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Isn’t that exactly what the Lord told us to do? We talk about being the family of God and get all gushy about it. But we are the army of the Lord. William Booth knew that; it's why he called his organization the Salvation Army. If we had the same kind of desire to accomplish at all costs the mission that our leader has given us, I think our churches would look different. I would look different.

Tomorrow, the office staff will hold a farewell luncheon for Gary Dilley, who served as Global Ministries director from August 2001 until January of this year. Because of a prior commitment, I’ll miss that luncheon. Pat Jones has offered to eat my pizza for me, and he's welcome to it. But since I’ll be gone, I thought I’d use this space to say some words about Gary, who has been a beloved friend, in addition to a coworker.

The 1990s were a time of unprecedented expansion in our worldwide ministry. In 1993, Ray Seilhamer was elected bishop and Kyle McQuillen was elected as Director of Missions, and they both served until 2001. At that time, we had churches in eight countries, and had opened only one new field per decade—Nicaragua in the 1960s, India in the 1970s, and Macau in 1987.

But from 1993-2001, the number of fields nearly doubled:

• 1993: Thailand
• 1995: Costa Rica
• 1997: Mexico
• 1998: Myanmar
• 1999: El Salvador
• 2000: Haiti
• 2000: Guatemala

With the help of a thoughtful, policy-centered Global Ministries Leadership Team, sound missions philosophy was injected into all of our missions work. Gary moved us to a system in which missionaries raise their own support; there was much opposition to this, but the benefits, in terms of greatly expanding our missionary base, are now obvious. We had done work teams for many years, but Gary and his staff, Donna Hollopeter and Darlene Burkett, developed procedures and training to make this component of UB missions better organized and more intentional. Work teams regularly go overseas (one group just left for Sierra Leone), and we sponsor several denominational trips each year.

In addition, Gary helped churches focus on developing their own missions vision. Now, individual churches spearhead significant ministry in other countries. The emphasis on mission projects, usually developed on the basis of proposals from our partnering countries, has worked well.

In short, the worldwide expansion of the 1990s was solidified under Gary Dilley’s leadership. He leaves Global Ministries in good financial condition (a far cry from when he took over), and with the philosophical and operational underpinnings needed to move ahead. And our partnering countries have become, or are becoming, true partners in the Great Commission.

So Gary—well done. You’ve been tremendous, and you richly deserve the high respect you command throughout our churches at home and abroad. And Jeff—you’re inheriting something that is a lot better than it was, but which still has great untapped potential. I know you’re up to the challenge. I trust that you’ll thrive in this new role. We look forward to working alongside you.

Jeff is currently Assistant Director of World Partners USA, the mission arm of the Missionary Church USA, with headquarters just up the road in Fort Wayne, Ind. He is an ordained minister in the Missionary Church, served eight years as a missionary in Spain, has served as a pastor at two churches, and has worked with World Partners USA since 2001. His responsibilities at World Partners include managing the daily operations and all human resource functions for the 130 staff (missionaries mostly) scattered around the world. He is fluent in Spanish, which will be a big plus for us, since we have so much work in Central America.

I feel confident that Jeff is the right person for the job, and believe God will use him to take our missions efforts to the next level. I'm excited that God provided someone of Jeff's caliber.

The Director of Global Ministries is a staff position, and as bishop, I am responsible for appointing all staff. Until 2005 we elected the Director of Global Ministries; Gary Dilley, who served in that role until January of this year (when he became senior pastor of College Park UB church in Huntington, Ind.), was originally elected in 2001, but then appointed by me in 2005. So it was my responsibility to appoint a replacement for Gary.

Let me tell you a little about the process we used in filling the position.

I don’t like that approach. My preference is to collect resumes and recommendations from far and wide, but then to prioritize them. I start with the resume on top, and don't move on until that person turns me down. If you believe God has someone picked out for you, why interview five people? Why ask God to send you the one he wants if you’re going to interview a half-dozen? I am a firm believer in starting with the person who seems to you to be the best fit, and working from there. In that way, you ultimately get to the person God wants for us. We followed this approach, and I believe it worked superbly. Jeff Bleijerveld is the person God was already preparing for us.

However, I didn’t work alone. The Global Ministries director works closely with the Global Ministries Leadership Team, and I wanted their input. We called a special meeting of the GMLT to discuss what exactly we wanted in a new director. We listed a number of qualities. We also discussed who some of the “stake-holders” are in Global Ministries. For instance, the Canada national conference is a partner with us in Global Ministries, and we wanted to make sure their interests were represented.

We then considered potential candidates. That produced a list of 12-15 people. We prioritized them, and three members of the GMLT were named to join me as a search committee (right, l-r): Luke Fetters, Jeff Sherlock, and Brian Magnus (bishop of the UB Church in Canada). And we began making contacts.

When I contacted Jeff Bleijerveld, I didn’t know that he was sensing that God had something different in store for him, something beyond World Partners. Luke Fetters and I, along with our wives, had dinner one night in early January with Jeff and his wife, Charlene. We talked informally about the position, and afterwards, Jeff told me that he was very interested in being considered. On January 28, the entire search team met one night in my office for a formal interview with Jeff. Luke, Jeff, and Brian grilled him pretty hard for a couple of hours, and Jeff had a number of questions for us.

After Jeff left, the search committee stayed for another 90 minutes. We were convinced that Jeff was the person. We still checked out some references during the next couple of days. But then I offered the position to Jeff, and he accepted.

So that’s the process we followed. And I’m happy with where it led us.

George W. Bullard, Jr., Pursuing the Full Kingdom Potential of Your Congregation (Chalice Press, 2006; 226 pages). For congregations who thrive in the midst of great challenge; Vision Plus Intentionality.

Jim Collins, Good To Great and the Social Sectors: Why business Thinking Is Not The Answer (HarperCollins, 2005; 42 pages). A small booklet that describes how the principles of Good To Great can apply to organizations that are not profit-making businesses.

Thom S. Rainer & Eric Geiger, Simple Church: Returning to God's Process for Making Disciples (B &H Publishing Group, 2006; 272 page). Describes how a church must organize to have effective spiritual transformation of its people.

Andy Stanley, Reggie Joiner, Lane Jones, 7 Practices of Effective Ministry (Multnomah Press, 2004; 192 pages).

Andy Stanley, Making Vision Stick (Zondervan Press, 2007; 74 pages). This is the most concise book on vision I’ve ever read.

Ed Stetzer and Mike Dodson, Comeback Churches (B&H Publishing Group, 2007; 224 pages). Research report on how 300 churches turned around and how they did it.

Anything you would recommend to me? Mention them in the comments.

2. The amount of conflict that exists in so many of our churches.

There are people in conflict with the pastor, pastors in conflict with the people, and people in conflict with other people in the church. Dealing with conflict in churches is without a doubt the most tiring part of this job. I’ve come to the conclusion that these two issues are related. Let me put it this way: if you aren’t going to fish, you will probably fight and may ultimately flee.

Now, I am smart enough to know that disagreements which lead to conflict do arise from time to time in congregations. I don’t think that conflict in and of itself is sin. The sin is how we choose to deal with it. We can’t leave our “Christianity” in the closet while we disagree. A great deal of conflict could be resolved if people followed Matthew 18. It is simply amazing how well that process works. But it is much easier to “triangulate” (means gossip) than to follow Scripture.

Matthew 18 says that if you have a problem with someone, go to that person and confront him about it. Don't complain to everyone else about that person or, as too often happens, call the bishop's office before talking directly to that person. If the person won't listen to you, take one or two other persons with you and confront him again. If the person won't listen to you, then you pass it to the church to take action.

When the conflict is not handled in a biblical manner, it often escalates into a raging inferno of who is right and who is wrong. Feelings are hurt, relationships are damaged, and the church's reputation gets a black eye when the conflict boils out of control. It has been simply amazing to me how people address one another in our churches when in conflict. Paul had a word for it in I Corinthians. It was carnal. Jesus called it “worldly,” as in acting just like the world. Is it any wonder why persons outside the church don’t see any difference between themselves and church attenders? How can we build spiritual ministries when we try to operate just like the world?

Jesus said in Matthew 18:19-20, “Again I tell you that if two of you agree about anything you ask for, it will be done for you by my Father in heaven. For where two or three come together in my name, there am I with them.” Our Lord said this in teaching how to deal with someone who sins against another. We often hear it quoted when we show up for church and there are just a few present. Well, when Jesus said "where two or three are gathered," it was in the context of conflict resolution--not in justifying only a few showing up for prayer meeting.

For those churches embroiled in some form of conflict, I implore you to follow the process giving in Matthew 18. Even then, it might not remove the conflict. Then you might need someone to help you process the conflict further. I can happily refer you to persons skilled in conflict resolution. This is a much better way than choosing up sides and seeing who can out-duel the other side.

This may be far to simplistic, but churches that are being obedient to the Great Commission will probably also be obedient to the Scriptural instructions about dealing with conflict.

Also for what it's worth, Chapter 28 in the Discipline, "Local Church Conflict Resolution," might be helpful.

I will continue to call our church back to the Great Commission ministry of reaching those who are not yet Christ followers and seeing them become fully devoted followers of Jesus.

I will continue to pray that our local church leaders might become convicted over the lack of any “fruit” as a result of their ministry. At the end of 2006, reports showed that 58% of our churches were either stagnant or declining. In a few days we will mail the report forms for your church's 2007 stats. What will they reveal about your church?

Here is my commitment to each of our churches for the remainder of my time in office. For any church or pastor who wants to see the church experience a turn-around from dysfunction and unhealth to being a vibrant, healthy congregation, I will marshal my energy and the resources of this office to do everything I can to help make that happen.

• Opportunity to ordain a pastor.
• Seeing congregations decide to become healthy.
• The National Conference 2007, where God showed up!
• Speaking in many of our churches, meeting some great people.
• Working with a fine staff: Pat, Gary, Steve, Marci, Tom, Donna, Marilyn, Cathy, Darlene, Phylis, and Mabel. They truly have a heart to serve you.
• Seeing some sparks of renewal in a few places and trying to fan those sparks into an inferno.
• The privilege to serve the United Brethren in Christ, USA
• Serving on the Huntington University board of trustees.
• Talking with pastors who have a passion and vision for the ministry God has given them.
• Working with our leadership teams.
• Helping to develop and participating in our weekend assessments of various congregations.
• And probably a lot more if I just thought about it.

However, certain aspects have been very challenging. When thinking about the challenges, I can’t help but think of that great “theologian,” Pogo, who once said, “We have met the enemy and he is us.”

There are two issues that I would like to discuss with you. I'll post one today, and the second one on Friday.

The Great Commission is a command that our Lord left for his church. It is not something an individual Christian or a church can vote on. It is only something we can choose to obey or not. Do we really believe Jesus meant it when he said to go into the entire world and make disciples? Or was that just for those guys in the book of Acts? I think he really did mean it when he said we were to make disciples.

It could be that some are not clear about what the Great Commission involves. As a result, they might suffer from “Great Commissionitis” (Dr. James Engel, Contemporary Christian Communication, pg 27). Dr. Engel says Great Commissionitis is “when evangelism is defined as the sum and substance of both individual and corporate Christian life.” Reaching those who do not know Jesus is certainly a big part of the Great Commission, but it also involves seeing the new believer become a fully devoted follower of Jesus. Thus the Great Commission does include evangelism, but it also involves training them to walk as mature believers. If a church is unhealthy, neither evangelism nor maturity is taking place. It is very simple: if Christians are maturing to become fully devoted followers of Jesus, they will also be developing contacts and relationships with individuals who do not yet know Jesus.

It really saddens me when pastors argue with me about this. Listen, every person we meet is somewhere on a continuum of become a fully devoted follower. Some may be far, far from God. Others might be closer. Some might be nearly ready. But if we do not engage them where there are, how can we ever move them closer to accepting Christ and continuing on the path to becoming a fully devoted follower?

So, whenever I use the term Great Commission, I am referring to the entire process--engaging persons who are far from God, helping them reach the point of trusting Jesus as their Savior, and then beginning the exciting process of becoming a mature follower.

I don’t get it! I mean, I really don’t get it! Why do so few pastors and churches seem to have the foggiest idea of what I'm talking about? I mean, this isn’t rocket science. Even those ignorant, smelly fishermen that Jesus called finally got it.

Let me ask you pastors and church leaders who might be reading this: what systems does your church have in place to allow this to happen? I mean, if a total stranger walks into your church this Sunday, what would you do? Do you have an assimilation system? An evangelism system? A discipleship system? Are any of the systems you have age-related, or do you just treat everyone the same? I can hear someone say, "Well, we don’t have any strangers that just walk into our church." Probably not! I’ve found that most “strangers” that came to our church came on the arms of people who attended our church regularly. They may have been strangers to me, but not to the persons that brought them. God wants us to have individuals in our heart and on our arm.

This is not place specific. Even in the smallest of communities there is someone around that doesn’t know Jesus, whether it be strangers, friends, or relatives. What is your strategy to reach them in 2008?

That leads me to the second issue of concern: the amount of conflict that exists in so many of our churches. Check back on Friday for that.

My mind is wandering down many different trails. But there is key point that should be the focus of our discussions of conducting an extreme makeover for the church. There are three key elements we have to coordinate to be effective.

First is a clear Christology. What is it we really believe about Jesus Christ? About the Bible? About the condition of man apart from Christ? About God the Father? About the future coming of Christ? So in other words, what is it we believe and how is that shown in our lives?

Second, what is our Ecclesiology? Ecclesiology is the study of the church. What do we believe about the church? What does the church look like in the Bible? What are the essentials for the church today? What forms do we hold on to in our churches that are not Biblically mandated? What is the context of our church and do we as a church fit our context?

Third, Missiology? What is our Mission? Whose mission is it? Are we in tune with the mission? Jesus Christ is the embodiment of that mission; the Holy Spirit is the power of that mission; the church is the instrument of that mission; and the culture is the context in which that mission occurs. Is there a way for us to fulfill the mission more effectively?

What do you think? I would be interested in hearing how you see the answers to these questions for your church and for you.

Each event will be held on a Saturday from 9 am to 3 pm.

• September 22: Mount Pleasant Church (Chambersburg, Pa.)
• September 29: Mainstreet Church (Walbridge, Ohio)
• October 6: Eden Church (Mason, Mich.)
• October 13: Lancaster UB Church (Lancaster, Ohio)
• October 20: Emmanuel Community Church (Fort Wayne, Ind.)
• October 27: Atlantic Avenue UB church (Franklin, Pa.)

9:00 - 10:30: The Non-Negotiables for All Churches
10:45 - Noon: Structuring Your Ministry to be Effective
1:30 - 2:30: Push Backs to Effective Ministry
2:30 - 3:00: Question and Answer time

The cost is free (though lunch is on your own at nearby restaurants). You can register online, or email the names of people from your church to Bishop Ron Ramsey's administrative assistant, Marsha Biard, at: marsha@ub.org.

We're asking that you register beforehand. You can register online.

Training for United Brethren youth workers will occur at the same time. This is a whole different track. The youth training will occur in the same locations as the lay training events, and will follow the same schedule. Learn more and register online.

First, let me say that it far exceeded my expectations. Maybe I had low expectations, but I don't think so. Rather, I believe that God showed up in power at the conference. While I realize that parts of the overall program were not received as well as others, the evaluations filled out by the attenders were extremely positive. For that I am thankful. I felt it was a great time for the United Brethren Church, a much-needed time of challenge, inspiration, fun, and seeing old friends. But I really believe God did something in our hearts during those days. I have great optimism for our future. Especially if we take to heart what we heard about evangelism and discipleship...which should be the emphasis of a church's ministry.

I know we have had discussion in the past about small churches and large churches. But in reading the Great Commission again, I don't find anything about size there. It just says we are to make disciples. Making disciples involves evangelism, education, and enlisting (baptism) of those who do not yet follow Jesus. The Great Commission is not a large church thing or a big church thing. It is an obedience thing. Regardless of the size of a church, I really don't understand how anyone can believe they are being obedient to Jesus when year after year the annual report shows no converts or baptisms. It really isn't about size. It is about being obedient to Jesus. I don't think it is even a church thing. It really is an individual thing. So the question is not so much about the church but about me as an individual. Is my life being lived so that people are coming to Christ and being built up in him because of my Christian walk. Isn't that the real issue?

Really, what is the church but the people? The church isn't an organization, although it needs to be organized. So when churches report zero conversions and zero baptisms, isn't that a reflection on the individuals in that church? I know that sounds hard, but isn't it the truth?

One thing that really blessed my heart at the National Conference was the number of people who nailed something to the cross on Sunday. That was a moving time for me. I was at the front and could hear how people pounded the nail into their slip of paper to pin it to the cross. Tears were shed as hearts were moved. Some people have reported to me what they nailed to the cross and the difference that commitment has made in their lives. That was as near "revival" as I have been for some time, and quite honestly I covet that more and more in my life and in the life of our church. We really do need a real revival.

While I appreciated that time, I know that the real test of revival is when we all get back home. Did anything change about how I live my life, how I react to my unsaved friends and relatives, how I go about my everyday life? We need a revival in many of our churches so that hearts will be changed...but the revival can't stay in the church building. We must take it to our communities, to the barber shop or beauty shop, to the service station when we buy our gas, to the neighbor next door, to the person who takes our money at the local Burger King, to the classmate in school, to the family reunion.... "As you go about from place to place, don't forget, MAKE Disciples." When we truly get serious about that, we will see revival like we have not experienced it ever before. I don't know about you, but my heart yearns for that!

After the class, one of the regular teachers challenged me. He said he didn't always see me pick up a hymnal in church and compared the two. I told him that I had those hymns memorized, and if the men memorized the Scriptures and could recite them at any time, I was fine with that. He walked away.

I am finishing John MacArthur's newest book The Truth War. Throughout history, God's people faced popularized ideas and doctrines that were not biblically sound. We are to be, as MacArthur says, "warriors for the truth," not looking to pick theological fights, but also not afraid to confront error. I commend the book to you.

I ask my fellow teachers to take their role seriously in preparing God's people for the battle for truth. I am reminded of Paul's admonition to Timothy, "Preach the Word." Line by line, verse by verse, book by book, concept by concept. The Body is ill and ill-prepared because we are not teaching well. Popularized programming and care ministries do little to strengthen the Church. We need to know the truth, and the truth will set us free. So place your major emphasis on studying to show yourselves approved, a workman that need not be ashamed, rightly dividing the Word of truth. And teach your people to do the same. The clouds of greater war days, the end days, the last days, are forming. And we will be held accountable for how we have prepared God's people for it.

The most potent memory for me will be Sunday morning. After some time of joyous, focused worship, we took time to give opportunity for us to write out on a piece of paper any sins that are easily entangling our lives or the lives of our churches. And we nailed them to the cross in confession before celebrating communion.

I had a powerful God moment in that. After introducing the process, I sat down on the edge of the stage, praying and reading Scripture. Periodically I would look up and watch. The lines on each side continued to grow and grow and grow. Some nailed their papers gently. Others angrily nail them to the cross, seemingly scorning the shame of it all. But hundreds upon hundreds of us brought things to the right place. I did. And freedom was found in Christ, once again.

Following, I watched (and personally experienced) as people went to each other, settling debts or asking forgiveness. Joy was abundant, the joy of the Lord. And we all were strengthened for it. The days ahead will require this same Spirit. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise. (Ps. 51:17)

And then the Bishop reminded us of all the wonderful blessings and privileges that are ours in Jesus. The mission, the power, the desires. All found in our positional relationship to Jesus Christ.

Now we continue moving forward, renewed in the strength of Jesus Christ, the Head of the Church.

So what was your take away? We'd like to hear from you. What were your God moments? What was most encouraging? What challenged you the most? What changed you and your fellow delegates?

The nation's population is now 300 million. If only 3.5% of the churches are healthy in evangelism, there is only one healthy evangelistic church for every 21,400 persons in the United States. (Outreach Magazine, Outreach Inc., 2230 Oak Ridge Way, Vista, CO 92081, January-February, 2007 issue, page 16. NOTE: You might want to subscribe to this magazine.)

One of our emphases on healthy churches is that they are effective in their evangelism as evidenced by influencing unchurched persons to place their faith in Jesus Christ. Jesus says in Luke 19:10 that he came to seek and save the lost. A lot of churches are proud that they are fundamental, conservative and evangelistic, but they never really reach many unchurched, unsaved persons. I hear of wonderful altar services where Christians pray and make commitments to a deeper life. But rarely does the deeper life result in their leading lost people to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ. To me, and I think I've said this before in this blog, that spiritual depth is not measured by what you know, but whether you are using what you know to make new disciples for Jesus.

So, how are you doing in your outreach?

What distracts us? I am sure we could develop quite a list. But after developing that list, most of the things would be good, decent things. Satan knows better than to try to distract most of us by suggesting something evil, bad, or unchristian. So he tries to get us so busy with so many good things that we do not focus on the best things.

Most of the distractions are good things, but developing a SFD upon that which is best helps us prioritize our day-to-day pressures and demands on our time. It seems to me that being able to identify from our to-do lists those items that are "best" is a sure way to live a life with SFD.

What do you think?