GELF
Among the 4000 onsite participants at Cape Town 2010 were 200 business leaders who participated in the Global Executive Leadership Forum (GELF) to discuss the role of lay leaders in world evangelization. GELF Executive Chairman Atul Tandon says the group has continued following the Congress as a network of senior Christian marketplace leaders with global vision and influence who are seeking to, among other things:
- Advance the Gospel across the world in today’s context as understood and expressed in The Cape Town Commitment
- Build a platform where the most influential Christian marketplace leaders and other leaders can come together
- Create strategic partnerships between practitioners and marketplace leaders to help advance the Gospel
- Respond to both the immediate and the long-term needs of the global church
- Define and create a role for marketplace leaders in meeting Lausanne Movement objectives
- Build community between these leaders and enable them to deepen their own faith walk.
Please be praying for Atul and the other leaders of GELF as they seek God’s wisdom and direction for this important reach into the marketplace.
Lausanne Standards
The Lausanne Standards came out of a consultation Lausanne sponsored four years ago to confront issues surrounding the giving and receiving of God’s money for mission. The issues were validated through an extensive survey of our senior leadership worldwide and over 800 responses from donors and ministry leaders from every region of the world vetted the final draft.
Now post Cape Town 2010, the Lausanne Standards have been enthusiastically endorsed by leaders around the world as an approved framework of trust and exchange between donors and ministry implementers to create a communion of giving and receiving of funds for missions. Rob Martin, Lausanne Senior for Global Philanthropy, is giving leadership to this area.
Go to www.lausannestandards.org to get information on the Standards and to learn how to use the Standards in your work.
Global Generosity
The Lausanne Resource Mobilization Working Group is helping Christian networks, ministries, churches, and other groups work together to motivate Christians to give more of their income to Christian causes and to encourage Christians to become better stewards of their resources.
Coordinator Sas Conradie explains that the idea for Global Generosity Networks was launched at Cape Town 2010. Read More From Sas.
Integrity
The Saturday of Cape Town 2010 meant we were on the home stretch. The day’s topic was Integrity, calling the Church back to authentic Christianity.
The Bible exposition on Ephesians 4:17 through Ephesians 6:9 was brought by Calisto Odede (Kenya) who challenged leaders to live lives changed by the gospel so that those who don’t know Christ will see him in our lives,
“The distinction between a Christian and a non-Christian in as far as lifestyle is concerned appears to be merging. . . Thus we seem to be losing ground. The reason for this may not be because we do not have the right kind of doctrine, at least not all the time. It is not because we do not publish enough books. It is not because we do not have the latest morals or fad or craze on the ‘how-tos.’ No. We have made Christianity unpalatable to many by how we conduct ourselves and how we walk as believers in the Lord Jesus Christ.”
Then he asked,
“What does your walk reveal? What story does your walk tell about you if we were to follow you a few months before this Congress? What if we followed you a week before this Congress? What if we followed you immediately after this Congress to your home, to your office and to your ministry? What would your walk tell us about you?”
Calisto added that the responsibility is on us to stand against cultural trends and instead follow Christ’s teachings,
“To be able to make an impact, we need to be different for indeed we are different. We believe in Jesus. We are seated in the heavenly places in Christ. We are no longer aliens but the children of God. We are a new creation. We live a life of fullness in the spirit of the living God. Therefore, let us truly walk as a different people in the world today for thus, we have been called.”
Watch his compelling presentation here:
- Bible Exposition: Ephesians 4:17-6:9 – Calisto Odede (Part 1 | Part 2)
Download a written Session Summary of this session as a PDF
In what has been referred to as prophetic call to the Church, Chris Wright, Langham Partnerships International, urged Christians to return a lifestyle of being H.I.S. – serving in humility, integrity and simplicity. Chris asked what the leaders thought was the greatest obstacle to God’s desire for evangelization for the world,
“It’s not other religions. It’s not persecution. It’s not resistant cultures. Now, those are all serious challenges, of course they are. We would not be here if we were not taking them seriously. But the overwhelming witness in the Bible is that the greatest problem for God in his redemptive mission for the world is his own people. What hurts God most in the Bible, it seems, is not just the sin of the world but the failure, disobedience and rebellion of those whom God has redeemed and called to be his people, his holy people, his distinctive people.”
He called on the leaders to reject the idols of power and pride, of popularity and success, and of wealth and greed,
“We need a radical return to the Lord. We need to hear the prophetic word of God from the prophets, from the Lord Jesus Christ, from the Apostles of the New Testament. Repent and believe the Gospel. And remember, Jesus preached that message, made that command, repent and believe the Gospel, not to pagan unbelievers, Gentile outsiders, people of other faiths, but to those who already claim to be the people of God and so it comes to us as well. Before we go out to the world, we must come back to the Lord. If we want to change the world we must first change our own hearts and ways as Jeremiah said. As we take the words of the Gospel to the world, we must also, as Hosea said, take with us words of confession to God and before we get off our seats to speak and seek the lost, we need to get on our knees to seek the Lord.”
Watch his thought-provoking presentation here:
- Integrity – Confronting Idols – Chris Wright
- Download a written Session Summary of this session as a PDF
Femi Adeleye, International Fellowship of Evangelical Students, addressed the so-called “prosperity gospel” which focuses primarily on material possessions, physical well-being and success in this life. He explained that the “prosperity gospel” equates material acquisition with God’s approval but then he added,
“One thing is certain. Jesus neither preached nor taught prosperity gospel. All that Jesus taught about earthly possession come to us as warnings. For example, in Luke 12:15, it clearly says, ‘Take heed and beware of covetousness, for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of the things it possesses.’”
Watch his presentation here:
- Integrity – Prosperity Gospel – Femi Adeleye
- Download a written Session Summary of this session as a PDF.
Other issues of integrity including human sexuality, ethics and emerging technology and men and women working together in partnership for world evangelization were addressed on Saturday.
Women in Lausanne
Robyn Claydon, former Lausanne Senior Associate for Women in Evangelism, gave an update on the contribution of women to the ministry of Lausanne, in this month’s issue of Lausanne World Pulse. Read Robyn’s Article.
Learn more about Elke Werner, the current Lausanne Senior Associate for Women in Evangelism, who is in the spotlight through our Lausanne World Pulse Leadership Profile.
Read Elke Werner’s Leadership Profile.
A complete list of videos from the Saturday (23 October 2010) sessions of Cape Town 2010, including the Multiplexes, is available.
Tomorrow, we’ll finish our anniversary focus on Cape Town 2010, looking at the importance of Partnerships, examining the Pew Survey Research of the participants and remembering the closing ceremonies.
As always, we welcome your input and comments.
Until tomorrow . . .