Are Churches Leaderless? | Mike Breen
I just read this challenging post by Mike Breen of 3DM called Why the Leadership Movement is Leaving Your Church Leaderless. I thought it was worth sharing and, apparently, it was so popular it crashed their servers when he posted it yesterday. Click and see if it was worth the hype!
{Originally posted May 16, 2012 by Erik Thien at ErikThien.com.}
Life Transformation
I have been involved with a group of guys who are interested in developing Christ-centered discipling communities through the intimacy of small groups. We have adopted the name Every Street and are using a variety of strategies to “make disciples of Jesus only.” One of these strategies is the promotion of what is called Life Transformation Groups. An LTG is made up of two or three people, all of the same gender, who meet weekly for personal accountability for their spiritual growth and development. My experience, as a minister for over 20 years, is that everyone needs someone they can confide in to support them in their Christian journey. While my wife is my greatest confidant, I have benefited through the years from close male friendships, who encourage me in my faith walk. Reading Bible quotes from multiple Facebook friends is not the same as having someone, who I really trust, holding a private conversation with me about my character.
Most people (including ministers) shy away from this type of accountability because of fear of negative consequences of this type of transparency. This has led to weak emaciated Christians who are seductively being conformed to the world’s way of doing things. I have recently been teaching from Romans 12:2 which says, “Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is – his good, pleasing and perfect will.”
One of the tasks to be accomplished in an LTG is repetitive scripture reading – In context and in community. I am just getting involved in an LTG and our current reading assignment is to read the book of Romans. While one of the strengths of the LTG is confidentiality, I will not discuss our conversations but would like to share my journey as I conduct my daily scripture readings. My prayer is that if you do not have someone that you are committed to who you can walk out your faith with, that you will seek out this type of relationship. Proverbs 27:17 says, “Iron sharpens iron, so one person sharpens another.”
By Alan Delery
{Originally posted December 18, 2011 on The Gathering NOLA.}
Missional
Missional…have you heard the term? It has become quite popular thanks to people like Alan Hirsch and Neil Cole. You can even find it on wikipedia! Many have defined “missional” in various ways. The general thought behind it is that all Christians are called to minister and play a role in the mission of Christ. If you are interested in learning more, download the messages from the 2010 Missional Movements Conference. In this series, Neil Cole and Michael Frost do a fantastic job of explaining “missional.” May these messages encourage you and your church community to better pursue being missional in your community.
{Originally posted on ConnectMissions.org} {Clip art from here}
“Why seek ye the living among the dead?”
Several months ago, our home church community (when we were still part of an institutional church) dedicated one week to pray for direction. We each agreed to set aside a portion of time during that week to individually seek an explicit word from God, and then share it with the group. As I prayed, I asked God to give me a word directly from the scriptures so that I could be assured it was from him. Immediately, the passage from Luke 24:5 popped into my mind: “Why seek ye the living among the dead?” The thought was so sudden and emphatic it shocked me. The fact that I was surprised to have such a quick and obvious answer to prayer should have been conviction enough, but when I considered the implications, I was extremely humbled.
Not wanting to miss, or misapply, what God was specifically saying to me, I went to the original context of the statement. That particular passage in Luke describes women who were looking for Jesus; but they were not looking for a living Jesus. They were looking for the Jesus they saw die on a cross. They were looking for the Jesus they buried. They wanted to honor him by properly preparing his body according to Jewish tradition. They wanted to honor the memory of his life. They were looking to honor a great leader and prophet who was; they were not looking for one who is.
I began to see that we do the same today. We look for the “historical” Jesus: the Jesus who was, not the Jesus who is. We study the things he taught, make pilgrimages to the places he dwelt, and marvel at the stories of his life on earth; we look for the Jesus who was. Now, I believe these things just mentioned are good and profitable, but only in the context of his present life. Paul clearly states in Romans 10: 9 that if we if we confess with our mouths the Lord Jesus, and believe in our hearts that God raised him from the dead, we will be saved. It is the LIVING Lord we should be seeking. We need to live what we believe in every aspect of lives. We need to live the living Jesus.
We somehow feel that we, like the women at the tomb, need to honor the memory of Jesus. We want to be his living legacy by carrying on his work. Noble as it sounds, I don’t believe it is what God desires. God doesn’t want us to be Christ’s living legacy, but the living Christ’s body. We, the church, should be acting like a body controlled by a divine living head. Instead, we act like an organization, complete with business plans we call mission statements, CEOs we call senior pastors, and marketing strategies we call outreach programs.
Neil Cole writes, “In many of the churches in the West, ministry is done for Jesus, but not by Jesus-and therein lies a big difference.” (pg.54) Can you imagine what would happen if we stopped doing things for him and began allowing him to do things through us? Can you imagine if we lived life in total awareness of and surrender to the living Christ? Can you imagine?
Works Cited: Cole, Neil. ORGANIC CHURCH: GROWING FAITH WHERE LIFE HAPPENS. San Francisco : Josey-Bass, 2005.
MISSIONAL CHURCH.
Here is an incredibly overwhelming list of books about Missional Living!
Click here, pick a couple, and enjoy the read.
CULTIVATE This Sunday
WHAT: Cultivate is an organic study by CMA Resources
WHERE: First Presbyterian Church Of New Orleans
In the upstairs ministry hall [MAP]
WHEN: Sunday [Jan 15th] at 5:30pm
WHO: Anyone interested in organic ministry
Why Do You Believe What You Believe?
Why do you believe what you believe. Do you really get your beliefs from the bible or from things that people taught you? If you read the bible only, would you come to the same theological conclusions that you now believe?
Church Like A Starfish
Excerpt from The Starfish & The Spider:
Starfish have an incredible quality to them: If you cut an arm off, most of these animals grow a new arm. And with some varieties, such as the Linckia, or long-armed starfish, the animal can replicate itself from just a single piece of an arm. You can cut the Linckia into a bunch of pieces, and each one will regenerate into a whole new starfish. They can achieve this magical regeneration because in reality a starfish is a neural network – basically a network of cells. Instead of having a head, like a spider, the starfish functions as a decentralized network. Get this: for the starfish to move, one of the arms must convince the other arms that it’s a good idea to do so. The arm starts moving and then – in a process that no one fully understands – the other arms cooperate and move as well. The brain doesn’t “yea” or “nay” the decision. In truth, there isn’t even a brain to declare a “yea” or “nay.” The starfish doesn’t have a brain. There is no central command. Biologists are still scratching their heads over how this creature operates.
This is an interesting look at traditional churches and how easily the Enemy can attack and disable it. Click here to read a quick review at the Missional Church Network!
Training for Organic Ministries
CULTIVATING THE ORGANIC DNA IN NEW ORLEANS
In the wake of the Greenhouse Conference hosted by NOBTS, we are excited to be hosting monthly training sessions for organic ministries in the New Orleans area. We are using the Cultivate training materials from CMA Resources!
More details are on the way so keep a look out!
