Reformissionary

Acts 29 Boot Camp: Chicago

Next week I'll be attending the Acts 29 Boot Camp in Chicago.  It's been a few years since my wife and I first attended a boot camp in Dallas.  Now that they are coming to town I'm very excited to go and see some of my Acts 29 friends and continue to grow as a pastor.  Drop me an email if you are going to be at the boot camp and want to connect.

Lots-o-Links 1.19.08

Justin Taylor has an interview with Tim Keller about his new book The Reason for God: Belief in an Age of Skepticism.  I think this book will be a great resource for skeptical friends, due in February

OnMovements (first posted by Sam Metcalf) let's us know How to Kill a Movement.

Nelson Searcy's assimilation book is now out: Fusion: Turning First Time Guests into Fully-Engaged Members of Your Church.  Get some free resources from the Fusion Site.

More free Jerram Barrs' resources (audio, pdf) from Monergism.  Covenant Seminary stuff.

People are talking about Neil Cole's Organic Church (which just came from Amazon today).  Tim Chester has a thought-provoking post, Seven Principles for Planting Organic Churches.  Chester has another great quote on making new believers evangelists and church planters.  Church Planting Novice explains How to Grow a Missional Church.

SUBURBIA: Watch some James Howard Kunstler on YouTube.  He is often very helpful on issues of suburbia.

Glocalnet Turbo Training

Glocalnet (Bob Roberts' ministry) is putting on a conference in February.  If I were anywhere near the area I would make the effort to be there, not only because I think Roberts is an important missional leader, but because the other main speaker is Matt Chandler.  Here's some info, but find all of it at Glocalnet. 

What is it?

Glocalnet, in partnership with Glocal Ventures, Inc. and Vision360 DFW, trains Church Planters, Senior Pastors, Mission Pastors, and Business Leaders how to instill a Kingdom mindset in those whom they lead. Turbo Training combine the best of Glocalnet’s Church Planter Training and Glocal Ventures’ Global Engagement training in a two-day intensive.

Who is it for?

Turbos are specifically designed to train Church Planters first and foremost. However, Pastors of existing churches and business leaders have discovered the benefits of the Turbos.

What are the benefits?

Church Planters: Starting your church with a missional DNA that focuses your people not just on their neighborhoods and cities, but their state, their nation, and other nations around the world. (Acts 1:8)

Pastors: Tired of urging your people to get out of their seats and do something, only to have them stare at you like a deer in headlights? Turbos will equip and excite you to move your people forward into their “glocal” community!

Business Leaders:  God called you to use your business to make a Kingdom impact.  We live in a flat world today. With technology and communications making huge strides, there is no reason why you should not be engaging societies around the world with your vocation. We’ll teach you how!

No Funding for SBC/Acts 29 Church Plants in Missouri

Ugh.  What the crap is going on among Missouri Baptist leaders?  The Executive Board of the MBC has voted to block funding for Acts 29 church plants, according to Scott Lamb.  Brilliant.  Anyone who would block funding for a church plant that looked like Darrin Patrick's gospel-centered and biblically-faithful Journey Church in St. Louis isn't biblically-faithful.  It's really that simple. 

By the way, at the Acts 29 Boot Camp for church planters in Chicago next month there are three Southern Baptist speakers: Darrin Patrick, Ed Stetzer, and Mark Dever.

Lots-o-Links 12.7.07

Al Mohler is writing about how more and more hotels are not putting Gideon's Bibles in their drawers (BP picked it up).  While I like the idea of knowing that it's there for those who need it, I think Mohler overstates his case...

...there will be no Bibles available in those hotel rooms when travelers need them, and that is a tragedy by any measure.

A "tragedy?"  9/11 was a tragedy.  Pearl Harbor was a tragedy (the awful event we remember today AND the movie).  Abortion is a tragedy.  The Bears are a tragedy.  Some hotels not carrying Bibles?  Not so much.  Sure it means culture is changing.  Sure it means that some travelers who may have picked it up won't have it readily available.  But where was that ever the main ministry to people staying in hotels anyway?  It was a bonus that a few people are now eliminating.  People are the front line of ministry, not books.

Ben Arment is encouraging us to strip.  He's also continuing to reveal a killer conference line-up for the Whiteboard Sessions.

Dever and Ferguson lectures on preaching.

CNN interview with Gabe Lyons...

Ariel Vanderhorst interviews church planter Hunter Beaumont (dude I met at Reform & Resurge Conference in Seattle).

Publishers Weekly reviews Tim Keller's The Reason for God.

Joe Thorn on Leadership Development, Suburban Evangelism, and his new laptop.

Mission to Suburbia Resource Page

I've started a new resource page called Mission to Suburbia (notice a link near the top of the left sidebar of my blog).  There isn't much there yet, but I wanted to mention it to you all and ask for your help in finding missional, theological, statistical resources (books, articles, blogs, posts, etc) that will help those of us who are striving to bring the Gospel to the suburbs/exurbs.  I hope Mission to Suburbia will be a handy tool for pastors, planters, churches and Christians who

Click the email link on my sidebar to email me info or links.  I'd rather not receive links in comments.  Thanks!

Keller's Reform & Resurge Article

At the Reform & Resurge conference (2006) at Mars Hill in Seattle Tim Keller gave a talk on "Being the Church in Our Culture."  Now the article, "Being the Church in Our Culture," that Keller gave to conference attendees is online.  Check it out.

A Few Things

CT talks Glocal with Bob Roberts

J. Gresham Machen site

Tentmaker Group looks promising

I heard an interview with Eric Maisel on the Writers on Writing podcast (see Pen on Fire).  A couple of interesting thoughts on creativity.  Here's Maisel's site.

Simpsonize yourself.  Here's what Jonathan Edwards would look like on the Simpsons.

Two new fantastic movies: The Bourne Ultimatum & Sunshine

Gospel Coalition: Tim Keller Interviews

The Gospel Coalition website (which has gone from a little helpful toward really helpful in a short period of time) has a number of short video interviews (linkable) with key players: Don Carson, John Piper, Mark Driscoll, and yes, Tim Keller.  As you could have guessed, I'm linking the Keller (and Carson/Keller) ones here for you.  To see them more quickly, just go to the interviews page and scroll to them.  And don't forget to visit my Tim Keller Resources page.

Tim Keller - What do you see yourself doing in The Gospel Coalition? | m4v

Tim Keller - What is the state of the pulpit in America today?| m4v

Tim Keller - How does preaching affect how christians see culture?| m4v

Tim Keller - What do you tell pastors about their family life? | m4v

Tim Keller - What ways can people learn from your teachings | m4v

Don Carson & Tim Keller - What started The Gospel Coalition? | m4v

Don Carson & Tim Keller - What makes The Gospel Coalition different? | m4v

Don Carson & Tim Keller - Assessing The Gospel Coalition | m4v

Don Carson & Tim Keller - How were the leaders of The Gospel Coalition gathered?| m4v

Don Carson & Tim Keller - What is the future of The Gospel Coalition? | m4v

Don Carson & Tim Keller - What threats and challenges face The Gospel Coalition? | m4v

Don Carson & Tim Keller - What causes fragmentation in evangelicalism today? | m4v

Redeemer: #1 Multiplying Church

I don't get into church lists very much.  Seem to me to be mostly a waste of energy.  But since I'm a Kellerophile I figured I should mention that Redeemer Pres in NYC has been named the #1 on the Top 25 Multiplying Churches in America list by Outreach Magazine.  In other news, my local church didn't make the list.

Stetzer on LifeWay Podcast

New LifeWay podcast with Ed Stetzer is up.

Acts 29: Clarification

Scott Thomas, Acts 29 Network Director, on the "Seven Misrepresentations of Acts 29."

In Louisville, Kentucky

Here's Joe Thorn's post on our trip so far...

Steve and I have come down to Louisville to meet with friends and dialog about church planting and church planting networks. I have benefited from our denomination, and believe our church will remain Southern Baptist as long as doctrinal integrity and healthy cooperation remain in play. While I can imagine both of these things disappearing in 10-20 years, I like to think we will only grow healthier. Time will tell. NAMB is a great way to plant a church (we planted Grace via NAMB), but the alternative networks (Acts 29, Sovereign Grace, etc.) are producing great results as well. I really want our church to both partner with others in the planting of healthy churches and to be directly involved in planting as much as possible. This is why we are here. This and the Scotch Eggs at the Irish Rover. I’ll share more as I can.

I just want to add that ear X-tacy adds a lot to the trip.  Hitting it tomorrow.

Bill Hybels Loves Mark Driscoll

It just kills me how hard some folks (can anyone say Missouri Baptist Convention?) are trying to distance themselves from the "emerging" Acts 29 organization and Mark Driscoll.  Driscoll is all pomo and truth has no meaning for him.

Then in Bizarro world Bill Hybels (a pastor of a moderately influential, smallish church in suburban Chicago) has poked him publicly for his fundamentalism after viewing Driscoll on video at the National New Church Conference.  He basically didn't like Driscoll's male-centered approach to church planting and let that be known from the platform.  That resulted in Acts 29 eating thousands of Driscoll's videos because the conference decided not to hand them out as originally planned. 

From Driscoll on the Resurgence website...

Last year I spoke at a large church planting event along with a number of other church planters and church planting movement leaders. The event was held in Florida, went well, and did a very encouraging job of bringing together a number of denominations, networks, and organizations that otherwise would not have benefited from such a partnership.

This year I was invited back but declined because the few-day round trip from Seattle to Florida to give a very short message (last year it was less than twenty minutes) seemed like too much in light of other responsibilities. So, the sponsors of the event asked me to instead put together an eight-minute video on church planting that could be shown at the event and then handed out to each of the 1,500 attendees. So, in an effort to be helpful, the video crew from Mars Hill Church and I spent half a day in freezing weather at a military cemetery shooting scenes that were then edited for the video. Apparently the video was shown at the event, was well received by the attendees, and then criticized by Bill Hybels from the stage because it did not speak of women church planters. And, not wanting a bigger fuss, the organization hosting the event then made a decision not to hand out the video as they had promised, leaving the guys from our Acts 29 Church Planting Network who had hauled suitcases of the videos to Florida with thousands of dollars and hundreds of hours of wasted effort. The leaders of the event are good guys whom I still consider friends, and I've never met Bill Hybels so I won't speak about him personally. But, I thought we should at least post the banned video online, so here it is:

Reasons Why I Hate Us 5

Micah Fries writes,

The “Theology Committee” of the Missouri Baptist Convention have released a statement today that, in effect, separates the MBC from ever working in partnership with Acts 29 and their organization of church planters again.

And this is despite the new and shocking evidence that Mark Driscoll has become a flaming fundamentalist.  Yes, that is a suit.

Cutting Edge Keller

I first heard through Charlie Pharis that Tim Keller (Tim Keller Resources) has an article in the Cutting Edge, a Vineyard church planting publication, but it wasn't online.  Now it is.   Read Keller's article on "Our New Global Culture: Ministry in Major City-Centers."  Looks like some other good articles there too, and Cawley has a list of Keller's points.

Reasons Why I Hate Us

I'm starting a new occasional post called "Reasons Why I Hate Us."  These posts will be about why I'm frustrated with the SBC and are geared to get us to think about what needs to change.  This is not about complaining but looking toward a better future.  And yes, "hate" is a strong word, but since I'm talking about "us" and not "them" I feel I can use a bit of harshness fairly.

As a first installment I offer an email from someone I've gotten to know over the last year.  I often get emails from people who read my blog and want to discuss some aspect of the SBC with me.  Too often they are frustrated with being in the SBC or trying to get in the SBC.  Here's an example of a guy who looked at the SBC as a place where he might be able to serve and was frustrated with how he was treated.  Yes, I know that our churches are autonomous and people can merely have bad experiences with some churches.  But I think this is a pretty common experience with the SBC and have gotten several emails like this.

The following has been edited by me with permission of the emailer.
_____

Hey Steve,

I've read that you're at a Southern Baptist Identity conference.  The last couple weeks have been interesting to me, and I thought I'd share my experience with you to: 1. get your thoughts, and 2. maybe add some perspective of the Southern Baptist identity from someone who is not one.

I've been looking for pastoral ministry positions over the last couple weeks.  My family is heading back to the Northwest soon and we are thinking seriously about planting a church or replanting in the _____ area.  As you may remember, I spent time as an associate pastor of a fairly large church in ______ before deciding I wanted to be a lead pastor so we moved to another state to finish my MA and now we're heading back.  I have some leads already, and I was actually offered a job at a big church as an associate, but because I wanted to either plant or replant a church, I thought about looking into the Southern Baptist movement (esp. since I was impressed with Ed Stetzer when I was at The Resurgence and the NAMB's focus on missional church planting).  To make a long story short, I've sent resumes to a couple different SBC churches and one church that was looking for a church planter for the ______ area (either of which I was really interested in).  However, these churches responded to me and said the same thing, "You're not a Southern Baptist, so we don't really think you'd be a good fit."  I have to admit, I was floored.  Since I have never been affiliated with any denomination maybe this isn't news to you to hear this, but I was actually expressing interest in being involved in the SBC, I'm from the NW and I understand its ethos and people, I have years of experience as a pastor in ______ and therefore I am really well connected to other churches in the ______ area and with many other pastors who are friends, and I'm well educated (Bible college, seminary and graduate school!).  This is basically the formula for a successful missional church plant.  I have to be fair, though.  The church plant that said we don't want you is actually sending my resume onto the NW SBC headquarters because they do think I "might make a good fit somewhere."  So they are not necessarily done talking to me, but I kind of feel like a wheel in the cog.

So, what is the reason I'm telling you this?  I'm definitely not looking for sympathy or for you to help me find a job because I wouldn't have made anything of it if these churches had said to me, "We don't want you because we want a guy with more experience" or something.  Besides, I'm certain I'll find a church.  But, I'm writing because I've been turned away because I'm not "one of you;" and you're one of the only Southern Baptists I know.  You wrote on your blog, "The only thing missing, in my opinion, were thoughts on networking beyond the denomination.  I think post-denominational networks are crucial, not just for the sake of the mission, but also for the sake of the denomination.  We will be healthier, stronger, more missional when we stop thinking we are the self-sustained force of the Great Commission."  I have personally experienced what you wrote, and honestly I find it really sad.

I asked to hang out with you and Joe once because I wanted to ask you questions about the denomination.  We didn't spend a whole lot of time talking about it, but I think I walked away with more confusion about what the SBC is about than ever.  Between the alcohol prohibitions (even though I don't even drink) and now this focus on "inbreeding" (!), I have to admit that it SEEMS like the SBC is more concerned with the denomination than with Jesus and reaching the world.  Obviously, I know this is not true, but I feel like I'm a Gentile and we play for the same team.  It's got to look worse from those who are not church-goers.

Seriously, do you really have to go to a SB Seminary to be a SB pastor?  I appreciate you and I know you love the SBC and I'm certain there are great things to love about it.  But I'm wondering if the denomination has gone on an adventure in missing the point?  Where is the focus on finding gifted and qualified people who LOVE an area and commissioning them to minister there instead of finding someone who doesn't know the area, but is SB, and transplanting them there?  I know I'm not the only one who has experienced this, as I have a friend who has recently felt the same walls (and he's trying to be a youth pastor).

I'd appreciate hearing your thoughts.  I did not write my comment on your blog because again, I do not want to be decisive.  But I have to admit, my latest experiences have really turned me away from wanting to be involved in the SBC.  Can/Should this be the reality?

_____

No, this should not be the reality.  But we are too often about the SBC brand than anything else. 

There are many in the SBC working in another direction that includes a love for the best of the SBC and a humble understanding of our common mission with other Christians and churches.  Ed Stetzer is a great example.  He is a key leader at NAMB yet he works with the Acts 29 Network.  I know a number of other SBC'rs who are involved with other networks, and I think they are the best example of how our churches should think.

I pray that the SBC would embrace a vision of the future that would be less about SBC pedigree and more about the mission.

Knowing Mark Driscoll

Ed Stetzer interviews Mark Driscoll for the Exponential Conference (National New Church Conference) podcast.  Want to know more about "the cussing pastor?"  Want to know more about Driscoll's church, prayer life, struggles with sin, history with Emergent guys, or preaching?  This is a great way to find out from the horse's mouth instead of the latest blog gossip.  Great info.  Very encouraging. 

Grab it at the Exponential site, or on iTunes.  The whole series of podcasts has been helpful.

Beer, Darrin Patrick & The Journey

Wow.  Very interesting article in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch about The Journey Church in St. Louis and their pastor, Darrin Patrick.  It's called, ahem, "Beer and the Bible."  Darrin is a friend and someone who I think is doing an unbelievable job pastoring.  They are associated with the SBC as well as Acts29 (Picture credits to the StLP-D).

It seems, according to the article, that there are some frustrations in the Missouri Baptist Convention because they loaned The Journey money to buy a building and then found out some at The Journey drink (like Jesus).  The Journey has a regular theology event called Theology at the Bottleworks where they discuss all sorts of issues, and yes, some drink a beer there. 

Theology at the Bottleworks is run by a wildly successful congregation of young St. Louisans called The Journey. The Schlafly program is part of the church's outreach ministry. And it works.

Every month dozens show up at the brewpub to drink beer and talk about issues ranging from racism in St. Louis to modern art controversies to the debate about embryonic stem cell research. First-timers are invited to check out the church on Sunday, and Journey leaders say many have. Theology at the Bottleworks is just one of The Journey's ministries, but it has helped the church grow from 30 members in late 2002 to 1,300 today.

Read this article.

World Changers

I should have been linking this blog for some time now, but just realized I don't have him on my blog list.  Please keep up with Steve Addison's blog, World Changers.  It's consistently fantastic.

The Mission and Rick McKinley

One of the podcasts I enjoy is Catalyst.  Recently they interviewed Rick McKinley and discussed kingdom issues, the gospel, his church (Imago Dei, Portland) and the Church, the emerging church & Emergent, and practical missional stuff.  I've listened to it a few times now and it continues to provoke me in the right direction.  Check it out.

Church Planting Shtuff

Kevin Cawley pointed to a great collection of Church Planting Wisdom from young guys who are in the middle of it.

Misery, err, Missouri

Ugh.  I'm sick of the same regurgitated, unsubstantiated arguments against the "consumption of beverage alcohol."  But I'm not surprised.  Here's an article by the Executive Director of the Missouri Baptist Convention, David Clippard.  My favorite part...

All of the new church starts that the Missouri Baptist Convention has any part of supporting are required to sign and agree to a no-alcohol covenant. This covenant has been fully supported by all our church planter pastors. For this we are grateful.

Driscoll Updates Ministry in Seattle

Mark Driscoll has a nice, long post on what's happening in his life & at Mars Hill.  It's an interesting post with a look at a few people who are throwing stones at him, the growth issues they face at Mars Hill as well as the number of people they have in various recovery groups, and stuff he is writing. 

Whatever you think of Driscoll, it's good to keep up.

Emerging Church Planters

What should church planters read?  Here's a list of books for church planters as recommended by Brian McLaren, Alan Creech, Alan Hirsch, Scot McKnight, David Fitch and other emerging church voices.  A number of good books on the lists.

Darrin Patrick on Video Venues

Bob Hyatt has pointed to a thoughtful comment from Darrin Patrick (The Journey Church in St. Louis, Acts29) on church planting, church growth, and the use of video venue preaching.  It's worth reading.

Future of Church Planting

Drew Goodmanson has given Five Trends for the Future of Church Planting.

1.  A move from denominationalism is going to radically alter church planting. Local smaller churches will partner together to plant churches.  Larger churches will follow in Redeemer's footsteps and be more concerned with planting gospel-centered churches, than churches of their own denomination. Already, our church in San Diego  has leaders as well as partners from multiple denominations.

2. Church planting networks will merge, collaborate and partner to more effectively plant churches.  For example, Todd Wilson, behind the 2006 National New Church Conference  started a Church Planting Network, whose aim is to, "help champion an explosive expansion of new reproducing churches through an alliance of collaborative church planting networks."  He has already seen this shift begin in a couple networks.  Even next years New Church Conference states the goal of, "helping church plant leaders to the next level of collaboration.  Together we can experience exponential growth of new churches in our generation."  At last years conference, Bob Roberts of Glocalnet gave an impassioned plea to the leaders of many of the church planting networks in this regard at a dinner for church planting networks and sponsors of the conference.

3. In America, churches will be planted at a faster rate in the next twenty years than we have witnessed before.  God, Technology (see #5 re: video venue), technique (mutli-site) and theological urgency will drive this.  More and more of the pastors will come from the laity.  In this same period, established churches clinging to methods will die at a faster rate than ever before.

4. Philosophy/worldview, world events and a renewed focus on kingdom/gospel/mercy ministries will contribute to a revival in America.  First, in America postmodernism (particularly the view of truth being relative) will be replaced as people are confronted with radical and extreme views.  Second, the increase in chaos in the world and a shift in our economy will drive people away from worldview complacency.  Lastly, expressions of mercy and a greater gospel cooperation (1 & 2) will create a greater witness of the church. Those who hold to the gospel and focus on gospel ecumenism will thrive; liberal churches will lose their identity trying to be relevant.

5.  More churches will be planted without the role of a preaching pastor. Many church plant organizations will promote the use of 'best of' or license videos from top preachers across America.  Already there have been churches who have licensed Willow Creek material for tens of thousands (I heard $50k) a year.  Others will simply pick series that they believe will draw the biggest crowd.  There already is one church plant that has grown to over 600 within a couple months using this method.  (Someone could probably make some good money by contacting all the 'big name' pastors and create a company that licenses their work to churches.)

Gospel & Our Culture Network

The Gospel and Our Culture Network has a revamped site which looks good.  If you are unfamiliar with GOCN, here's some info from their site...

The Gospel and Our Culture Network has been spawned by:

• the cultural currents of Western society and ethnic tradition that have shaped how we live in North America.


• the rapid changes taking place as we move from a "modern" to "postmodern" form of society.


• the growing un-ease of the church as it experiences a dislocation from its prior places of importance.

The aim is to explore what these things mean, under the light of the gospel, for the life and witness of the church.

[...]

The network offers companionship for Christian leaders and groups eager to work together with others who share similar concerns. It brings together people from a wide spectrum of churches -- from Mennonite to Roman Catholic, from Anglican to Southern Baptist -- and a range of local ministry settings.

• It puts theological educators and ministry practitioners into fruitful contact with each other so that effective strategy and sound theory may be wedded together.


• It provides mutual encouragement between denominational administrators and local congregational leaders to discover models of the church capable of sustaining a living and faithful witness to the gospel in our contemporary world.


• It encourages the formation of local groups in which pastoral and lay leaders of congregations work together to develop practical responses to contemporary challenges.


• It makes available resources and materials to facilitate vision and change in the missional life of the church.

Driscoll on Church Innovations

For Mark Driscoll, being innovative as a church means getting young men into the church.  Quotes...

The problem in the church today is just a bunch of nice, soft, tender, chickafied church boys. 60% of Christians are chicks and the 40% that are dudes are still sort of...chicks. It's just sad.

We're looking around going, How come we're not innovative?  Cause all the innovative dudes are home watching football or they're out making money or climbing a mountain or shooting a gun or working on their truck.  They look at the church like that's a nice thing for women and children.  So the question is if you want to be innovative: How do you get young men?  All this nonsense on how to grow the church.  One issue: young men.  That's it.  That's the whole thing.  They're going to get married, make money, make babies, build companies, buy real estate.  They're going to make the culture of the future.  If you get the young men you win the war, you get everything.  You get the families, the women, the children, the money, the business, you get everything.  If you don't get the young men you get nothing.

Links Matter

A few links...

John Piper has written a manuscript responding to N.T. Wright's view of justification.  Who knows if/when we will see it since he is seeking the thoughts of others on it, but the conversation at Justin Taylor's blog about it is already interesting.  Piper wrote this on his summer sabbatical at Cambridge.

Brian Spears writes on the 10 things you'll learn by visiting other churches.  Always helpful for those of us who too rarely get to visit other churches.

The Church Planting Resources site is looking good, and is now considered to be 83% sexier (according to Drew Goodmanson).  It's a site for "free exchange of information to help build the Kingdom and ultimately spread the gospel." 

Comback Churches has some good stuff from Ed Stetzer, including his "Stirring the Waters" articles.

And have I mentioned before the PeopleGroups website?  Some good, basic demographic stuff for you.

Acts29 Boot Camp: San Diego

I want to encourage any of you who are interested in planting a church, replanting/renewing a church, or just learning to be a better pastor or church leader to attend the Acts29 Boot Camp in San Diego.  There will be some really good guys speaking there including David Fairchild, Scott Thomas and Daniel Montgomery.  It's at Kaleo Church where my friend Drew Goodmanson is an elder.

My Acts29 Boot Camp experience was in Dallas last fall.  It sparked much conviction about my calling and direction in ministry.  It was also life-changing for my wife.  I highly recommend it.

Kevin Cawley on Driscoll's Confessions

Kevin Cawley offers a thoughtful review of Mark Driscoll's Confessions of a Reformission Rev.

Keller: City Centers IV

Tim Keller has a new article up over at The Movement: "Ministry in the New Global Culture of Major City-Centers, Part IV." 

Read the whole series of articles: Part I, Part II, Part III, Part IV.

Also note a reading list on contextualization from the current issue of The Movement.

Review: Breaking the Missional Code

A couple of nights ago I finally finished Breaking the Missional Code, a new book by Ed Stetzer and David Putman.  I found it to be a worthy read and I wanted to offer a somewhat brief review of it.

I expected this to be a good intro to missional thinking.  I'm not sure that's what I'd call it.  I would call it a good intro to the outworking of some missional thinking.  It's not about the "missional code" but about "breaking" it.  That's why it's a book of stats, helpful stories, charts, and plenty of simple, practical ideas based on solid missional foundations. 

I must admit that I'm a little concerned that some guys who don't get missional theology could apply much of this book as church growth advice.  Joe Thorn seems to make similar observations.  It's hard to break the missional code if you don't get "missional."  So I wish the book had a little more space dedicated to something more foundational in explaining "missional." 

One of my favorite aspects of the book is the pervasive help concerning thinking on culture and contextualization.  The church should "spring forth out of the soil in which it is planted" (p 91).  "We must look for those cultural bridges to every people group, population segment, and cultural environment" called "redemptive analogies" (p 97).  All good stuff.

There's plenty on planting, on models and methods.  Lots of good questions on vision, networking, and readiness.

I really liked Chapter 12 on emerging networks.  It's mirrors much of what I've been personally desiring and encouraging among Southern Baptists.  They have recognized the backwards work of denominations and parachurch ministries and recommended a helpful approach to getting denominations thinking about their role in a healthier way.  My favorite advice is that denominational agencies need to "learn to 'dance' with other organizations."  Can I get a witness?

For me the chapter on the practices of leaders who break the code was crucial to the book.  Maybe it's just because of where I am and what I'm wrestling with in ministry, but it's very helpful nonetheless.  They said we need to ask the right questions of the right people to understand the culture we are in.  We must be willing to pay the price physically, emotionally and in so many other ways.  Getting culture and making an impact will take real risk.  According to the authors it will also take great teams, so leaders need to "inspire people to take overwhelming risk" (p 201).  We need focused visionaries who work on their churches and not just in it.  These are not just brief statements, but all thought out and explained.  Very helpful.

The absolute best thing to me about this book is you don't get through it and think there is one way to "do church."  It's a book about asking the right questions based on the right biblical principles and hopefully seeing an indigenous church raise up that reflects the culture in the right ways and is different than the culture in the right ways. 

When we talk about missional churches we are not referring to a certain form, expression, model, type, or category of church.  We are talking about a church that seeks to understand its context and come to express that understanding by contextualizing the gospel in its community.  Over time the church becomes an indigenous expression of the gospel within that culture, eventually removing all extrabiblical barriers.  The truest expression of this mission church is that is fully represents Christ in its context, maintaining biblical integrity so that gospel moves unhindered. (187-188)

I really enjoyed and recommend Breaking the Missional Code.  For biblical/theological foundations many of us will need Bosch, Guder, Newbigin, Van Gelder and others.  But for the how-to outworkings of missional theology, Breaking the Missional Code is very worthwhile and has already caused me to make some plans this summer to implement a few great ideas.  I see this book as mainly helpful for practitioners and those in training, but it is also the most accessible book for local church leaders.  May it find a wide readership.

Reform & Resurge Podcasting

The podcasted audio of the Reform & Resurge conference will start up tomorrow.  The sessions will be released a week at a time.

Seattle: Thursday

Okay, it's VERY late.  So this will be very short.  I may expand on some stuff later, and I don't claim to be able to make sense of stuff so late.

Smokin' guns, Tim Keller just rocked.  I'll explain this talk a bit, but the rest will be brief. 

Keller's third and last session was up first this morning, "Doing Justice."  Geez.  A friend said it was the highlight of the conference.  It certainly was one of the most important talks I've ever heard on ministry.  Keller described injustice as that which damages the fabric of shalom.  Shalom is the way things ought to be.  When the body is healthy, it has shalom.  All bits and pieces are harmonious.  So with culture, as the bits and pieces do well together, there is cultural/city/neighborhood shalom.  But when that fabric is damaged (as it always and often is) then we do justice, or reweave shalom.

Keller said that power has to be given to others if we are going to do anything good.  Our job is to enable flourishing.  We are born in certain circumstances we didn't look to be in.  People haven't asked to be where they are.  And Christians should give away power to those who don't have it as the work of justice.  Keller said that biblical righteousness is about being willing to disadvantage yourself for the advantage of the community.  His question for us: Does your city rejoice that your church is there?  If they don't then we aren't working justice.

Matt Chandler of The Village Church of Dallas was next.  I first heard Matt in Dallas last summer at Acts29, and he was great.  But today, it may have been the most important message I've heard.  I said Darrin Patrick's message was really good for me, and Matt's was like picking up where Darrin left off and pressing even harder toward Jesus.  I wrote in my notes: "I would gladly let Matt start again and say it all over again."  It was that good.

Eric Mason talked about reaching the hip-hop generation.  Good, solid stuff.  We heard a couple of rap songs.  Very interesting on contextualization.

Mark Driscoll batted clean-up by talking about the Gospel, the Cross, and mostly about penal substitution.  It was a "hot" talk, and he was pretty fired up.  Good, biblical stuff.

Last things...We were able to hang at the Driscoll house for 1 1/2 hours tonight with about a dozen other guys.  The conference audio should be online in a couple of weeks.  And please pray for our trip back.  We fly out at 2:30 central time.  It has been a great, great trip but we really miss our kids.

Seattle: Wednesday

What a great day in Seattle.  The temp was nice, the sun was out, and day two of the the Reform & Resurge conference was fantastic.  I'll go speaker by speaker with a few brief (it's really late and I'm really tired) comments.  All quotes are as exact as can be after trying to understand my fast and sloppy writing.  You may not understand the context of something, but consider yourself blessed for what you do understand. :)

First up, the second and final session taught by Ed Stetzer.  Much came from his new book Breaking the Missional Code (see Driscoll's new interview with Stetzer about his new books).  I won't give all the info, including a couple sets of lists.  But I will say the first list includes 10 shifts for moving people toward culture and the second includes steps to understanding culture.  Good stuff.  He also gave good advice on how to get beyond demographics in knowing culture. 

Josh Harris followed Stetzer and talked about a "humble orthodoxy."  It was very good.  I've heard Josh speak before and I always learn much from him.  He taught from 2 Timothy 2:14-26, 1. Teach the truth faithfully, 2. Live the truth faithfully, and 3. Represent the truth humbly. 

Quotes: "We are to avoid controversy that distracts people from the gospel."  "Living Truth becomes a living lie when we don't embody it ourselves."  "You should be suspicious when the voice in your head says, 'You don't need counsel on this decision.'"

Tim Keller gave the other two messages of the day.  The first was on "Being the Church in Our Culture."  He provided a paper/article for the talk.  Here's his six-fold model for the church relating to culture.  They can read as one sentence.

1. More Christians living long-term in cities
2. ...With a better understanding of the gospel
3. ...Living as dynamic counter-cultures in the city
4. ...Integrating their faith and their work
5. ...Radically committed to the good of the city as a whole
6. ...Contextualizing the Gospel message

Quotes: "Christians are to be alternate cities in every city."  "People in our churches need to understand the theological meaning of ordinary work." "We are taught how to raise up church leaders, not culture leaders."  "Christians are supposed to live in the city as a counter-culture, but are not supposed to take power."  "Unless you are radically like [the culture] and radically unlike [the culture], they are going to shrug."

Keller's second talk was on "Preaching the Gospel."  He said you can understand the Bible diachronically (through the story) or synchronically (topically).  Some new evangelicals try to focus on the former, older evangelicals on the latter, but both are needed.  He focused on the Gospel as the agent of change in both unbelievers and believers as it tears down our idols and leaves us with Jesus.

Both talks by Keller were excellent and well received.  I was able to ask about suburban/rural incarnational ministry during QnA, since he focused on urban ministry.  I was also able to talk with him after the last session.  He speaks again in the morning.

I had the chance to meet Mark Horne and Dan Cruver today, and shared lunch with several friends I mentioned yesterday plus Drew Goodmanson.  Drew is a great guy and an elder at Kaleo in San Diego who knows more about the internet than the founder, Al Gore.  I had a nice chat today with Shaun Garman of Red Sea Church in Portland.  Shaun is a godly young pastor who we first met at the Acts29 conference in Dallas last year.  I also had a brief 'hello, love your books' with Donald Miller after he showed up for Keller's first talk.

I've met several guys who recognized me from this blog and decided to say 'hi.'  I love making these sorts of connections, and many of these guys seem to find my blog because they are looking for Tim Keller resources.  One of those guys is Darren Larson from Wheaton, IL.  He only lives an hour from me but we meet for the first time in Seattle.  Strange world.  Check out his blog.

I failed to mention yesterday that I talked for some time with Scott Thomas, who has been the Acts29 replanting guy and is now heading up the whole dealio.  Very cool for everyone because Scott is a great guy.  He always listens like you are the most important guy in the world and has great penetrating questions and insights.  We hope to talk more with him tomorrow.  Read a great "replanting" article by Scott.

FYI, I believe the conference audio and video will be available for free at some point on the Resurgence site.  How cool is that?

Seattle: Tuesday

The Reform & Resurge conference is on full force.  Three speakers today.  First was Darrin Patrick of The Journey Church in St. Louis.  Darrin is an SBC'r and a church planter with Acts29.  His talk was just perfect for me, exactly what I needed. 

He said that your biggest challenge in ministry is yourself.  He used James 1:1-4 to talk about how those who walk with God will be a mess because God wants to build our character through trials.  The process of going through trials is painful, but we need to focus on the product of trails not the pain of trails.  Why would we want to avoid trials when it's the trigger to God's power?

The second speaker was Anthony Bradley.  I didn't like it.  Seemed like a good guy with something to say, but he didn't get it out. 

The third speaker was Ed Stetzer, the church planting and church researcher with NAMB.  Great missional stuff.  He used Acts 17 to make four points.  1. Acknowledge spiritual questions in culture,  2. Understand culture, 3. Acknowledge the positive and rebuke the negative inside the culture, and 4. Proclaim Christ. 

Stetzer said that the HOW of ministry must be determined by the WHO, WHERE, and WHEN of culture, but that the church is currently answering questions that no one in the culture is asking.  The church has then become a culture in itself.  But what the church needs is to hold two truths in tension, that we mus be contending for the faith (Jude 3) and contextualizing by becoming all things to all men (1 Cor. 9). 

Great quote: "Preaching against culture is like preaching against somebody's house.  It's just where they live."

Second great quote: "The stumbling block of the cross has too often been replaced by the stumbling block of the church."  Most people aren't being recruited by other religions, they are being repelled by ours.

Today I was able to sit with Kevin Cawley and Brian Brown.  We had some discussion after the day ended with Kevin, Brian, Bruce Chant, Bill Streger, and Pete Williamson.  I also met a handful of other bloggers and blog readers.

Sidenote: I'm reading and planning to blog-review Stetzer's new book Breaking the Missional Code soon.  The book is about how Tom Hanks finds the code for missional theology in the glow of Thomas Kinkade paintings.  Okay, not really. But it's very good so far. 

For lunch we had it catered by a local barbeque restaurant, Porter's Place.  Wow, was it good.  We were told to be sure to "meet the man."  So we saw a guy who we figured was "the man" and asked if he was.  He said no but went and got "the man."  "The man" is no man, but one of the most powerful hot sauces I've ever experienced (and I've experienced a couple of very hot ones).   That's "the man" that I tasted a drop of on the toothpick (see pic).  Literally burned my mouth and made my eyes water for 15 minutes or more. 

Tomorrow, more Ed, Josh Harris (who I met tonight at the hotel), and Tim Keller.  It's gonna rock.  For now, the donger need sleep.  G'nite.  Oh!  And be sure to keep up with my Seattle pictures.

Warnock Interviews Driscoll

Adrian Warnock interviews Mark Driscoll.

(HT: Kevin Cawley)

Missional Suggestions

I made a few suggestions for people striving to be missional over at MBB.  It's just a starting place and mostly a call for missional fellowships (nothing too profound here), but it's a start.

The Resurgence of Resurgence

From Mark Driscoll...

The elders at Mars Hill Church, which I founded in 1996, have always been a big-hearted, kingdom-minded team of godly men who have given over 10 percent of our general budget to help church planters since our inception. Now, they have also agreed to give even more money to serve the greater church by launching The Resurgence ministry. This includes paying for the development of a massive website that will include thousands of free articles, audio and video podcasts, film reviews, music reviews, book reviews, and more. It also includes freeing up one of our elders, Gary Shavey, to serve as director of The Resurgence, and recently hiring Jon Krombein as the full-time content manager for the forthcoming website.

To kick The Resurgence off with a bang, we will launch the new website this spring, Zondervan will release my next book Confessions of a Reformission Rev.: Hard Lessons from an Emerging Missional Church in early May, and we will be hosting the Reform & Resurge Conference 2006 at Mars Hill Church in Seattle. Below I’ll introduce each of the main speakers and give some reasons why you will not want to miss this event.

John Armstrong: Church in the City

John Armstrong has a good post about his experience visiting City Church of San Francisco for a few days: "What is the Future of the Church in the City?"  Here's his final paragraph...

I will tell you plainly that I believe City Church, under God’s grace and provision, has an incredible future. The way these pastors and people interact with the religious and civic leaders of this city, the way they continue to humbly learn and move toward a clearer missional vision, and the way they embrace and accept all people incarnationally, deeply impress me. If there is to be a strong and vibrant witness to Christ in the cities of America in the coming decades, especially among the rising young population that is flocking into many of our major cities, then I believe City Church San Francisco will be a major part of that kingdom growth. I look forward to seeing how God uses the friendships I enjoyed this weekend at City Church for the wider growth of Christ’s church in North America. This kind of weekend is what I live for in terms of my own call to ministry.

This explanation of the Gospel is from CCSF's site, and I've heard it from Tim Keller before...

The gospel is:

- you are more flawed and lost than you ever dared believe, yet
- you can be more accepted and loved than you ever dared hope at the same time, because Jesus Christ lived and died in your place.

Redeemer NYC: Getting Press

Tim Keller's wife, Kathy, has an article in The Movement about "Missional Ministry in the Age of Media."  I think it's helpful.  I especially find this excerpt interesting...

Unwise use of publicity, interviews and relationship to the media.

As a result of a series of unpleasant experiences, Redeemer Presbyterian Church has forged the following media policy:

We do not provide interviews or participate in stories; we do not desire publicity that will raise our profile. This policy exists for these reasons:

1. Anything that raises Redeemer's profile pulls Christians out of their own churches to visit or join us. This is a bad neighbor policy; the City needs many different churches, not one big mega-church, something we are going to great pains to avoid becoming.

2. If Redeemer becomes a “Christian tourist destination," our limited seating will be filled with those who already believe in Jesus, leaving no room for genuine seekers. We are already turning people away at one service, and seating is tight at others. Therefore, we do not want any publicity that would fill our seats with curious believers.

3. Redeemer would prefer that seekers come as the result of relationship (i.e., they are accompanying a friend who is then available to discuss things with them following the service.) To come into a church like Redeemer is not an easy thing, and although publicity might result in a few non-believer walk-ins, we would prefer there to be none at all.

4. Redeemer’s message is nuanced and non-political. We want to present the gospel and have people make up their minds about whether Jesus is God or not, rather than convincing them to espouse a point of view about this or that hot-button issue. Since this is somewhat different than the approach of some other evangelical churches, we don’t want to say or do anything that would give the impression that we fit into the storyline that the media currently has about evangelicals. This would tend to obscure and falsify our real message.

The problem is that while publicity alerts people who are trying to find a church like yours to your existence, it also alerts those who find your presence alarming. This can have an immediate negative effect on your rental arrangements (if your landlord does not wish to be identified with a church with your doctrinal commitments, or if he or she merely wishes to avoid a potentially controversial situation.) It can also affect the lease agreements of other churches in your area, which will suffer along with you if permission to rent in schools, for instance, is revoked.

Publicity also allows people to find you who are discontented with their own churches and who hope to find a church they can influence so that it suits their needs. These folks are a thorn in the side of any church planter trying to keep a clear vision of the Gospel before the world. And some people, of course, are just perennial malcontents, unable to be satisfied with any church, hopping from congregation to congregation, leaving a wake of destruction behind them.

The Movement: Recommended Books

Tim Keller's (Redeemer's) church planting organization, The Movement: Global City Church Planting, recommends books in their newsletters.  Here they are compiled for you by date of newsletter, and by theme where applicable.

Winter 2006: Missional Church
Fall 2005: Urban Anthropology
Summer 2005: Global Cities
December 2004: Evangelism
October 2004: Spiritual Life of a Church Planter
August 2004: Urban Theology
June 2004: Multi-Cultural Church Planting
April 2004: Effective Churches for Postmodern America
February 2004
December 2003
October 2003

Tally at Two Years

Tally Wilgis has a very interesting post about the first two years of Focal Point, the church he planted.

Church Planter DNA

Michael Foster at Queen City Mission compiles two lists of church planter DNA.  Here's another post with three lists.

Resurgence: Keller and Patrick

There's some QnA between the Director of the Resurgence website, Gary Shavey, and Tim Keller and Darrin Patrick (two of the conference speakers at the upcoming Reform & Resurge Conference).  It will do you well to check back over at Resurgence regularly.  Things are continually changing and improving.

Keller: Ministry in Global Cities Pt. III

Tim Keller continues his thoughts on ministry in world cities with his newly released article "Ministry in the New Global Culture of Major City-Centers Part III."

City-center churches should have as equal as possible emphases on: a) welcoming, attracting, and engaging secular/non-Christian people; b) character change through deep community and small groups; c) holistically serving the city (and especially the poor) in both word and deed; d) producing cultural leaders who integrate faith and work in society; and e) routinely multiplying itself into new churches with the same vision. There are many churches that major on one or two of these but the breadth, balance, and blend of these commitments is rare in a church. Nevertheless, this balance is crucial for ministry in city centers.

Here are the links to Part I and Part II, and Part IV is coming soon.  Also stop by my Tim Keller Resource page.

Pastoring and Planting

I'm re-listening through some of Keller's online sermons and talks.  You can find them on my Tim Keller Resources page.  Whether you are pastoring (like me), planting a church or a church leader, Tim Keller's talk on church planting, "Why to Plant Churches," is very helpful.   I really like how he explains the value of new churches, not only as a way of effective evangelism, but also as a way to strengthen established churches in the area.  Check it out.

Story About Tim Keller in NYT

In today's New York Times there is a story about Tim Keller and Redeemer Presbyterian called "Preaching the Word and Quoting the Voice".  Great stuff.  Some excerpts...

Dr. Keller "has grasped the strategic significance of the city, of the urban culture and the need to engage that very diverse culture at every level," he said. "Our culture is urban-driven."

[...]

Observing Dr. Keller's professorial pose on stage, it is easy to understand his appeal. While he hardly shrinks from difficult Christian truths, he sounds different from many of the shrill evangelical voices in the public sphere. "A big part is he preaches on such an intellectual level," said Suzanne Perron, 37, a fashion designer who is one of many who had stopped going to church before she discovered Redeemer several years ago. "You can go to Redeemer and you can not be a Christian and listen to that sermon and be completely engaged."

[...]

An important lesson that Dr. Keller said he had tried to convey to other pastors is that the hard sell rarely works in the city. Becoming a Christian in a place like New York, he said, is more often the product not of one decision but of many little decisions.

"One decision might be Christianity is more relevant than I think," he said. "Or, here's two Christians that I don't think are idiots."

[...]

His church's main goal, Dr. Keller said, is to teach pastors how to truly love the city, rather than fear its worldly influences. Unlike many evangelicals, Dr. Keller advocates an indirect approach to change.

"If you seek power before service, you'll neither get power, nor serve," he said. "If you seek to serve people more than to gain power, you will not only serve people, you will gain influence. That's very much the way Jesus did it."

Tim's son, Jonathan, has commented on the article...

Redeemer does not aspire to fame. In fact, Redeemer did not want the article done but the journalist was going to do it whether or not Redeemer helped him to write it. And what better way to make sure there are less errors in reporting than to participate? So there it is in the Times. Hopefully it does not have an harmful repercussions. Redeemer is happy to fly under the radar of the majority.

For more from Keller, visit my list of Tim Keller resources.

(HT on the NYT article: Chris Giammona)