Two nights ago I had the privilege of spending the night at the home of Otto Wegner in Center City Philadelphia. Otto is a man I admire so much and I really enjoy gleaning from his years of church planting and ministry experience. With that said, here’s a few things I took away from the conversation we had over breakfast:
- We shouldn’t measure success by size, sound and speed but by community transformation.
- When a person who is illiterate and without a job comes to the altar and commits their life to Christ, they’ll wake-up the next morning with a new life in Christ, but they still can’t read and don’t have a job.
- We need to celebrate steps of faith by ministries here in America just as we celebrate those same acts oversees on the mission field.
- The method is the Message. How we communicate the Message speaks volumes to our confidence in it.
- Too often we are not confident in the Message enough, so we feel a need to compensate for it.
- (One of his mainstay quotes) “The presence of God’s people guarantees the presence of God.”
- As the salt of the earth we can’t just sit there and wait for people to realize their thirsty.
- We shouldn’t just plant churches for the sake of church planting – it’s about community transformation.
- Pay with time for things that appreciate. Pay with cash for things that depreciate.
Nick Poole 
What a profound statement: When a person who is illiterate and without a job comes to the altar and commits their life to Christ, they’ll wake-up the next morning with a new life in Christ, but they still can’t read and don’t have a job.
So many times we let the ball drop for new converts – especially in the area of discipleship. That seems to be an outdated word and concept. Lord help us to do better.
Sue K
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