Global Outreach Website

Oct 26

GO Value: Reciprocal Partnerships
This week is the seventh of ten blog entries on the values of Global Outreach.
By Matthew Vestal (with Tom Mullis)

A partnership is a two-way street where independent entities work together to accomplish more than either could alone. A practical understanding of this is foundational for how we connect and operate with other ministries around the world. For the appropriate expansion of the Kingdom of God, international relationships must be formed with local national churches in a way that is peer to peer, not benefactor to beneficiary.

The interdependence of the global body of Christ is God\'s sovereign design for expanding His Kingdom. The expertise needed to increase the capacity of local churches has been sovereignly scattered among the nations.
God rarely gifts one person, church or nation with the complete skill set to do all that He wants accomplished in a particular location, and that is the beauty and brilliance of the body of Christ working together.

As we have been able to identify our gifting as a church, we are able to serve the church globally with the resources that God has given in order to be a blessing to other churches around the world in culturally relevant ways and at the invitation of partnering churches internationally.

Through partnerships, our church has been directly influenced through the years, especially concerning how we view personal levels of commitment, prayer, and sacrifice. We believe this has greatly impacted the way in which Perimeter Church ministers here in Atlanta. Also through this process, God has stirred the hearts of our people to enjoy a deeper understanding of His creativity (through diversity) and His omnipresence.

This type of collaboration and mutual service continues to display the power and glory of God as see God supernaturally work across linguistic, political, and cultural boundaries. Therefore, in all of our partnerships, we seek a mutually beneficial Kingdom relationship.

Sep 20

Leadership development is a hot topic. Just scanning my bookshelf, a magazine rack, or a list of blogs, it becomes clear that any type of organization desires more and/or better leaders.

This is no different in the Kingdom of God. Biblically we can see God ordained leaders at the forefront of God\'s plan for the world. From Moses to David to Jesus to Paul and all throughout God supplied and raised up the necessary leadership for the advancement of his kingdom. However more famous movement leaders are not the only needs for the health and growth of the Church.

God consistently uses and is seeking to equip Individuals who can lead themselves and others into:

· A deeper understanding of God and his word

· Living consistently under the control of the Holy Spirit

· Caring for others where they live, work, and play

· Reaching out in mercy across cultural and socio-economic boundaries.

The leadership gap is evident when we see pastors doing most of the work of the church. When asking pastors how spiritual formation of their leaders is going, the common response is: \"not very well.\"

How can individuals who will lead the way in Gospel-centered transformation be developed?

What is the starting point to fill this leadership gap in our cities?

Look at the life of Jesus. Not necessarily his words, but his actions. We see over the course of the four gospels, Jesus investing in the lives of twelve men. Jesus brought them along with him on a missional journey in a way that developed them as leaders. These men received:

· Truth - from hearing Jesus\' teaching and talking through issues

· Equipping - as they ministered alongside Jesus and we given responsibilities

· Accountability - to be good stewards of what had been entrusted with them

· Missional Charges - Jesus sent out the disciples to proclaim and display the Kingdom

· Supplication - along the journey the twelve saw Jesus pray consistently and were taught how to pray

We believe that to make and deploy mature and equipped followers of Christ we should follow this paradigm of Life on Life Missional Discipleship. It means laboring in the lives of a few to produce holistic, outwardly focused church leaders where they live work and play, in such a way that the elemental fabric of families, communities and cities are brought into a transforming encounter with the Kingdom of God.

Jul 23

Many people assume that cities are inherently evil; at least in the small town that I come from.  It’s believed that we should avoid the city and the problems that it presents. When it comes to ministry some believe that cities have had their chance, so our focus should be on more remote unreached parts of the earth. Not cities.

But God loves cities, and calls us to minister in them. (Jeremiah 29:7) There are many confused and hurting people in cities. In cities there are amazing opportunities for gospel centered transformation.  Cities inherently lead the way of social and cultural development for the rest of the region and country. The way a city goes, so goes the culture. As we hope to see the coming of God’s Kingdom, we also trust to see Gospel centered transformation of global cities.  

Why Now?

You may be thinking cities have always been around, cities have always impacted change, why is there a newfound emphasis on the city?

God moves in culture and circumstances. Many great movements of God have occurred in conjunction with great unavoidable cultural shifts, i.e. Enlightenment and Industrial Revolution. 

There are currently unprecedented shifts in global culture towards the city. Two of them are:

 1. Urbanization - There has been a phenomenal move of the world\'s population to the city. As The Economist reports, about 200 years ago only 3% of the world\'s population lived in cities. Now the majority of the world\'s population lives in urban areas. This urban growth is only predicted to continue; by 2030 two thirds of the world\'s population is expected to be urban. This influx of population also represents opportunities; as diversity and intensity increase city-dwellers become more open to new ideas and beliefs, like the Gospel..

2. Globalization - Another recent global shift is the rapid growth of interconnectedness of countries, regions, and most dynamically cities. Ideas, economies, and cultures of various cities are becoming integrated despite the geographical separation that has historically kept them apart.  So not only are there more people in the cities themselves, but because of the impacts of globalization urban centers have a much larger sphere of influence than ever before.

When you combine the sudden urbanization of world population with the overwhelming influential reach of globalized cities we can only trust that God is on the wake of a major movement in our world. As the director of Global Outreach, Tom Mullis, has pointed out,

“God is moving uniquely in our time to bring the bulk of unreached people into world-class cities. … When you consider reaching the unreached people of the world that will most strategically be able to change the world, global cities are the inevitable conclusions for investment.”

We are excited and find joy in being a part of the great work that God is preparing to do in and through Global Cities.