Jesus sends his disciples ahead of him

Jesus is comfortable leading passively from a distance at times, and lets his disciples go out before him on their own. We don't have a clear description of what they are doing when they go out before him, but you can infer that they are living the life that Jesus is teaching them about outside of the structure of Jesus physically being present with them.

When they are on the boat after the miraculous feast of 5,000, they were most certainly processing what just occurred. Jesus wasn't there to tell them explicitly, but he gave them a framework to understand the sovereignty of the Father over something as simple as the conservation of mass—yeah there were two pounds of bread, but God can make it into two tons and feed an army.

We can see Jesus' intentionality in giving his disciples time to synthesize what they are learning. The lessons are becoming more than head knowledge, and becoming part of who they are.

Jesus prays for his disciples

Jesus cares deeply about his disciples. He speaks of them as his sheep and of himself as the shepherd who will gladly die for their safety, cries when his friend dies, and spends his last minutes praying for them in his high priestly prayer.

Jesus doesn't just trust that they will be okay, but pleads with the Father that he would continue the work that has begun.

This is a series of reflections on how Jesus made disciples, based on the book of John.

Advance 09 Media

Video, audio, and images from the Advance 09 conference in Raleigh-Durham, NC, June 2009. Find out more.

Click through to the Resurgence if you can’t see the video.

Missional cultural engagement is a challenge. How far does one go to engage culture? According to missiologist Ed Stetzer, that is the nature of contextualization. In his recent post Ancestor Worship and Taiwanese Christians, Stetzer gives some helpful guidelines on contextualization as well as this short video of a Taiwanese believer explaining the difficulty of contextualization in his culture of ancestor worship.

Rain City Hymnal

The first offering from Re:Sound is the Rain City Hymnal. Listen online and get the record from the Re:Sound website. Find out more.



Not to be dramatic, but a little dramatic. This is the overwhelming feeling I have when I’ve been working all day, had a few hours to connect with my family in the evening, and am now sitting at my desk reading a 480-page pdf document (book) on the church, or slugging away at a 25-page paper till the wee hours. Amazing stuff, but the feeling is a bit overwhelming as the proverbial Re:Train is barreling down the tracks, and I’m stuck in the middle, staring at the oncoming lights and deafened by the blaring horn. How do I escape the wrath?



Re:Train has been a significant investment of time and energy, but it’s an investment that has been extremely beneficial and filled with the grace of God. This weekend was another testament to that as Dr. Gregg Allison lectured and answered questions for two days regarding ecclesiology and the missional church.  

An ecclesiological man among boys

His wisdom, humility and love for the church was inspiring. He is a seasoned pastor, well-studied theologian, faithful husband, father and grandfather, elder in an Acts 29 church, and his daughter and son-in-law attend Mars Hill Bellevue. After a few moments with the Allisons, my wife said, “Wow, that’s the type of couple everyone wants in their church. Godly, stable, wise, humble, and encouraging.” As Pastor Tim Smith put it on Twitter, “Gregg Allision is an ecclesiological man among boys.”  Here are a few takeaways that have left me pondering further.



These are a few reflections from Re:Train with Dr. Allison. The full impact of his teaching and friendship will have a long and sustained impact on the church planting taking place through Mars Hill and Acts 29.


1. Ask good questions before you leave your church.


Dr. Allison loves the local church, and he did a good job of distinguishing between true and false churches as well as less pure and more pure churches among those that are true. He had some good words and questions to ask yourself before moving from one true church to another:

1. Have I expended all of my opportunities to effect change in this church?
2. Will continued participation in this church exert a negative impact on my relationship with and worship of God, my ministry for Jesus Christ, the use of my spiritual gifts, etc.?
3. Do I have to compromise too much—essential doctrines and practices, a lifestyle in accordance with biblical values and principles—in order to remain in this church?
4. Do I have a legitimate reason for leaving?  In a culture where church-hopping and shopping is the norm, I felt these were timely words for Christians to ask themselves before leaving their church so that we don’t flippantly move on from a place God may want us to persevere in.

2. Have something in your life you can finish.


Pastors and those in ministry need to have some outlet in their life that allows them to finish something.  Ministry is never finished, and the pile of work continually grows. Paul told Titus to “put what remained into order” (Titus 1:5).  Based on my experience, I don’t think Titus ever finished getting everything in order.  As he appointed elders, it meant more training and leadership; as new people met Jesus, it meant more teaching and discipleship; as the church grew, it meant new systems and structures.  The church is alive and therefore never finished.

This is why Dr. Allison recommended having something you can finish.  It might be writing a book, refinishing your basement, or some other outlet for bringing something to full completion so that you can enjoy the work and rest upon its completion.  He wasn’t legalistic about it, and didn’t attempt to prooftext any verses to support this position--it was just a piece of pastoral advice from a seasoned pastor.


3. Fight for unity.


The church begins at a place of unity.  In Ephesians 4:3, Paul says, “maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.”  Wow, the church is unified because of the Spirit’s work, yet our sins of pride, envy, gossip, jealousy, dissention, and the like are actively working to destroy the unity of the Church.

Dr. Allison pointed out from Ephesians 4:2 that unity is maintained and achieved through the attitudes of gentleness, patience, and bearing with one another in love.  He challenged all of us to dig deep into the places where we and our churches are not unified and accurately diagnose the root issue, which is nearly always sin of some sort.  One of his closing lines on this topic was profound: “The will to maintain unity can overcome significant differences.”



For more from Dr. Allison, read his posts on Missional Ecclesiology on the Resurgence.



You can follow Pastor Jamie on Twitter at twitter.com/jamiemunson.

Total Church

Tim Chester and Steve Timmis present a vision for churches centered on gospel community. Find out more.

Missional Ecclesiology series: Click | View Series

Dr. Gregg Allison is teaching a course on Missional Ecclesiology at the Resurgence Training Center this fall. Find out more at ReTrain.org.

Church Structure

As structured by its divine head, Jesus Christ, the church is directed by specific human leaders in two offices—the eldership and the deaconate. Elders (or pastors), qualified men who meet the requirements for their office (1 Tim. 3:1-7; Titus 1:5-9), have the responsibility to do the following things:

• Teach (1 Tim. 3:2; 5:17; Titus 1:7)
• Lead (1 Tim. 3:5; 5:17; 1 Thess. 5:12)
• Pray (James 5:13-15)
• Shepherd the church (1 Pet. 5:2-3; Eph. 4:11; Heb. 13:13, 17; Acts 20:28-31)

Deacons, qualified men and women who meet the requirements for their office (1 Tim. 3:8-13), serve Jesus Christ through involvement in all the ministries of the church other than those for which the elders are responsible. Church governments are structured according to various historic (episcopalian, presbyterian, congregational) and contemporary (e.g., multi-site) models.

Baptism

Jesus Christ gave two ordinances to his church, seals of the new covenant relationship he enjoys with his people and tangible, powerful symbols of spiritual realities. Baptism, or the immersion in water of new believers following their credible profession of faith in the gospel, is the sign of entrance into the new covenant relationship with God and into the covenant community, the church (Acts 2:38-47). It vividly portrays:

• association with the triune God (Matt. 28:19)
• identification with the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ (Rom. 6:3-5; Gal. 3:26-28)
• forgiveness and cleansing from sin (Acts 2:38; 26:16)
• escape from divine judgment (1 Pet. 3:20-21)

The Lord’s Supper

The Lord’s Supper, instituted by Jesus Christ at his last supper with his disciples (Matt. 26:26-29; Mark 14:22-25; Luke 22:14-23), is the sign of the ongoing new covenant relationship with God and the covenant community, the church. It is celebrated by the church when it gathers together through the breaking of bread and the drinking of a cup of wine (or grape juice) as the elements are distributed to its members. It vividly portrays the broken body and shed blood of Christ and thus:

• proclaims the Lord’s death (1 Cor. 11:26)
• effects participation with his body and blood (1 Cor. 10:16)
• fosters the unity of the church (1 Cor. 10:17)
• expresses the church’s hope that one day it will celebrate the Supper in the presence of the Lord (Matt. 26:29; Mark 14:25; Luke 22:16, 18; 1 Cor. 11:26)

The Expansion of the Missional Church

As the church described above is faithful and obedient to its missional identity, it is expansive, contextually sensitive, and (potentially) catholic or universal. The expansion of the missional church extends from its beginning in Jerusalem to church planting endeavors around the globe today.

As this centrifugal movement propels the church into different cultures, a contextually sensitive adaptation of the gospel and the church is demanded. The church indiscriminately preaches the gospel and, when people respond to its message, it expands into all lands. Certainly, the divine goal for the church in terms of extension is that one day it will exist among all people groups throughout the entire world (Matt. 28:18-20; Acts 1:8; Rev. 5:9). The missional church yearns for complete universality, so it presses on to enter into every corner of the humanly populated world.

Check out some of Dr. Allison’s books:

• Getting Deep: Understand What You Believe About God and Why
• Jesusology: Understand What You Believe About Jesus and Why
• A Theology for Christian Education

He also has two new books coming out in 2010: one on the doctrine of the church and the other a historical theology which will be the companion to Wayne Grudem’s Systematic Theology.

Resurgence RSS Feed

Subscribe to the Resurgence syndicated feed and have all our content delivered straight to your feed reader. Find out more.

Missional Ecclesiology series: Click | View Series

Dr. Gregg Allison is teaching a course on Missional Ecclesiology at the Resurgence Training Center this fall. Find out more at ReTrain.org.

From the seven essential characteristics of the church (discussed in Part 1 and Part 2) flow the ministries of the church: The church worships the triune God; proclaims the Word of God; engages non-Christians; disciples its members; cares for people through prayer, giving, support of its pastors, and assistance for its members; and stands both for and against the world.

The Church Advancing

As it engages in these ministries, the church moves forward “until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ” (Eph. 4:13). This movement is away from immaturity—“children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes” (Eph. 4:14)—and toward maturity—“we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ” (Eph. 4:15).

Divine and Human Work

Furthermore, this movement must be born of divine grace and assisted each step of the way by divine grace, but it also demands intense effort from each and every member of the church. So Christ, “from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love” (Eph. 4:15-16).

This dynamic of the divine and human dimensions working together—Christ doing his part, which only he can do, in ways appropriate to his divine agency; Christians doing their parts, which only they can do, in ways appropriate to their human agency—will bring about the growth of the church. Specifically, the church works toward its own growth through the exercise of spiritual gifts, the pursuit of purity, the maintaining of unity, and church discipline.

To be continued.

Check out some of Dr. Allison’s books:

• Getting Deep: Understand What You Believe About God and Why
• Jesusology: Understand What You Believe About Jesus and Why
• A Theology for Christian Education

He also has two new books coming out in 2010: one on the doctrine of the church and the other a historical theology which will be the companion to Wayne Grudem’s Systematic Theology.

Rain City Hymnal

The first offering from Re:Sound is the Rain City Hymnal. Listen online and get the record from the Re:Sound website. Find out more.

Jesus used practical object lessons

Jesus didn't pick the smartest, the coolest, or the most likely to succeed to be his disciples--he went straight to the bottom of the barrel and picked the fisherman, and he taught them in very practical ways. He brought them almost everywhere he went and taught them along the way.

Jesus would pick up a loaf of bread and use it as an example of our dependance on God. He would use his signs and miracles as a way of showing that he has power over death and the effects of sin by raising Lazarus and giving sight to the blind man. He uses his own service of washing their feet as a way to show that they must serve, and even feeds five thousand people to show that even though he is one man, his work can feed the many.

We can't use the same type of object lessons that Jesus did because we aren't the Messiah, but we can follow Jesus' example by using metaphor, speaking in plain English, and creating circumstances that allow us to teach our disciples.

This is a series of reflections on how Jesus made disciples, based on the book of John.

Resurgence On Facebook

Become a fan of the Resurgence on Facebook, get connected with other fans, and stay current on all the latest updates. Find out more.

Missional Ecclesiology series: Click | View Series

Dr. Gregg Allison is teaching a course on Missional Ecclesiology at the Resurgence Training Center this fall. Find out more at ReTrain.org.

As we saw in the last post, the first three attributes of the church—doxological, logocentric, and pneumadynamic—reflect the Trinity (God/Father, Son, and Holy Spirit). The other four essential attributes concern the gatheredness and sendedness of the church:

4. Covenantal: Relationship with God and Others

The church is covenantal, or gathered as members in new covenant relationship with God and in covenant relationship with each other. As for the first covenantal aspect, the new covenant:

1. is a unilateral agreement, established by God and God alone
2. creates a structured relationship between him and his covenant partners, Christ-followers “from every tribe and language and people and nation” (Rev. 5:9)
3. features binding obligations on the part of both God and his covenant partners (e.g., 2 Cor. 6:16-18; Matt. 22:37-40; 28:19-20; Gal. 6:2)
4. is sealed by two covenantal signs, baptism and the Lord’s Supper.

As for the second covenantal aspect, the new covenant places church members into relationship with one another (Eph. 4:17-5:14). This aspect may be best expressed by means of a church covenant, an agreement that binds those who affirm it to life together in the church.

5. Confessional: United by Common Faith

The church is confessional, or united by both personal confession of faith in Christ and common confession of the historic Christian faith. All church members must have a credible profession of faith in Christ as they have heard about his person and work through the gospel (Rom. 10:8-13). This aspect is the act of faith that leads to salvation.

Additionally, the church as a corporate assembly regularly makes a common confession of the Christian faith (e.g., 1 Tim. 3:15-16), professing together the sound doctrine that unites the church (Eph. 4:4-6) and brings it to maturity while keeping it from going adrift (Eph. 4:13-15). This aspect is the content of the Christian faith that marks the church throughout the ages.

6. Missional: Divinely Called and Sent

As discussed above, the church is missional, or identified as the body of divinely-called and divinely-sent ministers to proclaim the gospel and advance the kingdom of God.

7. Historical Reality, Future Hope

The church is spatio-temporal-eschatological (here and not-here, or already but not yet), or assembled as a historical reality (located in space and time) and possessing a certain hope and clear destiny (eschatology) while it lives the strangeness of its existence in the here-and-now. Christians meet together to worship God “in spirit and truth” (John 4:23-24) in local churches that, while they may be anywhere (that is, the location is not the issue; John 4:20-21), they are always somewhere also. This spatial characteristic means that the church takes up physical space—often a building—and prompts reflection on an important question: Does this physical space advance or obstruct what the church is seeking to be and do?

Legacy

The temporal element means that a church has a heritage that goes before the current manifestation of gathered people, and this legacy exerts a powerful influence for either good or bad on the current expression of the church. Additionally, if the Lord wills, the church will have a future that goes beyond the current manifestation of gathered people, and this hope prompts reflection on what kind of reputation this current expression of the church will bequeath to its next iteration.

Sojourners

Beyond its being “here,” the church is also “not here,” in that what the church experiences now is only a foretaste, a down payment, of a promise of yet more to come. The church lives in a “boundary epoch” between the two advents of Jesus Christ, so it is composed of strangers and aliens (1 Pet. 1:11), sojourners who are in the world and for the world, but not of the world. The eschatological church awaits a greater reality (Rev. 21-22).

These final four attributes—covenantal, confessional, missional, and spatio-temporal-eschatological—concern the gatheredness and sendedness of the church.

To be continued.

Check out some of Dr. Allison’s books:

• Getting Deep: Understand What You Believe About God and Why
• Jesusology: Understand What You Believe About Jesus and Why
• A Theology for Christian Education

He also has two new books coming out in 2010: one on the doctrine of the church and the other a historical theology which will be the companion to Wayne Grudem’s Systematic Theology.

Religion Saves

Check out Pastor Mark Driscoll's newest book: Religion Saves: And Nine Other Misconceptions. Find out more.

I have served as a campus minister for five years and have taught at two universities for nine years. In that time, I've learned some lessons about doing campus ministry both the hard way and from great mentors. Here are the top six things you need to know if you're doing college ministry:

1. Don't confuse the gospel with religion
To prevent doing this, talk about Jesus (who he is and what he has done) all the time. If you don't, students will think Christianity is really about something else, like morality, philosophy, piety, social justice, or a religious experience. If you start talking more about what they should do instead of what Jesus has done, you're preaching another gospel (Gal. 1:6-9), which is to put heavy burdens on them (Matt. 23:2-4).

2. Learn about sexual assault
The prevalence of sexual assault is staggering. At least 1 in 4 women and 1 in 7 men are or will be victims of sexual assault in their lifetime. And the numbers are much worse for college students. These young women and men feel crippling shame, deep guilt, and painfully alone because of what has been done to them.

3. Teach students how to read and interpret the Bible for themselves
This means being clear on the relationship between the law and the gospel. The law is "perfect, true, and righteous altogether" (Psalm 19:7-9) and "holy, just, and good" (Rom. 7:12), but it does not effect what it demands (Gal. 3:21). The good news is that on the cross Jesus took our penalty of law-breaking and fulfilled the law, so he could give us his righteousness. God then works in us to will and to do his good pleasure (Phil. 2:13). The very law that condemns us becomes the very thing that God fulfills in us through the power of his Holy Spirit (Gal. 5:18-23), not through our effort (Gal. 3:1-3).

4. Be prepared to comfort students because of divorce and death
College students are at a phase in life where their parents seem to get divorced, if they aren't already, now that their children are leaving home. This is also the age when grandparents begin to die.

5. Study apologetics
Many students still have brain cells left, and they've been reading and thinking about their world. They have legitimate questions about who Jesus is and what he did and why he isn't just a good example. They want to know why they should trust the Bible as reliable. The immense suffering in the world makes them doubt either the goodness or power of God or both. They think Christians are hypocrites and bigots, so why should they become one?

6. Be prepared to counsel students about what they're really facing
You must be prepared to counsel about eating disorders, pornography, cutting, abusive relationships, and the lingering damage of sexual sin. College students tend to be the shock-absorbers of the myths our cultural sells. Idols are brutal slave masters.

Recommended Books

A collection of fantastic reading material on various important topics, used and shared by Pastor Mark Driscoll. Find out more.

This video is worth taking a few minutes to think about—what are some of the ways that you should change some of your ministry methods to tell more people about the principles of Scripture that we hold so dear?

If you're in a feed reader, click through to see the embedded video above.

Here's the statistic I want to know:

How many people first hear about the gospel of Jesus through online ministries?

I know that when I was a brand new Christian I would fire up RealPlayer and listen to a megachurch pastor in California preach each week. That was until I heard about this fiery young pastor in Seattle who was preaching to hundreds of tattooed 20-year-old punk rockers about God's anger at sin and salvation through Jesus Christ—the rest is history.

New Super Secret Project

Here at Resurgence headquarters we're preparing a super secret project that will begin to bring some of these ideas a few steps further. The project will require a small team. If you're dedicated and willing to beta-test a new Resurgence project, please send me a tweet @mikeyanderson or let me know through Facebook (facebook.com/mikeanderson).

Resurgence On Facebook

Become a fan of the Resurgence on Facebook, get connected with other fans, and stay current on all the latest updates. Find out more.

Gospel Incarnation Series [Part 3 of 3]: Click | View Series

And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us and we beheld his glory of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and full of truth.
– John 1:14

I have drawn out Terra Nova’s system of living out the gospel from John 1:14. If the body of Christ is to live out the mission of Christ, it must be the things that John represents—present, full of truth, and full of grace. We have created three zones out of which that happens: Justice, Culture, and Mercy.

Mercy

Everyone needs help at some time, whether from self-inflicted wounds, societal ills, or family sins. To be present to give that aid is to administer mercy and grace. In this way, we try to reflect Jesus’ presence, being full of grace, and we try to reflect what the prophets commanded, that we are to do justice and to love mercy.

Be Particular

Again, we believe that being narrow and deep is important. In a world where, as Bob Dylan said, “There’s so much oppression can’t keep track of it no more,” we must choose something and commit time and resources to being Christ in its midst. People will undoubtedly try to suck you into their “cause du jour,” but being pulled in many directions will only leave you ineffective and frustrated. Being particular allows for laser-like focus on one or two issues, bringing intensity and depth that lead to real change.

Living Out Mercy

We chose homelessness as our focus for living out mercy. That has meant a holistic approach beginning with the issue of street homelessness. Working with other churches, we are developing an in-from-the-cold program utilizing inner city churches equipped with cots to house the homeless in the wintertime. We also work with the only shelter in our county, a non-Christian agency called Joseph’s House ministering consistently to the people who come through their doors. Here we can make a difference, demonstrating the love of Christ through providing food and companionship. But this is an itinerant community. Perhaps more importantly, we have developed deep relationships with the staff at Joseph’s House, revealing life in Christ to those with whom we can have an ongoing dialogue.

Joseph’s House partners with The Lansing, a sort of halfway house for some folks who are ready to move out of Joseph’s House. It differs from transitional housing in that some of its residents will always be in an assisted living situation due to mental illness or other issues. Terra Nova provides volunteer staff at the Lansing, individuals who have the gift of loving people society has thrown away, and treating them with the dignity and respect they deserve as those created in the image of God.

Lastly, Terra Nova partners with Habitat for Humanity, providing homes for those who need an extra hand extended to them. From immediate homelessness, to crisis shelter, to continuing shelter, assessment and care, to ultimately home ownership, we believe we are addressing the issue of homelessness in a deep and effective way, thereby living out the mercy of Christ.

Narrow and Deep

We as a church are trying to live out an imitation of Christ in being present, full of truth, and full of grace. I strongly encourage planters to pick issues that make sense to their congregational identity, their cultural DNA, their geographical footprint. I further encourage them to take the time to choose what they do and invest in it narrowly and deeply.

We are happy to share anything we have learned regarding city life, homelessness and human trafficking with any church pastors and planters who wish to dialogue more.

Note: For more info go to terranovachurch.org.

Pastor Dad

Every dad is a pastor. The important thing is that he cares for his flock well. Pastor Mark Driscoll's new eBook offers spiritual insights on fatherhood. Get it here.