Conventional wisdom- If you want your church to be healthy, set some goals and then develop and execute actions plans designed to accomplish the goals. This approach seems totally logical on the surface, but the problem is that “health” might be the wrong thing to focus on.

First of all, what is the definition of a healthy church? Is it determined by model, style, numbers, income, age, etc.? You really can’t find a “chapter and verse” definition of a healthy church. So the goal “to be healthy” is inherantly fuzzy.

Then there is the problem of focus. Trying be a “healthy church” places the focus on the institution of the church rather than the mission of God.

Then, there is the “paradox of cool.” By this I mean that when someone aspires to be “cool” then they are most assuredly not. The very effort to be cool makes any manifestation of “coolness” feel contrived. They appear to be trying too hard. Cool people just are “cool,” because they fundamentally have the characteristics that those around them dub “cool.”

It seems to me that there is a “paradox of health.” Churches that make health their aspiration, end up feeling contrived and artificial. They seem to be asking the wrong question…”how can we be healthy?”

Kingdom wisdom- Authentic church health might start with the question, “How can we be with God on his Mission?”

To paraphrase Matthew quoting Jesus… we should seek His Kingdom and His righteousness first and we will get everything else right.

Instead of setting out to be “healthy,” perhaps the secret to church health is to pursue God’s Kingdom and righteousness. Church “health” becomes the by-product of a healthy pursuit. Paradoxically, we are not healthy because we try to be healthy but rather we become healthy because we act in healthy ways. 

I’m at 35,000 feet headed home from yet another outstanding BootCamp. The host district was Peninsular Florida ably led by my friend Superintendent Terry Raburn. Terry and I go way back to days of yore in the Peninsular Florida District when he was the “DCAP”(for you youngsters out there, that stands for “District Christ Ambassadors President”) and I was the Youth Pastor at Evangel Temple in Jacksonville, Florida. The host church was Life Assembly of God, a strong community of disciples led by an anointed and cool dude named Duke Matlock.  Duke is the sectional presbyter and a big advocates of church planting. Life Assembly is located in the Orlando metro area of Central Florida where Mickey and Minnie also make their home.

Church planter extraordinaire Larry Mederich served as the lead facilitator. He was joined by Joel Hunter, Ben Hodge and Tim Satryan. (That’s me with Joel in the picture to the left.) As always, Debbie Armstrong kept the “train from jumping the tracks” by exercising her great gift of administration.

This BootCamp was unique in several aspects.

First, the timing. In just about a year from now, thousands of AG leaders from across the nation will convene in Orlando for General Council. Starting new vigorous churches will be a strong focus of this next council. Many of the projects represented at this camp will be in the early phases of their public launch and it’s my hope that the level of support and prayer for these and future church plants to come will be significantly increased because of the increased visibility given to planting next year back here in Orlando.

Second, the diversity. This particular camp was the most ethnically diverse camp that I personally have been a part of. Representatives from the General Council of Trinidad attended hoping to learn more about how to provide a greater degree of support for their church planters. A wonderful variety of leaders planting ethnic churches in the US were also present- including Korean, Filipino and Hispanic. The room looked a little bit like heaven. This was very encouraging to me because US population is trending toward an increasing diversity of ethnicity and the church cannot afford to ignore the trend.

Third, the challenges. It seems like we encountered an unusual number of obstacles leading up to this camp, not the least of which was Tim Satryan’s trip to the airport on his way to the BootCamp. Tim was in a serious accident (air bags deployed) that totaled his car. Incredibly, he was fine and some friends happened by the accident scene and were able to give him a ride to the airport so he could make his flight. OK, Tim you get first prize in several categories- Most Determined to Be at the BootCamp, Most Dangerous yet Anointed Facilitator and perhaps Most Macho Man Amongst Us.

Bottom line- I continue to see incredibly encouraging signs that God is with us and has amazing plans for our future. I’m doing everything I can to be obedient and stay on track with Him!

In 2003 there were 4 Assembly of God churches in the United States established for the primary purpose of reaching immigrants from the continent of Africa. Today, there are over 60 such churches and there are soon to be a whole bunch more. And they won’t just be reaching African immigrants. These churches are poised to be part of a God’s intention to expand His Kingdom into the hearts of millions of Americans from all perspectives, nations and backgrounds.

How do I know this? I spent all day Wednesday with a powerful group of African leaders who believe God has sent them to America to start hundreds of multicultural communities of faith that will be characterized by tenacious faith and persistent prayer. They invited me to come meet with them to discuss how they might partner with the Church Multiplication Network to multiply the church in the United States.

You may not be aware that the Assemblies of God has 18 Ethnic Fellowships representing groups of immigrants who are now living in the United States. These Fellowships are not “districts” unto themselves. Rather they provide a point of contact and connection for immigrants from a variety of nations and regions of the world. Some of the Ethnic Fellowships include Tongan, Samoan, etc. I wrote about a meeting of all the Presidents in another recent post on this blog.

The president of the African Fellowship is Samuel Asiedu. Samuel’s country of origin is Ghana, but he may be best known as the leader of the Nigerian Decade of Harvest. Under his leadership, the number of Nigerian Assemblies of God churches nearly doubled. Samuel believes God can do even greater things in the United States.

After spending just a few hours with these wonderful brothers and sisters, I have to agree with him. Everything these friends do is bathed in prayer. It occurred to me that people like me, whose country of origin is the United States, have much to learn from these wonderful folks who come from a cultural place with characteristics and strengths that I need to be influenced by. They are eager to share their passion for God, their penchant for prayer, their commitment to personal relationship and their faith that God is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all we can ask or think! At the same time, they manifest a spirit of humility and an eagerness to learn from others. They are humble teachers and teachable friends.

I came away thinking, “God is good and He is up to something wonderful!”