Missional Church? Be Prepared To Lose

June 29, 2007 | Filed Under church planting, missional | 2 Comments

There is an excellent post on how differently we must think about measuring success in missional communties by Pernell Goodyear, a leader at The Freeway in Hamilton, Ontario. (Thanks Paul) There is much here to consider if you are a church planter as well as someone who is in the position of coaching/mentoring planters.

I would recommend reading the entire post here and be sure to check out what The Freeway is doing in Ontario. But to wet your appetite here is just a bit of Parnell’s post as he shares six realities of what it means when a community truly moves toward missional living. More>>

Spiritual Transformation - Key #2

June 27, 2007 | Filed Under georges boujakly, spiritual formation | No Comments

Earlier this month my friend Georges Boujakly shared eight “keys” to spiritual transformation. These keys include:

1. Spiritual transformation is an inside job.
2. Spiritual transformation requires deliberate effort.
3. Spiritual transformation has a specific goal.
4. The goal of spiritual transformation is conformity to Jesus Christ.
5. The progress of spiritual transformation is always slow.
6. Spiritual transformation is the “business” of the church.
7. Spiritual transformation is not a luxury for the spiritually elite.
8. Spiritual Transformation is plural.

Today Georges elaborates a bit on the second key. More>>

Things I Wish I Had Known About Planting

June 24, 2007 | Filed Under church planting | 4 Comments

Chris Elrod, pastor of Compass Point in Lakeland, FL has a very practical article in the latest issue of Next-Wave Ezine where he discusses lessons learned from planting a church. Those of you who are planting or are thinking of starting a new work should consider these insights learned the hard way. More>>

I Long For A Church That …

June 22, 2007 | Filed Under church, ecclesiology, missional | 1 Comment

Back in February of 2005 Brother Maynard from Subversive Influence shared an excellent post titled “To Clarify This Journey.” It was republished a month later at emergingchurch.info. In the post Brother Maynard shares nine characteristics that he longs for in the life of a faith community. How deeply do these points resonate with you? What would you add to his list? More>>

Spiritual Transformation - Key #1c

June 19, 2007 | Filed Under books, georges boujakly, prayer, spiritual formation | 1 Comment

The Art of Telling God on Yourself.

In light of the previous post I want to share a helpful prayer of confession. It is inspired by John Baillie in his Diary of Private Prayer - day eleven:

Merciful heart of God, in true repentance, I now open my heart to you. Help me not to hide anything from you as I (”we” if prayed in community) pray. The truth of my sinfulness is humbling to me, but I take courage that I am confessing in your merciful presence. What I committed in shame I now confess in shame. In your wisdom use the pain of my confession to make me hate the sins I confess. The suspension mark (…) is where you can be specific. More>>

Spiritual Transformation - Key #1b

June 18, 2007 | Filed Under georges boujakly, missional, spiritual formation | No Comments

The Art of Telling God on Yourself.

Today Georges Boujakly offers one last entry (in two parts) on the reality that spiritual transformation is an inside job. Spiritual transformation, sin (the breaking of relationship of trust with God and others), confession, and forgiveness are terms that converge as the inside job the Trinity does in us.

Is confession a regular part of your relationship with God? Any specific ways you practice confession? If you are a follower of the Christian Way you have to address the question of sin.

Sin in us is easily verifiable (my sin is ever before me). We experience it with the five senses. We can deny sin but we can’t exterminate it from our lives. We can cry over it but we won’t eliminate it. We suffer from it but we can’t overcome it yet. We can fight its force within while we seek a holy and divinely ordained life. We can hope sin goes away, but it’s here to stay. We can wait for its disappearance, but sin is no Houdini. What we can do with sin is confess it and seek forgiveness. If we are serious about confession, we would seriously study David’s confessions in the following Psalms. More>>

Missional Meanderings

June 13, 2007 | Filed Under meanderings, missional | 4 Comments

As our network groups have been reading through Hirsch’s “The Forgotten Ways” we have had several conversations about the pressure to conform to the consumerist model of the American church. Here is a brief discussion with Dan Kimball about the pressures at Vintage Faith Church in Santa Cruz. (HT: Rick Meigs)

At the prompting of a friend I have started praying during fixed hours of the day with the help of a free online version of ”The Divine Hours” by Phyllis Tickle. She writes: “Praying the hours enjoins us to stop, let go of all that occupies us, and focus on the sacred at regular intervals throughout the day. Suddenly, every day becomes holy, for every day is laced together by our appointments with God.”

Over at The Freeway there is a brief but helpful piece on Third Places. (HT: Len Hjalmarson)

Here is an excellent resource of podcasts from The Kindlings, including interviews with Stan Grenz, N.T. Wright, Brennan Manning, Dallas Willard, Donald Miller and the like.

Lifeway study concerning the SBC and “private prayer language.”

Missional Living

June 11, 2007 | Filed Under missional, way of Jesus | 1 Comment

While this short video is produced by an inspirational, marketing business I think it has something to say about living each day with a missional perspective and the possible impact of doing so. (Thanks Brad M.)

Spiritual Transformation - Key #1a

June 11, 2007 | Filed Under georges boujakly, missional, spiritual formation | 3 Comments

My friend Georges Boujakly continues his series on spiritual transformation:

The first key to spiritual transformation is that it is an inside job. Last week I said that this inside job requires certain efforts. True, the job is initiated by the Holy Spirit as part of his constant ministry in our lives. But the Holy Spirit invites our participation. The form of participation I want to speak to this week is paying attention to God.

Peterson’s beautiful rendition of Romans 12:2 captures the image of paying attention to God with these words:

“Don’t become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking. Instead, fix your attention on God. You’ll be changed from the inside out. Readily recognize what he wants from you, and quickly respond to it. Unlike the culture around you, always dragging you down to its level of immaturity, God brings the best out of you, develops well-formed maturity in you.”

I like Peterson’s rendition of the NAS translation “but be transformed by the renewing of your mind,” to “Instead, fix your attention on God. You’ll be changed from the inside out.”

Spiritual transformation happens when we pay attention to God inwardly. Think of this as the posture that Mary adopted when Jesus came to visit her with Lazarus and Martha. More>>

June Missional Network Gatherings

June 7, 2007 | Filed Under networks | No Comments

Here are the dates and times for the Missional Network gatherings later this month. We will finish our discussion of “The Forgotten Ways” by examining chapter seven, which deals with developing a movement ethos and chapter eight which emphasizes the need to move from community to communitas. I find both of these chapters add much to our desire to see our faith communities have a greater impact in the world. Feel free to invite anyone else who might be reading the book to join the discussion.

Newton Network
Tuesday, June 26th
12:00 - 3:00pm
The Journey
7th and Plum
Newton, KS

KC Network
Wednesday, June 27th
4:00pm-7:00pm
Kansas City Association
8745 Ballentine
Overland Park

The Forgotten Ways - Chapter 7

June 5, 2007 | Filed Under alan hirsch, books, missional | 5 Comments

Our network gatherings are finally (after three months) getting to the last two chapters of Alan Hirsch’s book The Forgotten Ways. As we prepare to summarize a bit of chapter 7 in this post and chapter 8 tomorrow I thought it would be good to be reminded of the elements discussed thus far.

Hirsch coins the phrase “Apostolic Genius” to help describe “that unique energy and force that imbues phenomenal Jesus movements in history.” Diagrammatically Hirsch envision Apostolic Genius looking something like this: More>>

Praying with Kim Fabricius

June 3, 2007 | Filed Under prayer | 1 Comment

It’s a world of confusion, Lord:
we are muddled in our thinking;
we are mixed in our emotions;
we are inconsistent in our actions.

It’s a world of lies, Lord:
we deceive ourselves about our motives and intentions;
we mislead others with double-speak and spin;
we exploit you as an agent of social control and repression.

It’s a world of greed, Lord:
we worship the idol of the market;
we honour the false prophets of profit;
we reduce people to punters and nations to debt.

It’s a world of violence, Lord:
we deploy the technology of terror to protect our own interests;
we invest our children in the business of bloodshed;
we justify war as first strike, last resort, or final solution.

It’s a world of vengeance, Lord:
we allow the wounds of history to fester;
we refuse the healing of memories;
we betray the living out of mistaken loyalty to the dead.

Oh Lord,
in this world of confusion, make us a people of clarity;
in this world of lies, make us a people of integrity;
in this world of greed, make us a people of generosity;
in this world of violence, make us a people of peace;
in this world of vengeance, make us a people of mercy:
in the name of Christ: Amen.

- Kim Fabricius

Spiritual Transformation - Part 2

June 2, 2007 | Filed Under georges boujakly, missional, spiritual formation | 4 Comments

Last week my friend Georges Boujakly shared six introductory “keys” on spiritual transformation. This week he has added two additional principles (HT #7: Pastor Rod). Here are the eight principles that Georges is going to elaborate on over the next several weeks.

1. Spiritual transformation is an inside job.
2. Spiritual transformation requires deliberate effort.
3. Spiritual transformation has a specific goal.
4. The goal of spiritual transformation is conformity to Jesus Christ.
5. The progress of spiritual transformation is always slow.
6. Spiritual transformation is the “business” of the church.
7. Spiritual transformation (discipleship) is not a luxury for the spiritually elite.
8. Spiritual Transformation is plural.

Now a little more elaboration on inward transformation (#1). More>>

Gordon Cosby

June 2, 2007 | Filed Under church, spiritual formation | 1 Comment

“If men and women today began by the thousands experiencing the depths of Jesus Christ in a transforming way, there would simply be no place for their expression of experience to fit into the present-day straitjackets of Christianity. Protestant or Catholic, neither one is structured to contain a mass of devoted people who long for spiritual depth. We are structured towards infancy.”

Gordon Cosby, The Church of the Saviour

Where The Streets Have No Name

June 1, 2007 | Filed Under music | 5 Comments

This is by far my favorite video of all time. If you are not familiar with this, it is a portion of the half time show at the 2002 Super Bowl four months after 911. Five years later it still brings a shiver up my spine and a lump to my throat.

Don’t Assimilate Me!

June 1, 2007 | Filed Under culture, gospel, missional | 2 Comments

Here is a very helpful post by Rick Meigs over at The Blind Beggar where he summarizes the last chapter of Gary McIntosh’s book “Beyond the First Visit: The Complete Guide to Connecting Guests to Your Church.”

While I shared with Rick that I was a bit uncomfortable with couching all of McIntosh’s thoughts in the “what the emerging church does” discussion (because I believe it is bigger/wider than simply what the EC does) I found the points to be right on and in many regards more biblically faithful than our typical modes of operation. I would like to hear your thoughts. More>>