imagining how the church can reorient around mission

I have started on one of those “Read Through
the Bible in a Year” programs for 2013. I have done this annually for many years but
have dropped the practice in the last few for a variety of reasons.
Nonetheless, I believe it is vital to get the full scope of Scripture and there
are no shortcuts in getting there. You just have to sit down and read. I
believe that the Gospel is found in the entire Bible, not just in select verses
that evangelicals have hyper-focused on for the last several decades. It was
NT Wright and a few others who have asked the poignant question: Do we actually need
to read the whole of Scripture to arrive at a clear and full understanding of
the gospel?” Sadly, most will unequivocally say that you need to engage the
full corpus of Scripture, but in real time their lives deny the fact. 

Okay, to my point… while reading through the
Pentateuch I was once again arrested by the narrative of how God led the nation
Israel with a “Pillar of Cloud and a Pillar of fire.” These two images represented God’s
presence for the people. To simply state the scenario, God firmly instructed
them that their role was to unreservedly follow Him in fire and the cloud. When
the cloud and fire moved, they all were to “Pack up the babies and grab the old ladies” and follow (sorry, I could not resist the temptation to quote a Neil
Diamond song). When it was stationary, the nation pitched their tents and
hunkered down. Pretty simple, right? I am being serious when I say that my dog
Buckley could track with those commands. Buckley come! Buckley stay! Bam. This
is easy stuff. read more

The Franciscan, Richard Rohr in his book on Simplicity wrote:

“Three things that in my opinion we have to let go of are
the following: First there is the compulsion to be successful.  Second is the compulsion to be right –
even, and especially, to be theologically right…Finally there is the compulsion
to be powerful, to have everything under control.” (Simplicity –
the art of living  – p. 44) read more

While perusing FB today, I came across the below quote from Lance Ford. http://www.facebook.com/lncford

“Both “servant-leader” and “servanthood” are watered-down terms that fall short of the necessary gumption to overcome the leader-centric mentality that saturates the church world. They are but twists on a vague notion of semi-humility. In many evangelical leadership cultures the idea of a servant-leader is in reality tantamount to a benevolent dictatorship.” read more

Parker Palmer, in his book, Let Your Life Speak, writes of the importance of tending to the inner life,

"Go far enough on the inner journey, they all tell us – go past ego toward true self – and you end up not lost in narcissism but returning to the world, bearing more gracefully the responsibilities that come with being human." read more

 It was a great night at INFUSE getting a chance to unpack the issue of Mission; in the context of passionate thinkers and faithful practitioners from multiple churches. Felt good to be in a room full of people that are speaking a language you’re hearing in your soul. It was also great to meet some new friends who are working it all out in their own neighborhoods in the same city. Props to Dan and Rob for facilitating great discussion, solid content all within an engaging format. 

via fcb4.tumblr.com read more

If you read my
last post you know that I’m in Los Angeles right now just wrapping up a
training module on equipping people to teach the infuse Missional Project.  It is a intensive first step for those
interested in discovering how they fit in Western culture mission.   The training went fantastic!

One of the rollouts is happening in Spokane beginning next
week. I’m so excited about this material. 
You can find out how you can get involved by dropping me a comment on
this post.  I’ll get back to you
promptly. read more

I head out to Los Angeles tomorrow to join up with Dan Steigerwald and several others in a “Train the Trainer” event. It is another piece of our effort to push out the INFUSE MIssional Training that we have put together. There will be
potential trainers from Chicago, Los Angeles, Portland, and Spokane.  This
curriculum is being facilitated in partnership with FORGE America.  It
should be a great time of learning how to raise at missional pioneers in our
cities.   The next INFUSE (take a look at the outline) training will begin in Spokane, WA next week. If you’re from that area please consider joining us in this fantastic training opportunity.  You can sign up at Ecclesia Spokane.

Joke:
Robi (my wife) to Trey (my 9 year old son) – “Hey Trey, did you know that when
your Dad was in college he was a better basketball player than Michael
Jordan?  Trey: “No way, he was that
good?”  Robi: “Actually no, when
your dad was in college Michael Jordan was 13.” 

  read more