Dec.'06: City Reaching notes - Portland, OR

April 19-21,2007, National City-Impact Roundtable, El Paso, TX

NOTES FROM NORTHWEST CITY REACHING ROUNDTABLE

December 4 and 5, 2006

Portland, OR

Tom White


TRANSFORMATION:

1. EACH COMMUNITY MUST ASK THE LORD SPECIFICALLY FOR A WORD OF CONSENSUS REGARDING STRATEGIES FOR CITY REACHING.

2. HOW DO WE SPELL TRANFORMATION? A city is being transformed if these things are taking place:

o An increase in Holy living

o Spontaneous conversions and growth in churches

o Decrease of crime

o An increase of social justice

o Unity in the Body of Christ and Healing of breaches

o Sustainable

o Increased generosity

o Engaged brothers and sisters serving the Lord together

o Passion

o Redeeming of the arts

3. In Transformation change must be evident, but must extend to the fabric of society’s institutions. It must be measurable and sustainable change in society. There must be growing numbers of converted, functioning mature disciples affecting the social, economic, and political fabric of society.

4. The Marks of an Effective Urban Ministry:
* Power Systems Confrontation with offered potential for change
* The poor and the exploited are being cared for
* There is ministry to the middle class as well as the poor
* There is spiritual transformation among the poor and the powerful and all groups are being changed.

5. The goal of the Church is not to make a new heaven and a new earth, but rather to create “salty spots” for the earth that will stimulate thirst for God.

6. Compelling Reasons for building the City-Wide Body of Christ:

o It’s Biblical. The Bible describes it as unity amidst diversity. (Many parts—One Body)

o There is an inherent value of a collegial relationship-knowing and caring for one another.

o The witness of our oneness has apostolic power. (John 17:23)

o United prayer brings an outpouring of the Holy Spirit with signs and wonders. (Acts 4:23-35)

o United prayer for city and government leaders enables us to live godly, quiet and peaceful lives and to reach leaders with the Gospel message.

o The Church is better able to coordinate and strengthen serving ministries (good stewardship) to enable them to help the Church.

o We are able to share corporate responsibility to win and disciple converts.

o It minimizes the impact of training and equipping the saints for the local church-we share this responsibility.

o There is a release of the synergy of combined gifts and callings empowered by the Holy Spirit in each locale.

7. Obstacles to Transformation of communities in Idaho, Washington, and Oregon:

o An independent pioneer spirit. Our forefathers were reacting and rebelling against East coast establishment

o A humanistic mindset.

o Idolatry (nature worship). There is a mixture in this region of worship of the creation and a history of animism and pantheism.

8. We overcome these obstacles by “turning on the light” through our obedience, walking in love and living for the Kingdom and not for ourselves.

9. We need to take a global approach to our cities. We need to ask, “How do we serve in such a way as to impact our city?” “What is the one thing Jesus will give us to move us forward i.e. a “fire starter”? For Vancouver, Washington a fire starter has been Thriving Families of Clark County, a community marriage and family relationship ministry.

10. Community transformation plans will involve:

o Corporate unified prayer

o Asset Building-finding those churches, businesses, individuals and serving ministries who are invested in the plan and will work with one another.

o Mapping. Mapping tells us what gifts and resources God has given each church, group, or serving ministry to bring to the table. It also shows us our common ground.

o A unified event may be the beginning, but must be followed up with small groups. Relationships make the difference.

11. Concrete Steps to City Transformation:

o A seminar or event annually with a number of churches sponsoring.

o Establishment of a resource hub

o Mapping of the churches-find the common ground

o Mapping of the city-find the societal needs, redemptive gifts, and actions of the enemy

o Establish the role of the Church as meeting the needs in society and become a resource for governments who seek faith-based ministries to do those things governments cannot do. The Church must be the delivery system for the wisdom of God (Ephesians 3:10) to change our communities. Ask: How does God want us to serve our community?

George Otis Jr. Session #1

* Revival is the only answer for our world. There is a prophetic urgency now—the world has been changed forever by the spirit of death coming from Islamic fundamentalism.
* We cannot continue business as usual. There must be radical changes in the way we are doing things as the Church.
* God can intervene in the darkest of circumstances. We must remain expectant and intentional as we prepare the way of the Lord.

* HISTORY OF TRANSFORMATION: Outside the western hemisphere, transformations are happening fast in cities, small towns, and villages. “Because transformation was not taking place worldwide, I asked the Lord in the 1990’s, “Why does spiritual darkness linger where it does?” For seven years I tried to find explanations. By 1997 I began to see an escalation of the moving of God’s Spirit in some places indicating we were approaching end times when God promised He would pour our His Spirit. In June 1999 the first Transformation video was released as an encouragement to intercessors. Within six months over 1000 cities has corresponded with me to ask for help in transformation. I told them, ‘Go ask the Lord what He wants you to do.’ There were increasing reports of transformation in cities after 2000. I began to see patterns leading to transformation and also began to realize there is a quantum leap difference between church growth and city transformation. Church growth is possible without God. City transformation involves “heavy-lifting” we must have a divine partner.”

* DEFINITION OF TRANSFORMATION: The definition of transformation is hard to pin down because we can’t even imagine what God has planned in transformation. If it is a plan based only on an inventory of our assets it can’t be a God thing.


* GOD’S PATTERNS IN TRANSFORMATION: God’s patterns in transformation do not change. Things unique to each community change, but principles can be applied everywhere.

1. Pattern #1: Time with God. Transformation takes place in communities that are following God, not leading Him. In order to follow God there must be time alone with God to hear Him. God is left out of the equation when we are so busy we don’t have time with Him. This problem is systemic in our society. We have no waiting time for God.
2. Pattern #2: Hunger for God. We don’t have an ignorance problem, we have an appetite problem. We all have our life hungers list: food, sleep, security, control, reputation. On this list where is our hunger for the presence of God? When our hunger for God moves to the top of the list, transformation will occur.
3. Pattern #3: Unity in the Body of Christ. In 2004, the International Fellowship of Transformation Partners asked the question. “What gives us an identity together?’ They decided to just watch God at work instead of trying to figure out the answer. They saw these things as helps to building unity:
o A common definition of what transformation looks like in my community
o A set of commonly held principles
o A set of core values to govern the movement
o Prayer
o Accountability
o Trust

4. Pattern #4: Humility and Hiddenness of the Catalysts. Humility is directly related to the degree of divine outpouring. Empire building and personal agendas must be laid aside for the goal of seeing God transform the city. The story of Gideon is an example of God using the smallest, most broken, most contrite, most hidden, and most humble to bring about a great breakthrough. In transformation God often chooses no names that have nothing to lead the greatest breakthroughs.

5. Pattern #5: Holiness: When we get rid of all the sin in the camp, God will come. Our hearts must be right, purified of sin and our own agendas. We must be abandoned to God with expectation of His coming in transforming revival. We need to make sure our hearts are right so that our desire is to see the Kingdom of God manifest on the earth.


George Otis, Jr- Session #2:

* In city transformation there must also be ecological transformation- redemption for more than just people. Unhealthy things cannot stay when Jesus is there.
* In transformation, there is a return to “normal”. Believers get back in touch with their faith and begin to live “normal” Christianity. God has not called us to accept normalcy, but to move on to extraordinary Christianity.
* In true transformation, it takes thirty days to achieve normalcy. Often our experience is that it takes 30 years because people are content with the status quo. We need to know the difference between the habit of losing and rebuilding.
* We need a supernatural invasive intervention for transformation to take place. We need to help people prepare for that kind of intervention. The example of Joseph shows us how we need to prepare the people so they come to us when things get rough. The Church needs to take over the social welfare system. God wants to move us to another level. This is preparation. We need to keep pressing in. We also need to change our mindset to win.
* The core of success in city transformation is a formula of abandonment with expectation. This is contagious and the end result is God comes. To test transformation walk though the business district and see if you sense the presence of the Lord. Call a holiday and call all the pastors to come together to cry out to God for the city. Transformation comes to desperate people with expectation of the greatness of God (Psalms 145).
* The greatest problem in City Transformation is a Church whose God is its Belly. “This is illustrated by many who walk into the sanctuary with a cappuccino.” That church is fixated on itself. The church needs to break these self-centered patterns, not encourage them. We need to hold out for the supernatural—we need it and our communities need it.
* In order to counter radical Islam we have to bring the supernatural to the table. In Acts 2 all the church leaders were there together waiting for the supernatural to come. They were filled with the supernatural Holy Spirit and became the “proof” of Christ to a dying world. We also must be filled with something “otherness”. If Jesus is lifted up He will draw all men, but it must be the Church that lifts Him up.
* There is a remnant remaining in the U.S. and a stirring is happening which needs to roll out in fullness. The American Church needs to have a re- identification of community –Immanuel—the Lord is With Us.


Lisa Otis: Interceding for a City Movement:

* City-wide prayer must have a redirection to pray in desperation for the American Church to become a Church that will act like Jesus and love like Jesus across ethnic, cultural, and denominational lines.
* Sin and convenience are the two big issues in the Church and they prevent us gathering together to pray. Jesus would say to us, “If I could just get you to pray, you cannot imagine what I can do”.
* Jesus is our model as the Great Intercessor. He is interceding for us right now and He has been interceding from the beginning. He is called the Word, the voice of intercession. He said, “I only say what I hear the Father say and I only do what I see the Father doing”. This is the place in intercession where everything happens.
* You cannot be sinful presumptuous intercessors and do the things the Father does. Jesus came to be a sinless obedient intercessor (Hebrews 1:3, John 12:4, John 17:8, Isaiah 11:4, Revelation 19:15, Revelation 19:13.
* Speaking the Word of God releases the power of God as a weapon of warfare against the devil. (Ephesians 6:17). We spend a lot of time in prayer saying things the Father hasn’t said. If we don’t hear from the Father what He wants to say, we shouldn’t say anything. God has many ideas we would never think of and we need to hear from Him and pray His Word.
* Isaiah 55:8 God’s thoughts are higher than ours. We should approach praying for our cities acknowledging we are at the beginning. We cannot presume to know how God will move in our city unless He tells us. Jesus said all His ways were the Father’s ways. He was completely obedient. He tells us to follow Him as the Great Intercessor and be completely obedient to what God says.
* The Kingdom of God exists wherever God is because He is King. If you are just, justice increases in your city. As intercessors we must deny ourselves disobedience, presumption, convenience, and comfort if we are going to follow Jesus’ example in intercession.
* Intercession is God’s brilliant strategy for us to rule with Him in power. He asks us, “Will you join me in the place of intercession?”


Lisa Otis: The Best Practices of City Intercession:

* The key to a breakthrough in our cities is the Church. The Church needs to be moving in all the fullness of Christ or the world suffers. When the Church is right, the world will know and be changed.
* The process begins with the individual. We must be transformed or we can’t pray effectively for the Church to be changed.
* The Church must learn to pray on the offensive and practice how to love each other. Jesus gave us two commands: Love God, Love each other. Our objective as the Church must be to first become lovers of Jesus and then lovers of each other. We will be unable to love those who come in because of transformation in our cities, if we don’t love each other.
* We face difficulties in growing:
1. Humility: we must learn to be honest about where the Church is and about the harvest we are inviting into the Church. If we are honest we will admit we are not ready, but the good news is we will be. The city’s destiny is tied to the Church coming into her destiny. We need to ask the Lord to show us how to love Him and each other and how to come to a place of humility rather than judgment. (2Chronicles 7:14) Our true state is we have nothing and we are nothing except in Christ. We want to become humble like Jesus. Nothing happens until the Church is humble. The humble Church brings lif.
2. Praying the problems. We often pray about the problems more than we pray about the destiny the Church or our city.
3. The Loveless Church: (Revelation 2) If we have become like this church we need to repent. Our love for God leads us to repentance of everything else.

* Guidelines for City Intercession:
1. Love God and Each Other
2. Come in Humility
3. Speak the Word in prayer
4. Do the actions of intercession: Ask the Lord to give you something to do. When He does it will be costly, and inconvenient, but will be an act of love which is an act of intercession sown into your city.
5. Learn about prayer form non-western nations. They have a different way of life. They always find the time to pray.
6. Become offensive in prayer as people of faith.
7. Become separated from lifestyles of division and hatred.


George Otis Jr. Session #3:

* According to George Barna, at least 20,000 Evangelicals won’t attend an organized church, but are meeting in homes. “This is a dangerous trend as these groups can become isolationist and cult-like.” This trend shows the organized Church that we must become more than creeds, dogmas, and programs. We must also have the presence of God and intimacy with Him as part of the package.
* The American Church must have abandonment with expectation. For the past 15 years there has been incremental fruit—good but not enough. The question is, “How do we get to fullness-full success?”
* A problem has been that we have lowered the bar of our expectations. We hail small steps as great breakthroughs.
* Abandonment is the big issues. Before we can get to abandonment we must get to commitment. Many in the American Church are hiding from commitment. Abandonment is described in Jesus’ Parable of the Pearl of Great Price. The treasure is in a field and is discovered by a man who sells everything and buys the field. We know God wants us to be faithful and persevere, but we get nervous about the kind of behavior described in this parable. The Kingdom of God is the Pearl of Great Price and the treasure. This is a picture of abandonment for the sake of the Kingdom. God desires a higher degree of intimacy with His people. (Hosea 6:6) The Church needs to come to the place where everything familiar is gone and only God is left. Moses went into thick darkness where God was—that was the true sanctuary hidden from all life’s essentials.

* We pray, “God come” and He asks, “Why? Do you need a handyman or a lover?” God wants us to want Him as a lover. He is interested in our communities but not as a handyman, but because we cannot exist another day without His presence.

* In the Old Testament, God’s presence was often seen as a mist or smoke which shielded from non-essentials. What we need is relationship-God with us and this is what people want today.


* Hard questions for the Church:

1. Is God here?

2. Do we want to see our community fully transformed?

3. Do we believe God can do this?

4. Are we prepared to do what is required to go there?

5. Will we abandon our compartments and boundaries we have placed on God and let Him be God? God has the right to tread upon any part of your Real Estate.

6. Will we lay down our watches and calendars and our comfort-oriented way of life? This will bring about a collision with our culture. No appointment or time period is more important that a full welcoming presence of God. A lot of our “have tos” involve our kids and their schedules. We have given in to the ways of the world remaining in control of our time, doing what we want first rather than letting God run our lives.

o Commitment or abandonment is different because it will be inconvenient. Anything keeping us from God must go. We are to seek first His Kingdom and He will provide everything else.

o We often come to the point of abandonment and aren’t willing. We have to break stride and prioritize your responsibilities –first to God and His Kingdom

7. Will we pray? It only takes a dozen or fewer intercessors to start the process of transformation. Prayer in faith, humility, unity, and compassion with worship draws the presence of God. We need to pray “God stimulate in me an increased appetite for those things that attract your presence—abandonment with expectation. Fast until God answers. Go on a digital fast-no digital equipment, cell phones, and email.


o The Three Stages of Revival:

1. Invitation: A hungry group of believers summons the presence of God. There is repentance, reconciliation, humbling, prayer and fasting with expectation.

2. Visitation: The Holy Spirit comes in a remarkable way to change people. There is widespread church growth and truth becomes “sticky”. This is not about us but about God. The value system shifts and healing power is released.

3. Transformation: The new values born in the visitation phase are rubbed into the skin of society. The marketplace and the political arena changed. Education is reformed. Society is transformed. There becomes a line of reformation in which the Church must steward what God has done. He says, “I have fixed it, you keep it.” Christianity is restored to normalcy in the Church and the Community.

The Church needs to move forward to ask God to restore us as Salt and Light. We need to pray for the miraculous presence of God. We need the supernatural. God can fix something out of nothing.

(notes taken by Kathy Pipal, prayer coordinator of Treasure Valley, Idaho, intercessors.)