Because of a major glitch involved in the 2.9 WordPress upgrade, the blog has been down for the past couple of weeks. But because of the great help from the guys at iThemes I am finally back up. So to get caught up a bit here are several links I have been hoarding:

Len Hjalmarson adds a bit to an excellent post by David Fitch on Instilling Missional Habits.

Len again with Dallas Willard on Incarnation.

Ortberg shares a great illustration of the incarnation.

How Religious is Your State?

Spiritual Warfare and Gospel Movements.

A good reminder from Dan Kimball to start with prayer in 2010 and to see church buildings as mission outposts.

Churches and Social Media from Drew Goodmanson.

Is There an Organic Church Movement?

Update: Andrew Jones and How to Spot a Church Movement.

Four new arrivals that I hope to read/blog over the holidays:

Church Turned Inside Out by Linda Bergquist and Allan Karr. I am into chapter three of this one. The book is subtitled “A Guide for Designers, Refiners, and Re-Aligners.” While talking about the importance of new church designs, Linda and Allan emphasize that every church is a neccesary original. Here is a short interview with Linda and Allan from Leadership Network.

Introducing the Missional Church: What It Is, Why It Matters, How to Become One by Alan Roxburgh and Scott Boren.

Sent and Gathered: A Worship Manual for the Missional Church by Clayton Schmit.

When Helping Hurts: Alleviating Poverty Without Hurting the Poor . . . And Ourselves by Brian Fikkert and Steve Cobertt.

If I had to choose only one conference to attend in 2010 it would be Verge, February 4-6 in Austin. I have the privilege to be a part of the conference social media team, which means I will be blogging/twittering before, during and after the conference. I am very excited about the missional community focus on the conference, along with the stellar lineup of presenters, including Ed Stetzer, Francis Chan, Alan Hirsch, Neil Cole, George Patterson and Hugh Halter, just to name a few. For complete schedule and registration information go here.

I also anticipate this to be a great time of networking with like minded folks. If you plan to attend let me know, I would love to connect while in Austin. I’ll buy the coffee!

After a month hiatus I am looking forward to posting regularly on the blog again. I have a backlog of missional resources and posts that I hope to start sharing in the next day or two.

I had to take a month off to finish up my dissertation. Additionally, last week my family and I were in Phoenix after the passing of my father-in-law, Dee Thompson. I conducted the memorial service on Saturday. The stories told by many of Dee’s friends presented a wonderful testimony of his influence. The whole week was an awesome reminder of the healing power that is found not only in God’s grace and mercy, but also in the presence of loved ones.

There is something wonderful and mysterious about telling stories. Over and over again as people shared what a blessing Dee had been to them I sensed great healing taking place. I was reminded how important it is for us to tell stories. In the grieving process some experience healing while sharing stories while others need to hear the stories being told.

One comment that has stuck with me came from a very close friend of Dee’s that was trying to describe the deep sense of community that their “breakfast club” experienced over the years. One line that seemed to sum up the importance of their love for another was, “A joy shared is a joy doubled and a sorrow shared is a sorrow halved.” I hadn’t heard this line before, (maybe he made it up?) but it ought to describe, at least in part, what real Christian community should be about.

Lastly, I was also reminded that during such times of loss we typically focus our attention on the grief experienced by the immediate family. While this is of course right and appropriate, we do need to be keenly aware that the loss experienced by close friends is just as deep and painful.

Dee, thank you for being a blessing to so many, and thank you for being such a wonderful father-in-law and “Papa Dee” to my two sons.

Most of you are already familiar with Scot McKnight over at Jesus Creed but here is an interesting three part interview with McKnight posted by JR Woodward at Dream Awakener.

McKnight on blogging – Part I
McKnight on blogging – Part II
McKnight on Jesus