GlocalNet

November was a whirlwind travel month for me.  Nothing, of course, compared to Bob’s normal travels, but busy for me nonetheless.  I was on eight different airplanes in 15 days.  Some of you are chuckling beneath your breath, “rookie.” 
For those of you who travel a lot, you know the magazines in the back of the seat in front of you like you do your own children.  Ashamedly, I admit to an addiction to Sky Mall – the most expensive cheap “stuff” on earth!  They have everything a big kid could ever want.
On my last flight, I was reading in American Way Magazine.  One of my all-time favorite authors and poets is the great Maya Angelou.  If you have not read her book, “I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings” you have to – especially those of you who are planting churches (the book may be out of print, I cannot find it on Amazon or anywhere else – only textbooks and reading guides).  She, as the author of the article puts it so elegantly, is American royalty.  Controversial?  Yes.  Poignant?  Absolutely.  And she moves people beyond themselves to think of the others around them.
In this article, Angelou is quoted as saying, “I’m grateful for being here, for being able to think, for being able to see, for being able to taste, for appreciating love – for knowing that it exists in a world so rife with vulgarity, with brutality and violence, and yet love exists. I’m grateful to know that it exists.”  That quote struck me.  I sat on the plane for the next two hours and contemplated that sentence.  In a world that screams, “DOOM AND GLOOM” every time you turn on the tele and open a newspaper, especially in the recent months, we sometimes forget about the most powerful tool… love.
Even in the religious world and the neo-Christendom of the west (or some would like to think), we tend to see more of a “the-world’s-going-to-hell-in-a-hand basket” mentality. 
But I take heart because I have seen the heart of a new generation.  I have seen more churches with young and young-at-heart leaders begin to see that engaging society with the hope of love (remember, Deus Caritas Est – I John 4:16) is what Christ mandated.  I’ve offended some of you, I know.  But ask yourself, “Why?”  Then ask yourself the following questions:
1) Is my church engaged with the society around us?  How are we making our city better by our existence and do the people benefit from the love of our people?
2) In this new, ever-shrinking globe, is my church extending our love to our Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and the uttermost?
In the Church Planting world, “Missional” is the newest sexy word.  But I have found that even most so-called “Missional” churches have a skewed Western church mentality.  As Bob has said over, and over again, “The church in the West has reversed the Acts model of planting churches.”  If you have not read Bob’s “The Multiplying Church,” let me re-cap a bit.

The West’s model of church planting:
Gospel-Church-Disciple- Society

Acts model of church planting (as found in Acts 11, 13, and 17):
Gospel-Disciple-Society-Church

What does that mean?  In the West, most begin with the gospel (church planter or leader chosen by assessments and “trained”), we then start a church to gather people (most plant churches to reach lost people – a noble cause), then we have them come to our events in the hopes that they become disciples (improper view of discipleship), and (hopefully) the church engages the society around them (doesn’t always happen – in fact, it’s not the norm in Western society).
But what about the model in Acts?  They began with the gospel (disciples being obedient to the command of Christ), they take the Matthew 28 command and make disciples, those disciples then begin to engage society, and then the Church is birthed from radical, personal disciple-making.  You see it all around the world happen just this way… except in Western cultures (for the most part).  If you’ve been reading Bob’s books and blog for any length of time, this is old-hat.
I say all that to tell you this, if this resonates in your heart but you find yourself asking the “how” questions, we are here to take that journey with you.  Does NorthWood and Glocalnet have all the answers?  No.  But we do want to walk this road with others who understand that the Church is so much more than a Sunday morning meeting.  And the world is crying out for Churches who will engage with Love.  That’s why we offer our Turbo Training.  If you click “Turbo” at the top, you will find our registration page.  The next Turbo Training we are offering is happening March 5th and 6th.  It is open to Church Planters, Senior Pastors, Business leaders who want to use their expertise for the Kingdom, World Leaders, and Churches who want to begin engagement initiatives (if you are an existing church, please call me at 817.431.2088 ext. 139 before registering).  We limit the amount of people who are able to attend this in order to maintain a more intimate climate where questions and dialogue are not only welcome, but expected.  So far, we have representatives from three different nations registered.

Join us.  And together let’s engage the world with Love.