Updates from December, 2005 Toggle Comment Threads | Keyboard Shortcuts

  • Mark 7:35 am on December 13, 2005 Permalink | Reply  

    Mission Alive 

    Leonard Allen is keeping me and the MRNA crew busy this week. He is a major church historian and theologian for the Restoration Movement, and his goal while we have met for Mission Alive’s Church Planting Lab is to fill eager church planters in on the common pitfalls of reactionary church planting.

    There is a growing number of people interested in starting new little communities of faith all over this country. What is dangerous is forgetting that we don’t only plant a church, but we plant a little bit of ourselves too. The good and the bad DNA from our previous church experiences will be made evident in every church we plant.

    Gotta go!

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  • Mark 2:06 pm on December 11, 2005 Permalink | Reply  

    Frenetic Sundays – no more! 

    The semester is over! Sunday’s are always great because we have the whole morning and afternoon completely free! Since Katrina and I have both been AM church goers for our entire lives, we really don’t know how to fill our schedules up on Sunday’s, which makes things even better.

    This morning, I slept in and was still pretty groggy when we left for grocery shopping at around 9:45pm. Afterwards, we stopped at our favorite bookstore and spent about an hour just checking out some of the latest books. Today specifically – we looked at books about Chicago, a city we plan to spend a day “prayer-walking”, trying to discern if this is where God wants us to be after Abilene. We ate an early lunch at Spaghetti Warehouse – it was completely empty, which made for a nice relaxed meal. This afternoon has been pretty quiet too – and I like it like that.

    This is the time of year when rest and quiet usually go out the window. We can’t find “peace on earth” any easier during the Christmas holiday than any other time of year. In fact, there is probably more anxiety and depression floating through the air right now than all the rest of the year combined. (Excluding April 15!)

    I believe God made us for work, and for rest. Our culture shouts at us that if we are not producing or consuming, we are not “spending” our time well. Christ can be seen clearest when we lay down our pick axes and credit cards, and simply see his act of death and resurrection as a means of selfless love. Neither producing, nor consuming – just a presence of love.

    Maybe I’ll go sit on the front porch for awhile…

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  • Mark 1:03 pm on December 9, 2005 Permalink | Reply  

    My wife, the prophet. 


    In some ways I feel like Darren from Bewitched.

    One of the exciting new frontiers being re-explored in the world of missions and ministry is that of the “five-fold ministry”. In Ephesians, the apostle Paul describes how Christ has given the church a palette of leadership that works to lead a church and the lost into the Kingdom of God. The list of “gifted leadership” Paul writes is, “apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, teachers”. This is not a complete list – but it does set the stage for a foundation of balanced leadership within a family of faith.

    I’m very interested to see how God will use this concept in the communities of faith I find myself in. What do apostles and prophets look like? (Katrina does a great job of describing prophets here.)

    Pastors are almost never the leaders of a congregation – they are right in the midst of the flock, smelling keenly of sheep, and loving the tar out of anyone within the fold.

    Teachers also work within the relationship matrix of the faith community, instilling a groundwork of God’s Word into the lives of the believers.

    Prophets are the misunderstood, wild-eyed proclaimers of what they have seen God doing several miles ahead of the flock. They’ve tasted the “grass that is greener on the other side” and want the flock to leave the barren desert they are in and move on to better things.

    Apostles are not quite as far off as prophets, but they are atop the next hill, and they usually live for the whole flock, without knowing many of the flocks specific names. They eat, sleep, drink and live missions, constantly reminding everyone of the big picture God has in store for them.

    Evangelists are the go-between in some ways between the inner pastors and teachers and the outer prophets and apostles. Evangelists live in the world, mostly away from the flock. However, when a lost sheep is found, it is the evangelist who kindly introduces him the the rest of the sheep.

    I think my wife is a prophet. Just a few hours of conversation with her will show you this. It is a challenge and a joy to live with someone who mourns for a church. She views everything from “God’s lenses” and feels that burning in her heart to tell others about what she has heard from the Lord. Her biggest obstacle (as with all prophets) is sharing what she hears from the Lord with others.

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