So what makes a Global City? Not size alone, that’s for sure; many of the world’s largest megalopolises, such as Karachi (60), Lagos (59), and Kolkata (63), barely make the list. Instead, the index aims to measure how much sway a city has over what happens beyond its own borders — its influence on and integration with global markets, culture, and innovation. To create this year’s rankings, we analyzed 65 cities with more than 1 million people across every region of the globe, using definitive sources to tally everything from a city’s business activity, human capital, and information exchange to its cultural experience and political engagement. Data ranged from how many Fortune Global 500 company headquarters were in a city to the size of its capital markets and the flow of goods through its airports and ports, as well as factors such as the number of embassies, think tanks, political organizations, and museums. Taken together, a city’s performance on this slate of indicators tells us how worldly — or provincial — it really is.
Here is great video from our partners at Upstream Collective. It is about planting churches in global cities and the importance of their placement in the world. This video speaks volumes to why we feel it is important to be in Brussels. It is only 3 minutes long so give it a whirl.
Joseph Biden, the Vice President of the United States of America, made some pretty remarkable statements recently when he addressed the European Parliament.
“As you probably know, some American politicians and American journalists refer to Washington, D.C. as the ‘capital of the free world,’” Biden said. “But it seems to me that in this great city, which boasts 1,000 years of history and which serves as the capital of Belgium, the home of the European Union, and the headquarters for NATO, this city has its own legitimate claim to that title.”
I knew God was calling us to a city that was influential and strategic but “the capitol of the free world.”
LifePoint is working hard to follow God on His mission to reach the nations. This is not just a call to cross the ocean but to also cross the street to your neighbor. Hope you enjoy the latest video about The Sending Church. Check out the information concerning the Belgium team.
The Upstream Collective recently published two articles on LifePoint and the Belgium Church Planting team. I am linking those articles here for you to read.
Check out the new article on the Upstream Collective blog. LifePoint is seeking to be a part of a new movement in church planting and missional living and we are thankful for groups like Upstream who are helping us to follow God’s call as individuals and as a church.
LifePoint Church is sending out ten leaders (10) on a discovery trip to Belgium. They will search out the movement of the Holy Spirit and look for where He is leading the church to plant in the city. The team of leaders will meet with other leaders from organizations who are active in the country to learn from their experiences and encourage one another. The leaders will also seek out how best to fulfill the calling that God has placed on the church and theses families to see a reproducing sending church birthed in Brussels that will reach new followers for Christ, train leaders to multiply their efforts and send out leadership to plant again.
Over the next 10 days I will ask a lot of questions to a lot of different people. I have heard someone before, “If you ask the right people the right questions you will get the right answers.” Sounds good, but I don’t know how practical it is all the time. Anyway, I am attempting to be a learner in a new land for the next several days. The team of folks I am leading to explore Brussels will meet with many different people from various organizations and seek to gain as much info as we possibly can gather so we can prepare for the move to a new country in a few months. We are going as learners to a new country seeking input into how people live, think bout life, family and faith issues. It is only by asking questions, listening to answers, dialoguing with nationals and listening to the Holy Spirit that we will begin to understand the country, the culture and the people of Belgium.
Speaking of questions…what are some questions you might have about the country of Belgium? What questions would you want to make sure got answered if you were moving there with your family.
I will leave on this Sat. (3/20) with a team of 10 people for Brussels, Belgium. This trip is for the team members who are relocating in January to help start a work of LifePoint Church. We are desiring to see French speakers come to know Christ and multiply churches that will multiply into more churches. Please pray for our team that we will have eyes and ears to see all that God wants us to see. This is the last time any of our team will travel to Brussels before we move there in January 2011. I am planning on updating as often as I can while I am in Brussels. Thanks for following along and for praying for the team and for LifePoint as we seek to follow what we know God has called us toward.
