“The pilgrim Church is missionary by her very nature, since it is from the mission of the Son and the mission of the Holy Spirit that she draws her origin, in accordance with the decree of God the Father. . . . Since this mission goes on and in the course of history unfolds the mission of Christ Himself, who was sent to preach the Gospel to the poor, the Church, prompted by the Holy Spirit, must walk in the same path on which Christ walked: a path of poverty and obedience, of service and self – sacrifice to the death.”

- Vatican II’s “Decree on the Church’s Missionary Activity”

The Church, in the Western world, faces populations who are increasingly “secular” — people with no Christian memory, who don’t know what we Christians are talking about. These populations are increasingly “urban” — and out of touch with God’s “natural revelation.” These populations are increasingly “postmodern”; they have graduated from Enlightenment ideology and are more peer driven, feeling driven, and “right-brained” than their forebears. These populations are increasingly “neo-barbarian”; they lack “refinement” or “class,” and their lives are often out of control. These populations are increasingly receptive — exploring worldview options from Astrology to Zen — and are often looking “in all the wrong places” to make sense of their lives and find their soul’s true home.

In the face of this changing Western culture, many Western Church leaders are in denial; they plan and do church as though next year will be 1957. Furthermore, most of the Western Church leaders who are not in denial do not know how to engage the epidemic numbers of secular, postmodern, neo-barbarians outside (and inside) their churches.

- George Hunter III in The Celtic Way of Evangelism: How Christianity Can Reach The West . . . Again

There is a very interesting conversation over at Read the Spirit between David Crumm and Rob Bell at the beginning of Bell’s “The God’s Aren’t Angry” tour. You can find the complete interview here, but here is a bit of the dialogue:

DAVID: You’re known as a master of new media -– that’s the way people think of your work with the downloadable sermons and Nooma films and your church’s unusual Web site. But you don’t use a lot of that on stage. Not at Mars Hill and not in these tours. What you do on stage is very basic. Why?

ROB: We have to be extremely cautious. We shape our tools and they shape us. I’m completely open to whatever new technologies present themselves, but we also must be aware of what these new things are. They’re tools and they shape our messages.

Some of these tools are so powerful that they will gather lots of people. But filling a room with thousands of people who watch a performance –- that’s not church. Church involves feeding the poor, talking somebody out of killing themselves, helping someone pay their grocery bills when they can’t afford to do it. That’s church.

David Hayward

My friend Georges Boujakly shared the following newsletter article from Margaret Benefiel, author of Soul At Work and Founder of Executive Soul. Benefiel writes that Advent ought to be a season for waiting and looking for what God is doing. She writes:

Advent is about waiting for God, looking for the new thing that God is doing. Advent holds a lesson for all of us in this busy world, especially organizational leaders.

I don’t know about you, but I don’t like waiting, thank you very much. Like most of the people around me, I tend to rush from one thing to another in my busy life. When the bank puts me on hold during a phone call, or when I find myself stuck in a long line at the post office, I get impatient.

This season leading up to Christmas is Advent, a season of waiting for Christians around the world. What’s the point of a season of waiting? Read the rest of this entry

Darryl Dash shares a provocative post on the Christmas theme of weakness. Here is a portion:

Jesus consistently taught about laying aside our rights, becoming weak like children, and rejoicing when we were under-appreciated. He identified with those who were outcasts and powerless. He taught that the tiniest of seeds becomes the haven of birds. His entire ministry was predicated upon God’s strength showing up in weakness. Yet I find myself consistently impressed with the strong. I do not naturally like the way of weakness.

I praise God for large and strong churches, but I worry that we often think that God needs powerful churches and important people to do his work. Scripture shows us that some of the most powerful and influential people in redemption’s history squandered their influence, while God has used humble nobodies to change the world.

On Christmas, as we think of the God who laid aside his strength, it’s important to remind ourselves of the strength of weakness. Perhaps God is most at work today in people and churches that will never be written up in books, and will never make the conference circuit. God’s strength still shows up most powerfully in weakness.

Matthew 3:2
“Repent of your sins and turn to God, for the Kingdom of Heaven is near. ”

Matthew 4:17
“From then on Jesus began to preach, ‘Repent of your sins and turn to God, for the Kingdom of Heaven is near.”’

Matthew 5:3
“God blesses those who are poor and realize their need for him, for the Kingdom of Heaven is theirs.”

Matthew 5:10
“God blesses those who are persecuted for doing right, for the Kingdom of Heaven is theirs.”

Matthew 6:33
“Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need.”

Matthew 12:28
“But if I am casting out demons by the Spirit of God, then the Kingdom of God has arrived among you.”

Matthew 19:24
“I’ll say it again—it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the Kingdom of God!”

Matthew 21:31
“Which of the two obeyed his father?” They replied, “The first.” Then Jesus explained his meaning: “I tell you the truth, corrupt tax collectors and prostitutes will get into the Kingdom of God before you do.”

Mark 1:15
“The time promised by God has come at last!” he announced. “The Kingdom of God is near! Repent of your sins and believe the Good News!”

Mark 4:11
“He replied, ‘You are permitted to understand the secret of the Kingdom of God. But I use parables for everything I say to outsiders,”’

Mark 4:26
“Jesus also said, ‘The Kingdom of God is like a farmer who scatters seed on the ground.’” Read the rest of this entry

While reading JR Woodward’s review of The Forgotten Ways this week I was reminded of how much I loved this book and how much I enjoyed reading and blogging through the book several months ago. I thought I would pull together each of the summaries for those who may have not yet read it. If you haven’t read it yet then get a copy now!

The Introduction
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven

The next Missional Network gathering will be Thursday, January 24th. For this gathering we will be discussing Organic Community: Creating a Place Where People Naturally Connect by Joseph Myers. Hope you will get a copy of the book and be prepared to discuss it together.

Here are a handful of helpful reviews/reflections on the book: Adam Cleaveland at Pomomusings, Todd Littleton at The Edge of the Inside, Ariel Vanderhorst at BitterSweetLife and here at Emerging Women. Also here is a bit of the description from the book cover:

Community is a fundamental life search and one of the key aspects people look for in a congregation. But community cant be forced, controlled, or easily created. The problem, says Joseph R. Myers, is that churches are too focused on developing programs instead of concentrating on environments where community will spontaneously emerge. Organic Community challenges key leaders to become environmentalistspeople who create or shape environments. Outlining nine organizational tools for creating a healthy environment, Myers shows readers how to diagnose their current situation and implement patterns that will develop possibilities for healthy communities.

Kansas City Network
Thursday, January 24th
4:00pm-7:00pm
Kansas City Association
8745 Ballentine
Overland Park

I was reminded today that people talk too much. Why is there such a strong desire for us to have our opinions heard? Even if our thoughts have no bearing on the issue being discussed so often we think others need to hear our input.

I am convinced that being Jesus to others involves large amounts of listening. Along with learning to be present and learning to notice; learning to really listen to others is a ministry in need of resurrection. I have discovered that a good way to begin to be a better listener is to learn to talk less.

Many years ago I came across an acronym that has helped me to keep my mouth shut when I long to speak. It uses the letters in the word THINK to form five questions to be asked before opening our mouths and therefore keeping us from listening. When you are tempted to add your side of the story, first “THINK before you speak” and ask yourself the following questions:

T – Is it true?

Do you know for sure that what you are about to say is completely true? Or is it gossip or hearsay?

H – Is it helpful?

Are your comments helpful? Do they add to the discussion? Do your words move the discussion along in a helpful direction? Do they add to a possible solution of a problem?

I – Is it inspiring?

Are your words inspiring? Do your words encourage and build up or do they tear down? Do your words “spur one another on toward love and good deeds.”

N - Is it necessary?

Are the words you are about to speak really necessary to the discussion? This question alone should certainly increase our listening to speaking ratio.

K – Is it kind?

Are your words kind? No doubt at times our words need to be tough and confrontational, but ask what is the ultimate motive of your words. Are you speaking the truth in love? (Eph. 4:15)

“Be quick to listen and slow to speak.” James 1:19

Earlier this week I read an outstanding article by Andrew Hamilton titled “6 Reasons Not To Quit.” Andrew is the Director for Forge Western Australian as well as the team leader of Upstream Communities, a missional community in the Perth suburb of Brighton.

I have included the entire article in the post but you can also find the link on Andrew’s blog at backyard missionary as well as here at the Emergent Village Weblog.

While this article will not resonate with everyone, I think it will for those who have a missional/missionary focus towards connecting with those uninterested in the church. I have sent the article to dozens of pastors and church planters and many have responded with strong affirmation to Andrew’s encouragement. The following is the article in it’s entirety.
Read the rest of this entry

John Santic at Toward Hope published an excellent post earlier this year titled “10 Tips For Living The Incarnation.” I would highly recommend reading the entire article, but here are three of John’s 10 tips:

Attentive Listening: The art of listening is becoming increasingly important for what it means to live incarnationally. Appropriate listening is grounded in a robust understanding of Pneumatology that believes, in addition to the oft overemphasized personal experience, that the Holy Spirit is active, working, leading, and inviting the church into mission. Our ideas and plans can often override the still small voice that gently invites us into unexpected and new adventures.

Peter’s encounter with Cornelius in the book of Acts is a good story to identify with for the importance of listening to live incarnationally. As the Spirit promises to lead us into all truth, we trust that God will reveal the injustice and oppression in our midst so that we can respond appropriately.

Formative Practices: Living in a rhythm that includes formative spiritual practices is vital to remain intimately connected to God. This is the Contemplative way. Seeking union with God and to see God in all things allows for greater freedom to reflect the image of God to others, understand His good an pleasing will, and it gives us a greater awareness of reality. Walking in closeness through disciplined practices of prayer, listening, scripture reading, Examen, discipleship, and fasting prepares the us for works of service that are pleasing to God and shapes us into a Gospel storied people.

Proximity: As Jesus localized himself in the incarnation, so too must the church localize in order to reflect most vividly the image of God. Without local relationships, the fullness of community seems somewhat lacking. People are transported everywhere through vehicles, the telephone, and the internet in convenient and practical ways. But at what cost?

In the midst of the connectedness we have through technology, there is still a great longing for local relationship and the gift of presence. Being proximate with our relationships is vital if we are to express a full embodiment of what Biblical community is. So go for walks. Build relationships. Let people see you and know you are there.

Today I want to conclude the review of Trevor Hudson’s wonderful little book “A Mile in My Shoes.” Thus far I have shared briefly from chapter 1, chapter 2 and chapter 3.

In chapter 4 Hudson emphasizes the necessity of reflecting on life’s experiences. While this is the shortest chapter in the book, I found Hudson’s call to serious reflection in this chapter to be the most important. He writes:

I [am] firmly convinced that, unless we value and practice reflection, little personal transformation occurs. Unreflected-upon experience seldom yields its life-giving secrets. Too many of us work and live without reflection, without gaining any objective perspective on our behavior or any understanding of why we do what we do.

Think of how often we make the same mistakes, repeat the same destructive behavioral patterns without ever pausing to look at what may be taking place in our lives. Only when we stop to reflect upon these experiences and extract their hidden insights do we open ourselves to the possibilities of real change.

I think Hudson’s assessment here is correct. We typically live such hurried, chaotic lives that we seldom have time to reflect on life’s experiences. How can we hear God speaking and uncover life changing insights if all our time is filled with noise and activity? 

Hudson suggests three particular activities to facilitate a reflective lifestyle, both on a “pilgrimage of pain and hope” (as discussed in earlier posts) and in our daily lives: keeping a pilgrim journal, structuring a daily time of solitude, and sharing our experiences with one another.

I am curious to know what place solitude/reflection has in your present way of life?

What do you do to allow significant time to reflect on your daily experiences? What might you suggest to others?

What commitments are you willing to make to create time to reflect individually and with others?

Here is one last excerpt from my favorite chapter of Donald Miller’s “Searching For God Knows What.” Here Miller uses Communion to illustrate just how far removed today’s church is in many ways from that of the first century church, especially in terms of real life community. Miller writes:

How odd would it seem to have been one of the members of the early church, shepherded by Paul or Peter, and to come forward a thousand years to see people standing in line or sitting quietly in a large building that looked like a schoolroom or movie theater, to take Communion.

How different it would seem from the way they did it, sitting around somebody’s living room table, grabbing a hunk of bread and holding their own glass of wine, exchanging stories about Christ, perhaps laughing, perhaps crying, consoling each other, telling one another that the Person who had exploded into their hearts was indeed the Son of God, their Bridegroom, come to tell them who they were, come to mend the broken relationships, come to marry them in a spiritual union more beautiful, more intimate than anything they could know on earth.

- Donald Miller in chapter 10 of Searching For God Knows What