NEW WEB SITE!

PLEASE GO TO THE NEW WEBSITE FOR THE LATEST BLOG POSTS AND OTHER INFO!  Mission-link  

Spiritual Warfare Series at Threshing Floor

The Threshing Floor, one of our Mission-link associates, is hosting a four week series on Spiritual Warfare starting Sunday night January 8th.  The teaching will be at 6:00 p.m. and the location is next to and behind the John Deere dealer on HWY 65 just North of Isanti. Hope you can make it.

THE MEANING OF ACTS - CHAPTER 4

     I found in the fourth chapter of Acts a witness to several powerful statements about the Kingdom of God. This is the aftermath of the healing that took place - begging the question of "By what authority?" these things were happening. The religious institutional leaders were beside themselves because of the connection the disciples were making between the miracles and the Risen Jesus Christ, demanding that all recognize that He was God's Messiah.  
 1. Only Jesus. 
      The first big statement comes from Peter in verse 12:
"And there is salvation in no one else; for there is no other name under heaven that has been given among men by which we must be saved." 
Big implication..."Must be saved" - What does that mean to you? That will depend a lot on your background. In this context it meant healing - generally, delivered from sickness, bondage, judgment, etc. but there is no other "name" or authority that will do it for us. The holistic understanding of salvation comes in here - Jesus is the Messiah, for the people of God...and beyond! No one comes to the Father but through Him, so the Father draws all who seek Him to His Son! Remember the voice of God in the New Testament had basically one thing to say: "Behold My Son!" (Luke 3:22, 9:35)
2. Witness is not Optional. 
       The second statement is in verses 19-20:  
"Whether it is right in the sight of God to give heed to you rather than to God, you be the judge, for we cannot stop speaking about what we have seen and heard."

The silence we practice around religious beliefs is not an option for disciples. Peter and the others perceived their mission to be exactly what they were being commanded not to do by the authorities. But they saw no compromise possible...they didn't negotiate a "reasonable time and place", they didn't consult the zoning ordinances - Witnessing to the risen Messiah was life itself.

   I honestly see two reasons we often don't experience the Kingdom moving in power today. 
       a). We don't recognize God's deliverance in our lives. Both inside and outside of the church, we have explained away so many of the things that evidence the grace of God in our lives...most often attributing them to "right living" or some such hog-wash. If we could just see the reality that true "justice" in our lives would leave us all dead, I think we would be grateful for every breath - Life is a deliverance!! What's more, God delvers us from bondage and sickness more than we realize - if we only had a glimpse of what goes on in "heavenly places"...
      b.) We allow the world's shame to silence us about Jesus. So many places it is said right out loud: You can talk about God (maybe) or religious customs, but start talking about Jesus and all of hell will object! You will see the ripple effect in the reaction of those unaware of how the spiritual world is influencing their reactions. It's time we stand against the "gag orders from hell"! Jesus Christ saved my life! The Holy Spirit is a witness of His power, and so am I! 
    i have a good friend who tells how "Jesus rocks" every time I see him. He is telling the truth - every time! Isn't this what verse 13 is saying??

    "Now as they observed the confidence of Peter and John and understood that they were uneducated and untrained men, they were marveling, and began to recognize them as having been with Jesus."

How did they recognize that they had been with Jesus? BOLDNESS! Looking ahead to verse 31, 

      "And when they had prayed, the place where they had gathered together was shaken, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak the word of God with boldness."

This all points back to the reason Jesus Himself gave that He sent the Holy Spirit..."You will receive power...you shall be My witnesses..." This is the unbroken theme of the testimony of Acts - Not gifts, signs or wonders, but witnesses to the risen Jesus Christ - not only by those who were there for His earthly life, but witnesses of His power to save our lives today.

   This is our treasure and our "common passion" as the Church in the world today - that we are witnesses to His power to save us - Not that this is happening in secret, but our blind eyes have to be opened to see it - and our mouths need to be open to tell it! 

Who Stole the Passion from the Church?

As we have been digging through the book of Acts, I stumbled upon a word that was missing from the Witness of the original text - the word in the Greek is homothumadon. It is a compound word that literally means "of one passion".  "Thumadon" is a form of the word "thumos", where we get our word "thermal" from, meaning to "breath hard". Yeah, When was the last time you saw that happen in church??

As I searched the translations, I became very frustrated that NONE of them (New Living, NIV, New King James, New American Standard) translated this idea in the least. Who stole the "passion" from Scripture? Apparently the translators. Would it not be helpful to know that in Acts 1:14, 2:46, 4:24, 5:12, 8:6, 15:25, and Romans 15:6, that believers were not riding around in a Honda (NAS "one accord"), but rather had a shared passion for Jesus??? Well, it's there, and if it's not here among us, then we are missing something. So let's got over our selves and catch a common passion for Jesus - It was and always has been normal for the Body of Christ!

Three SW Workshops Left

There are three weeks left for the Tuesday night Spiritual Warfare Workshops, where we have an hour of teaching and another hour for application. We meet from 6:30 - 8:30 p.m. at Enterprise Commons, Isanti, next to the John Deere Store on Hwy 65. The last session will be November 22. We have not been doing the the monthly training while these workshops have been going, but will be picking those up on Sunday December 11th when we tackle the issue of:
          House Meetings and Larger Gatherings - What is biblical,"organic","missional", ...or should we just be asking, Where's the fruit?

THE MEANING OF ACTS - CHAPTER 3

"The Third Chapter of Acts" - almost sounds like the story after the headlines. For me, in the 1970's, it was the group "2nd Chapter of Acts" that redeemed my musical taste away from Earth Wind & Fire and Fleetwood Mack. It was my personal revival after a three year wandering in the desert while I put off letting God take over. But what happens after the revival, and the excitement is yesterday's news? We live in a culture that would just as soon wait for the next wave - the next flavor of the month being handed out to us by a god we call "the Market". The witness of the disciples, on the other hand, goes forward in power...
     The Witness of Healing. The man had made a lifestyle out of dependence on others - sitting at the gateway to the Temple, right where people would be thinking about their relationship and "obligation" to God. A prime spot for begging when so much of the Torah and the Prophets exhorted giving to the poor.
Then comes Peter and John...having no silver or gold (not much giving from those 5,000 new converts?), and instead of money for a bill, they give him power to live differently. They dealt with him decisively: "Fixed his gaze upon him" (characteristic of a deliverance), demanded that he look at them, and commanded "In the name of Jesus of Nazareth, walk!"  Them he "seized him by the hand" and helped him up.
Well, the people immediately wanted to treat Peter and John like rock stars. But I like Peter's statement, "Why do you gaze at us, as though by our own power and piety we made this man walk?!?" This wasn't for their entertainment - it was to prove that the REAL God had raised up this guy Jesus, whom they had crucified, and that they needed to,

        "Therefore repent and return, so that your sins may be wiped away, in order that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord."  Acts 3:19-20

 Jesus is presented here as the "prophet" who would be the great divider of Israel - those who listened to Him would have life, and those who did not would be destroyed! What impresses me here is that Peter nailed what it was that was keeping them from the "presence of the Lord", and invited them to turn away from it.

     How often do we do this with others? - Nail the thing that is keeping them from following Jesus Christ and invite them the give it up? We mostly hear about believing in Jesus as something to just add to our other values in life. But I have found that there just isn't room in my life for walking with Him as a disciple without giving up something, and it's really not that hard to figure out what God wants me to kick out so that He can have His right place. The first thing for me back in the 70's was the toxic music. Lately it has been control of money. What is in God's place in your life that you need to let go of in order to follow the real Messiah? Do it. Turn away from it, and as it says, "...times of refreshing will come from the presence of the Lord."

THE MEANING OF ACTS - CH. 2

NO DOUBT ABOUT IT, this chapter of Acts may seem to be the most exciting one in the book. The outpouring of the Spirit of God on the Church (the 120 that were still around after three years, a crucifixion and resurrection). So let's really look more intently at the meaning of what happened: Remember, Jesus told them this would happen in the last chapter, and what the purpose and result would be. "You will receive power...you will be...witnesses..." Keeping this in mind, I notice that there are four different descriptions of what the Holy Spirit did that day - all describing the same event:

1. Baptized them (Acts 1:5)
2. Came upon them (Acts 1:8)
3. Filled them (Acts 2:4)
4. Poured upon them (Acts 2:17, 2:28)

It's hard to notice this and still make a big deal (or even a doctrine) out of separating these descriptions. Jesus said the Spirit would come upon them (tongues of fire) and baptize (immerse) them, Luke writes that the Spirit was poured out on them, and filled them. And the result? They became Witnesses! There were Jews from at least 15 countries listed, and they heard "the mighty deeds of God" (verse 11) in their own language. The question they asked in verse 12 was "What does this mean?" So Peter told them.

The reason the "mighty deeds of God" were now being heard in all these languages was because "God has made Him (Jesus) both Lord and Christ"! (verse 36) That's why. This was a witness to the fact that Jesus is the Messiah - Savior of the world. Peter preaches from the Prophetic Psalms which describe David's relationship to the coming Messiah - showing (witnessing) that Jesus is the One.

I think that the witness of Scripture is designed by God to help us see our own life in the Story. Our witness (experience) of what God has done in our lives is what the Spirit of God seeks to empower. Who is speaking about these things? Different from teaching doctrine, instructing how to live, the witness of God's "mighty deeds" in our lives lifts up His authority and worth before others. If we are not witnessing of what we have seen, how do we expect God to show us more? Where is our joy over the true treasure, when we so quickly move on to talk about the latest movie, or news about the Vikings stadium? What we seek, and what we think is worth talking about, that is what we will find! As Jesus said:

"Or what woman, if she has ten silver coins and loses one coin, does not light a lamp and sweep the house and search carefully until she finds it?  When she has found it, she calls together her friends and neighbors, saying, 'Rejoice with me, for I have found the coin which I had lost!' In the same way, I tell you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents."  Luke 15:8-10

Acts 2. It's about the power of the Spirit of God - to make us Witnesses.

Spiritual Warfare Workshop

The follow-up workshop for those wanting to be further equipped in spiritual warfare is meeting on Tuesday nights between now and Thanksgiving at the Threshing Floor, 4 Enterprise Commons (behind and next to the John Deere dealer on highway 65, north of Isanti). We meet from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. for an hour of teaching and an hour of application. Please call or e-mail if you would like to join us.  763-221-4760.  
bob@thejourney-ecmn.org.

Video of Intro to Spiritual Warfare

A Youtube video of the opening session of the last conference called "Intro to Spiritual Warfare" can be seen by clicking this link:
                                       http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=scZJrJ_jD8k

If you would like to order the set of six sessions, send and e-mail to bob@thejourney-ecmn.org.

THE MEANING OF ACTS - CH. 1

Many have taught on the Book of Acts, and I have heard many sermons and studies on it. There is always this tension around it - like an elephant in the room - because when we look at the record of the life of the early Church, it begs the question, "Why aren't we experiencing these kinds of things in 'church' now?"


This is kind of an embarrassing question for leaders. But I think there are a lot of reasons we don't see what we read about in Acts - everything from our understanding of "church", to our leadership culture, to a misunderstanding of the Holy Spirit. As I finished reading Acts a few months ago, I sensed the Spirit of God prompting me to go back (yes, I was out running at the time) and work through the meaning of the testimony of Acts for us today. Please feel free to chime in on this at the Facebook Page "Organic Church Movements"  http://www.facebook.com/groups/16161960273/

I believe that the first chapter holds a key to understanding the rest of the story - it is in the words of Jesus. Like so many other things about Him and His mission, I think we have over-interpreted Him. He said a simple thing here: "You will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you shall be my witnesses..."  That's it. No mention of gifts, miracles, signs and wonders - Then I thought, that was His point. The empowering of the Holy Spirit was not for any other reason - TO BE WITNESSES. I thought that if that is the case, everything else from here on should show that to be true.

As I would read on the chapter, even the concern with replacing Judas as an "apostelos" was all about the witness - the witness of those who had seen the life of the Messiah from His baptism to His resurrection. I don't think it's a stretch to put this also next to the last words of Jesus in Matthew to the disciples: to "...make disciples of all nations...teaching them to obey all I have commanded you...". The appointed task of disciples is to make more disciples - the role of the Holy Spirit's empowerment is all about being witnesses to the living Jesus Christ.


What I think it means for us today is that our witness of the reality of Jesus' work in our lives is the most powerful thing we have here. We can change the atmosphere around us by just saying what we have seen Jesus do. Haven't we all experienced this? Why do you think it is so hard to do? Is the enemy pushing back with all his might to stop the witness of the living Christ? Consider the power that accompanies your testimony - If we want to see what we read about of the early church, we can start here.

SPIRITUAL WARFARE CONFERENCE

Don't miss this conference!

ALTAR TO AN "UNKNOWN JESUS"

In first century Athens, Acts 17 records that many there "spent their time in nothing other than telling or hearing something new".They also had an altar there to an "Unknown god", which Paul referred to in his gospel message to them.

There are many places we can go today that have pictures of Jesus, crosses and religious art of various kinds - and yet to many who are familiar with these images, Jesus Himself is "unknown", that is He is not recognized as someone you follow every day. He is "preached", but not known: His Kingdom message, His healing and deliverance ministry are stories in most places - acts to be remembered and rehearsed as proof of why we "believe" in what He did back then. Our response today is mostly to be nice and keep going to church every week, while the living Jesus remains unknown.

This Jesus who we read about is alive. He still calls followers - still heals; still sets captives free; still forgives sin; still upsets people in power. We can be one of His if we take everything else in our life and put it under Him - including our life itself. This Jesus can be known - He lives! 

LEADING IN UNITY AND DIVERSITY

"Diversity" is one of those current politically correct words today, and it also describes one of the tensions of walking with other Jesus followers. I was reading this morning in Acts 16 where Paul took Timothy on as a disciple, and right away prompted him to be circumcised in order to avoid a stumbling block in ministering to Jews.(His father was a Greek and so he was suspect among the Jews)  I recalled at the same time Paul's words to the Jesus followers in Galatia, "...if you circumcise yourselves, Christ will be of no benefit to you!" Why the huge difference? Was Paul a hypocrite - and what does this say about leadership in the Body of Christ?

The first difference I see is that the decision made with Timothy was from a position of strength - a choice made for the impact it would have on others - It was opening doors. The Galatians, on the other hand, were being pressured from the outside by so called Christ followers who made circumcision a matter of getting righteousness, not a way to build bridges to unbelievers. I think there are still a lot of customs that we have made a matter of righteousness today: rules about dress, worship, and use of anything that others have made an addiction out of...EXCEPT of course our favorites - fluffy foods, materialism, being "nice", and the three "C's" (cash, comfort and control).

This leads to the second difference I see: That nothing - whether circumcision, baptism, abstinence, or attending "church" on Sunday - can be allowed to define my righteousness. Paul says in 1Cor. 6:12 "All things are lawful for me, but not all things are profitable. All things are lawful for me, but I will not be mastered by anything." That includes religious things! The "circumcisers" were attempting to "master" the Galatians - to hijack their righteousness! Paul's statement to them says, "You can't be righteous because of Jesus AND following rules - only one can be Lord of our lives: Rules or Jesus. Take your pick!" (That's a really loose interpretation, but I thinks it's accurate)


Finally, I see so much of Paul's writing creating this tension, which is why Peter wrote of Paul in 2 Pet. 3:16 "...as also in all his letters, speaking in them of these things, in which are some things hard to understand, which the untaught and unstable distort, as they do also the rest of the Scriptures, to their own destruction." That's a pretty unique statement in Scripture, but it brings it down to earth for us. I think he is referring to people who look for statements in Scripture that seem to say what they want to say. Paul has plenty of ammo for them because he speaks into context so often - not in generalities.

How does this impact leadership? I think we need to check ourselves for ways we have reduced the message of the cross to rules in our own lives. We are called to apply the Gospel into the context of our life every day, but we have to hold fast to the grace of God, while holding loosely to the applications. May you find freedom to do this as you follow Jesus, and lead others with your life.

LEADING IN BATTLE

Two of the four Spiritual Warfare Workshop sessions being held at First Baptist in Cambridge are completed now. The purpose of these is to equip believers for freedom, and so to lead in the spiritual battle to recover ground for God's Kingdom.
(more info is available at http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=116988511720361 )

Too long we have been vulnerable to the strategies of an enemy we cannot see, who wages a daily battle for our thoughts, emotions and decisions. Too many days we have walked out without spiritual armor on to ward off these strategies against us, and have wondered how we could veer off course so easily.

The fifty or so people coming to the Workshop will be better prepared to win - to stay free of the enemy's snares and attacks and keep on course with Jesus Christ. The class will stay open for the last two sessions on June 22 and 29 - all are welcome.

"IS THAT GOD?"

It seems funny that the first childhood memory I have of talking about God was in a church building. I remember asking my mommy (I couldn't have been more than 3) where we were, and she said we were in "God's house". That really impressed me, and of course I started looking around for God. I saw a man in the choir loft, and thinking God would be higher up because people seemed to look up when they spoke to Him, I asked her, "Mommy, is that God?" She said it wasn't, but really didn't have answers for all the many questions that now were coming to my talkative 3 year old mind....

Years later in a different town, our family was attending a big church on the top a hill. It had a big choir and a huge pipe organ that filled the back wall above the balcony. The pastor was "Dr. so and so", and was referred to as Dr. instead of "pastor". I didn't like going to that church because they had Sunday School police, who if they found you outside the Sunday School room when class was in session would take you by the ear (seriously) and pull you to class. I was maybe in second grade. 

Then one Sunday while I was avoiding the Sunday School police, I found a map - well really a floor plan of the church building. The amazing thing to me was that according to this map, in one of the rooms which I discovered to be locked up tight, there were bags all tied up, stacked inside and labeled "God". It must have been traumatic to me at the time because I still remember it in detail after all these years. I went and found the church janitor and showed him the map, and although he looked concerned, he didn't open the door to let God out, or even investigate.He just took me back to my parents and let them deal with me. I still remember thinking, "Maybe they want Him in there".

How much have these experiences motivated me life direction? A therapist could have fun with it I am sure - but you can be sure that I was determined to find God eventually. I did. He showed up in many ways through my youth, but I finally recognized Him with enough certainty to claim success when I met this guy named Joe. 

I was in high school by now. My parents had divorced four years ago, which created another motivation in my life around relationships. But I was searching even more intently now. Joe was a Campus Life director at my high school. He invited me to Bible studies at his house with other kids, and eventually to a big rally in Minneapolis where I was happy to show others that I had found God through Jesus. It had finally dawned on me that God wasn't living in buildings, or bags in a store room, or up in the sky somewhere, or even in black leather-bound books. But that ever since Jesus came to make it possible, He has been living in people.That's were I finally met Him for sure, and I hope you have met Him too. 

WHAT CAN WE EXPECT AS CHINA'S INFLUENCE IN U.S. INCREASES?

I just saw an article in USA Today that seems darkly prophetic. You can find it here:
 http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/2011-04-21-China-Christians-Easter.htm
I have been aware that we as a country are borrowing heavily from China, as annual payments on the interest on our national debt are now more than the value of all we export in a year (GNP).

I understand that our schools are trying to model themselves after the Chinese - while at the same time, they are looking to our older models which brought us greater success in years gone by.

When did we stop looking at results and instead chase after global trends? Maybe we are destined to be like Rome, which we ourselves used for a civic model despite the fact that it fell after a few hundred years. The world has been in awe of what America has built for almost two and a half centuries, but we seen to have no clue how we did it.

This article seems to foreshadow what may come for us as the Church in America. The tax-exempt status of churches has historically been based on the belief that "Religion, morality, and knowledge" are necessary to good government! (See the Northwest Ordinance of 1787) It's no stretch to suggest that the American people no longer believe this. Without this organic conviction, there is no basis to continue giving any advantages to the Church, and as a consequence, any allowances it has enjoyed will go with it. 


China has no problem limiting which churches to allow or disallow because as a people they do not see a need to promote free worship. There is no interest in empowering individuals, because government takes care of people - not God. With the current direction of government policy across party lines, I see us heading this direction.


If worship becomes limited to institutions in America, there is no doubt that government regulation will increase. House churches here already face challenges in some communities based on local ordinances that try to limit worshiping in homes. The attending of events can always be accommodated in our culture, but when it comes to walking out a discipleship lifestyle, nothing can transform a culture like home-based fellowship. If we lose the freedom to assembly as believers in our own homes, we are going to be in big trouble as a nation. Let's pray that the influence of more than 60% of the Church in China who defying the government by meeting in homes transforms the government before it turns into a blood bath.

Our Latest Lesson in Leadership - True Ownership is Organic

Leadership - This word is so loaded with images and baggage that I would almost rather not use it. But it carries with it something that still matters - still has to be wrestled with. We see it at work everywhere around us, and the challenge for us is that much of the time, the examples we see are not healthy.

The biblical reference to "leadership" comes in a word that means literally to "stand before" - proistemi. The KJV unfortunately translates this word "rule" in most cases (I am sure it made more sense 400 years ago when it was translated). There are nine uses of this word: (Rom. 12:8, 16:2, 1Thess. 5:12, 1Tim. 3:4,5,12, 5:17, Tit. 3:8, 14). If one reads these passages with the the more accurate translation of "lead" (stand before), the passage makes so much more sense. There is another word, phero, that literally means to carry or "guide", that is used in the Lord's prayer (Matt. 6:13, lead us not into temptation). This word is an action, in contrast to proistemi which is a placing of someone in a position of influence.

So enough with the technical stuff. The point is that if we understand this idea of being in a position of influence ("standing before" others), we realize that this happens all the time, and mostly not based on a "plan".  Jesus spoke of our light shining before men, not because we plan some kind of "show" or appearance, but because others are noticing how we live - all the time. We all have influence - we all "stand before" others in some way or another. To try to plan how often this happens is futile.

What we can, and need to, take ownership of is this: What is the impact of my influence on others? Am I allowing the Spirit of God to work through me, or am I living from some other source? We cannot give what we don't have - and what we allow to guide our lives will "lead" those around us. This all brings us back to the need to allow people to help us understand our impact on others. I for one am too good at selling myself an image of how I come off to those around me. I really need the input of those whom I share a deeper level of vulnerability with. They help me ask for what I really need help with - they are Jesus with skin on for me. When it comes to facing the truth about my influence - my leadership - I need all the help I can get.

TEACHING ON WOMEN IN LEADERSHIP

Last Saturday we departed from the norm by including a teaching time on "women in leadership". It came out of a persistent message from many that solid Scriptural instruction was needed on the topic. Several affirmed after The Gathering that it was very helpful. A copy of the outline can be found in the Journey Downloads:
http://www.thejourney-ecmn.org/the-journey/downloads/

MISSION-LINK SUMMIT IN APRIL

ANOTHER GOOD IDEA FROM HELL

  So today I am reading in Luke 16 where Jesus tells about Lazarus and the rich guy, and I stopped for a bit when I got to the part where the rich guy, who is burning up in Hades, makes his little appeal to "send someone back from the dead" to warn people about this nasty place. The conversation went like this:

Lk 16:29-31
"Abraham said, 'They have Moses and the Prophets; let them hear them.'  But he said, 'No, father Abraham, but if someone goes to them from the dead, they will repent!'"

So the rich guy was implying that even though he ignored Moses (the Law) and the Prophets, he would have changed his mind... if only God had raised someone from the dead. In other words, "It's not all my fault! If God would have done more tricks to impress me, I would have put him on my calendar!"

It reminds of all the great ideas we come up with to bring people to God...when most of them, if we are honest, really don't accomplish that. What many of our ideas DO accomplish:

1. Get people to attend a church service;
2. Get people to feel guilty enough to "serve" in the church;
3. Get people to say the right thing instead of the true thing;
4. Get people to think spirituality is about the quality of a show;
5. Get people to focus on a certain leader or religious organization.

I notice that Jesus was highly resistant to "marketing" ideas. He seemed at times to even discourage people from following Him. Like when he told one guy He as was homeless, or another guy to sell all he owns first (so he would have less to put in the offering plate???), or telling another guy to let the "dead" bury his father.

The point is that if we had just heard the suggestion, "...if someone goes to them from the dead, they will repent!", without knowing where it came from, many of us would agree with this strategy...we might even write a tract about it! But to Jesus, this was just another good idea from hell.

So let's listen a little longer, and try to discern where our ministry ideas are coming from. 

Grace and Peace

Who is Defining "Missional"?

Most of us who are involved in the discussion of "missional" church by now have realized that the term does not have a technical definition. I have heard it described as everything from a "missions-oriented" church, to a church with "flat leadership", to "organic church", to being somehow associated with "emergent" (whatever that means). Then there are the definitions that attach to the outward form, like house churches or groups no larger than 120. Who knows.

As for the current movement, Michael Frost and Alan Hirsch's 2003 book "The Shaping of Things to Come" gave defining it a pretty thorough shot. One of the attempts to illustrate it was on page 72:

It's interesting that he doesn't really use the term "missional" in the illustration, but "mission culture". When I look at the chart, I see mostly characteristics that reflect a leadership culture rather than a philosophy of church. All of the items, like being "lay-centered", "bi-vocational", "apostolic", "build leaders", and "rapid reproduction", are in my experience ultimately determined not by strategy, by by the culture of the core leadership.


I personally have been bothered by what seems to be an attempt to market countless different flavors of "church" by using the word "missional"...as if it somehow makes everything a church is doing relevant and "cool". Are we (The Journey) a "missional community"? I guess I would leave that to others to decide. I see many of the factors in the chart above in our culture, and I know that they are intentional - but not because they are what someone called "missional", rather because they are aligned with how Jesus began to build His Church. I think that's a good enough reason to do them.

What is The Journey Really About?

The life pulse of The Journey is not about house church, but relationships - we are discovering how discipling relationships with Jesus and through each other are the crucible of our personal and spiritual transformation. Nothing is more essential than this.

WHO AM I?

This morning as I read from the Harmony of the Gospels, I realized something about both John the baptizer, and his cousin, Jesus of Nazareth: When describing who they were to others, they both quoted from Isaiah. John even used this prophetic book to describe who Jesus was. (See John 1:19-29, and Luke 4:18).

This got me thinking about how huge self image is in how we do life. These guys both saw themselves through the words of God's prophet. I was reminded how a passage in Isaiah has had a very powerful impact on my own sense of personal mission: Isaiah 58:12.

 "Those from among you will rebuild the ancient ruins;

You will raise up the age-old foundations;

And you will be called the repairer of the breach,

The restorer of the paths in which to dwell.” 

This has defined my path for the last few years, and I wonder if the Prophet Isaiah has a special role in the identity of all of God's people. I challenge you to read through it and see if the Spirit of God points out something of who you are.

Grace and Peace