8 posts tagged “missional”
"He drew a circle..."
He drew a circle that shut me out--
Heretic, rebel, a thing to flout.
But Love and I had the wit to win:
We drew a circle that took him in!
"Outwitted" by Edwin Markham (complete poem)
That's my goal in life. To work with Love to help people come in.
The attractiveness of Christianity is ultimately not found in a church service. It's found in a group of people who are living the gospel. Churches can be more than a service. They can be alternate communities that exemplify the Kingdom of God and its values.
Part of the appeal of the early church must have been the way that slaves and masters, Jews and Gentiles, and men and women overcame social differences and worshiped together. One could only explain this kind of countercultural community of love and forgiveness by the gospel. You can explain good music and preaching lots of other ways, but there's no way to explain people who are living the gospel apart from the gospel. HT - Daryl Dash
We're preparing everything for Palm Sunday, for Good Friday, and for Easter. Let's remember that long after the last "Hosanna" faded, the crosses on Golgotha were used by others the world saw as criminal, and Easter's day on the calendar passed away, it was the lives of those who believed that continued to be different. It was who they loved, not when that made the world sit up and notice.
I really hope that some of my friends, my relatives, people that I know who don't follow Jesus come to church this Easter season. New Hope, and every other church I know will do our best to make sure the good news of Jesus gets broadcast.
But I won't be fooled by thinking that if the whole world showed up on Easter that everything would forever be different. Everything would be different if we all had Calvary's love and Easter's hope visible and active in our lives each day.
Most social good in our country, reflected today in institutions like hospitals, orphanages, civil rights organizations and universities, began with Christ-followers sensing a call to live out the gospel. Somewhere along the way, many churches withdrew from the needs and dreams of their communities. (Leadership Network)
According to Thom Rainer, Outreach magazine, January-February, 2006, “nearly 95% of the average church’s ministries are for its members alone.”
Bunny and I went to see the movie Amazing Grace yesterday afternoon. It was an awesome portrayal of the efforts of a group of Christians to change the world. So what happened? When did we as followers of Jesus turn from change agents "those who turned the world upside down" to keepers of the store?
I believe that God wants to see His church turn back to the mission He gave us. To seed our communities with grace, with truth, with Jesus' love. To partner with other faith communities and other agencies and entities that serve our community to help our neighbors.
What would that look like?
A partnership with the local schools.
A "theology of the hammer" kinship with our fellow believers in other churches to help people whose houses need work.
A "loaves and fishes" ministry.
Worship outside the walls.
Block parties, affinity groups.
Summer enrichment for the kids in our neighborhood.
And a lot I haven't even thought of yet.
But maybe you have.
Tell me, what should a church that Jesus would love - do?
Compassion is not some alternate gospel. Compassion is an overflow of the gospel—the Good News of Christ's sacrifice. Compassion says we have embraced the relationship with God through Christ. It's not that we have to earn our salvation by doing good things, but compassion and service flow out of us because we are filled with God's love. If we don't take care of orphans and widows, if we don't care for the poor and hurting, how can we say we belong to Jesus?
—Zach Hunter, Be the Change
It was the end of the day. I was wrapping things up and preparing to head down to the post office, to mail something I had sold on ebay the Friday before. That's another way of saying that I knew I was late and should have done it the day before. Maybe even two days before.
Ever have that happen to you?
What's your attitude like in those cases?
Are you at your best?
Uh huh..
So two men come walking toward my office. Right away I think, "I'm going to be late". Then, "I'll bet they want something". Then as I saw the second man more clearly, "hope I'm not going to get mugged."
Paul and Robert entered my office as a study in contrasts. Paul was short, dressed like a contractor, and Asian. He was polite, even formal as he began the conversation. Robert on the other hand was about 6'5", muscular, with his hair in a do-rag, tattoos covering his arms, and dressed in a holy tank top, grimy shorts, and work boots. His language was southern and colorful.
Paul introduced me to Robert, "our new brother in Christ." He explained that they had met at a fast food restaurant, and he had been privileged to lead Robert to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ. Paul's language was old school. He said things like "trusting in God's righteousness and not in anything Robert had done", "Christ's death provided the substitutionary atonement for Robert's sins" - it was like listening to an old tape from Lifeway. But it was real.
He had come by to have Robert testify to what God had done in his life, to see if we had any new Christian materials, and to see if we knew anyone heading to Gainesville, FL, or could help Robert get there.
I backed up and got Robert to tell me about himself, how he had come to today's decision, and where he thought it would lead him. He was open, honest, and refreshingly raw. So we rejoiced together, and then we tried to work on the Gainesville deal. I was able to supply the new Christian material, and got some food for Robert to carry on his journey. But I was at a loss on what to do next. Paul asked if he could use our phone.
He called his home (an hour west of us) and told his son to tell his mother that he'd be home late, he had to take his new brother, Robert home to Gainesville (5 hours east). he hung up and we walked toward the car. All the while Paul was explaining to Robert that this is how the Body of Christ works - one part can supply this need, and another takes care of others. They thanked me profusely, (all the while I'm thinking, what did I do?) and they left. Wouldn't accept my offer to fill the tank up - said the church could use it more.
I kept thinking about this Scripture:
Keep open house; be generous with your lives. By opening up to others, you'll prompt people to open up with God, this generous Father in heaven.
Paul's incredible generosity, and his explanation to Robert, a new believer - basically said, "this is the way it's supposed to be - you have a need, and God has people supplied with what you need to take care of it."
And tomorrow I get to preach about how Paul found everything He needed in Jesus.
19 And
this same God who takes care of me will supply all your needs from his
glorious riches, which have been given to us in Christ Jesus. Phil
4:19 (NLT)
Coincidence?
Don't make me laugh.
What an amazing God!
David
Mark Batterson is a bright man. And I get the feeling that he's a rare soul. He's a repository of all sorts of knowledge about scientific facts and theory. That's not what I expected when I opened the book.
My friend Joe Gnatek sent it to me after he had read it, like a prescription for what ails you. I wrote in a post a blog I write that focuses on the life of a pastor that I had apparently forgotten how to take risks.
The whole premise of the book is that if you want to get anywhere in this life or the next, you HAVE to take risks.
More later.
Ok, I'm back.
The Chapters really tell you a lot about the book.
Locking Eyes With Your Lion
The Odd Thing About Odds
Unlearning Your Fears
The Art of Reframing
Guaranteed Uncertainty
Playing It Safe Is Risky
Grab Opportunity By the Mane
The Importance of Looking Foolish
Unleash the Lion Chaser Within
The spark for the book is an obscure passage from the Bible (2 Sam. 23:20-21) where a man named Benaniah chased a lion down into a pit and then went down into that pit, despite the snowy and slippery ground, and killed it. Apparently, Benaniah had something within him that many of us lack. So Batterson takes that passage as a springboard and using a wide range of illustrative material from his life, quotes from all sorts of sources, and the Bible
and builds a case for his premise that to risk is to live.
I'm a geek when it comes to technology but no so much physics, so when some of the illustrations he uses rely on scientific principles are used, I skip past. But there's a lot more than that here. I read fairly dispassionately until page 67 when I read this:
"Worship is forgetting what's wrong with you and remembering what's right with God."
Maybe that was a "reframing" moment for me, but after that point I really got into the book and appreciated it more and more. Maybe you will find out that you will too.
Pretty old "new" book. Our local Christian bookstore is having a 75% off sale and I picked this one up solely because of its title.
We are far too good at getting in people's faces and woefully ignorant in understanding their lives. The president of the Southern Baptists said this recently.
In our culture, Southern Baptists have become known as a people who are against things. In Jacksonville you ask many people what are Southern Baptists all about, they'll tell you we are people who are against certain things. And while indeed we are and we don't apologize for that, I am trying to put a new face on Southern Baptists to say "let us tell you what we're for" instead of the caricature, whether it's accurate or not, of an angry, Bible-pounding, fist-waving, angry believer. I'm trying to present the fact that I believe most Southern Baptists are conservative but also compassionate, loving people who present the person of Christ in daily life.I pray his tribe increases. Meanwhile, I have a book to read.
Finishing it, I ripped an email off to Reggie thanking him for his book and asking for any help or resources that he could offer. He was very kind and helpful in giving his time to me and pointed me in the right direction.
So I then went out and bought ten copies of the book and gave one to every person in our leadership. Then I sat back and watched as some read it and were similarly affected by it, and some didn't and weren't.
We've made some moves in the direction of the future as forecast by the book but haven't gone nearly far enough. So when I saw that Reggie was coming to our area in conference, I was thrilled.
Yesterday because of a friend's heart procedure, I missed the first part of the conference, but the other attendees from New Hope were blown away by his insight, his passion, and his humor. McNeal was part prophet, part salesman, part preacher and always engaging as he laid out where the church and culture intersect today and just how far we have to go to be effective missionally.
If I were asked to recommend a single book for church leaders to read to grasp what is happening in our culture and what the church will need to do to thrive in influencing it for Christ, it would be this one without any hesitation. And if I were asked who you need to see in conference to be inspired and convicted about where you are as a church and where you need to go - it would be Reggie McNeal.
I'm reading the book for the third time. I'll see Reggie McNeal again if he comes near. That should tell you a lot about how strongly I feel about his work.
