GMAE posts church & ministry job opportunities as a resource for the community. Contact the organization directly to learn more about that position. To post or change the status of a job opportunity e-mail to info@mnevangelicals, including a position summary and link to your organization’s website.

Daycare Executive Director, MetroKids, First Covenant Church Minneapolis

Mar. 2, 2010: Metro Kids, a ministry of First Covenant Church located in downtown Minneapolis is searching for an Executive Director. Read job posting here.

GMAE Job Opportunities

Director of Finance & Administration (p-t) and Facilities Manager & Maintenance Staff (p-t).

GMAE has current openings for a Director of Finance & Administration and for a Facilities Manager & Maintenance Staff. Both are part-time positions.

(Unless otherwise noted, employment inquiries should be sent to Schelli Cronk, HR Manager by e-mail to Schelli[at]mnevangelicals.org)

Director of Finance & Administration – January 2010

Seeking an individual with professional experience in finance and administration to assist the President of GMAE by assuming responsibility for leading and managing the financial and administrative functions of GMAE and its three subsidiary organizations. The position is envisioned and structured as a part-time role ranging from 16 – 24 hours per week, which will provide flexibility to an experienced leader who desires meaningful employment combined with the freedom of a flexible schedule. Read the Position Profile and inquire to Carl Nelson by e-mal: carl[at]mnevangelicals.org

Facility Manager & Maintenance Staff January 2010

A part-time position ranging from 10-15 hours per week as required, with a minimum schedule of three days per week to perform general building maintenance and repairs, grounds upkeep, light construction and remodeling and coordinating professional tradesmen and contractors as needed. Read the Position Profile and inquire to Schelli Cronk.

The national survey conducted by Pew Research found that 62 percent of white evangelical Protestants believe “the use of torture against suspected terrorists to gain important information” to be often or sometimes justified. In fact the more frequently a person attended church the more likely they were to endorse the use of torture on terrorist suspects.

Carl Nelson

I believe the results of the survey. Unfortunately it points specifically at evangelicals – who have some of the highest church-attendance rates – and I know enough evangelicals to realize that many of them are quite willing to use torture on terrorists.

The problem is that torture contradicts our belief about the sanctity of human life.

Evangelicals-like Catholics-have based our tireless campaign to end abortion and embryonic stem cell destruction on the fundamental belief that human life is created in the image of God, and that all human life is sacred. When God said “Let us make human beings in our image,” we take that to mean that all human life in some mysterious way bears the mark of God upon our very being. To defile human life-whether through abortion, scientific manipulation or torture-becomes an offense against God.

Not only is every human life sacred, but the teachings of Jesus instruct us to have special care and concern for the vulnerable-the unborn, the poor, prisoners of war-even if they are our enemy.

I believe in a strong and rigorous defense against terrorists, and I support our country’s efforts to dismantle terrorist networks, but we still must uphold our values and defend ourselves virtuously. And those Christians who are the most observant of our faith should also be the ones who are most outspoken about acting morally and virtuously-even in war.

It’s sad when people outside the church call it “unfathomable news” when they read that a majority of church-going Christians support the use of torture.

We need to reconsider our beliefs and base them upon a consistent ethic of life. We are very good at defending prenatal life, but I predict that we will make very little progress in gaining public support on that front until evangelicals demonstrate a consistent ethic of life, from womb to tomb, and one that preserves the sanctity of life even when the subject is an evil terrorist upon whom our old sin nature wants to exact revenge.

Last summer I added my name to the National Religious Campaign to Ban Torture, and later participated in a speaking event with the Center for Victims of Torture to explain why an evangelical who honors the sanctity of life opposes the use of torture.

Read about the Evangelical Declaration Against Torture at www.evangelicalsforhumanrights.org and join the Religious Campaign to Ban Torture. In June I’ve been invited again by the Center for Victims of Torture to share an evangelical perspective on banning the use of torture at an event in Minneapolis.

I invite others to join me because we need to change public perception and influence the beliefs of others sitting beside us in the pew.

We are excited to announce the next Evangelical Leaders Forum on April 9 with Erwin McManus, and an update GMAE website.

This eNews includes several other announcements, including Patrick Johnstone of Operation World meeting with mission leaders on March 18, a look at making the case for Truth and the uniqueness of Jesus and other issues to be addressed at Cape Town 2010, and finally a post I wrote questioning whether its possible to pray with followers of other religions by focusing on Jesus.

My greatest hope is in Jesus, and here at GMAE we want to connect followers of His together to share ideas, vision and energy to help expand the Kingdom of God on earth and in heaven.

Thank you for being part of this movement!

Carl Nelson
President, GMAE – the Minnesota Association of Evangelicals

Evangelical Leaders Forum with Erwin McManus on April 9: GMAE and Bethel University are joining together to host Erwin McManus at the Evangelical Leaders Forum. He will share vision and leadership insights about forming disciples of Jesus who are passionate about God’s redemptive mission to humanity, who create and shape culture and help people know God and live life as He intended.

Join Us. Friday, April 9, 12:00 – 2:30 at the Ramada Plaza Minneapolis. Registration Required (Free for staff of Member Churches).

Erwin McManus is the lead pastor of Mosaic – a Los Angeles church known for its diversity and creative witness of Jesus Christ – and his is gifted as an author, speaker, activist, filmmaker and innovator. On Thursday, April 8 Erwin is also leading a preaching seminar at Bethel University.

Can one focus on Jesus and pray with followers of other religions? by Carl Nelson.
I was pleasantly surprised – and then a bit troubled – by the focus on Jesus by followers of different religions as leaders gathered to pray at the National Prayer Breakfast in Washington, D.C. I was privileged to attend with several others from the Twin Cities, and the experience led to some long conversations about the risks – and opportunities – of focusing too exclusively on Jesus. You say, What? The risk of focusing too much on Jesus? Yes, read more to see what I mean.

How do we make the case for Truth and uniqueness of Jesus? In October 4,000 Christian leaders from around the world will gather to deal with with six critical issues that threaten the health and vitality of the Church and impair our witness to the gospel of Jesus. One of these important issues is Truth, and as Os Guiness reports, it’s a bigger issue for American evangelicals than for others around the world. Read more about Cape Town 2010.

Patrick Johnstone, who developed “Operation World” will meet mission leaders March 18: Johnstone developed the book “Operation World” to inform Christians about every country in the world in order to encourage the church to pray for the world and to engage the world in Christian mission. He will share his perspective on global Christianity and missions & evangelism movements at TCAMP’s monthly leadership meeting March 18, 12:30 – 2:00. The public is invited. Click here to learn details and location.

ECFA changes make financial resources more accessible to churches: The ECFA is the nation’s leading resource for financial and governance practices for churches and faith-based organizations. With recent changes to membership requirements it is now easier for many smaller churches and ministries to become members, get access to ECFA’s huge reservoir of technical support for  financial management, and receive their “seal of approval.”

GMAE encourages churches to join ECFA for another reason. The ECFA is constantly in consultation with the IRS, Senate Finance Committee and other government regulators advocating for the concerns of religious organizations, and the ECFA is highly respected by these government officials. As proof, when two national ministries that were being investigated by the Senate Finance Committee joined the ECFA by meeting their standards for governance and financial disclosures, the Senate Finance Committee dropped their investigation.

After 18 months in prison Allen starts new life at Damascus Way: If you looked at Allen Rasmussen* he would probably remind you of yourself. His childhood appeared to be normal; he grew up going to Sunday School, church and Awana, yet how did this young man end up dealing and hooked on drugs and spending 18 months in prison?

Fortunately he has a second chance at life, and at Damascus Way he breaking those childhood patterns that led to his drug use and criminal activity. (Read more) Damascus Way Reentry Center is an Affiliate Ministry supported and led by GMAE.

One of these important issues is Truth – how do we make the case for Truth and the uniqueness of Jesus in a post-modern, pluralistic world?

Why is this important in Minnesota? As Os Guiness said to US delegates at a pre-congress meeting in Dallas, “the erosion of Truth and questioning the uniqueness of Jesus Christ is a bigger problem in the western Church than it is elsewhere in the world.”

It is we evangelicals in the US who need to confront our wavering beliefs in the absolute Truth of Jesus, and learn how to communicate that Truth in our culture and society – and that includes us in Minnesota.

Through the wonders of technology people here in Minnesota will be able to participate in the teaching and discussion occurring in Cape Town. GMAE will be encouraging pastors, theologians and Christian leaders to participate in Cape Town 2010 conversations that will be hosted by several local churches and Christian colleges.

“The Redemptive Mission of God: Forming disciples who are passionate about God’s redemptive mission to humanity, who create and shape culture and help people know God and live life as He intended.”

Erwin Raphael McManus

Join Us
Friday, April 9, 12:00 – 2:30
Ramada Plaza Minneapolis
Registration Required (see below for directions & registration)

Erwin Raphael McManus is a follower of Jesus gifted as an author, speaker, activist, filmmaker and innovator. A native of El Salvador, he serves as lead pastor and cultural architect of Mosaic – a Los Angeles church known for its diversity and creative witness of Jesus Christ.

Erwin will share vision and leadership insights about how Christian leaders form disciples who shape culture and help people know God and experience life as He intended.

Evangelical Leaders Forum

When Jesus called his disciples and said, “Follow me. I’ll make you fishers of men,” it was not an offer of community. It was an a statement of cause “Follow me and I will give you something worthy of giving your life to.”

Churches expend a lot of energy trying to build community, but healthy community flows out of a unified cause – not the other way around. How do we form disciples passionately living all of life for this cause?

Co-Sponsored by Bethel University

This Evangelical Leaders Forum is co-sponsored by GMAE and Bethel University, and on Thursday,  April 8, Bethel University is hosting a Pastors and Ministry Staff Seminar and Lunch featuring Erwin McManus sharing about preaching and communicating. That seminar is 9 a.m. – 1 p.m. To learn more about that event go to www.Bethel.edu.

Forum Registration

Registration  is required – Click here to Register Online
Register for yourself, or for groups up to 8 people.

$15.00 includes lunch, followed by program and Q&A session.

FREE for MEMBER church staff – (Click here for members registration site)

Unsure if your church is a member? Enter your church name at “Find a Church” on our home page and see if it is identified as “GMAE MEMBER” or write to info@mnevangelicals.org to ask us.

SCHOLARSHIPS

• Are you a church-planter? Whether your church is a GMAE Member or not, if your church-plant is less than 2 years old, please be our guests free-of-charge (follow this link to register for free).
• Can’t afford $15 to attend? We won’t let that stop you.  Send us an e-mail request to info@mnevangelicals.org.

Directions to Ramada Plaza Minneapolis

Ramada Plaza Minneapolis
1330 Industrial Blvd, Minneapolis, MN 55413 (formerly known as “The Anchorage”)

Site of Evangelical Leaders Forum, April 9

Earlier this month I was privileged to attend the National Prayer Breakfast with several other Christian leaders from the Twin Cities. We were all pleasantly surprised – and then a bit troubled – by the focus on Jesus in the prayers, testimonies and discussions that took place throughout the two day gathering.

We were encouraged that this international prayer gathering of powerful politicians, diplomats, top CEOs and influential cultural leaders was centered on Jesus. It wasn’t identified as a “Christian” prayer breakfast, rather the unifying force was that people were identified as followers of Jesus, and as wanting to learn and practice the teachings of Jesus. For a majority of the people there they understood Jesus to be divine and the exclusive means of atoning for their sins.

But the simple focus of “following Jesus” also opened the door for people from other religions who admire Jesus as a great prophet, or a wise Rabbi, or as a wise sage and loving master, to feel comfortable participating in the National Prayer Breakfast.

And that is what eventually troubled those of us who attended the breakfast together, and led to some long conversations about the risks – and opportunities – of focusing too exclusively on Jesus. You say, What? The risk of focusing too much on Jesus?

Yes. By focusing on Jesus and eliminating some of the barriers and baggage that accompany institutionalized Christianity, there are many new opportunities to introduce people to Jesus, and there is a much needed awakening to the uniqueness and exclusivity of Jesus Christ, but we have to be careful to not forget the rest of the Trinity or to simply be satisfied with finding common ground with adherents of other religions who only understand Jesus’ humanity, and not his divinity.

Why were we troubled? Some speakers who spoke of following Jesus and admiring his teachings didn’t express an understanding that Jesus made claims that he was God and that he exclusively could atone for our sins. In fact,  that we are separated from God by sin was rarely discussed.

I will withhold my judgment about someone’s understanding and acceptance of Jesus – especially when I don’t know them well – but I worry that if we focus only on the niceties and attractiveness of Jesus without helping others discover the full truth of who Jesus claimed to be, that we are communicating an incomplete – even false – gospel.

One more positive thought about the National Prayer Breakfast

I came away with another take away too: I am encouraged that so many people who clearly are devout followers of Jesus the Son of God – from the titans of industry, to the grassroots activist leaders, both liberal and conservative politicians, diplomats and elected leaders from around the world, and many other people – would come together out of a desire to acknowledge their dependence upon God and to pray and fellowship with other followers. I rest much easier at night knowing that there are many people – even those with whom I disagree about politics or economic practices – all trying to follow the same person, Jesus, and to live and lead the way he guides us to.

If you looked in the mirror, Allen would probably look a lot like you. He was second oldest of six kids, raised in a middle class area of North Minneapolis. He describes his parents as decent, moral folks who instilled traditional values in their children. At one time, Al says, his father was “very religious.” He indicated a tall stack of Bibles and study books he saw his father reading.

Like his peers, Allen experimented with “weed” (marijuana) during his mid teens but found more appeal in selling it for profit than in using. There was a reason Al turned naturally to selling – first pot then escalating to harder and harder drugs, including “coke and meth” (cocaine and methamphetamines).

The reason that Al found peddling drugs so natural is that his respectable, responsible parents raised all six of their children from the proceeds of illegal drug trafficking. Cousins did the same. Uncles did the same. It was the family enterprise.

Perhaps it seemed inevitable to Allen’s parents that their offspring would go into the same business, so they warned their children never to use the drugs. Selling was one thing, but using was off limits. His mother, especially, harped on the dangers of using.

In the end, it was mere curiosity that prompted the 31-year-old to sample meth, then “ice” or “glass,” derivatives of cocaine. He was living very well by then, easily able to afford a house, cars, and Las Vegas vacations … but he was shocked by how quickly the drugs took over his body and his life. His mother watched it happen right before her eyes, and agonized, pleading for him to get help and trying to intervene.

But Allen had no control. Going without sleep for a month, he went into such a zombie-like state that he no longer knew what was real and what was hallucination. “Waking sleep” came upon him in tiny intervals, sometimes while Allen was driving. He sold drugs so he could afford his own habit. He was in constant panic as he tried to reason but only floundered in a hellish place of senselessness in his tormented brain.

“Things could have been a lot worse,” Allen says now of that time. That is hard to imagine but he declares that God has been watching over him since even those early days in Sunday School and boys club. God was there when Al was arrested. When the judge offered him an easy sentence, Al had enough sense to refuse. “Put me away,” he flatly stated, defying his own attorney’s advice. The judge took some persuading but when the gavel came down, Al went to prison. The sentence was Al’s lifeline.

It took 18 months for the drugs to clear out of his brain and body. Al says that his eyes were opened there in prison, and he began reading the Bible and attending prison church services. He cooperated with prison rules and although he knew nothing about Damascus Way, when he was eligible for parole, the faith-based program seemed better than the other options.

Now he’s getting ready to graduate and continues to see God’s hand in his life. “Jesus is my Lord and Savior,” says the soft-spoken man, “and the staff bends over backward to help. They’ve been able to accommodate any [of Al’s] issues since I came here.” “No other program would do that,” Al adds with conviction.

Al Rasmussen is living on the right side of the mirror these days. He needs a job since he lost everything he’d ever acquired. He needs a home, and he needs to build relationships with his family. But he’s walking with God and has a quiet sense that God will take care of the details.

I wish you would make an extra effort to pray for Allen. And you can be sure that as soon as he moves out of the Damascus Way house and we put fresh sheets on the bed, God will send us another man in need of direction, teaching, shelter and the love of Christ as demonstrated by our dedicated staff.

Click here to learn more about Damascus Way Reentry Center, or Donate now Online to support this ministry.

MC2: The DNA of missionary vitality

For four years GMAE h as co-sponsored the Midwest Conference for Missionary Care, which will be February 19 & 20 this year, but the registration deadline is coming soon: Feb. 10.

This is an excellent conference for mission committees or staff leaders working to mobilize and support missionaries sent from your church.

Multiculturalism and an influx of new immigrants are expanding reach of missionaries to Minnesota’s borders and beyond

by Maura Keller, Minnesota Christian Chronicle

TWIN CITIES — The United States has long been considered a melting pot—a nation teeming with diverse communities, groups and nationalities who have come here looking for a better life for themselves and their families.

Today, Minnesota is home to a diverse group of individuals from Central America, Laos, Liberia, Russia and many other locales. In response to this influx of cultures, more missionaries are coming to the U.S. to attend to the spiritual needs of these diverse groups—establishing churches and religious programs that speak to these individuals’ unique Christian traditions.

Reaching their own communities

“Much of the focus of international missionaries in the U.S. begins as they try to reach people of their own nationality living in the U.S., but it often very quickly expands beyond that,” says Carl Nelson, president of the Greater Minnesota Association of Evangelicals.

Full Story at www.mcchronicle.com