Heart stirring...

American soldier returned from Iraq speaks to Mr. Obama

The very end choked me up!

Is Obama being sued for not presenting his birth certificate and other documents to the public?

Check out the video on You Tube

Can someone help me to confirm if this is true or not?

As of October 31, I can confirm this is true -but his birth certificate is valid according to snopes.com

He did have the American flag removed from his jet during refurbishment and he replaced the flag with his own symbol.

Why we should all be concerned..

In a recent Washington Times article, "Why even the pious are leaving" should raise concern for all of us. Julia Duin, "a veteran reporter and the religion editor for the Washington times, has written an eye-opening account of one of the most vexing problems of our time: Americans even the most pious, are leaving their churches in droves."

Some facts Julia points out.

According to Barna, the number of unchurched is increasing by a rate of one million per year.

The youth especially, are not finding solace in contemporary churches. The author notes that at the current pace, only 4 percent of America's teens will end up as Bible believers. This is in sharp contrast to 35 percent of baby boomers and 65 percent of World War II generations.

THE PLANTER: While Julia does a good job pointing out the problems of the Church she has little to offer regarding solutions. What solutions do you recommend to deal with this American Church crisis? Let's put some stuff on the table. While contemplating your answers or suggestions, please remember that God is showing up all around the world in Acts 2 Pentecost fashion except America. What is missing? Why other places and why not America? Could it be that the answer is in the Word of God and that answer has always been the answer to unleash the Pentecost power of God among us? What are we missing?

Tell us what you think?

I asked for prayer and God heard the prayers

Thanks for praying, the weekend was a huge success.

Our neighbor gathering - fishing contest was huge. It was a great time also around the campfire. All who wanted to catch fish did so. The largest fish caught was a 13 ½ inch large mouth bass caught by 8 or 9 year old Timothy. The most fish were caught by 4 year old Benjamin. Everyone had fun and we all grew closer together as neighbors. I think I gave out 35 or so prizes. It was fun to say the least.

The meeting yesterday with the Kenyan missionary to America (Stephen Karugia) and others went well also. I came away from that meeting with some really good connections. I was able to help a young gal with a heart passion to serve orphans in Africa get connected with my good friends (Amon & Erica Munyaneza) who run an orphanage/school in Africa. We are also praying that Erin will come into our disciple making movement and even attend one of our summer internships. Pray for her, God has His anointing on her. It was a God connection. Also, I met with a fire ball African American leader (Elder Alexander) who understands what it means to be a disciple and I am praying that this connection will lead to other kingdom advancements in the future. Another good thing is our P.O.W. Dog tags may end up helping our Kenyan Missionary raise funds for His work as well as benefiting the homeless in recovery on our end.

As for Terry and Suzette, the Disciple Driven Church Training weekend went well in Indiana. At the end of the meeting on Sunday evening the Holy Spirit showed up and confession, brokenness, and sharing went on for several more hours. There were also close to a dozen prisoners in a disciple making rehab program present for the entire weekend. Several of the rehab guys indicated that when they get out of prison they want to connect with us in St. Louis to make disciples who make disciples. They were Holy Spirit shaken by the training. That's what always happens.

God answered our prayer requests through you. Thanks for your partnership with us in the advancement of disciple making movements in Indiana and here in St. Louis this past weekend.

I love Declaring the Glory of God before the enemies of God who fear His glory.

Would you partner to pray for us?

As I continue working with launching Disciple Making Movements I need prayer warriors who will do spiritual warfare praying. We need believers from around the world to cover us and our ministries in prayer.

Would you like to receive email prayer letters and ministry updates on Disciple Driven Church and Sun Ministries?

Email me if you would like to join with us in praying: bcarder@centurytel.net

Several opportunities needing prayer

I have several prayer requests

Since living here in St. Louis metro connecting with our neighbors personally has been a priority of ours. When spiritual needs arise we pray for them and when a death occurred one neighbor came to us for care. Our neighborhood is our parish! Michelle and I are hosting a family fishing contest – wiener roast –smores and more at our community pond behind our house on Saturday. I have become the young community grandpa. Please pray for spiritual hunger. That’s tomorrow!

On Sunday afternoon I have a very important meeting with our team members Anthony and Maggie (our missionaries to the homeless) and several other leaders God recently connected us with. Two weeks ago Maggie and Anthony were ministering in a park to the homeless when two Kenyan Missionaries to America showed up. These guys know Richard Greene and are familiar with his teaching on Holy Spirit led disciple making movements. Exactly what we are doing! One of the guys, Joshua was in the movie “Invisible Children”. Another guy from Normandy, Mo also showed up and he has been preaching to the homeless for 7 years while praying for God to send more workers who understand how to make disciples who make disciples. SO THIS SUNDAY AT 3:00 P.M. Central Time we are all meeting together to figure out how we can all work together. It seems we are all on the same page and a partnership is in the works. Only God could orchestrate such a neat uniting among the brethren.

God is orchestrating something big here, please pray!

Would you like to help

Would you and or your organization like to support our Spiritual P.O.W. Project to release prisoners spiritually? You can purchase a dog tag at sunministries.org

The Spiritual P.O.W. Project provides employment for recovering homeless people or needy through the Narrow Gate where we provide physical, emotional, educational and spiritual help for the poor and the homeless.

The Spiritual P.O.W. Project also provides salaries to missionaries working with the poor and the homeless. It provides a tool to focus prayer on the disciple making movement. It promotes unity in the Body of Christ. It offers a unique fundraiser for Christian groups. This is a simple and effective way for you to support these ministries both prayerfully and financially.

Would you join our cause and purchase a Spiritual P.O.W. Dog Tag? See the link about for more information.

Does your organization

Does your organization or group need a fundraiser that produces a 100% profit margin?

Visit Sun Ministries for information about our Spiritual P.O.W. Dog Tag - Fundraiser. This is a God birthed idea given to Sun Ministries to benefit the homeless, those needing prayer, your organization and our mission to make disciples who make disciples.

You pay $3.25 for the Spiritual P.O.W. Dog Tag and sell it for $6.50 and make 100% profit for your ministry/mission/school. That's a huge profit margin. Your group sells 5,000 name tags - your organization makes $16,250. And on top of that you are helping homeless people get into discipleship and recovery systems while every person who buys a tag is praying for a real person with a real need. You sell the tag, then place the order and we send you the tags within days.

Spiritual P.O.W. Dog Tags are Prayer Tags. You get to pray for real people and real needs and you get to track those prayer requests on our data base to see when the prayer is answered. You can also suggest people and their need for salvation, healing, or deliverance.

Spiritual P.O.W. Dog Tags are the lifeline for Recovering Homeless People. We pay the recovering homeless person a good wage to make the tags while we disciple them and lead them in recovery systems and back into society to reproduce other Christ followers.

Spiritual P.O.W. Dog Tags benefit you and your organization, the person being prayed for, the homeless person getting off the streets while helping us put more boots on the ground to reach and rehabilitate this people group in America. Everyone wins - especially God's kingdom.

You can also purchase your own Spiritual P.O.W. Dog Tag online at the address above. Thanks for your support of this great cause.

We are leading for the future

Disciple Driven Church and Sun Ministries have partnered in order to lead for the future.

We have discovered that disciples must all personally make disciples. When we lead people to Jesus it is neat to see each new believer also lead others to Jesus.

We have discovered that when people come to Jesus they must also be set free from Satanic strongholds, addictions, past pain, open doors and other things that weigh them down. We have now written a program to take people through these needed steps.

We have discovered new methods for bringing the unreached and our disciple makers together into volunteer projects to build relationships and enable them to serve the community together.

We have new summer internships to raise up Next Generation leaders for launching Holy Spirit led Disciple Making Movements across America. This summer we have openings for internships in Jackson Hole, Wyoming with one of the largest resort owners. Several colleges have partnered with us to also establish college credit for the students.

We have plans in place that are addressing social issues as it relates to the homeless, widows and orphans. God has given us the vehicle - Sun Ministries, Inc to guide us in these causes. Already we are serving these three groups with solutions.

Our Sun Ministries Spiritual P.O.W. dog tag - is a fund raising tool for organizations, Christian Schools, Youth Groups, other causes. This will help us get the homeless off the streets, employ missionaries and get people praying. These dog tags will be made by recovering homeless people in order to pay them a fair wage and get them into our recovery systems through the Narrow Gate. In addition each tag will have a first name of a person needing salvation, healing or deliverance. The dog tag is a reminder to pray for the person and the need. You also can look at our data base online to see when the prayer is answered and also to add more people to our data base for more names on dog tags.

This Spiritual P.O.W. project does four things. 1. It get's the homeless off the streets and into recovery programs. 2. It helps remind believer to pray for the salvation, healing or deliverance of real people in our data base. 3. Each dog tag costs your organization $3.25 and sells for $6.50 and you make 100% profit. 4. If allows you to individually purchase a dog tag online for $7.50 which covers shipping to you. Visit Sun Ministries website for more information or to make a purchase.

Our Sun Ministries Mission Store will soon have online products you can purchase. These products are hand made by African widows or orphans in our connections in Africa through Richard Greene. You can visit our sunministries website to see how your purchase helps widows and orphans.

You may schedule fundraisers, purchase dog tags and view African made products by visiting SunMinistries.org. Your partnerships help us make disciples who make disciples (praying for the lost, healing and deliverance) while also meeting the needs of the homeless, widows, orphans.

Disciple Driven Church and Sun Ministries are leading together for the future.

The atheist professor, his class and Jesus!

A must see

Are you ready to listen now?

Bill Easum writes in "The Primary Conversation of Our Time Becomes Clearer" blog post. read more at Bill Easum

"I'm coming to the end of this series and want to thank everyone who has contributed. Who knows you may find some of it in a book some day.

We are all indebted to the Emergent, Incarnational and Organic folks for so clearly calling to our attention the fact that Western Christianity is nowhere near what Jesus had in mind when he sent his disciples out into the world to build his church. We need to hear them. Moreover, we should be listening to why they feel so passionate about Western Christianity being either irrelevant or a counterfeit. Doing so may help some of us change our ways or avoid some of the mistakes made by institutional churches.

Perhaps now you see why these conversations lie at the heart of the future of Western Christianity. If the basic mission of Christianity is not the health or growth of institutional churches but churches that contribute to the expansion of the Kingdom of God, then the vast majority of established Western Christianity is virtually dead. The acknowledgment of this condition is one of the reasons why this conversation is so important. If our churches were making disciples, transforming their communities, and actually bringing the Kingdom to bear on this earth, the conversation around the Emergent, Attractional, Incarnational, and Organic folks would not be necessary. But it is, and all of us had better take heart and listen to what God is saying in this conversation."

The Planter: Bill Easum is heading in the right direction but still does a shotgun blast instead of the needed rifle shot. If every believer would just become obedient to the Great Commission there would be no need for all these discussions. We are often too busy being defensive to discern our times much less hear each other. We are like ships passing in the night or without rudders. Bill concludes with, "However, the Emergent, Incarnational, Attractional, and Organic (I'm none of these) conversations are not the primary conversations in which we should be engaged. The focus of our conversations should be on the multiplication of the Kingdom of God rather than the health or growth of the institutional church."

Did you hear me say, YAHHHHHH WHHHHHOOOO?

This blog is all about making disciples who make disciples and the fact that many disciples refuse to obey the Great Commission. I loved Bill's reference to the untethered church in America. Now that's more like it, baby!

Bill Easum on conversations

1. Pay attention to the conversations going on today and see what you can learn from them. It may surprise you.
2. For those of you in spiritually alive congregations look for ways to mentor pastors in churches whose spiritual life is not so good.
3. For those of you in dying churches, get out of there as fast as you can and quit wasting your life.
4. Focus your people on the question - “What is it about my relationship with Jesus that the world cannot live without knowing?”
5. If you want your church to thrive in a pagan world you need to spend time with pagans. So get out of the office and help your members grow up spiritually.
6. Focus on growing people instead of growing your church.
7. Eliminate the missions committee and consider every leader a potential missionary to the West.
8. Focus on making your church so loving and warm people can’t help but grow.
9. Don’t encapsulate your people so firmly in church activities they lose touch with their pagan friends. Don’t extract them from the world.
10. And above all, find ways to participate in the reproductive movements underfoot today.

For more of Bill Easum.

The Planter: I can accept most of these conversation pieces in part but #8 is way off. When the church is loving and warm her members often stay in the holy huddle. We need more instances where Jesus turns over the tables, pew and chairs of those being disobedient to His mission the Great Commission. I love point #3.

Chuck Coleson shares the bad news

The Party's Over
Bailing Out America
October 15, 2008
Last week I opened the New York Times—and read one of the most powerful ads I’ve ever seen.

The ad was paid for by the Peter G. Peterson Foundation. I had the privilege of working with Pete Peterson when we were in the White House together—he’s a shrewd guy who became Secretary of Commerce and made a small fortune in the financial world. That small fortune he’s now spending to educate the American people. His message in the advertisement was a heroic call to Americans to take over the political process before it’s too late.

In his two-page ad in the Times, Peterson outlines the problem facing the American economy: “As disruptive and damaging as today’s mortgage sub-prime crisis is,” he warns, “We’re looking at a “super sub-prime” crisis, which, if left unaddressed, will hurt many more Americans—and hurt much worse.”

Among many inconvenient truths: “Each household’s share of the nation’s $53 trillion debt is $455,000—almost 10 times the median household income. This is unfinanceable!” he clearly warns.

Vital research and development, infrastructure, and children’s programs are already getting squeezed, Peterson writes; “We cannot grow our way out of the problems or solve them simply by cutting earmarks and pork-barrel spending.” We could do these things, plus cancel the Bush tax cuts, end the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan—and we would still be only 15 percent of the way to solvency.

Peterson has a few hard questions to ask our presidential candidates. How, for example, do they plan to slow the rate of growth in health care costs that threaten to bankrupt America? How will they encourage the country to save more and reduce our dangerous dependence on foreign lenders? And he wants to know if they support a bi-partisan commission to review everything on the table and make recommendations with a guaranteed up-or-down vote by the next Congress.

Congressman Frank Wolf, my friend, has proposed such a commission, called SAFE—which I’ve talked about on BreakPoint before. It would examine all entitlements, identify what we can afford—and slash what we cannot. The commission would submit its proposals to Congress for an up-or-down vote. (The only changes permitted would be those that leave the long-term budget impact unchanged.)

Peterson is correctly warning us that no political promise is going to solve our problems. The only thing that will solve it is Americans being willing to accept a whole new way of life. We need to be willing to share sacrifices and make very tough choices. No more politicians promising to socialize everything, which will simply make a horrific problem even worse.

If you visit our website, BreakPoint dot org, you can find the link to the New York Times ad. I urge you to read it, sign the petition, and invite your friends to do the same thing.

Our leaders need to sober up. The sad truth is, they will only do so if we force them to. A grassroots campaign to support SAFE would be a very good start—in fact, the only plan that has any chance of solving this horrific problem.

We have to take back our government—and put America on its feet again. If we don’t, our children and grandchildren will pay the price for generations yet to come.

Disciple Driven Church

The formation of the Disciple Driven Church is the result of our sincere desire to see Spirit filled Disciple Making at the heart of what all believers naturally do.

We believe that this is what's been missing in the modern American Church. Restoring the Great Commission back to her rightful place, leading new believers into total freedom and teaching them to walk in the Spirit are what will bring Holy Spirit transformation back to America. God longs to work in a new way for this day through His Bride - the Church.

Are we?

Are we really satisfied with what God is doing in the modern American Church?

Be honest, are you satisfied or do you hunger for more?

God has so much more to offer.

When

When there are no comments it usually means truth!

We need

We need to become once again, the Church full of reckless acts of obedience.

Let's take care of the sheep

I'm growing weary of the arguments that say we must spend our time on earth taking care of the sheep. Remember Jesus left the 99 to find the one lost sheep. There seems to be a lesson here. Remember (we) the already reached are not the point, the lost is.

If the lost is the point why isn't the lost our point?

We have developed...

In the modern American Church we have become really good at developing a Church centric view of the kingdom. We now need to return to a Christ centric view of ministry by looking once again at the reason he came and died and rose again.

I don't really think God is concerned with who gathers. We are not the point. The lost world is. Now what will we do about it?

We don't

We don't get to invite God to join with us on our mission.

God gets to invite us to join with Him on His mission.

We have our wonderful mission statements but then again our people are still not engaging the Great Commission personally. I must ask, whose mission are you on. His? Or Yours?

There is hunger

In the world there is a growing hunger for spiritual vitality...

And yet, only Christian people are nervous in the streets where they live, work and play.

The King is in the streets, where every believer should be about kingdom business.

God is NOT most home

God is not most Home in the church where we gather.

God is most home in world when the church scatters.

The Church is and is not.

The church is not a destination..that was never God's intent.

The Church is supposed to be on mission with God.

The church is supposed to be a verb not a noun.

As the church we are connectors and conduits for the Holy Spirit to reach people who need Him.

Bad news

The King is not waiting for the modern American Church to get the job done.

The King is working in Pentecost fashion all around the world but here.

The King will not wait for us to decide to join Him in another Pentecost - At this moment Pentecost is happening somewhere in the world.

Shift needed in America

We need a huge shift in how we view the kingdom of God in America:

Instead of looking at the kingdom through church lenses

We need to view the church through kingdom lenses.

When this happens, disciple making will become a personal priority for all.

God is still in control

NO MATTER
WHO WINS THE ELECTION


1. The Bible will still have all the answers.

2. Prayer will still work.

3. The Holy Spirit will still move.

4. God will still inhabit the praises of His people.

5. There will still be God-anointed teaching and healing.

6. There will still be singing of praise to God.

7. God will still pour out blessings upon His people.

8. There will still be room at the Cross.

9. Jesus will still love you.

10. Jesus will still save the lost.

ISN'T IT GREAT TO KNOW WHO IS REALLY IN CONTROL!

On quitting the Modern American Church...

Julia Duin wrote a recent book entitled, "Quitting Church: Why the Faithful are Fleeing and What To Do About It." While I have only read a few excerpts it is an interesting title for a book. I suspect that the reasons Julia gives would be different than mine. Not sure.

Let me ask you. Why do you think the Faithful are Fleeing? Why did you Flee the modern American Church? Perhaps we can learn something fresh and new. Depending on the comments this might be painful. But let's try hard to hear one another. Sometimes I think we get too defensive and end up passing each other rather that hearing and understanding one another.

One way to avoid misunderstanding would be to ask more questions before making judgments.

Again the questions, "Why do you think the Faithful are Fleeing? Why did you Flee the modern American Church?" I'll weigh in on this later. My story is some story.

Wolfgang Simpson writes,

Wolfgang Simson describes his vision of what the church, unhindered, is becoming:

"[I dream of a] church, which does not need huge amounts of money, or rhetoric, control and manipulation, which can do without powerful and charismatic heroes, which is non-religious at heart, which can thrill people to the core, make them lose their tongues out of sheer joy and astonishment, and simply teach us The Way to live. A church which not only has a message, but is the message. Something which spreads like an unstoppable virus, infects whatever it touches, and ultimately covers the earth with the glory and knowledge of God."

The Planter: I share his dream!

Did someone say, STORIES?

By some incredible act of grace, I have been allowed to be in the midst of a Holy Spirit birthed disciple making movement of God.

Let me share this excerpt from my life in this new work.

Take our worship gatherings as an example. Our gatherings take virtually no human planning or preparation other than sitting at the feet of Jesus daily. When all the gifts of the Body are working together the worship gathering looks more like a carefully planned Holy Spirit orchestra resulting in a God like performance. As God prompts believers those believers share and then they pray and then rebuke or correct and then they share a word from the Lord or whatever. No two gatherings are ever the same because God works through the entire Church family of God. In the end there is always a Holy Spirit orchestrated theme or threads for the day.

I love the fact that none of this is man driven. It's all about the Holy Spirit working His orchestration in the lives of God's children. I love watching the Church function as God intended.

Brooks with Simple Church wrote,

"The Revolution is happening – it’s happening all over the world. We are in a Reformation. Acknowledge it or not. Be a part of it or not. Jesus longs for his church to come alive, to become a living, breathing, organism. He longs for us to be in a real, live, intimate relationship with Him, regardless of others – and then in real, live relationship with our families – earthly and spiritual. And, He’s begging us to come alive, be who we are as individuals, alive and free in Him, telling the world who and what He has done for us…

What I saw in Kenya, I see in America and I see in other parts of the Christianized world. The enemy accepts that Christianity is in the world… but if he can just contain us, keep us from contaminating others, there’s little to worry about. If he can contain us in buildings, then the world will not know the truth and few will be set free. But what I saw in Kenya, I also see in America and other parts of the world. The virus is leaking. The Reformation of the 21st Century, led by the Holy Spirit, is taking Christianity out of containers into the open spaces of the neighborhoods and nations of the world."

The Planter: This is also what I am seeing. WOW! Excellent, Brooks! The containment factor is what drives me over the cliff from time to time. I love the phrase, "taking Christianity out of containers into the open spaces of the neighborhoods and nations of the world." This excites me.

Is it?

Tell me what you think...

Is "traditionalism" a sin in the modern American Church?

Let's do this...

Let's focus on restoring the Great Commission to its proper place in our life, expanding our vision for what God is doing in the world, and finding our role in fulfilling God’s purpose.

Brilliant post!

Consider this

Is it possible that some passages of Scripture were never meant to be understood by all until the right time God chooses to disclose (reveal) the deeper meaning of the passage through His Holy Spirit?

I welcome...

I welcome personal attacks here, they are revealing more than the debater intends.

When...

When the message is intolerable or to hard to handle the personal attacks roll in.

The problem is with the message not the messenger.

This is the ONLY answer

If we are ever to change the world for Christ - every believer will need to pick up personal responsibility for making disciples who must also make disciples.

This is the theme of this entire blog.

It is amazing...

It is amazing how much much trouble one can make for himself when he points out the sin of not personally engaging the Great Commission.

Wow I feel like someone knocked me dead in the head.

Good ole Chuck...

"Regardless of your elevated position or high profile or row of degrees or endliss list of achievements, just stay real. Junk any idea that you deserve some kind of pat on the back or a nice gold wristwatch for a job well done. If you did it for God, He has an infinite number of unseen ways to reward you. If you did it to impress others, no wonder you're clawing for glory."

More wise words from Good ole Chuck Swindoll.

See the words of Jesus in Luke 14:11, "For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted."

Good ole Chuck...

"Go and do likewise." Supporting, comforting, helping...your arm around the hunched shoulder of another...your smile saying "try again" to someone who's convinced it's curtains...your cup of cool water held up to a brother's cracked lips, reassuring and reaffirming that he is loved."

Appropriate words from Chuck Swindoll, wise words for today.

It's a great day..

The Spirit of God is a God of Revelation and He is still restoring sight to the blind, sound to the deaf and encouragement to the weary.

The Church...

The modern American Church will even kill her prophetic voice.

Why?

Is it really worth it?

Kill the prophet but receive God's judgment.

Is this really the choice you want?

For my stand on making disciples....

I am losing pastoral friends and even family.

WHY?

For me....

I love the world...
I love the lost...and want to reach them...
It's the religious I can't stand...

They are trying to kill me.

And I cannot figure out why...

Why? Can someone help me here?

About Teaching to Obey

We were told by Jesus that all disciples needed to be taught to obey all things.

Does our lack of obedience to the Great Commission mean that we failed to teach disciples to obey all things? Have we failed to obey the teaching of all disciples to obey all the commands?

About fighting

Someone suggested I was fighting the wrong battle, the church.

I'm not fighting the Body of Christ - the Church - I am pushing against the practices or lack of correct practices of the Church. Why would I fight something I am part of - the Body of Christ. I'm pushing for a return back to New Testament obedience and personal responsibility to the Great Commission as a mandate for all who follow Christ.

We need a new ideology - see post down the line.

Making disciple is something all Christ followers should do naturally but then again we were not taught to obey that part, right?

About Anger...

I think God still gets really angry when we sin and really really angry when we refuse to obey Him.

We should be angry about the right things. God says, in our anger, sin not!

About Blog Comments

I have been looking at a common thread...among comments, that is.

It seems that those (me too) making comments about the comments of others are sometimes guilty of the same kinds of things they accuse others of.

It's just a weird observation. We are all and often looking in the mirror when we speak out in anger or frustration. I love this part because we all need forgiveness and repentance and Jesus always freely gives it freely to us. The problem is - we don't always know we are looking in the mirror when we speak or write.

ABOUT My Blog

It's my blog and I get to say what I want to, how I want to say it and when I want to say it. It is my BLOG! Right?

I know some won't like this. But the Truth is, you can start your own blog and do it your way. You can start today if you want to.

Once in a while someone sends me an email (like today) telling me how I should blog. And then they have the nerve to call me arrogant.

About TRUTH

Truth must be spoken always and in all ways. TRUTH doesn't need to be tempered with anything.

We must "take it or leave it" when it comes to TRUTH!

About Persecution

It is the persecution I have received from the modern American Church that drives me to my knees.

About Discipleship

We must make disciples at risk of losing everything else if that's what it takes.

Lost people matter to Jesus and they must matter to us. The only thing God will rescue from this planet are those captives who have been set free. Nothing else matters to Him at that time.

About Truth and Love

Truth is HARD!

Love is hard and soft depending on the situation and what is needed.

It takes a person who really loves to share hard truth with us.

About condemnation...

Condemnation occurs when there is NO HOPE! When God says you cannot enter heaven - that's condemnation.

While the modern American Church has failed to take the Great Commission seriously as a personal mandate, every believe can choose to obey the supreme Great Commission today.

Our call to bring all believers back to personally acting on/obeying the Great Commission mandate is one filled with hope. All we need is obedience and you have HOPE!

This Blog is filled with HOPE for fulfilling the Great Commission and ushering in the Return of Christ with active obedience to the Great Commission.

IF U?

IF YOU see the need for a rebirth of disciple making and obedience to the Great Commission for all Christ followers...

IF YOU want to know more about how disciple making movements are birthed and what they look like...

AND, IF YOU are interesting in being a part of this incredible Holy Spirit birthed work, THEN...

Disciple Driven Church leaders would like to meet you and share resources on getting the job done.

You can also email me: bcarder@centurytel.net

We know God is raising up a remnant to take the disciple making charge seriously.

Nonsense & Warnings

There is a whole lot of nonsense appearing on my computer screen these days.

If you do not (or refuse to) believe that all believers should make disciples who make disciples and that they (we) should repent for our disobedience to the Great Commission you should save yourself from this blog.

It's all about the fulfillment of the Great Commission as the personal responsibility to make disciple who themselves make disciples.

The state of the American Church is the direct result of disobedience to the Great Commission mandate of God and the leaders failure to hold everyone accountable to this command. It is not debatable. It never will.

This is what this blog is all about and we make no apologies for pointing this out. I'm willing to pay whatever price to preach or speak this truth and I am already full of holes, shot by the * and her * - thank you very much! I'm smiling!

New Wine - New Wine Skins - New Release

Chuck Swindoll writes, "Our Lord distinguished between things that are essential (the wine: that is primary...the timeless and changeless gospel) and things that are useful but not primary (the skins:that which is secondary...like structures, traditions and fixed patterns of doing things.)

Jesus says, "He told them this parable: 'No one tears a patch from a new garment and sews it on an old one. If he does, he will have torn the new garment, and the patch from the new garment will not match the old. And no one pours new wine into old wineskins. If he does, the new wine will burst the skins, the wine will run out and the wineskins will be ruined. No, new wine must be poured into new wineskins. And no one after drinking the old wine wants the new, for he says, The old is better.'"

Isn't this a picture of the modern American Church? Our structures, traditions and fixed patterns for doing things have become primary instead of secondary? Isn't it true that we are comfortable to live in the old wine skin even at the expense of walking into a Holy Spirit revealed work? So many are saying, "The old wine is better."

It will take a new wine - a revisit back to what is really primary -the Gospel as applied in full Holy Spirit "rhema" anointing/importance and to do this we need to move out of the old skin and into new wine skins for ministry. A new Holy spirit revealed work "wine" demands new a wine skin.

We have confused the wine and wine skins. They are not on the same level nor are they the same thing.

God is revealing a new wine Holy Spirit revealed work for our day around the Great Commission mandate and now we need a new wine skin to hold it/guide it/express it. This is why I believe God has birthed the Disciple Driven Church. We had no choice but to move out so that we could express and walk in obedience in a newly Holy Spirit revealed WINE. This cannot be done in old wine skins. There is no way the modern American Church will personally and deliberately assume responsibility for the Great Commission mandate. This charge to obey is always met with resistance, so it seems. The personal engagement of the Great Commission is not what we were called into by man - it is what we have all been called into by God.

This call to personally obey the Great Commission for all believers must be a released work. As believers assume their responsibility to obey -they must be released to do so. As groups assume this Great Commission responsibility they must be released as well. If it is not released - living in this Truth will burst the old skins.

Let's talk about this - old/new wine, old/new wineskins, and keep/release ministry. I pray the Holy Spirit will open up some eyes on this post.

I REPENT BEFORE THE WORLD...

Since many of you only know me by and through my postings I can assume that you do not really know me. I do know that when I have called sin what it is in the modern American Church some leaders have chosen to get defensive and really angry.

I get really saddened because I am calling out the modern American Church on their sin and that call is rejected. We need Great Commission obedience.

I want to repent this morning. Not for calling the modern American Church out to repent for their sin, but for my own neglect.

I pastored for 25+ years and had some great congregations. But I failed to call them into repentance for not obeying the Great Commission. I failed to call all believers to faithfully and personally engage the Great Commission. The Great Commission mandate is for all believers and no one is off the hook in their responsibility. If the world is ever to be won to Christ - it will take all of us walking and living in complete obedience to the Great Commission.

I repent for letting people slide on the Greatest Commission ever spoken to mankind by God.

May God have mercy on my soul.

As we move into...

As we move away from existing structures and into the Disciple Driven Church, a movement of Holy Spirit led and empowered disciple making, we only ask for blessing, release and unity.

Is that to much to hope for? Sadly, I'm beginning to see that it is.

My friend Dave DeVries posted the following on his blog

Most Christians in America don’t understand the mission of the church. They view buildings as the “church” and invite people to come to their church building. They “entrust” the true mission of the church to trained professionals who leave their own culture to reach those in another culture with the gospel. The absence of missional churches, missional leaders and missional movements in America must be addressed.

The numbers are going up...

David Fitch posted the following on his blog:
"The Numbers Are Going Up But Something Doesn't Feel Right"
Monday, September 22, 2008

I'm out traveling and leading seminars with pastors in Eastern Pennsylvania for a few days. Today I was traveling with Craig Weidman assistant to the District Superintendent in the C&MA East PA District. He was telling me a story out of his own ministry when he described an experience that sounded all too familiar at Life on the Vine. He said, "the numbers were going up but something didn't feel right." He was describing the changes that were happening at a prior church ministry when numbers started going up meanwhile the ethos of the gathering was changing. He asked what do you do with that?

We've been experiencing the same thing at Life on the Vine and we're asking the same question. There's a certain excitement being generated. People are hearing about the church. The liturgical shape of our services is beginning to make sense to people. A disposition is being formed in the gathering to receive the presence of Christ in our midst. Yet even with all this we sense a certain percentage of people are coming to watch, not participate (in Mission). There's a larger group coming to see what's going on with a limited commitment to community and Mission. The church has taken on an attractional element. "The numbers are going up but something doesn't feel right."

Read the rest of the story at reclaiming the mission

This is important...

In our disciples making disciples movement it is important for us that we teach a correct understanding of the Church.

The Church is the gathered and scattered Body of Christ.

Our main thrust is not to have more people in the gathering - that is not our charge. Our charge in that in our scattering we will bring more people into the kingdom.

Reaching people for our gathering is not our goal. Scattering to reach people for Christ is.

Political diversion - not division please!

I thought it would be fun to take a few minutes and discuss politics...I was always told not to talk about politics, religion or money. This blog discusses all three. I must be nuts.

Ron Teed of the Christian Network posted this comment, "I believe the best hope of the United States for the future in the form of a mortal human being is Sarah Palin. I have a pretty good track record in evaluating people and I believe Sarah will stand up to any and all unethical behavior. Barak Obama will allow this corruption to go on as long as it serves his need for power and status. John McCain is a good and honorable man and I believe he'll allow Sarah to blaze her own trail."

I do know for sure that Sarah Palin loves Jesus very much. I have heard her testimony and she is an authentic follower of Christ. What about Ron's comments. Let's weigh in here.

New ideology???

I posted this down the line and no one bit so let me bring part of what I wrote to the top here. We seem to confuse statements like, "What is Church?" & "Wath does the Church do?" Perhaps in our search for these answers aren't we really looking for a new ideology. What if every American Pastor would call into question the structures and practices of the modern American Church. That ain't gonna happen! It cannot because everyone is too busy defending what is broken and refusing to see that there are solutions out here not being considered.

Bill Hull speaks to this in The Disciple Making Pastor, "The disciple making pastor is a biblical ideologue. The word ideology was first used during the French Revolution. It means 'revolution for structural change; Disciple making at the heart of the local church is revolutionary ideology calling for fundamental change within the church. While he makes no plans to storm the Bastille, the pastor does call into question the structures and priorities of the modern church."

I personally believe that there is not even a remote chance that every American pastor would call into question the structures and practices of the modern American Church. So in order for me to be able to express myself as a biblical ideologue I must move out of geographical restrictions and hindering structures of control in order to be the Disciple making pastor/leader God has called me too.

On this blog I have called into question the structures and priorities of the American modern Church and when I have done so I have been met with strong resistance and anger. I have lost very close friends because I do not agree with them and their practices in ministry. I don't know what happened to - Let's agree to disagree agreeably. That's part of the price I am paying for making the Great Commission a supreme mandate for all Christ followers as a personal and deliberate act of obedience. (I'm not making this - Jesus made this the priority).

Since we were unable to bring about the fundamental changes needed to make us "geographically unrestricted" and "structurally unhindered" we had to leave our birthing denomination. Believe me when I say we went to the top and tried to discover the needed bridge. It was not an option, politics prevailed over the mission. Our decision came with fasting and prayer.