Pray4Guam
Prayers of agreement are even more effective, so here is a place to share insights and revelation to increase our impact.Archive for growth
How do we Measure Impact?
I have been in many prayer meetings where the level of impact is related more to the intensity level of the event or the emotional experience felt by people who were participants. “Boy that was a great prayer meeting!” My concern is if we are really looking for lasting impact? Has anything or anyone changed as a result of that time of prayer?
I cherish the fact that we are indeed changed by beholding the Lord. So any who spends time in His presence and enjoys the Lord, gazing in His face is truly impacted in positive ways. There is serious trend in a post-modern oriented society to focus simply on the emotional experience felt in a situation to be the prime determination of success in a event. Can we look for more that simply a feeling? How will expand the ways we measure or evaluate the experience we engage in today?
Spreading the Gospel or Strategic Expansion
I love the image in Daniel of the Rock of God’s Kingdom rolling down and growing as it moves through time. God is committed to his purpose that His Kingdom will come and get bigger and stronger throughout the earth. I want to be involved with this process rather than simply a spectator or bystander. Count me in for all of it!
I have been involved in cross cultural international ministry for over 20 years. We have worked with those who follow more of what I like to call a “traditional evangelistic style” as they endeavor to win souls, getting folks to pray the “sinners prayer.” I tend to fall into a different category of making disciples. Our thrust is “building relationships”. Our church planting is “building community” with a mission focus. That focus involves connecting with people in the areas of their felt needs. For us, that seem to be the area where we find a great opportunity to see transformation.
I think our personal shift of focus resulted from seeing many pray with us in prison and in the government-run drug rehab. Souls were saved but sadly, many of these ended up going back to their old way of life as they were released from these centers. How do we really measure our effectiveness in these ministry endeavors? We could simply leave the outcomes to the Lord as we do our part as best we can. Or, we can really evaluate the fruit of our endeavors.
I’d like to make a comparison here. I see the current economic crisis to be related so similarly to the traditional evangelistic style. Many have invested in stocks or let others invest for them through various managed funds. The dollars or credit committed to the stock or investment vehicles are only appraised at the front end. Shock or horror has hit many of my friends who now look at their investment portfolio to find that they have lost major strides in building for their retirement as the stock values continue to slide. The passive approach to wealth management is extremely risky and bites terribly hard. So too is the passive approach to kingdom investment.
I guess what it comes down to for me is that we are looking to see situations in our community changing as lives begin to be transformed. It is so exciting to see individual lives change as Jesus beings to make all things new. It is a process though that for some takes a long time. I think all of us wish we could use an approach ministry like the fairies who wave a magic wand and see complete changes occur. Sadly, those kind of changes rarely last. God works to transform people from the inside out. He exposes lies in an individual’s belief system and speaks His truth in its place. For paradigms, and well fortified spiritual strongholds to be dismantled, we need to build relationships that nurture and reinforce God’s truth.
