Missional Church Planting in Europe
"Tell the students to give up their small ambitions and come eastward to preach the gospel of Christ." — Francis Xavier, missionary to India, the Philippines, and Japan
In an era where we are wonderfully recapturing the realization that each and every person is a missionary, in context, I am also seeing a bit of a shrinking away from the idea of leaving land and family for the sake of the Gospel. In my situation, I am seeking to inspire and recruit people to a very unchurched land – Europe. I know, it is not seen as needy like India or Asia, but the stark reality is western Europe, in the words of the late missiologist Lessilie Newbigin, is the last great mission field. I am just going to say it: will you pray about involving yourself in missional/incarnational church planting in Europe?"
“Truth” from Newbigin
"The relativism which is not willing to speak about truth but only about ‘what is true for me’ is an evasion of the serious business of living. It is the mark of a tragic loss of nerve in our contemporary culture. It is a preliminary symptom of death."
– Lesslie Newbigin, The Gospel in a Pluralist Society
Christian Associates’ Project in Sweden (by Dudley Callison and Marcus Fritch)
Despite a rich heritage of revival and global missions, Sweden is now one of the most secular societies in the world. The past 100 years have seen significant transformations, resulting in a surge of materialism, isolation, and relational fractures. Equally dramatic is the perilous decline in church participation. Sadly, the Swedish state church is seen as a mere cultural stepping-stone, lacking tangible spiritual vitality and influence.
The Holy Spirit and the Task of the Church
God doesn’t give people the Holy Spirit in order to let them enjoy the spiritual equivalent of a day at Disneyland. Of course, if you’re downcast and gloomy, the fresh wind of God’s Spirit can and often does give you a new perspective on everything, and above all grants a sense of God’s presence, love, comfort, and even joy. But the point of the Spirit is to enable those who follow Jesus to take into all the world the news that he is Lord, that he has won the victory over the forces of evil, that a new world has opened up, and that we are to help make it happen.
INFUSE Missional Project….first night
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
Missional Theology: Concepts of the missio Dei – Pt 2
Here are several seminal statements about the church from Karl Barth’s "Church
Dogmatics" as cited in the book, The Witness of God; The Trinity, Missio Dei, Karl Barth and the Nature of Christian Community .
“The community is alive, there, and only they are, where she
is engaged in recruitment and when she strives for this recruitment especially
in the apparently darkest areas of the world: in places where the Gospel is
still completely unknown or completely rejected, in medio inimicorum. The community is this such a missionary
community, or she is not the Christian community.”
Missional Theology: Concepts of the missio Dei
reading a book right now called, “The Witness of God; The Trinity, Missio Dei, Karl Barth and the Nature of Christian Community." It's written by John
Flett.
There's much written about the "missio Dei" right now, but quite a bit of it resides on a superficial level. To hear people talk about the concepts basic to the missio Dei – “…the Father sends the Son, the Father and the Son send the Spirit, and the Triune God sends the church,” is good! There has been a wonderful correction in theology as a result of the missio Dei concept, but often times the superficiality of describing it misses some essential elements. In this book there is a deeper, more full-orbed exploration of the notion. This book is not necessarily for the casual reader, but I think a significant contribution to the field of missiology.
I'm reading the book my intention is to insert a quote or two from each section
I'm reading. Here are a few from the first couple chapters:
quoting Bosch:
“’Our mission has no life of its own: only in the hands of the
sending God can it truly be called mission.’” He continues (his own words now),
“Mission is not something the church does, dependent on ecclesiastical
management and developed according to some notion of the efficient use of
resources. It is justified by neither human capacity nor historical accident.”
is also from Bosch:
“’The recognition that mission is God's mission represents
a crucial breakthrough in respect of the preceding centuries. It is
inconceivable that we can again revert to a narrow ecclesiocentric view of
mission.’”
Newbigin – The Gospel as Public Truth
Lessile Newbigin has been one of my heros for some time.
INFUSE Missional Training – Pastor Justin Bryeans, Kaleo Church
via www.youtube.com
Infuse Missional Project – Train the Trainer Event
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.