E 2 E
  • Home
  • Program
    • E2E Three Day
    • Gospel Conversation Training
  • Articles
  • Resources
  • Trainings
  • Contact
EVERYWHERE TO EVERYWHERE

ARTICLES

Lessons From The Ostrich

8/3/2020

0 Comments

 
A good friend shared Job 39:13-18 with me a few weeks ago and I've been continuing to learn from the topic of that particular passage: the ostrich.  

I've been able to share with the Lord has been teaching me in two different churches in the last month and so thought I'd share it here as well.  May it encourage you to discover the unique ways that you have been gifted and the unique ways that God is wanting to work through you to expand His kingdom and declare His glory.

​You can watch the sermon above.
0 Comments

Hope . . . NOw!

7/27/2020

0 Comments

 
While coronavirus has caused a lot of disruption in our world it has also created some great new opportunities.  Crescent Project's annual national conference has needed to adjust and has moved online. 

Introducing the Hope Conference.  More accessible than ever and FREE, Hope Conference will happen Thursday September  10th from 9 am - 2 pm central time.  The event will feature top notch speakers, opportunities to interact with mission mobilizers, missionaries, former Muslims and Crescent Project staff and all of this will happen online.  

This will be a great opportunity to be encouraged and equipped to join the work that God is doing in the Muslim world. 
​
Watch alone or gather some friends!
CLICK HERE TO LEARN MORE

​And if you have any friends servinging outside of the U.S. make sure and tell them about Hope Conference East, happening Thursday September 17th from 9am - 2 pm CET.    It too is FREE! 
Picture
Picture
0 Comments

A Framework For Understanding Suffering

7/20/2020

1 Comment

 
A short video sharing a framework for understanding suffering.  This framework has helped me understand the role of suffering in the life of the disciple of Jesus.  The sound quality isn't perfect, but I'd love to hear your thoughts.  What would you add to this framework?  How have you been developing a theology of suffering? 

​Share your thoughts in the comments below.
1 Comment

Roam the Gap With the Savior

6/15/2020

0 Comments

 
Picture
World Christians are (in Corrie Ten Boom’s phrase) “tramps for the Lord” who have left their hiding places to roam the Gap with the Savior. They are heaven’s expatriates, camping where the kingdom is best served. They are earth’s dispossessed, who’ve journeyed forth to give a dying world not only the Gospel but their own souls as well. They are members of God’s global dispersion down through history and out through the nations, reaching the unreached and blessing the families of earth.
​                                                              -- David Bryant


Do you want to be a "tramp for the Lord"?

Do you want to roam the Gap with the savior?

Do you want to journey fourth to give a dying world the good news of Jesus?


Start by reading David Bryant's article, To Be A World Christian.

Contact Us and we'll work to encourage and equip to you go into the harvest, locally, regionally and globally.  

0 Comments

The Five Commitments of a  Disciple of Jesus

6/8/2020

0 Comments

 
Picture
In the 18th chapter of the book of Luke, Jesus encounters the rich young ruler.  If you’ve been a follower of Christ for long, it is probably a familiar story.  If not, stop and read it here.  

A devout man approaches Jesus wondering what he must do to be saved.  Jesus walks through the commandments - have you obeyed these?  The man replies confidently that he has kept the commands all of his life.  And then Jesus does a curious thing.  He asks the man to do one more thing: sell all that you possess and distribute it to the poor, and you shall have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me.

The story follows that, because the man was very wealthy he became very sad and presumably, walked away.  Following Jesus is a tall order.

My friend Justin uses this story in trainings to highlight the reality that Jesus isn’t looking for lukewarm Christians.  This isn’t the only time that Jesus’ words and teaching drive away potential followers.  There’s that crazy scene in John 6 where “many of his disciples turned back and no longer followed him.”  Jesus is looking for committed disciples.  He will build his kingdom not with crowds but with dedicated disciples.  While the world yearns for numbers, Jesus is looking for committed men and women.  

Justin lays out what this commitment might look like using the great commission. He draws out five commitments from the passage and they provide a helpful rubric through which I can reflect on my own heart.  I think they will be helpful for you as well.  
Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”
                                         -- Matthew 28:18-20
Five Commitments To Be A Disciple of Jesus
  1. Authority - Are you willing to submit everything to the authority of Jesus?
  2. Go - Are you willing to go anywhere to make disciples for Jesus?
  3. Baptize - Are you willing to baptize new believers?
  4. Teach Obedience - Are you willing to teach new believers to obey everything that Jesus has commanded?
  5. Presence - Are you willing to daily abide in Christ?

It starts with our willingness and commitment.  If you are a leader, a good question to ask first is, "Am I willing?" but the next question has to be, "Are the people I am investing in willing?"  Are they committed disciples or merely lukewarm attendees.  You can fill the pews with the latter but Jesus wants to transform your community, your city, your state and nation - he will turn the world upside down with unschooled, ordinary men and women if they will commit themselves to living the surrendered life and being with Jesus.

As we answer this question we can begin working toward the next question as well:  Are they able?
  • Do they know how to submit to Jesus' authority?  If not, can you train them?
  • Do they know how to go to the lost?  If not, can you train them?
  • Do they know how to baptize new believers?  If not, can you train them?
  • Do they know how to make disciples by teaching others to obey Jesus?  If not, can you train them?
  • Do they know  how to abide in Jesus?  If not, can you train them?

​It is no mistake that Jesus bookends his commission with authority and presence.   I can do much in my own power but Jesus reminds me that unless I live the surrendered life which I can only do if I abide in Him and experience His presence, little of what I do will have any eternal impact.
Picture
Justin leads a great ministry called Primary. He would love to come alongside you and coach you and your fellowship into the committed life of disciple making.  Contact Justin
0 Comments

The Pen Pal Initiative

6/1/2020

0 Comments

 
Picture
Picture
One of the number one reasons former Muslims give for leaving Islam and coming to faith in Christ is that they met a true follower of Jesus. The challenge is that the vast majority of the 1.8 billion Muslims in our world today live in places where there are no followers of Jesus.  In Turkey for example, a nation of over 80 million, fewer than 10,000 have left Islam to follow Christ and eighteen of the country’s  81 provinces have no known churches.  Most Turks will not hear a clear presentation of the gospel this year - perhaps not in their lifetime.  They won’t have a friend who is a follower of Jesus. 

It is much the same for Hindus, Buddhists and the followers of the world's many other religions who live in what missiologists call the 10/40 window.  95% of the world's unreached people groups live in the 10/40 window.


Globalization is bringing the people of the world to countries where there are churches in every neighborhood and Christians all around them.  Technology is opening up the world to communicate with one another in ways never before imagined.  English is the new lingua franca and it is easier than ever to connect with a unreached peoples - and their families - and to be the first true follower of Jesus they have ever met.  

Covid-19 is a terrible disease that is bringing and will continue to bring great loss to our world.  But it is also bringing opportunity.  Children across the globe have been sent home from school.  They are isolated and oftentimes alone and are spending their time online.  Your children are home.  Muslim children are home.  Hindu children are home. Buddhist children are home.

What would it take to help your child be the first real Christian one of these children has ever met? 

What would it look like if you could help your child build a friendship with a child their same age and gender from another country?


There are dozens of online communities working to connect children with other children and adults with other adults through the age old practice of pen pals.  Some help you connect through traditional mail.  Many more are helping make connections through email.
 

I want to invite you to consider praying as a family about becoming pen pals with new friends in the Muslim world.  Imagine if each member of your family were connecting with people in a Muslim majority country.  Imagine how much you would learn about the world.  Imagine the encouragement you could bring to an individual who is also living through this current world crisis.  Imagine the conversations about Jesus that just may happen as you hear the story of your new friend’s life and they hear yours.

Getting Started
I want to first and foremost, encourage you to do this as a family.  Your kids are going to make easy connections as they share about what they do for fun but depending on their age, they’ll probably need some coaching. 

And you, mom and dad, are going to need your kids to keep you accountable to continue to reach out and connect through email or regular letters with new friends.
 

Be a family on mission together!


When I first helped my son with pen pals in Turkey and Indonesia he was twelve.  We went onto the website Pen Pal World together and I helped him set up his profile.  We prayed about what countries to look into and then searched together for boys age 12 that he could connect with.  He reached out to two and they both responded.  Soon they were exchanging emails. They were super simple.  At one point the thread of emails was over 70 replies between the two of them. One would ask a single question - “Who’s your favorite soccer team? - and the other would respond “Real Madrid,”  and then send off a single question of their own, “What’s your favorite movie?”  It felt a little ridiculous but they were two twelve year old boys getting to know one another.  This boy happened to live in Indonesia.  I monitored and checked in with my son regularly, encouraging him and helping him know how to proceed.

Below are three sites through which you can find pen pals in the Muslim world.  All three have their users create profiles which include the user’s gender, age and country.  Be sure and help your children find friends who are the same age and gender - and that goes for you too!   And then pray about what countries in which you would like to make connections.  
It’s a great reason to explore and learn about countries within the 10/40 window. 

A great resource to tune up your heart for these nations is Prayercast where you can learn about every country in the world. 
https://www.prayercast.com/

And a great resource to help you and your family learn more about Islam and how to share the love of Jesus with Muslims is the Bridges study.  https://www.crescentproject.org/bridges

Interpals
Interpals started in 1998 and has been helping people make new friends across the globe ever since! You can sign up for free. You’ll need to create a profile  and then you can search the profiles of others to find someone to write to.  You can start by messaging on the Interpals website.  This will all happen on their on-site inbox, which means you won’t need to give out personal information at first.  Take some time to get to know the person you are connecting with.  You will want to switch over to email though so that your conversations can happen more naturally.
https://www.interpals.net/

PenPal World
Like Interpals, PenPal World has also been active since 1998.  Like Interpals, you will sign up, build a profile and search the profiles of others, then communicate within a PenPal World inbox. They also have some helpful safety features.  They manually verify every single profile photo, and they enable minors to block all adults.
 http://www.penpalworld.com/

Global Penfriends
Global Penfriends was established in 1995, and is a safe platform that runs in a very similar way to Interpals and PenPal World. It is completely free, and you set up a profile, search for others, and have a secure inbox. Unique to Global Penfriends is their My Post service, which enables members to send snail mail to each other via the internet! You can use this service to send any written correspondence: letters, postcards, birthday cards, invitations, etc.
https://www.globalpenfriends.com/

Parents, you will want to  look at each and see which suits your needs best. 

Please remember that these sites are secular sites open to anyone with an email address.  They are for profit and so it is in their very best interest to make the sites as safe as possible.  That said, it is up to you to stay safe and remain vigilant.  You and your children have an opportunity to build real friendships and to be Christ’s ambassadors in a lost and broken world.  

And you can do it together!

​
Learn more about unreached people groups and the 10/40 window in the short video below.

0 Comments

Sahara Challenge 2020

5/25/2020

0 Comments

 
Picture
Sahara Challenge is an important training opportunity for anyone wanting to go deeper in their understanding of how to better minister to Muslims.  It is Crescent Project's top tier training event and because of Covid-19 will this year be offered online for the first time ever, making it more accessible than ever before.  
LEARN MORE
The Details
Dates:  June 16 - 18
Location: Online
Cost:  $99 

EXPLORE - EQUIP - ENGAGE
Picture
Included in the Online Event:
  • 12 hours of class time lecture and instruction
  • 3 hours of breakout and tracks (your choice)
  • 429 pages of resources included in eBook format ($69 value)
  • LIVE interaction in our virtual lobby
  • Significant event discounts in our bookstore*
LEARN MORE
Give me six hours to chop down a tree and I will spend the first four sharpening the ax.
                                                                 - Abraham Lincoln
Picture
Sahara Challenge is a tremendous opportunity to be equipped to share the love of Jesus with Muslims in your own neighborhood or around the world.  Join us in sharpening your ministry skills at this great event.
LEARN MORE
* Information taken from the Crescent Project website.
0 Comments

The Night of Power

5/15/2020

0 Comments

 
Picture
Laylat al-Qadr - the night of power - is the night during the month of Ramada that Muslims celebrate the receiving of the first of the Quranic revelations by Mohamed.  For Muslims it is a sacred night, perhaps the most sacred night in the Islamic calendar and is a night spent on tasks such as prayer, reciting the Quran and spending as much time as possible at their local mosque. 

It is believed that worship and prayer on this night is more valuable than one thousand other nights of worship and prayer.  It is a night when the hearts and minds of Muslims all across the world are focused on one thing:  trying to please God.  And it is a night that we as followers of Christ can gather around our Lord's throne of grace, asking God to make Jesus known to Muslims all across the world.  

This year, Laylat al-Qadr falls on Tuesday, May 19th.  

Will you set aside time this year to take action?  Will you do one thing to join God in His global purpose to see Muslims worshiping Him?

WILL YOU LEARN MORE?  
Stop by the Prayercast page, watch the prayercast video and read more about the Night of Power.

WILL YOU PRAY?
Will you set aside time on Tuesday, May 19th to pray for your Muslim friends and Muslims in general. 

Pray that on this night:
  • the true character of Jesus would be revealed in visions and dreams.
  • Muslims would be delivered from the crushing burden of trying to earn God's favor.
  • God would demonstrate His love and power through signs, wonders, and miracles.

WILL YOU FAST?
Consider fasting on Tuesday May 19th as you pray.  Skip meals from sun up until sun down.  Fast for 24 hours or more.  Maybe fast from media or your smartphone.  Give something up as a way to focus your prayers during this day.  

Will you do something this year to join God as he calls Muslims to himself?  
0 Comments

How to Pray for One Hour

5/11/2020

0 Comments

 
Picture
For most of my life I’ve wanted to improve my prayer life.  Having read the biographies of many great men and women of God and observing the Biblical examples from Jesus to Moses to the apostles, I’ve always known that prayer was an important part of the life of the disciple of Jesus.  And for most of my life, I’ve not lived up to my own desires to pray more.

The reality is that my knowledge of the importance of prayer has not yet led to a default toward prayer.  But I want it to.


Curtis Sergeant introduced me to a helpful tool to improve my prayer life, helping me to pray for one hour at a time.  I don’t use it often enough but because it is a helpful tool, I’ll be adding it to the Everywhere to Everywhere resource page.  The resource is called The Prayer Wheel and it is a part of the Zume Free Online Training.

The prayer wheel allows you to pray in five minute increments for one hour.  You will need some sort of timing device (Zume Timer) that you can set to let you know when five minutes is up so you can move on to the next section for prayer.
​
THE BASIC PRAYER WHEEL OUTLINE
  • PRAISE: Spend time praising God for who He is.
  • WAITING: Spend time silently waiting on God.  Just quiet your heart and wait.
  • CONFESSION: Spend time confessing sin and all that hinders your relationship with God.
  • READ THE WORD: Spend time reading the word of God.  
  • PETITION: Spend time praying general prayers of blessing and protection for yourself, family & others.
  • INTERCEDE: Spend time praying specifically for one or two people or issues.
  • PRAY THE WORD: Go back to the scripture you read.  Read a verse and then pray the essence of that verse back to God.
  • THANKSGIVING: Spend time thanking God for all of His blessings and actions in your life.
  • SINGING: Spend time singing a favorite hymn or play a worship song on youtube.
  • MEDITATE: Spend time meditating on one aspect of God, a phrase of scripture or a word or phrase  from a worship song.
  • LISTEN: Spend time listening to what the Holy Spirit might be wanting to say to you through this time.  Have a notebook and pen handy to write down anything you hear from God.
  • PRAISE: End your time praising God.

I have created a simple bookmark so that you can carry the prayer wheel with you where ever you go.  Set aside an hour and spend it in prayer with the Prayer Wheel as your guide.

Download the Prayer Wheel Bookmark


I hope that you will find the prayer wheel a helpful tool for increasing your prayer life and your ability to hear from the Holy Spirit.  It has been in many ways a helpful training tool for me but it will only help you if you try it out and apply it.  

Learn more about the Prayer Wheel from others:
  • More Disciples
  • Zume Tool Kit
  • Zume Timer
0 Comments

Luke 10 and Paul

4/29/2020

0 Comments

 
Picture
Did Jesus give the Apostle Paul a strategy for reaching the nations?  

Yes, he did and it is a strategy for our day as well.  


Steve Addison often quips that we need to stop asking 'What would Jesus do?' and start asking another question:

What did Jesus do?

Luke 10:1-23 offers us a window into one of the things Jesus did and it is a window into both his methods of discipling his followers as well as a strategy he uses to reach into new areas with the gospel.

It is a strategy that the Apostle Paul employs throughout his ministry and is especially visible on his second missionary journey as recorded in Acts chapters 16 - 18.  This is of course not the only strategy that Jesus gives his followers nor is it the only strategy for reaching into new harvest fields that the Apostle Paul uses, but within Luke 10 are a number of examples and principles that we, like Paul, would do well to pay attention to and at the very least, try out.  They are not the way we in the west usually go about things but they are the way that Jesus taught his first followers to take the gospel into new regions.  Let's look at a few of the examples and principles from Luke 10.

Pray for Harvesters
In Luke 10:2 Jesus tells the 72 to pray for more workers. This is interesting because as sent ones, they are the workers.  The implication seems to be that there are workers in the harvest!  As Paul worked through Macedonia and Greece, the leaders of all of the churches that emerge in Acts 16 - 18 are new believers who came out of the harvest.  Paul did not lead these churches. There is no mention of him even planting churches.   Paul made disciples (Matthew 28:18-20) and churches emerged as new disciples were raised up and began to share the gospel and make disciples.  

Find the Person of Peace
Jesus instructs the 72 to find a peaceful person, someone who welcomes them into their home.  He gives them further instruction that, if a peaceful person cannot be found, they should brush the dust off of their feet and move on.  It seems that there will be a God prepared person who welcomes them, or their won't be.  The presence of that person or lack their of is out of their hands.  It is a work of the Father who draws people to Jesus.  Paul trusts Jesus' strategy. 

For Paul it looks like this:  Enter a new town or context.  Find the place where people gather - usually a synagogue.  Preach the Gospel.  Get kicked out.  Discover that there are a handful of people who want to follow Jesus. 

​When Paul proclaims the gospel there are always three responses as clearly articulated in Athens in Acts 17:32-33.
When they heard about the resurrection of the dead, some of them sneered, but others said, “We want to hear you again on this subject.”  At that, Paul left the Council. Some of the people became followers of Paul and believed.
Paul knew that there would be three response:
  1. Some will sneer (remember Jesus' words about sheep among wolves).
  2. Some will be cautiously curious and want to learn more.
  3. Some will say yes.
The  person of peace comes out of those last two groups and Paul will begin to invest in them. 
 

Stay with the Person of Peace

As part of Jesus' instructions, he also tells the 72 to not move around from house to house but rather to stay with the person of peace.  Jesus does not tell us why we should stay, but in the example of Paul we see the fruit of staying in place.

Paul is not the local who will establish the movement in each town.  The local person - the cultural insider - will be the one to stay.  Lydia, the Philippian Jailer, Jason in Thessalonica, the elders in Berea, Dionysius and Damaris in Athens, Aquilla and Priscilla in Corinth as well as Crispus the synagogue ruler and his entire household!  These are the people who become the leaders of the gospel movements in each of their respective regions.  Paul has stayed with them, he's shared meals with them and invested in raising them up to be disciples of Jesus!  This is perhaps most clearly seen in Thessolonica where Paul spent just three Sabbaths [learn more].  

Everywhere Paul goes he finds a person of peace, a God prepared person whom God is going to use to establish the local expression of faith.  Paul has no plan to leave a “church planter” behind to lead the new church for a time. It seems that from the very beginning the plan is to have a new believer lead the church.

These are just three of the principles from Luke 10 that Paul applies as he works to obey Jesus and make disciples.  A deeper study of the sending out of the 12 in Luke 9, Matthew 10 and Mark 6 would be be helpful to further compare how Paul took the example of Jesus and applied it to his efforts to take the gospel to the very ends of the earth. 

​If Jesus' example and the principles of Luke 10 were good enough for Paul, it seems we ought to at least look at these passages and explore what applying them to our current context might look like.
If you found this article helpful, share it with a friend.
Subscribe
0 Comments
<<Previous
    The E2E Community
    Picture

    Archives

    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018

    Categories

    All
    Book Recommendation
    Church Strategy
    Cultures
    Discipleship
    Discipleship Strategy
    Discovery Bible Study (DBS)
    E2E
    Entry Strategy
    General
    Gospel Conversations
    Gospel Strategy
    Islam
    Leadership Development
    Mobilization
    Prayer Strategy
    Testimonies
    The 7 Series
    The Round Up
    Training

    Authors

    We are a collection of practitioners and trainers dedicated to equipping and encouraging everyone everywhere to proclaim the gospel and make disciples among the unreached locally, nationally and globally.

    Receive Posts Via Email
Proudly powered by Weebly
Photos used under Creative Commons from US Department of State, Chris Yarzab, davidstewartgets, Unhindered by Talent
  • Home
  • Program
    • E2E Three Day
    • Gospel Conversation Training
  • Articles
  • Resources
  • Trainings
  • Contact