Category: Missional Church

Evangelism Without Additives

Posted on March 17, 2008

This book looks helpful. Finally a book that is more concerned with counting conversations than conversions. Here is a blurb:


What if…
·you didn’t have to make a speech in order to “witness”?
·you could use everyday experiences to nudge others closer to Jesus?
·the things you’re already doing counted as evangelism?

Evangelism can be as normal as asking great questions and paying attention to the people Jesus misses most. It involves doing things you already do, but with a little more intentionality. Just by being yourself and becoming unusually interested in others, you can discover that people will ask you about Jesus.

Call to Ministry

Posted on March 12, 2008

“The call to ministry is something that comes from the Lord himself. Moreover, men need a divine empowering to rise to the challenge of their commission.”
Martin-Lloyd Jones via Sargent in Sacred Anointing

Missional Leadership (Hirsch)

Posted on March 11, 2008

In addition to holding to a clear vision, missional leadership involves facilitating the emergence of novelty by building and nurturing networks of communications; creating a learning culture in which questioning is encouraged and innovation is rewarded; creating a climate of trust and mutual support; and recognizing viable novelty when it emerges, while allowing the freedom to make mistakes. – Hirsch, The Forgotten Ways, 233

Unfortunately, it is precisely this question-asking and viable novelty that most leaders fear. The traditional, modern paradigms of leadership advocate a top-down, answer-possessing, anti-novelty approach. Yet, if we will lead remaining open to the power and insight of the Spirit in the Church, we will reap dividends and live out the priesthood of the believers! Oh, do I have room to grow in this!

Metaphors for Missional Community

Posted on March 10, 2008

Joe Thorn has posted on his metaphors for missional community. Using a Circle, Inverted Triangle, and a Square, he describes the three areas of church ministry as:

  • The Table – domestic ministry
  • The Pulpit -liturgic ministry
  • The Square – civic ministry (HT:SM)

Kevin Rush has formulated a similar paradigm using the metaphors of Towel, Table, & Text:

  • The Table
  • The Text
  • The Towel

I use the metaphor of a house with it’s respective entrances to designate pathways in and out of the community of faith:

  • Side Door – gospel motivated relationships
  • Front Door -gospel messages from the pulpit
  • Front Yard -gospel activity in the city