Chapel Service

Meridian Speedway

September 29, 2018

“A Little Bit About Us”

For the next two Chapel Services, here at Meridian Speedway and then at All American Speedway, I would like to talk about some of the ways that Kathy & I think and respond to issues due to our roles with YWAM (Youth With A Mission) throughout our 32 years.

The first guideline using YWAM’s Foundational Values has made our organization both unique and extremely successful worldwide with over 18,000 workers like us at over 1,300 locations in the world.  (that are safe to acknowledge they exist).  YWAM gives room for many expressions of faith, including justice, church planting, the arts, media, family ministry, business, medicine, and much more including ministry like ours NASCAR and other new ones that are yet to be born.

 

These guidelines are exactly what makes YWAM functions as a family of ministries rather than a centralized agency.  These eighteen Foundational Values of YWAM express the unique family characteristics of YWAM—our “DNA.”  Each ministry location is autonomous. That in itself is amazing when you consider that is across the world, across the different countries, cultures, and geographic settings.  It should prove that it can be done effectively if we incorporate Godly principals.  That means we can use these same principals even within our own teams and businesses with success. That includes our local churches also when we consider how they set up teams, outreaches, & leaders.

Using The Tools of Our Trade:

Wouldn’t it be great to be an expert in all the things of life?  To have the knowledge or insight to make the right decision in every circumstance and never have any regrets?  To do that you would need a knowledge beyond yourself and the ability to see things that are not visible to the naked eye. Someone has described wisdom as; “the ability to see around the corner.”  Personally, I would describe wisdom as the “ability to see what is unseen in the natural realm that the human eye sees and effectively bring it into clarity and operation.”

Imagine the acquiring of knowledge and wisdom as the process of gathering the tools for your trade. It starts with the basic things you will need and then gets more specialized as you encounter life situations that require more sophisticated tools.  How would you feel if your doctor showed up for your complex rotator cuff surgery with just a hammer and a screwdriver? Life is complicated! But God has placed powerful tools at our disposal in order to know him intimately and to live an effective and productive life.    

Consider this Scripture: 2 Peter 1:3-9:  “His divine power has given us everything we need for a godly life through our knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and goodness. 4 Through these He has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature, having escaped the corruption in the world caused by evil desires. 5 For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith, goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; 6 and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; 7 and to godliness, mutual affection; and to mutual affection, love. 8 For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9 But whoever does not have them is nearsighted and blind, forgetting that they have been cleansed from their past sins.   Also read Proverbs 3:13-19 Colossians 2:3 Proverbs 4:1-6 .

I wanted to share our values that Kathy and I live and follow Jesus by along with our staff not only at our campus in Salem, OR, but around the world.  I have left it in YWAM (Youth With A Mission) terms because many good local churches believe and operate their ministry outreaches with the same values.  It’s likely they have never written it out and taught their congregations like we have for good reason. We all need to take time and ponder each of these and make sure we have not personally drifted away from these principals periodically if we operate in them.

“Youth With A Mission (YWAM) affirms the Bible as the authoritative Word of God and, with the Holy Spirit’s inspiration, the absolute reference point for every aspect of life and ministry. Based upon God’s word, who He is, and His initiative of salvation through the atoning work of Jesus (His death, burial, and resurrection), the following responses are strongly emphasized in YWAM:

  • Worship: We are called to praise and worship God alone.
  • Holiness: We are called to lead holy and righteous lives that exemplify the nature and character of God.
  • Witness: We are called to share the gospel of Jesus Christ with those who do not know Him.
  • Prayer: We are called to engage in intercessory prayer for the people and causes on God’s heart, including standing against evil in every form.
  • Fellowship: We are called to commit to the Church in both its local nurturing expression and its mobile multiplying expression.

The Foundational Values of Youth With A Mission are the expression of our basic beliefs coupled with specific directives given by God since YWAM’s beginning in 1960. They are recorded here in order to pass on to successive generations that which God has emphasized to us. These shared beliefs and values are the guiding principles for both the past and future growth of our mission. Some are common to all Christians everywhere; others are distinctive to Youth With A Mission.

The combination of these beliefs and values make up the unique family characteristics of YWAM—our “DNA.” They are values we hold in high regard which determine who we are, how we live and how we make decisions.

  1. Know God – YWAM is committed to know God, His nature, His character and His ways. We seek to reflect who He is in every aspect of our lives and ministry. The automatic overflow of knowing and enjoying fellowship with God is a desire to share Him with others.

 

  1. Make God known – YWAM is called to make God known throughout the whole world, and into every arena of society through evangelism, training and mercy ministries. We believe that salvation of souls should result in transformation of societies, thus obeying Jesus’ command to make disciples of all nations.

 

  1. Hear God’s voice – YWAM is committed to creating with God through listening to Him, praying His prayers and obeying His commands in matters great and small. We are dependent upon hearing His voice as individuals, together in team contexts and in larger corporate gatherings as an integral part of our process for decision making.

 

  1. Practice worship and intercessory prayer – YWAM is dedicated to worship Jesus and engage in intercessory prayer as integral aspects of daily life. We also recognize the intent of Satan to destroy the work of God and we call upon God’s power and the Holy Spirit to overcome his strategies in the lives of individuals and in the affairs of nations.

 

  1. Be visionary – YWAM is called to be visionary, continually receiving, nurturing and releasing fresh vision from God. We support the pioneering of new ministries and methods, always willing to be radical in order to be relevant to every generation, people group, and sphere of society. We believe that the apostolic call of YWAM requires the integration of spiritual eldership, freedom in the Spirit and relationship, centered on the Word of God.

 

  1. Champion young people –YWAM is called to champion youth. We believe God has gifted and called young people to spearhead vision and ministry. We are committed to value them, trust them, train them, support them, make space for them and release them. They are not only the Church of the future; they are the Church of today. We commit to follow where they lead, in the will of God.

 

  1. Be broad-structured and decentralized – YWAM is broad-structured and diverse, yet integrated. We are a global family of ministries held together by shared purpose, vision, values and relationship. We believe that structures should serve the people and the purposes of God. Every ministry at every level has the privilege and responsibility of accountability to a circle of elders.

 

  1. Be international and interdenominational – YWAM is international and interdenominational in its global scope as well as its local constituency. We believe that ethnic, linguistic and denominational diversity, along with redeemed aspects of culture, are positive factors that contribute to the health and growth of the mission.

 

  1. Have a biblical Christian worldview – YWAM is called to a biblical Christian worldview. We believe that the Bible makes a clear division between good and evil; right and wrong. The practical dimensions of life are no less spiritual than the ministry expressions. Everything done in obedience to God is spiritual. We seek to honor God with all that we do, equipping and mobilizing men and women of God to take roles of service and influence in every arena of society.

 

  1. Function in teams – YWAM is called to function in teams in all aspects of ministry and leadership. We believe that a combination of complementary gifts, callings, perspectives, ministries and generations working together in unity at all levels of our mission provides wisdom and safety. Seeking God’s will and making decisions in a team context allows accountability and contributes to greater relationship, motivation, responsibility and ownership of the vision.

 

  1. Exhibit servant leadership – YWAM is called to servant leadership as a lifestyle, rather than a leadership hierarchy. A servant leader is one who honors the gifts and callings of those under his/her care and guards their rights and privileges. Just as Jesus served His disciples, we stress the importance of those with leadership responsibilities serving those whom they lead.

 

  1. Do first, then teach – YWAM is committed to doing first, then teaching. We believe that firsthand experience gives authority to our words. Godly character and a call from God are more important than an individual’s gifts, abilities and expertise.

 

  1. Be relationship-oriented – YWAM is dedicated to being relationship-oriented in our living and working together. We desire to be united through lives of holiness, mutual support, transparency, humility, and open communication, rather than a dependence on structures or rules.

 

  1. Value the individual – YWAM is called to value each individual. We believe in equal opportunity and justice for all. Created in the image of God, people of all nationalities, ages and functions have distinctive contributions and callings. We are committed to honoring God-given leadership and ministry gifts in both men and women.

 

  1. Value families – YWAM affirms the importance of families serving God together in missions, not just the father and/or mother. We encourage the development of strong and healthy family units, with each member sharing the call to missions and contributing their gifts in unique and complementary ways.

 

  1. Practice dependence on God – YWAM is called to practice a life of dependence upon God for financial provision. for individuals and YWAM corporately this comes primarily through His. people. As God has been generous toward us, so we desire to be generous. YWAMers give themselves, their time and talents to God through the mission with no expectation of remuneration.

 

  1. Practice hospitality – YWAM affirms the ministry of hospitality as an expression of God’s character and the value of people. We believe it is important to open our hearts, homes and campuses to serve and honor one another, our guests and the poor and needy, not as acts of social protocol, but as expressions of generosity.

 

  1. Communicate with integrity – YWAM affirms that everything exists because God communicates. Therefore, YWAM is committed to truthful, accurate, timely and relevant communication. We believe good communication is essential for strong relationships, healthy families and communities, and effective ministry.

 

YWAM Statement of Purpose:

Youth With A Mission (YWAM) is an international movement of Christians from many denominations dedicated to presenting Jesus personally to this generation, to mobilizing as many as possible to help in this task, and to the training and equipping of believers for their part in fulfilling the Great Commission. As citizens of God’s kingdom, we are called to love, worship, and obey our Lord, to love and serve His body, the Church, and to present the whole Gospel for the whole person throughout the whole world. We of Youth With A Mission believe that the Bible is God’s inspired and authoritative Word, revealing that Jesus Christ is God’s son; that people are created in God’s image; that He created us to have eternal life through Jesus Christ; that although all people have sinned and come short of God’s glory, God has made salvation possible through the death on the cross and resurrection of Jesus Christ; that repentance, faith, love and obedience are fitting responses to God’s initiative of grace toward us; that God desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth; and that the Holy Spirit’s power is demonstrated in and through us for the accomplishment of Christ’s last commandment, “…Go ye into all the world and preach the Gospel to every creature” (Mark 16:15).

 

Please take time & ponder these 18 Foundational we stand upon.  Some of them are of course not relevant to your situation but still take time to think whether or not you might agree.