good and better

I'm trying to discern what's good and what's better.

I love big environments, lots of people coming together. There's obviously a sense of success and significance in it.

Our gathering this past week-end was a good turn out - it felt... good.

Flipside, an event we run for kids in our community and church, is something I love to see take place, especially when I see more kids and newer faces. When that happens, it feels... good.

But I wonder, what's... better?

When my (smaller) community group meets together and I notice people connecting on a deeper level, discerning how to support each other in mission and serve each other when needed - that excites me.

Both environments are good, is one is better?
Both environments are needed, is one more of a fulfillment of our vision?
Both are good, is the big one successful when it funnels towards real life change and community life?

Last Friday, 2 young female leaders in our church got five 11-13 year old's together. They call them the Jr Leaders for Flipside (the event I mentioned above which is for 5+ age group, where the 11+ kids are starting to serve, not only participate).

This small group of tweens hung out, laughed, got to know each other better, went through some scripture and interactively learned about using their passions to serve others. All in the same evening. The start of discipleship.

I have a feeling this was a 'better' kind of thing.

The rubber meets the road when mentoring takes place, relationships are built, growth happens, vision is imparted.

We/I got to figure out what's not only good, but better - in life, family, and ministry,

Where in your life, ministry, or work do you see the better vs. the good?

Disadvantage to advantage

As we wrapped up a series on Justice this morning at Westside we focused on the early church and then how we can do justice today. We highlighted how the church was able to do justice and hovered around 3 main ideas:

Awareness: you can never meet someone's need unless you're aware of it.
Sacrifice: needs will not be met without sacrifice
Overflow: the church not only met needs among them but also around them

The biggest challenge I left with was the idea of sacrifice.

Sacrifice is putting yourself at a disadvantage for the advantage of others.

I withhold something I want to meet someone's need.
I take time from my day to help someone else
I buy less Christmas gifts or none to build a well in Africa
I reduce my budget to sponsor mission and compassion projects

At a corporate level this might mean that pay scale and benefits are given at the cost of the management or vp salaries.
Mondragon, a Coop Corporation highlighted in the notes of Tim Keller's book, Generous Justice, apparently doesn't allow the top employees to make more than 5x than the bottom ones. They also give 10% of profits to community development. Interesting (I'm only quoting this as an example not as a rule or best practice, but it does demonstrate the principle of disadvantage for another's advantage)

Compare that with a 178$ Liz Claiborne jacket that costs .77 to make (another eg from Keller's book)
This is the reverse: advantage at someone else's disadvantage.

This call to act justly, whether its helping a friend who's lost their job, providing food for a family in my church, meeting a local need, taking the time to help a person get on their feet, or rescuing a child from sex trafficking for 4500$ - it all requires sacrifice. It means putting myself at a disadvantage to advantage someone else.

How are you challenged by this?
Do you see anyone living like this regularly?
How can we make steps toward this?
Does the gospel produce this kind of desire?

Book Review: The Road to Missional (Michael Frost)

The Road To Missional (Michael Frost) is one of the many books to come out recently to help Christ followers and Christian leaders alike better understand what it means to embrace a Missional mindset. This was a fun book to read, keeping you engaged and gripped by the topic.

Frost actually writes the book out of the frustration that many have abused the word, diluted it to mean something far less than it's meant to be, or possibly using it as an adjective - buzz word - for anything they'd like to make sound more important in church programming.

The shape and flow of the book moves from big picture to action.

Imago Dei is the starting point where the reader is reminded that God is on mission and his mission has a church. The church's role is alerting the world to "God's reign." Like a movie trailer, the church then demonstrates (though imperfectly) what God's reign looks like through ordinary people so the world can get a glimpse of it - both present and towards the New Creation.

From there Frost begins to redefine evangelism within the context of God's greater mission of restoring the world, not reducing it to merely sharing "4 spiritual laws."

He spends a whole chapter addressing one of the main obstacles to the missional church, that being the "market-shaped" church, primarily fueled by consumerism. As he explains, "we treat people like a market, seeing them as clientele, not image-bearers of the living God." He counter acts this unfortunate slant in the next chapter with a clear call to the humility found in the cross.

A refreshing aspect of Frost's ideas are that they are grounded in a robust view of both the gospel and the Kingdom. His chapter called Breathing Shalom is worth the book, especially if one has not read through some of NT Wright's books. In fact, Frost does a great service of summarizing some of Wright's heavier theological arguments as he scatters them through the book. Breathing Shalom summarizes Wright's writing on Peace, Justice, and Beauty found within Christ's Kingdom vision.

Though this book specifically meant to be a 'how to' approach, there's lots in it that is practical and relevant. One of the most refreshing ideas for any Christ follower or Church leader will be Frost's invitation to stop doing church seminars on how to do church in all our favorite styles, but rather, get us into the world where Jesus is already at work.

There's been so many new books recently published on the missional church it would be very hard to keep up (if you even feel you need to). However, if you're planning on reading at least one in this last batch of them to either help you discover the heart of what missional is or to keep you aligned and excited on the missional path, Frost's recent addition is worth it.

Direct, less then 200 pages, building his points without extending them into boredom, and warmly inviting us on the road to missional.

*Book has been provided courtesy of Baker Publishing Group and Graf-Martin Communications, Inc. Available at your favourite bookseller from Baker Books, a division of Baker Publishing Group

even there???? (gospel impact)

Do you ever feel like NO ONE is interested in God or the gospel?
Does it seem like NO ONE in your family will ever open up to the gospel?
Maybe you wonder if the gospel will penetrate your own life, marriage, home, heart?

A 1st century church in Philippi probably thought the same thing. Paul's letter to them (Philippians) reminded them that God's work started in them would come to completion (1:6). Paul challenged them to live their faith out in life and practice, to see themselves as citizens of heaven (chap 1-2).

But what about the gospel really making an impact around them?

Paul's last line in this letter must have floored them.

"the believers in Caesar's House send you greeting" (Phil. 4:22)

WHAT? WHO? IS THIS POSSIBLE?

Employees in Caesar's (Nero's) own empire are following Jesus!!! How did this happen?
Paul does mention that news of Jesus was spreading to the guards (1:13).

Imagine in a context where ROME's rule and influence - Caesar's power - touched every aspect of life (politics, economy, family, lifestyle, values, religion). YET, even there, the gospel got through.

THE GOSPEL GOT THROUGH. It penetrated. The result?? People within Caesar's house are now following Jesus.

If they can do it, the Philippians can do it. If they can do it, we can do it.

Because God's spirit empowers believers to love and serve God in any culture and circumstance. God's spirit can woo anyone, anywhere, towards Jesus - and reveal God to them.

Can the gospel penetrate your marriage? YES
Can it penetrate your neighborhood? YES
Your co-worker? YES
What about you? YES

If it broke through Caesar's house and transformed people there, I have a wonderful hope that it can even do that in me, and you, and our city.

GREATER THINGS ARE YET TO COME...

getting a radical vision of God leads to calling...

From Skye Jethani:

“So I’ve come to embrace the reality that my place as a church leader is not to get people to do more for God. Rather, I believe my responsibility is to give others a ravishing vision, rooted in Scripture and modeled by my own example, of a life lived it communion with God. And there, as they abide in him, calling will happen. The Lord of the harvest will call and send workers. And he will call others to live quietly and work with their hands. Some may be butchers, and others lawyers, and some he will even call to be suburban moms. And all of their work will be holy, good, and, if rooted in communion with God, truly radical.”

Tangible Force: The Church

I'm speaking at a regional church gathering in June celebrating 50 years of ministry, but now looking forward into the future.

They gave me their theme: From Today to Tomorrow and have asked me to share about what the church needs to focus on moving into the future.

I'm humbled and wonder what God might want me to contribute to his work here.

Here's a brief write up they asked me for that hints at what the message will be about:

From Here to Tomorrow: The Church as a Tangible Force
Fast Company and Wired magazine talk about what the future will be like. Bill Gates and Steve Jobs dream about it. Google and Facebook are claiming it.
Though I love to dream up the future, I have no idea what it’s going to be like.
What about the church? Does the church have a future? Does the future have a church? Where do we go from here into tomorrow?
Whatever the future will be like, I have a strong conviction that the church must engage it. It’s not an option. It was never an option for any generation.
My deepest hope is that whatever the future will look like, the church will be a Tangible Force within it. A presence that will touch the fabric of our culture in Quebec and beyond. The scriptures call us Living Stones (1 Peter 2:5). Concrete, yet breathing. Present, yet progressing.
The world is craving for a spiritual presence that is real and active. Culture is tired of hearing promises from religion. Our province longs for a tangible expression of the church that reflects the heartbeat of God and the good news of the gospel.
Let’s pray that together, as we celebrate 50 years of ministry in Quebec, that we can move from here to tomorrow. The future awaits us.

faking conversion for a better understanding of american evangelicals

This is interesting. GINA WELCH, writer, faked her conversion and baptism so she could get a first hand look at American Evangelicalism. From what I understand she's an atheist, secular Jew (not confirmed).

Here's an interview with Southern Baptist (writer/blogger) Trevin Wax (Wax is a conservative Christian)

Here's 2 sections that stand out to me from the interview.

In the evangelism class I took at Thomas Road, we learned that the precondition for talking to someone about the Gospel was the question, “Do you believe in God and the Bible?” The script assumed the answer would be yes. If the answer was no, you simply walked away. We were armed with arguments for Christianity, but not for God.

This last line is striking - an interesting look at a Christian's approach to evangelism. We presume people must believe our framework first in order to start searching for God. I.E. we're leading them to Christianity, not to Jesus/God. Of course, if led to Jesus, they will be led to Christianity. Her critique causes much reflection on how we approach sharing our faith - which Jesus called us to do (Matthew 28:18-20)

Here's a section about marriage:

Half of marriages end in divorce, and the average marriage lasts around seven years. Yes, the institution is in deep trouble. But I’d argue this has much to do with our casual attitude about marriage–the emphasis on being a beautiful bride with toned arms and having a perfect wedding with vows and flowers and food that everyone will remember, and the comparatively low interest in the content of sustained married life.

This is a true assessment. Even among Christians, there's so much attention paid to the marriage day, the home, the furniture, the honeymoon, the pictures, and more. If this much detail was given to prayer, discussion, marriage counseling, and a deep biblical and relational understanding of marriage I wonder how much better marriages would be within the church - not to mention an amazing witness for the culture of what marriage can be like.

Definitely an interesting read, a bold move from Welch (which she now has faced much negative feed back about), and an honest interview with Wax.

on the night stand...

just started 2 books this week that are really inspiring

AND is the sequel to Tangible Kingdom - and continues the conversation about what it means to be a missional church that keeps the focus on relationships and mission.
- it's a great follow up to T.K.
- it's pushing the futile debates between church styles and moves the reader/pastor/ christian/leader to keep the focus on gathering and scattering (a phrase I love as a simple description of how the church functions and fulfills it's mission)

STRENGTHS-BASED LEADERSHIP is an addition to the whole Strengths conversation that books like Now, Discover Your Strengths really made popular.
It's a simple read so far and is pushing the idea that leaders will be most effective when they lead from the strengths and not try to be like other leaders or the best at everything.
A cool example was b/w Churchill & Gandhi - both led from completely different positions/postures/strengths - while each of them were needed in their specific situation. In fact, Gandhi's strengths would not have been helpful for Britain, and Churchill's would not have been helpful for India, but confidently being themselves they were effective in their own unique situations.

Some great reading this week...

Measuring Success in Ministry

This caught my attention today:

In God's eyes success is people loving each other deeply, caring for one another, digging deep in each others' lives, sharing their possessions, and sharing the gospel in their communities. Are they fully devoted followers of Jesus? Is there transformation happening? Do they see themselves as part of something bigger than themselves—a body with a mission larger than the individual?

(Francis Chan)

from this article at Leadership Today

Multiplying our reach

Just read this at this blog.

Love the appreciation and emphasis on the 'small' (I hope I'm not saying this b/c I'm involved in a church plant that is less than 1000 people, actually hovering closer to 100). Still, it's inspiring and I believe truer to our experience.

* “In reality a church grows bigger by doing small better.”
* “Simple, small replicable units are how the kingdom is best advanced.”
* ‘”Big” produces more consumers in church, but small produces more contributors.’
* “Small is often the place of the kingdom’s agenda, the place to plant the mustard seed and permeate the yeast.”
* “Movements occur through small units that are readily reproducible.”

(Quotes from Viral Churches)

10 Values of the Early Church

Read through this list about what the early church valued and lived out.

You'll notice:

...they were not liberal or conservative... kind of both.
...they were a peculiar - unique - alternative within their culture - i.e. different
...they were courageous

What do you think?

gospel summary

Here's a great line that summarizes the gospel in a broad yet determined manner:

The gospel is about the society where God's people do God's reigning will and embody his will in a redemptive way,... the gospel is all about Jesus, the one from Nazareth; that Jesus is the Messiah, which sums up the entire plan of God through Israel's Story; and that Messiah Jesus is now the crucified and resurrected and ruling Lord...

It's from a series of posts that Scot McKnight is doing through the book of Acts

Is the church perfect

I think Scot McKnight is onto something here. It's got me thinking.

http://blog.beliefnet.com/jesuscreed/2010/02/an-element-in-my-ecclesiology.html

As much as I've tried to unlearn church-the traditionalism & rituals that have become stagnant-part of me over the years had sensed a dangerous trajectory if all we do is tear down in order to build our own versions of acts 2, new testament churches. I believe there's room for inovation and growth and various styles, and new churches. I believe we can look different. But something tells me the attitude that 'we're the better reflection of the kingdom' isn't the heart of what it means to be the church Jesus pastors.

Processing this...



- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

a missional person, group, or church?

What do you think about McKnight's short description of 'missional'?

This isn't the whole story, but part of what it means to be God's living and local presence in our world.

Dreams for the world

"the church and it's gospel throw into question the agenda of the world-all the agendas of the world-and open the world to possibilities of which it has never dared to dream. When the church dares to be different, it models for the world what God calls the church to become." (Richard John Neuhaus)

Read this in "Unfashionable" by Tullian Tchividjian, where he closes this chapter with a great phrase describing the church, calling it 'God's Demonstration Community'

Reminds me of the phrase I live to spread around, that the church is 'God's living and local presence'

was God supplying the water??

From Ben Arment

28 year old man was pulled from out of the rubble in Haiti today, four weeks after the earthquake. It is humanly impossible to stay alive for this long without water.

From CNN:

"The man told doctors that someone was bringing him water while he was trapped, but doctors told CNN that he sounded confused and at times appeared to believe he was still under the rubble.

Connelly said the man must have had some water during the past month to have survived, but Connelly wasn't sure how he would have had access to it."

"Reporter Dr. Sanjay Gupta said the 28-year-old man was severely dehydrated but that he survived because a man in a white coat brought him water time to time. Officials are checking the veracity of the man's story.

Gupta said the man "must have had water" to survive for nearly four weeks pinned in the rubble."

[source]

MISSIONal includes 'mission' right?

I have been challenged by the shift to becoming a missional church, joining with what God is doing in the world. Realizing God's church doesn't necessarily have a mission as much as God's mission having a church (paraphrase from Michael Frost).

One area that I'm in this conversation is slipping away from evangelism.

I can't seem to think I can be missional without being on mission. And I can't seem to ignore that the Great CoMISSION is about seeing people follow Jesus.

Of course we must BE THE GOSPEL in the world, but I think that would come alongside (whether before or after) SHARING THE GOSPEL to the world.

I want to see both.

I understand my lack of being can destroy the credibility of my sharing. I can't forget that. Also, I can't be something only in order to share something - that would then be inauthentic. (more on this in another post)

So I loved this recent post by Ed Stetzer, asking us if we are converting people to our cause (new kind of church, new kind of worship, new kind of expressions) or converting people to Jesus.

READ IT HERE - he says it better than me.

I like Dan Kimball's comment:

If missional does not involve new disciples being made who were not followers of Jesus before - then I can't see it being "mission" as what I believe the Bible teaches and demonstrates.

(you can read a series of posts/messages out of 1 Peter 1-2 highlighting missional)

Perspective

I looked up Haiti on a map today. As much as I had a vague idea, I wasn’t 100% sure.

Locating something is meaningful. It helps you get perspective.

But what we are seeing on the news, photos, and videos this week is definitely a change in perspective.

Red Cross claims 50,000 are already dead and 3,000,000 will be effected by this. Trying to explain that to my son, I told him that this is like our whole municipality (D.D.O.) dying and all of the Greater Montreal Region being effected.

Perspective.

As you hear the reports, talk to friends, watch the pictures – please take time to pray for Haiti and the thousands of people dealing with the aftermath of destruction and loss.

And also, as God leads you, prayerfully consider your contribution to this enormous need. Our church recently posted some info that can help you both gain perspective and give you a path to make a difference.

(wrote this initially for Westside's weekly enews on January 15, 2010 but felt I should share it on this blog)

Nicole

We saw this last Sunday at Westside and it inspired us to do more for people without clean water.

The Nicole Lalime Story from Living Water International on Vimeo.

MOVE IN

Describing a movement so grassroots and so passionate, this article about MOVE IN is a must read.

Move In is a movement of people intentionally moving into the neediest neighborhoods to pray, listen to God, and act within the opportunities around them. They are there to make a difference.

Something I love about this is that many move-iners stay connected to their local churches, but covenant together with local Christian neighbors for the sake of their neighborhood.

Whether you move out, move in, or stay where you are - ALL OF US CAN DECIDE TO HAVE A MOVE IN ATTITUDE about our neighborhoods. Imagine we started all over, right where we are - praying, listening to, and acting within the opportunities God puts right in front of us for our own neighborhoods.

When's your moving date??

If you're reading this from my church community I challenge you to do 1 or 2 things in relation to our mission at Westside.
1. intentionally partner with Westsiders or other Christians in your neighborhood to pray and impact your community.
2. pray about moving into the West Island to increase our efforts and impact here on a personal level