What Is "Missional?"
A pastor friend of mine who leads another church in the region is working on a Ph.D. in theology. As part of his research, he's studying the missional church movement. He asked me this week if I'd be willing to answer the following four questions... I thought I'd share my answers here in case they're helpful to others.
Redemption Stories: Tyler
Tyler was a brawler and a drunk who was looking for a good fight when he discovered that one of his neighbors was "a boxing pastor" - and part of Coram Deo's leadership team. Over the course of months, God forged a relationship between them that led to Tyler's conversion and a wholesale change of life.
Redeeming Family: Invitation
To build a God-honoring, holy, and happy marriage and family you need two things: biblical principles (to help you build things according to God's design) and gospel renewal (to help you make Jesus and his redemptive work, not a "good family," the center of everything). Most "Christian" marriage resources only give you the first. We're hosting the Redeeming Family Conference to give you the second as well.
Redemption Groups Launch 2012
Coram Deo pastor Dusty White explains what Redemption Groups are and how they fit into the big picture of our ministry and mission.
Tip #10: Pay Attention to What's Upstream
Someone – probably the church growth people back in the 1980’s – sold pastors the notion that cultural relevance requires familiarity with popular culture. In other words, being “relevant” requires illustrating your sermons with material from Lady Gaga and Modern Family and American Idol. But this stab at relevance has exactly the opposite effect: a year or two from now, when Lady Gaga is MC Hammer and Modern Family is Cheers, your sermon podcasts will be painfully irrelevant.
Tip #9: Protect Your Schedule for Solitude, Prayer, and Reflection
If you want to become a better pastor, you need to rigorously protect your schedule to allow for regular times of solitude. Don’t tell me you don’t have time. You DO. You just have to plan for it. Either you control your calendar, or it controls you. Stop living in the tyranny of the urgent and use your calendar to set boundaries.
The Sacrament of Communion
One of the important debates during the Reformation centered around the sacrament of communion (also called the Eucharist or the Lord’s Supper). The Roman Catholic Church had come to teach the doctrine of transubstantiation: that when the priest blessed the bread and wine, they were converted into the actual body and blood of Christ. The Reformers argued that the Roman church had departed from historic practice and from biblical orthodoxy. Calvin asserts: “Transubstantiation was devised not so long ago; it was unknown to those better ages when the purer doctrine of religion still flourished” (Institutes, IV.XVII.14). He painstakingly documents the fact that his own view is in line with the great church father Augustine, and charges Rome with veering from ancient practice: “If the power of the mystery as it is taught by us, and was known to the ancient church, had been esteemed as it deserves for the past four hundred years… the gate would have been closed to many foul errors” (Institutes, IV.XVII.33).
Tip #7: Be a Prophet, Not a Parrot
The wise pastor/mentor Tommy Nelson used to challenge young leaders by saying: “You’re either a prophet or a parrot.” Prophets speak fire and life. Parrots repeat what someone else has said. In our day of celebrity pastors, it’s easy to be a parrot. Good sound bites abound. But when the people of Judah are acting like Sodom and Gomorrah, they don’t just need truth. They need Isaiah. And if Isaiah parrots Elijah, he’ll be preaching to the wrong country.
Redemption Stories: Brittanny
Brittanny found the community her heart had always longed for... and then ran away to chase her idols. At the end of the chase, she came to know the unconditional love of God and the forgiveness of Jesus Christ through her missional community.