Category: Missional Church

Music for the City SXSW Showcase!

Austin City Life launched a new non-profit last year called Music for the City. Directed by Nate Navarro and Kristin Vasquez, MFC seeks to bring Austin, Charity, and Music together. On Friday, MFC is hosting a very popular and very free SXSW Showcase at Eastside Yoga, 1050 E. 11th St., 6 to 11 p.m. Merchandise from local designers and photographers will be available for sale, with proceeds benefiting Music for the City. Here are the acts (click for video and audio links to bands).

  • quiet company
  • the soldier thread
  • danny malone
  • jason poe
  • miranda dodson
  • jordan whitmore
  • matt mccloskey
  • ten thousand years
  • katie evans
  • trees of lyres
  • chase gassaway
  • kyle lent
  • chele frizell

Why the City Needs for Music for the City

Although Austin ranks in the top two cities for volunteerism, it is among the lowest in charitable giving. MFC exists to rectify this problem by supporting non-profits, local artists, and addressing the deep social needs of our great city. We’re about making great culture and doing great good. We do this three ways:

  • Benefit Music Festivals – artists and fans support shows and non-profits
  • Compilation Albums – artists donate songs and fans buy ’em for non-profits
  • Art of Giving Program – artists give back in schools

Consider supporting to Music for the City, volunteering at an event, or partnering as a musician! MFC is doing great things! We’d love for you to be a part.

St Patrick: The Missional Leader

St. Patrick was a Romano-British citizen, kidnapped in Britain at age 16 and served as a slave for 6 years in Wood of Fochoill, Ireland. He later returned to the homeland of his captivity, Ireland, to spread the gospel and plant churches. His mission to Ireland 457-492 began at age 40 after being turned down after his first request to be commissioned as a missionary.

Although I’m sure Patrick enjoyed a good beer, his life counted for much more than good times and green clovers.

Although I’m sure Patrick enjoyed a good beer, his life was counted for much more than good times and green clovers. Patrick was a man of remarkable faith and mission. In the 5th century, Patrick planted more than 200 churches and won 100,000 people to Christ. How did this happen? Far from contemporary attractional church models, Patrick pioneered mission to the pagan tribes of Ireland through innovative strategy, incarnational ministry, and robust faith in Christ.

St. Patrick, the Missional Leader

When entering a new town or province, the first thing Patrick would do was befriend the local ruler. Very often that leader would come to Christ and permit Patrick to evangelize the area. Next, Patrick would establish monasteries for the training of Christians, but unlike many of his contemporaries, Patrick emphasized mission as a part of Christian training. In essence, he established missionary training centers in every city in order to effectively reach the whole of Ireland.

In essence, Patrick established missionary training centers in every city in order to effectively reach the whole of Ireland.

Patrick also learned the local language, the old Gaelic, and translated the gospel into their culture. He developed their “flavor of writing” and adapted colloquialisms and was known for his persistent study of Gaelic culture. He painted heaven as a great feast, not an angelic reunion, which appealed to the banquet culture of the Irish.

St. Patrick, the Missiologist

Patrick was a savvy missionary and developed numerous ways to communicate the gospel which reflected thoughtful engagement of culture. When confronting pagan Druid religion, which used the circle to represent reincarnation, Patrick superimposed the cross onto the circle of reincarnation to demonstrate the triumph of the cross over druid belief. Hence the Celtic cross. Notice that the circle never overlays the cross, but the cross is on top of the circle.

Patrick new that the gospel must interact with the world; it must reject, redeem, and recreate life and culture under the lordship of Christ.

To be sure, this was no artistic whim; it was a direct power encounter with the pagan belief of his day. Patrick new that the gospel must interact with the world; it must reject, redeem, and recreate life and culture under the lordship of Christ. Maybe we need to come up with a cross over the top of a $100 bill! It was also Patrick that used the indigenous shamrock (three-leaf clover) to explain the Trinity to the Celts. Three leaves, one clover; three persons, one God.

St. Patrick, Man of God
In addition to his missional savvy, Patrick’s Confessio reveals a man who was immersed in Scripture. He was shaped by his relationship with the Trinity and passionately devoted to the Celts. Consider his exemplary prayer for any Christian or church planter:

and without complaint I would faithfully be of service to that pagan people to whom the love of Christ translated me and granted me, as long as I live, if I should be worthy; that at last with humility and in truth I might serve them. And so, according to the measure of faith of the Trinity it is my duty without the fear of censure to make known the Gift of God and his eternal consolation without fear faithfully to expound everywhere the name of God (Confessio, I. 65-75)

What is the Gospel of the Missional Church?

How important is salvation to mission? The answer to this question will determine the trajectory of the missional church movement, for good or for ill. What is the state of the Gospel of the Missional Church? In his Mondays is for Missiology post, Ed Stetzer notes the importance of this very issue:

Missiology is fairly inextricable from soteriology; one’s view of salvation– however it is defined– will determine the missionary work. In Transforming Mission, David Bosch states that the Christian missionary movement has been driven throughout its history by the aspiration to mediate salvation to all.

Jesus as Example or Messiah?

In some circles, “mission” appears to focus on social activism to the neglect of so-called evangelism. Mission is often reduced to a project among the poor and needy. The example of Christ is central. In other circles, evangelism appears to be more important than social activism. Mission reduces people to evangelistic projects. The death and resurrection of Christ is central. How we understand the person and work of Christ should affect our understanding and practice of mission.

What is the Gospel of the Missional Church?

Do you have any concerns about the trajectory of the missional church conversation? Do you have any concerns about present understandings of the person and work of Jesus? Have you read any important books or articles that are defining the role of Christ in mission?

Weigh in. Consider extending the conversation at MissionSHIFT. Check out what others in the Prologue to MissionSHIFT are saying:

Missional Leaders in the Conversation