Live From The Inside Out

May 28, 2007 | Filed Under books, missional, new monasticism | No Comments

In chapter one, titled “Relocation to Abandoned Places of Empire” Margaret McKenna discusses the need to create new expressions of relocation. She asks what forms could the classical desert take in the world of the twenty-first-century? Here is a bit of her description:

The following desert-inspired ingredients seem to influence their development: God-seeking and prayer will have the primary place, but be thoroughly integrated with life and witness. We will build the practice of Sabbath freedom into the rhythms of our calendars, lives and work. Our reverence and love for God will be connected to and include all of God’s creation. Hospitality in the form of sharing food, roof and friendship with neighbors will foster both compassion and engagement and will be a form of holy communion with marginal cultures and poor populations. The issues of our time, such as militarism, nuclearism, poverty, homelessness, and ecological problems, as manifested on the margins, will call for our personal and communal conversion in the form of disciplined resistance in lifestyle and engagement in the search for solutions. This resistance and engagement will be as much prayer as it is work. Promotion of alternatives to violence and imprisonment will be practiced as well as promoted. Presence and witness will have a prophetic quality that comes from God’s Spirit. Personalist and communal rather than institutional models of organization will be characteristic. Numbers and finance will not dominate or dictate our concerns. We will not allow ourselves to be intimidated by the “Powers” of Empire. . . . We will live and witness from the inside out.

12 Marks of a New Monasticism

May 28, 2007 | Filed Under books, new monasticism | No Comments

Along with a couple of friends I have been reading “School(s) for Conversion: 12 Marks of a New Monasticism” edited by The Rutba House. Those involved in this writing project believe there is a radical grassroots movement within the North American church which they referred to as a “new monasticism.” While the movement is diverse they see it characterized by the following 12 marks:

1. Relocation to the abandoned places of Empire.

2. Sharing economic resources with fellow community members and the needy among us.

3. Hospitality to the stranger. More>>

Spiritual Transformation

May 24, 2007 | Filed Under missional, spiritual formation | No Comments

My friend Georges Boujakly - church planter, church planter mentor, spiritual director, and all around spiritual guru - is going to be writing a weekly post on spirituality in the life of the missional church and those who lead missional communities. Here is the first of Georges’ posts as he shares a few of his convictions concerning spiritual transformation.

Anyway we cut it, missional leaders are in the business of participating in life transformation.

1. Spiritual transformation is an inside job.

Behavioral changes follow from inner transformation. Can a change in behavior lead to an inner transformation? I don’t know. Not in my experience. God sees the hidden areas (from ourselves and from others) of our lives and acts accordingly to transform us. More>>

Missional Meanderings

May 22, 2007 | Filed Under church, ecclesiology, leadership, meanderings, missional | No Comments

Here is an excellent article on the importance of teaching theology from a missional perspective by Dr. John Franke, Professor of Theology at Biblical Seminary. The article focuses on the implications of understanding Christian theology as a discipline that should assist the church in it’s missional vocation.

Drew Goodmanson presents a couple of outstanding posts on developing a “triperspectival ecclesiology.” The first post is here. Second post is here. A follow up post on missional leadership is here. Be sure to examine the diagrams with each post. How do you see these diagrams assisting the formation of your community? How do they help you communicate?

I found the possibilities of this event very interesting in light of several conversations we have been having about the need for some sort of missional order.

Does individualism pervert the gospel? Getting the Gospel right by Scot McKnight.

In small group ministry as well as house/organic expressions of church people inevitably ask “what to do with the kids?”

Finally, here is a nice resource of seminary courses from Covenant Theological Seminary in St. Louis. There are nearly a thousand free resources available for download in mp3 or pdf files.

Meeting The Neighbahs!

May 19, 2007 | Filed Under missional | 4 Comments

A few years ago our family moved to a new part of town to plant a church. We were convinced that God placed us in our new home, on our new street, in our new neighborhood, for the purpose of meeting and getting to know our new neighbors. But how do you begin to build relationships with those whom you have never met? The primary key is that you must be intentional. New relationships seldom happen by chance. Instead you must find ways to “rub shoulders” with your neighbors. While your neighborhood situation may be quite different from the one we experienced here are some simple ways we began building relationships with our neighbors. More>>

Being Sent Into The World

May 17, 2007 | Filed Under gospel, incarnational, missional | No Comments

In light of yesterday’s post on the sending passages found in the Gospels, here is a sampling of the sending theme specifically from the Gospel of John:

Sending and the Father

“For God sent the Son into the world, not to condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through him” (3:17).

“For he whom God has sent utters the words of God” (3:34).

“He who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent him” (5:23). More>>

Being Sent and the Gospels

May 16, 2007 | Filed Under books, incarnational, missional | 1 Comment

I mentioned a few weeks ago an excellent book by Dr. Francis DuBose titled ”God Who Sends: A Fresh Quest for Biblical Mission.” The book was published in 1983 when Dr. DuBose was professor and director of World Missions Center at Golden Gate Baptist Theological Seminary.

In the preface of the book DuBose writes:

“This work is a comprehensive and systematic study of the biblical concept of the sending aimed at a better understanding of biblical mission. . . . The title “God Who Sends” was chosen because God as Sender is the basis of all the Bible has to say on the subject. The subtitle, “A Fresh Quest for Biblical Mission,” reflects both my desire for a more satisfying theological understanding and my realization that this can only be a quest, not a final word on the subject.”

In chapter 3 DuBose presents a survey of the theological sending passages within 7 Scriptural categories: the Pentateuch, the Historical Books, the Poetical Books, the Prophets, the Gospels, the Book of Acts, and the Epistles and Revelation. So far we have discussed the first four categories; today we will examine the sending theme found in the Gospels. More>>

Praying with Frank Topping

May 14, 2007 | Filed Under prayer | No Comments

How often do I nod,
as if I were listening,
to words I cannot hear,
because I’m thinking about something else,
because I’m planning what I intend to say.
Yet there are those who are good listeners:
a good conversationalist listens,
a good counsellor or adviser listens,
a good doctor listens, a good judge,
a good friend.
And you, my Lord,
you listen even to my thoughts.
Teach me to listen,
that I may hear when you speak. - Frank Topping

Why Plant New Churches? #3

May 10, 2007 | Filed Under church planting, ecclesiology | No Comments

Do we really need to plant new churches? Aren’t there enough churches already? Why don’t we focus on the existing churches that are struggling to survive?

Here is reason number three:

Reason 3: Church Planting is a Good Way to Reach Different Cultures and Sub-Cultures

I believe that when we allow our Christology (the Person and work of Christ) to determine our missiology (the way we attempt to connect with people who are far from God) which in turn determines our ecclesiology (the form and function of the church) we will see a wide variety of new churches planted that will connect and reach people groups that would otherwise be un-reached. Simply put, we need all kinds of churches to reach all kinds of people; and that happens best when we plant new communities of faith.

Are You Jonah?

May 9, 2007 | Filed Under books, church | 1 Comment

I have been reading Dan Kimball’s new book “They Like Jesus But Not The Church.” I have found several insights from the book to be helpful. One section I found funny (in a sad kind of way) is titled “The Transformation From Excited Missionary Into Citizen Of The Bubble.” In this section of the book Kimball shares his observation concerning what happens to many believers as they “mature” in their Christian walk. More>>

May Missional Network Gatherings

May 6, 2007 | Filed Under networks | 2 Comments

Here are the dates and times for the Missional Network gatherings coming up later this month. We will continue our discussion of “The Forgotten Ways” by Alan Hirsch by examining chapters five and six. Also remember there is a short summary of each of these two chapters here and here. Feel free to invite anyone else who might be reading the book to join the discussion.

Newton Network
Wednesday, May 30th
12:30 - 3:30pm
The Journey
7th and Plum
Newton, KS

KC Network
Thursday, May 31st
4:00pm-7:00pm
Kansas City Association
8745 Ballentine
Overland Park

Mosaic and a Missional Ethos

May 4, 2007 | Filed Under church planting, gospel, missional | 1 Comment

I returned from Origins yesterday. I found the majority of the time to be profitable on several fronts. I definitely have a new found respect for McManus. While I had read three of McManus’ books in the past there were times I wonder just a bit about their philosophy of ministry. I have to admit that the metaphors of wind, water, wood, fire and earth used for Mosaic’s core values didn’t “click” for me in the past. However, after hearing McManus and others from the Mosaic community describe each of their five values I began to understand better the what and why of Mosaic’s ministry. The high level of risk-taking that the Mosaic community is willing to take to connect and share Christ with unbelievers is impressive and inspiring.

A few thoughts (or quotes) that resonated with me through the week included the following: More>>