A God Sized Vision for the Twin Cities
It's amazing what is taking place in the Twin Cities, MN. It seems God is setting up pieces to a puzzle for a mighty move of his Spirit. I see several pieces coming together that make up a God sized vision for the Twin Cities.
Training - Several weeks ago trainings called Follow Up and Discipleship Seminars took place with hundreds of pastors and leaders in attendance, growing in their ability to disciple new converts.
Over the next month in cooperation with the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association and Rock the River, there will be two major trainings that empower Christians to be leaders in their own walk with God and in sharing their faith with the unchurched in their community.
The Christian Life and Witness Course will be April 30-May 2 for every adult Christian interested. It will be taking place at five convenient church locations across the Twin Cities. No cost, no pre-registration necessary. Take the rest of your local church with you to this.
FM419 is a student version of CLWC, taking place May 15th-16th at Grace Church in Eden Prairie. Stellar Kart will be with us in concert and worship. Cost of $15 per student includes concert, breakfast and lunch on Saturday, t-shirt and bracelet. Seats are going fast, register your students right away at www.FM419.org and join thousands of students from across the state.
Prayer - Even after traveling the country and to various parts of the world, I have never seen a ministry so focused on prayer as BGEA. Massive prayer movements are already taking place in the Twin Cities, and new ones are sprouting. Along with what God is already doing, the BGEA and Rock the River are mobilizing even more Christians to their knees, crying out to God for a lost generation.
It's ironic that the Global Day of Prayer is taking place at just the right time, mobilizing yet even more people to a lifestyle of prayer. This massive prayer movement that cover the globe is occurring right in our backyard this year on May 31st.
All this will also serve to revitalize one of the world's greatest prayer movement every September called See You at the Pole. Students will catch a heart to seek God for their campus.
Service - Global Day of Prayer will launch from May 31st into it's 90 Days of Blessing Campaign, which will seek to mobilize Christians to serve their local communities and hurting areas of the Twin Cities.
KTIS, a local radio station will also be hosting around this time a 60 days of Service which will seek to do the same.
A focus of Rock the River throughout the summer will be to mobilize thousands of students and hundreds of churches and youth ministries to plug in to these opportunities to serve.
Evangelism - Along with training in evangelism from CLWC and FM419, local churches will serve the community in service evangelism. They will be able to bring a friend to Rock the River at Harriet Island Park to hear the Gospel shared by Franklin Graham. This will be one of the easiest events to invite a friend to, with over half a dozen national artists in a fun, music festival type setting.
Discipleship - Of course our call and heart as the Body of Christ is to make disciples everywhere. From the FDS seminars mentioned above, leaders are preparing to follow up with young Christians and to incorporate them into local bodies of believers. This will be the driving force behind everything taking place this year, to grow, strengthen and bless local churches in the Twin Cities.
It's also ironic that Alpha is doing it's biggest launch in it's local history this fall, just after Rock the River, a movement called Invite the Twin Cities to Dinner. Churches are already preparing and many more points will be available to answer the basic questions of the faith for both new believers and unsaved friends of those new believers.
The Next Generation - Rock the River and many of these movements will naturally put the focus on the next generation. Reaching young people who are the least churched generation in the history of America. This is where God's heart is.
Unity - Together we can do more than we could alone. This is the theme behind Rock the River and many movements. So many are teaming together: Christian colleges like Crown, North Central, Bethel and Northwestern and more; ministries on secular campuses like InterVarsity, Chi Alpha and Campus Crusade and more; on Middle and High School campuses like YoungLife, TreeHouse, Youth Alive, Youth for Christ and FCA and more; Christian radio stations like KNOF 95.3, KTIS 98.5, The Refuge and more. Along with these, hundreds and hundreds of local churches and mega-churches from nearly every denomination have expressed their commitment to building God's Kingdom using one or more of the above mentioned movements. Of course not everyone will be involved, but they will miss a blessing. God's people coming together around the common theme of Christ crucified for us and his passion to reach a lost world.
