Faith at the Speed of Light: Experiencing Exponential Growth While Surfing the Wave of Change

By Ron Luce

Imagine you are in the water, playing and frolicking about, floating.  As you are laughing, talking with others and splashing about, you get a feeling you are riding high on a wave, but you are not overly concerned.

Suddenly, you find yourself on top of an 80-foot wall of water that is cresting and crashing below you.  In a panic

• Language: English
• Publisher: Trilogy Christian Publishing
• Release date: Aug 9, 2019
• ISBN: 9781640889088

Book preview

Trilogy Christian Publishers

A Wholly Owned Subsidiary of Trinity Broadcasting Network

2442 Michelle Drive

Tustin, CA 92780

Copyright © 2019 by Ron Luce

All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise noted, taken from THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

Scripture quotations marked (KJV) taken from The Holy Bible, King James Version. Cambridge Edition: 1769.

Scripture quotations marked (TPT) are from The Passion Translation®. Copyright © 2017, 2018 by Passion & Fire Ministries, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved. ThePassionTranslation.com.

All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce this book or portions thereof in any form whatsoever. For information, address Trilogy Christian Publishing Rights Department, 2442 Michelle Drive, Tustin, Ca 92780.

Trilogy Christian Publishing/ TBN and colophon are trademarks of Trinity Broadcasting Network.

For information about special discounts for bulk purchases, please contact Trilogy Christian Publishing.

Design: Diane Whisner

Cover Image: Depositphotos // Malishli.bk.ru

Author Photo: Rana Thompson Bartee

Manufactured in the United States of America

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available.

ISBN 978-1-6408-8913-2

ISBN 978-1-6408-8908-8 (ebook)

Table of Contents

Title Page

Praise For

Introduction

Part One: The Wave at Our Doorstep

Chapter 1: Living in the Hurricane of Change

Chapter 2: The Graying of the Church

Chapter 3: The Big Shift

Part Two: Sure-Footing as the Waves Crash

Introduction

Chapter 4: Real Transformation

Chapter 5: Real Relationship

Chapter 6: Real Intimacy

Part Three: Church at the Speed of Light

Introduction

Chapter 7: Pastor as Chief Strategist

Chapter 8: The Exchange Zone

Chapter 9: Find Your Joshua

Chapter 10: Making it Sticky

Chapter 11: Future-Fit Leader

Chapter 12: Dashboard to the Future

Chapter 13: Four Possible Futures

Chapter 14: Inventing the Future You Want

Epilogue

About the Author

One in a Million Global Church Alliance

Once again Ron Luce challenges the status quo and stretches our thinking. But this time the stakes are higher than ever. In World War II, Britain simultaneously experienced a crisis of survival as well as their ‘finest hour.’ Victory was achieved through divine intervention, innovative leadership, and the nation’s courageous response. Now, as the church faces its most daunting crisis ever, Ron lays out the potential scenarios and calls us to a preferred future: a season of unparalleled vigor and adventure with Christ, our Captain, leading us victoriously through tornadic change.

David Shibley

Founder and World Representative Global Advance

"In Faith at the Speed of Light Ron Luce has engaged the greatest question for today’s Christian church: How do we reach new generations amidst the amazing changes and pressures of our times? The future of Christianity rests on our response. Ron’s years of experience and life-calling to reach young people, along with excellent research, coalesce in this volume to challenge all of us. This book is contemporary, inspirational, motivational, and sobering all at the same time. I would advise every pastor to read it all the way to end. The case studies are worth the price of this book alone, but there is much more that will fuel your thinking toward how you position your life and ministry for maximum impact in the 21st century. Thank you, Ron, for your best book yet."

Dr. William M. Wilson

President, Oral Roberts University

"The best way to predict the future of your church is to invent it. In Faith at the Speed of Light, Ron Luce gives you the blueprint for how to experience real growth in an age of incredible change. Read this book to know how you can be part of the change."

Gordon Robertson

CEO, the Christian Broadcasting Network

Ron Luce is a general of Faith who has researched extensively the importance of raising and reaching the emerging generations. Ron has incredible knowledge of the emerging generation and has done much research on this vital area, but more importantly, Ron is a practitioner who literally has touched millions of young people all over the world. I totally recommend this book. It is essential that the church understand the times that we live in and how to reach generations for Christ. It’s a must read for every leader.

Russel Evans

Planetshakers

"We do not need to mourn for tomorrow today, while the power to change tomorrow is in our hands today. Many Christians are concerned about the future of Christianity. Indeed, some contemporary statistics, even as highlighted by Ron Luce in this book, Faith at the Speed of Light, are quite alarming. The good news, however, is that Dr. Luce provides us the opportunity to use new models of exponential impact, which could shape your own ministry strategy to help reverse the situation for the better. I consider this book as the prophetic voice from the Lord, addressing the contemporary challenges of the church for a better future."

Opoku Onyinah

Immediate Past Chairman, The Church of Pentecost, worldwide Co-chair, Scholars Consultation, Empowered

Ron’s unique perspective of trends and the ‘torrent of change,’ as he aptly refers to the light-speed changes taking place in today’s connected culture, is a critical understanding for the body of Christ if we intend to remain relevant. His writings remind me of what we at TBN call ‘Spirit Contemporary,’ meaning living your life fully spirit-led and fully contemporary simultaneously. Ron better equips us to engage in the current winner-take-all culture war.

Matt Crouch

CEO/President, Trinity Broadcasting Network (TBN)

"Ron Luce takes you on a mind-bending trip in describing how the speed of change interfaces with the need for spiritual leadership to impact the next generation. I highly recommend Faith at the Speed of Light!"

Dr. George O. Wood

Chairman, World AG Fellowship

Prophetic! Practical! Powerful! Challenging - with clarity!!! Ron Luce opens blinded eyes of those of us who dread the reality of change without the tools to deal with it. Read it fast! Read it now! Things will have changed - at the speed of light - by the time you finish it!

Bishop Kenneth C. Ulmer

Faithful Central Bible Church Presiding Bishop, Macedonia International Bible Fellowship

"Our world is changing quickly, and as pastors and ministry leaders, we must ask ourselves how these changes will impact our churches as well as the next generation. That’s why my friend Ron Luce’s new book, Faith at the Speed of Light, is such an important book to read. In it, he shares what we can all do to be prepared and how we can leverage technology to reach more people with the gospel message of Jesus Christ."

Pastor Robert Morris

Founding Lead Senior Pastor, Gateway Church, Bestselling Author of The Blessed Life, Frequency, and Beyond Blessed

"Ron Luce’s book Faith at the Speed of Light is one of the most shocking wake-up calls I have ever read. Although I am a writer and avid reader, having read many books, I do not always read a book to the finish. But this riveting book gripped me so completely that I could not stop reading until the final page. The information in these pages shook me. Ron Luce intelligently and passionately describes where we have been, where we are at the moment, and where we’re headed as the Church — and he provides solid recommendations about what we need to do to have a successful future in a world that is changing at the speed of light.

One thing is sure: Those who ignore the facts are in trouble, but those who are willing to embrace the future will survive and thrive. So do you want your life, your church, your business, or your ministry organization to be a dinosaur that petrifies and disappears in the recesses of history — or do you pray to thrive in a changing world that is smacking us in the face even now? What you read in Faith at the Speed of Light and how you respond to it may be the deciding factor. Buy it, read it, and make the appropriate changes that you’re awakened to make for yourself, your church, your business, or your ministry organization. There is only one choice if you wish to thrive in the days ahead."

Rick Renner

Author, Teacher, Pastor, Broadcaster Rick Renner, Ministries and Moscow Good News Church Tulsa, Oklahoma, and Moscow, Russia

"Ron Luce’s Faith at the Speed of Light is a must read for today’s senior pastors and leaders. We all know change is inevitable, but today it is happening faster than most of us fully recognize. The Church stands on the cusp of a radical shift, and if we as her leaders don’t actively look outward and embrace the waves of change, we risk losing much of the next generation. Ron meets the challenge head-on, highlighting that speed technology is shifting how our culture learns, shares, and relates. He lays out practical methodologies to introduce innovation into our church structures. Change is inevitable, and it begins with us."

Pastor Jimmy Witcher

Senior Pastor, Trinity Fellowship Church

This is a must read for any current leader who plans to still be a leader in five years. Change is inevitable, whether you are leading a Fortune 500 company or the small church at the edge of town. Every page is filled with ideas and strategies that help you see the change that is coming to your situation, and to have a plan when it arrives.

Jentezen Franklin

Senior Pastor, Free Chapel, New York Times Best-Selling Author

Introduction

The speed of light is often cited as setting the standard for ultimate speed. In fact, simply knowing light travels at 187,000 miles per second does not fully depict the quickness. The experience of turning on a light switch and instantly, or so it seems, the entire room is filled with light (since it moves so quickly) at first makes one even question whether light even moves. It looks automatic. We must look to outer space to understand just a glimpse of how quickly it moves. For example, when we see Alpha-Centauri (the closest star system), since it is 4.3 light years away, and its light travelled at 187,000 miles per second for 4.3 years just to become visible to us! The distance of stars from our vantage point on Earth is measured in light years, not miles, showing that light really does travel very, very fast.

The change that is occurring now in our culture is happening with two jet engines strapped on each side, thrusting us into the future with the sensation like the speed of light. Imagine every time you blinked, when you opened your eyes the world was fundamentally different every time. You can keep your eyes closed if you want and pretend the world is not changing, but when you finally do open them, the change is that much more profound.

What happens to our faith when this kind of change is the norm? The change we have experienced in the past is like slow-motion compared to what is happening now and about to happen in the next five to ten years. How do we keep a steady faith when everything else is in constant motion? How do we help those we lead to build their lives on the Rock, when culture is moving at light speed? You are about to learn about trends and breakthrough innovations that will shape our understanding of life on Earth as we know it. Those trends will demand we rethink how we think about our personal faith and how we steward our church into the future.

We know Jesus is the Light of the world,¹ and as such moves like a flash in the hearts of mankind, so that once He illuminates a soul, it is as though time stands still and nothing else matters.

What This Book Is About

What you hold in your hands will prepare you to notice the changes that are coming and prepare you and those you influence so they are not disrupted in their faith and dissuaded from belief. My hope is to make you aware that rapid change is here, and that leveraging the change could produce exponential impact for your future. Bees create honey; humans create futures, is a favorite saying of author and pastor Erwin MacManus. We don’t have to simply react to changes all around us, but by identifying trends in advance, we can decide how we allow those coming changes to impact our lives and ministries.

What could our future selves look like if we are not drowning in the innovation all around us, but find a way to keep our heads above the water and grow in strength and spiritual acuteness as the rate of change in culture accelerates? Imagine local churches all over the world not playing catch up but ripe with anticipatory agility, and capturing the moment this opportunity provides with relevant ministry. I invite you to join me on a journey into the future as we see a myriad of examples of leaders who have taken principles from the past and assembled models of Christian life that has thrust them into the future with great strength.

We will examine questions like: What are the most important trends to watch? Why? Why is horizon-scanning (a skill every future-fit leader must learn, discussed in CHAPTER 11) so important? Imagine what you would see if you were trying to look at a wave while floating in the ocean. This is how most of us see the world now. But what if you could look at it from a drone’s perspective? Imagine seeing the crest of the wave from that perspective. Imagine what danger you could avoid, what you could plan for, and the help you could give to others. It’s all a matter of perspective. I want to take you on a journey through the course of these pages to give you a glimpse of what is coming and what we can all do to prepare, based on what some remarkable forward-thinking leaders are already doing.

You may be tempted to discount or disbelieve some of the data you will see here. One of the overarching trends that will impact all of us is that, at the present rate of Christian growth and the growth of other religions, we will no longer be the dominant belief system in the world by 2050.

An important lesson I have learned while completing this book as my doctoral project is to be careful not to let what I already believe force all new data I see to reinforce what I already thought was true. I encourage you to suspend disbelief as you read the first few chapters and imagine, What if this data is a more accurate depiction of reality?

Trying to catch a wave and ride it while it is cresting is an exercise in futility. Attempting to stand up on a surfboard for the first time with a wave crashing would seem like a ridiculous attempt. Yet that is where so many believers live.

We don’t have to. Together, we can see how to keep our bearings as the crest of the wave gets higher and higher and ride it into the future that we design. Welcome to a journey into the future that is shaped by the direction God puts into our hearts, as we learn to leverage the waves of change to thrust us into a horizon of hope and exponential impact.

The wave of change has been ignited by what is known as the Knowledge Revolution, which will dramatically impact every aspect of life as we know it. Together, we will go on a journey exploring the answers and opportunities of the challenge at hand. Together, we will wrestle to the ground the greatest problem of our time:

Given the eminent diminishing number of young Christians worldwide, and the explosive impact of the Knowledge Revolution, what is the best possible actionable plan to change the trajectory of the Church?

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¹ John 8:12 NIV

Part One

The Wave at our Doorstep

Chapter 1:

Living in the Hurricane of Change

1 Chronicles 12:32 (NIV) The sons of Issachar, men who understood the times and knew what Israel should do.

Waves are toys from God.

Surfer Clay Marzo

Riding the crest of a wave on a surfboard is an exotic novelty to most. How do they get on the board? How do they stay balanced? How do they keep from getting killed? I actually took surfing lessons with my two daughters several years ago, and our instructor taught us that everything we need to know to be successful in the water, we could learn on land. Ultimately, we had to get into the water and apply what we had learned and continue to practice to be successful.

Most of us will never surf. However, all of us will be in water, maybe even play in waves sometime in our life. Imagine you are in the water, playing and frolicking about, floating. It seems fun. You feel a sensation of movement, but nothing tumultuous. As you are laughing, talking with others and splashing about, you get a feeling of riding high on a plateau of water, compared to the land on the horizon, but still you're not overly concerned.

You suddenly hear the sound of crashing water near, and then notice somehow you have found yourself on the precipice of an 80-foot wall of water that is cresting and crashing below you. In a panic, you try to paddle, swim and then violently thrash to get away from the inevitable tumult. You realize all your efforts are in vain, and you are sucked into a vortex of spiraling horizonal tornados in the water. You have lost all orientation of up or down. There is so much violent water is swirling about you, that any attempt to swim or direct yourself is futile. Just when you think you are about to reach air but take a huge gulp of water and are then pulled back in for what seems like an eternity of disorienting tumbling down a mountain of water in slow motion. It is happening so quickly, yet also feels like it’s in slow motion.

You keep expecting to ultimately land on the shore, but it never comes. You continue to spin around and around, until you realize all your family and loved ones are all around you, are having the same experience.