Missional in La France
The Missional Church
The nature of the church is missional, through the fact that its existence is powered by the Great Commission. The book summarizes the culture of today’s American spirituality and its relation to the apostolic church. The main question is, “What would a theology of the church look like that took seriously the fact that North America is now itself a mission field?”
Five Key Insights
1. The missional nature of the church – The place which the church takes in the surrounding world/society defines its nature as missional. How it interacts with the surrounding worlds identifies the church’s response to the needs of individuals and groups of people and results in its success/failure to fulfill its original mission. A valid point was the statement that the witness of the missional church is characterized by its integrity.
2. Recovering missional identity – Recovering the church’s original New Testament identity has been a subject of discussion for many various ages in church history. The volume of works written about it has indeed increased in the latter part of the 20th century. The discussion in the book claims that as truth, self, and society are rediscovered in postmodernism, the churches of North America will recover its missional identity. Thus, the individual search of identity will reflect on the corporate search of the church as a community and as the Body of Christ. Chapter four further claims that the churches missional identity is shaped by the gospel of the reign of God which Jesus preached.
3. The Holy Spirit and the community of the missional churches – The Chapter on the Holy Spirit, although very informative, did not integrate the connection between the Spirit and Missional outreach to a practical paradigm, but it was mostly a theoretic and philosophical proposition.
4. On spiritual leadership – the discussion on spiritual leadership is based on the axiom that leadership is focused on the reign of God. Only then the church assumes its mission. Solving problems and creating unity within the church is reached through the same focus on the reign of God.
5. The secular surroundings – the vision of the church may not align with the secular surrounds. Actually, it may often completely contradict them fulfilling its role as a prophetic utterance. At the same time, social, political and economical factors may oppose the message and the mission of the church, thus creating an atmosphere in which the church grows against the grain.
5 Marks of a Missional Church
1. When we reach out without selling out.
2. When every part of the church’s life is hospitable to people who do not yet grasp the Gospel.
3. When we move away from a ‘tribal’ atmosphere to a ‘missional’ atmosphere.
4. When we respect and talk to people like we do at work.
(Find common ground to build friendships)
5. When we understand more and more how the Gospel changes everything.
The Gospel Changes Everything
The Gospel changes people from the inside out. Christ gives us a radically new identity, freeing us from both self-righteousness and self-condemnation. He liberates us to accept people we once excluded, and to break the bondage of things (even good things) that once drove us. In particular, the gospel makes us welcoming and respectful toward those who do not share our beliefs. We can deeply love people who reject or are indifferent to Gospel because we understand that it was the goodness of God that led us to repentance.
Missional in Memphis
Missional in Florida
Church of God Missional Message 1
Church of God Missional Message 4
Church of God Missional Message 3
Church of God Missional Message 2
Missional & Apostolic in Stara Zagora, Bulgaria
In the past month, the Lord has brought our focus of ministry on the city of Stara Zagora. Although, we had often preached and taught there through the recent years, this time we felt called to fulfill a strategic spiritual mission. Our first ministry visit was at the Awakening Church of God which is pastored by our long time friend and partner in ministry Rev. Jimmy Luchev. The message we felt burdened to deliver was one on the sovereign sameness of the unchanging God. A fortnight later, our team was back in Stara Zagora to minister at the Mega Youth Rally organized by local churches and brought a very special message from the book of Nehemiah, which urged some 300 young people from a dozen local churches in attendance to rebuild the spiritual walls of their local churches. And finally, another two weeks later, we returned to Stara Zagora at the Apostolic Christian Center, which occupies a large newly built complex in the west suburbs of the city. We spent a special day of training with their ministry team after which we were able to minister on Sunday morning, speaking on the principles of Freedom in the Spirit.
Having followed the direction of the Spirit for this location of Bulgaria, we are aware that a new season is coming to the area expressed through a new appointment for the churches in Stara Zagora. And since appointments are always opened through renewed relationships, we are thankful to the Lord for allowing us to rebuild relationships among the churches and people in the city. As the year 2010 nears, we are expecting the final clarification of this new strategic position in the city of Stara Zagora in the divine plan of God for a strong missional and apostolic local church.
