Kingdom Growth

Although the Jews and the Greeks had words for ‘religion’, Jesus never used them. He only used the word ‘church’ twice. But He used the word ‘kingdom’ over a hundred times. “The kingdom of God is at hand”, “the kingdom is like a pearl of great price…like a treasure hidden in a field”, “Unless you are born again, you cannot enter the kingdom of God”, “It is my Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom”, “…for theirs is the kingdom of heaven,” “My kingdom is not of this world.” And many more.

Avoiding the words ‘religion’ and ‘church’ made a lot of sense for Jesus, and it makes a lot of sense for us. In our CPM (Church Planting Movement) efforts, we emphasize that Christianity is not about a religion, but a relationship. A relationship with the King of Kings and Lord or Lords. Having that relationship puts you in God’s kingdom now. Without that relationship, a person remains in Satan’s kingdom, and we know how that ends.

It has been our joy to personally see several hundred people enter God’s kingdom in the past 3 years, but we hunger for so many more. This past week, my 3 bosses (local, cluster, and regional) visited me for 2 days, praising what the Lord has done in Iloilo through my team of 7 Filipinos, and offering suggestions on how to challenge people even more with the choice of two kingdoms.

Last Sunday, I attended a training for some of our house church leaders. In that group, a teenage brother and sister are leading a house church. In another area, we are seeing 2nd generation churches being born. In another group, several are ready to be baptized. In still another group, 2 staunchly religious ladies have realized that without a growing relationship with Jesus Christ, their religion means nothing. They will be baptized next week.

Last week, I finished putting together our 100 stories with questions from the life of Jesus. With this tool, plus other small changes in our strategy, we are seeing our house churches grow stronger. But pray with us that this is only the beginning of a church planting movement that will see thousands of healthy, multiplying churches started throughout the central Philippines. “Thy kingdom come; Thy will be done on earth, as it is in heaven.”