Missionary at Large Update: Fall/Winter 2021

By Paul Arndt ekklesia, missionary at large, VlogCast

During the summers of the 1980’s construction boom years, I delivered building supplies for Ulrich Lumber all over the Metro Detroit area. Through the long hours in the yard and on the road, the Lord provided just enough shekels to get me through college and seminary.

I remember one of the perks of driving the flat bed truck was the radio. Back in those days, you could turn on WMUZ and listen to a number of national Bible teachers. The time slots in the prime morning hours were limited to the select few – those who had a large and broad national following as well as the ministry funds needed to record, broadcast and distribute the daily lessons.

Each teacher had their own 30 minute time slot, intro and outro music, a series that they had recorded on a book of the Bible or a Scriptural topic, cassette tapes that you could order, and books that you could buy. I remember thinking …

“Maybe one day, the Lord might use me to do something like that!”

Well … here we are, over 30 years later!

On any given morning during the week you can wake up in the morning, grab a cup of coffee, take your phone, open up your inbox, look for an email from me, click on a blue link embedded in the text and through the tools of the digital age you will not only be able hear me talk about the person and work of Jesus from the Scriptures, you’ll also be able to see me as well.

Who would have thought that such ways of communicating the Gospel would have been possible?  When I started serving a small country church in Ortonville, MI in the summer of 1992, I didn’t even have a computer in my office. I had a pen and a yellow pad of paper.

Today, we’ve migrated into a new digital world. Some of us embraced the technology. We sprinted over the technical borderlands and staked our claim in the virtual frontier. Others of us have dragged our feet and it’s been a slow walk into the territory of smart phones, tablets, electronic banking, email, online content creation and video consumption. Still others of us have been dragged by family and friends (kicking and screaming) into the brave new landscape of ZOOM.

One thing you can say definitively about the COVID pandemic … for better or worse, it forced all of us to make the move into (or at least visit) the digital world. Love it or hate it, the digital world has provided us with new tools to create, film, record, host, search, archive, distribute and deliver content (video, audio and written word) that speak of the person and work of Jesus.

Over 500 years ago, Martin Luther took full advantage of the Gutenberg Press. Today, we have the MacBook Pro, the iPhone, WordPress, video and audio editing software, email, websites and high-speed internet.  All of these tools have allowed our little ekklesia ministry to create, produce and deliver …

over 360 portions of digital content​ in 2021!

If you would like to access the digital content, you can go to the following links:

Here’s a list of the video series that you can find on the new ekklesia website.

Ekklesia in a Digital World

Before we get too enamored or comfortable with the advancements of the digital age, we must always stay rooted in the soil of the Church as “ekklesia”.

ekklesia – a Greek word that means “gathering” or “assembly” which was used to describe the New Testament Church

The Church was meant to be incarnational … “in the flesh”, in-person, in the Scriptures  and receiving the Sacraments with others, with the promise that where two or three of us are gathered together, Jesus is with us.

No matter what resources technology makes possible (printing press, books, radio, television, internet), they were never meant to replace the physical “coming together” of the saints. They only serve as supplement, encouragement, teaching tools, and resources to help the gathered Church study the Scriptures.

My Role as a Missionary at Large

… to develop, encourage, support and resource Christian communities (“ekklesias”) that gather to study the Scriptures and administer the Sacraments so that they might receive all of the gifts that come from the person and work of Jesus. 

Here’s what it looks like …

  • “ekklesias”:  Christian communities gathered around the Scriptures and Sacraments
  • “5 in 15”: honest questions met with Scriptural answers
  • “eXPlain it”: Christ centered content that “eXPlains” the Scriptures
  • “The Receptive Life”: the daily exercise of the Christian faith that receives and responds to the gifts of Jesus
  • “We BTC”: a clear, bold and confident confession of the Christian faith

These four stages, centered in and around the ekklesias, have been created so that through the Scriptures, the Holy Spirit would transform our minds, encourage our hearts, embolden the confession of our mouths, and strengthen our hands for Christian witness and service

In-Person, Gathered Around the Scriptures, with Jesus

One of the challenges of the COVID years is to find a safe place for people to meet.

Before the pandemic, our little ekklesias were mostly meeting (crowded together) in homes. During the fair weather months of this year, we met outside, on decks, in the backyard. The colder weather prompted new options and brought with it new places to meet.

 Pastor Monson and the saints at SALT Church (also known as St. Augustine Lutheran Church in Troy)  graciously invited us to meet and study the Scriptures in their fellowship hall on scheduled Wednesday evenings. This Fall, our ekklesia and the members of SALT met together and learned “How to read, understand and make use of the Scriptures”.

We do thank God for His provision and we are looking for new and cooperative ways to partner with local churches in the Tri-County area.

Seedling Initiative for 2022 … “eXPlain it Detroit”

With a spirit of Christian exploration and initiative, I’ll be looking for some new ways and opportunities to “teach the devil to death” in the Tri-County Metro Detroit Area. One of the “seedling” initiatives I’ve been thinking about is “eXPlain it Detroit” with East Bethlehem Lutheran Church serving as a “mission/teaching outpost”.

Many of the churches in the city of Detroit are under resourced. One possible option is to offer the digital content of the ekklesia ministry to the local churches and then host monthly/quarterly teaching workshops or seminars in East Bethlehem’s fellowship hall on a Saturday. We could also invite the Tri-County area churches. For now, it’s a thought that sparks prayer.

Support for the Missionary at Large Position Deployed Through East Bethlehem Lutheran Church, Detroit

Thank you again for your generous support, encouragement, prayers and many kindnesses. If you would like to continue to support the Missionary at Large position through East Bethlehem you can either give a charitable donation by check or through electronic giving. Here’s a link that will give you more information …

Support Missionary at Large (here)

Come what may, we do belong to Jesus. We commend all into His hands,

Paul