There is a problem we can't ignore
Nations, communities, families and people are broken. They need hope, healing and restoration.
The Church exists to address this problem, and yet…
Christians often have faulty theological beliefs and practices that hinder them from making the kind of profound transformational impact on their communities and nations that God intends.
A powerful vision to see Christ-followers:
- Practice sacrificial neighbor-love, meeting physical, spiritual and social needs in their communities
- Function intentionally from a Biblical worldview, bringing the truth of God’s Word to bear in all areas of public life
- Grow and multiply as a result of their powerful influence in the community
As this vision increasingly is realized, we desire to see entire communities and nations transformed:
- Christ increasingly acknowledged as Lord over all
- Biblical reform occurring in various areas of community life and culture
- Increased economic sufficiency, social peace, and greater justice for the weakest and most marginalized
Transform the nation through the Church
Teaching and Developing Content
We develop books, materials and curriculum related to church-based community transformation.
Training and Discipling Others
We train and equip church leaders who train and equip others, putting into practice what they’ve learned.
Building a Global Alliance
We support and develop a worldwide alliance of trainers, practitioners and organizations committed to our common mission, core truths and operating principles.
Supporting Grassroots Practitioners
We provide strategic support and consultation for grassroots discipleship projects and models of church-based community transformation.
Our approach
What is God’s ultimate aim in creation? Is it to see people from every nation come to a saving faith in Christ? Is it to see new churches planted? Is it to see the hungry fed? These are all important, but they are not God’s ultimate aim. They should be viewed as essential “means,” not ends. God’s ultimate aim is that the knowledge of His glory would fill the earth as the waters cover the seas (Hab. 2:14). To be sure, this ultimate purpose won’t be fully realized until Christ returns. But until then, on the basis of His finished work on the cross, Jesus calls us to pray and to work, in His strength, to advance His Kingdom “on earth as it is in heaven” (Matthew 6:10). Not only does God have a comprehensive plan for creation; He has a strategy to advance it. It is an inside-out process of transformation with five specific, sequential steps.
The essential starting point in all lasting social transformation begins with spiritual regeneration at the level of human hearts and minds. Through the transforming power of the gospel, individuals are “born again” as “new creations” (John 3:3; 2 Cor. 5:17) filled with the Holy Spirit, enabled to do God’s will (Jer. 31:33, 34).
As people are born again, the transformational process continues through intentional training in Christ-likeness. Central to this training is discipleship at the level of worldview. New believers must be transformed by the renewing of their minds (Rom. 12:2). This transformation occurs as believers “take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ” (2 Cor. 10:5).
Renewed hearts and minds lead naturally to changes in lifestyle and behavior. Character is renewed, biblical virtues take on bodily form, and the fruits of the Spirit (Gal. 5:22, 23) increasingly become a natural way of life.
From here, transformation begins to ripple outward into the social sphere. The first, most basic and most important social sphere is the family. As husband and wife pursue God’s way in marriage, they and their children are blessed. Such parents disciple their children to be the self-governing “godly offspring” that our Lord desires (Mal. 2:15). They carefully prepare them to exercise godly dominion in every part of the larger community.
In due time, as successive generations assume positions of influence in the various spheres of society, these areas are reformed and increasingly reflect God’s knowledge and righteousness. When this happens, the nation is blessed—the nation is discipled.
