imagining how the church can reorient around mission

The below is a quote from Henri Nouwen.  Click "like" if you resonant with his vision of the church.

Those who are marginal in the world are central in the Church, and that is how it is supposed to be!  Thus we are called as members of the Church to keep going to the margins of our society.  The homeless, the starving, parentless children,  people with AIDS, our emotionally disturbed brothers and sisters – they require our first attention.  read more

                    A prayer written while flying yesterday… 

You are so gracious…though holy, you give and accept. read more

I find the thinking and spirit (attitude) of Henri Nouwen some of the most refreshing of all writers.  Here are some of his thoughts about the church.

 Loving the Church does not require romantic emotions.  It requires the will to see the living Christ among his people and to love them as we want to love Christ himself.   This is true not only for the "little" people – the poor, the oppressed, the forgotten – but also for the "big" people who exercise authority in the Church. read more

This morning, I came across this thoughtful blog by a close friend of mine here in Spokane, Eric Blauer. Eric describes some of the reasons we should be commiting ourselves to a larger body of worshippers. I endorse this message.  

It reminds me of this quote by Henri Nouwen: read more

It seems to me that until we move beyond the
current theological and ecclesiological reactivity so present in today’s
church (particuarly in the blogsphere), we will not be able to rise up into the cataclysmic need that is before
us as the people of God.  It is
incredibly easy to do deconstruction and to cast aspersions on what is
currently going on in the church – it’s current structures and models.  This currently occupies, in my opinion,
way too much of the center of what is being communicated.  There are some who communicate in
forward like, “This is what the grand Kingdom is,” or “We can grow in our
ability to follow Jesus by…”  But,
there are also those that constantly communicate stuff like, “The church is
disappearing from the landscape of western culture,” or “The church has failed
in its______________ (fill in the blank).”  Duh!  Come on,
how many time do we have to describe how bad things are in the west.  Really!  How many times do we have to do this?  If I hear someone trying to sell
something by telling me how "shitty" the church's situation is again I’m gonna…I’m
gonna pull out my hair (which is no easy task in my case). 

Why not put your “writing car” in forward for
a day or so and attempt to describe what God is doing that’s “God like!”  Here’s where it might get tough though…do
it without promoting your stuff or your tribe (I know, contrary to all the platform building advice out there). read more

The Franciscan, Richard Rohr in his book on Simplicity wrote:

“Three things that in my opinion we have to let go of are
the following: First there is the compulsion to be successful.  Second is the compulsion to be right –
even, and especially, to be theologically right…Finally there is the compulsion
to be powerful, to have everything under control.” (Simplicity –
the art of living  – p. 44) read more

I am always poking around the web looking for resources that could be used to help understand the theology of mission.  Here is one that could be a great assest.  John Franke has be a bit of a harbinger of the emerging/missional movment.  He is bright and rooted.  Check it out.

What
does it mean to be a missional community of faith?  There is much talk about what that is, what it looks like
and how it works.  Newbigin (one of
the true forerunners of the current movement) identifies six characteristics of
a missional community:

1. It practices corporate praise, thanksgiving, gratitude,
   and grace;
2. It declares truth that challenges the reigning
   plausibility structure
3. It establishes relationships within a local
   neighborhood
4. It encourages mutual service in the priesthood
   of all believers
5. It expects mutual responsibility rather than
   individualism
6. It nurtures hope and a re-imagined vision of
   the future

I
love these.  read more

I thought this was poignant (if you were a Seattle Supersonics fan) and hilarious.

read more