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  • Mark 10:41 am on February 28, 2009 Permalink | Reply
    Tags:   

    So You Want to Plant a Church… 

    There’s lots of reasons to want to start a church.  Some of them are healthy, and some not so healthy.  Are you feeling the need to start a new community of faith?  Then check out this new quiz we’ve worked on to help you in sorting out your heart as you take this big step forward.  Along with this test, be in prayer in asking God what your motivations are, and giving you a clear picture on how to best move forward.test-taking

    Take the Quiz! Click here!

    Here are my results…what are yours?  (Paste your results in the comments section below.

    You Scored as For Missions and DisciplemakingThis is one of the healthiest motivations to initiate a new community of faith. Working with the mission of God, you intentionally plant the gospel among the lost, and wait for church to emerge.

    For Missions and Disciplemaking
    		96%
    To Answer God’s Call
    		94%
    To Build Intimate Community
    		92%
    Because it is Doctrinally Sound and/or I read about it in a Book
    		44%
    I want to Plant a Larger Church
    		15%
    I am Detoxing from a Harmful Church Experience
    		6%
    I just want to Lead
    		0%

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    • Guy Muse 4:17 pm on March 2, 2009 Permalink

      You Scored as To Answer God’s CallListening to Jesus and doing what he says will always prove a good strategy in church planting. While God calls in many ways, it will be essential when times get tough that you remember your calling.

      Missions and Disciplemaking

      88%

      To Answer God’s Call

      88%

      Building Intimate Community

      75%

      Because it is Doctrinally Sound and/or I read about it in a Book

      63%

      I just want to Lead

      55%

      I am Detoxing from a Harmful Church Experience

      44%

      I want to Plant a Larger Church

      35%

    • Josh Frank 11:09 pm on March 5, 2009 Permalink

      I’m not really planning to start or plant a church any time in the near future, but I took the quiz anyway. ; )

      You Scored as To Answer God’s CallListening to Jesus and doing what he says will always prove a good strategy in church planting. While God calls in many ways, it will be essential when times get tough that you remember your calling.

      To Answer God’s Call

      75%

      Building Intimate Community

      70%

      Because it is Doctrinally Sound and/or I read about it in a Book

      63%

      Missions and Disciplemaking

      50%

      I just want to Lead

      50%

      I am Detoxing from a Harmful Church Experience

      25%

      I want to Plant a Larger Church

      10%

    • Mark 6:20 am on March 6, 2009 Permalink

      i get a weird sense of pleasure out of taking online quizes. its that vein of narcissism i suppose…:) did the test responses surprise you?

    • Guy Muse 11:55 am on March 17, 2009 Permalink

      I linked to your quiz over at my blog http://guymuse.blogspot.com Several others took the quiz over there. Come over and see some of the results.

    • David Kueker 7:58 am on November 14, 2009 Permalink

      You Scored as Missions and Disciplemaking
      This is one of the healthiest motivations to initiate a new community of faith. Working with the mission of God, you intentionally plant the gospel among the lost, and wait for church to emerge.

      Missions and Disciplemaking
      92%
      Building Intimate Community
      90%
      Because it is Doctrinally Sound and/or I read about it in a Book
      81%
      To Answer God’s Call
      81%
      I want to Plant a Larger Church
      70%
      I just want to Lead
      45%
      I am Detoxing from a Harmful Church Experience
      38%

  • Mark 7:31 am on February 25, 2009 Permalink | Reply
    Tags: chinese, corporations, iraq, Lent, life purpose, mustard seed associates, stimulus   

    Lent 2009: To Live in Heaven, right here on Earth 

    This entry is part 2 of 3 in the series Lent

    lent_ash_cross

    Today we enter into the Lenten season.  While I admittedly don’t dive deep into parts of the traditional Christian calendar, I find Lent to be a perfect time to “remember that you are dust, and to dust you shall return.”  If ever there was a time to consider my own mortality through God’s eyes, its now.

    We live in a world where we can simply ask for close to a trillion dollars from the Chinese and they will give it to us, (though they say they “hate us for it, but are forced to comply.”)  We live in a place where at the stroke of a pen, tens of thousands of lives are put to death, others sent to war, still others put to work without pay.  Mega-Corporations are the bullies of the whole earth, on panels with national leaders, deciding our fate on issues they seem interested in so far as it affects their bottom line.  This is the world where we live – where we dominate nature and forget the poor.  Where we play god until we die.  Where greed and security are penultimate values.

    This is not the season of Lent.  Lent brings sanity, it brings reflection, finiteness, humility.  This is why I love and need Lent – because in me is the same vices plaguing the entire earth.

    —

    SO!  This year I’m focusing in on how my life affects the whole world.  A “footprint” in the dust I suppose.  Each Wednesday, I look forward to fasting and living into different aspects of my life -

    • my marriage
    • politics
    • finances
    • environment
    • “the others”:  enemies/immigrants/nations at war
    • my witness

    Each of these reflections will be done under the lens of what I’m recently calling “my purpose in life”: 

    “To live in Heaven, right here on Earth.”

    How might experiencing the Kingdom affect my finances?  What might it have to do with the environment?  I look forward to reflecting on these issues on this blog.  I welcome any feedback – and I’d love to know what others are doing for Lent!

    BTW – Our house church is using a simple worship guide this Lent – you can find it here.

    BTW2.0 – Here’s posts on previous Lents:

    Lent 2007 – Oil Fast; Reflections

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    • josh 1:45 pm on February 25, 2009 Permalink

      i’ve never really seen Lent as something for me. growing up in the Christian church, especially in the midwest, it was never a discipline. i didn’t even think Catholic churches existed, i thought they were the religion of tv. i guess that’s what you get growing up in the bible-belt.
      i’m going to try and discipline myself to go through a Journey into Wholeness. and maybe drag some others with me. thanks for the spark.

    • Mark 2:58 pm on February 25, 2009 Permalink

      Josh,

      Thanks for the note! If you feel comfortable – head out to an ash wednesday service. Its an important “kick-off” for the Lenten season. I’m with you on growing up without an awareness of the Christian calendar. I realize the abuses that caused it to be wiped clean, but I’m also very interested in how God uses special events in our lives to shape us. Keep on kickin!

  • Mark 8:24 am on February 20, 2009 Permalink | Reply
    Tags: initiation rituals, texas, winter   

    Chicago’s Winter Initiation Ritual 

    snow6

    I’m beginning to think that Chicagoans consider their winters as a litmus test on the newbies moving to their city from more southern and sunny locales.

    Take my wife and me for example.  We both grew up in icy, snowy, Midwestern cities – garnering that flinty toughness so essential to Chicago winters that the President made it his first policy in office.  But we moved down to Texas and spent the last seven winters without even really turning the heat on.  Sure, it got chilly – we even saw the snow while we were down there.  But let’s not fool ourselves by calling it winter.  My high school winter coat is as new as the day I graduated.

    But now we’re back in the north, and Chicago has never been colder.   We’ve already had twenty-five inches more snow that all of last winter, and its been on the ground for longer.  There were actually a few days there that it was warmer at the North Pole!

    But strangely, its not bothered us too much.  We’ve been out walking, working, and playing all the same.  We’ve got the gear to keep us warm, and a toasty apartment to come home to.  All of this is a gift from our Father.

    I’ve noticed that as we move into later February, people are treating me a bit different.  Before it was, “Oh, just wait till you hit winter, then we’ll talk.”  Now its “Okay, so you’ve seen the worst of it, welcome to Chicago.”  Its almost as if winter is some sort of initiation ritual we had to go through in order to become “one of them.” Its a culture-wide phenomenon; something missionaries try to keep a close eye on.  When you cross these cultural bridges, you know you’re gaining trust and your capacity to speak authoritatively on important matters is gaining steam.

    What are the initiation rituals in your neck of the woods?

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    • married yoshimi 9:26 am on February 20, 2009 Permalink

      Hey! I’ve lurked for awhile, first time to comment. We live in Houston and the opposite is true here – if you can handle the hot, wet summer and come out the other side without wussing out every other day, then you can stay. :) on a side note, I really enjoy your blog and have tremendous respect for you and your wife.

    • Mark 10:18 am on February 20, 2009 Permalink

      thanks yoshimi! houston is a big steamy city, that’s for sure – what are you up to there?

    • married yoshimi 10:54 am on February 20, 2009 Permalink

      I’m a full-time actor here, married last April. the husband and I go to a fairly small church near the Astrodome and we’re currently attempting to live like no one else so later… you get the drift. I think I remember you blogging about your experiences with breaking free from debt, too. It’s been a fantastic thing to work toward together our first year of marriage, and we can see the finish line. we’re actually facilitating an FPU class starting tomorrow! Hope you don’t mind, but when I ran across your blog months ago I linked to it from mine.

    • Mark 12:30 pm on February 20, 2009 Permalink

      it’s amazing how simple financial peace is when you learn to live simply and give generously. god bless you guys in your new marriage, and your career as an actor!

    • Curtis Hinson (via Facebook) 1:01 pm on February 20, 2009 Permalink

       Curtis Hinson at 1:01pm February 20
      Down here on the Gulf Coast, it's have you been through a hurricane. So after Ike we were locals.

      In southeast Asia, it was whether you've eaten Durian. The first Durian party I went to, they shoved on in my face so fast I didn't have time to process the horrific smell and ate it fast enough to see it actually tastes good. But if you really want people to listen, you need grey hair.

    • Ashley 5:49 pm on February 20, 2009 Permalink

      Yes! I agree that this is a cultural rite of passage in Chicago! I find myself doing this to others – trusting them a bit more once we’ve gone through it together. Thanks for pointing this out!

      Ashley

    • Agent B 10:39 pm on February 20, 2009 Permalink

      “What are the initiation rituals in your neck of the woods?”

      How many plates you can scarf down at the all-you-can-eat.

    • miller 9:05 am on February 21, 2009 Permalink

      don’t pay any attention to Agent B on that one…

      in abilene, you’re a local if you know how to work. is the paint job on your vehicle perfect or is it scratched from bumps at the job site? is there a little dirt under your fingernails, are your hands calloused? do you have at least one pair of cowboy boots that are scuffed from wear? do you eat fairly regularly at rick and carolyn’s, la popular or larry’s better burger? do you scurry around looking for a tornado shelter every time the sky gets black or do you turn the windshield wipers to ludicrous speed and drive on. do you know at least one person in rehab or one that needs to be? if several of these things are true, you might just be a local.

    • Mark 2:42 pm on February 21, 2009 Permalink

      B and M,

      HA! I think you guys both qualify… :)

    • Daniel 8:10 pm on February 22, 2009 Permalink

      It’s kind of the same way up in Maine, too. When people hear I’m coming from Texas, they get that cocky grin and look at me like I don’t know what I’m in for. That’s when I calmy mention that I lived in Alaska for a while and I’m not too worried. Their smirk turns into a look of bewilderment and they quickly start stammering something along the lines of, “oh, well, I think you’ll be okay then, fine, you know… uh, you lived in Alaska?” Gotta love it.

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