Tim Keller got me reading John Stott’s Commentary on Acts, and man I’m glad he did. This past week, I preached on the kingdom of God from Acts 1, and I was created encouraged and helped by the insight and commentary of Stott, especially on Christ’s ascension and the mandate to witness in the power [...]
Posted tagged ‘Mission’
Witnesses Not Stargazers
February 27, 2012This is discipling.
June 30, 2011A great little video which packs a big punch. From the FourSquare Church: HT :: Caesar Kalinowski
Be-ing on Mission in Community
March 9, 2011There’s a lot of talk these days about missional communities. Currently, I am working through Porterbrook’s Missional Community Life curriculum in three different venues, so I am discussing it quite a bit. About a year ago, I started my kingly moleksine when I accidentally bought a sketchbook moleskine instead of a regular hardback journal. I [...]
Working Together with God
January 31, 2011A couple of weeks ago, I preached a message entitled “Working Together with God.” I have long enjoyed meditating on 2 Corinthians 5, but unfortunately, my reading typically ended with 2 Cor. 5:21. It is the next verse that has arrested my thinking of late, and as you probably know, there were no chapter divisions [...]
GCM Everyday Audio
November 26, 2010Last month, he GCM Collective held a one-day training focused on the gospel, community, and mission in everyday contexts. Steve Timmis and Tim Chester has a new book coming out soon on the “ordinary” church–living as gospel communities on mission in everyday life, not just Sunday’s. The audio from this one-day conference is not available, [...]
The GCM Collective • Gospel • Community • Mission
April 8, 2010Three BIG areas of my thinking, writing, and ministry exist on the axis of gospel, community, and mission. So when I discovered the GCM Collective, I was very eager to get on board and learn from others who, like myself, have given themselves to them. The GCM Collective exists to promote, create and equip Gospel [...]
Cloaking Cowardice with Custom-Made Bushels
March 31, 2010Don’t know who wrote this at Ligonier, but this is excellent: Martin Luther declared that a new Christian must withdraw from the world for a season, but upon reaching spiritual maturity he must embrace the world as the theater of redemptive activity. His message was, “Away with the cowards who flee from the real world [...]
Word and Deed Together
March 25, 2010Word and deed ministry should always go together in the mission of the church. I take this from (1) the example of Jesus, (2) the mission of the Twelve, and (3) the practice of the early church. I believe Matthew 4:23 and 9:35 are intentional summaries of the earthly mission of Jesus. They encapsulate the [...]
Addressing the Damaging Effects of Professionalism in the Local Church
March 16, 2010“We pastors are being killed by the professionalizing of the pastoral ministry. The mentality of the professional is not the mentality of the prophet. It is not the mentality of the slave of Christ. Professionalism has nothing to do with the essence and heart of the Christian ministry. The more professional we long to be, [...]
Jesus’ Sheep: Sent, Suffer, and Secure
March 2, 2010Have you ever considered how precious is this precious promise of Jesus? 27 My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. 28 I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. 29 My Father, who has given them to [...]
Take a Trip . . . to Your City
February 26, 2010A couple nights ago, I shared with my Twitter friends about a strategy meeting where we are planning a mission trip to our city. Yes, the city where most of our church members live. Why, you might ask? Let me give you some reasons why I am compelled by this idea: 1. How many times [...]
The soil in which plant…the soil in which we die.
January 5, 2010So much of the discussion of church planting focuses on gathering the fruit without first deepening the roots. A flourishing church comes to life when there are people who have come to die. In the words of Jesus, “unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it [...]
Christ the Builder, Christ the Perfecter
December 1, 2009The church is a people who are called out and set apart from the world who are also called and sent into the world. The goal of the Christian life is complete conformity to Christ, and such conformity is both in character and in mission. In other words, the church is to be both a [...]
LEAD09 – Gospel | Community | Mission
September 4, 2009If you have frequented Christian conferences in the past, especially large ones, you will recognize that they are normally situated in predominately churched cities such as Atlanta, Louisville, Nashville, Orlando, Dallas, etc. Well, I want to draw your attention to the LEAD09 Conference coming up this fall, not merely because of the great speakers but [...]
On Silence and Sinful Prudence
July 28, 2009The easiest way to avoid persecution and suffering is to be silent for Christ and then come up with justifications to make such silence feel legitimate. Jesus tells those who are entrusted with His mission in Matt. 10:17-20 two things they can count on: (1) they will be delivered up by men operating as “wolves” [...]
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