more about “One At A Time”, posted with vodpod

Equipped for Adventure: A Practical Guide to Short-Term Mission Trips

I found this to be a helpful text.  Kirby provides the busy minister or volunteer with a guide to make missions a reality in any context.  I thought one of the most enlightening conversations in the book was in reference to partnerships.  The discussion helps to provide a matrix for understanding when and with whom a partnership ought to be formed.

I also found the Appendices to helpful.  These provide the resources to carry out the ideas and concepts taught in the book.  This is key.  So many other books on mission leave out the applicable.  I strongly recommend this book for those who are looking to begin doing short-term missions or bring focus to their church’s mission program.

Spiritual Leadership in the Global City

Quite honestly this is one of the most encouraging reads I have encountered in a long time. I am pastoring in Metro Detroit which by all accounts is a city on the verge of failure. From what I understand this is similar (on a much smaller scale) to what New York was going through in the 70s and 80s.  Upon finishing this book I was encouraged that there is hope for our city and surrounding region. I came away with a fresh desire to partner with other churches and leaders for the sake of the gospel.

The most helpful part of this book were the discussion questions at the end of each chapter.  The chapters function almost like little parables when paired with the questions.  I think this could be timely to be used with a leadership team in a local church in an urban environment.

MediaPost Publications Ad Infinitum 11/13/2009.

Compelled is broken up into three parts. The first, “Death by Love: God and Mission” looks at how the three persons of the Trinity love and how their love applies to our relationships and ministry. The second part, “Identifying Love: The Church in the World” looks at how we are shaped by love.  This section really highlights the way that love works itself out in the context of the Christian community.  I would say that this is the central argument of the text. The third part, “Formed by Love: Believers and the World” looks at how the church is to interact with the non-Christian world within which it finds itself.  This section I think is the most important as it challenges the presumptions of the status quo.

There were two chapters that stood out among the rest. The first was Chapter 9 where Stetzer and Nation push back on the popularity of bashing the Church.  They argued  quiet well that if you say that you love Jesus then you will love his church.  The vision cast for the necessity and centrality of the local church is fantastic.  It might be one of the most simple and clearly stated arguments for the local church that I have read. The quote from James Emery White has really stuck in my mind over the last few days, “The church is not simply the vanguard of kingdom advance; it is the entire assault force (145)”. When we pick on the church we are picking on the very bride of Christ.  We must love what Christ loves, and Christ died for his church.

The second chapter that really stood out was Chapter 12, “Called to Love: Living a Missionary Passion for the Lost”. Here Stetzer and Nation challenge the deep rooted selfishness that is inherent in the Christian community by walking through the Jonah narrative.  They are calling the church to a renewed sense of contextualized service.  I was reminded again that I am a Jonah, as most of us are, willing to serve God on my terms in my ways.  How many times do we miss the God-sized redemptive opportunities around us because we are pouting in a corner as a result of not getting our way?

In conclusion, I can’t really find too many weaknesses with this text. I think in future printings (yes, it’s that good) it would be helpful to see an appendix with some best practices for individuals and churches to be able to look to as a model.  By no means a claim of a “magic bullet” or a “recipe for missional ministry” but just some jumping off points.  I think some of the people in my life will read this and wonder, “OK, now what?  How do I DO this?”

Trolls and Truth: 14 Realities About Today’s Church That We Don’t Want to See is written by Jimmy Dorrell.  He is the lead pastor of Church Under the Bridge and also the Executive Director of Mission Waco in Waco, TX. This is a little book and quick read.  It hits on 14 key issues that Dorrell has found to be truths that the first world American church needs to hear.  He argues that most of the American church ignores the poor and broken in their communities.  He is writing from his own experiences as a pastor to those very people.  He tells the stories of 14 different people.  Those stories each function as a parable for a particular truth that he believes the contemporary church can learn from those people who live on the fringe of society. He covers a wide range of issues including appearance, actions, societal barriers, giving, communication, and music.

I found that his most powerful chapters were regarding the issues of gifts (Dedrick’s Truth) and the fact that the “rich need the poor” (Catfish and Pilgrim Bill’s Truth). Regarding giftedness, Dorrell tells the story of Dedrick and his unique issues and life.  While Dedrick has serious mental limitations he joyfully worshiped God.  Dorrell’s church embraced him and found a place for his infectious excitement and exuberance.  He served the community with how he was made.  This is particularly challenging.  If you look around your congregation you know who “those” people are.  Will you embrace them and find a place for them to serve their God or will you ignore them?

Catfish and Pilgrim Bill’s tale flips the script on the American mindset.  It argues for the fact that the rich need the poor.  The rich need the poor because it is through their engagement with them that they find meaning and purpose.  The poor teach them what it means to love and care for things beyond the almighty dollar. The rich need to get outside themselves and it is through relationships with the poor that they are able to break out of their self-centeredness. Truly powerful.

One area that I find weak in Dorrell’s text is that I wish he would have written from a bit of a more universal application of his principles.  The question that I kept coming to was, “What if you do not have access/proximity to these kinds of people?” For example, our church is located in Farmington Hills, MI. While there are those who struggle and there are certainly a handful of homeless people, it is not a hot-bed for the poor and indigent.  For us to find the people represented in Dorrell’s parables, we would need to relocate the church. I believe that our church is called to where we are and that God has a mission for us.  Dorrell would have provided an even greater tool for the church had he broadened his application a bit to more of a principle level.

All in all this is a wonderful book, especially if you are willing to do the work to take the application to the principle level and apply it to your context.  Well worth the read.

RELEVANT Magazine – Outsider’s Guide to the Christian Subculture

ht Rob

It seems to me that this is the “cost” of the great “evangelical” movement that has developed over the last fifty-five years. Prior to the fifties the church trained people well.  There was a commitment to “catechism”.  There was an emphasis on education.  However, there was a cost.  The cost was that of evangelism.  We were not inviting people into the community of faith. So, were we really training people well? Probably not.

But, now we get the message out and get people saved but we are not building and sending.  We need now not a pendulum swing but a re-centering on the life and ministry of Jesus.  I think that this is a good article and points us back to where we need to be.  However, it’s still a rehash of Coleman’s Master Plan of Evangelism. If we could only master the Master Plan.
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