Archive for the 'incarnational' Category

missional in u-city 1

Brad October 8th, 2008

I am sitting in a St. Louis Bread Co. on the Delmar Loop in University City…

I’m surrounded by students from nearby Washington University, business professionals, artists, the urban poor, bohemians.

I’m a block away from such landmarks such as Vintage Vinyl, The Pageant, Blueberry Hill, The Tivoli Theatre, Fitz’s, and the St. Louis Walk of Fame.

I’m about a mile northeast from my home church community, The Journey @ Hanley Road.

The Loop is a microcosm of urban America. It is a melting pot for cultures, races, ages, socio-economic classes, etc. As for St. Louis, this is one of the most eclectic and vibrant spots in the Lou. The street life alone is amazing.

So why am I here? Because I’m convicted. I’m not living the Great Commission and the Great Commandment like I should. At least to the level I think God expects.

I’m a mile away from the church I attend and I feel like my worship has terminated on itself. Why isn’t it propelling me out into the surrounding community? I’m trying to face these questions head on.

So I’m here. To be a missionary. Commissioned by God. The Loop needs Jesus. And I pray I can be a shining light here…

I am painfully aware on my first day here that the task is a God task. It would be much easier to start some sort of an attractional event that would bring people to me. But that skips the most important step: relationships.

Relationships that form deep, lasting change. Working through the uncomfortableness of talking to strangers. Gaining their trust. Earning their respect. Answering their real-life questions + doubts. Making the Gospel attractive to them.

There is no hiding behind a pulpit here. And let’s be honest, we like to hide behind our pulpits, our blogs, our knowledge, our offices - rather than get out and put action behind our platitudes about missional living. Cred doesn’t come from talking about it. It comes from doing it. That’s why I’m here.

I have no illusions that incarnational ministry is gritty. I can feel the residue already on my soul. But this is where the rubber meets the road. Jesus was a friend of sinners. He went to people. He didn’t expect them to come to Him. Jesus embodied lived theology. It isn’t enough to just know these things. They must be lived…

So I’m praying for the Lord to move. To move me…

I’m praying for the gentleman sitting in front of me reading the Post-Dispatch.

I’m praying for the trio of business professionals sitting to the left of me planning a restaurant grand opening.

I’m praying for the young female student behind me who is engrossed in her studies.

I’m praying for the four young African-American ’skaters’ sitting to my left.

I’m praying for the homeless man sittting behind me who is eating bread and butter - probably his only meal today.

God, my heart is broken. I pray for opportunities to be Christ to the people at the Loop. Help me see where you are at work. Give me your eyes and your ears. Give me the courage to speak and the words to say. This is your work. May your will be done…

stetzer talking points

Brad September 7th, 2008

As many of you know, Thursday and Friday of this week, I had the privilege to hang with Ed Stetzer at a conference for Mississippi Baptists @ Camp Garaywa in Clinton, MS, just outside of Jackson.

This was, in part, an ‘intensive’ to launch my directed studies in missiology with Ed through Liberty Theological Seminary. I had a great time, learned a bunch, and got a big head start on my first paper re: modern missions history.

Instead of a play-by-play of each of the five sessions Ed keynoted, I thought I’d combine the larger talking points into one post - particularly those on the missional church. Enjoy…

*God is a sender by nature
*Missional means to live sent: a sent church and a sent Christian
*God uses the church to make known the manifold wisdom of Himself
*Missional does not necessarily mean contemporary
*Lack of ’sentness’ deforms/disfigures the nature of the Gospel
*Sentness causes us not to transcend, but to recognize and engage culture
*Gospel becomes reduced to “only come” when it’s not missional
*We’ve created an artificial three-tier approach to ministry: 1) lay person, 2) professional minster, and 3) missionary
*We have lost mission to: 1) ‘clergification’, 2) cultural wars, and 3) buildings
*We’ve created the very system we loathe - an unhealthy clergy co-dependence
*We have to give ministry + mission back to the people God empowered for the ministry + mission
*Forms have driven church rather than missions
*Most churches tend to reflect old culture - those successful in last paradigm has the most difficulty in current paradigm
*A church that is incarnational is interested more in the harvest than in the barn
*Are we going to be protectors of common subcultures or missionaries?
*Irony of our subcultures: we should look similar and live differently than the world - we have looked different and lived the same
*Evangelism is sharing the Gospel - missions is understanding people before we speak with them
*What is the mission? Great commandment/commission - to serve [Luke 4:18-19] and to save [Luke 19:10]
*Missiology: what focus + strategies should we use to most effectively expand the kingdom where we are sent
*The missional church is a biblically faithful, culturally relevant, and countercultural community for the Kingdom of God

we interrupt this program…

Brad September 1st, 2008

As many of you know, I am pursuing a Master of Arts in Theological Studies from Liberty Theological Seminary. I’m a little over halfway done and since I’ve gotten most of my required courses done, I am now entering the elective zone.

With the MA in TS @ LTS [whoa, acronym overload], you have mucho freedom to ‘create’ your particular emphasis, i.e. preaching, Biblical languages, youth, etc. I had planned on pursuing an emphasis on Christian Leadership beginning this fall, but God interrupted that plan last week with a providential opportunity.

If you’ve been following relevintage.com the last couple of years, you may have probably noticed a shift in the content. Although my passion remains for reconstructing what highly engaging and contextual worship looks like in the 21st century, I have been writing - as well as reposting others thoughts - on the larger Christological issue that worship fits within:

1) the ‘all of life’ ‘in the world, not of the world’ ‘missionary’ posture of the people of God towards an unbelieving world

and

2) how to refocus the energies of the local church to truly grow in the grace and knowledge of Christ and extend the Kingdom of God.

See an overview of my thoughts on the missional church in my blog series here: The Sent Church: A Missional People

In short, I’m talking about 21st-century missiology here. And when you talk about missiology in North America, you can’t have the conversation without talking about one of the most respected missiologists in the field, Dr. Ed Stetzer. Ed is the President of Lifeway Research and Missiologist-in-Residence @ Lifeway.

I’ve been following Ed since 2006 when I first heard him speak at a Resurgence conference @ Mars Hill in Seattle. I’ve read most of his books. And was deeply moved by the speech he gave at the 2007 SBC annual meeting [watch clip here.]

Of course, his primary job is only the tip of the iceberg. Ed is a prolific author [Compelled By Love, Breaking the Missional Code, Planting Missional Churches], visiting Professor of Research and Missiology at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School, Visiting Research Professor at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary, serves on the Church Services Team at the International Mission Board, is interim teaching pastor of First Baptist Church of Hendersonville, TN, is a columnist for Outreach Magazine and Catalyst Monthly, serves on the advisory council of Sermon Central and Christianity Today’s Building Church Leadership, and has planted and revitalized many churches.

Last Wednesday, I had the privilege to connect with Ed re: my master’s work and share with him my passion for missiology in the 21st century.

After much conversation with Ed, I couldn’t be more excited to share that he has graciously agreed to do two directed studies in missiology with me this fall!

One directed study will be focused on modern missions history, particularly the conciliar missions movement and the development of Missio Dei. The second directed study will be focused on modern missional theology, particularly missional church influences on contemporary missional thinkers. Both classes will comprise of reading, research, writing, and mentoring.

Also, as a part of my directed studies with Ed, he has invited me to travel with him this week to take part in a conference he is doing for the Mississippi Baptist Convention on the missional church. I’ll step away from my duties at MBU this week and hang with Ed for a few days. We will be using this as an ‘intensive’ to launch the directed studies.

Needless to say, I am humbled by this opportunity. When I think about my path to LTS, I would have never thought something like this would come out of my time there. When I think about my call to plant a missional community in the future, I am honored to be mentored under such a respected missiologist and experienced church planter and trainer. I thank the Lord for his providential ‘interruption’!

This will be one of the greatest challenges I’ve undertaken. Ed is going to work me hard. Believe me, I’ve seen the bibliography :) In fact, Ed joked that by the end of this process, I’ll probably be one of the smartest Masters level students ever in the area of missiology.

I would appreciate your prayers. The work begins today. My first paper is due in three weeks.

We interrupt this program…

extract’d

Brad August 5th, 2008

“…the lowest common denominator in all of the missional-incarnational practices is discipleship and the difficulty of discipling people in the midst of a consumerist culture. The story of the middle class in America is one of safety, security, comfort and convenience. In other words, American Christians have overwhelmingly chosen the story of the American way rather than the way of Jesus.”

-Brad Brisco from his “Alan Hirsch in New Orleans” entry from his blog, Missional Church Network

the 7

Brad August 3rd, 2008

I know I just did a worship-themed “The 7″ but there have just been too many great posts in the blogosphere in the past week, I had to do another one.

So without any further ado, a non-themed “The 7.”

1. Bob Roberts sums up for us the number one missional value here. As usual, Roberts simple profundity will surprise you…

2. What connection does the Beijing Olympics and church have? If we aren’t careful, maybe way too much.

3. Contextualization, if defined and implemented correctly, is a good thing. But if it isn’t, it can be syncretism disguised as ministry, as David Fitch shows us.

4. Thabiti Anyabwile alerts us to what he thinks is a more pressing issue than in-house debates over things like The New Perspective and postmodernism. Read about it here.

5. Via Aaron Snow: “Have our church buildings, and services become our idols? Have we accidentally allowed them to replace the pursuit of deep, Biblical community with others?” Aaron challenges us to look at where we pour our energies in ministry in his post, “”‘All Mixed Up, Don’t Know What To Do’ - Man’s Expectations Have Crippled the Growth of The Kingdom”

6. Should we pay pastors? In light of the missional conversation taking place re: tent-making, bi-vocational ministry, de-centralized leadership, etc., Bob Hyatt takes on this hop topic in many ministry circles.

7. And finally, Dan Kimball pushes back on Christian critics regarding what being a missionary looks like in our culture. In many ways, Kimball is reacting against the opposite of syncretism, which is sectarianism - when you love God but not your neighbor.

Also, check out this video from the forthcomingThey Like Jesus But Not The Church DVD curriculum from Zondervan, which shows Kimball in full ‘missionary’ mode:

free your mind…

Brad July 11th, 2008

Steve McCoy has been running a great concept on his blog over the last month. He asks us the reader for their “Top 5 Books” on a particular topic, i.e. their top 5 books on parenting, marriage, suffering, etc. I’m a big book guy so I love seeing what has informed others on issues related to their Christian worldview.

Yesterday’s subject: the top 5 books that changed your mind about ministry/doctrine. I thought I’d share with you my five:

1. The Emerging Church - Dan Kimball

Back in 2003, this book set me on my deconstruction/reconstruction of what the church should be about in the 21st century…

2. SoulTsunami - Leonard Sweet

Providentially led to soon after The Emerging Church. Turned me into a futurist. Never been the same…

3. Tie: The Shaping of Things To Come - Alan Hirsch/Michael Frost & Total Church - Steve Timmis/Tim Chester

Set me on my current spiritual formation and ministry philosophy continuum regarding “missional”…

4. Cheating here, but the entire Ancient-Future series by Robert Webber: Ancient-Future Faith; Ancient Future Evangelism; Ancient-Future Time; and Ancient-Future Worship.

Webber has been deeply influential. Gave me ancient roots and modern wings to my much of ministry philosophy…

5. Desiring God - John Piper

Clarified/still clarifying my life’s calling…

And, one more that I would add…

6. Chosen By God - R.C. Sproul

Not so much changed my mind, but further cemented my thoughts regarding the doctrines of grace

the 7

Brad July 2nd, 2008

1. Great thoughts from Ed Stetzer on how multi-ethnic our churches really are. In short, there not but I’m encouraged to read of those who are trying to get the conversation rolling…

2. Brian of Semper Reformanda Records continues to pump out great posts. These [here and here] center on the danger of inauthentic ‘marketing’ to our congregants. And the jumping off point is Jack in the Box tacos. Yes, you heard me right…

3. A.J. Vanderhorst has been doing a great series on “Planting With Small Groups,” which refreshingly sounds very similar to the missional communities conversation happening in church planting circles today. His most recent entry, “Connect the Dots,” unpacks the subtlety of how to build an organic “church of small groups” rather than a “church with small groups.”

4. Dan Kimball’s ruminations on preaching. He’s pro-preaching, but with a few caveats…

5. Couldn’t agree more. From Jordan @ Northwood Church: Why I Hate Patriotic Songs (in Worship)

6. I thought Tony Morgan hit this out of the park. He talks about do’s and don’ts regarding ministry growth. i.e., #1: You don’t need a logo, you need life change. Love it…

7. And finally, Bob Robert’s encouragement to young pastors: Keep Movin’ Forward…

the 7

Brad June 22nd, 2008

1. Ryan Wiskell ruminates on the ‘consequences’ of authenticity. Good stuff…

2. Here is a very practical [albeit a little corny] video on missional neighboring. How many of us see our neighborhoods as mission fields?

3. Here are three interesting entries on the rising gas prices: 1) “Will Blog for Gas”, 2) Kent Shaffer on “10 Theories on High Gas Prices and Church”, and 3) I-Monk on “Pray at the Pump: A Meditation on Jesus and Economic Discipleship.”

4. In keeping with I-Monk, he dropped another great post this week. He waxes on the pros and cons of “principle” preaching.

5. David Fairchild on the missionary movement of the church: gathering. It’s not what you think…

6. Yet another helpful taxonomy to understand the different ’streams’ of nu-evangelicalism. Tom Sine, co-author of The New Conspirators: Creating the Future One Mustard Seed at a Time with Shane Claiborne, sees a distinctly Anabaptist accent in these new movements…

7. And finally, two stellar posts by Mark Riddle on not going to church but being the church here and here. An essential distinction in the missional church conversation…

the “sent” church: a missional people recap & bibliography

Brad June 11th, 2008

Series Recap

Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4
Part 5
Part 6
Part 7
Part 8

Bibliography

Cray, Graham. The Mission Shaped Church: Church Planting and Fresh Expressions of Church in a Changing Context. Brookvale, NSW, Aus: Willow Publishing, 2005.

Dunbar, David. “Getting a Handle on Missional.” Missional Journal, Vol. 1, No. 2, March 2007; available from http://www.biblical.edu/images/belong/PDFs/vol1no1.pdf; Internet.

Elwell, Walter, ed. Evangelical Dictionary of Theology, Second Edition. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2001.

Fitch, David. The Great Giveaway: Reclaiming the Mission of the Church from Big Business, Parachurch Organizations, Psychotherapy, Consumer Capitalism, and Other Modern Maladies. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books, 2005.

Guder, Darrell, ed. Missional Church: A Vision for the Sending of the Church in North America. Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1998.

Hirsch, Alan. The Forgotten Ways: Reactivating the Missional Church. Grand Rapids, MI: Brazos Press, 2006.

Hirsch, Alan and Michael Frost. The Shaping of Things to Come: Innovation and Mission for the 21st Century Church. Peabody, MA: Hendrickson Publishers, 2003.

Keller, Tim. “The Missional Church.” Redeemer Presbyterian Church, Recommended Resources – A Gospel Movement; available from http://download.redeemer.com/pdf/learn/resources/Missional_Church-Keller.pdf; Internet.

Keller, Tim. “What I Mean When I Say “Emerging-Missional” Church.” Tallskinnykiwi.com, comment section; available from http://tallskinnykiwi.typepad.com/tallskinnykiwi/2006/02/what_i_mean_whe.html; Internet.

Kimball, Dan. Emerging Worship: Creating Worship Gatherings For New Generations. El Cajon, CA: emergentYS, 2004.

Phillip, T.V. Edinburgh to Salvador: Twentieth Century Ecumenical Missiology [book on-line] (Delhi: CSS& ISPCK, 1999; accessed 10 May 2008); available from http://www.religion-online.org/showchapter.asp?title=1573&C=1519; Internet.

Stetzer, Ed. “Meanings of Missional – Part 1.” EdStetzer.com – A Lifeway Research Blog, 2 October 2007, available from http://blogs.lifeway.com/blog/edstetzer/2007/08/meanings_of_missional_part_1_1.html; Internet.

Stetzer, Ed. “Thursday is for Theology of Missional – Meanings of Missional, Part 3.” EdStetzer.com – A Lifeway Research Blog, 31 August 2007, available from http://blogs.lifeway.com/blog/edstetzer/2007/08/thursday_is_for_theology_of_mi.html
#comment-1435; Internet.

Van Engen, Charles. “Meanings of Missional Part 5.” interview by Ed Stetzer, EdStetzer.com – A Lifeway Research Blog, 2 October 2007, available from http://blogs.lifeway.com/blog/edstetzer/2007/10/meanings_of_missional_part_5_1.html; Internet.

Winter, Ralph and Steven Hawthorne, eds. “The Evangelism: The Leading Partner.” Perspectives on the World Christian Movement, 3rd Edition. Pasadena, CA: William Carey Library, 1999.

Wolff, Michael. “The Party Line.” New York Magazine. February 2001.

Photo by eye2eye

the “sent” church: a missional people 9

Brad June 11th, 2008

Series recap: Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8

CONCLUSION

One of the reasons much of the American evangelical church has not faced the same steep degeneration as the Protestant churches of Europe and Canada is because in the U.S. there is still a ‘heartland’ with the miscellany of the old ‘Christendom’ society. Michael Wolff says:

There is a fundamental schism in American cultural, political, and economic life. There’s the quicker-growing, economically vibrant…morally relativist, urban-oriented, culturally adventuresome, sexually polymorphous, and ethnically diverse nation…and there’s the small town, nuclear-family, religiously-oriented, white-centric other America, [with]…its diminishing cultural and economic force….[T]wo nations… [1]

In conservative areas, it is still probable to see people confess faith and the church expand without becoming ‘missional.’ Most traditional evangelical churches still can only win people to Christ who are traditional and conservative. But, as Wolff notes, this is a ’shrinking market.’ Keller states, “…eventually evangelical churches ensconced in the declining, remaining enclaves of “Christendom” will have to learn how to become ‘missional’. If it does not do that it will decline or die.” [2]

Churches that have been denoted by a stalwart sense of their distinctiveness have employed in faithful witness to the world. And to carry out this witness, those churches have perpetually required new structures and forms fitting to the cultural context.

But ecclesiology is the most fluid of the doctrines of Scripture. The church is a vibrant, cultural representation of the people of God in any particular place. Forms and practices are not sacrosanct. Worship style, social dynamics, and liturgical expressions, to name a few, must result from thinking “missionally” by contextualizing the Gospel in any given culture. Church follows mission.

In The Mission Shaped Church, Graham Cray, its editor, says:

Those who start with the questions about the relationship of the existing Church have already made the most common and dangerous mistake. Start with the Church and the mission will probably get lost. Start with mission and it is likely that the church will be found.” [3]

No doubt the deliberation over the nature of the church’s mission will continue. Yet the most alarming reality threatening the church as it enters the 21st century is not an disproportion of resources on the issue but rather “the unequal distribution of the light of the knowledge of God in Jesus Christ.” [4]

Thus, the church is called upon to do what the world cannot and will not do – bring the Gospel to the lost. It was the ultimate task for the Church of the New Testament, so it must be for the church today. [5]
____________

1) Michael Wolff, “The Party Line,” New York Magazine, 26 February 2001, 19.

2) Tim Keller, “The Missional Church,” Redeemer Presbyterian Church, Recommended Resources – A Gospel Movement; available from http://download.redeemer.com/pdf/learn/resources/Missional_Church-Keller.pdf; Internet; accessed 13 May 2008.

3) Graham Cray, ed., The Mission Shaped Church: Church Planting and Fresh Expressions of Church in a Changing Context (Brookvale, NSW, Aus: Willow Publishing, 2005), 116.

4) Ralph Winter and Steven Hawthorne, eds., “Evangelism: The Leading Partner.” Perspectives on the World Christian Movement. 3rd Edition. (Pasadena,
CA: William Carey Library, 1999), 575–577.

5) Ibid.

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