the journey

What does it mean to have enough?

Relevant Magazine is running a 7-part series dealing with such hot topics as gay rights, war, consumerism, etc.  Here's an interesting tidbit from the article on consumerism:

What is enough is defined by our relationship to our neighbor—if our neighbor has four cars, then we think we are living simply if we have two cars. If our neighbor doesn’t have water, then two cars is probably too many. We have this command to love our neighbor as ourselves, but I think the great tragedy of our culture is that we are pushed away from suffering, away from poverty to the point that it’s enough if we give a tax-exempt donation or volunteer for a week out of the year. And yet if we’re really in relationship with people who are suffering, that messes with us. It keeps us up at night when we are faced with the reality that we have people in our neighborhood living in a cardboard box in the winter, and we have shelter.

Source: Relevant Magazine

Technorati Tags: consumerism, Relevant Magazine

Open source worship presentation software

If you're looking for something sensible & practical, consider openlp.org.

It's free price tag makes it around $500 cheaper than the big boys.

Give it a whirl and let me know what you think of it.

HT: Lo-Fi Tribe

Technorati Tags: worship, worship presentation software, openlp.org

How do Christians eat?

Something interesting from Shane Claiborne:

Every culture has particular ways of eating.  Some folks eat with chopsticks, others sit on  the floor, in India we ate with our right hands.  How do Christians eat? Christians eat with poor folks, with the outcast, the marginalized, and the excluded-- all who were never invited to anyone else's party. Ours is the different kind of part.  It's more like a divine banquet than another political program.  Society's misfits are our people, our "constituency."

Source: Jesus for President by Shane Claiborne, p. 241.

Here's a YouTube video of Shane leading the Jesus for President Litany.

Technorati Tags: Jesus for President, Shane Claiborne

Will we ever get past the attractional model?

From Kingdom grace:

The organizing purpose of most churches is the organization itself and the Sunday service. Most believe that the growth of their church and service within the church is the same as building the kingdom. They may be genuinely interested in mission, but it is not their central purpose.

HT: achievable ends

Source: Kingdom grace

Technorati Tags: missional church, attractional church

A compelling definition of missional

I really like this:

What is missional?  It is...

Out not In

An important distinction of missional is that it is Out rather than In. This is a 180 degree shift from traditional ministry methods. Ministry is a lifestyle out in the world rather than service to or within an organization.  As we love and serve others around us, we participate in the life of the kingdom.

With not For

As we walk together with others in their faith journey, we walk in mutual relationships, both giving of ourselves and receiving from them.  When we share the love of God with others, we encounter Christ himself in their midst.  The idea of mutuality is expressed by doing things With rather than For others.  This necessitates that we take the time to know them.  We develop relationships of commitment, to be with them in their journey rather than to simply show up for charity work.

Us not Them

Another necessary shift in thinking is to view the people that we minister among as Us rather than Them. We are all invited to share in Christ’s table.  We don’t view others as a project, but we identify with them as our family - broken as we are, in need of restoration.  Our own restoration and shalom is wrapped up in the reconciliation of those around us.  God is already at work in their lives.  It is our missional privilege to share in God’s mission of reconciliation among the people in our world.

Missional - sharing God’s love out among the people in our world

Source: Kingdom grace

Technorati Tags: missional, missional living, missional church

Another missional nugget

Here's another post from the SynchroBlog day:

There is a fondness in missional circles for speaking of how Jesus came and dwelt among us and how we too are called to “come and dwell”; to incarnate in our communities; to “move into the neighborhood” so to speak. Coming from a church context where all members live within two miles of one another and most within walking distance, I can testify to the ways that committing to dwell in a place powerfully impacts witness, community transformation, and discipleship.

HT: achievable ends

Source: The Margins

Technorati Tags: missional, missional living, missional church

Exilio

Here's a word about a new curriculum:

This course is for those who want to understand more about what it means to be missional in a world that no longer sees itself as Christian. It’s about equipping Christians to live courageously, generously and evangelistically in the world that God has placed them. It’s not for the faint-hearted or for those who want to retreat into the Christian ‘bubble’, but for those Christians who want to live their lives out in the open, as unashamed followers of Jesus. Join those from around the world who are engaging with this 24-week small group study on living missionally.

By the end of your experience, you will have a competent grasp on the core biblical principles and practices of missional living.

The cost is a little prohibitive for smaller churches, but it looks very interesting.

Source: Exilio Project

Technorati Tags: Exilio, Exilio Project, missional church, missional living

A missional understanding of the church

I like this:

A missional understanding of the church places us within a historical context. It removes the ticket to heaven pressure that the Western Evangelical Church has placed upon itself. Missional people recognize that God is on the move in our villages, towns and cities. We need to engage with Him in what He's doing. Rather than building big box church warehouses that "vacuum cleaner up all the surrounding Christians" (to paraphrase Al Roxburgh @ the end of the video, Three Churches and a New Age Mall) and calling that the Church, we are to be the leaven that permeates our neighborhoods with the lived out good news of Jesus Christ.

Source: achievable ends

For additional perspectives on what it means to be missional, be sure to read today's SyncroBlog.

Technorati Tags: missional church, missional, SyncroBlog

An intriguing statement of faith

Rather than getting bogged down in a quagmire of theological terms and definitions, this church chose to concentrate on a few important basics:

We at [insert church name] acknowledge that God's coming to earth in the person of Jesus Christ and recounted in the Gospels turns upside down what we used to think about concepts like "truth." For in him, "Truth" walked around, talked to people, and even cried and bled.  We're left with a faith that, while deep, is also paradoxical and difficult. As a result, we committed to leaning on each other as we collectively try to follow Jesus. We're confident about some things: Jesus' coming to the earth was good news, it's still good news, and there's more good news to come. You're welcome to join us anytime.

Source: The New Christians by Tony Jones, p. 162.

Tags: The New Christians, Tony Jones, statement of faith

Soularize in a Box (v.2)

I've always wanted to attend Soularize, so here's an opportunity to experience it.

Click here to learn more about Soularize in a Box Vol 2.

Tags: Soularize, Soularize in a Box