Franklin Graham coming to Tacoma this weekend

If my understanding is correct, this blog is not being used much as of late.

In any case, I am hours away from wondering what great spiritual move might take place in our region this weekend as the church of Pierce County hosts the Pacific Northwest Franklin Graham Festival at the Tacoma Dome.

This event has been literally years in the making. Much prayer and intercession has been going upward for an opportunity of this scale to come to our region.

I wonder if any tangible evidence will be manifest after this weekend? I wonder if there will be a measurable change, not just in the church setting but in our community culture?

• Will our public schools be different?
• Will our crime rates drop significantly?
• Will poverty be minimized?
• Will love for our fellow man be more evident?
• Will divorces go down?
• Will spousal abuse be a thing of the past?
• Will children be more loved and cared for in a strong family setting?
• Will the killing of unborn children be significantly decreased?
• Will the purity of love be saved and reserved for the marriage bed?
• Will the acceptance of porn in our community, find a one way road out to hell where it came from?
• Will fighting between turned to better listening and concern for the well being of the other?
• Will our political leaders be empowered with courage to lead this culture of change?
• Will our young people find a place in our hearts again because we have pushed them away in our selfishness?

These and countless other pains and evils have plagued the people of this region and by default has created a culture of oppression and heaviness that had affected all spheres of our lives, both physically and emotionally along with spiritually and financially.

Will there be a tangible difference as a result of this Pacific Northwest Franklin Graham Festival?

Has the Spirit of God ordained this event to showcase His power?

Will the name of Jesus Christ ring through out this region and blow over every high thing that would dare stand opposed to Him?

Only time will tell.

Dean Johnson

Increasing Passion At Pastors' Prayer

About 30 Pierce County pastors and staff ministers assembled for our lunch fellowship and prayer at Trinity Church of Pierce Co. on Dec. 16. We were pleased to have Jean Milliken, Associate Pastor of Grace Com. Church in Auburn join us as a representative from King Co. The Lord blessed us with a heightened sense of passion in our prayers together, particularly as we cried out to God for "death to meth." We have decided that it is time for us as pastors to do our part in working against the meth-amphetamine trade in Pierce County.

The Threefold Cord Plan

Pierce County Pastors introduced a new plan at this November's prayer retreat. It is simply a practical plan for putting feet to our commitment to unity and to united effort in our ministries. Here are the details:

Definition
The “Threefold Cord Plan” is a specific pattern for building fruitful relationships between local Christian ministers. The plan asks each minister (pastor or ministry staff person) to invest relationally in two of his or her peers for one year.

The Goals
The goals of this relational investment are three: (1) the other person’s success in ministry, (2) the minister’s own growth from spiritual cross-pollination, and (3) the strengthening of the city and county network of churches. The nature of the investment (time, place and means) is entirely up to the individual.

How It’s Done

Step 1
The minister prayerfully commits himself or herself before the Lord to work for the success of two of his or her peers in the county for one year.

Step 2
The minister intercedes in prayer regularly for his or her two peers until the next annual Pierce Pastors’ retreat.

Step 3
The minister keeps himself informed about the ministries of his or her two peers and prayerfully seeks other ways to encourage them and promote their ministries during the year. The details of this step are entirely up to the individual minister’s own schedule and creativity. Encouragement of peers could involve lunch invitations, rounds of golf, or the sharing of church personnel (e.g., a worship team).

Step 4
At the end of the year’s commitment, the minister invites his or her two peers to the Pierce County Pastors’ retreat and encourages each of them to repeat the Threefold Cord Plan with two others apiece. The first minister then commits himself or herself to two new peers for the following year.

Death to Meth

One of the concerns that surfaced in prayer at this November's Pierce Pastor's Prayer retreat, was our county's plague of meth-amphetamine labs. We ask the Lord to direct us in how to attack this problem on the spiritual plane, and how to do it in concert as pastors and congregations of the county.

The Cityward Mind of God

As pastors ministering in the cities of Pierce County, we are endeavoring to develop a biblical "theology of city." Roderick Graciano has provided an initial written installment on a biblical understanding of city, entitled, The Cityward Mind of God. You may download a pdf file of this article by clicking on the title of this posting. We will welcome you comments.

Praying For A Full Harvest

We Pierce County Pastors want more! At our prayer lunch on July 22, we thanked the Lord for the "firstfruits" He has given us, but we believe He would be pleased to grant a more abundant harvest -- a harvest of people finding life in our county. To that end, we sought the Lord, asking that He reveal His agenda to us and deliver us from the unfruitful pursuit of our own shortsighted ideas.

Lindleys Moving to U S Center for World Mission

Chuck and Janis Lindley complete their active pastorate at North End Community Church on August 15, 2004. They are answering a call to serve at the U. S. Center for World Mission in Pasadena, CA. Please keep them and North End Community in your prayers. We are sad to lose Chuck's and Janis's frequent fellowship, but concur that it is God's will that they take this new step in their ministry lives.

The Net

At our monthly Pierce Pastors' Prayer Lunch (every 4th Thursday, Trinity Church), Sherry Varkonyi, of First Presbyterian in Tacoma, prayed for the NETworking of our Pierce County churches. Her Spirit-led prayer helped us realize that it is the network of our churches that will catch God's fish in our county (Mat 4.19), and it's the holes in our network (our missing relationships) that let so many fish get away.

DOCKED ASSETS

In a parallel metaphor to that of the "Frozen Waters," the Pierce Pastors prayed this morning about the "docked assets" in Tacoma. It's great to own a boat, but sadly, many yachts stay in the marina most of the year. Similarly, the church has many spiritual and material assets that remain tied to the dock, i.e., remain unused for the Kingdom.

In the Spirit-led prayers this morning, we began to explore the nature of the "anchors" that keep a congregation and their assets from leaving the harbor. On one extreme, the binding anchor could be false doctrine. Short of that problem, a faulty philosophy of ministry could keep us from catching the wind of the Spirit. For some of us the fear of change and of losing "control" keeps us tied to the dock or anchored in the bay. We can remain in complete control of our ship and need fear no storm as long as we're safely anchored and going nowhere!

God grant us the courage to cut the anchors loose and let the Spirit blow us where He will (John 3.8).

FROZEN WATERS

In God's providence, our city is named Tacoma. This Native American name means "snow covered mountain," referring of course to looming Mt. Tahoma (Rainier) on our southeastern horizon.

Now, a snow-covered mountain is the water reservoir for its region. I believe that Tacoma is an immense reservoir of spiritual waters (think John 7.38), but the snows must be melted for the water to nourish the thirsty of our county and beyond (see Isaiah 32.1,2).

Our Pierce Pastors have begun to pray that the radiance of Christ's presence will melt the ice that locks away the spiritual assets of Tacoma, and that we would become the source of living water He intends us to be.

Jonah 4.11

If you have a plan for your church only,
Your plan is too itty-bitty.
God has a plan —
It’s a plan for the city!