WiFi is too sketchy here at Verge, so please see my Twitter feed for my take on stuff.
Verge: Day Three
in Conferences, Missional, Verge10
Verge: Day Two
in Conferences, Missional, Verge10
*Updated as WiFi holds out.
Main Session II
Neil Cole
Gospel is...the kingdom has come.
*Sorry, having a rough run with WiFi here at Verge. Hard to find the connection to keep this up.
Breakout Session 1
Jeff Vanderstelt & Caesar Kalinowski of Soma Communities
(*break out stuff below will be more quotes and content than my thoughts on them)
Notes at Soma School - here's the PDF.
Missional Community (MC) is a gospel community - being formed by the gospel, living life by the gospel.
The shift needed is to start thinking of people as family.
MC sent by missionaries to a people group by demonstrating the gospel in tangible forms. and then declaring the gospel to others both to those who believe and those who don't believe.
MC - Not primarily a small group, not primarily a Bible study.
We do one Bible study then another, but what was the last one? Are we living what we are learning or just moving on to another study. We need to be faithful to what we've learned.
"I'm not going to prep up another deep study of the word to disobey." -Caesar
Study the Bible in proximity of relationship, and live it out together.
MC - not primarily a support group.
We aren't just mummys all wrapped up.
MC - not primarily a social activist group.
If we become about one particular cause, we miss the mission.
MC - must have a people group they are sent to, called to.
Be the peculiar people.
MC - not primarily a weekly meeting
You may well get together weekly, but you don't define your family that way. People are prone to dualistic thinking in the church. When I'm at the church, I'm the church. When I'm at home, I'm at home.
Sunday morning: If you came to church this morning, we're glad you're here. You're never going to get to do that again. -- (because this isn't the church, we are the church)
We don't go to missional community, we meet with the community. Reorganize our lives around the gospel in community.
Always training on the gospel, who we are in Christ, and how to live with gospel intentionality.
*I know my notes are sketchy and hard to follow. Sorry. Doing my best to get as much of it down as possible without misstating what's being said.
-- Caesar jumps in with some Prophet, Priest, King perspectives on shared leadership (bit of a semi-reluctant rabbit trail)
Every missional community is under the leadership of an elder. Start with 6-8 people. Typically kingly types are your leaders. Starts to cap out at about 20.
*Lots of questions now. I think the specifics and dynamics of what MC's do/should look like are hard to imagine. Folks are trying to see more concretely.
We invite people into our lives.
Story-formed - Only answer from where you are in the story
Breakout Session II (part 2 with Jeff Vanderstelt and Caesar Kalinowski)
What We Do - these are all rhythms, not events
- Story-formed - story of people/culture around me and story of God. Help people find place where their story intersects with God
- Listen - Listen to people. Listen to one another.
- Bless - Who are 3 ppl a week you could bless. Bless in rhythm.
- Eat - Rhythms of eating in culture. Parties. Lord's Supper. Eat 3 meals a week with others.
- Celebrate - If we're going to be good missionaries, bring the best wine to the party. If you are a Baptist, clean up afterwards. :) We get to live forever. Let's be a celebrating people. We should be the most celebratory people in our city.
- ReCreate - Rest and create. Rhythm of sabbath.
Don't add more to your life. Just do what you do with gospel intentionality.
We have no programming at Soma. What Missional Communities do we are doing.
Identity: Family, Missionaries, Servants, Learners
Recommended: You Can Change by Tim Chester
I don't invite people to things because they are already a part of my life. An open door policy in our houses. We teach people constantly to understand relationships by how they are invited in and when they are told we are busy.
Stop trying to get everybody. Get one.
*Lots of questions coming now. Honestly, the ideas from these breakouts have stirred me up. It's hard to concentrate on the questions while I'm stewing on my own, and my context, and our need to BE the church.
Realign your life around the mission. Radically reorient your life around the mission. As leaders, every pushback with Christians is an opportunity for discipleship. We will not stop calling you to what you were created to be.
Reactive Mission - Proactive Mission
- Reactive - The Good Samaritan, I come across them, along my way
- Proactive - plan, strategize, pray over, ask God to lead us in
Be on mission in such a way that if God doesn't show up we are ruined. We need to be overwhelmed.
Great QnA time during this session. I feel like it's all possible. Biblical, gospel community. Check out more at the Soma links above. Dinner time.
Verge: Day One
in Conferences, Missional, Verge10
My post for the day. For quotes and such go to Twitter #verge10. Updated regularly here are my personal thoughts, reflections, etc.
Main Session I:
Matt Carter - Pastor, The Austin Stone
Carter challenged us to not be about the mission, but about Jesus. Comes from Revelation 2. If we are about Jesus we will properly be about mission. If we are about mission (primarily, or ultimately) we will lose track of Jesus.
Francis Chan - Pastor, Cornerstone Church
Chan does theology. His style is engaging and winsome. He's funny. But he drops bombs. Simple lit fuses leading to truth and theology and mission. Good stuff.
We meet on the Lord's Day. He is risen indeed. Why aren't we living like people who know the radical resurrection of our Savior?
You will try and fail to start movements. Movements come from Jesus, from the Holy Spirit. If you try to go surfing and there are no waves, you send your buddy out to start splashing and try to make waves. We can't do it.
Think about the book of Acts, and how unstoppable they were. This is Holy Spirit powered.
In Austin for Verge
I flew out of O'Hare in Chicago at 10:15am after an hour delay. Arrived in Austin at about 1:30pm. Hitched a ride with Brent Thomas and three other guys. Got lost because of my navigational issues. And have now arrived at the Aloft Hotel in Austin. Looking forward to tonight's first main session.
I'm not really sure how I'm going to approach blogging/Twittering Verge. I don't want to just overload Twitter with a zillion quotes of everything said. Especially since all of you can get the live stream for free!
Follow @VergeConference on Twitter. Keep up with the verge hashtag for everyone's tweets: #Verge10. Follow the social media team here for a variety of different takes and angles and responses. Should be a great time for all interested.
Vampire Weekend - La Blogotheque
in Music
A few colorful words in one of the songs, but a great performance...
Scott Avett With "Famous Flower of Manhattan"
in Music
From Four Thieves Gone, only $5 to download 17 tracks.
Catholics Come Home Initiative
I've been studying the Catholic Church recently: books, audio, attending Mass, etc. I ran across this video and wanted to share it. It's the Catholics Come Home Initiative that you and your church needs to know about. Best quote: "The Saints were sinners. They had problems. But when they found God everything was cool, and they were God's BFF's. That's what I want to be."
Music Monday 2.1.10
in Music
Amazon is now listing a new 100 albums for $5. As usual, some come Reformissionary Recommended...
- Vampire Weekend: Contra
- Led Zeppelin: IV
- Eluvium: Copia
- Flogging Molly: Within A Mile Of Home and Swagger
- Andrew Bird: The Mysterious Production of Eggs
- Ramblin' Jack Elliot: A Stranger Here
Check out the rest of Amazon's $5 albums.
Charlotte Gainsbourg's new album, IRM, is getting some serious playing time on my iPod.
Seth Godin on spreading music and selling intimacy.
Frontier Ruckus put on a great show last year in Dekalb. I like their album, The Orion Songbook. Another should be coming soon. Here is a live version of "Mona and Emma" from Paste...
Midlake's 2006 album, Trials of Van Occupanther, was excellent. You can listen to their new album in full for free, and I love it so far. Check out The Courage of Others, which goes on sale tomorrow.
Last Chance $5 Albums
Amazon's 800+ $5 albums ends tonight. Some great albums on this list. Here are a few I recommend...
Review: Gospel-Centred Family
in Books, Discipleship, Family
A few weeks back I reviewed Gospel-Centred Church, a workbook by Steve Timmis and Tim Chester. I found it very helpful and I'm using it with some guys at Doxa Fellowship. I have two more reviews of similar resources on the way. In the next week or so I hope to review Gospel-Centred Life by Steve Timmis and Tim Chester. Today it's Gospel-Centred Family by Ed Moll and Tim Chester. All of these books came to me for review from the good folks at The Good Book Company. FYI, I review and promote resources that I like and don't just give everyone a shout-out. If I don't like stuff I won't review it.
Onto my review of Gospel-Centred Family (GCF). The book, running just over 90 pages, is broken up into twelve lessons/chapters in four main sections.
- Part 1: A Gospel-Centred Family
- Part 2: A Grace-Centred Family
- Part 3: A Word-Centred Family
- Part 4: A Mission-Centred Family
Like Gospel-Centred Church, each lesson is roughly 5-6 pages long and moves through six segments. The first is a principle--the core of the lesson. A scenario is introduced to raise a dilemma in gospel ministry. Then we consider Scripture (only a reference given so you can use your own Bible) with questions, a section discussing the theology and application of the principle, discussion questions, and actionable items are finally suggested (see the lesson titles).
I enjoyed the workbook a lot and think it will be helpful for the church. Let me start with a few weaknesses in GCF.
I would have liked if the book dealt early on with God's created purpose for the family. Why do we have families in the first place? Why are we to "be fruitful and multiply"? In some ways this workbook drops in on parents in the middle of where they are and works out of it rather than laying a foundation in the biblical story and then building on it. That's still good, but one chapter on creation foundations would have been nice.
I occasionally disagreed with something, though nothing of great significance. One practical recommendation in GCF is to teach kids obedience by counting to five. The goal is to make it "clear that our children had to obey now" by teaching them to obey by the time we get to "five." But counting to five teaches your kids that they don't have to obey until you are almost done counting. Why not teach them to obey now by teaching them to obey now? Most of the advice is excellent and this one isn't a deal-breaker. But I still think it's odd advice.
Now for the strengths, and there are many more than I will list. I really like this workbook. GCF deals with several crucial issues of parenting with a bunch of helpful, practical advice. I particularly liked the "Grace for a Child's Heart" chapter. We can easily train our children to be legalists if we aren't careful by comparing them to other children, holding grudges against them, humiliating them in public, bribing them to obey, etc. The authors stay cross-focused...
Above all, bring your children to the cross. Teach them about the cross Extol the cross. Thank God with them for the cross. Sing about the cross.
The next chapter is about seeing children as a gift. This is so important right now in our culture. I know few people who truly act like children are a gift from the Lord we enjoy more than a burden to bear. College can't come soon enough for these folks! Sad. And GCF is helpful. Simple changes will change everything: time, conversation, meals, creating things together, games, etc. My favorite is the advice to tell stories. I have so many stories and songs in my head from grandparents and parents. My generation of parents isn't as good at telling stories. Good advice.
One piece of advice I've just done poorly for too long is to "include the people from the church family in your family time." We used to do that, especially when working with college students. Too infrequently now. Family isn't just about what we do together for ourselves, but on mission to others. How can we be hospitable together? Support single-parents together? Model good family life together? And then GCF encourages us to lead our children to be servants, givers. Simple & concise, yet continually helpful advice throughout this workbook.
I like what the authors said early on in the book, which expresses what we should want for our families...
We're not calling our children to a life of obligation and hardship that they must tough out. We're calling them to treasure! We're calling them to treasure Christ.
Let's do it.
I can see Doxa parents working through GCF together or on their own. I can see how hitting one chapter here and there in small groups might be helpful.
GCF sells for $9.99 with discounts in bulk. I highly encourage you to use it with families in your church.
Totally Unprepared for God
in Books, Tim Keller
Anyone who is strongly influenced by the imaginative world of The Shack will be totally unprepared for the far more multi-dimensional and complex God that you actually meet when you read the Bible.
Tim Keller's blog: The Shack - Impressions
My Verge Conference Press Pass
in Conferences, Humor
(via Joe Thorn)
Redeemer City to City
Reviews, Resources, & Likes
Music Monday 1.25.10
in Music
I watched It Might Get Loud on DVD with Jack White, The Edge and Jimmy Page this week. Great fun. Gained a lot of respect for Jack White in particular. After he played his favorite all time song, "Grinnin' In Your Face," from Son House, I just had to download his Father of the Delta Blues: The Complete 1965 Sessions.
Check out The Low Anthem's Tiny Desk Concert. Molly and I will see them open for The Avett Brothers in March at The Riverside in Milwaukee.
The XX have a new video for "VCR." Cool, mellow, creative...
Good, cheap music...
- Russian Circles: Geneva - $5
- Muse: Origin of Symmetry - $2.99
- The 99 Most Essential Brahms Masterpieces - $1.99
Brandi Carlile: Folsom Prison Blues
in Music
I missed the beginning of Brandi Carlile's cover of Johnny Cash's "Folsom Prison Blues," but I thought I'd post it for fun anyway.
A Springboard to Bending Our Hearts to God
Instead of fighting anxiety, we can use it as a springboard to bending our hearts to God. Instead of trying to suppress anxiety, manage it, or smother it with pleasure, we can turn our anxiety toward God. When we do that, we'll discover that we've slipped into continuous praying.
Paul Miller, A Praying Life, p 69.
There...The Harp Remains In Tune
Here my best joys bear "mortal" on their brow. My fair flowers fade; my dainty cups are drained to dregs; my sweetest birds fall before Death's arrows; my most pleasant days are shadowed into nights; and the flood tides of my bliss subside into ebbs of sorrow. But there everything is immortal. The harp remains in tune, the crown unfading, the eye undimmed, the voice unfaltering, the heart unwavering; and the immortal being is wholly absorbed in infinite delight.
Charles Spurgeon, Morning and Evening - January 18th "Morning"
Music Monday 1.18.10
in Music
A few albums I'm just getting into and really enjoying so far...
- Fanfarlo: Reservoir - $7.99 (also deluxe $10.99 version)
- Matt and Kim: Grand - $5
- Yeah Yeah Yeahs: It's Blitz - $5
Here's Fanfarlo with "The Walls Are Coming Down". Very Beirut-ish. Follow the lyrics --> "The preachers and books of your empire will fight here alone / some day they will be forgotten and die one by one"...
Molly and I will be seeing Brandi Carlile on Thursday night. We saw her last year and it was a great show. Her albums will be playing around the house a lot this week, especially Give Up The Ghost. Here's a live (mediocre quality) version "Looking Out." --> "Some people get religion / some people get the truth / I never get the truth"...
Vampire Weekend's new album, Contra, is just great. Way better than I expected. Here's "Horchata" from the Craig Ferguson show...
Lots-o-Links 1.15.10
Praying for the people of Haiti. Please comment with your recommendations on where to donate to help, and feel free to include a link. Redeemer lists three ministries.
If you aren't reading Trevin Wax (Twitter) he's doing good blogging. His book, Holy Subversion, comes out soon. Worth checking out.
JD Payne, my church planting professor at SBTS, author, missiologist, is now on Twitter and blogging. I just got his newest book in the mail, Discovering Church Planting and look forward to digging into some sections that might help during our church renewal process.
Memphis is starting to talk about Jonathan McIntosh.
Mark Dever interviews Matt Chandler, pre-cancer diagnosis.
Brent Thomas is no longer the Baptist he never was.
Brief Molly Update: She is doing well, with no major symptoms or issues. Very blessed.