Perhaps you have heard the phrase “missional church” and wondered about the meaning of that phrase. It seems to everyone is trying to be “missional” these days, almost to the extent that many tried to be “purpose driven” or “seeker sensitive” in years past.
I received the following video today that presents a simple picture of what being “missional” is all about. Check it out:
This was the ad that stirred up all the hype. Seriously?
Denny Burk said it well:
If you missed the Tebow ad during the Superbowl, here it is. Believe me, it was missable. The message was so understated and Tebow’s part in it was so short, that I’m guessing most viewers probably didn’t even know what it was about.
And so the “Tebow Dust-up of 2010″ goes into the history books not as a hyper-politicized pro-life smack-down, but as an understated pro-family short. The feminist groups that lobbied to have CBS pull the ad have to be feeling a little bit silly today. Their overreaction in advance of the game now looks pretty extreme in retrospect. And that is probably the most notable result of this whole spectacle. At the end of the day, pro-life Tebow looks really big, and his pro-abortion critics look really small.
In his Transferable Concept: Help Fulfill the Great Commission, Bill Bright (founder of Campus Crusade for Christ) writes about the need for every Christian to have a personal strategy to fulfill the Great Commission.
Bright shares about the difference between having a goal and action without a plan and having a goal and action with a plan. His simple equation is this:
GOAL – PLAN + ACTION = DREAM
GOAL + PLAN + ACTION = REALITY
Bright’s plan that he founded Campus Crusade on was one of spiritual multiplication. He enacted that plan in 1951 on the campus of UCLA and the plan became a reality that ultimately reached me for Christ in 1991 on the campus of NCSU. God is still using that plan today to reach students around the world with the Gospel.
A good reminder this morning that goals and actions often fall short if there is no strategic plan.
Last night I started to read a book that I borrowed from Brandon Porter (BTW…Bradon, I borrowed this book from you). The title grabbed me: Pleasing People: How not to be an “approval junkie”.
The book actual comes with a “People Pleasing Inventory” on pages 20-21. I found my rating to fall in the “a bit too concerned about the approval of others” range.
The best quote thus far: “A people-pleaser is not a peacemaker, but rather a peace-lover”. Priolo unpacks that statement in a way that is both convicting and educating. It is a good read thus far.
A recent op-ed piece (“What Could You Live Without?”) from The New York Times chronicles one family’s journey to living with less. There is something to learn here for Christ followers about sacrificial living.
Dr. Russell Moore of The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Kentucky engages people on his blog with the discussion: Should I Get a Christian Tattoo (Even If My Parents Don’t Like It)?
Peter Jones used to hang out with John Lennon. Very, very interesting interview with Mark Driscoll. You can watch it here.
