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.

Why focus on the city? In the United States, more than half of the population now lives in just forty cities of a million or more people. In the past twenty-five years Las Vegas exploded with 250-percent population growth, while Houston grew by 140 percent. Cities are magnets pulling the hopeful across any barrier, and they endure any hardship. They are twenty-four-hour-a-day catch basins for the vulnerable. But some cities are losing population as old industries die. We are in the beginning phases of the most massive migration, both in and out of cities, the world has ever known. And it is ramping up.

Why focus on the city? Today’s cities, even more than nation-states, influence economic systems, political alliances and social movements. This makes cities a strategic investment: what influences the city influences the world. The city needs a growing cadre of young leaders – both college and graduate students as well as those already in the marketplace – who will link their skills, their privileges and their sense of well-being to the well-being of the city. In today’s globalized world, to shape the city is to shape the way people experience life itself.

Why focus on the city? While for some the city is the normal context of faith development, part and parcel of what it means to follow Jesus and the stage where the drama of life before God has unfolded, for many others the city represents a huge question mark. Is it a place where faith can thrive? Is it a place of blessing, or evidence of a curse? Is the city a spiritually fertile place where a person can sustain a vibrant relationship with God? For many whose faith was nurtured in the womb of a gated suburban community or in the calm rhythms of small town America, there’s a lot of doubt about the answer.

While books on ministry in cities, on community organizing, on urban evangelism or simply on how to serve people in cities abound, there are very few resources that view the city as a place to grow your faith and discover a meaningful life, as a place that transforms you or as a place where your own transformation can have an effect.

- Randy White in Encounter God in the City: Onramps to Personal and Community Transformation

I know a couple of these links have been out there for a while but if you haven’t seen these be sure to check out the following.

Outstanding post from last month by David Fitch on moving from “the bridge” to “the onramp.” Today’s post by Fitch on Missional Discipleship is also well worth reading. Also I am looking forward to Fitch coming to Kansas City next month.

Tony Stiff and Reading the Bible Missionally. You can also follow a conversation about Tony’s thoughts at JR Woodward’s blog here and here.

Another great analysis by Ed Stetzer in Five Reasons Missional Churches Don’t Do Global Missions And How to Fix It.

Neil Cole and Church 3.0

Organized For Mission and Four P’s For Church Planting at Next Reformation.

Jonathan Dodson and Is Your Mission Driven by Prayer?

On Reaching a City.

Missional Small Communities from Ed Stetzer on Vimeo.

I have been especially blessed lately, or “lucky” (you will have to watch the video to understand) by the work of Eugene Peterson. I wish his books would have been required reading in my seminary studies.

Our monthly network group is currently reading through Peterson’s “The Contemplative Pastor.” If you are a pastor and you haven’t read this book then do yourself and your people a favor, and do so. The short ten page chapter entitled “The Subversive Pastor” is well worth the price of the book. 

After first illustrating how Jesus was a master at subversion, partly through the use of parables to subversively slip past the defenses of his hearers, Peterson writes:

Prayer and parable are the stock-in-trade tools of the subversive pastor. The quiet (or noisy) closet life of prayer enters into partnership with the Spirit that strives still with every human heart, a wrestling match in holiness. And parables are the consciousness-altering words that slip past falsifying platitude and invade the human spirit with Christ-truth.

This is our primary work in the real world. But we need continual convincing. The people for whom we are praying and among whom we are telling parables are seduced into supposing that their money and ambition are making the world turn on its axis. There are so many of them and so few of us, making it difficult to maintain our convictions. It is easy to be seduced along with them.

Words are the real work of the world — prayer words with God, parable words with men and women. The behind-the-scenes work of creativity by word and sacrament, by parable and prayer, subverts the seduced world. 

The pastor’s real work is what Ivan Illich calls “shadow work” — the work nobody gets paid for and few notice but that makes a world of salvation: meaning and value and purpose, a world of love and hope and faith — in short, the kingdom of God.

For a very enjoyable sample of Peterson’s insight and wit check out the following video from ‘07 as he discusses a wide variety of topics, including the need for pastors to read fiction, the importance of new Bible translations, and a hilarious story about his interaction with Bono. For a bit more on the Bono connection you might also enjoy this post.

Lastly, during the month of June, Christian Audio.com is offering a free download of Peterson’s “Christ Plays in Ten Thousand Places.” Simply go here and follow the instructions. No strings attached. Also be sure to sign up for the monthly newsletter to be notified of future free downloads.

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Over the past year I have enjoyed many wonderful posts from The Art of Manliness blog. If you are not familiar with this site then check out these two recent posts for an excellent sample of what you are missing:

Every Man Needs a Man Mentor and Great Lessons From Great Men

My friend Georges Boujakly writes a helpful post on the need for spiritual formation being “for the sake of others.” Lately I have had several conversations with people about the greatest “need” for the dying church in the West. In most cases the issue is identified as a “discipleship/maturity” or “spiritual formation” problem.

For those who have followed this blog know that I, like many of you, believe the primary issue for the church in the West involves rediscovering the missionary nature of the church in the midst of a post-Christendom culture. The church must relearn what it means to be sent  into the world to participate with God in what He is already doing.

Now is spiritual formation an issue in the church? Absolutely! But let our spiritual formation be that which equips, motivates and propels us to be sent into the lives of other people. Let our formation be, not for our own benefit, but “for the sake others.”

The advent of the emerging culture is causing a reformation — perhaps even a revolution — in the church’s understanding of spiritual formation. Instead of a compartmentalized spirituality that focuses on personal choices, we are seeing the growth of a new approach to spiritual formation that emphasizes a rule of life and rhythms of spiritual practices drawing from a vast array of Christian traditions.

Thankfully, there is a widening pool of resources to aid churches, Christians, and spiritual sojourners in the exploration of spiritual practices that support this transformation of orientation. It’s truly exciting to see churches making use of a wide range of historic and experiential spiritual practices, such as labyrinths, body prayers, praying the hours, meditation using the repetition of historical prayers and liturgies like the Jesus Prayer, lectio divina, the integration of art and physical practices into prayer, fasting, the use of contemporary and historical symbols and icons, and the restoration and veneration of the Eucharist and baptism in traditions that once minimized these rites.

The Church in Transition: The Journey of Existing Churches into the Emerging Cultureby Tim Conder

For the past year and a half two good friends of mine (Georges Boujakly and Paul Hill) and I have been working on a “Missional Order.”

In the beginning our hope was to create a network to challenge and encourage the church planters that we work with to focus significant and meaningful energy on spiritual formation in their lives and the lives of their core groups.

Over time the network idea evolved into more of an “order” that we believe speaks into the lives of many others beyond our initial focus. We have recognized the desire on the part of many within the existing church, as well as those that have for some reason “checked out” of the church, to rediscover an alternative story to the Christian life.

All of the conversations over the past year have lead us to create a missional order blog that is organized around three common commitments: sacred rhythm, continuous formation, and participation in the Missio Dei. We believe these commitments will assist us toward daily rhythms that push us toward God, aid our sanctification, and empower us participate in God’s kingdom.

While we are just getting the site off the ground this week I hope you will check out the site and give us critical feedback. I also hope you will decide to participate and join the conversation.

Here is a piece from the “Why A Missional Order” page to get you started:

This site exists for two big-picture reasons. On the one hand, we want to counteract some negative trends that are prevalent in society today. Call that our combative side. More important, we think that the missional approach will help us capture the positive dynamics that Jesus wants to be part of every life.

First, the things that we want to fight against:

The consumer lifestyle. We can’t consume our way into godliness, because the gospel is about a focused, stripped-down life, not an accessorized, materialistic life.

Programmatic spirituality. Jesus didn’t give the disciples 12-step or 40-day approaches to God. Instead, he told them to let their entire lives be molded by the Father, daily, for as long as they lived.

Business as usual. When church becomes corporate, and reflects the politics and bottom-line practices of the business world, the heart of the gospel has already been lost, no matter how good the church slogan sounds.

On the positive side, we think that Missional Order can help us:

Take active steps toward renewal. Christianity is always a do-or-die proposition, and that’s especially true today, when so many people are disenchanted with the church. But rather than grow cynical, we can work to recapture the impulses that animate a healthy, Jesus-shaped spirituality.

Live like Jesus together. We’re called to live out our faith in community, reflecting the heart of Jesus, acting as his sent disciples. Mutual encouragement and a sense of direction help us do this, whatever our location or station in life.

Adopt habits and disciplines that will help us create order—a focused spiritual equilibrium—that is imitative of Christ. What if we adjusted the very shape of our days around fellowship with God?

Wondering if this idea of Missional Order can be of any benefit to you?

Another culprit (to experiencing silence) is our tendency to talk too much. Our worship is voluminous with words. We fill our worship with talk (The Lord is in his temple, let the earth keep silent). Not only when we worship, but in every way.

Gagarin said too much when he returned from space. The Russian cosmonaut pompously declared for the world to hear that he visited the heavens and God was nowhere to be found. A priest in Moscow responded: “If you have not seen him on earth, you will never see him in heaven.” Touché! A charge of too much talk will stick against this Russian cosmonaut. Will it stick on you?

“Too much talk restricts our capacity to listen, (to ourselves and to God) it banishes mindfulness and opens the door to distraction and escapism,” said Michael Casey. We become convinced we are correct in our own conclusions when we talk too much. We begin to think we are wise. When we talk too much the insidious and arrogant attitudes of superiority, manipulation, and dominance become permanent residents when they should only be strangers in the night. When we speak, let us speak rarely, briefly, directly, and simply in imitation of Christ. Let Peter’s tendency of too much talk signal our need and the value of silence as prayer.

Columba Stewart explains that “the issue becomes more clearly one of stewardship. Language is a gift that can be used thoughtfully or thoughtlessly, humbly or proudly. Someone constantly aware of the presence of God will know when and how to speak.” Or if speech is even necessary!

In prayer, silence (within and without) is about learning to listen. I suggest the following course of action for noise reduction.

1. One day a week, reduce or eliminate the external noise in your home after 6:00 p.m.

No gadgets blaring, no talking until the following morning.

Follow Anthony Bloom’s advice: “Settle down in your room at a moment when you have nothing else to do. Say ‘I am now with myself,’ and just sit with yourself. After an amazingly short time you will most likely feel bored.” I hope not. But if we feel bored with ourselves just think how bored others must feel in our presence.

Let the silence teach us. We will learn that often we live by reflection, or reaction. We will learn that often we live not from the inside out but from the outside in; that our life is only a response to incitement, to excitement. We are empty inside. “We are used to things happening which compel us to do other things. How seldom can we live simply by means of the depth and the richness we assume that there is within ourselves” (Anthony Bloom).

Find out who is at home in you. Access the One who inhabits your soul. Then, when you wake up in the morning let these words ring true: “Open my mouth, O Lord, that I may sing your praises!” Graduate to two times a week.

2. Eliminate sarcasm and put downs.

If you do, you will be doing everyone a favor and contributing in a major way to noise reduction, to too much talk. Observe any television program designed to entertain. You will hardly find talk which isn’t put downs and sarcasm.

“When there are many words, transgression is unavoidable, but he who restrains his lips is wise” (Proverbs 10:19). Even stronger are these words: “Death and life are in the power of the tongue, and those who love it will eat its fruit” (Proverbs 18:21).

“Silence is golden” we were told back when. It still is, and the value of gold at true of the market increases daily for those who cultivate a life of prayer and Walk with the Master.

For a related post check out You Talk Too Much

In response to last week’s synchronized blog dealing with the word “missional” I wrote a post in which I tried to deal with both the theological distinctions that I believe should be included when defining the word, as well as five practical issues that are necessary to consider when attempting to foster a missional mindset. The first of these practical issues was the need to start with an emphasis on spiritual formation.

With that topic in mind, here is a very good aritcle on the discipline of silence written by my friend Georges Boujakly. I am going to share the first part of his article today and the rest of it tomorrow. Here is part one:

Silence Communicates

Silence communicates. Silence has to be explained. Silence is capable of a variety of emotions, thoughts, conditions (states of mind), and attitudes. When the principal enters the classroom, a hush prevails. When the child refuses to answer for his actions, rebellion is not hard to see. When a witness to a crime refuses to testify to save the innocent, silence destroys. Sometimes silence is hard to explain.

How would you interpret Aaron’s silence (Lev. 10:3)? Is it grief, rebellion, or submission? How about God’s silence in Psalm 44:23 and 83:1? Consider Jesus’ silence at his trial (compare Mark 14:61 with Isaiah. 53:7)? There is no escaping it, silence speaks; sometimes more than words can say.

Confession: Often I am uncomfortable with silence and its partner listening. I would rather speak than listen. Especially in prayer. My sympathy is more with the one who says “listen, Lord, for your servant is speaking” than with young Samuel when Eli coached him to “speak, Lord, for your servant is listening.” In my prayer silence is the underdog. How about you? I’m pulling for the underdog.

Several barriers are to blame. I will only name two. The first culprit is noise. We are always filling our world with noise. 90 decibels or more is nothing for restaurants. Church sometimes fares worse, depending on the music and the excitement of the preacher. Especially so when silence has taken a prolonged vacation from our worship! In life, the electronic gadgets we enjoy contribute a lion’s share to the noises of our lives.

Silence is hard to do. The screams of consumerism, materialism, diversion, and entertainment are hard to ignore. But we must.

Prayer depends on silence. Silence and its friend listening are the life spring of prayer. We must strive to live in conscious awareness of the presence and activity of the God we say we love with heart, soul, mind, and strength.

Silence as prayer is a good habit that will rescue us from the noises of life. Silence is a great help in living and praying in the present moment, the only moment we truly have. 

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?

After introducing the pilgrimage experience (chapter 1), and preparing for the pilgrimage (chapter 2), Hudson takes the third chapter to flesh out the first of three essential ingredients of the pilgrimage experience.

When discussing the importance of truly encountering our suffering neighbor, Hudson writes:

For over twenty-five years I have pursued the call of being a pastor. This daily work includes the daunting responsibility of enabling others to grow as disciples of Jesus. In responding to this vocational challenge I lead Bible studies, host silent retreats, offer spiritual counsel, conduct teaching seminars, participate in small groups, and engage in countless pastoral conversations.

While all these ministry endeavors are definitely worthwhile, without the specific ingredients that the pilgrimage experience offers, these efforts at spiritual formation lack a vital ingredient. Arising from careful observation of the changed lives of those pilgrims who have opened themselves to their suffering neighbors, this conviction shapes significantly the way in which I now encourage others along the Christ-following path.

I encourage the pilgrimage experience as a method for personal transformation and change not only because of what I see in others’ lives. In my personal experience, my suffering neighbor is where I meet the crucified and risen Christ. Each day I am given privileged access into the lives of persons who suffer greatly.

These daily encounters with the terminally ill, the depressed, the economically poor, the retrenched, the divorced, the childless, the addicted, the elderly, the bereaved, and other suffering men and women affect profoundly my understanding and experience of the Christ-following life. The Spirit has used these relationships to foster my ongoing conversion.

Hudson believes that when we really open ourselves up to those who suffer, the Spirit of God will do three things. He will open blind eyes, uncover our own inner poverty, and reveal our hidden riches. Read the rest of this entry

One of the things I have always admired about Willow Creek Community Church is their willingness to question what they are doing and admit when something isn’t “working.” If you haven’t already heard about the Reveal Study I would recommend (when you have an extra 13 minutes) watching this short video by Greg Hawkins, Executive Pastor at Willow as he talks about what they have been learning recently.

I think their findings speak to a variety of issues, including: what is at the core of spiritual transformation, the topic of “revolutionaries” as describe by Barna, and the implications for living a “church-centered life” rather than a “Christ-centered life.” I also think it has a few things to say about the need for a “missional order,” a topic that has gain a lot of traction of late.

In chapter two of A Mile In My Shoes, Trevor Hudson talks about preparing for a pilgrimage by cultivating a pilgrim attitude. Developing such an attitude is not only crucial for a week long type of excursion illustrated by the Pilgrimage of Pain and Hope but it is equally important in our daily lives. Hudson writes:

How, then, do we go about cultivating a pilgrim attitude? Applicable to every apprentice pilgrim, whether embarking upon a planned pilgrimage experience or not, the question deserves careful attention. Otherwise our lives run the risk of becoming characterized by aimless drifting, smug self-concern, and bland superficiality. Based upon the biblical witness, insights from mentors, and my personal experience with the Pilgrimage of Pain and Hope, I will outline three interwoven ingredients of a pilgrim posture.

So what are these three ingredients?
Read the rest of this entry

In chapter one of “A Mile In My Shoes: Cultivating Compassion” Trevor Hudson describes the birth of a Pilgrimage of Pain and Hope, an eight day pilgrimage experience for his largely middle-class suburban congregation. Hudson describes it as an “immersion into the struggles and joys of our suffering neighbors.” 

Illustrating that Christian groups have not always approached such attempts with the proper posture, I appreciated that Hudson shared the concerns of friends and colleagues who ministered in possible pilgrimage sites with comments like “come as pilgrims, not tourists; as learners, not teachers; as listeners, not as talkers.”

After the first Pilgrimage of Pain and Hope Hudson committed to three things: (1) He would plan for his congregation an annual, week long pilgrimage; (2) he would try to shape the pilgrimage experience into an effective means of spiritual formation; and (3) on a personal level he would seek to become a “pilgrim” in daily life. Throughout the remainder of the book Hudson provides very practical and insightful encouragement on each of these points.

After reflecting on almost a decade worth of leading his congregation on Pilgrimages of Pain and Hope, Hudson concluded that the concept rested upon three essential ingredients: Encounter, Reflection, and Transformation. While Hudson explores each ingredient more fully in later chapters, he introduces each in chapter one with a brief explanation.
Read the rest of this entry

Over the weekend I finished reading A Mile In My Shoes by Trevor Hudson. The book is published by Upper Room Books. I really like this little book and plan to post on each of the six chapters over the next several days. Hudson serves on the pastoral team at Northfield Methodist Church in Benoni, South Africa. The book is primarily about cultivating compassion but I believe it has much to say about spiritual formation and living a missional life as well.

Friends naturally enjoy intimate sharing. Friends make time to develop trusting relationships. Friends enjoy being in the company of each other. But then superimpose a Christian model of friendship over these qualities and you’ll get at least one more non-negotiable characteristic of Christian spiritual friendship:

Spiritual friends help each other pay close attention to God.

Is there a higher calling of relationships in the body of Christ? Not to me! Christians involved in spiritual friendship help each other delight in God and in his word. As a discipline of the Christian life, spiritual friendship is no different than other disciplines in its purpose: To connect friends to God or to be transformed into the image of Christ.

Name 3-4 friends that help you connect with God? Can you name 2? How about 1? Then thank God, you are in the lower 25% of those who minister to God’s people. 

I have read that 75% of ministers do not have any intimate friends. Can you imagine going through the hardships and delights of ministry to God’s people without someone to listen to us and help us see God in our ministry? O, to be listened to! What a gift awaits us. Read the rest of this entry

Here are two quotes from Henri Nouwen that are taken from The Sacred Way by Tony Jones. The first is a quote about spiritual disciplines and the second deals specifically with the discipline of silence and solitude.

“In the spiritual like, the word ‘discipline’ means ‘the effort to create some space in which God can act.’ Discipline means to prevent everything in your life from being filled up. Discipline means that somewhere you’re not occupied, and certainly not preoccupied. In the spiritual life, discipline means to create that space in which something can happen that you hadn’t planned or counted on.”

“As ministers our greatest temptation is toward too many words. They weaken our faith and make us lukewarm. But silence is a sacred discipline, a guard of the Holy Spirit.”

- Henri Nouwen

Guest blogger Georges Boujakly is going to be posting a series on Spiritual Friendship over the next few days. I know you will be encouraged and challenged by Georges’ insight. Here is the first post.

A couple of years ago I attended a week-long retreat called a 5-Day Spiritual Academy. This particular retreat was a ministry of Upper Room Ministries and was held in Wichita at the Catholic Life Center. After the retreat I completed a writing project and received credit for a course in doctoral work I was doing at the time. (They have a two year Spiritual Academy in case you are interested in training in spiritual friendship.)

From that experience I became more aware than ever before for my need of a spiritual director. I asked one of the leaders of the retreat and he recommended a spiritual director where I live. I see this person monthly and am thankful for the help I receive. I now return the favor to several people. Read the rest of this entry

Today Georges Boujakly completes his series on “keys” to spiritual transformation. Earlier posts in the series can be found here: key #1a, key #1b, key #1c, key #2, key #3, key #4, key #5, key #6, key #7. 

Spiritual formation is plural.

The Bible is plural. It was born among a people, a community. Its truths and message were hammered out on the anvil of faithful community living. It is addressed to a people not to individuals. When it is addressed to individuals, (say Philemon, Timothy, or Titus) it is still for the spiritual formation of the community.

It is not often that Jesus is found one on one in the gospels. Even when he is, the community is close by and the work he does is in the context of community.

In his most recent work A Community Called Atonement Scot McKnight states:

Once again, we return to Mary, to Zechariah, to the inaugural sermon, and to the Beatitudes: Jesus’ mission, his vision of the kingdom, is about restoring the blind, giving limber legs to the lame, wiping the skin of the lepers clean, filling the ears of the deaf with music, and sounds, bringing back dead people from the grave, and making sure the poor are taken care of by restoring them to their proper social location.

The mission of Jesus is healing justice, the ending of disease, dislocation, and oppression. Beyond those conditions, Jesus announces the creation a covenanted community where the covenant, God’s will, is lived out for each and every person.

We cannot back down on this: if this is Jesus’ vision, and atonement is one way of speaking of what God’s redemptive work in this world is designed to accomplish, then the creation of a community where God’s will is done is inherent to the meaning of atonement.

The Gospel is inherently communal. Spiritual formation in the kingdom of God is inherently communal. It is necessarily individual but only in the sense of beginning there but never ending there. Everything about Christianity is communal in nature: The Trinity, the Gospel, Salvation, Sanctification, the Eschaton.

We go to great length in hiring the best preachers money can afford, develop the most fun programs we can muster, have the greatest music in the cosmos, house them in the best facilities money can buy, and not much of it has had a successful record in changing the character of the church or of society! While sitting in the chair next to us, in front and behind, is a community waiting to flourish and lead us to be conformed to the image of Christ.

How is plural spiritual formation happening in your community?

Where would you start in making spiritual formation a communal endeavor if this becomes a passion for your and your church?