Words of strange encouragement
Caught up with Peter Roennfeldt recently at the Gourmet Girl. He's been a church planter and an encourager of church planters for as long as I remember. He is a blessing to hundreds of pioneers around the world.
Here are some words of strange encouragement from his newsletter.
The ‘birth' of something of significance usually arises from the ‘death' of the visionary! On Sunday 18 March, Australia celebrated the 75th anniversary of the opening of the Sydney Harbour Bridge—an amazing feat of engineering for its time!
The premier of New South Wales back then was Jack Lang, a stubborn visionary who would not be distracted from the task — even continuing construction during the Great Depression. But within days of the opening, Jack Lang was forced from office.
Commenting on Jesus words, “Unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds.†(John 12:24)
Os Hllman writes, Almost every significant thing God births He allows to die before the vision is fulfilled in His own way. God allowed Abraham and Sarah to grow old (and dead), before they became the parents of a great nation. God allowed Joseph to be sold as a slave and spend years in a dungeon, before Joseph's dreams of being a great leader for God became reality. Moses' experience also illustrates this truth!
This was the very essence of Jesus' life. He was killed before His work had begun (it seemed) — but God raised Jesus from the dead, the disciples were possessed by Him through His Spirit and the greatest movement ever, began!
The apostle Paul says that we cannot expect to experience the glory of Jesus unless we also share in the pain of His suffering and crucifixion. Paul experienced this — often at the hands of religious leaders. Church planters can also expect to experience this pain — in the same way. And then sometimes, you will bear the scars of your service and commitment to broken and dysfunctional communities.
Be prepared to be sacrificed—and let God do His work. It is really strange — but check out John 12:24 again. If the vision you have is of God — He will accomplish it in His way and multiply it! Church planting is about conformity to the crucifixion example of Jesus.
Make sure you visit his blog and read the stories he tells of the pioneers he serves.
