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Jim Jewell

50 Leaders of the Evangelical Generation: #17 Jack Hayford. Pentecostal Standard

[I am working on a project that may become a book on the most influential evangelicals leaders of our generation, since 1976, and the impact they've had on the church and their times. I will introduce them briefly on this blog from time to time. Who should be on this list?]


#17 Jack Hayford. Pentecostal standard b.1934

Most Pentecostal leaders are known as firebrands because of their high-octane presentation and spiritual zealotry. But the dean of the Pentecostal and charismatic movement, Jack Hayford, is often described as gentle, careful, and diplomatic. He served for more than 30 years as pastor of Church on the Way near Los Angeles and recently completed a term as president of the International Church of the Foursquare Gospel. Hayford is also widely known for his involvement in Promise Keepers and his role as founder of The King's College. He has written nearly 50 books and 600 hymns and choruses. In 1978, he wrote the popular praise chorus "Majesty."

Hayford has emerged as “Pentecostals' and charismatics' gold standard," according to Steve Strang, publisher of the leading charismatic magazines Charisma and Ministries Today. “Pastor Jack would fall into a category of statesman almost without peer," Strang told Christianity Today.

He is the founding pastor of the Church on the Way, a congregation of 12,000 in Van Nuys, California, a one-time Anglo suburb of Los Angeles that has become gritty Latino turf. But the church has not moved. Hayford believes that the Church on the Way was called to that very location. Spanish-language services have become the leading edge of the church, averaging 6,000 in weekly attendance.

Hayford stepped in as head of the Foursquare denomination after its leadership had lost $15 million in a pyramid scheme. He also was part of the team that was chosen to mentor and restore the disgraced president of the National Association of Evangelicals, who resigned amid a gay sex and drugs scandal.

“He is viewed as a voice of reason and calm at a time of scandal and crisis. They look to him as a source of balance,'' says Thomson Mathew, dean of the graduate school of theology at Oral Roberts University.

Co-chairman of the Israel Christian Nexus, Hayford has made 34 trips to Israel. “I don't think of myself as a Zionist,'' Hayford says. “I believe in God's sovereign providence and purpose with his ancient people."

Hayford brings Pentecostals together with other evangelicals. He has done this by patient outreach, one person at a time. In his public speaking he makes frequent, appreciative references to non-Pentecostal influences, from C. S. Lewis to Richard Foster. He reaches out to other L.A.-area pastors. John MacArthur counts him as a friend despite their many theological differences. Presbyterian pastor and former Senate chaplain Lloyd Ogilvie considers him one of his oldest and dearest prayer partners.

"His integrity and theological depth are so well known that he can draw together all kinds of factions," Strang says.

In keeping with that role, Hayford is frequently involved as a leader in interdenominational activities, from prayer breakfasts to Billy Graham crusades. As a prominent speaker at Promise Keepers events, he has been heavily involved in efforts at racial reconciliation.

"He is known throughout the world as one of the great ecumenical leaders," says Ogilvie.

He reaches across theological divides, Tim Stafford writes in Christianity Today:

“without toning down his Pentecostalism one decibel. He is, in fact, aggressive about his beliefs, though he presents them graciously, in a way that explains and persuades. Leadership editor Marshall Shelley recalls hearing Hayford at a prayer summit at Multnomah Bible College. Most of the gathered pastors were conservative non-Pentecostals. ‘"By the time he was done, he had most of those pastors lifting their hands in praise," Shelley says. "He did it by explaining why it was biblical and why it mattered. He made sense. He brought rationality to spiritual expressiveness.’"

In 1969, Hayford was asked to pastor a small congregation, the first Foursquare Church of Van Nuys, California. The congregation was an “old struggling” congregation (the average age of the church members was over 65). First Foursquare was one of the first churches to be planted after the denomination's founding in 1923. But with 18 members and the massive First Baptist two blocks away, it didn't seem the kind of place for a young minister to achieve international renown. Hayford quickly began preparing for his next move.Hayford had initially agreed to only temporarily pastor the church for a period of six months. A few weeks from giving a decision to a prestigious Foursquare church that wanted to hire him, Hayford decided to stay at the Van Nuys church. By the early 1980s, The Church on the Way became a pioneer of the megachurch movement.

In 1999, Jack Hayford passed the mantle as senior pastor of the Church on the Way to his son in law, Scott Bauer; but in 2003 Bauer suffered a brain aneurysm and died. .Hayford served again as the church’s pastor for a year, then named Jim and Alice Tolle as the senior pastors of the church. Six months later, Hayford was elected president of the International Foursquare Gospel.

Within the charismatic subset of evangelical Christianity, Jack Hayford has brought rationality to spiritual expressiveness, offered a wise spirit and steady hand in dealing with crises, and provided a unifying force and welcoming hand from the charismatic camp to the whole of the church.

--Jim Jewell

50 Leaders of the Evangelical Generation: #14 Ralph Winter. Missiologist

[I am working on a project that may become a book on the most influential evangelicals leaders of our generation, since 1976, and the impact they've had on the church and their times. I will introduce them briefly on this blog from time to time. Who should be on this list?]

#14 Ralph Winter. Missiologist. 1925-2009

The missionary task has changed dramatically in the last half century because of the accomplishments of missionaries past, the dramatic closing of nations and regions and the opening of others, and the changing perception of effective methods of recruiting and assigning missionaries and impacting “the field.”

At the center of this world of change was Ralph D. Winter, a 10-year Presbyterian missionary to Guatemala who founded the U.S. Center for World Mission and William Carey International University. He is widely regarded as one of the key factors behind the major shift of perspective in the mission movement -- from going to countries and individuals to penetrating “unreached peoples,” or those who have been bypassed by traditional mission strategies. Winter introduced this new approach in what many consider a watershed moment for modern mission—his presentation the 1974 Congress for World Evangelization in Lausanne, Switzerland,an event organized by Billy Graham.

Winter argued that instead of targeting countries, mission agencies needed to target the thousands of people groups worldwide, over half of which have not been reached with the gospel message.

Graham said: “Ralph Winter has not only helped promote evangelism among many mission boards around the world, but by his research, training and publishing he has accelerated world evangelization.”

Golden Gate Seminary professor Ray Tallman, shortly after Winter's death in 2009, described him as "perhaps the most influential person in missions of the last 50 years.”

Winter was a highly educated leader who received degrees at Caltech (B.S.), Columbia University (M.A.), Princeton Theological Seminary (B.Div), and Cornell (Ph.D). He also studied at Fuller Theological Seminary, where he would later teach.
After the 1974 Lausanne Congress, Winter and his wife Roberta felt there needed to be a place to tackle cultural and linguistic barriers hindering the sharing of the Gospel with all people. In 1976, he left his secure, tenured position at Fuller to focus on calling attention to the unreached peoples, founding the U.S. Center for World Missions.

Ralph Winter was the most influential missiologist in the last half century, with his work and thought creating a shift in Christian missions strategies in a changing modern world.

--Jim Jewell

Book Review: Church in the Making by Ben Arment--terrific and not just on church planting

I’ve been handling publicity for a new book about church planting that I think should be of interest not only to those seeking to and thinking about planting a church, but also to anyone hoping to start something new to advance Christian mission.

Church in the Making by Ben Arment doesn’t mince any words, and it has the tone of a soldier who has fought the good fight and won, but at a high personal cost, with the sense that the battles could have been easier with better intelligence, and mourning the soldier-friends who he has seen fall around him.

I’ve never tried to start a church, but I knew even before reading this book that it is extremely difficult, with a high rate of failure. Arment demonstrates a passion for saving future church planters from heartache and failure; but in the process he writes some things that will undoubtedly rub church planting traditionalists the wrong way.

For instance, Arment writes:

“We have placed a dangerous label on church planting that puts tremendous pressure on planters to persevere through any and all difficulties. We call it faithfulness. But in many cases it should really be called stupidity.”

If you have plans to plant a new church, open a new campus, or help someone who is, you need to get and read Church in the Making. It is well written and an easy read. It’s worth your time.

But it is also valuable to people like me who are involved in starting and advancing Christian organizations, missions, and causes. I’ve seen a lot of the same mistakes that Ben describes in ministry start-ups of all kinds; and I’ve made a number of the mistakes myself. I wish I would have had Church in the Making to read several years ago.

I’ve marked nine different principles in the book that I’ve seen ignored by too many ministry leaders (myself included).

1. Plant in Fertile Soil

Arment: “Every community has an established degree of spiritual receptivity. When you plant a church on fertile soil, it springs to life out of the community’s readiness. When you plant a church on infertile soil, it chokes and gasps to survive. In this case, you have to stop planting and start cultivating.” (page 3)

2. Experience Produces Humility

Arment: “You can always tell a new, inexperienced church planter because he’s the only one who thinks he knows what he’s doing. The veterans show a humility that can only come from experience. It takes a year or two to knock the self-reliance out of the new guys.” (page 10)

3. A Dream and Hard Work are Not Enough

Arment: “Church planters are notorious for thinking that a great dream plus hard work equals a thriving church. But church planters fail all the time with this formula and have not idea why.” (page 46)

4. Build a Network First

Arment: “I’m convinced that when God calls a planter to start a church, he calls him either to start a social network first (which can take years) or simply to leverage the one he’s been building around him.” (page 81)

5. You Can’t Do It Alone

Arment: “When God creates a church in the making, he doesn’t just call one person to start it. He calls a whole network of people who have been growing pregnant with vision.” (page 137)

6. Properly Channeled Frustration is Good

Arment: “God uses frustration to shape a vision. This is what he did to Nehemiah. And this is what he did to me. If God doesn’t build up a tremendous amount of frustration within us, we’ll never have the passion to pursue his calling.” (page 158)

7. Don’t Let Cash be King

Arment: “The only thing worse than not pursuing your God-given vision is compromising your God-given vision for the sake of cash flow. Don’t let money do this to you.” (page 162)

8. Put a Good Staff to Work

Arment: “Senior pastors are notorious for under-estimating the potential of their staff, mostly because they overestimate their own potential. Creating systems in your church is a far better way to leave a legacy than building up yourself.” (page 191)

9. Many Tomorrows Do Not Include You

Arment: “The fruit of the gospel comes from building a church that can exist without you and beyond you. (page 193)

Grab this book. If you are in ministry work, whether or not you are a church planter, it’s likely there’s something in it that will shake your ministry world.

--Jim Jewell

A Theology of Sex (and Cooperation): New Evangelical Approaches to Curb Abortion

New Evangelical Effort to Curb Abortion Rate

Washington, D.C., May 20, 2010 – In an effort to pursue common ground towards reducing the number of abortions in the United States, the National Association of Evangelicals (NAE), representing 40 denominations, scores of evangelical organizations and millions of American evangelicals, today announced a new initiative focusing on respecting sex and respecting life. The NAE Generation Forum will explore practical and realistic approaches to curtail the high abortion rate in this country. Particular focus will be placed on young adults since they, not teenagers, have the majority of abortions.

“America has an abortion problem,” said Leith Anderson, NAE President. “Yes, we are grateful that the abortion rate has declined. But, a million abortions in the United States every year is unacceptable. The NAE is engaging a fresh national dialogue seeking effective ways to significantly reduce the number of abortions.”

Polling indicates that most Americans would like to see fewer abortions. The NAE recently partnered with Gallup, Inc. to poll evangelicals on their views about abortion. Nearly 9 out of every 10 evangelicals believe abortion is a serious problem in our country and that it should be an important priority for our nation to work together to reduce the number of abortions. Significant majorities of the respondents indicated support for a wide range of possible methods for decreasing the abortion rate – from parental consent and waiting periods before abortions to efforts at making adoption, pre- and post-natal care, and contraceptive services more accessible.[i]


In response to this survey and with the desire to make measurable progress in reducing abortions, the Board of Directors for the NAE adopted a resolution supporting constructive efforts toward decreasing the number of abortions in America.

The resolution reaffirms, “The NAE actively, ardently and unwaveringly opposes abortion on demand.” Then, noting the Bible’s call to civility and charity with our neighbors, the resolution continues, “The NAE is pleased that some longtime opponents in the debate over the legality of abortion have expressed interest in working together to dramatically reduce the incidence of abortion in the United States. Without compromising our core convictions, we seek honest conversation about ways to achieve this goal. These conversations should build on our shared concerns for human dignity, protecting children and promoting healthy families and communities.”

The NAE’s Generation Forum will host events across the country to create dialogue about how local churches can be involved in effectively decreasing the number of abortions in their congregations and communities.

Theology of Sex
“We do not wish to exalt a one-size-fits-all approach to abortion reduction,” states the NAE resolution. “Rather, we urge church leaders, always with a mind to honor God’s gifts of life and sex and his holy institutions of marriage and family, to seek out strategies appropriate for their congregations and communities.”At an NAE forum on respecting sex and reducing abortions held today at Wheaton College, the NAE distributed a document titled, “Theology of Sex,” to help evangelicals understand and cherish human sexuality, build strong families, respect human dignity and celebrate the precious gift of life.

Here is the full text of the NAE resolution.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[i] Gallup conducted this national telephone survey of 1,000 evangelicals, ages 18-95, from July 7 – Aug 1, 2009. Evangelicals were identified by denominational affiliation, church attendance at least once a month, accepting Jesus Christ as Savior and affirming the Bible as the written word of God and a guide for life. This poll has an overall margin of error of ±3.1%.

For information: Contact: Julie Shutley, 972-267-1111

50 Leaders of the Evangelical Generation: #16 Luis Palau. Innovator

[I am working on a project that may become a book on the most influential evangelicals leaders of our generation, since 1976, and the impact they've had on the church and their times. I will introduce them briefly on this blog from time to time. Who should be on this list?]

#16 Luis Palau. Innovator. b.1934


Portland’s downtown waterfront on a summer afternoon in 2000 was ablaze with sound, action, and color; rock music screaming, skateboarders and BMX riders strutting their stuff, and the mostly young crowd in prime form, enjoying the sun drenched festival atmosphere. This was not a concert, sports event, or political rally, but a Luis Palau street festival drawing some 140,000 people; an updated version of an evangelistic crusade that brought new prominence to the longtime efforts of the Argentina-born evangelist.

It is unlikely that anyone in the crowd was saying: “This Palau guy seems like the next Billy Graham,” which is a relief to both the Palau and Graham organizations, neither of which was comfortable with this moniker that was heard from time to time early in Palau’s ministry. Now, it is the Graham organization and others who are playing catch-up to Palau’s dynamic outreach to the next generation through dynamic large-crowd street festivals.

In fact, as Franklin Graham began to pick up more speaking responsibilities from his aging father, he had the instinct to do something different but, using the same teams that at times seem robotically steeped in Graham’s 50-year old crusade methodology, the Franklin Graham Festivals were little different than Billy Graham’s events, except in name and the inclusion of some contemporary musicians on-stage.

Indeed, because of his openness to innovation, Palau has regenerated the mass evangelism genre and demonstrated that the methodology—while needing a generational facelift--is not quite ready to be retired.

While Palau’s street festivals have been a great success and put some distance between he and the Grahams, the two organizations do have the same succession plan: both Billy Graham and Luis Palau have knighted their sons (Franklin Graham and Kevin Palau) to take the reins of the organizations and assume the evangelistic speaking mantle from their fathers.

[Nepotism is alive and well within evangelical organizations headed by their entrepreneurial founders. Leadership is shifting to the sons at BGEA and LPEA; and when the board at Focus on the Family nixed the idea of a stronger role for Ryan Dobson at Focus on the Family, James Dobson left and started a new radio program with Ryan. Jerry Falwell was succeeded by his sons at his university and church; Pat Robertson’s likely successor is his son Gordon; Joel Osteen took over Lakewood church from his father. Some other father-to-son hand-offs that didn’t work out so well: Oral Roberts to Richard and Robert Schuller to Robert Jr .]

It was in the 1990s that Palau’s ministry focus moved toward the United States—the majority of his crusades had been overseas—and by the end of the decade he had refined the unique festival evangelism outreach. Embracing contemporary life and culture, these festivals combine popular Christian music artists, a massive skate park featuring top Christian athletes of action sports like skate boarding, BMX and motocross, and even Veggie Tales for the children. The central feature, though, remains an evangelistic message inviting an on-the-spot response to the Gospel.

It was Kevin Palau who realized that extreme sports greatly influence the youth culture and incorporated BMX riding and skateboarding demonstrations into the festivals. This has given the ministry an additional edge to its outreach to youth. Recently, Kevin and actor Stephen Baldwin co-produced Livin It, a 40-minute documentary that includes extraordinary sports action and compelling face-to-face, street-style evangelism.

Born and raised in a wealthy Argentinean family, Luis Palau became a Christian at an early age. He became successful in the family banking business before moving to Portland, where he attended Multnomah Biblical Seminary. While in Bible school he met his wife, Patricia, and after completing their studies, they began traveling as missionaries in Latin America. This led to involvement in evangelistic ministries, developing teams and helping evangelists.

Palau first heard Billy Graham on a radio broadcast while still living in Argentina in 1950, and he drew inspiration from him. He later worked for Graham as a Spanish translator and as an evangelist. In 1970, Graham contributed the seed money for Palau to start his own outreach, which he initially modeled after Graham's. Doors continued to open through international invitations and by the early 1980s Palau was having a big impact in Western Europe and throughout the world.

Palau has authored 50 books and has preached in person to 25 million people in 70 nations. The organization says more than a billion people worldwide have heard Palau when you also account for radio, television, and the Internet. His radio program is heard in both English and Spanish in 42 countries. The Palau ministry employs 70 people in Beaverton, Oregon, and another 25 around the world.

A recent addition to the festival package came about when Portland Mayor Tom Potter approached Palau at a 2005 Portland appearance by First Lady Laura Bush and asked for Palau's assistance in getting other evangelical leaders to address Portland's homelessness problems. Palau contacted fellow evangelicals and cooperated with Potter and other area officials to include in the 2008 area festival a focus on volunteerism in support of the homeless, which he called the Season of Service.

Today, the Palau’s have four sons and 10 grandchildren and make their home near Portland.

--Jim Jewell

Church in the Making: Valuable for ministry leaders, not just church planters

I’ve been handling publicity for a new book about church planting that I think should be of interest not only to those seeking to and thinking about planting a church, but also to anyone hoping to start something new to advance Christian mission.

Church in the Making by Ben Arment doesn’t mince any words, and it has the tone of a soldier who has fought the good fight and won, but at a high personal cost, with the sense that the battles could have been easier with better intelligence, and mourning the soldier-friends who he has seen fall around him.

I’ve never tried to start a church, but I knew even before reading this book that it is extremely difficult, with a high rate of failure. Arment demonstrates a passion for saving future church planters from heartache and failure; but in the process he writes some things that will undoubtedly rub church planting traditionalists the wrong way.

For instance, Arment writes:

“We have placed a dangerous label on church planting that puts tremendous pressure on planters to persevere through any and all difficulties. We call it faithfulness. But in many cases it should really be called stupidity.”

If you have plans to plant a new church, open a new campus, or help someone who is, you need to get and read Church in the Making. It is well written and an easy read. It’s worth your time.

But it is also valuable to people like me who are involved in starting and advancing Christian organizations, missions, and causes. I’ve seen a lot of the same mistakes that Ben describes in ministry start-ups of all kinds; and I’ve made a number of the mistakes myself. I wish I would have had Church in the Making to read several years ago.

I’ve marked nine different principles in the book that I’ve seen ignored by too many ministry leaders (myself included).

1. Plant in Fertile Soil

Arment: “Every community has an established degree of spiritual receptivity. When you plant a church on fertile soil, it springs to life out of the community’s readiness. When you plant a church on infertile soil, it chokes and gasps to survive. In this case, you have to stop planting and start cultivating.” (page 3)

2. Experience Produces Humility

Arment: “You can always tell a new, inexperienced church planter because he’s the only one who thinks he knows what he’s doing. The veterans show a humility that can only come from experience. It takes a year or two to knock the self-reliance out of the new guys.” (page 10)

3. A Dream and Hard Work are Not Enough
Arment: “Church planters are notorious for thinking that a great dream plus hard work equals a thriving church. But church planters fail all the time with this formula and have not idea why.” (page 46)

4. Build a Network First

Arment: “I’m convinced that when God calls a planter to start a church, he calls him either to start a social network first (which can take years) or simply to leverage the one he’s been building around him.” (page 81)

5. You Can’t Do It Alone

Arment: “When God creates a church in the making, he doesn’t just call one person to start it. He calls a whole network of people who have been growing pregnant with vision.” (page 137)

6. Properly Channeled Frustration is Good

Arment: “God uses frustration to shape a vision. This is what he did to Nehemiah. And this is what he did to me. If God doesn’t build up a tremendous amount of frustration within us, we’ll never have the passion to pursue his calling.” (page 158)

7. Don’t Let Cash be King

Arment: “The only thing worse than not pursuing your God-given vision is compromising your God-given vision for the sake of cash flow. Don’t let money do this to you.” (page 162)

8. Put a Good Staff to Work

Arment: “Senior pastors are notorious for under-estimating the potential of their staff, mostly because they overestimate their own potential. Creating systems in your church is a far better way to leave a legacy than building up yourself.” (page 191)

9. Many Tomorrows Do Not Include You

Arment: “The fruit of the gospel comes from building a church that can exist without you and beyond you. (page 193)

Grab this book. If you are in ministry work, whether or not you are a church planter, it’s likely there’s something in it that will shake your ministry world.

[See these reviews of Church in the Making at ChurchMarketingSucks, In My Head, and from Neil Tullos.]

--Jim Jewell