GlocalNet

Ed Stetzer is really writing some awesome stuff. We need it pretty bad. Visited his post yesterday. He and I are friends and we dialogue a lot.  Oh heck, let’s just be honest, we debate sometimes!!! I love Ed and value him big time, not just as a missiologist but as he speaks into my life. He approaches it as a theologian and missiologist--I from a pastor who is mobilizing a couple thousand people. I need what he says and writes because I don’t live in his world, yet, his world affects me and those I’m leading. I also think he needs me because of this “missional” stuff.  It’s impacting churches we start and how we engage the world, and frankly to some extent how “missional” will look not just now but in this century. I was going to respond to a question he asked me and put this on his comments, but I’m going to have to write too much so it’s my blog today!

He’s dealing both with the history and theology of the word and concept missional. Missional really meant something until, perhaps, the past 5 years.  It continues to mean less. I think it has to do with the way we “popularize” terms and jump on bandwagons without understanding what is being said. Because it has come to mean everything it means nothing. Missional has become watered down to merely being relevant in the pulpit and culturally effective communication in a worship service--or drinking a latte at Starbucks with someone with an ear piercing coming out their ? ? ? or a “service” project.

What makes missional to me? What is the role of the church in the whole missional debate? I believe the church is the missionary. Read my book Glocalization. I just believe churches are rejecting the call to be a missionary or rather to enter the Kingdom. I believe missional is tied not to the Great Commission but to the Kingdom of God. The Great Commission is the marching orders for every believer living in the Kingdom. The Kingdom of God is what John the Baptist preached, it’s what Jesus came proclaiming. It’s what the Apostles focused on. It’s what Jesus taught the Apostles for the 40 days he was with them. I’m not speaking of the Kingdom as only an escatological issue, but as a Matthew …

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Everyone seems to think if we just get the right model, the right 5-step system and process, we’ll change the church and it will change its community and the world. Don’t believe it. History has never borne that. History is filled with stories of churches that God moved on, There was a “process” of how it worked for them, but when exported it lost its power. The aspiration becomes how close can we get to being just like this other group, model, or expression that is considered edgy. I fear we’re stuck in “model” mania, even though most claim theirs isn’t a model! How can we tell?

When the majority of our discussion and focus is how, where, when we gather, and what we do when we gather, we’re talking model. Be it sandals and candles or organs and Lexus.

When the majority of our budgets and staff and gatherings go towards only corporate expressions of worship, we’re talking model. Be it a 10,000-seat auditorium or Starbucks-type storefront.

When our moods, joy, pride, significance is tied more to how many showed up or how weird the ones were who showed up, we’re talking model!

Your church is only as good as your disciples--not your preacher! If you want to tinker with something, tinker with the disciple. How do we create a culture of the kingdom so people will engage it in a daily manner? What is a disciple? How do we move from information transfer to behavioral transformation--what we call T-Life at NorthWood? Tinker with the society if you want to tinker with something. How do we connect disciples and society? I’m obsessed with the Kingdom of God, the transformation that it brings. I believe this is what it takes to see the fulfillment of the Great Commission. We’ve thought it was the sinners’ prayer. It’s much more than that.  It must be a transformed life that transforms others and communities.

Gene Getz taught me that old principle years ago--form follows function. Man, has the Western church forgotten that--both new and old. Form is the church. Function is the disciple. We think function follows form--we’re wrong.

You’ll read about this in my new book, The Multiplying Church, that’s coming out next February, but I’m convinced, based on history, our experience, and the church globally that I love so …

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We have this young theologian in our church named Mark. He brought Carlos Santana to church Sunday. He brought his guitar and rocked the place. We’ve been studying the children of Israel and how they crossed over with implications of what does it mean for our church to cross over to the next phase, and what does it mean for us as individuals to cross over to a deeper walk with Christ. There are all kinds of metaphors and typologies of that in the Exodus out of Egypt. We were emailing about it and he said something really good, “The preaching of the cross isn’t just for the lost but for the saved.” I like that. For the lost, the preaching of the cross is to be received. For the found, the preaching of the cross it is to be lived.

There’s a lot going on at NorthWood.  It’s frankly really hard to keep up with it all--even as the Senior Pastor.  That’s not true--it’s not hard to keep up with--it’s impossible.  Our youth ministry continues to expand and is reformatting. Our children’s ministry has just done the same.  Our global work has exploded and for the first time we now have boots on the ground which has sped up everything.  We’ve just reformatted our church planting.  Our members have really taken off with working in so many projects that they, not us, are driving.  Our entire staff, not just me, is dealing with the issue of other churches calling and needing help in different areas, particularly in how we engage our community and the world.  It’s exciting, and it’s also overwhelming.  Needless to say, there’s been a lot of prayer, work, evaluation, restructure that has been going on to accomodate all God is doing.

Yesterday, I shared with our staff some of the unique things going on outside our church, but because of our church.  I updated them, they updated me.  We updated one another.  Communication between staff, I’ve learned, is sometimes tough when your ministries are all growing at the same pace.  We’ve never had competition among ministries at our church. I pray we never do.  We’ve been one church on one mission serving one Savior in the context of teams, youth, children, recovery, worship, mission, etc. 

Then we prayed . . . and it was rich.  God was there.  As we were praying and all of us realizing the scope of ministry we have before us we were praying for guidance and direction, wisdom and insight.  We prayed for God to be alive within us, to keep us one, to be alert and effective in spiritual warfare.  Then someone, or maybe two or three prayed - “Lord as we grow, to reach the thousands and organize to reach the thousands let us not forget the one.” That’s a good tension.  Either extreme is dangerous.  If you live for the one you never reach the thousands.  If you focus on the thousands, church becomes a machine.  It’s not an either or, but a both and.  So how do you balance . . .

I kept reflecting on this all day yesterday.  The story of the 100 sheep, they all belonged to the shepherd.  …

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Hey one of my young heroes is entering the blogosophere.  Check it out! Go Vince, Baby, Go!!!!!!

If you will look at the menu in the top right-hand corner of this page you will see a new menu item.  That’s right!  Wives, the “CP wives” page will have information of upcoming events just for you!  Keep an eye on it!

October 5-6, 2007 there is a CP wives retreat.  A time to relax and connect with other women who are going through everything you are!  Register today!

One of the most incredible books out there is Loren Cunningham’s new book entitled The Book That Transforms Nations.  You’ve got to read this! It operates on the same premise as my book but it deals with a lot of things my book does not deal with. It’s as if they are companion volumes made to go together. Read it. It deals with a lot of history and other things. It’s incredible!!

Nikki and I had a blast the past week - we were in Hawaii with Veryl and Cheryl Henderson and spoke to pastors about transformation, glocalization, and multiplication. We had a couple of days to walk on the beach - play - and kick back for a much needed break. It was a wild trip. On the plane over, we found out a hurricane was on the way. Our first night - we woke up the next morning to an earthquake. The next day before boarding a ship for a sunset cruise we received a tsunami alert from the earthquake in Peru. An out of control fire had taken over 6500 acres on the north side of the island. Our hotel went on strike. On the plane back - as we boarded a little old lady was out of it - running up and down aisles taking pictures of people with an old polaroid saying “this is the one.” She was removed from the plane!!!! It was crazy all the goofy stuff happening

Tonight I was interviewed on Sirius Satellite Radio by Mike Feder - it’s a talk show - the following are some of the things that we covered.

A TWO-STATE SOLUTION

As we begin there are 3 core things that must be kept in mind.

First, reconciliation is the ministry all of us are a part of.

2Cor. 5:17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!18 All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: 19 That God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. 20 We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us.

Relational diplomacy — people to people — is the key. Top down dealing with powers and bottom up — dealing with people at the most basic level of needs. It was my exposure to the Afghans and others I met in the Middle-East that began to change how I thought.

Second, understanding the divine promises related to Israel and all nations.

Third, honest historical examination. A great book is Tony Maalouf’s “Arab’s in the shadow of Israel deals with this — and is good to read because it’s from an evangelical Arabic scholar.

WHY?

First, we are allowing speculative theology to formulate foreign policy. That’s very dangerous. When conservative Bible believing scholars can’t agree — for one opinion to be pushed to the point of war is arrogant and dangerous.

Second, as a Christian we say we care about the Middle-east and Muslims and want to see them come to faith in Christ. We are saying accept Jesus, and our politics. The thing they care about most, we ignore. We are so one-sided in our position we’ve ignored the very people we would want to reach. None of us would ever support suicide bombers — but neither should we allow refuge camps to exist. We should serve people, not because we are trying to convert them — but because we have been converted. God is just to the just and the unjust alike — who are we to pass judgment on and …

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If you want to get around some really sharp-thinking people from different points of view click here. What an incredible opportunity.

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