MERRY CHRISTMAS FROM THE NETWORK
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It has been a great year of ministry and we are thankful for all of your prayers, your financial support, and your hospitality and welcome when we have visited some of you. Thanks to those of you who send us a word of encouragement after reading our newsletter, it encourages us to know you are reading our letters.
As we close out the year we want to wish all of you a Merry Christmas on behalf of all of us at the Network. We pray that the Lord will bless 2018 for all of you as individuals, families, and congregations. There is so much left to do, so much ministry ahead of us. What follows is a listing in different categories of challenges that I think confront us.
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We are in a period of great challenge here in the United States. Let me list some of the aspects of that Gospel, social, and cultural challenge:
- A growing population and a corresponding failure to win non-Christians to Christ.
- A reluctance on the part of older Christians (those who have been saved at least five years) to share their faith with unbelievers.`
- A pattern of church planting that seeks to attract people already Christian that gives church growth through transfers and not conversions.
- A political confusion of who actually is an “evangelical” and what does that word mean exactly?
- A failure of Evangelicals to be morally consistent, and so are increasingly losing the moral advantage to arouse the conscience of the nation.
- An unbelieving culture that rejects moral absolutes yet is absolutist about certain kinds of freedoms and while absolutist against certain behaviors lacks a means of redemption, forgiveness, or reconciliation.
- Church as usual for many believers who don’t see that the failure of their congregations to advocate or practice justice and mercy is a scandal to the Gospel.
- A confusion of Christianity with American patriotism, and a confusion of patriotism with zero tolerance for dissent or protest.
- An exclusive focus of some believers on justice issues and policy reform while neglecting a simultaneous Gospel proclamation for personal salvation.
- A church comfort level of serving their own families and raising the children of believers, which neglecting the gathering and raising of unsaved children from the community, and thus becoming more and more elitist, isolated, and insulated from the people of the world.
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(Photos below: Bible clubs during Urban Ministry Training, May 2017, at LDR weekend Sept, 2017, at MNA dinner during CCDA Oct, 2017, panel at Leadership summit, Nov, 2017.)
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I also see some challenges for our target of ministry:
- The dearth of practical training for future pastors, especially in evangelism and practical and effective ministries of mercy.
- The neglect of the immediate necessity of relief for the poor, while only advocating longer term solutions for development, and failing to realize that both are needed and require a wise means of transition of one to the other.
- The dearth of called, prepared, and willing men to come and plant churches among the poor, with the faith that makes them willing to sacrifice.
- The failure of wealthier churches to share their riches so that churches in poor communities would have the long term support needed for their establishment. The amount of wealth spent on the facilities for wealthier churches compared to what they spend for church planting among the poor is a truth telling comparison.
- The criticism and negative rhetoric concerning cross-cultural and muti-ethnic churches by people committed to racial justice and a seeming growing disdain for reconciliation from them.
- The failure to parse the difference between “feel good” moments of racial harmony and the long term hard work of true reconciliation and justice.
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Challenges and prayer requests for the New City Network:
- Someone to take on the responsibilities previously shouldered by Robert Blevins; travel arrangements, travel companion, pre and post event communications, trainer.
- Consistent and faithful support, especially from Network churches and members.
- God’s supervision for the filling of empty pulpits in Network congregations.
- The spiritual protection of our pastors and their families from the burden and isolation of the work.
- Wisdom in taking speaking engagements, and time for strategic writing projects.
We know this a lot to put before you but please know we are thankful and hopeful as we end this year. We have been so greatly blessed of God to have an opportunity to see the
Spirit at work through the Gospel in so many places and so many people. Please rejoice with us even as you help us take up these challenges in believing prayer.
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Our love to you all,
Randy and Joan Nabors
Urban and Mercy Ministries.
To send donations by mail make checks out to Mission to North America with the
New City Network or Nabors in the memo line and send it to the PO Box below.
[MISSION TO NORTH AMERICA]
[PO BOX 890233]
[CHARLOTTE, NC 28289-0233]
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