GlocalNet

It’s been a truly wild week and a half.  I got home from Syria and Istanbul to a house we are remodeling and wound up having to stay in a hotel.  Which means my sermons, articles, notes, sense of order, etc., are all out of whack for a while.  This is why I haven’t been able to blog much this week - along with the fact that we’ve had guest impressionist painters from Hanoi, Vietnam, along with Eddie and Rose Leo from Indonesia here the past week.  BUT, today I “think” we get to get back in our house!  We’ll see.

Yesterday I spoke in Orlando at the Exponential Conference.  I ran out of time so didn’t give the last 3 points.  I will simply list them here.  If you’re new to my blog, read back a few months and you’ll see how faith/church/religion/the Kingdom of God/globalization are all inextricably linked.  From preachers to mullahs, businessmen and geo-political leaders - it’s a different way of seeing the world. 

Lessons from the East:
Colossians 1:13-20

My conclusions have been brought from the perfect storm of four key facts:  personal brokenness, obsession with the Sermon on the Mount & the Kingdom of God, intense accountability in a small group, and connectedness with the church globally. 

We are asking “What is the church to be?” I think the most important question is “What does it mean to fulfill the Great Commission right where I am connecting glocally?”

1.  It is about the Gospel of the Kingdom of God. 
Gospel of Kingdom -> Disciple -> Society -> Church

              not

Gospel of Salvation -> Preacher -> Church -> Society
(The Multiplying Church)

2.  It encompasses the reconciliation of all things. 

The grid on which we operate is the society - not the church.  The church emerges as we engage the society. 
(Glocalization)

3.  The focus is on the disciple not the preacher.

Movements are led by disciples.  (Transformation)

4.  All religions are places which make for a naked public square and thoughtful communication.

Didn’t get to speak on this much - but check out previous blogs on religious freedom as tied to freedom of thought - the most basic of all human rights - owning your own mind.

5.  Knowing other religions isn’t just for the experts but for everyone who would communicate who Jesus is.

6.  Risk is seen in life and death not nickels and noses.

7.  Never, Never, Never, vilify another religion.

We don’t have to trash someone else’s religion to build ours up.  I’ve learned more about my faith through interacting with others faiths. 

8.  Core doctrine matters because you are communicating who God is.

In the West doctrine is the luxury of a few deep thinkers and is generally unrelated to life and too “deep” and/or “mysterious” for most of us to understand. 

I must be able to give a simple, intelligent, practical explanation of the Trinity for it to make sense.  I can’t blow it off as too deep.

9.  Engage the whole community with everyone, not just Christians doing religious work.

10.  The second coming of the church has come, and it’s from the East where every form, model, expression, and kind of church is being blessed. 

We have segmented, mutated, and reformatted the church trying to reinvent it and with each new plague we kill it all the more. 

For there to be a global movement - it all has to work - not just mine! 

11.  The Holy Spirit is in full force and is unpredictable. 

It is no longer optional for those who would engage to be Spirit-filled.  With the call of God, the challenge of the world, the critical need of holiness - it will not be accomplished without a personal filling of the Holy Spirit.

Young men and women at this conference - rock on.  Change the world.  Especially those of you 27 and below - you are the first global generation beyond “economics” it will be up to you to redefine the church.  Not a bunch of frustrated church tinkering agenda driven old dudes - or even young.