A Day Full of Mission Talk

I really wanted to share some words with you yesterday, but I was consumed with “Mission Talk.” We are in a daily mode of evaluating how we can fulfill our mission as a church in a more affective manner. Our mission is “Reaching Northwest Arkansas, America, and the World for Jesus Christ.” This is a vision we have practiced since my coming here, but really have taken up to this definition since the late 1990’s and have attempted to formulate our strategy based off of each segment.

Since 1999, we have launched 17 new churches worldwide, which have fit into the overall strategic vision of Acts 1:8. In fact, our incredible people have done this on every inhabited country of the world for the glory of Jesus Christ. My conversation yesterday was with our Global Missions Pastor, Doug Sarver, my two Summer Assistants and future pastors, Matt Stewart and Michael Guyer, and also, a young man who is one of my heroes.

Brad Graves is one of my heroes, a 32 year-old strategic church launcher. Brad is leading the “Cleveland Hope” emphasis for Southern Baptists, targeting the beginning of 22 churches in the city of Cleveland, Ohio, over a two year period of time. Brad met Christ through our ministry his senior year of high school. He was called to preach in our ministry. He was discipled by this ministry, and I have personally spent days and hours with him. Upon completing studies at Southeastern Seminary, we helped Brad launch a church in the state of New Hampshire, where Brad stayed for six years doing a phenomenal work in the New England Baptist Convention. I recommended Brad to Randy Chestnut of the Cleveland region as well as to the North American Mission Board to lead this Cleveland Strategic Focus City effort in the launching of these new churches. How God has blessed!

Brad is coming up to his first year of completion in July and has at least 19 of the 22 churches committed to begin! This is unprecedented! I am so proud of him. He told me that he believes he may be able to mobilize the launching of 25 churches in a region that has not done this before at this level. The power of God is evident through this visionary church launcher and friend. Pray for he and Becky and their young twin sons, as they have paid a heavy price the last seven years serving as some of our heroes. I respect and love him so much. He ignited all of our faith yesterday! Pray for Brad Graves.

We spent much of our time yesterday formulating an initial strategy for the city of San Diego. We are praying through becoming the sponsor of their English speaking Flagship Church for the Strategic Focus City in 2009-2010. This is an entirely new level of commitment, but I want our church to do this in the 7th largest city in America. Why? It helps fulfill our mission! I want to help launch a great church that becomes a church multiplication center for the launching of many churches in years to come! Pray for us as we pray through and believe God is all over this for our church. We are so blessed and we want to engage the right opportunity that God has placed before us. Can you imagine this? Your church launching a major church in San Diego, California. Mission teams, vacation time, and even some of our people relocating there to help launch it for Jesus Christ! All of this would need to begin in 2008 at some point. Pray for us as we move towards this dream.

You are truly a great people of God, very committed to the mission of global evangelization. I am so proud of you and believe in you!