A New Beginning

God says in Isaiah, “I am about to do a new thing, don’t you see it?”

Change is not neat and predictable. Change is messy. Change is challenging and uncomfortable. 7 out of 10 change efforts fail to achieve their intended results.

The ability of leaders to be adaptable is vital to change.

The good leader is adaptable and can navigate change successfully. Leaders drive change through being personally adaptable and exhibiting the right change behavior.

The manager must personally adapt, and confidently communicate a strategy for change to team members.

Good leaders delay implementation until there's a common vision among key team makers. They create dialogue and debate to foster buy-in.

Change leaders build a network of leadership for change. They spend time in meetings, listening and addressing concerns.

Word From Wayne on Christmas

I attended a wonderful Christmas concert recently. The words of the angels announcing the birth of Jesus took on new meaning for me. The angels spoke of good news of great joy for all people. Jesus came to bring us joy. Yet, it’s a quality of often lacking among many Christians.

Lately I’ve been visiting with a lot of believers. I’ve been disappointed that so many are bitter, a little angry, fearful and despairing. This should not be!

During advent we highlight Love, Hope, Joy, Peace. As we experience God’s Love demonstrated through Jesus, we have Hope since Jesus is the giver of abundant life and eternal life. As we hope in Him, we have Peace: Peace with God and the Peace of God.

Peace is the inward quality of a person who trusts God. Joy is the outward manifestation of our relationship with God. Of all people, Christians have the least reason to be bitter, angry, fearful and despairing. And we have every reason to be filled with Love, Hope Joy, and Peace.

My life verse is Psalm 16:11: “You have shown me the path of life. In your presence is fullness of Joy. At your right hand are pleasures forever.”

Jesus invited us: “Ask and you will receive, that your Joy might be full.”
Paul said: “Rejoice in the Lord always.” And then for emphasis, he added: “I say it again: Rejoice.”

And Christians in the 1st century had it much worse than most of us today.

So, this Christmas, spread the tidings of great joy which is for all people. Spread “Joy to the world—the Lord has come!”

As a follower of Jesus, let this season be a time when you radiate Joy to a hurting, hate-filled, fearful, despairing world. And take that spirit through the year. What a contrast to the rest of the world if followers of Jesus were to demonstrate the fruit of the Spirit: JOY.

May you experience the love, joy, hope and peace of the Lord Jesus Christ as you celebrate His birth.

Leading Change

I've observed two mistakes for organizations in transition.

One--the organization is so ingrained in the past , it's ineffective to the current generation. The other, leadership is so neglectful of tradition, they miss building on what's gone before.

A successful corporate leader told a small group recently: "We drink water from wells dug by those who went before us." There are benefits of standing on the shoulders of those who preceeded us. However, it`s very hard to get any work done in that position.

Seriously, we need to build on the past but not live in the past. I like the old motto from Youth For Christ years ago: "Anchored to the Rock; Geared to the times."

Wayne Gretsky was asked what made him a great hockey player. His response: "I don't skate to where the puck is. I skate to where the puck is going to be." May God help us with the foresight to move forward in that way.

Mentoring Your Team

One of our challenges as leaders is the Spiritual Formation of our people.
 
Those in leadership aren't just responsible for the work output of our people.  God places vs. over our team so we can help them grow professionally, personally, emotionally and spiritually. 
 
That doesn't mean we preach all the time or put Bible verses all over the building.  But it does mean that we model a life of integrity and kindness; that we mentor them for greater effectiveness and nurture them to be better employees, family members, friends and citizens.
 
You can shape lives not just in terms of work productivity but also personal effectiveness and even spiritual maturity.
 
Paul said to his team:  Follow my example, as I follow Christ's example.
 
~Wayne
 
 

Unforced Rhythm of Grace

Steve Smith, of The Potters Inn in Colorado says: "Busy-ness is the only sin that the church celebrates with gusto.”

Most of us wear our busy-ness as a badge of pride. We brag about our full schedules, our Gold status with the airlines, and our hundreds of emails.

But in the Psalms , God reminds us to Be still and know that He is God.

In the Chinese language, when you write the two characters for Heart + Annihilation together, the character means=Busy-ness. Busy-ness produces annihilation of the core of our being.

Try taking the night off. Enjoy a weekend without email. Take that much deserved vacation.

Jesus reminds us to learn the unforced rhythm of grace.

A one year milestone

A Word From Wayne

It’s been one year since I began as president of HCJB Global. Here’s what I’ve learned as I look back on the past year:

I’ve learned to totally depend on God. No way could I do this job without God’s enablement. Each day I pray for the mental capacity, the spiritual resources and the physical endurance for the task. God has been faithful in leading us through challenging times with minimum of harm.

I’ve learned God uses everything in our lives to prepare us to serve Him. My times at Northwestern, Mission America, Bethel, Moody, even NRB prepared me for this present assignment.

I’ve learned that it’s not about money. Even with the financial challenges, God has allowed us to move forward in amazing ways.

I’ve learned it’s not about owning stuff. We don’t have to own things to be effective for God.

I’ve learned it’s not about our strategic plan. God has brought us ministry unimaginable opportunities we could never have planned. God will direct our steps if we take time to listen to Him.

I’ve learned the future is more important than the past. We appreciate the miracles over the years. But God has wonderful things in our future. Like good drivers, we look at the windshield more than the rear view mirror.

I’ve learned relationships are more important than tasks. Having been task-driven most of my life, I realize what we accomplish is based on our relationship with Christ and our partnership with one another.

I’ve learned the value of good counsel. I’m surrounded by a team that provides good counsel and great advice for the challenges and decisions that impact HCJB Global.
I’ve learned the value of pacing and rest. The job keeps coming at you. There’ll always be articles to write, calls to return and emails to read. But we need to work at God’s pace and build margins of renewal, rest, recreation and relationships in our life.

I’ve learned Jesus used His voice and His hands. We declare and demonstrate God’s love through media and healthcare—the voice and hands of Jesus to our needy world.
I’ve learned it’s all about introducing people to Jesus. Our bottom line is transformed lives. As we invite people from every culture around the world to follow Him we obey His command.

Another Lesson for Leaders

One of the challenges for a leader is NOT to spend the majority of time solving problems, but rather modeling LIFE as Christ intended it and to cast the vision for where we need to be going together.

Too many of us are lost in the size of our task, or the lack of resources and insufficient wisdom to accomplish the assigned work. We must keep our eyes fixed on Jesus if we are to maintain our own balance and joy…and to encourage our people to do the same.

Jesus said, “I am the way the truth and the life.”

Eugene Peterson’s comments on John 14:6: “Most Christians are experts on THE TRUTH; most are dropouts in THE WAY and so most miss out on THE LIFE.”

Sharpen the Ax

Stephen R. Covey’s book, The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, contains the story of two woodsmen.

One woodsman was a long, strong, strapping youth with big biceps and huge confidence.

The other was a weathered, wisened old man worn down by years of hard labor.

The young woodsman chopped aggressively all day long, hardly stopping to rest or eat.

The older man worked at a slower pace taking frequent rest breaks between trees.

At the end of the work day, the older man had cut twice as many trees as the younger.

Amazed and puzzled, the younger man asked how he could work so hard while the older man took frequent rests … and yet cut twice the number of trees.

The older man replied, “While I rested under the shade, I sharpened my ax.”

Are you furiously working away wearing yourself out, but using a dull ax? Maybe you need to take a break and sharpen the ax.

~Wayne

Less Driven

I think I’m becoming less driven. After a lifetime of people-pleasing driven-ness, I’m learning the important of balance, pacing and priorities.

It’s impossible to return every telephone call, read every magazine, respond to every e-mail, do Twitter, Facebook and Blogger.

You can’t serve on every board and attend every event you’re invited to.

I had a friend who went on an eight-week short-term mission trip. For two months she was out of range of cell phone and e-mail. She came back home to 3,000 e-mails. She did a “select all,” then hit “delete.”

In the weeks ahead, she didn’t hear from one singer person who complained she had not read or replied to their e-mails.

Be realistic is planning your schedule. Breathe between appointments. Not everything has to be done—at least not everything has to be done today.

Build a margin between appointments. Double the anticipated time for a project. It reduces your stress and allows you to make good on your commitments.

And, as Jesus said, “Seek first his kingdom and his righteousness. All these other things will be added as well.”

Life with Wayne and Jesus

I was raised in a really good Christian home on our family farm. We went to a great country church where the gospel was preached and we were given frequent invitations to accept God’s gift of salvation. Really, I can’t remember a time when I didn’t know God loved me and Jesus died for my sins so I could live with Him in heaven forever.

I’ve always loved radio. Radio was a big part of our life on the farm—in the house, in the barn. We didn’t have radios on the tractor, but I produced hundreds of radio shows on the seat of the tractor while I mowed or plowed.

As long as I can remember, I’ve wanted to be on the radio. I set up a little “radio operation” in my room and made my friends play radio.

I was a good little church boy. People would pat me on the head and say I should be a preacher. But I didn’t want to be a preacher. I wanted to be a disc jockey. In fact, I think my desire to be a radio announcer was what kept me from really getting serious about giving my life completely to God. I thought if you were completely dedicated to God, you’d have to be a pastor or a missionary.

So I held back. I was one kind of boy at home and at church. I was a different kind of guy at school. If my parents knew the language I was using and the jokes I was telling, they would have been seriously disappointed. But I wanted to be popular, and I wanted to run with the gang, so I lived a double life. Not that I got into smoking, drinking and sex. Not at all. But my life was a contradiction of church and school.

That all changed the summer before my junior year in high school. Several kids from our church youth group were coming back on a bus from Bible camp. We were yucking it up along the way until my cousin Bev started to cry. Now Bev was also a good church kid. Everybody thought Bev was OK. But through her tears, Bev confessed that she didn’t know if her sins were forgiven, and she didn’t know if she would go to heaven.

Well, once Bev prayed and received Jesus, God spoke to me. It wasn’t an audible voice, but God’s Spirit was saying something deep inside me. The deep impression from God on my heart was that there were thousands of good church kids like Bev who don’t have a personal relationship with Jesus. And God placed a call on my life to make the good news plain to good church people who needed Jesus.

Remember, I thought if you were really dedicated to follow the Lord, you’d have to become a pastor or missionary. So, here I go! I instantly changed my priorities and declared my intention to be a pastor. That following year we had a huge revival among the youth in our community. Our entire youth group was energized to share the gospel. We had special youth meetings. We organized prayer groups in our high school. Many of my friends came to Jesus as Savior, and several went into professional ministry as a result of that year.

So after graduation from high school, I went to a Christian university in South Carolina to study to be a pastor. It was 1,400 miles from our farm to South Carolina. My dad later said he thought he’d never get over my going so far away from home to attend school. But I was determined to get the best possible ministry training I could get.

When I came home for summer vacation after that first year in college, I discovered my mom had terminal cancer. She was 44 years old with five kids, including my 4-year-old sister. I immediately transferred to the University of Minnesota so I could be closer to home. In May of my sophomore year my mom died. It was a terribly difficult time for all the family. I’m still numb even now as I try to remember.

When I resumed my studies the next fall, I took an elective class in radio-television production. It was a lifelong fascination for me, and the class got me hooked. There was one guy in the class who had spent the summer working for a radio station in Montana. I asked him, “How do you get a job in radio?” He said, “You just go in and apply.”

That afternoon I drove to KTIS AM-FM in downtown Minneapolis. I asked to see the manager. The manager came out—Paul Ramseyer. He looked at me, a kid fresh off the farm with no radio experience. I’m sure he wondered what I was doing there. But they must have been desperate. A couple days later Paul called and offered me a job. They needed some poor guy to work from 6 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays—plus Wednesday nights.

I took the job—for a whopping $1.50 an hour! They trained me “on the job,” and in two weeks I was running the station alone on weekends—reading news, playing records, monitoring the transmitter, recording programs. I was having a blast. I quickly warmed to the job and must have shown an aptitude because soon I was producing programs and filling in on the morning drive. Let me say, one could never step into a job like that today. Standards are much higher!

The following year I married Norma. She worked full time as a nurse while I worked 30 hours a week while finishing my bachelor’s degree at the University of Minnesota. The following fall I enrolled in seminary. The radio job was a great way to work my way through school—seminary classes in the morning, then off to the radio station to do the afternoon shift until 6 p.m.

Our seminary required students to spend their summers doing internships in area churches. Norma and I were assigned to a small church plant in North Dakota. Reluctantly, I took a summer leave of my radio job to serve as interim pastor of three country churches.

The summer flew by. I did visitation, youth ministry, preaching and Bible camps. We were always busy, but the job was never done. As I returned from the plains of North Dakota to the metropolitan Twin Cities, I went back to the radio station. I turned on the control board, opened the microphone and spun the music.

But Norma saw the lights in my eyes and the beginning of a problem. She wanted to be married to a preacher. I had just concluded a lackluster summer as a country pastor. It was the appeal of a major radio station that brought back my passion for ministry.

There was strong pressure at seminary to be a pastor. The denomination needed pastors. Why would you go to seminary if you weren’t going to be a pastor? Being a pastor is the best way to serve God. Anything less is inferior service. Besides, I had made a promise to God—that I would invest my life making the gospel plain to good church people who needed Jesus.

I was having this inner battle between what I wanted to do and what I thought God was requiring of me. So one night in our apartment, I had this “face-in-the-carpet experience.” On my knees, literally on my face before God, I said, “Lord, I’m tired of this conflict. I am willing to do whatever it is you want me to do, even to be a pastor in Wheatfield, S.D. I just want to be in your will and experience your peace about it.”

It seems now almost instantaneous, but I don’t recall the timing of it. But after that moment of total surrender of my life to the Lord, I experienced a sense of peace about serving God in Christian media. It was as if God had been waiting for me to declare my willingness to do anything and go anywhere to serve Him before He would release me to do what I was passionate about.

With total confidence of God’s will and God’s blessing, I told my seminary colleagues that after graduation I wasn’t going to be a pastor. Instead, I was going to stay full time in Christian radio. That was 40 years ago. God has given me this marvelous career doing what I was dreaming of doing as an 8-year-old boy. The hundreds of hours of radio I did on the tractor were now converted into production ministry, reaching hundreds of thousands of people with the good news.

Shortly after this transition from seminary to radio, I was discussing the two options with a friend. “You reach more people in one day on the radio than most pastors reach in their lifetime,” she said. It was later that I realized God was true to His calling to me on that church bus when I was 16 years old. Most people who listen to Christian radio are good church people. But statistics show that one out of three who listen have not made a conscious decision to follow Jesus. So God called me and placed me in Christian communication to make the gospel plain to good church people who need Jesus.

And now, after more than 30 years of radio work in Minneapolis followed by five years in Chicago, God has opened this opportunity to not only reach lost people in the U.S., but to reach unreached people in the farthest, most unreachable parts of the globe through radio. I never could have imagined where that still voice that spoke a life goal to me as a 16-year-old farm kid would all eventually lead.

Here’s what I tell young people whenever I have a chance.

Don’t hold back on committing your life totally to God for fear of what He might ask you to do. God is not just waiting for you to surrender to Him so He can put you in some miserable, unbearable place. He is waiting for you to place your life in His hands so you can be the person He created you to be.

He’s not interested in putting square pegs in round holes. He has created you with certain interests, passions, gifts and abilities so you can serve Him with effectiveness and enjoyment. He’s created you with a certain DNA and will allow that DNA of passions, interests and talents to be used for your fulfillment and His glory.

The psalmist said, “Delight yourself in the Lord and he will give you the desires of your heart” (Psalm 37:4). Jesus said, “But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well” (Matthew 6:33).

So for starters:

· Receive God’s gift of forgiveness and eternal life which He bought for you on the cross and the empty tomb.

· Then follow Jesus with all you’ve got. Love Him with all your heart, soul, mind and strength.

· Then watch God work in you and through you as you love Him and follow Him. I can say from experience—it works!

Eur-Asia Conferene

HCJB GLOBAL EUROPEAN CONFERENCE

One of the privileges of serving with HCJB Global is the opportunity to see and hear first hand what God is doing in extraordinary ways in strategic circumstances. My recent time at the European Conference brought together dedicated servants from 13 countries who are using media, health care and leadership development to advance the cause of Jesus and His Kingdom.

I can't possibly remember or relate all that was presented. However, for your encouragement and perspective, I wanted to share some of the highlights which I noted in my journal.

North Africa
We are installing portable studios and training local believers to develop their own radio projects in areas that are less than 1% Evangelical. A young man is producing programs on his computer. His brother finds Christian ites on his brother's computer and reports it to the father who works for the government. The young Christian man is kicked out of his family. He is no longer the son. He says that if he had been the daughter, he would not be alive. He was asked if we should scramble his voice on the radio programs. "No, you don't have to scramble my voice. I've been there."

Who of you willing to follow Christ for the sake of family, land, home?

Our shortwave and direct satellite are providing access to the Gospel where there are big barriers to proclamation of the Gospel. In the Gulf region, amidst a population of 30 Million, there are 300-1000 believers. Yet our media ministries are reaching 45,000 households.

Central Asia
In Slovoka there are 5 Million people. In Czech Republic, 10 Million. These countries are some of the most atheistic countries in Eur-Asia. Only 1 out of 500 are Evangelical. Yet, today there is a brand new Christian FM station broadcasting the Good News. And the founders have a vision to add one station per year in that region.

A new Mission Center operating out of a church in Central Asia is producing radio programs on a community FM station and using the Center to reach disenchanted youth in the city on the verge of dysfunction.

Even in the parts of Europe that were formerly major sending countries, providing ministry and missions to the farthest reaches of the world, are now some of the largest mission fields. Places like Germany, the Netherlands, Spain, England, France, most with less than 2% evangelical now could be considered "unreached". Yet creative strategists are using Internet, podcasts, and short edgy spots on commercial radio stations to speak to their post-Christian culture.

In Sweden, a creative, youthful think tank is producing a virtual "Second Life" environment where Millenials from aroud the world can gather in this virtual community to connect with HCJB Global. We're looking at the future here.

The Asia-Paific region has 3.5 Billion people--60% of the world population. 80% of the unreached people of the world live in the Asia-Pacific. Shortwave continues to be an effective means of reaching the vast expanses of China, India, Bangladesh. Culturally relevant programs addressing social issues and current events prepared in those countries in 20 languages are helping people through the challenges of day-to-day living. The mobile phone industry is focused on developing these highly populated global regions with mobile devices that will in the future enable our media to reach some of the most unreached regions of the world with the Message.

There are great and unexpected opportunities in parts of the world with little access and big obstacles. Opportunities can't be planned and we must be strategic and flexible as God opens the doors. In the words of Henry Blackaby "God wants us to invest right where He sends us. Wherever God sends you, find what God wants you to do in that place."

Make New Friends--Keep the Old

I've observed two key mistakes when organizations are in transition. On one hand, the organization is so deeply ingrained in past history, it is ineffective in speaking to the current generation. On the other, new leadership is so neglectful or even disresepectfull of tradition, they miss the opportunity to build on the benefits of what's gone before.

A successful corporate leader, who's business gives millions of dollars in community charity said this to a small group of us recently: "We drink water from wells that we dug by others." More frequently we hear about the benefits of standing on the shoulders of those who preceeded us. (Very hard to get any work done in that position, however.)

Seriously, we need to have balance in looking back and looking forward. We need to build on the past but not live in the past. I like the old motto from Youth For Christ years ago: "Anchored to the Rock; Geared to the times."

In the weeks since I last wrote to you, I've been involved in 2 very different but very important group meetings. The first was the week-long "Forever Family". This event gathered almost 200 retired staff and missionaries with long, faithful service to HCJB Global. I was thrilled and impressed with their energy, passion and openness to continue to serve. We heard stories, some brought laughter, others brought tears, of how God has used our team in effectively serving Jesus over these 78 years.

A week later, I heard the report from our Emerging Media Task Force. This group of forward thinking men and women have been meeting and exploring opportunities to share the Good News on the new technologies God is bringing into view. It's the same Message, but distributed in new ways using Internet, Podcasting, SMS, blogging, YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, and smart phone mobile technology. The amazing thing is that the regions experiencing the fastest development of technology are the very unreached parts of the world that HCJB Global is called to reach!

So while we honor the past, and we "seize the day", we also need to focus forward, using the tools and creativity God has provided. Now that the techs have done their work in exploring and recommending the techno-tools available, we now need to engage our best creative minds to explore and recommend the compelling content we need to place on those new delivery systems. Stay tuned for that!

Hockey great Wayne Gretsky was asked what made him a great hockey player. His response: "I don't skate to where the puck is. I skate to where the puck is going to be." May God enable us with the foresight to move to where the new media and the new consumer is going to be.

By the way, as a demonstration of connecting old with new, photos and MP3 files of the "Forever Family" event have been uploaded on the HCJB Global hub. You can access them for your own enjoyment. And I even used my little "flip" camera and placed a very amatuerish video montage on YouTube. You can do a searh on YouTube using my name in the search. (Even this old radio guy is trying to learn new media.)

Smile

Joy is one of the most powerful means of reflecting God’s love. So if your soul is happy, let your face show it. A smile is a great way to show love and acceptance. Businesses that serve the public should require employees to smile. According to the Monday Morning Memo from Wizard of Ads:

“Smiling even makes tasks look easy and enjoyable. Smiling counters feelings of anxiety and intimidation in others and instills a sense of calm. A genuine smile is detectible and instills trust. Smiling also makes you look more attractive.”

Joy is one of the fruit of the Holy Spirit—the 2nd one listed right after love. Joy must be pretty important.

Paul said: “Rejoice in the Lord always. I say it again: Rejoice.” Joy must be pretty important.”

The Psalmist said: Our mouths were filled with laughter, our tongues with songs of joy.

Proverbs teaches that “A cheerful heart is good medicine.”

Even sad, plagued Job said: “He will yet fill your mouth with laughter and your lips with shouts of joy.”

Christians should be characterized by joy. We have every reason to be joyful. The eternal issues are settled. Our sins are forgiven. And Christ-followers are even encouraged to rejoice in the midst of trials.

A smile translates in any language. A smile is the ultimate cross-cultural communication tool.

So as you serve the Lord this week, SMILE.

The Resurrection Power in You

Jesus lived a great life. So did a lot of other great religious leaders.

Jesus died a martyr’s death. So did many others who laid down their lives.

Jesus rose boldly and bodily from the grave. No one has ever done that!

And that’s the great message we have to proclaim. In the 1st Century, the distinctive message of the early church was the resurrection of Jesus from the dead. That was the message that got people’s attention. And interesting that no one disputed the fact. His resurrection was an undisputed fact proven by repeated appearances to His contemporaries. The resurrection of Jesus from the dead is one of the best documented facts in history.

In the 21st Century, the resurrection is still our distinctive message. You can point to the tombs of most every religious leader in history. But Jesus tomb is empty. No bones about it!

What does the resurrection of Jesus mean to you today? Romans 8:11 teaches that “The Spirit of God who raised Jesus from the dead lives in you.” Can you believe it? While we marvel at God’s power in raising His Son from the dead, you need to know that same power lives in you. So if you think discouragement, defeat, fear, weakness, you need to realize that the same power that raised Jesus now resided in you to empower you to live the Jesus life.

The resurrection is more than a well-documented historical fact. The resurrection power resides inside you today! So let the power of the resurrection empower your message. Let it strengthen your ministry. Let it impassion your person.

The Lord is risen indeed! The power of the risen Lord lives in you indeed!

Evangelism or Discipleship

I’ve often been asked about my ministry career: Are we called to evangelism or discipleship? My somewhat glib answer is usually, “Yes.”

I understand the difference between evangelism and discipleship. Evangelism is the proclamation of the good news to those who have never heard. Discipleship is taking believers to a higher level of instruction and growth under the lordship of Jesus Christ.

But back to my “yes” answer. I’m not trying to be a wise guy. How can you really separate evangelism and discipleship?

Jesus’ most frequent call was, “Follow me.” To me that involves the conscious decision to follow Jesus in all respects, including repenting of sin, receiving God’s forgiveness through Christ Jesus, forsaking sin and pursuing righteousness, and coming under the total management of the Holy Spirit in our lives.

Someone said to me recently, “Before you came to HCJB Global, we kept hearing about discipleship. When you came, we keep hearing about evangelism.”

My personal passion is for evangelism. Nothing could be more important than introducing people to the Son of God and Savior of the world. Nothing is more critical than changing people’s eternal destiny from hell to heaven. If we properly introduce people to Jesus, they will love Him with all their heart, mind, soul and strength. And subsequently they will begin to follow Him as disciples (literally “learners”).

I applaud the focus on discipleship that former HCJB Global President David Johnson brought to our mission. We needed that vision cast, and our various ministries have responded by making the “passionate discipleship” core value a strategic part of what we do.

As I pray and plan, my heart is to take the legacy of evangelism and discipleship that has been given to us and look at them together—as part of a larger process.

Evangelism isn’t just about getting converts. It’s announcing God’s wonderful good news of salvation by grace through faith. And it’s winsomely appealing to our friends to begin a personal journey following Jesus as Savior and Lord. I believe that this broader picture must be our priority.

Jesus commanded us to “make disciples of all ethnic groups.” That means bringing people to Jesus to become His followers and “students.” After the life-and-death importance of conversion, the intentional decision to follow Jesus in full surrender is life-changing. The learning and growth process is vital to spiritual health and productivity.

As I reach out to those around me, I try not to refer to myself as a Christian. That word is so marginalized in many of our cultures. It’s lost meaning in our “Christian” culture and is an offense in many cultures. I also avoid labels like “evangelical” or “born again.” They’re good words, but they typecast us to the world.

I refer to myself as a “follower of Jesus.” Jesus’ command is to follow Him. That means a humble confession of sin and trust in His atonement. That means loving God with all my heart, soul, mind and strength. That includes loving my neighbor as myself. It means loving the poor, children, the widow—even enemies. It means denying myself and following Him. It means persecution, submission, humility, disgrace—even martyrdom!

So in its most simple … and most extraordinary form, I’m a follower of Jesus … wherever. By introducing people to Jesus and inviting them to follow Him, we evangelize and disciple a growing number of Christ-followers.

As part of that, I proclaim the good news whenever possible, however possible. Nothing is more important than introducing people to Jesus. We are compelled to this effort because of our legacy in the past and our “global ends” that help define our future:

· To reach those people groups who have never heard.

· To reach people groups with restricted access to the gospel.

· Then, to mobilize believers to demonstrate and proclaim Christ.

Yes, that’s evangelism. That’s discipleship. That’s our calling.

When Your Back's to the Wall

Isn’t it interesting that as people, we really pray and put our dependence on God when our backs are against the wall. With the current global economy, this is one of those times. I believe the Lord is teaching our world, our nations, our organizations and our churches that success is not about how smart we are in making budgets and raising funds. In fact, it’s not about money after all. God is humbling us to realize it’s not about us … it’s about Him and His kingdom.

I’d rather write happy, optimistic messages of victory and blessing. However, just as we celebrate victories we must also acknowledge hardships. We’re seeing an accelerated drop in donations as of the first five months of our fiscal year. We do have other sources of income. However, donor income is at the center of our funding model and provides us with the cash flow we need to fund operations and projects around the globe.

When Moses was literally “between the devil and the deep blue sea,” he prayed. And then gave this word of encouragement to his people, “Do not be afraid. Stand firm and you will see the deliverance the Lord will bring you today” (Exodus 14:13, NIV).

Wednesday, March 4, is our Global Day of Prayer. Once again, I call on our people to spend significant time on prayer, declaring our dependence on the Lord, not the economy. I would even encourage our people to fast and pray. You may decide to fast from solid food, from meat or from desserts. Or you may choose to fast from television, Facebook or e-mail (I like that last one!).

In addition to trusting God, we must take preemptive action. After His prayer, God told Moses basically to stop praying and get moving. So I’m calling our HCJB Global leadership to continue to travel light. We’re looking at every expense, every line item, every purchase, every trip and every project to determine whether this expense is core to our ministry and strategic for our future. We’re going to continue to be responsible stewards of the resources God has given us in the way we spend our finances.

Meanwhile, your Mobilization Team is working hard to connect with our partners, our donors and foundations to keep the vision and mission of HCJB Global at the forefront of their thinking, praying and giving.

I received this note from Mark Kerk, who works in the HCJB Global Technology Center in Elkhart:

“In Elkhart county today more than 15 percent are out of work. Of the 85 percent that are working, it is said that less than 10 percent are challenged and fulfilled by their job. We must understand that God provides the challenge and fulfillment, and then the blessing with our obedience.”

We need to put our faith and our trust in God alone. He alone is worthy of our trust and our hope. We must understand that our friends and co-workers will disappoint us. Technology will fail us. Computers and computer programs are destined to fail, and we cannot put our hope in them.

I have been guilty of putting my trust in others things. Today I choose to move it back to where it must be—my everlasting God. I pray that our organization will continue to place its trust in God alone.

Curt Cole sent me this proverb from the Dagbani tribe in Ghana, “If God breaks your leg, He will teach you how to limp.”

The apostle Paul said it this way:

“… for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do everything through him who gives me strength” (Philippians 4:11-13, NIV).

As we pray for God to open the gates of heaven for our financial situation, may we also ask Him to show us how to live in need, of being content in any situation—whether in plenty or in want.

Wayne Pederson

HCJB Global

Me and My Household

Me and My Household

In reading through the Book of Acts, I noted that the famous conversion of the Philippian jailer included his entire household. Paul told the jailer: “Believe on the Lord Jesus and you will be saved, along with your entire household.” They shared the word of the Lord with him and all who lived in his household. He and his household were immediately baptized. He and his entire household rejoiced because they all believed in God. Acts 16:31

Many years before that time, Israel’s new leader, Joshua, declared: “As for me and my household, we will serve the Lord”

In cultures around the world, households are embracing Christianity as a group. We see entire households coming to our health clinics. We hear stories of entire households becoming followers of Jesus. In the Arab world, entire families listen to the Message through Internet, satellite, and podcasts.

So HCJB Global is launching the Me and My Household initiative. We want to share the Message of Jesus to households everywhere! So we’re challenging households of America to pray for their households, to reach out to their communities and to join us in reaching out to the world. Here’s how it works:

1. We have to be praying for our own households if we’re to reach others. So we’re offering a free prayer E-card Christians can use to send a prayer to their immediate and extended families. And we’ve created a website (Hcjbglobal.org/myprayer) where anyone can send a prayer card to their household telling them they’re praying for their extended and immediate family.

2. The next step is to reach out and impact our communities. We want to mobilize U.S. households to reach households in their community. We’re sponsoring a nation-wide contest that allows Christians to submit outreach projects to households in their community based on HCJB Global’s commitment to declare and demonstrate Jesus to others. Contest winners will receive cash prizes towards the local project they submitted.

3. As we pray for our own households, we’ll be ready to pray for households around the world. HCJB Global is inviting U.S. households to stand with us and impact the households of the world through the voice and hands of Jesus. We especially want to challenge households of America to pray for unreached households and to give 1 dollar to reach 1 household in Arab world for 1 year.

We’re already hearing from radio stations in the U.S. who are excited about helping listeners pray for their families, pray and reach out to households in their communities, and reach households of the world. Millions of households can be reached in next 5 years through HCJB Global outreach as we encourage U.S. families to give to reach the households of the world.

Traveling Light

Norma and I are leaving Tuesday for a two week trip. We fly to Spain for 3 days of meetings at Gibralter with our regional directors from Europe, Middle East and Africa. Then we fly from Spain across Asia to Singapore for 3 days of meetings with our Asia-Pacific team.

I have a deep moral conviction against checking luggage. But traveling internationally for 2 weeks with one suitcase and one bag can be challenging. You have to plan carefully for all possible situations and climates. The advantages are no lost luggage, no waiting in long lines, and ease in getting in and out of ground transportation.

Our close friends, Leith and Charlene Anderson, do extensive international travel. No matter how far they travel or how long they're away, they carry one suitcase and one briefcase each. They know the importance of being nimble and light. And now that airlines charge for checking baggage, the case for one-bag is even more compelling

Skye Jethani wrote an article in Leadership magazine entitled “Nothing to Declare (but the Gospel)” He talks about shuffling with his parents through the long immigration lines at Heathrow Airport gazing enviously at the travelers breezing through the “Nothing to Declare” lines.

As we face a challenging year 2009, we may need to learn to travel light. Perhaps we don’t need the baggage we’ve accumulated in ministry business. Effective ministry in 2009 requires us to be lean and agile, without the burden of large facilities, large budgets, or large staff.

This means analyzing everything we do: every association membership, discretionary travel, unnecessary toys, furnishings, equipment. This means focusing on what it vital to the core of our ministry that contributes to the mission and vision of our ministry.

Having all the accoutrements also requires us to manage those resources. And we become so entangled with managing things, we neglect the core of our ministry. We become so pre-occupied with the business of ministry, we forget the God of the ministry.

The writer of Hebrews exhorts us to “throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles so we can run with perseverance the race marked out for us.” Maybe God is calling us to travel light, less baggage, no long lines, having “nothing to declare but the Gospel.”