The Relational Mission

After communist regimes tumbled down in Eastern Europe, stories about life under various dictators came out. One of the most poignant was one from Romania. Under the rule of Ceauşescu, the leaders had determined that it was in the best interest of the country to raise children in an institution instead of a home with their parents. The results were shocking. Even though the children were provided all the means to meet their physical need, they were undersized, slow to develop in motor functions and behind in their communications skills. There were so many kids in these institutions that those hired to care for them could only feed and clothe them. They had no time to hold them, care for them when they were crying or simply play with as kids long to do. How often we do this with our soul. In our busy world, we treat our emotions, mind and spirit as if they are children who only need a bed and three square meals. Maybe we think that since we went to church on Sunday or we read our Bib...

The Senior Pastor Does not Possess the Vision for Small Group Life I've taken a break from this series due to our relocation, but there is so much more to say. If you want to view the first five entries in this series click here . Notice the wording I used above. I did not say "vision for small groups" because I've found that senior pastors commonly carry the vision for small groups and promote their benefits. I said that the senior pastor does not possess the vision for "small group life." Between the two is a huge gulf. A lead pastor can possess a vision for groups and even promote the small group program. That's better than nothing I guess. But if the vision never goes beyond that, then groups will never be anything more than a program. And people don't need more programs. A vision for small group life is not something a person gets. Actually the vision gets them. It gets inside them in such a way that they are compelled to lead people int...

"He [Jesus] appeared, as the Scripture makes clear, to those who had been chosen beforehand as witnesses. They are chosen not for themselves, not to be the exclusive beneficiaries of God's saving work, but to be the bearers of the secret of his saving work for the sake of all. They are chosen to go and bear fruit. To be chosen, to be elect, therefore does not mean that the elect are the saved and the rest are the lost. To be elect in Christ Jesus, and there is no other election, means to be incorporated into his mission to the world, to be the bearer of God's saving purpose for his whole world, to be the sign and the agent and the firstfruit of his blessed kingdom which is for all. It means therefore, as the New Testament makes abundantly clear, to take our share in his suffering, to bear the scars of the passion. It means, as Paul says elsewhere, to bear in the body the dying of Jesus so that the life of the risen Jesus may be manifest and make available for others....