Re-up Your Missional for 2009

Posted on December 17, 2008

It is frequently noted that evangelism is local witness and missions is global (cross-cultural) witness. Does the missional church movement erase this distinction? If everyone is a missionary, then shouldn’t local churches reach local cultures? 80% of deployed missionaries are sent to already evangelized areas. Roughly 30% of the global population is unevangelized and largely untargeted by so-called missional churches.

In other words, missional churches aren’t really being missional. They are evangelizing locally but not globally. If the missional church movement is to truly participate in the mission of God, it must engage in cross-cultural missions in order to plant churches where no local witness exists. Consider re-upping your missional for 2009 by going overseas, supporting indigenous pastors, sending a cross-cultural missionary, or targeting unreached peoples in your city or town.

For more on this see Keeping the Global in Missional

Three Films from 2008

Posted on December 16, 2008

Here are several films I am pleased to have watched in 2008. I’m not predicting any Oscar winners or suggesting that these films are for everyone, but I am saying they made an impact and were well-done. Two foreign, one domestic.

Man on Wire – A documentary about, Philliipe Petit, a frenchman who walked a tightrope between the two Twin Towers before they were completed and destroyed. He prepared for  the clandestine ascent and daylight walk for six and a half years. His remarkable resolve would have been fruitless, were it not for his accomplices who were quickly forgotten as Petit moved into the post-walk limelight. The documentary is existentially compelling, artistically stirring, and subtly disturbing. Art meets pride, a Promethean story that tells more than it shows.

Tell No One – Part thriller, part love story, this French film based on the book by American author Harlan Coben both entertains and shocks. Unlike most thrillers produced in Hollywood, the characters possess believable depth, evoking empathy and interest. Ethical dilemmas abound and so should your conversation afterwards.

Transsiberian – a sleeper for 08. Ben Kingsly, Woody Harrelson, &  Emily Mortimer. Suspense stretched across the siberian tracks, this film occurs primarily on a train. Without giving the plot away, the film takes a Christian goodie two shoes and a bad girl gone good, pairs them with shady criminals, and subjects them to personal and ethical scrutiny. There are some uncomfortable scenes, especially the torture. Another great conversational film, especially if you want to discuss the importance of truth.