If there is such a thing as a missional benediction, this is one:
May God bless you with discomfort at easy answers, half truths, and superficial relationships, so that you may live deep within your heart.
May God bless you with anger at injustice, oppression, and exploitation of people, so that you may work for justice, freedom and peace.
May God bless you with tears to shed for those who suffer from pain, rejection, starvation, and war, so that you may reach out your hand to comfort them and to turn their pain in to joy.
And may God bless you with enough foolishness to believe that you can make a difference in this world, so that you can do what others claim cannot be done.
Wednesday, September 10, 2008
Saturday, August 30, 2008
Why go to church?
The statements below come from a church in the Chicago area:
Some people go to church to get something: feel-good music, fascinating sermons, fun stuff for kids. They evaluate church based on what they get out of it. However, this turns church into a product to be distributed, used, and discarded. Christians become consumers. God is shrunk into a personal-need provider, and the glue holding together his people is mere taste and self-interest.
Really, church is about participating in what God is doing, being his Body, allowing him to heal us, transform us, and use us to his glory.
At Life on the Vine we are a family committed to each other and to Jesus, the Head of our household. When we assemble for worship, his message is preached, his Spirit is present, and his people are restored, healed, and gradually conformed into his likeness. We invite you to participate, test the spirits, and allow the Holy Spirit to form your life.
Life On The Vine has three commitments
Transformational
When we gather for worship, or in confession during the week, may our encounter with God in Christ truly shape who we are. Seeking more than emotional arousal or intellectual critique, let us join those who have gone before us and submit our minds, bodies, and souls to the living Lord.
Communal
Whether at a local house gathering, a church potluck, or the Lord's Table, may God grant us hearts of hospitality, embracing one another in the unity of the Spirit. Let us be an authentic community that journeys together, bearing one another's burdens and speaking truth in love.
Missional
Every day may we be Christ's presence to the hurting, lost, and victimized people of this world. Let us welcome the stranger and offer words of life. Joining hands with churches around the globe, we participate in what God is doing to redeem the world to himself.
Here's a link to Life On The Vine's website:http://www.lifeonthevine.org/index.html
What do you think of their understanding of church and what it means to be missional? Comments are always welcomed!
Some people go to church to get something: feel-good music, fascinating sermons, fun stuff for kids. They evaluate church based on what they get out of it. However, this turns church into a product to be distributed, used, and discarded. Christians become consumers. God is shrunk into a personal-need provider, and the glue holding together his people is mere taste and self-interest.
Really, church is about participating in what God is doing, being his Body, allowing him to heal us, transform us, and use us to his glory.
At Life on the Vine we are a family committed to each other and to Jesus, the Head of our household. When we assemble for worship, his message is preached, his Spirit is present, and his people are restored, healed, and gradually conformed into his likeness. We invite you to participate, test the spirits, and allow the Holy Spirit to form your life.
Life On The Vine has three commitments
Transformational
When we gather for worship, or in confession during the week, may our encounter with God in Christ truly shape who we are. Seeking more than emotional arousal or intellectual critique, let us join those who have gone before us and submit our minds, bodies, and souls to the living Lord.
Communal
Whether at a local house gathering, a church potluck, or the Lord's Table, may God grant us hearts of hospitality, embracing one another in the unity of the Spirit. Let us be an authentic community that journeys together, bearing one another's burdens and speaking truth in love.
Missional
Every day may we be Christ's presence to the hurting, lost, and victimized people of this world. Let us welcome the stranger and offer words of life. Joining hands with churches around the globe, we participate in what God is doing to redeem the world to himself.
Here's a link to Life On The Vine's website:http://www.lifeonthevine.org/index.html
What do you think of their understanding of church and what it means to be missional? Comments are always welcomed!
Saturday, August 16, 2008
From LAX
I'm beginning this new blog from Delta gate 51A as I wait form my flight to Las Vegas where I will wait for four hours to a flight to Minneapolis and then wait for a flight to Grand Rapids. If everything goes well I will be back in Grand Rapids around 9:30 AM tomorrow. I'm here because I just traveled across the country with my son Justin who will be out here until December studying at the Los Angeles Film Study Center(www.lafsc.com) where he will be in an internship with some film or TV production company. Justin is one of an elite group of 50 students from across the country who was accepted into this great program. We are very proud of him and very excited for him. At the same time we will miss him very much!
One of the highlights of our trip was the Grand Canyon. I wasn't prepared for it's spectacular beauty. Pictures don't do it justice, you just have to see it. The picture below shows Justin as he prepares to take a picture.
In the weeks to come I'm going to be posting on the concept of what it means to be missional. This is not a new concept, it is a concept that has been around as long as God has. In fact, the first things we need to understand is that God is missional. That being so, it means it has implications for us as individuals and for the church. In the mean time if you would like to do some reading about things missional click this link http://www.friendofmissional.org/
One of the highlights of our trip was the Grand Canyon. I wasn't prepared for it's spectacular beauty. Pictures don't do it justice, you just have to see it. The picture below shows Justin as he prepares to take a picture.
In the weeks to come I'm going to be posting on the concept of what it means to be missional. This is not a new concept, it is a concept that has been around as long as God has. In fact, the first things we need to understand is that God is missional. That being so, it means it has implications for us as individuals and for the church. In the mean time if you would like to do some reading about things missional click this link http://www.friendofmissional.org/
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