to pray for you?”  “You bet Bob.”  I did - and he did something I never remember seeing him do - he began to weep.  He kept his eyes closed - for him I’m sure it was embarrassing - his generation.  He held my hand.  My heart went out to this strong man’s man knowing he knew how serious all this is. 

As I thought of him and the 3 people I’m close to that I lost this year - there are two things that really hit me hard - what can you do when you are older and you’re waiting to die.  No one ever wants to be hooked up to machines and slowly waiting.  No one ever wants to be cut loose if there’s a chance they can get better.  You really have no choice whether you wind up in a hospital or it’s a quick heart attack.  So when you are in the throws of that kind of crisis what do you do?

First, you face it with courage.  I would put courage in front of faith.  Courage is faith in action.  The courage is to face the unknown of suffering, pain, indignities - and even the final breath.  I watched Brenda smile all the way through.  You could call it denial - I call it courage.  She knew for 7 years she was dying with cancer and yet her disposition was sweet, kind, gracious, optimistic - knowing that ultimately she would be with Jesus eternally.  That takes more than a positive mental attitude - it takes courage.  It’s one thing to keep …

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“Today in Bethlehem a Savior is born” . . . we have heard that many times - and it warms our hearts as Christians - but today in Bethlehem there are still people who live there - thousands.  They are Christians and Muslims.  Bethlehem where Ruth and Naomi travel and meet Boaz, where Rachel is buried after giving birth to Benjamin, where Jesus is born.  I have a friend Bishara Awad, a pastor and was President of the Bethlehem Bible College who always said “Bethlehem is going to be only a museum if the Christians don’t get involved here.”

The Christian community in Bethlehem is dwindling - and not because of Muslim persecution - if you ask them, they leave because economically they can’t make a living and they generally have better access to the West. 

I’m sorry to say for years I didn’t realize that there were Christians still there - let alone evangelicals.  They also believe, just like me, that they have a role in sharing the Great Commission and serving humanity.  There are several evangelical pastors I’ve eaten with and hung out with in Bethlehem - some of their churches are growing strongly.  They have a heart and vision for their city.  The level of commitment they have to the Gospel and their city is far above most of us and what we talk about with reference to our own city. 

Those of us as pastors, would we stay somewhere where our kids had to be raised in occupation?  Would we stay somewhere where we didn’t know if they would be able to pay us or not?  Would we stay where we were a religious minority?  Would we stay somewhere where there was physical conflict and war and you never knew from one minute to the next if you might be in the middle of a war?  Want to talk about loving your city?  Talk to a pastor in Bethlehem, they put me to shame. 

I received an email from my good friend Sami Awad and I want you to know what he is doing.  He is Bishara’s son - and has a very significant organization of his own.  He has the Palestinian non-violence center called the Holy Land Trust.  He’s an evangelical and spoke at our http://www.globalfaithforum.org and other things I’ve been a part of.  His father has trained pastors - …

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I have worked with the Swiss Federal Department of Foreign Affairs
in the past and have friends there - Jean-Nicholas Bitter and Simon Mason.  I have a huge regard for them and admire them greatly.  Last year I was given the privilege of speaking at an event they hosted of several hundred global leaders along with others.  Simon interviewed me for an article - you can read it below - but there are other great articles as well.  I admire the Swiss and love their work. 

Next year, Jean-Nicholas has promised to take me climbing to the top of Mont Blanc and 3 other swiss alps.  In addition, we are opening a cheese and chocolate factory.  This has led us to discover another venture - a vocational school on cow milking - it will be utterly marvelous!  Right Jean Nichols?????

Enjoy the articles - and Merry Christmas everyone - I wish I was in the Swiss Alps celebrating!

What part do religions play in conflicts and in the non-violent transformation of conflicts? How can a constructive dialogue between different worldviews take place?
We are pleased to inform you that the newest edition of the Swiss Federal Department of Foreign Affairs’ Politorbis publication on RELIGION IN CONFLICT TRANSFORMATION investigating these questions and presenting concepts and methods for the resolution of conflicts with religious dimensions is now available under: http://www.eda.admin.ch/etc/medialib/downloads/edazen/doc/publi/aussen.Par.0019.File.tmp/Politorbis%2052%20Religion%20in%20Conflict%20Transformation_GzD.pdf

My daughter wrote something that was really good and I thought you’d like it.  It’s on idolatry.  Tim Keller helped me understand that a couple of decades ago.  But also, 2 Jewish Rabbi’s - both told me it was the chief challenge in the Hebrew Scritpures and one said it was because of self-centered interest, the other said it was to find new gods to permit sinful behavior - either way - we have to remove the false gods of our heart. 

Jill’s pretty profound in her thinking.  As I journaled this year, one thing having read my 2011 journal at least three times is how much she has grown, learned, developed mentally and spiritually - just something I liked you might as well -

http://jillsintransit.blogspot.com/

Finally - I’m writing the book!  I have to finish it in the next two weeks so I can get it to my editor.  Thomas Nelson is publishing it in a year.  It will have many of the things I’ve spoken of this past year at Georgetown, Q, USC, and yes - the SBC pastors conference!  I’m convinced our biggest challenge now is learning the language of the 21st century.  Linguistics are critical to speak fluently in a different culture - what’s different now is that all religions, all ideas, all peoples, all everything is now everywhere.  How do we speak in a world where everything is present at once?  It’s a crucial question if we expect our Gospel to be global.  No other generation since the early church - has had the same opportunity to make the message heard globally like our generation.  Our ability to do it, however, is to recognize language is now multiple cultures spread over the face of the earth all over the place. 

The greatest obstacle to the spread of the Gospel is the ability to communicate clearly and accurately beyond our own tribal bias.  That doesn’t sound that hard - but it is.  The overarching culture for the believer is Kingdom Culture.  The essence of what Jesus taught in the Sermon on the Mount - his life and what he expects of us - can and does transcend all cultures and all peoples. 

There has been a lot of talk of that being contextualized - and I get that because each culture is different.  But I would argue that our message must be globalize.  If it’s contextualized it will fit only in a specific place - if it’s globalized it will fit everywhere.  We must begin to think less about “peoples” and think more about “people” - this is our world.  This is what I’m writing about. 

IF YOU HAVE IDEAS OR THINGS YOU’VE HEARD ME SAID YOU THINK SHOULD BE IN THE BOOK LET ME KNOW.

IF YOU HAVE QUESTIONS OR COMMENTS ABOUT ANYTHING GLOBAL AND OUR FAITH - COMMENT.

ANYTHING YOU WANT TO SEE ME TACKLE - LET ME KNOW -

I may or may not be writing much here - a long way to go - 50,000 words and so far 200!  I don’t think Joel Miller reads my blog - at least I hope …

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Agree or disagree with President Obama - I received this email from Josh Dubois and got his permission to post this on my blog.  I don’t like religion as a political tool - I see far too many people doing that - but a man’s faith should speak for itself. 

December 16, 2011
Dear friends,
Happy Friday to you! I wanted to send a note about President Obama, and his work on issues related to religion and politics.  The question is sometimes asked about whether the President’s outreach to the faith community – and candor about his own faith – is new…or whether he has engaged the role of religion in the public square consistently, both in the White House and earlier in public life.
Please see some background information below, in case it provides helpful context on the subject.  And please do let me know if you have any questions at all. 
In His Own Words
Since his 2006 keynote address at Sojourners’ “Call to Renewal” conference – a speech Washington Post columnist E.J. Dionne called perhaps “the most important pronouncement by a Democrat on faith and politics since John F. Kennedy’s Houston speech in 1960 declaring his independence from the Vatican” – President Obama has consistently addressed both his own Christian faith, and the role of faith in public life. 
In 2007 in remarks he titled, “A Politics of Conscience,” the President said that “our values should express themselves not just through our churches or synagogues, temples or mosques; they should express themselves through our government. Because whether it’s poverty or racism, the uninsured or the unemployed, war or peace, the challenges we face today are not simply technical problems in search of the perfect ten-point plan. They are moral problems, rooted in both societal indifference and individual callousness – in the imperfections of man.”
Then-Senator Obama went to the Compassion Forum at Messiah College and spoke persuasively about his belief that science is compatible with faith, telling the audience that “the more I learn about the world, the more I know about science, the more I’m amazed about the mystery of this planet and this universe. And it strengthens my faith as opposed to weakening it.”  And in 2008 he movingly addressed faith again at Saddleback Church, alongside Senator John McCain.
The President’s candor about …

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Yesterday I was on a quick trip to Orlando and flying back I was sitting beside a man who was working on numbers - his letterhead said Ernst & Young.  I was reading my Bible and doing some study in the book of Romans - I also had some “global” stuff on my tray, articles, etc.,  I asked what he did, he told me all of the Western Hemisphere of Ernst & Young execs, 3,000, had been meeting in Orlando and he was in from Vancouver to attend.  He asked what I did - I told him I was a pastor but also involved in global stuff.  He started talking so fast.  He said, man do you realize how the world is changing?  We had these globalists speak at our conference and I’m concerned in the West we are not realizing what’s going on in the world.  The next 10 years are going to be pretty wild and the change pretty dramatic and it’s going to hit us like a ton of bricks.  He sounded like me!  I asked him why all the passion - he was telling me about some of the speakers, how it’s going to change how they do business based on where markets are entering.  It was also challenging them to work with every international that comes to their city that the way to connect with the world would be through people coming from other nations with ties to those nations, particularly China, India, Indonesia, etc., he then proceeded to tell me, you have to wake your church members up to this because the church has the ability to help people make the transition in society.  Otherwise he said there is going to be a lot of conflict and fear. 

We talked about the way forward for the U.S.  Three key things we both agreed on - first this isn’t a time to ignore new immigrants from the world, but embrace them realizing they are one of the keys to our future development - and if we isolate ourselves from them, or come across as financial colonialist then they will resent us and not want to do business with us.  The second key is innovation - that’s what we’ve always done in the past, but we don’t seem to be doing it now nearly as much.  The third key is to wake up our youth …

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I just got in from a meeting with diplomats, politicians, economists, religious leaders of various religions, businessmen - etc., in Switzerland.  I was asked to address the group as one of the speakers and so I did.  I didn’t realize it but they were planning on me opening one of the sessions in prayer - the people from the different faiths that had done so previously were very deliberate in what they said.  Being called on the spot to pray is fine with me - but when you pray publicly to a mixed group you must think clearly about what you say.  I prayed very slowly (the translator thanked me later for going slow enough so they could translate clearly) little did the translator know my going slow was because I was thinking about each phrase.  I can’t remember all I prayed but some of it was.  “Heavenly Father, we are all here.  We all say we represent you.  We are representatives of the truth that we believe to be so.  Help us speak in such a way that is honest, clear, and brings honor to your name - not agendas and hate.  Help us not forget that we are accountable to you, for all we say and all we do.  We know that some of our countries in this room do not get along.  But we also know that your will is that men live in peace.  God, you are in this room today.  Father, you are calling us to act with transparency and integrity - may we bring great joy to you today by what we say and do.” 

If you are going to make a difference in the world as a pastor - beyond the normal things you get from other pastors, seminaries, and religious leaders - let me give you some things from a global perspective.  First, realize that God is present and when you are in places like that, you are not there for your agenda, your tribe, or your self - you are there on God’s behalf - which means you must speak with love, truth, clarity, kindness, and a willingness to engage.

Second, leave your tribalism at home.  If you don’t, then you will miss divine opportunities to connect with people, build relationships, and show God’s love.  Too often, we show up speaking our party line.  I was with one religious leader …

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For the past few days I’ve been in some meetings with people from around the world - different faiths, different politics, different domain leaders - and it’s been exceptional.  Americans, Europeans, Iranians, etc., what you hear on the news I’ve discovered is true - to a point.  The problem we have in news today is that whole networks are committed to worldviews and promoting that among markets versus a “Walter Cronkite” just “give the facts.”  What that means is you can’t get your news from any one source.  The Economist, The Wall Street Journal, the New York Times, FOX, CNN, NBC - all share different views - the BBC being my favorite.  The truth is somewhere in there among all of them.  News sells - fear is a powerful motivator - any news that focuses on feeding the emotions of the recipient dilutes its critical role in the world. 

One of the best ways to find out about people is to talk to them - directly.  Since there were Iranians present at my meeting I took advantage of that to talk to them. I thought you might enjoy some of the questions and answers - here are just a few.  These represent different questions at different times to different people.  Keep in mind, it was only conversation - I can’t say for sure the answers are right or wrong - only what they said. I did enjoy visiting with them and found them to be very warm people. 

Bob:  Historically the Iranian people have been a high culture civilization - art, literature, innovation, business, history - etc., I don’t understand how a culture that is that developed can swing back to an old worldview of operation - how & why?

Iranian:  I’m glad you asked that question - it’s a very important question.  As an engineer I would use centrifugal force to explain, the Shah had the pendulum swing so far back away from religion - than when it swung again, it wouldn’t stop in the middle - the force pushed it to the other extreme.  Iranians are very committed to their religion - its core to who they are.  For it to be denied is a denial of them as the people. 

Another thing you must understand - though we are a high civilization - we have many poor and uneducated people who believe what they …

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