Hamish's Material - great!

I finally got the chance to read through Hamish's directed study and philosophy of ministry (thanks so much, Hamish, for sharing that with us). It gave me a better perspective on the background of the church in NZ and of the Restoration Movement there in particular (honestly, I was very interested). I was filled with still more conviction that church planting in New Zealand is a tremendous need and that the harvest is ripe.
I am certainly new to studying the whole church planting option, but Hamish's thoughts and convictions really resonate with the things I have been reading and thinking about. Reading through the material, I see that God has given Hamish a great passion and drive for planting a church in his country. This, coupled with the humility and giftedness we've seen in him, provides fertile soil with which God can plant a church and receive His glory.
Jeremiah 29:11

Barna Research

Hey guys,
I was researching something and came across these articles. I thought they were interesting, so check them out if you want. Of course, they are based on research on Americans, so they cannot be translated completely into another culture, but they still provide much insight:
http://www.barna.org/FlexPage.aspx?Page=BarnaUpdate&BarnaUpdateID=202

http://www.barna.org/FlexPage.aspx?Page=BarnaUpdate&BarnaUpdateID=229

P.S. Joe - this is the website where we got a lot of our research that we took the Elders through when we did the demographic studies we were telling you about. If you click on Barna Updates and then on "All Updates," you can browse through topics and print off any that you think are relevant. If you already knew all of this, I apologize for insulting your intelligence. :-)

A Church Planting Motto

I have spent much of the afternoon lying on Joe's sister's bed "recovering" from a wild bachlorette party for Joe's mom (for me the recovering was just in staying up way too late!) and recovering from a sinus infection and finishing What's So Amazing about Grace? Each chapter I read seems to get better and to offer more insight to me. There were two things that really stuck out to me in the 19th chapter. There is one part that talks about how Joseph Stalin tried to set up a village in Poland in order to try to show the promise of communism, (the description of this little set up reminded me of the Pegasus model). He knew he could not change the entire country at once so he started small. Yancey went on to compare this to how Christians should use the same approach in a secular society. "Perhaps Christians should work harder toward establishing colonies of the kingdom that point to our true home. All too often the church holds up a mirror reflecting back the society around it rather than a window revealing a different way." I love this next part, I shared it with Joe and we both saw so much truth in it yet didn't see it as something that the church consistently does. " If the world despises a notorious sinner, the church will love her. If the world cuts off aid to the poor and the suffering, the church will offer food and healing. If the world oppresses, the church will raise up the oppressed. If the world shames a social outcast, the church will proclaim God's reconciling love. If the world seeks profit and self-fulfillment, the church seeks sacrifice and service. If the world demands retribution, the church dispenses grace. If the world splinters into factions, the church joins together in unity. If the world destroys its enemies, the church loves them." Isn't that what a church should look like? Isn't that what our aim should be not only right now, but in the possibility of starting a new church? What if these really were our goals...It's interesting that you can replace the word "church" in that statement with "Jesus"... No matter what stronghold we are facing or no matter which battle we feel like we are fighting, our focus should be on one thing, Jesus, and to be like Him we will see that our hearts will be compelled to help and to love, not to judge, condemn, or to push our agenda. In reading this I couldn't help but imagine what our potential group could look like if our focus was to do nothing but love others the way that Jesus loved them. It sounds so simple, but if we really carried this out I don't think it would be simple, but I do think it would be life-changing. Jesus loved in such a radical way. I read that list of things that the church should be doing and I am guilty of not carrying out many of these things. I am guilty of judging and condemning instead of loving for and praying for and actually helping. I was thinking how that would be such a cool foundation to start a church on...And then I realized hello!...This is straight from the Gospel! You can read through the account of Jesus' life and find scripture after scripture to support this description of what the church should be doing! Essentially this is and should be the church that shows the love of Christ to the world...Are we ready to step up to that challenge?

(The second thing that stood out to me will come later...this first point got a little long!!)

We have Barney (The Big Purple Pen)

A Happy Mom's Day Weekend For Us

We're back! We had a fun weekend with Whitney's family. We played Rook. Whitney and I were on a team once and we rocked! Her brother graduated from Akron U on Saturday. He's a smart cookie...sharp. We consumed a lot of good food...most of which was bad for us. We got to play with Gracie, Whitney's niece. That was fun...except for the part when she had a poop-explosion all over the car. Here's the sitch: It was Whitney, the baby, and me in the car for a 2.5 hour drive back from the graduation. Gracie had already planted a doosey in her diaper about 20 minutes into the drive, so Whitney changed her at a gas station. About 30 minutes later, the baby gets a weird look on her face and releases. She starts to cry and it's over. The diaper was not big enough to hold it all in. It was everywhere and it smelled SO BAD! And to top it all off, WE HAD NO MORE DIAPERS! We had to drive another 45 minutes in agony to the nearest Wal-Mart. I felt sorry for Whitney because she was sitting in the back seat next to the poop monster making "I can't breathe through my nose" noises. When we arrived at Wal-Mart I went to buy more diapers and clean out the nasty car (I gaged twice and threw up a little in my mouth) while Whitney wraped a plastic bag around Gracie's butt and legs (to hide the oozing poop) and went to change her in the bathroom. We loved it sooo much. Talk about birth control...that pushed our baby-having window back at least 2 years...maybe to the status of NO-BABY-HAVING-EVER. At least we didn't have Rory in the car with us...and it wasn't our car. I hope you guys had a good weekend. Get it?

Also, I left a couple of comments...one about our meeting under the Response post, one update under the Acts 29 post.

Response

Hey guys,

I have already gotten a response from some people who I shared the email with. Here is what they said...


Joe,Thanks for the update. I think I could do a meeting on the 16th. Obviously a Cincinnnati meeting would be most convenient for some of us, but I am open to Indy. Let me know.I am excited about what God is doing in your lives. And, yes, he knows what is ahead! Won't it be fun to discover what he has in mind?

Blessings,Jeff
___________________________________________________________________

I talked to Hamish briefly and he was very pleased with the way the conversation went when you all got together in Indianapolis. He is also looking forward to meeting again before he and Molly leave for NZ. As far as meeting with you all, I could possibly do it on the 16th of June but definitely not on the 17th. That day we are having a 90th birthday celebration for my mother-in-law here in Cincinnati. Bill
_________________________________________________________________
Hey Joe,Glad to hear that you are still moving forward with things. I look forward to meeting with you.Let me know if there is anything I can do before than.

Randy
___________________________________________________________________
Amy is a liar. She lost in rook. Badly

Joe

Well, I think I have already shared what Dick Crabtree said. He sounded somewhat interrested about the meeting on the phone, but then suggested Louisville. I doubt he will make it, but you never know with a guy like him. I don't know him very well but already I look up to him alot. I think we have an awesome board, particullarly the men we have worked with so far.
I am going to start to try praying for them on a regular basis. It hadn't occured to me earlier, but they are very responsible for what we do, so I think it is a good idea.

Have fun in Ohio.

May 9

Hey guys,

I am really excited about what God is doing with all of us (although I don't know what that means yet). Hamish and Molly, I was very impressed by both of you and I feel like we all 'cliqued' well. Here is a copy of an email I just sent to Richard Crabtree, Jeff Metzger, Bill Weber and Randall Brooks;

Dear Richard, Jeff, Bill, & Randall,

Thank you all for your support, guidance, and encouragement in our effort to participate in what God is doing in New Zealand. We are encouraged all the time that, even though we do not know exactly what we are doing, God does. It seems to me that God is working in spite of our inexperience and difficulties to show that if anything great does happen it will be Him, and not us, who deserves all the credit.

At the suggestion of Jeff and Bill, Amy and I drove to Indianapolis to meet with Nate & Whitney Hutchison and (the soon to be wed couple) Hamish Taylor and Molly Vance about a possible partnership in church planting. As you know, Amy and I had been praying about and discussing working as a team with the Hutchisons when Jeff and Bill suggested we involve Hamish and Molly in that discussion. Last night we all met together for the first time since meeting with Bill and Jeff and were very impressed with Hamish and Molly. It was clear that they are both very gifted individuals with a passion to serve God, particularly in New Zealand.

I think I speak for all of us when I say that we are excited about what God can do with all of us working together. We plan to meet again after Amy and I speak with Randall and Mikki on June 4, but before Hamish and Molly leave for New Zealand. The best dates for all of us are June 16 and 17, in either Cincinnati or Indianapolis. Although these dates are still uncertain, we would like to invite all of you to come and meet with us as we discuss future plans on that date.

Once again, thank you all for your continued help. Please realize that you are all welcome to ask questions, make suggestions and guide us in any way you see fit.

In Fellowship,
Joe Flammer

As soon as I hit "send" the phone rang and it was Richard Crabtree. We had a brief but very encouraging conversation. He is excited about the possibility of us all working together. He also was hopeful that we could all make it to the NACC for the SPCF meeting there on Wednesday, June 28 at 1:30. He said as official "recruits" the Hutchisons and Amy and I would be able to stay for every aspect of the meeting. I informed them that I think Hamish and Molly will have returned to NZ by then.

In summary, I am excited to see what God has planned.

Mars Hill Church and the Acts 29 network

I spoke with Joe this morning on the phone about something he heard on a sermon mp3 from Mars Hill Church. The speaker mentioned something about getting a note from someone explaining that the churches in New Zealand were doing well. We weren't sure what that meant, so I looked into it online. I didn't come up with anything solid about Mars Hill being involved in church plants in New Zealand, so I wrote them an email asking about it. I'll let you guys know what they say when or if I hear from them. Keep checking the comments under this post for more info on that situation.
I did, however, read a lot about their church planting vision and support organization: The Acts 29 Network. Since there are 28 chapters in the book of Acts, their name and vision reflect the idea of continuing biblical church planting as outlined in Acts. Their goal is to plant 1000 churches all over the world by a certain date. While we may not totally line up with all of Mars Hill's doctrine, church plants within their network vary in some of these minor doctrinal issues. They do require, however, that their plants line up under their major doctrinal values - theology that I don't think we would disagree with. They provide coaching, networking and funding from other church plants, assessments, and even something called boot camp. I think it is worth looking into. There are no annual dues or fees for their church plants. They do require that 10% of the church plant's income be designated to helping other church plants within the network. That money goes directly to an acts29 churchplant of their choice. Anyway, I don't want to give TMI. Take a look at their website when you get a chance and share your thoughts.
www.acts29network.org

May 8 was Great!

I just wanted to say "Thanks!" to all of you for traveling so far to meet in Indy. Nate and I enjoyed hosting all of you, and, needless to say, Rory had a great time, too. You are all more than welcome to stop by anytime you are in town or passing through.

Sharing thoughts

I am really excited to go to see you guys and our friends from CCU next week. Espescially since we will be going to Olive Garden for dinner. (You guys might not know this about me, but I really like to eat).

I just spoke with my friend, Jason. Jason is a youth minister here in Rochester (at the other Christian church in town). He is from Kentucky, and you know how those things go, but otherwise I like him. He is an awesome preacher and he is good at ministry. He is in his early 30's and he and his wife just adopted thier first baby. I share all of this because he knows all about our NZ stuff and I told him to pray about church planting in NZ. He and his wife both seemed to be receptive to the idea. About five minutes after this we went and spoke to Mike Breaux, from Willow Creek Community Church, who was Jason's youth minister in Kentucky. Mike told Jason he should go and start a new church someplace.

Anyway, I am getting together with Jason on Friday to discuss the idea of partnering with our team in some way. Whether that means joining our team and being the preacher/leader or coming alongside us to pastor a second campus, I don't know, so pray about it and give me your thoughts. Also, ask questions about this. I hope this move was not presumptious, and if it was I can push the meeting back. I am still not sure what all I am going to say.

I look forward to seeing you all soon.

Joey

May 8th update for all you bic bac bloggers

If you're reading this before your email, I did hear back from Hamish and Molly. Here is what they said...

Dear Nate and Whitney,

May 8th sounds great. We're both looking forward to meeting with you and feeling out what God wants to do with us all! Do we know what time and where yet? Our evening schedule is flexible and we would love to hang to out with you guys after dinner. We do need to get back to school that night, but thanks for the offer to stay the night!

God Bless!

Hamish and Molly

I replied with Olive Garden or Bob Evans (both in Avon) at 5:30pm. Which one do you guys like better? Let us know and I'll confirm everything with Hamish and Molly and give them directions. If you're still planning to get here at 5:00pm, you guys could meet at our house and ride with us to the restaurant if you want.