Weekly Links

The 100 Most Read Bible Verses at BibleGateway.com

Before we can be something, we have to first dream something. Seth Godin says it well here.

Great read about churches in Austin partnering with schools in Austin

Ben Witherington on a theology of work (or lack thereof in our culture)

The TED Commandments (rules every speaker needs to know) - see here for more

Tony Morgan on the difference between Leading and Managing

Tim Chester's review of Sticky Church, by Larry Osborne

Weekly Links

• Point guard C.J. Henry playing for the Tigers this year. Could little brother Xavier be joining him next year? Big news for Memphis
  
  
• Unfortunately, this is bigger news: Memphis City Schools cutting ESL and counseling programs to help overcome their deficit.
  
  
• Mark Batterson writes, "Vision is the cure for sin. One reason many of us get entangled in sin is because we don't have enough God-ordained vision to keep us busy."
  
  
• Al Mohler comments on the Saddleback Civil Forum held on August 16 - it saddens me that he had such a pessimistic view beforehand, but I'm pleased that afterwards, he felt that it was "worthwhile." I thought it was great. I thought both candidates did a fine job, and my respect for Rick Warren grew as a result.
  
  
• Steve McCoy on Hitting Refresh
  
  
• Mark Driscoll on Activist and Contemplative Disciplines. And here.
  
  
• Grizzlies trading for Zach Randolph???

Reflections from Orlando Pt. 3

Discipleship seemed to be one of the primary themes that emerged for Jason and I. His first breakout session was on this topic, and it continued to come up throughout several other sessions. As I mentioned in the previous post, Hirsch said that Jesus must be at the center of everything that we do. This prompted some questions:

1. What would it look like for Jesus to be at the center of our lives? Our homes? Our church?
2. What does it mean for Jesus to build and lead His church?
   
3. What is our system for making disciples?
4. Have we been faithful in presenting the true calling of following Jesus: Come and die?

One of the big takeaways for me was understanding that our methods are determined by our goals. Here are a few questions regarding goals and methods:

1. Do we have goals for the different things that we do as a church?
   
2. If so, are they the best goals?
   
3. Are our goals God-sized goals?
4. Do our goals fit our mission?
5. Do our methods match our goals?

A few weeks ago, Jason and I discussed starting one or two Life Transformation Groups (LTG's) with the guys in our church. During the conference this was affirmed over and over. It's been over two years since I was in an LTG, and I know that I personally need to be a part of one. If our goal for the men in our church is for them to love God, love their families, and love their world, then I know of no other system that helps this to happen than LTG's.

We also talked about our Sunday night worship gathering. We have an awesome facility in the Skinner Center. Mark Batterson talks about the day they realized that they would never be able to build a Union Station (where they're church meets), and therefore they would always rent. I feel the same way about the Skinner Center. It is such an amazing setup for us, and one that we could never recreate. We have a great park outside. We have a gym and a pool. We have a kitchen. And we have more rooms than we need.

So the question is, "How do we make the most of the time and space that we have on Sunday nights?" This is a question that Jason and I are asking, and will take to the group in the next week.

Church = A Training Center for Missional People

I read this statement on Dan Kimball's site awhile back. He was quoting Scot McKnight. I've been thinking a lot about this, especially since moving to Memphis. There are many people here in Memphis who were raised in church. Whether or not they had a good experience in church is a toss-up, but the fact that many were raised in church is one of the things that separates this culture from the bay area. This means that there is an awful lot of baggage in people whose church experience was less than ideal. But it also means that there are a lot of people with a good foundation. I think there are many here who have been going to church (or who spent a lot of years going to church), but were never released into the culture as missionaries. I see one of our primary tasks here as empowering and releasing people as missionaries.

So how do we train missionaries? Over the next few months I'm going to be posting thoughts, articles, resources, etc. that will hopefully begin to bring some answers on this question.

More About Project Mustard Seed

When we talk about Project Mustard Seed, we talk about three journeys that we are on.

1. The Upward Journey
This is the journey of spiritual formation. We have been created in the image of God, and for relationship with God. We follow Jesus as our King and our Teacher. We help others come to know and love this God. The Scripture that comes to mind is Matthew 22:37-38, which says, "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment."

2. The Inward Journey
We were never meant to walk this journey of faith alone. Spiritual formation cannot happen apart from community. We need people around us who love us, encourage us, admonish us, and above all, urge us towards maturity. A key verse for us is John 13:34-35, in which Jesus said, "Let me give you a new command: Love one another. In the same way I loved you, you love one another. This is how everyone will recognize that you are my disciples—when they see the love you have for each other” (The Message).

3. The Outward Journey
The outward journey is one of mission. Just as Jesus gave His life away for the world, so we are to do the same. The Church is the called out, sent forth people of God. The second commandment that Jesus gave in Matthew 22 fits well here: "and love your neighbor as yourself." The question, "who is my neighbor?" must obviously be asked. We are called to love our neighbor across the street as well as our neighbor across the world. We cannot afford to be ignorant of the world's problems. We believe that the Church is called to be on the front lines of ending poverty, disease, and injustice.


Even as I post this, I am excited to be a part of a community like this. Todd Hunter defines the church as this (I think he got it from Dallas Willard):
"The cooperative friends of Jesus, seeking to live lives of constant creative goodness through the power of the Holy Spirit, for the sake of the world."

I think this is a great definition of a community that I'd like to be a part of. I'll probably update this posting from time to time.

If you're at all familiar with the Church of the Saviour, you'll see that we've been influenced by their life and their writings.