A Missional Church for the World
"The church doesn't exist for itself; it exists to serve the world. It is not ultimately about the church; it's about the people God wants to bless through the church. When the church loses sight of this, it loses its heart."
From Velvet Elvis by Rob Bell
Missional: The Origin of the Missio Dei from Barth
Here's a little bit more from Barth for you (from the book, “The Witness of God”):
“Must not the faithful, the most convinced missionary think seriously about the fact that the concept ‘missio’ in the ancient church was a term from the doctrine of the Trinity, the designation of the divine self sending, the sending of Son and Holy Spirit into the world?” p. 108
Civil Disagreement? Is it Possible Concerning the Issue of Homosexuality
Editor's Note: CNN Salt Lake City affiliate KSTU has this report about a protest outside the headquarters of the Mormon Church.
Revelation and the Violent “Prize Fighting” Jesus
"In an interview several years ago for Relevant Magazine, Mark Driscoll (well known pastor
of Mars Hill in Seattle) said,“In Revelation, Jesus is a prize-fighter with a tattoo down His leg, a sword in His hand and the commitment to make someone bleed. That is the guy I can worship. I cannot worship the hippie, diaper, halo Christ because I cannot worship a guy I can beat up.” (You can find the original interview here).
Some Help for a Case of Anxiety
I took a bit of a retreat this last week – two and a half days. To be honest with you, I have been seriously stressed out lately. I have concerns about my family, concerns about my travel schedule, and concerns about the organization that I run. I even have concerns about my concerns!!! To say that I have been a little uptight would be a colossal understatement.
There are two things I need to let you in on: one is that I love baths. The bathtub at my house is quite small so I rarely take baths, but I love them. I love sautéing! The place I stayed on my short retreat, however, had an amazing, extra large, “my size” tub. You know, the kind that you can get your whole body under water in (I hate the kind you have to keep flipping around in to stay warm enough)? I think I took like five baths during three days. Perhaps it was a bit of an overkill, but it was luxurious. Secondly, I try to make a habit of listening to a prayer service off the Web called “Pray-as-you-go.” You should check it out!
Essential theology books of the past 25 years | The Christian Century
I thought this was an interesting piece entitled, "Essential theology books of the past 25 years," from The Christian Century.
A Response to Hate?
My area (Spokane, WA, U.S.) has the
grand privilege of hosting the rancorous and outright hateful Westboro Baptist folk in a few weeks. You know about them – the group with the
website www.godhatesfags.com
Ten greatest challenges of planting in Urban America – Dan Steigerwald
For over two decades now, I’ve had the privilege of being involved in church planting and pioneering leadership (both directly and/or walking alongside as a coach to such leadership). Realizing that contextual realities make this ridiculous to apply generically across the board, here’s some of what I’ve seen as the greatest challenges to successful church planting. Two things I’ll mention up front: 1) Spiritual warfare isn’t on the list, it’s just assumed at every level; and, 2) the order below does not represent any ranking by importance, just my outpouring of thoughts. I do invite feedback, as I know my list will be found to leave out other critical challenges my mind isn’t grabbing at the moment. NOTE: I’m still using the word “planting” because it’s easier to get around with that descriptor when talking about forming new churches (though “birthing” is maybe more accurate as a term for describing the process of starting missional incarnational churches).
Incarnating the Gospel – The Importance of Friendship
Here is a great blog from Matt Daniels (also posted on Christian Associates' site}. Matt, and his wonderful wife Toni, are two of CA's missionaries in Uruguay. He leads an amazing project called El Living. He pretty much captures the essence of what we are talking about when we use the terms "incarnational ministry."
All the
categories have changed for me in 12 years of being a missionary. "Mission
agency." "Sending country." "Host culture." "The nationals"… Honestly sometimes I think that last one comes out just as
pedantic as "the natives," only it sounds much more educated among
missiological circles. But perhaps years of plowing dry, crusted soil under the
hot sun have fried my brains. I don't seem to know many nationals, but over
time, I have made some friends. They seem to be people that get what I am about, and who
bring me a glass of water when I fall in a heap.
CA missionary, Phil Graf on the trans-cultural Missional Life
via www.youtube.com