For pastors in a country like Haiti, conferences like the recent Churches Helping Churches gathering are extremely rare. I had the privilege of sitting in on this event, and it was clear that these men enjoyed the opportunity to worship and connect with others dealing with similar challenges.

Here is a glimpse at some of the unique trials and temptations that confront pastors on a regular basis in Haiti—and no doubt many other countries suffering from poverty and natural disaster:

Extreme Tragedy

Every pastor in Haiti is dealing with major physical and emotional needs. One pastor lost 27 people in his congregation. Others are trying to take care of children orphaned by the quake.

Isolation

In most cases, these pastors represent the only leadership for their church, and they now face the long-term challenge of training additional leaders amidst multiple crises demanding immediate attention.

Power and Control

Pastors in Haiti face numerous social demands. For the most part, the role of pastor is a well-respected position within the community. The temptation to abuse this status increases when disaster strikes; in Haiti, aid resources are often distributed through the church structure. What can be a great opportunity to show the love of Jesus can also be a temptation to personally benefit at the expense of those who need help.

Poverty

Most of the pastors in Haiti are bi-vocational. The churches are filled with impoverished members who can give very little, so the pastor must work multiple jobs to feed his family and care for the church. To make matters worse, in a cash and commodity-driven economy, bribes are everywhere. The pastor needs much wisdom and discernment to lead well amidst socially acceptable corruption.

In Proverbs 20:5 fashion, the teaching team at the Haiti Conference did a wonderful job of drawing the pastors out and calling them to respond to Jesus, to find their hope in his finished work on the cross. Jesus is our common Head, and the church in Haiti shares our same need for his redemptive work done on our behalf.

Sin and temptation may vary from pastor to pastor and culture to culture, but the answer is always the same: Jesus. In this way we are more alike than different, but now that you perhaps know something more of their specific struggles, please pray for our brothers stewarding the gospel under particularly difficult physical circumstances.

You can see more photos from the CHC pastor's retreat on Flickr.

Find Pastor Jamie on Facebook and Twitter.

Churches Helping Churches

Who will help local churches in the wake of catastrophes? You can. Learn more here.

When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, what is man that you are mindful of him, and the son of man that you care for him?
–Proverbs 8:3–4

We often care about other people’s opinion more than we care about God’s opinion. We worry about our status among fellow humans because we fail to grasp our identity in Jesus. When we fear man, we’re vulnerable. (I addressed this issue recently in a sermon about The Parable of the Sower—how fear of man keeps us from bearing fruit in our lives.)

“The fear of man lays a snare,” the Bible says, “but whoever trusts in the Lord is safe” (Proverbs 29:25). Here are eight consequences—snares—that can result from fear of man:

1. Idolatry. When we care about what man thinks more than what God thinks, we turn people into idols that we worship—seeking to please them in order to earn their approval or respect.
2. Ineffectiveness. When we fear man we neglect God’s calling for us and we lose focus on executing the tasks in front of us because we’re too preoccupied with what others are thinking.
3. Lack of love. When we’re overly concerned with “getting it right,” we turn people into projects to accomplish. We withhold our compassion and grow reserved and calculating in our pursuit of people.
4. Fakeness. If you’re overly motivated by the opinions of others, you won’t act like yourself. You’ll be a chameleon, adapting yourself to any situation for the sole purpose of fitting in.
5. Apathy. Fear man and you’ll quit taking risks because of the potential for embarrassment in failure. If an endeavor is unlikely to succeed, you’ll never take the chance. In other words, you’ll never do much of anything.
6. Dishonesty. It’s tough to speak truth into someone’s life because the truth can be painful. If we fear somebody’s response, however, necessary words will remain unsaid because we care more about ourselves (being liked) than we do about the person (seeing Jesus work in their life). This negligence always creates more long-term damage than the hurt it avoids in the present.
7. Isolation. Fear of man won’t let you delegate anything because others might not do a good job (or they might do a better job), which could reflect poorly on your performance and reputation. Fear of man compels you to control everything—even if that means going it alone.
8. Decision Paralysis. When we live out of fear rather than out of the convictions God has given us, we spin in circles unable to move forward.

I invite you to join me in respecting and honoring others and submitting to authority, but also in repenting of our fear of man. Fear and worship are reserved for God. In the end, only his opinion counts.

Find Pastor Jamie on Facebook and Twitter.

Total Church

Tim Chester and Steve Timmis present a vision for churches centered on gospel community. Find out more.

When a church member, ministry, department, community group, or campus has an idea for a new project, how should a pastor decide whether or not to take it on?

Rely on the Holy Spirit

For starters, we must rely heavily on the wisdom and guidance of the Holy Spirit and possess a clear understanding of our God-given mission:

Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age (Matt. 28:19–20).

At Mars Hill Church we are working to make disciples and plant churches in order to fulfill the Great Commission of Jesus—as well as his prophecy in Acts 1:9, “You will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”

Separate Good Ideas From Bad Ones

Theology and mission (the primary filters for any proposal) are found in the Bible. When it comes to implementation and methods, however, God gives us as leaders a lot of freedom to establish best practices and separate the good ideas from the bad.

As part of this decision-making process I filter proposals through this framework:

In order for a proposed idea to fly:

• The mission must align with our biblical mandate.
• The vision must be clear, compelling, and theologically sound.
• Leadership must be identified to lead, promote, and communicate the vision.
• A reasonable strategy must be designed that addresses how the vision will be accomplished.
• Good management of the resources (time, money, people) must be apparent to guide the project to completion.

Strong projects (and organizations, for that matter) give adequate attention to each of these five key ingredients. A proposal worth implementing addresses each one.

Missional Ecclesiology

Re:Train professor Gregg Allison explains the missional church in his blog series on Missional Ecclesiology.

An opportunity on the horizon nearly always coincides with opposition.

Opposition is diverse and relentless and, if given all of your time, deadly. Perspective dies as the opposition blurs our vision. Hope can die as the opposition becomes weightier than the opportunity. Fatigue can kill you if you spend more time running from the opposition than pursuing the opportunity.

By opposition I don’t mean some nebulous “bad guy” that doesn’t like what you’re trying to do. I’m referring to the long list of things that battle contrary to our opportunities.

Danger…Danger…Danger

Take the Apostle Paul for instance. His life and ministry were filled with opportunities to preach the gospel, plant churches, and lead people to Jesus. What sort of opposition did he face? He lists a few in 2 Corinthians 11:24–28:

• Five times I received at the hands of the Jews the forty lashes less one. Three times I was beaten with rods. Once I was stoned. Three times I was shipwrecked; a night and a day I was adrift at sea; on frequent journeys, in danger from rivers, danger from robbers, danger from my own people, danger from Gentiles, danger in the city, danger in the wilderness, danger at sea, danger from false brothers; in toil and hardship, through many a sleepless night, in hunger and thirst, often without food, in cold and exposure. And, apart from other things, there is the daily pressure on me of my anxiety for all the churches.

Repent and Trust

Not many people have a comparable resume, but nevertheless there are true costs associated with pursuing the opportunities to which Jesus calls us. The costs are inevitable, and this isn’t an excuse to avoid opportunity, rather a call to discern and choose wisely what to pursue.

When our sin is the opposition, we need to be quick to repent. When the opposition is external, we need to trust God and proceed boldly.

"Be Strong in the Lord"

Jesus opens up significant opportunities to preach the gospel and glorify him. Be wise and be ready. Expect opposition, but don’t be afraid. “Be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might” (Eph. 6:10).

Jamie Munson is the Lead Pastor of Mars Hill Church. You can connect with him on Facebook and Twitter.

Resurgence RSS Feed

Subscribe to the Resurgence syndicated feed and have all our content delivered straight to your feed reader. Find out more.

Every opportunity comes with opposition, and we must rely on God’s wisdom to proceed with any opportunity. This involves a careful examination of time and energy, which begs the question: Do you know your priorities?

Yes vs. No

Many of us wrestle with people-pleasing and a reluctance to say “no,” but sometimes it’s the only possible answer.

If you say yes to everything, you will spread yourself thin and perhaps miss truly beneficial opportunities while fulfilling less meaningful requests. You’ll see better opportunities come and go; with no margin available you’ll be trapped by foolish commitments.

On the other hand, if you don’t know your priorities you may never confidently commit to the work God’s called you to, out of fear that a better opportunity may come along. In other words, inaction and action can both be sinful.

Prepare Yourself for Action

Aligning your decision-making with a set of pre-determined priorities is critical. If your priorities aren’t defined up front, then when the opportunities come you’ll respond hastily—usually adding another plate to the pile.

“Yes” is the right decision sometimes, but how do you know? For starters, consider whether or not the opportunity compromises or enhances your priorities.

These Are Your Priorities

In its simplest form, the Christian’s priority list is:

1. Jesus
2. Spouse (if applicable)
3. Children (if applicable)
4. Ministry/Vocation

If you clarify your priorities ahead of time, you’ll be able to reject empty opportunities much faster and consider helpful opportunities more wisely. You may not do as much, but you will do it better.

Jamie Munson is the Lead Pastor of Mars Hill Church. You can connect with him on Facebook and Twitter.

Rain City Hymnal

The first offering from Re:Sound is the Rain City Hymnal. Listen online and get the record from the Re:Sound website. Find out more.

Pastors are called to love, serve, and lead through the opportunities that lay in front of us. With so many paths to choose—and with opposition at every turn—every day becomes a complicated exercise in wisdom and discernment.


Go Ask God


Overwhelmed with the never-ending list of things I could do, I find myself often praying Solomon’s words in 1 Kings 3:8–10:

And your servant is in the midst of your people whom you have chosen, a great people, too many to be numbered or counted for multitude. Give your servant therefore an understanding mind to govern your people, that I may discern between good and evil, for who is able to govern this your great people?

And also James 1:5: “If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives 
generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him.”


Be Desperate


If a ministry leader—or any Christian, for that matter—doesn’t find themselves in desperate 
need of God’s wisdom and discernment, I’d be really concerned. No human can wade through the opportunities in front of him or her without God’s wisdom. When we try, that’s usually when our proud hearts fall.

What Would Jesus Not Do?

When reading the Gospels I’m stunned at Jesus’ ability to listen to the Holy Spirit and wisely and perfectly say “no” to some needs and “yes” to others.

For instance, in Luke 4:42-44, Jesus clearly understands his call and the need to continue moving and preaching throughout all of Judea. He could have stayed there in Capernaum, set up shop, and spent the rest of his ministry helping and healing those who came to him. But he didn’t. Through wisdom he said “no” despite a long line of needy people pursuing him.

How desperately we need the same attentive heart to the Holy Spirit’s leading and the wisdom to say no when that’s the right answer, even though it may ruffle some feathers.

Jamie Munson is the Lead Pastor of Mars Hill Church. You can connect with him on Facebook and Twitter.

Religion Saves

Pastor Mark answers the top nine most-asked questions in Religion Saves: And Nine Other Misconceptions. Find out more.

One of the most difficult aspects of my work as a pastor is wading through the vast amount of ministry opportunities that seem to be never-ending.

Opportunity Is Everywhere

For church leaders, every day brings a barrage of ideas and decisions related to potential opportunities. They come from everywhere: God, the Bible, church staff, Sunday services, a restful vacation, the congregation, the web, the news, a walk down the street, and on and on.

I’ve found that every opportunity is fraught with some form of opposition.


Opportunity and Opposition


You don’t have to get far into the Bible to see the tension between opportunity and opposition. Our forefather Adam is created and given an enormous opportunity from God: “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth” (Gen. 1:28).

Those with an entrepreneurial bent get pretty excited when reading about an opportunity of such grandiose potential—being the first to inhabit the entire earth. Read a little further, however, and the opposition is readily apparent. In this case Adam and Eve are opposed and tempted by Satan, and they’re also opposed by their sinful desire to be like God, knowing good and evil.

Of course, our first parents do sin, and all future opportunities are forever changed by the curse upon humanity. For the man specifically, his work to “fill the earth and subdue it” is a lot harder now that the earth is at war against him, broken and fallen from its luscious garden state.

You Are Cursed

The same call and the same curse that burdened Adam remain in place for all of us, which means that effectively evaluating opportunities is no easy task.

Three key filters can help separate fruitful opportunity from sinful distraction: wisdom, priorities, and cost. I’ll discuss these biblical principles in future posts.

Jamie Munson is the Lead Pastor of Mars Hill Church. You can connect with him on Facebook and Twitter.

Advance 09 Media

Video, audio, and images from the Advance 09 conference in Raleigh-Durham, NC, June 2009. Find out more.

He gave a small fortune. She gave a few pennies.

From wealthy Theophilus to the poor widow, all of us fall somewhere on the spectrum and can learn from what these two have in common: a heart for Jesus. With the Generous Campaign well underway, I thought it would be worthwhile to draw on their example in order to remind us of the how and the why of giving.

Are you a Theophilus?

At the very beginning of the Luke series, we met Theophilus, whose name means “love of God.” The Gospel of Luke (and the book of Acts) is dedicated to Theophilus, who most likely funded Luke’s effort to chronicle the life of Jesus and the early church.

As Pastor Mark has pointed out, this represents hundreds of thousands of dollars in time and travel, research and writing. With the help of Theophilus’ contribution, Luke wrote the majority of the New Testament.

In our day, we hope to continue sharing the truth of Jesus with the world. Like Theophilus, are you willing to sacrifice a chunk of your fortune for the benefit of thousands of people waiting to hear about Jesus?

The Widow’s Offering

Though we can all sacrifice as Theophilus did, not everyone can give in substantial amounts. But Luke’s Gospel speaks to the poor as well.

“Jesus looked up and saw the rich putting their gifts into the offering box, and he saw a poor widow put in two small copper coins. And he said, ‘Truly I tell you, this poor widow has put in more than all of them. For they all contributed out of their abundance, but she out of her poverty put in all she had to live on’” (Luke 21:1–4).

Like the widow, are you willing to joyfully trust Jesus with your life, and, out of love for him, sacrifice more than just your abundance?

Means Don’t Matter

The ministry of Mars Hill Church requires money, but we ultimately rely on Jesus to sustain us, not individual donors. The Generous Campaign—and church giving in general—is about the heart, not the budget.

“For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also,” Jesus said (Luke 12:34). We must all ask ourselves regularly where our heart is. Is your heart for you, or is it for Jesus—and does your giving align with your answer?

If you don’t know Jesus, take advantage of Theophilus’ gift. Study the Bible and learn about our good God. If you do know Jesus, we invite you to give cheerfully, sacrificially, and generously so that we can show everyone how good he is.

Find Pastor Jamie on Facebook and Twitter.

If you’ve benefited from the Resurgence, please consider giving so that we can continue our mission of training missional leaders. To do so, go to marshillchurch.org/give and give to the Global Fund.

Advance 09 Media

Video, audio, and images from the Advance 09 conference in Raleigh-Durham, NC, June 2009. Find out more.

Here at Mars Hill Church, we’re kicking off a major effort to raise funds for a number of local ministry needs and our global effort to see as many churches and disciples of Jesus as possible.

It’s called the Generous Campaign, and it’s modeled on the idea that since God has been generous to us, we ought to be a generous people (2 Cor. 9:11–12). In a previous post we’ve reflected on the numerous ways that God has blessed Mars Hill, Acts 29, and the Resurgence over this past year.

Be Generous

If you’ve been blessed by these free resources, we’re asking you to consider giving to the Mars Hill Global Fund to support these ministries. The Global Fund will go to starting new Mars Hill campuses, planting new churches with the Acts 29 Network, providing more free resources online, and training more leaders through the Resurgence.

Global Giving Match: $1 Million

Thanks to one particularly generous family at Mars Hill Church, all contributions to the Global Fund will be matched up to $1 million total. That means if we can raise $1 million during the next few weeks, $2 million will go to our worldwide effort to plant as many churches and make as many disciples of Jesus as possible (Matt. 28:19; Acts 1:8; 1 Cor. 9:22–23).

It’s All About Jesus

Our desire to expand and build is not an effort to promote Mars Hill Church. It’s not about promoting the Resurgence, the blog, the books, the music, or the conferences. We’re training leaders, planting churches, and starting new campuses so that more people can meet Jesus. That’s it. God has blessed us with a finite number of days and resources, and we want to do our best to use all of it to tell everyone about Jesus.

If you’ve benefited from the Resurgence, please consider giving so that we can continue our mission of training missional leaders. To do so, go to marshillchurch.org/give and give to the Global Fund.

Find Pastor Jamie on Facebook and Twitter.

Death By Love

Mark Driscoll and Gerry Breshears tackle some of the most serious redemptive aspects of Jesus' work in these twelve letters of counsel to individuals. Find out more.

Here at Mars Hill Church, we’re kicking off a major effort to raise funds for a number of local ministry needs and our global effort to see as many churches and disciples of Jesus as possible.

Why? Because God has been generous to us.

As we’ve learned in the beginning of Luke’s Gospel, there’s a biblical pattern of God’s goodness and our response (see Mary’s song in Luke 1:46–55 and Zechariah’s prophecy in Luke 1:67–79):

• Historical – God acts in space and time, and people reflect on what he has done.
• Theological – God’s actions reveal his character to us. As we reflect on what God has done and what he has said about himself, we learn more about him.
• Biographical – What we learn about God changes how we live.
• Doxological – God’s actions, who he is, and how he has changed our lives lead us to respond in worship.

We’ve modeled the Generous Campaign after this pattern, and so as we begin I’d like to reflect on the incredible ways God has blessed Mars Hill Church, Acts 29, and the Resurgence in 2009.

Baptisms

As a church we baptized over 575 people in 2009. We saw fathers baptizing their sons and daughters, husbands baptizing their wives, drug dealers leaving lives of crime for Jesus, victims of abuse finding redemption in Christ, and men abandoning prolonged adolescence in order to follow Jesus.

New Campuses

We launched two new campuses and one new service location in September. With the addition of campuses in Federal Way and Albuquerque, and a new gathering at the University of Washington, what started in a living room with a small group of people has grown to nine campuses in two states.

Free Resources

Pastor Mark’s sermons were downloaded 4.4 million times in the last year. Every day we receive encouraging emails from around the globe—Australia, the UK, Africa, Brazil, New York, Chicago, and Los Angeles almost daily. Jesus has used the internet to distribute the Bible preaching we enjoy every Sunday to millions of people worldwide.

New Church Plants

The Acts 29 Church Planting Network is averaging one church plant per week. God has been gracious to bring great men and leaders to the network to further its work. We’ve now planted almost 300 churches around the globe.

Acts 29 Boot Camps

We’ve trained thousands of pastors throughout America and beyond our borders, thanks to the help of Acts 29 and many generous churches within the network. Some of our Mars Hill pastors even got into the mix and helped train pastors in Ecuador.

Re:Train

This year marks the official start to our missional leadership school. An inaugural class of 75 men from around the country have been coming to learn from a top-notch faculty: Bruce Ware, John Piper, Gregg Allison, Bill Clem, Sam Storms, Ed Stetzer, and Mark Driscoll. Each of the 75 men represents future church planters, pastors, and leaders. The global Church is important to us, and we want to train and raise up as many men as possible for the difficult task ahead.

Re:Lit & Re:Sound

This past year we’ve published a diverse batch of media, including the books Vintage Church and Religion Saves, the e-books Porn-Again Christian and Pastor Dad, and the Rain City Hymnal. God has blessed us with great ministry partners, editors, graphic designers, and musicians that we’re thankful to have at Mars Hill.

All of this is in addition to hundreds of marriages, new babies, restored relationships, and the thousands of little stories that we don’t even hear about.

We serve a hugely generous and wholly gracious God. As I look out over the scope and depth of what God has done and is doing, I can’t help but be completely humbled, thankful, and moved to worship. I hope you are too.

Find Pastor Jamie on Facebook and Twitter.

One way you can be generous to the Resurgence is by doing your Christmas shopping at Amazon through our Recommended Reading page.

Mars Hill Global

Serving the church and spreading the gospel. Help support this effort by giving to the Global Fund. More info at MarsHillGlobal.com.