2 Sessions laying out the theological foundations for the triperspectival view on leadership i.e. Prophet, Priest & King and then the practical applications of it.
Biblical Foundation
Practical Applications
Wednesday, 11 May 2011
Audio: Exponential Church Planting Conference
You can subscribe to the podcast audio here. I've also posted Ed Stetzer's notes on the conference below. Ed Stetzer is a missiologist with a bog well worth reading on all things missional. You can view the original post here.
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Wednesday May 4, 2011 ~ 4 Comments
I spent most of last week at the Exponential Conference in Orlando, Florida. As I went from meeting to meeting, I often would say, "I will post this on the blog." Well, it is here... though a bit late. For those of you who were not there, these things may be a help to you as well... so here it is: files and links in narrative form!
Best Practices in Denominations and Church Planting Systems
My pre-conference intensive was on Best Practices in Denominations and Church Planting Systems. I had some help in this session over two days. John Shepherd and Lewis McMullen shared about assessment practices, and Lizette Beard shared the results of our new church planter assessment project. Then, Rick Fountain and William Beasley talked about churches planting churches. Finally, I shared the information discovered in the project focusing on the top issues church planters face. I am happy to share with you some of the handouts and slides that we used in this workshop:
John Shepherd -
Lewis McMullen -
Rick Fountain -
Finally, here is my PowerPoint presentation -
On Wednesday after the Pre-Conference Intensive, I participated in three events.
Panel: Missional and Missionary
I led a panel discussion at a luncheon hosted by the Upstream Collective. As always do, I mention those on the panel so you can find more information about them and their ministries. Since I tend to move a panel along, there is never enough time to share everything that we would like... so click at their webpages here:
- Caleb Crider, co-founder of The Upstream Collective
- David Putman, founder of Planting the Gospel
- Gary Aston, church planter with Acts 29 Western Europe
- Phil Kingsley, Greater Europe Mission
- Christine Osgood, Christian Associates International
My first workshop on Wednesday afternoon was on Church Planting Systems. Here's my presentation -
Panel on Church Planting Movements
Finally, I led another panel on Church Planting Movements. Participants were:
- David Garrison, Church Planting Movements
- David Watson, Vice President of Global Church Planting with CityTeam Ministries
- George Patterson, co-author of Church Multiplication Guide
- Steve Addison, Director of Church Resource Ministries Australia
- Felicity Dale, co-author of The Rabbit and the Elephant and Simply Church (Felicity has guest blogged for me on Simple Church Principles)
On Thursday, I was on the main stage talking about Being the Living "Sent" as laid out in John 20:21. I used a PowerPoint Presentation that was pretty elaborate, but this is the basic idea in one slide:
Here is the slide in a PDF.
You can see me giving the actual presentation here, but it misses the full impact without the narration. ;-)
Thursday evening, I participated in two After Hours events. I must confess they worked me hard that day, but I was glad to connect with the Evangelical Free Church and the folks at NCM Fathom.
Sticky Teams with the Evangelical Free Church
First, I was part of a panel that asked the question "Is Your Leadership Team Sticky?" and focused on keeping your team on the same page. I spoke about ecclesiology and congregational systems with elders that "lead" rather than "rule." I suggested a book by Mark Dever on the subject, entitled A Display of God's Glory.
Here were the panel members that I sat alongside:
- George Klippenes, National Church Planting Director for the Evangelical Free Church of America
- Larry Osborne, President of North Coast Training Network
- Ron Sylvia, Director of NEXT Networks
- Dave Page, Director of Church Planting for EFCA West
After that, I headed straight over to the local Cinemark Theatre to help answer the question "How Can My Church Reach the Un-Churched Via a Post-Modern Marketplace Location?" This session was sponsored by NCM Fathom and Church on Wheels (both of which we use at Grace Church). I was particularly excited to be a part of this session as I am currently planting a church in a local movie theater. I shared what we are doing at Grace Church and how you can use the marketplace location to reach the community. One slide showed a picture of our recent Easter event.
Here is my portion of the presentation. The content is mine, but the exclamation point at the end was added by NCM Fathom. ;-)
Assuming things continue to progress as well as they are, you will hear more from about the value of meeting in a theater.
Also presenting on that panel were:
- Byron Bledsoe, C3 Church
- Eric Geiger, Christ Fellowship Miami
- Mike Gardner, Church on Wheels
- Barry Brown, NCM Fathom
It was a great week. I hope these resources give you much to consider in your church planting and mission efforts.
Tuesday, 10 May 2011
NET Study Bible Free online: Bible Software
You can access it for free here.
The NET Bible has started an online study environment where you can see the notes for the NET translation (a committee translation with the same translation philosophy as the NIV i.e. between the NASB/ESV and the NLT with excellent translation notes). You can also see the hebrew/greek words underneath the translation and definitions for them.
The NET Bible has started an online study environment where you can see the notes for the NET translation (a committee translation with the same translation philosophy as the NIV i.e. between the NASB/ESV and the NLT with excellent translation notes). You can also see the hebrew/greek words underneath the translation and definitions for them.
Monday, 9 May 2011
Listen to entire album free: 'Water & the Blood' New Album by Sojourn
When Church is a Mistress - ministry idolatry and not loving our families: Ministry
This post is taken from the Resurgence blog. You can read the original post here.
When Church is a Mistress
It's become hip to rip on the church. People like to blame their problems on "the church."
You can hear these criticisms in popular culture. Take, for instance, Arcade Fire's song "Intervention":
“
Working for the Church while your family dies
You take what they give you and you keep it inside
Every spark of friendship & love will die without a home
Hear the solider groan, "We'll go at it alone"
”
The song paints the church as a militant institution, driven by discipline and an over-bearing work ethic. The central character sacrifices his family on the altar of "church" or ministry. This is often true. Churches sometimes have more in common with Wall Street than they do Scripture. They enforce a merciless work ethic in the name of "mercy" or "gospel" ministry. All work no play.
There's a Mistress in the House
My first year of church planting I started a new, full-time job, in a new city, with a new daughter, in a new church. Guess which one got the least attention? Family. As all these new things filled our lives, they began to crowd conversation with my wife. What was once natural—inquiring about my wife's hopes, fears, and joys—became unnatural, even absent from our conversation. She patiently continued to ask how I was doing, but I was "working for the church while my family died."
As my wife began to wither without the invigorating love of her husband, she revealed the affair. I'll never forget her crushing comment: "I feel like there's a mistress in the house." I was alarmed and frustrated. How dare she make such a comparison! After all, I made a point of being home by 5:30 and on weekends. I made sure we had good family rhythms—breakfast and devotions, dinner and downtime. How could she say there was a "mistress" in our home? Then it dawned on me—you can be home without being home. I was present but absent. My thoughts, emotions, and concerns were with another Bride while I was home, not with my bride.
“
What our relationships need is a home, a place where families can laugh, play, cry, and talk deeply together.”
I had felt the gradual distance growing between us, but chalked it up to two kids under two and the important demands of church. I was wrong and Arcade Fire was right. The spark of love cannot live without a home. A house isn't sufficient. Being present doesn't cut it. What our relationships need is a home, a place where families can laugh, play, cry, and talk deeply together.
Recovering Your First Love
What was once natural became a discipline. I began to discipline myself to turn conversations away from church, work, and ministry and towards her and our children. I began to love her by asking about her hopes, dreams, fears, to encourage her hobbies and friendships. I relearned how to empathize and suffer, rejoice and laugh with her. Slowly the spark of love began to rekindle. The warmth of friendship began to return in our resurrected home. My thought was that discipline could give way to desire. But discipline wasn't enough.
What my wife wants, what every wife wants, is not a disciplined, duty-driven husband, but a loving, desire-driven husband. A husband who, when thanked for a weekend get-away without the kids, says to his wife: "It's my pleasure" not "It's my duty"! Our spouses want to be desired, cherished, valued. In fact, all people want to be cherished, but until we clear the shelf of our hearts of subtle idolatries, discipline will not give way to desire. We must put away our "mistresses."
Repentance is Good News
In order to put away our sinful lovers, we need a power outside of ourselves. We need the power of repentance and faith. In Revelation 2-3, Jesus calls the seven churches to repentance. For example, he writes to the church at Laodicea: "Those whom I love, I reprove and discipline, so be zealous and repent." In love, Jesus calls us to zealously repent.
I repented from loving the worth I received from my work, the significance I gained from serving my church. To repent is to turn. The proof of repentance is not in our confession or resolve but in turning from our lovers and toward our Savior. Where do we get the power of repentance? How do we conquer these lesser loves? By Spirit-empowered faith in the promises of God.
“
When we are satisfied in Christ, we can satisfy our spouses. When we are cherished by Christ, we can freely cherish others.”
All who over-work and under-love need to repent. We need to confess the idolatries of worth-by-work, of significance-by-service, and turn to face the loving, all-accepting, never-ending significance offered to us in the arms of our Savior's embrace. Through Spirit-empowered trust in the promises of God, we can draw near to Christ and receive his perfect love, acceptance, and grace. It is from this position alone that we can truly love our spouses and families. When we are satisfied in Christ, we can satisfy our spouses. When we are cherished by Christ, we can freely cherish others.
We don't have to work for the church, the corporation, or the business so hard that we let our families die. We can build a home that is filled with love, if Christ takes center place. When we embrace the practice of repentance and faith in Jesus, the idolatries of work can be cleared away with Christ at the center of our affections. Then and only then are we free to truly love others. When we do this, we will adorn the gospel of Christ and restore the reputation of the Church, revealing the glories of the gospel in gift of marriage.
Questions
- Do you need to confess your affair with church/work to God and to your wife?
- What kind of idolatry has been motivating your church/work affair?
- How can you embrace the good news of repentance to true change?
- Is there someone in your life that can regularly exhort you to put the mistress away and remind you that Christ is your identity?
Excellent Biblical Time Management Article by C.J. Mahaney
6 Bizarre Landscapes from around the world: Photos & Video
The Worlds 6 Most Bizarre Landscapes
Most of the time Mother Nature can be pretty boring: a hill here, a tree grove there, the occasional berry patch. Every once in a while the natural processes at work can meet at bizarre angles, forming landscapes that bewilder and beguile — Mother Nature’s believe-it-or-nots. With no further ado, we present the six most bizarre natural landscapes:
Rio Tinto River, Spain
The blood-red waters of the Rio Tinto River run through the mountainous terrain of Andalusia. The highly acidic, poisonous river - tainted by iron dissolved in the water - is the culmination of thousands of years of human mining.
Cappadocia, Turkey
The sprawling region of Cappadocia is a unique maze of natural and man-made marvels. It was formed thousands of years ago by erupting volcanoes blanketing the valley, and fierce winds and rain shaping the surrounding rocks. Over time, inhabitants carved caves, houses and churches into the rocks, establishing the culturally, visually and historically rich region Cappadocia is today.
Blood Pond Hot Spring, Japan
Located in the town of Beppu, Japan, the Blood Pond Hot Spring is the result of high concentration of iron salts in the area. With the red-colored water, the 90 degree temperature, and the surrounding steam, even the locals refer to the area as hell.
Door to Hell, Turkmenistan
In 1971, geologists discovered a 300-feet-wide gas-filled cavern in the Karakum Desert. Fearing the gas would seep into the village, they decided to burn the methane instead. It’s still burning to this day.
Giant’s Causeway, Ireland
Giant’s Causeway was created over 50 million years ago and is a formation of interlocking basalt columns, shaped after a volcanic eruption. More interestingly, the World Heritage Site gives rise to the myth about an Irish giant, Finn MacCool, who apparently built the causeway as a passage to Scotland to battle a rival giant, Benandonner.
Blood Falls, Antarctica
Audio: Church Planting Conference with C.J. Mahaney, Dever, Patrick 5 Sessions: Bible Teaching Mp3s
Dave Harvey’s message from the first session of our church-planting conference is now available for listening or download.“Sending Onesimus” (Philemon 1-25)
Download (right-click and select “Save link as” or “Save target as”)Plant conference audio: Darrin Patrick, ‘The Call for Men’
March 25, 2011 by Sarah Lewis Categories: Conferences
Darrin Patrick preached at the second session of Plant, our church-planting conference. Darrin is lead pastor of The Journey (Saint Louis, MO), and is vice president of the Acts 29 church-planting network.“The Call for Men” (1 Timothy 3:1-7, 2 Timothy 2:1-3)
Download (right-click and select “Save link as” or “Save target as”)Plant conference audio: Mark Dever, ‘The Great Commission and Church Planting’
March 25, 2011 by Sarah Lewis Categories: Conferences
Mark Dever preached at the third session of Plant, our church-planting conference. Mark is senior pastor of Capitol Hill Baptist Church (Washington, DC) and president of 9Marks.“The Great Commission and Church Planting” (Matthew 28:16-20)
Download (right-click and select “Save link as” or “Save target as”)Plant conference audio: C.J. Mahaney, ‘Profile of a Church Planter’
March 25, 2011 by Sarah Lewis Categories: Conferences
C.J. Mahaney preached at the fourth session of Plant, our church-planting conference.“Profile of a Church Planter” (1 Thessalonians 2:1-12)
Download (right-click and select “Save link as” or “Save target as”)Plant conference audio: Darrin Patrick, ‘Mistakes in Church Planting’
March 26, 2011 by Sarah Lewis Categories: ConferencesDarrin Patrick preached at the fifth session of Plant, our church-planting conference. Darrin is lead pastor of The Journey (Saint Louis, MO), and is vice president of the Acts 29 church-planting network.“Mistakes in Church Planting” (Ephesians 6:10-18)
Download (right-click and select “Save link as” or “Save target as”)(RSS readers, you may have to click through to the post to stream the audio.)
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