Missional with a Capital “M” - Part 1

I will pick up the "presbyterian with a small "p" series in a week or so but for now . . .

I am writing this from Southern California. I would say “sunny” but it appears we brought the drear and rain with us from western Pennsylvania. The forecast is far better the remainder of the week. Otherwise Terry and I rented a convertible so we could open the top in the parking garage.

Okay, let me back up. I know I promised to write some more about the presbyterian church, and I will. But Terry Timm and I are attending the Origins and Ethos conference put on by Mosaic (the church where Erwin McManus the author of Unstoppable Force is the Lead Pastor.) It is an absolute creative haven. I have two more days of this and I am eating it up. So I will try to share some of what is taking place with you while I am here.

Considering I did not sleep well (I never do the first night in a new bed) and we had capped a long day of travel to get here, I needed something to connect me to God quickly this morning. I know I should do that on my own, but it was not going to happen.

This morning before the opening session they opened with some percussion played on garbage cans that brought back memories for me. At the opening session the band kicked in to a driving song about human need and God. It was at around 100 decibels in the room and my eyes were filled with tears. I honestly do not recall the last time I fully worshipped while singing in a worship gathering, at least on this level. It may have been at my farewell night 2-1/2 years ago at my former church or at another convention in San Diego about 4 years ago. For me to worship during singing it usually requires a strong driving lead guitar, a bass rift that thumps your chest, drums that engage the heart, and vocals sung with reckless passion. This band did all of that. I stood there alternating between clapping, jumping, and raising my hands while tears filled my eyes. And that was just the opening three songs.

This entire gathering is built on how to be the church in missional fashion the way Christ intended it. Here are some miscellaneous comments that I put in my notes:

“How do we become what Jesus was imagining when He was on the cross?” – Erwin

“Look at what we are doing and ask, ‘Is this worth the death of God?’” – Erwin

“Most Christians are self absorbed and all consuming narcissist, not servant oriented and outward focused.” – Erwin

“Do we wish to do the right thing . . . even if it means losing people?” – Erwin

“As a leader are you always unsatisfied?” – Erwin

“Mission is not what the church does . . . it is why the church exists.” - Alex

“The question is not. ‘Can we just . . .,’ it is ‘We must . . ..’” - Alex

“Everything is calling to us to move, to momentum, to live beyond ourselves.” – Alex

“Most Christian discipleship has been reduced to Buddhism. We are getting rid of the large sins in our lives, and then moving on to the smaller one until we have no sin. That my friends, is the gist of Buddhism. It is about nothingness . . . nihilism. Reincarnation is not a blessing, it is a curse that traps you in its cycle until you can end up at nothing.” – Erwin

“God created us to create.” – Erwin

“What is the ½ step we can take that will get us in the direction we want to go?” – Erwin

“God is not limited by your intelligence or your ability; He is limited by your dreams.” – Erwin

“We have to create a context where people can fail gloriously.” - Erwin

More to come. As TT says, “Stay connected . . .”