We fell in love with the idea of being missional before we actually started practicing it. It was just easier to articulate a missional theology than it was to start practicing everyday mission. Eventually, though, we realized we needed to start somewhere. We needed to get outside our normal rhythms of “church” if we were going to learn missional living. …
I don’t know if you’re like me, but when I hear the word evangelism, I have a visceral response. My heart sinks, and one of three images usually comes to mind: The bearded, scruffy-looking man walking down the sidewalk with the cardboard sign declaring, “The end is near!” The street preacher dressed to the nines on the corner, bullhorn in hand, …
One of the most pressing pastoral concerns of our day is addressing the overwhelming fear that binds us in the Western world, and particularly in the United States. The noted writer Marilynne Robinson has an essay in her recent collection The Givenness of Things that boldly names this pervasive culture of fear in which we live (I highly recommend reading …
Recently (admittedly) I took one of those “challenges” that continually show up on Facebook. This particular one offered to map my use of words and visualize those most used on my personal wall. It was no surprise to me that the word “new” stood out above all others. New churches (church was my second most-used word), new studies, new reports, …
It’s that time of the year when we all resolve to be better people, look after ourselves more, or just plain commit to doing things we have not previously had time to do. Most of us know that the resolutions we make will not be kept. By Valentine’s Day, we will have forgotten, discarded, or just plain ignored them. To …
V3 Movement partners Forge America and Asbury Seminary are collaborating to offer an exceptional opportunity for missional church planters this summer–Activating Missional Communities. Part of Asbury’s Doctor of Ministry Program, Activating Missional Communities will be taught by Michael Frost, Alan Hirsch, Scott Nelson, and other notable faculty. The application deadline is Jan 2. Only fifteen applicants will be accepted. Now is the time to take advantage of this incredible, …
At Christmas, we remember again for the first time that God became a human being. God became a someone who could be touched and smelled, heard and seen. God became tangible. Tangible. What could be more tangible than needing to be burped and have your diaper changed? Almighty Creator is nursed in the arms of a teenage girl. Her betrothed …
Joy is one of the most compelling forces in the world—when people have it, and it’s real and flowing from the depths of their souls, you know it. If so much of discipleship is about embodiment and imitation, then it is a pastoral responsibility to live the kind of lives that other people would want to have. With this in …
In this season of Advent we learn about waiting. Waiting is painful. It brings anxiety and sometimes causes us to wonder where God is or if he cares. The prophet Malachi spoke of the Messiah’s coming in an eponymous Old Testament book: I have loved you, saith the LORD…Behold, I will send my messenger, and he shall prepare the way before …
My husband and I recently returned from vacationing in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, a highly multiethnic city of 1.67 million people in a metro area consisting of 7.9 million people. The city itself is predicted to grow to 2.2 million by 2020. Kuala Lumpur is a global city, offering international financial services, headquarters to multinational corporations, a center for new ideas and …