From the Panhandle

I'm a little behind schedule on my Monday post because I flew to Post Falls for a conference (paid for by our Region, so thank God for Dr. Charles and Co.!!), and it was a mad rush to get from the Spokane Airport to the convention center, then right into the middle of the learning. The speaker is Jim Putman from Real Life Ministries here in Post Falls, one of the fastest growing churches in America. A 10 year old church, they had close to 9,000 people in 5 services this weekend, and they do some of the most amazing reach out stuff going in the Northwest. The most impressive part isn't that they have such a big crowd, though that does get your attention. No, what's really amazing about this church is the spiritual growth of it's people and how they go about creating an atmosphere where spiritual maturity happens. He's been talking about discipleship and what it means to help people grow in their relationship with God, a subject that gets a lot of discussion back in Pocatello, to be sure.

I'm in the midst of processing what he's saying while trying to understand what's been going on in the the life of our First Baptist Church family and what God has been teaching us. All the transitions of the last 30 months or so have left us asking some good questions about what we're supposed to be doing, what we're supposed to be learning and sharing, and what we're supposed to do about it when we see God stirring in our midst. We've known that discipleship is a major chunk of what we have to do to keep moving forward for a long time. Hiring Pastor Brian Neely was one major attempt to address the issue of increasing the level of spiritual maturity, and our attempts to re-vamp the Connection Group ministry are another.

I think we're getting closer to cracking the code of growing Christians in the culture where we live. Some of the parts are in place, and some of the pieces are still out there for us to find, but I believe we will soon be in position to reach, disciple and deploy and ever increasing number of Christ-followers in our valley for the Glory of God. It's going to take effort and sacrifice from lots of us, and a boatload of prayer and listening to God, but I'm more convinced today that we're getting closer to it than we've been in a long time.

There has been a good response to our series on prayer, and now the first of the Game Plan messages seemed to connect with folks. Here's my favorite connection: a couple people asked, "So what are we supposed to do when we get 'disturbed,' Bill?" Great question!! Keep listening, because I think God is going to let us know. If you're disturbed by the need for more and better discipleship in our church family, then keep praying, keep listening, and keep watching for God's lead, and be ready to jump on it when God shows it to us.

Meantime, I'll be taking good notes while I'm here, and we'll all see what God's up to.