7 Questions - Long Beach

7 Questions - Long Beach

Long Beach – Brad

www.KingdomCauses.org ; www.hflb.org; It is difficult to give the vision for what is happening when the groups are so decentralized. If you’ve got a brochure, forget about it. People will do for Jesus what they will never do for our vision statement. Do what Jesus tells you to do. But you can’t do larger vision when you’re pure grassroots.

They went after the prayer ministries of the churches instead of the outreach ministries. There is a very poor history among the churches in Long Beach. There is little trust and a spirit of criticism. The prayer ministries seem to be the best indicator of what’s happening in their churches. They called these prayer ministry people to an event to bless the city. Every 3 days they got an email from a city official to pray. They did a prayer gathering of 39 churches, inviting all the pastors but did not let them speak. The house church movement is not competing with the churches.

They believe the internet is a printing press for a new reformation.

Eric: Church attendance is declining 2% a year but “attendance” has a new meaning in an age of cyberspace. Phoenix University is the largest in the world and owns now buildings.

Virtual Community can enhance a true community.

What is right?

q Technical infrastructure

q Reproducible Tools: expanding quickly through www.kingdomcauses.org

q Give websites to storefront churches for free.

q Church planting has gone well

What is wrong?

q We don’t do events well.

q Technology is still to complicated, needs to be simpler.

q Needs more time priority, more time and energy?

q We don’t know what we are doing.

q Need funds.

What is confused?

q How to keep thing decentralized?

q Privacy boundaries are difficult to know and maintain.

What is missing?

q Money

q Board of Directors, only two pastors, two business leaders, two non-profit leaders

What is succeeding?

q Prayer is our secret. The prayer people are tenacious and tireless.

q Good information put to opportunities to action. HIV, Gang violence, Homelessness are what the Mayor and the Police Chief chose as the free greatest needs in the city. Kingdom Causes did research and then asked pastors to preach on these issues with good data. This is intended to move people to action to bless the city.

q Our best leaders are new believers.

A HIV doctor asked for volunteers to help in her clinic. That’s how task forces are created.