Category Archives: Mission

2008-03-26 The Brief

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It has been almost three months since I have done one of these and I am thankful that Tim Morrison and Justin Sok are always faithful to keep me up to date on all of the latest news since I have not had much time to scour the web lately.

Ignite

For those of you who do not know Ignite UK recently began podcasting you can visit The Ignite UK Podcast or read “The Joys of Podcasting” for more on this.  For those of you who wish to see all of our sermons and download both MP3’s and PDF files please check out the Ignite UK Sermons webpage and come back as it is frequently updated.

Culture

Leaving on a jet plane?  If so your tickets are likely to get cheaper among several other benefits as a result of the “open-skies agreement.”  Foreign Policy has more on this and the declining value of the US dollar over at their blog in a post entitled “Tourism Cage Match: Paris v. Detroit.”

Preaching

I am not a big fan of politics and have a particular distain for modern evangelicalism’s replacing the kingdom agenda with a political one.  For most of you this is no surprise.  Over at Reformation 21 Rick Phillips, commenting on the Barack Obama – Jeremiah Wright controversy make one of the most profound and succinct statements on the travesty of kingdom politics that I have ever read.

From the article:

Surely the church pulpit is intended for higher and better matters than the small concerns of national politics!  The pulpit is not an institution of the republic, but of the Kingdom, and it’s only legitimate use is the preaching of King Jesus.  Politics should be kept out of the pulpit not merely for reasons of church-state separation, but because the pulpit is for matters of such greater significance.

The article can be read in its entirety here.

Theology

Biblical Theology and Justin Martyr: In what I found to be a surprising reminder to read theological works we often take for granted, in light of the new and the novel, Russell Moore shares hermeneutical, biblical theological, and missiological insights gleaned from reading Dialogue with Trypho.

Happenings at Southern Seminary: I really wanted to attend the Gheens Lectures at SBTS this semester but was unable to due to work.  Erickson and Goldsworthy are two of my favorite contemporary authors and they bring immense theological insight to any topic.  Below are the lectures from these two speakers.  Other SBTS audio resources are available here.

Millard Erickson

“Can Theology Learn from History?” (MP3)
“Can Theology Learn from Physics?” (MP3)
“Can Theology Learn from Economics?” (MP3)

Graeme Goldsworthy

“The Necessity and Viability of Biblical Theology”  (MP3) (PDF)
“Biblical Theology in the Seminary and Bible College” (MP3) (PDF)
“Biblical Theology and Its Pastoral Application” (MP3) (PDF)

Missiology

Earlier this month Russell Moore did a fantastic series on the Great Commission at The Henry Institute. 

Theology Bleeds: Great Commission Emphasis 

Triumph of the Warrior-King: A Theology of the Great Commission, Part 1 

Triumph of the Warrior-King: A Theology of the Great Commission, Part 2 

Triumph of the Warrior-King: A Theology of the Great Commission, Part 3 

Triumph of the Warrior-King: A Theology of the Great Commission, Part 4 

Triumph of the Warrior-King: A Theology of the Great Commission, Part 5

Church Revitalization or Church Planting — Again

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Research shows that 90% of SBC churches are plateaued or declining and only 2-3% (Aubrey Malphurs) or 3-5% (Ed Stetzer) will ever recover.  What does this tell us about how our resources and energy should be focused?  Where do you think our resources and energy is currently focused?

On a lighter note, was this extraterrestrial, supernatural, or just Elvis?  You make the call.

I will try to have my “2007 A Year in Books” posted sometime before 2009 but I am quite busy right now, so hopefully it will be up sometime in February.

My First Book: Well, Almost . . .

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Many of you know that Nick Cooper and I have been teaching a Fuel Group at Ignite UK this semester on missions.  We finally have both the teacher’s manuscript and class handouts completed and posted on the web for download.  Before I post the links, I have to give an extra extra special thanks to my awesome wife who took the time to proofread all 150 pages of it both before each class and before its posting here.  I would also recommend checking out the Ignite UK Resources page, as all of our Fuel Groups for this semester will soon be up.

Sold Out: The Sufficiency and Supremacy of Christ in Missions (Class Handout)

Sold Out: The Sufficiency and Supremacy of Christ in Missions (Teacher’s Manuscript)

Rick Warren on Missions

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In my last post, I gave you the following quote from an individual whose identity I did not reveal at that time.

These problems, and the answers, are not new.  But the way we intend to tackle them using the small groups of local churches in large numbers is revolutionary.

The bottom line is that we intend to reinvent mission strategy in the 21st century.  This will be a new Reformation.  The First Reformation returned us to the message of the original church.  It was a reformation of doctrine – what the church BELIEVES.  This Second Reformation will return us to the mission of the original church.  It will be a reformation of purpose- what the church DOES in the world.

In the first century, mission strategy was always congregationally based.  The first missionaries were sent, supported, and accountable to local churches.  The church at Antioch was the first to do this.  There were no mission societies, mission boards, or parachurch organizations.  Local churches accepted the responsibility for Jesus’ Great Commission and his Great Commandment, and the growth of the church worldwide was explosive.

Today, most local churches are sidelined and uninvolved when it comes to missions.  The message from most mission and parachurch organizations to the local church is essentially “Pray, pay, and get out of the way.”  But in the 21st century . . . [We] intend to help thousands of other local churches move back to the frontline in missions, in compassion, and in providing the social services that historically the church provided.  I believe the proper role for all the great parachurch and relief organizations is to serve local churches in a supportive role, offering their expertise and knowledge, but allowing the local churches around the world to be central focus and the distribution centers.

I deeply believe that any organization that marginalized or minimizes the local congregation’s responsibility to “Go”, or bypasses the local church’s moral authority to fulfill the Great Commission,  is out of sync with the strategy God intended, and modeled in the book of Acts.

Rick Warren said that as he described the P.E.A.C.E. Plan, the specific quote is available here.  After the above quote Warren goes on to say, “We intend to leverage the attention that the Purpose Driven Life has garnered to bring about a whole new way of thinking and acting in the church about our responsibility in the world.  This is a stewardship we must be faithful to fulfill- with humility, generosity, and integrity.”

I think he has spoken with profound insight.  These parachurch organizations and mission societies/boards are, as he puts it, “out of sync with the strategy God intended.”  They are robbing the church of her responsibility.  Local churches must fulfill their responsibility and bearing the burden of fulfilling the Great Commission.  As a Southern Baptist, I am familiar with the structures within the Southern Baptist Convention and the typical mindset of “We gave to the cooperative program and are therefore fulfilling our responsibility to ‘go make disciples’” just does not cut it.  That is an unacceptable and unbiblical attitude.

Such a strategy also necessitates that churches be involved in the task of raising up, sending out, and empowering their best leaders.  The typical corporate ladder mindset of most American pastors is horrifically unbiblical.  Rather than our most skilled pastors continually seeking bigger churches and higher salaries, which is often a detriment to those churches, these pastors should employ their skill where it is needed most, the hard places and pioneer areas.  Sadly, I do not expect this to be the case as most pastors in America are more concerned with building their empire than God’s kingdom.

What do you all think?  Has the church lost her mission?  Do we need a second reformation that recovers what the church does?  Before we can do that I think we need a second reformation that recovers what the church is, but that is for another post.

2007-12-10 The Brief

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Culture:

Last week I posted on the The Golden Compass and I plan to see the film sometime this week.  Why would I want to see a film that aims to destroy the church?  First, I think there is much we can learn from this film.  Much of what the film hates about “Christianity” is something we should hate.  In the film, the Magisterium, the ruling authority in the Catholic Church, represents “Christianity” as a whole.  While this attack is clearly directed at “Christianity” as a whole, I do not think his terminology here is accidental.  Much of what the world perceives as “Christianity” is not; it is a stagnant cultural force, an institution, which exists to enforce nonsensical cultural forms on others.  I think the same can be said about much of society, what they perceive to be “Christianity” is not and we should rally to put that stagnant, dead, deceptive, manmade “Christianity” to death.  We do that by submitting to the Lordship of Christ and living as the people of God and incarnating the gospel in our culture as servants of those in culture.  Second, I wholeheartedly agree with Al Mohler, “This is about the battle of ideas and worldviews.”  I have had two conversations this week, one about this film and one about another film, which deeply convicted me because I was unable to engage them in the battle of ideas because I had not seen the films.  As Christians we should not be retreating.  We must see these films, discern their true meanings, and then engage in the battle of ideas.

“For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but have divine power to destroy strongholds.  We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ” (II Corinthians 10:4-5).

Since the last post on this topic, Al Mohler has done a phenomenal post on the film entitled The Golden Compass — A Briefing for Concerned Christians.

Blogsphere:

Nick Cooper has returned to the blogsphere with his slick new blog Moderate Obscurity.

Justin Tapp has two great posts up on the translation of Scripture: Psalm 1:6 and John 10 and the Jews.  I have commented on the latter post; however, I hope that some of you with an understanding of Hebrew will comment on the first post.

Vintage Faith: While this is not a blog, it is on the internet and there is a blog on the site.  I have recently found Dan Kimball’s website Vintage Faith . . . exploring the emerging church and vintage Christianity.  The website has many great resources that need to be read with discernment.  Yes, that was an oxymoron.  Here is what I mean.  Dan is painting a picture of what he feels the future of the church needs to look like if it is to impact post-christian America.  Much of this picture is extremely helpful and much is not.  His criticisms of stagnant cultural and institutional “Christianity” are very helpful; however, his proposed solutions are not always helpful.  Far too many have reacted in extreme ways against the Emerging and Emergent Church and in so doing have robbed themselves of many fantastic resources to aid them in ministering to the emerging American culture.

I think an example will illustrate this quite well.  For many Karl Barth and Neo-Orthodoxy are viewed as liberal theology.  However, Barth served to buttress the faith against the assault of liberal theologians like Friedrich Schleiermacher, Albrecht Ritschl, and Adolf Harnack.  During this time, the main battle was between Liberalism and Fundamentalism while Barth’s Neo-Orthodoxy appeared and combated Liberalism it was also attacked by Fundamentalists.  Looking back it is clear that Barth had numerous critiques of Liberalism which would have greatly benefited Fundamentalists had they taken the time to understand him.  We need to learn from our mistakes and listen to and learn from the Emerging and Emergent Church and move forward to reach these emerging cultures as better-informed and better-prepared followers of Christ.

With that said, Karl Barth is not for everyone and Dan Kimball is not for everyone.  The key is in the word “discernment.”  Honestly, most people are not very discerning and for that reason, I hesitated to post this.  However, for those discerning individuals who do not want to buy his books but would appreciate his insight check the site out.

Unexpected Insights:

These problems, and the answers, are not new.  But the way we intend to tackle them using the small groups of local churches in large numbers is revolutionary.

The bottom line is that we intend to reinvent mission strategy in the 21st century. This will be a new Reformation.  The First Reformation returned us to the message of the original church.  It was a reformation of doctrine – what the church BELIEVES. This Second Reformation will return us to the mission of the original church. It will be a reformation of purpose- what the church DOES in the world.

In the first century, mission strategy was always congregationally based.  The first missionaries were sent, supported, and accountable to local churches.  The church at Antioch was the first to do this.  There were no mission societies, mission boards, or parachurch organizations.  Local churches accepted the responsibility for Jesus’ Great Commission and his Great Commandment, and the growth of the church worldwide was explosive.

Today, most local churches are sidelined and uninvolved when it comes to missions.  The message from most mission and parachurch organizations to the local church is essentially “Pray, pay, and get out of the way.”  But in the 21st century . . . [We] intend to help thousands of other local churches move back to the frontline in missions, in compassion, and in providing the social services that historically the church provided.  I believe the proper role for all the great parachurch and relief organizations is to serve local churches in a supportive role, offering their expertise and knowledge, but allowing the local churches around the world to be central focus and the distribution centers.

I deeply believe that any organization that marginalized or minimizes the local congregation’s responsibility to “Go”, or bypasses the local church’s moral authority to fulfill the Great Commission,  is out of sync with the strategy God intended, and modeled in the book of Acts.

I was quite surprised when I found out who said those words.  I will do another post on this in the coming week and will announce the author then.  In the mean time, I would urge you to resist the urge to “Google” the above quote and simply discuss it.